Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 28.01.13
Minor raped, one arrested - The Tribune
Man sentenced to lifer for murder of Dalit girl in Bihar - Zee News
NHRC's open hearing begins in Nagpur - Zee News
Dalits express concern over revealing rape victims' names - Deccan Herald
"Legal awareness vital for Dalits" - The Hindu
Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah rushes to defend under-fire Ashis Nandy for anti-SC, OBC row - The Financial Express
My comment was pro-Dalit, I still stand by it, says Ashis Nandy - IBN Live
The Tribune
Minor raped, one arrested
Fatehgarh Sahib, January 27
A minor Dalit girl of Nalina Khurd village was allegedly raped by two men of the same village when she was alone at her house, the police said.
The police has registered a rape case against both the accused. One of the accused has been arrested while the other is still at large.
Fatehgarh Sahib SSP HS Mann said a minor girl from Nalina Khurd had lodged an FIR alleging that on January 21 Najam Ali, alias Raju, and Jasbir Singh Bunty, both in their twenties, scaled the wall of her house and raped her. After committing the crime, they threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident, he said.
The girl narrated the incident to her parents when they returned home. Rape has been confirmed during a medical checkup. The police has arrested Najam Ali whereas the second accused Jasbir Singh is absconding. — OC
Zee News
Man sentenced to lifer for murder of Dalit girl in Bihar
Last Updated: Monday, January 28, 2013, 18:22
Sasaram (Bihar): A court in Bihar's Rohtas district today convicted an accused to lifer after finding him guilty in the murder case of a Dalit girl two years ago.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge Sajjal Mandilwar passed the order convicting Firoj Mian after finding him guilty in the murder case of the 14 year-old.
According to prosecution, Mian had killed the victim after forcibly lifting her from her house at Kochas Bazar on February 22, 2011 after she had spurned his desire for marriage. PTI
Zee News
NHRC's open hearing begins in Nagpur
Last Updated: Monday, January 28, 2013, 22:01
Nagpur: The three-day open hearing by National Human Rights Commission in 571 cases relating to alleged atrocities against the scheduled castes in Maharashtra began here on Monday.
Inaugurating the hearing, Justice KG Balakrishnan, Chairperson, NHRC, said that despite so many social legislations and welfare schemes, the scheduled castes continued to face problems.
The Commission through its open hearings is trying to reach out to people in different parts of the country and hear their complaints about violations of their rights by public authorities and to solve the problems with cooperation from state governments.
He said that the Commission has no adversarial role to the functioning of state governments and it would help them in good governance.
He said that four open hearings in Odisha, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan earlier have been very successful.
The commission has been receiving one lakh complaints every year and their disposal was a huge task given the limited manpower at its command, he said.
Maharashtra's Secretary for Social Welfare R D Shinde assured that all the directives of the Commission would be implemented by the State government.
AK Garg, Registrar( Law), NHRC said that the Commission received about 1400 complaints from Maharashtra, out which only 571 could be taken up for open hearing as many of the complaints were time barred.
The Commission did not have the mandate to take cognisance of issues which were old beyond one year.
Out of the 571 complaints, 191 were heard during the open hearing today, according to an official release.
Deccan Herald
Dalits express concern over revealing rape victims' names
Mangalore, Jan 27, 2013, DHNS:
Dalit leaders expressed concern over revealing of names of the victims who have undergone sexual assault, in the media. Revealing of names will further demoralise her spirit to fight against crime. There are all possibilities of the victim further being victimised in the society.
They were speaking at SC/ST grievances meeting at Police Commissioner's office on Sunday. They said revealing the identity will cause further embarrassment and agony to the victims and their family.
Reacting to it, DCP Dharmaiah said that normally only Police Commissioner issues statements. Other police personnel are not allowed to issue any statement on crimes.
"We will ensure that the names of victims are not revealed to the mediapersons while giving out the report," he said.
A Dalit woman from Harekala said that her husband has been neglecting the family and has extra marital affair. "I had complained to the women's police station at Pandeshwar. The police had just warned him. However, he has not changed his behaviour and continues to neglect the family," she added.
The DCP promised to look into the issue. Dalit members said many believe that discrimination against Dalits are a thing of past. However, Dalit families are discriminated at Basavanagara colony in Kavoor. Shivu, Manju, Mallikarjuna, Hemanappa and Bharat and others said that upper caste community members have asked them not to use public tap in Basava Nagara.
"They would tell us not to use the public tap stating that we are from a lower caste. We have our own tap but occasionally when there is no water in the taps meant for us, we are compelled to use the public tap," they said and added that the members from upper caste also do not allow us to dry our clothes.
DCP Muthuraya promised to look into the issue and urged the families to stay with mutual cooperation and understanding in the colony.
The Hindu
"Legal awareness vital for Dalits"
D. Karthikeyan
It is a known fact that awareness of Constitutional provisions and law enforcement agencies among Dalits is low and that is one of the stumbling blocks to their emancipation.
Studies reveal that the empowerment of Dalits has always resulted in a concurrent increase in opposition to them as well. Atrocities happen when Dalits try to avail themselves of legal resources; assert their right over common property resources, their occupation, right to participate in cultural life, their right to vote etc.
