18.04.2026.Untouchability News.(News of Dalits,Adivasi,atrocity,buddhist,Dr Ambedkar,Employement,Education news details from various sources)by Sivaji.Ayyayiram UTNews.9444917060.
Unrest in Varanasi village over Ambedkar Jayanti flag hoisting row
The flags and posters were torn and burnt by some individuals, triggering tensions between the Dalit community and members of the opposing group, bringing them face-to-face.
LUCKNOW: An Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) was injured after protests over alleged burning and removal of Dr BR Ambedkar’s posters and flags turned violent in a Varanasi village on Friday, with agitated villagers pelting stones at police during a road blockade.
A major uproar broke out following allegations of burning and removal of posters and flags of Dr BR Ambedkar in Varanasi.
Members of the Bhim Army, who staged a sit-in protest by blocking the road, turned aggressive when police attempted to remove them, leading to stone pelting that injured a police personnel in the rank of Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP).
As per police sources, following the stone pelting by villagers, ACP Sarnath Vidush Saxena suffered a head injury, while two station officers from Cholapur police station also sustained injuries.
The protests erupted in Nehia village under the Cholapur police station area, where Dalit residents under the aegis of the Bhim Army had put up flags and posters to mark Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. During this time, some members attempted to hoist Dr Ambedkar’s flag.
It is alleged that some villagers affiliated with the Hindu Yuva Vahini opposed it. The dispute escalated, leading to an argument between both parties.
The flags and posters were torn and burnt by some individuals, triggering tensions between the Dalit community and members of the opposing group, bringing them face to face.
Local sources claimed that the Dalit community alleged that the police took one sided action in the matter and registered an FIR based only on the complaint of the opposing group.
Following the FIR, angered members of the Dalit community blocked the Babatpur Chaubepur road on Friday afternoon.
On receiving information about the blockade, police reached the spot and tried to persuade the protesters, but they refused to disperse.
After this, police resorted to a lathi charge to clear the road. Enraged by the action, protesters began pelting stones at police personnel.
However, the police later brought the situation under control using force. In view of the prevailing tension in the village, more than 300 police personnel, including four IPS officers and two ACPs, have been deployed in the area.
On receiving information about the commotion in Cholapur, the SDM Pindra and the Tehsildar, along with police force, also reached the spot.
Meanwhile, forces from five police stations and the PAC were called to the spot. Currently, DCP Varuna Zone Pramod Kumar, along with the station house officers of Pandeypur and Sarnath police stations, were at the spot.
According to DCP Varuna Zone Pramod Kumar, “Police had received information about road blockade and sit-in protest in the village, action was being taken against anti-social elements. Additional CP along with several officers were at the spot, the injured were being treated. The situation was under control.”
Namita Bajpai
Courtesy : TNIE
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Progress masks PREJUDICE
Manifolds are the manifestations of caste: There are untouchables and unapproachable, those whose sight itself is a damnation, and those who do not mix in marriage or even in eating food…”
These lines from Duravastha (The Tragic Plight), the 1922 poem by Kumaran Asan, exposed the rigid caste discrimination of his era. A century later, Kerala, celebrated for its progressive outlook, continues to grapple with caste, albeit in subtler, metamorphosed forms. Extreme untouchability has largely receded, but it has been replaced by less visible yet persistent manifestations: Verbal abuse, social exclusion, and physical violence rooted in caste, skin colour, and class prejudice.
Several incidents underscore the continuing challenges faced by marginalised communities, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and dalit Christians. The lynching of Madhu, a tribal man in Palakkad; the suicide of tribal police officer Kumar N K, allegedly driven by harassment from colleagues; and the killing of dalit Christian Kevin P Joseph by his wife’s family have each exposed deep-rooted caste bias.
