-- Dalits Media watch
News Updates 31.03.11
SC man beaten to death - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/31/stories/2011033157130500.htm
HC issues notice to state govt on SC/ST promotions - The Times Of India
HC rejects bail pleas of lifers in Dalits' murder - Deccan Herald
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/150172/hc-rejects-bail-pleas-lifers.html
Oppn slams govt for non-action' against Rout - The Times Of India
Rs.44.63 lakh paid as ex gratia in SC, ST atrocity cases - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/31/stories/2011033160780500.htm
Chengara agitators take anti-LDF stance - Deccan Chronicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/chengara-agitators-take-anti-ldf-stance-854
TN SC/ST courts move at top speed - Deccan Chronicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/tn-scst-courts-move-top-speed-860
London show digs up the dirt - Calgary Sun
http://www.calgarysun.com/travel/2011/03/25/17750776-reuters.html
The Hindu
SC man beaten to death
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/31/stories/2011033157130500.htm
Staff Reporter
Anantapur: Two persons from upper castes, Venkatram Reddy and Narender Reddy, allegedly beat up a Scheduled Caste person, Tirupathi, who later succumbed to injuries on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Sub-Inspector K. Prasad of C.K. Palle police station, a minor scuffle had broken out between Tirupathi and the two persons from Namala village at a meeting organised by Revenue officials for disbursing 'Aadhar' passbooks at Chennekothapalle village. The two persons allegedly beat up Tirupathi when he took his place in the front row for collecting his 'Aadhar' passbook. Tirupathi, who sustained internal injuries, returned home and succumbed to 'severe pain'. When he was taken to the local hospital, the doctors said that he was already dead.
The Times Of India
HC issues notice to state govt on SC/ST promotions
TNN | Mar 31, 2011, 06.19am IST
JAIPUR: The state government's decision to freeze promotions till the time quantifiable data on the existing representation of SC/ST category employees in its jobs was collected has been challenged before the high court.
Issuing notices on a petition filed by a general category employee Govind Narayan Sharma, Justice Prem Shankar Asopa has sought a reply from the state government in two weeks. Sharma, a section officer at the secretariat, has also challenged two circulars of the state government regarding the collection of the SC/ST employees' data.
The dispute pertains to reservation in promotion granted to the SC/ST employees through constitutional amendments but put on hold in Rajasthan by a Supreme Court order that says the eligibility conditions for granting the benefit be fulfilled first. The conditions were laid down by the apex court in the judgment of M Nagraj in October 2006.
The general category employees have been demanding the state government should implement the apex court order by preparing a revised seniority list, while the SC/ST category employees want the promotion be stalled till the eligibility condition of collecting quantifiable data was fulfilled.
As per the Nagraj case judgment, the state government is required to establish through adequate data that the SC/ST category employees were inadequately represented in its services, that there was necessity to fill a post ignoring merit and that doing so would not hamper the overall administrative efficiency. "A consolidated data would convey a skewed representation of the reserved category employees. If the number of officers is high and the junior staff is low, a consolidated data would give their wrong representation in the government jobs," Sharma's counsel Shobhit Tiwari argued.
Deccan Herald
HC rejects bail pleas of lifers in Dalits' murder
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/150172/hc-rejects-bail-pleas-lifers.html
Bangalore, March 30, DHNS:
The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday rejected the bail applications of 20 persons from Badanavalu near Mysore, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in a triple murder case. On March 25, 1993, some Dalit residents of Badanavalu village were attacked by 23 people following a dispute over their entry into Siddappaji Temple. The 23 accused were convicted of killing B R Narayanswamy, his son Madhukar, and their neighbour Nataraj.
Three of the accused had died during trial and the sentencing was given by the lower court in November 2010. The Sixth Additional District and Sessions Court Judge L F Malavalli also sentenced them to three years' rigorous imprisonment for causing grievous hurt under Section 326 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and one year for spreading hatred among the two communities, under Section 153 (A) of the IPC.
Atrocity on children
The Court disposed off the matter related to the poor implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, giving liberty to the petitioner to approach the local magistrate, if they knew of any incidents of ill treatment of children by the police.
Ullas, a social worker had filed a petition seeking prevention of child abuse and strict implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act. He had submitted that not much was being done to check rampant atrocities against children, in spite of the provisions in the Act.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice A S Bopanna gave the petitioner the liberty to conduct raids with the help of the Karnataka Legal Services Authority (KLSA) if he suspected any ill treatment of juvenile offenders.
The KLSA was directed to provide a vehicle for such raids. The petitioner was further given the liberty of approaching the local magistrate if he came across any instance of harassment. The Magistrate was directed to lodge a complaint and inform the local Superintendent of Police or Director General of Police who would then have to take action.