As part of an effort to instil and inculcate the legal as well as human rights aspects among political activists and campaigners of Dalit causes, a social movement titled "Inai" (Join) floated by Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi organised a workshop here on Saturday.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the workshop, D. Ravikumar, general secretary and former M.L.A., VCK, said that Dalit political activists have the need to know about the laws pertaining not only to the protection of Scheduled Castes but also on laws related to women and children.
The implementation of laws meant for these oppressed sections has always been problematic.
For example, in the case of abolition of bonded labour and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, the number of cases registered is abysmally low. The National Crime Records Bureau statistics reveal those details, Mr. Ravikumar said.
The conference was organised as part of the contemporary political debate to counter the false propaganda that the SC/ST POA, 1989 was being misused, he added.
The Financial Express
Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah rushes to defend
under-fire Ashis Nandy for anti-SC, OBC row
PTI: Jaipur, Jan 28 2013, 17:29 IST
Jaipur: Dalit activist-writer Kancha Ilaiah today sought to put a lid on the controversy over sociologist Ashis Nandy' remarks on SC and STs, saying it was "a bad statement with good intentions".
Prof Ashis Nandy made a bad statement with good intentions, however, as far as I know he was never against reservation. The controversy should end here," Ilaiah said in a statement here.
andy had kicked up a storm at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Saturday with his remarks that "most of the corrupt come from the OBCs, SCs and STs", drawing the ire of many prominent figures including BSP chief Mayawati. An FIR was also lodged against him following his statement.
Nandy had later issued a clarification saying he was trying to make the point that corruption among Dalits was noticeable, while that of the rich was not.
Speaking in Nandy' defence, Ilaiah said that his statement was unfortunately worded and blamed the upper caste for doing more corruption.
"How do we interpret is the issue. In my opinion, he missed out saying that upper castes have always been corrupt.
They build a corrupt society and dalits are entering only now," Ilaiah told reporters.
The Dalit writer praised Mayawati, saying "she is a living icon of dalits. I never met her but have respect for the courageous leader."
Ilaiah, who heads a research centre at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, is author of 'Why I am Not a Hindu' and 'God as Political Philosopher: Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism.'
Ilaiah in a session at the literature festival also launched his first work of fiction, 'Untouchable God'.
IBN Live
My comment was pro-Dalit, I still stand by it, says Ashis Nandy
Updated Jan 28, 2013 at 06:12pm IST
Sociologist and political psychologist Ashis Nandy defended his statements on Dalits and other backwards classes saying he stood by what he said and that he apologised only to those who were hurt by his statement.
Speaking to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Nandy said, "I don't feel hounded. I stand by what I said. If people listen to my full statement carefully, it was actually pro-Dalit. I apologised to those who were hurt by my statement."
Nandy also said that corruption was seen in Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis because they say it as an 'equalising force'. "Elite corruption can easily be hidden whereas Dalit corruption makes a splash," he added. Below is the transcript of the interview.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Joining me now of the country's foremost social scientist who finds himself in an eye of storm in a sense. Dr Ashis Nandy joins us, thank you very much professor Nandy for joining us on CNN-IBN. There are calls for your arrest; you have been forced out from Jaipur Literature festival, FIRs filed against you. When you are heading out politicians speaking out against you, do you feel hounded, and perhaps a little frightened?
Ashis Nandy: No I don't feel hounded and frightened because I know if people read the script of what I said, or even see the video they will know that even the statement they are quoting frequently was part of an aggressively pro-Dalit, pro-OBC plea. I did stand by them and I do want to stand by them.
Rajdeep Sardesai: But Dr Nandy there will be those who will say that you have actually gone ahead and apologised. If you feel so strongly about what you said, what was the need to apologies? Was that because of the pressure that was put on you either by the organizers or by politicians to apologies so that the issue could blow over?
Ashis Nandy: I apologized to those hurt by my statement, not to those who are using my statement to make a point which is against to what I have said in this particular presentation, as well in earlier occasions, and constantly throughout my life in the last 45 years.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Dr Nandy no one doubts the huge body of work that you have done, but let me come to the specific statement you have made which created this statement. You said and I quote, "It will be an undignified and vulgar statement but the fact is most of the corrupt come from the OBCs, SCs, and now increasingly the STs. As long as this is the case the Indian republic would survive." Taken in isolation this statement may well be seen by some as castes.
Ashis Nandy: No it can also be seen as a fact that I'm supporting the corruption which I was of the Dalits, OBCs, and Adivasis because that corruption is partly an equalising force; it balances the discriminations in the society to come extent at least. Because the corruption that is coming from other communities is more and they have better resources to fight acquisitions for corruption. In the cases of Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis the corruption at least gives them some access to the resources of the society. And that is why I said that I stand by that fact as a hope for the future of the country.
Rajdeep Sardesai: You are actually saying that corruption is a great equalizer, but Dr Nandy, would it be fairer to say that the elite have set the ruse of the game, the upper casts in a sense have set the rule of the game, to that extent they must bear the principle responsibility for corruption. They created a corrupt order and the backward casts, SCs, STs, have just joined in.