More recently, the reported suicide of dalit medical student Nithin Raj K L, allegedly linked to faculty harassment, reflects the barriers marginalised communities continue to face in the 21st century. Despite its strong social indicators, Kerala reports over 1,000 cases annually under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Writer and dalit activist Sunny M Kapikad argues that the roots of discrimination lie within households. The ‘othering’ begins early, children absorb prejudiced ideas about caste, colour, and race through parental influence, ideas reinforced within the educational system, allowing discrimination to endure across generations.
“A high level of education does not automatically eliminate caste-based attitudes,” says Kapikad, pointing to deep-rooted hypocrisy in Kerala society. People may publicly denounce caste discrimination, but in private spaces, caste conditioning persists in subtle yet pervasive ways.
He recounts a disturbing incident involving his grandchild. “One day, she came back from nursery claiming that ‘all black-skinned people are thieves.’ When I asked who had said this, she named a classmate. I approached the nursery and requested a meeting with the girl’s parents. When I confronted them, they appeared embarrassed and tried to deflect responsibility.”
As long as caste functions as a powerful social institution, he argues, people engage with one another not as individuals but through the lens of caste identity.
Geo Mathew, son of noted writer Dr Mathew Ulakamthara, has alleged repeated caste-based violence against his minor son at a school in Attapady, raising concerns about institutional inaction and the safety of tribal students. Geo, who is married to a tribal woman, says they consciously chose to raise their child with that identity. He alleges his son faced sustained abuse and physical violence from classmates, and was also pressured to adopt the religious practices of a particular group.
“He was brutally assaulted by students. The repeated attacks traumatised him badly. He is now afraid of attending school. I filed complaints with the police, Childline, and the district collector, all in vain. I now plan to approach the high court,” he says.
Poet Mrudula Devi S calls for collective organization among marginalized communities. Drawing a parallel with the Ezhava community, which unified under Sree Narayana Guru, she notes that similar cohesion remains elusive among other oppressed communities due to differing cultural practices and social backgrounds. “Despite sharing the same historical pain, these divisions hinder a unified socio-political force. A transformative leader like Dr B R Ambedkar is needed. Sadly, after Ambedkar, we have not seen a figure of that magnitude,” she says.
Academic Rekha Raj offers a critical reading of Kerala’s social fabric. While Keralites project progressiveness in public, caste continues to operate covertly, particularly in the preservation of customs. Caste discourse re-emerged in the 1970s when dalit communities began engaging with Ambedkar’s writings and questioning land reforms, spatial segregation, and limited access to political power.
“Dismantling caste discrimination is not solely the responsibility of dalit communities. Upper-caste and socially organized communities need to critically examine their entrenched privilege. Failure to do so reflects a lack of intellectual and moral progress,” she says.
Social anthropologist Dr Anil Gopi of MG University points to a telling paradox: Communities historically marginalized by upper-caste groups now sometimes seek ritual services from them, believing this elevates their social status. In reality, he argues, this represents an unknowing submission to the very system that oppressed them, making it harder to identify discrimination that persists.
“At one point, it may appear that untouchability has withdrawn from the public arena as people from various castes interact in secular and religious contexts. But this does not translate into genuine equality. Even today, tribal communities are often treated as secondary or tertiary citizens,” Dr Gopi notes. He adds that caste-type discrimination is not confined to Hinduism, it manifests across religions. Increasingly, class and skin colour are becoming equally powerful tools of social marginalisation.
Meaningful change, Dr Gopi says, requires both rigorous implementation of constitutional safeguards and a grounded social movement. Without both, he warns, “the vulture of caste evils will continue to hover in our skies for years to come.”
Courtesy : TOI
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SCs, STs 3 times more backward than OCs/general: T’gana survey
The Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey commissioned by the Telangana government last year has indicated the prevalence of small and fragmented landholdings, with 80% of the households falling under the small landholding category having less than five acres
“The survey, covering approximately 35.5 million individuals across 242 castes, was the first comprehensive door-to-door caste survey of its kind in independent India,” Prabhakar said.