Intake to Tumkur varsity
The High Court has disposed of the matter related to enhancement of intake to Tumkur University after the vice chancellor and registrar submitted an affidavit stating that the errors will be rectified.
Earlier, in his affidavit filed before the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice A S Bopanna, V-C S C Sharma had apologised before the High Court for an 'unintended' error in enhancing the student intake for the year 2010-11.
Devaraj had filed a PIL claiming that the decision of the varsity to increase the intake to 44 students from 34 was contrary to resolutions of the academic council, syndicate and provisions of the Karnataka State University Act and UGC norms.
He had alleged that the intake was enhanced under pressure from various organisations. The Registrar apologised for the errors that had crept in fixing the intake.
The Times Of India
Oppn slams govt for non-action' against Rout
Mar 30, 2011, 10.55pm IST
BHUBANESWAR: The opposition Congress on Wednesday raised question on the "non-action" of the police against a senior Orissa minister who had been accused of hurting sentiments of dalits by uttering the word "Harijan" against the community.
"What action have the police taken so far against Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout? An FIR has been lodged at a police station against the minister," leader of the opposition Bhupinder Singh asked during the zero hour in the assembly.
Stating that the members of the assembly have the right to know about the police action against the minister, Singh said the police had launched a search operation when a Congress MLA was named in an FIR earlier.
In case of the minister, Singh alleged that the police remained silent even as the Orissa High Court did not grant bail in his favour.
The issue was raised by Congress member S S Saluja during zero hour, stating that the minister should not attend proceedings of the house unless granted bail.
In his clarification, the minister Rout said, "I will not attend the assembly if the court issued warrant against my name."
Admitting that he had uttered the word "Harijan" at a public meeting, the minister said he had no intention of hurting any member of the community.
One Manoj Kumar Bhoi had filed an FIR on August 21, 2010 in Kujanga police station against Rout for uttering the word "Harijan" while referring to a particular group of persons at a public meeting.
Meanwhile, Orissa High Court had allowed a petition of Rout who had sought an anticipatory bail in view of the FIR.
The High Court asked the minister to approach the lower court and obtain regular bail. pti
The Hindu
Rs.44.63 lakh paid as ex gratia in SC, ST atrocity cases
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/31/stories/2011033160780500.htm
Correspondent
NALGONDA: As many as 246 persons from Scheduled Castes and 62 persons from Scheduled Tribes in Nalgonda district have been paid an ex-gratia of Rs.44.63 lakh since 2007.
Collector S.A.M. Rizvi told the district-level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting regarding attacks and atrocities on people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, that the district administration has been taking all steps to expeditiously dispose of the cases.
Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar said the department was taking steps to ensure justice to the victims by effectively implementing the SC, ST (prevention) of Atrocities Act.
The meeting was attended by Nalgonda MP G. Sukhender Reddy, Joint Collector Neetu Prasad, MLAs V. Yadagiri Rao, N. Balu Naik, Ch. Lingaiah.
Deccan Chronicle
Chengara agitators take anti-LDF stance
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/chengara-agitators-take-anti-ldf-stance-854
March 31, 2011
By DC Correspondent
Disgusted with the 'apathy' of the Achuthanandan government, a major Dalit forum leading a land struggle popularly known as 'Chengara Samaram' has decided to take an anti-Left Democratic Front stance in the coming assembly elections.
"We will take an anti-Left stance in the polls unless the government corrects the Land Reform Bill which is still discriminatory in nature," said Mr Laha Gopalan, President of Sadhujana Vimochana Samyukta Vedi.
"It has a clause that those having at least three cents of land will not be included among the beneficiaries."
He added that despite claiming to be pro-poor, the Left Democratic Front government in the state chose to see the Chengara agitation as a law and order problem instead of treating it as a basic rights issue.
"Before the start of the Chengara agitation in 2006, most of us were sympathisers of the Left government but in the last four years, not even a single leader from the CPI(M) had visited or inquired about the problem that we face in the state," he said.
The struggle broke out in 2006 when around 4,000 families, mostly landless Dalits and adivasis, encroached upon upon the rubber plantations spread across three hills near Chengara in Pattanamthitta district.
Of them, over 2,000 have got land so far. "However, except for the land provided in Malappuram, Eranakulam and Kollam, the other land that we got is not worth anything and cannot be utilised as it consists of only rocks," said Mr Gopalan. "We cannot cultivate anything there."
Currently, around 1000 families are living in the Chengara plantations. Most of them are self-dependent and engage n rubber tapping, cultivation and daily wage labour to survive.