Ashis Nandy: I exactly said that, if you had heard earlier two sentences you would have known that, I gave examples of how an elite corruption can be hidden, where as the corruption by the lower orders seems to many people as seemingly corrupt, crudely corrupt. That is why it makes a greater splash in news.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Are you therefore saying that the upper cast get away with their corruption while as Dalits and backwards do not get away with their corruption?
Ashis Nandy: Yes that is what I was trying to say. And this point has been made by others. It was made my Tarun Tajpal in that meeting, right before I spoke and I did say that I endorse that point. That point has also been made my Shaker Gupta of Indian Express in an edit page article, and it has been made my others. So it is not that I have only made this point. This point has been made by number of persons. I have also made this point in one of my public lectures only a few months ago, where nobody objected, nobody protested to it.
Rajdeep Sardesai: But do you think you could have been perhaps more nuanced in making that that argument in a public platform, given the sensitivity involved when you say that most of the corrupt today come from OBCs, SCs, and increasingly the STs.
Ashis Nandy: Well increasingly is the crucial word, I should have emphasised on that part more. I have never thought of it as a public form, I have thought of it as a literary meet. So it is unfair to ask me to choose words cautiously. I was not speaking in Parliament or in a court of law.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Is that your worry, that in literally meet, or where every you make a public statement, debating issues has become more and more difficult because the level of intolerance, the culture of intolerance has grown.
Ashis Nandy: Yes absolutely; I have seen this happen to number of artists, painters and even other writers.
Rajdeep Sardesai: But let me give another statement that you made that is controversial. You say, "I will give you another example, the state of West Bengal has least corruption, in the last 100 years nobody from the backward class or SCs, STs have come anywhere near power in West Bengal. It is an absolutely clean state." Now that statement read with your earlier statement would almost suggest that you believe that when the SCs, STs, and OBCs come to power that is when corruption begins, or corruption goes to new levels.
Ashis Nandy: No on the contrary, I said it looks incorrupt, it looks clean because corruption has been institutionalised and beautifully handled that it doesn't look corrupt. But we have paid for that apparent cleanliness by keeping out the SCs, STs, OBCs, anywhere from close to power. Bengal is in that case one of the most backward state in India, if not the most backward state of India.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Let me flip you argument, the flip side would be that Dr Nandy is rationalizing the corruption of SCs, STs, OBCs, that could be the other flip side of what you are saying. That if Mayawati is corrupt, she is corrupt because that is the only way she can equalise herself with the upper cast. Do you believe that is also a danger?
Ashis Nandy: I was not basically taking about individuals, I'm taking of collectivities which are at the margin of desperation.
Rajdeep Sardesai: No the reason I'm saying that because it appears that we have reached to a stage in this country where particularly you can't criticise Dalits, and STs. In anyway to that form of politics can a Mayawati be criticised for example for allege corruption without the fear of retributive violence. In that sense they are almost like holly cows.
Ashis Nandy: Yes that danger is always there but that is the price we have to pay for democracy.
Rajdeep Sardesai: You know, you are saying that it is the price we have to pay for democracy but as someone who has spent a life time, Dr Nandy, in the crucible of ideas, debating great issues concerned to contemporary India, including cast and communalism, today when a Narinder Modi government charges you with sedation, Mayawati calls for your arrest - how do you see the future of ideas and debates and academic freedom in this country?
Ashis Nandy: I fear for it because we have become afraid of ideas. People will be talking more and more in banalities, and I think that is a great pity that our public life with be to that extent impoverish.
Rajdeep Sardesai: In that sense, if Dr Nandy was called next year to Jaipur Literature festival, or any other festival would you speak any differently, would you speak any differently if you were called for a public lecture. Have you in a sense leant a lesson, as someone would say, and would you be a little bit more discreet about what you say, or you would stick to what you have always been over the last 454 years, some kind of iconoclast.
Ashis Nandy: I probably will not be able to change by style at the age of 75. But I will probably speak more to other societies, which are more tolerant. Many of them are not; I have in the same way in the same tone to Chinese audiences in China, knowing fully that it might lead to trouble. So I doubt whether I will change, very much. I might in considerations of the sensitivity of people who have known this only from TV, or newspapers. I will add also the fact that I am sorry if I have hurt the feelings of those who have only heard those two sentences. I they had heard the previous two sentences and the subsequent sentences they would have had a different feeling.
Rajdeep Sardesai: And what would you like to tell all those politicians who are calling for your arrest, saying that SC, ST chairperson calling for your arrest, Mayawati calling for your arrest. What would you like to call Dalit politicians today, are they playing politics with academic freedom and freedom of thought?
Ashis Nandy: Playing with more dangerous things. They are playing with a possibility that more and more they will lose their friends. Or more of their friends will not express their opinions as aggressively in their favour as previously did. And I think that will be pity. It will be pity if those intellectuals who work with ideas that are often at the margin, which are often dangerous stop doing so, because in that sense not only the Dalits, not only the OBCs, but the entire Indian society will be impoverish.
--
.Arun Khote
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.
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