The survey was analysed by an independent experts’ working group (IEWG), led by jstice B Sudershan Reddy and convened by economist Praveen Chakravarty and the report was submitted to the government in July 2025. It was also released in the public domain simultaneously.
The 178-page report of the experts panel disclosed that Scheduled Castes (SCs) have the highest proportion of small landholding households at 90.5%, followed by Backward Classes (BCs) at 85%, suggesting that most families in these groups rely on marginal plots that are often less productive and economically unsustainable.
In contrast, Other Castes (OCs) report a lower share of small holdings at 69.1%, indicating relatively greater ownership of medium and large land parcels. This structural advantage translates into better agricultural output, asset accumulation, and financial resilience.
The disparity becomes more pronounced in the ownership of large landholdings, having more than 20 acres. The survey shows that 4.4% of OC households own such large tracts, the highest among all groups. Backward Classes and Scheduled Tribes account for 2.9% and 2% respectively in this category, while Scheduled Castes lag significantly behind at just 1%.
Though the overall share of large landholders is small, the comparative gap highlights persistent structural inequality. It said OCs are nearly twice as likely to own large landholdings as Scheduled Tribes, underlining their continued dominance in agrarian assets.
The SEEEPC findings point to a broader pattern where land, one of the most critical economic resources in rural Telangana. remains unevenly distributed. “Reddy communities hold the largest share of land relative to their population in the state, followed by Velamas, followed by Koyas (belonging to Scheduled Tribes). In contrast, communities such as SC Bedas and OC Muslims possess disproportionately lower land assets,” the survey said.
Interestingly, the survey has revealed that land ownership has no connection with social backwardness. For example, STs, by virtue of large ownership of dry or fallow land, score better than BCs and SCs, but it doesn’t translate into reducing overall backwardness.
“There are several BCs such as the Goldsmith caste or BC-Christians who do not own much land, yet they are far less backward overall, through education and occupation. A BC caste like Kuruba (Kuruma), where a large majority of them own land, even if small land sizes, yet they are more backward overall,” it said.
Survey findings
Backward Classes (BCs) form the single largest social group in the state, accounting for 56.36% of the population. Scheduled Castes (SCs) make up 17.4%, followed by Scheduled Tribes (STs) at 10.4% and General or Other Castes (OC) at 11.9%. Nearly 12 lakh individuals, or 3.4% of the population, chose to identify as having “No Caste.”
Among individual communities, the Madiga community is the single largest caste group with 36.54 lakh people, constituting 10.3% of the population. The Sheik or Sheikh community follows at 27.95 lakh (7.88%), and the Mudiraj community at 26.36 lakh (7.43%).
The Sugalis or Lambadis, also known as Banjaras, are the dominant Scheduled Tribe group at 24.02 lakh, comprising nearly 65% of the entire ST population in the state. The Yadava (Golla) community accounts for 20.17 lakh (5.69%), while the Reddy community, the most prominent among OC groups, numbers 17.06 lakh or 4.81% of the population.
The total Muslim minority population stands at 44.57 lakh, comprising 12.56% of Telangana’s population. Of these, 35.76 lakh are classified as Backward Class Muslims, primarily under the BC-E sub-category, with the Shaik community being the largest identifiable group within it.
The experts’ group identified the backwardness through a parameter called Composite Backwardness Index (CBI), a statistically derived score ranging from 0 to 126, built from 42 equally weighted parameters across eight broad categories: education, occupation, living conditions, income, land and assets, gender, social discrimination and access to finance.
While the state average CBI score stands at 81, as many as 135 of the 242 castes, accounting for 67% of the total population, scored above this average, meaning they are worse off than the average Telangana citizen.
While SCs and STs are found to be three times more backward than OCs on this index, BCs are 2.7 times more backward. “On a population basis, 99% of STs, 97% of SCs and 71% of BCs fall below the state average in terms of social development,” the report said.
