The Times Of India
Upper caste people torch Dalit houses
SAMBALPUR: At least 30 houses of Dalits were torched by the upper caste community at Lathor village in Balangir district on Sunday night, following a clash between the two groups over a petty issue.
The situation had escalated beyond control, with people so incensed that they even torched the fire-fighting vehicle that was brought in to extinguish the fire. No media persons were allowed to enter the village. The situation was brought under control only after the deployment of armed police late in the night.
The victims were given shelter in a local high school after they were rescued by police. A shop owner, who was injured seriously in the incident, was shifted to VSS Medical college hospital of Burla on Monday. Police arrested 42 villagers.Four platoons of police were deployed in the village apprehending further untoward incident.
Police sources said four youths from Dalit basti in the village, under Khaprakhol policestation, had gone to one Laxmi cloth store on Sunday evening to purchase some cloth. The shop owner Jaydev Meher, along with his two sons Daya and Bharat, reportedly had an altercation with the boys over the purchase, in which one of the Dalit boys was assaulted. The Dalit community took it seriously and decided to teach a lesson to the shop owner for assaulting a boy of their community. "The situation went out of control when the Dalits came in a group and attacked Bharat Meher, who was seriously injured and admitted to Khaprakhol hospital," said a senior resident of the village.
According to him, the upper caste people then convened a meeting and marched towards Dalit basti at night. They torched the houses of the basti and within a short span the entire basti was ablaze. "We did not get time to save our belongings. We started running towards jungles to save our lives," said a resident of the basti.
"We have deployed armed policemen and arrested 42 villagers. Now the situation is under control," said SDPO (Patnagarh) Laxmi Narayan Panda. According to him, about 193 victims were rescued by police, which includes 33 boys and 85 women, all of whom were given shelter in a local high school.
Markets and business establishments remained closed in the village on Monday.
The Times Of India
Dalits groups protest against Ambedkar statue shifting
BANGALORE: The Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samithi (DSS) threatened to launch a statewide protest condemning the government for shifting the Ambedkar statue for Metro construction work.
The DSS and other backward class groups marched from the Mahatma Gandhi statue on MG road to Raj Bhavan on Monday and submitted a memorandum to the governor.
Last week, the state cabinet gave the green signal for temporary shifting of the statue inside the Vidhana Soudha premises as has been done to two other statues by thePublic Works Department. The BMRC promised to install the three statues at the same positions after construction work is completed and road is laid atop the underground station.
The BMRC has prrojected a cost escalation of Rs 100 crore if the project is delayed. Rock blasting has not been conducted in a radius of 25 metres around the statue to prevent any damage to the foundation. The twin tunnels being bored from Majestic have already reached Central College and the distance between Central College and Vidhana Soudha is less than 1km.
The Times Of India
Caste certificate applications of 50 persons missing
NASHIK: The long wait for about 50 poll aspirants awaiting caste validation certificate grew even longer after they learnt that neither were their names included in the list of the certificates prepared nor were they in the list of those under verification. "My name is not included anywhere on the lists despite me being given a receipt for my application," said Dashrath Shinde, an applicant who wishes to contest the zilla parishad elections.
Vexed by the non-co-operation of officials in the process of getting caste validation certificates from the collectorate, applicants on Friday gheraoed deputy collector (administration) c for over an hour's time. The applicants demanded the whereabouts of their forms, which had been submitted in time.
The candidates had apparently been told that their forms were not traceable and that by evening the forms would be located. Similarly, while Chandrakant Pawar, was issued the validation certificate, the application of his brother Sanjay Pawar was however blocked for queries. "There is something fishy here," Chandrakant Pawar claimed.
Finally, at 8.15pm, the fifty applicants were told by the employees to go home as the papers could not be located. They were asked to come again on Saturday. The last day of filing nominations was Monday and it being Amwasya, the contestants are don't want to waste the Saturday - the last working day before the last day.
Neither the collector, nor the concerned officer replied to queries.
DNA
BSP works not only for Dalits but for all sections: Mayawati
| Seeking to shake off BSP's image as a party which cares only for Dalits, Mayawati today said it was not against any caste or religion and wanted to build a society based on the principles of equality. "BSP is not against any caste or religion. It wants to remove inequality and establish a society based on equality," the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said while seeking votes for party candidates in Uttarakhand Assembly elections. To support her claim, Mayawati said she has given tickets to candidates belonging to all sections of society during the current assembly elections. Reminding people that the BSP had formed government in UP four times because of its "good and pro-people policies", she exuded confidence that her party will repeat its performance once again this time. "People would bring BSP back to power for the fifth time in the state as it always works for the welfare of all sections of soceity," she claimed. Alleging that non-BSP governments are formed with the help of rich people and so they make policies which favour them, she described BSP as the only party which makes policies for the welfare of all sections. Listing the works done by her government in Uttar Pradesh for welfare of various sections of the society, Mayawati said her government did not tolerate atrocities against women, Dalits and other weaker sections and the culprits are immediately sent behind the bars. Mayawati asked the people of Uttarakhand should also bring BSP to power for their betterment. |
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