However, local Left leaders termed Mr Gopalan's statement as mere blackmail. "We are the only ones to have given title deeds to the landless tribals," a local CPI (M) leader said.
Deccan Chronicle
TN SC/ST courts move at top speed
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/tn-scst-courts-move-top-speed-860
March 31, 2011
By Pramila Krishnan
Unlike regular courts, special courts for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Tamil Nadu are disposing of cases expeditiously with the courts performing better than such special courts in other states, says a study by National Law School of India University, Delhi.
The results of the study, conducted to determine how these special courts are functioning, has prompted the Union government to announce the formation of special courts in all states, say activists.
Special courts to deal with atrocities against SC/STs currently function in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Recently, Union social justice and empowerment minister Mukul Wasnik said he had asked all states to set up exclusive courts to dispose of cases related to SC/STs.
According to the NLSIU study, these courts in Tamil Nadu are speedier at delivering justice than those in other states. While special courts in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on average take nearly two years to dispose of a case, TN courts take around a year and four months. NLSIU research report says TN courts have disposed of over 216 cases filed in special courts for SC/STs from 1998.
Detailing the factors which delay the disposal of cases, researcher P. Ramesh and advocates Pandi Rajan and Ganesan say the delay in deciding atrocity cases starts even before the trial process formally begins with the submission of chargesheet in special courts. It takes almost of five to six days even to file the first information report. The delay at this initial stage could be due to lack of awareness about the SC/ST Act or due to unwillingness of the police to register the FIR, they said.
Calgary Sun
London show digs up the dirt
http://www.calgarysun.com/travel/2011/03/25/17750776-reuters.html
By Michelle Martin, Reuters Life!
Last Updated: March 30, 2011 10:00pm
"Dirt: the Filthy Reality of Everyday Life" features around 200 exhibits ranging from vials of urine to air samples and a floor pattern made from dust found in homes, all of which are used to examine humanity's ambivalent relationship with dirt through the ages.
"Dirt is everywhere and periodically we get very worried about it. But we have also discovered that we need bits of it and, guiltily, secretly, we are sometimes drawn to it," said Ken Arnold, Director of Public Programs at the Wellcome Collection, where the exhibition is being held.
The exhibition takes anthropologist Mary Douglas' view that dirt is "matter out of place" as a cue to investigate human attitudes toward cleanliness.
Exhibits include a blue and white Delft Dutch chamber pot decorated with delicate depictions of country life, a sewer worker's iron pick which dates back to 1890 and five large grey blocks sculpted from human faeces collected by Dalits -- scavengers who remove waste from India's sewers by hand.
Other highlights include an 18th century book containing remedies for various ailments like scurvy, which it suggests should be treated using "cow stale" (urine); footage of bacteria found in dental plaque and a broom which lies inconspicuously in a corner but proves to be a masterpiece encrusted with diamonds and pearls on closer inspection.
"I want people to leave with an expanded awareness of dirt," Kate Forde, curator of the exhibition, told Reuters.
"Dirt is something that's in flux all of the time and it has also powered our economy," she said, noting that London's muck was taken beyond the city's walls to fertilize crops in the medieval ages, while over half of human waste is incinerated to create energy for London's homes and business nowadays.
Serena Korda's "Laid to Rest" -- a stack of red bricks made from clay combined with dust given by members of the public -- is one exhibit which engages with the idea of using waste creatively, by evoking the idea that cities are built from dirt, Forde said.
The bricks, which are engraved with the initials of the dust donors, are set to become a focal point in the exhibition -- choral incantations will be sung over them ahead of the burial that will return them to the earth from which they came.
Creative solutions to the problem of dirt are also the subject of films and photographs in an exhibit about Staten Island's Fresh Kills, which was once the world's largest municipal landfill site but will be transformed into a public park by 2030.
Another of the "Dirt" exhibition's six rooms packed with visitors is dedicated to a street in London where an outbreak of cholera killed 500 people in 10 days in 1854.
The room includes a vial containing a human excretion known as "rice water" -- a cloudy whitish liquid secreted by cholera victims when the disease drained their bodies of nutrients, dehydrated them and caused their kidneys to fail.
The sinister exhibit includes a 19th century etching of a man in a "cholera preventive costume" -- an outfit made from rubber, flannel, copper and a sandbag; a vial of vinegar suspended from the nose; flasks of water dangling from the legs; a hat containing a bowl of soup and brass soles constantly filled with warm water.
"Dirt" also documents the Dutch devotion to cleaning in the 17th century, as depicted in Pieter de Hooch's paintings of women sweeping the streets and their homes, while medical equipment from a Glaswegian hospital in the 1860s is also on display.
--
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
Palash Biswas
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http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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