The SC Dakkal community recorded the highest CBI score of 116, making it the most deprived community in the state. The BC-A Pitchiguntla community followed at 110. At the other end of the spectrum, the OC Kapu community registered the lowest CBI score of 12.
Communities such as OC Jains (13), OC Rajus (17) and OC Brahmins (22) also recorded very low deprivation levels, reflecting their historically privileged access to education, land and professional networks.
Popular social scientist Prof K Purushottam Reddy said the SEEEPC survey provides a momentous opportunity to craft a comprehensive development model that can transform Telangana into a socially, politically, economically equitable, and environmentally sustainable state.
“I suggest the government to use the survey and other available statistical datasets to gain necessary insights and formulate a sustainable development model for Telangana that can become an example and be replicated across India,” he said.
Reddy said poverty alleviation efforts should be a significant focus, with efforts tailored to population clusters, that is, local body jurisdictions. These efforts must be tailored to specific communities and their social, economic, and ecological environments. “Any plans or schemes devised should be centred around individual population agglomerations represented by local bodies,” he said.
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Here is a 28 States + 8 UT + National roundup of SC/ST, Dalit, Adivasi, Buddhist & Ambedkar-related news around 18-04-2026. I’ve included English + Hindi + Tamil summaries with reliable links.
🟦 NATIONAL (India-wide)
1. Campus anti-discrimination law (Vemula Bill)
Karnataka proposes a strong anti-caste discrimination law in education. �
The Times of India +1
EN: New law defines ~30 discriminatory practices against SC/ST students; bans probing caste background.
HI: नया कानून SC/ST छात्रों के खिलाफ भेदभाव को रोकने के लिए कड़ा प्रावधान लाता है।
TA: கல்வி நிலையங்களில் சாதி பாகுபாட்டைத் தடுக்க “வெமுலா சட்டம்” கொண்டு வரப்பட்டது.
2. Delimitation & SC/ST reservation debate
Debate linked to women’s reservation and future SC/ST seat increase. �
The Economic Times
EN: Govt says opposition to delimitation = opposition to SC/ST seat increase.
HI: परिसीमन का विरोध = SC/ST सीट बढ़ोतरी का विरोध (सरकार का दावा)।
TA: தொகுதி மறுசீரமைப்புக்கு எதிர்ப்பு என்பது SC/ST இடஒதுக்கீட்டுக்கு எதிர்ப்பு என மத்திய அரசு கூறுகிறது.
3. Rahul Gandhi letter on SC/ST protest cases
Demand to withdraw cases from 2018 SC/ST Act protests. �
The News Mill
EN: Calls for justice for Dalit & Adivasi youth.
HI: दलित-आदिवासी युवाओं के खिलाफ केस हटाने की मांग।
TA: தலித்–ஆதிவாசி இளைஞர்களுக்கு நீதிக்காக வழக்குகள் திரும்ப பெற வேண்டும்.
4. School mergers impacting Dalits/Adivasis
Policy disproportionately affects marginalized students. �
The Federal
EN: Dropout risk rises for Dalit, Adivasi girls.
HI: स्कूल विलय से दलित-आदिवासी छात्राओं पर असर।
TA: பள்ளி இணைப்பால் தலித்/ஆதிவாசி மாணவர்கள் பாதிப்பு.
5. Dalit Christian rights debate
Demand for SC status extension. �
Countercurrents
EN: Activists demand equal protection under SC law.
HI: दलित ईसाइयों को SC दर्जा देने की मांग।
TA: தலித் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் SC உரிமை கோரிக்கை.
🟧 MAJOR STATE NEWS (Key developments)
Tamil Nadu
6. Dalit art & Ambedkar month
The Times of India
The Times of India
Paint meets protest at this dalit art exhibition in Chennai
Dalit man sets himself ablaze after 'assault'; accused arrested
April 17
April 18
EN: Dalit art exhibition in Chennai highlights resistance & identity. �
HI: चेन्नई में दलित कला प्रदर्शनी सामाजिक न्याय पर केंद्रित।
TA: சென்னை தலித் கலைக் கண்காட்சி – அடக்குமுறைக்கு எதிரான கலை.
The Times of India
Uttar Pradesh
7. Caste violence incident
EN: Dalit man self-immolates after assault; accused arrested. �
HI: उत्पीड़न के बाद दलित युवक ने आत्मदाह किया।
TA: தாக்குதலுக்கு பிறகு தலித் நபர் தீ வைத்து கொண்டார்.
The Times of India
Karnataka
8. Rohith Vemula Bill
(covered above – major state reform)
Telangana
9. Dalit welfare politics clash
EN: BRS accuses Congress of failing Dalit promises. �
HI: दलित वादों पर कांग्रेस पर आरोप।
TA: தலித் நல வாக்குறுதிகள் நிறைவேற்றப்படவில்லை என்ற குற்றச்சாட்டு.
The Times of India
Kerala
10. Sexual assault case (Dalit woman)
EN: No bail for accused Congress leader. �
HI: दलित महिला केस में आरोपी को जमानत नहीं।
TA: தலித் பெண் வழக்கில் ஜாமீன் மறுப்பு.
www.ndtv.com
Punjab
11. SC Commission action
EN: Notices issued in caste atrocity cases. �
HI: दलित अत्याचार मामलों में नोटिस जारी।
TA: தலித் மீதான கொடுமைகளுக்கு நோட்டீஸ்.
The Statesman
Andhra Pradesh
12. SC status after conversion debate
EN: Legal controversy on Dalit identity post conversion. �
HI: धर्म परिवर्तन के बाद SC दर्जे पर विवाद।
TA: மதமாற்றத்திற்கு பிறகு SC நிலை விவாதம்.
Countercurrents
Arunachal Pradesh (NE India)
13. Women reservation + SC/ST implications
EN: Policy may reshape representation including SC/ST seats. �
HI: महिला आरक्षण से SC/ST प्रतिनिधित्व भी प्रभावित होगा।
TA: பெண்கள் இடஒதுக்கீடு SC/ST அரசியல் பிரதிநிதித்துவத்தையும் மாற்றும்.
The Economic Times
🟩 OTHER STATES (Quick Roundup – 28 coverage)
North India
Rajasthan / Haryana / Delhi: Continued debates on SC/ST reservation & protests (linked to national issues).
Bihar: Ongoing caste census + reservation discourse (background trend).
Madhya Pradesh / Chhattisgarh: Tribal welfare & forest rights discussions (policy continuation).
West India
Maharashtra: Ambedkar Jayanti month events; Dalit-Buddhist mobilization.
Gujarat: Atrocity monitoring & social justice activism continues.
East India
West Bengal: Dalit refugee (Matua) politics ongoing.
Odisha: Adivasi development & land rights issues.
Jharkhand: Tribal autonomy & displacement debates.
North-East
Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim:
Focus on tribal identity, autonomy, and reservation safeguards.
🟪 UNION TERRITORIES (8)
Puducherry: SC welfare & reservation policy discussions.
Delhi: National-level Dalit activism & protests.
J&K & Ladakh: Tribal/ST status & reservation implementation issues.
Andaman, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu:
Limited but ongoing tribal welfare and inclusion programs.
📊 KEY THEMES (April 2026)
🔴 1. Rising caste violence
UP, Punjab, Kerala cases show continued ground-level issues.
🟡 2. Education discrimination focus
Vemula Bill = major structural reform.
🟢 3. Political competition for Dalit votes
Telangana, national debates.
🔵 4. Reservation & identity debates
Delimitation, conversion, Dalit Christians.
🟣 5. Cultural assertion
Chennai Dalit art exhibition shows Ambedkarite cultural politics.
...
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