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"Dalit Solidarity News" is an information project run by the International Dalit Solidarity Network. News stories are extracts from online newsservices. Link to the full story is found at the end of each blog.
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Formed in 2000, the IDSN is a network of international organisations, national solidarity networks and affected country groups, campaigning against caste-based discrimination throughout the world, from the dalits of South Asia to the Osu of Nigeria and the Burakumin of Japan. Visit our website International Dalit Solidarity Network for more information.
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Monday, June 04, 2007
PAKISTAN: Call to make caste bias a criminal offence The Dawn, Pakistan
By Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 3: Speakers at a workshop on Sunday demanded that a national commission be set up to solve the problems being faced by the scheduled castes and that caste-based discrimination be declared a serious crime.
They were speaking at a national workshop on "Caste-based discrimination in Pakistan," organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and the Thardeep Rural Development Programme (TRDP).
The workshop was part of an international research project being conducted in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, sponsored by the Denmark-based International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) and Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS).
The speakers demanded that a constitutional package and protection for scheduled castes be provided. They said steps should be taken to stop forced conversions of scheduled caste girls and an independent commission should be formed to investigate the conversions.
They demanded that special scholarships be provided to Dalit students and steps be taken to end the discrimination in schools against them, along with reforms in the curriculum. It was further demanded that the Dalits be given due representation at the decision-making levels so that they could protect their rights.
Earlier, researcher Zulfiqar Shah presented the initial findings of his study carried out on 5,000 households. He focussed on four districts – two in lower Punjab and two in lower Sindh. He said that about two million scheduled caste people – belonging to the Kolhi, Meghwar, Bheel, Balmiki, Oad, Jogi, Bagri and other communities – were the poorest of the poor and were discriminated against in day to day life, despite the fact that the country's constitution promises equal rights to all citizens.
The survey revealed that the worst form of discrimination — from both upper caste Hindus and Muslims — came in the shape of untouchability, which means they were denied access to public places like restaurants, barber shops, etc.
In some places they were served in separate crockery and in other areas they were even denied entry to certain restaurants and shops.
They had segregated housing, while the situation is worse in rural areas as 95 per cent of Dalits living in Rahimyar Khan reported untouchability as compared to 35 per cent living in Multan. Sixty-nine per cent of those surveyed said that their upper caste Hindu and Muslim neighbours either do not invite them to their social gatherings like weddings, or if invited they are served food separately. This attitude was relatively more prevalent in Rahimyar Khan (87 per cent) than in Tharparkar (60 per cent).
The study claims that only one per cent of scheduled caste people were in government service, that also in the lowest tiers like primary school teachers. The illiteracy level in Dalits stood at 73 per cent against the national literacy level of around 50 per cent. The majority of these literates are educated up to the primary or secondary school levels, while only one per cent were graduates.
Approximately 56 per cent of Dalit families live in single-room katcha houses, while 35 per cent reported the death of a child under 5 years in their families. The data showed that they were ignored by the political groups and government; hence they were unable to reap any benefits from the devolution plan. They also faced economic exploitation and the majority of bonded labourers in Sindh are from the scheduled castes.
The research, conducted by Mr Shah and his team, revealed that very little information was available on the status of issues being faced by marginalised groups like the scheduled castes. Also, there was no legal protection or affirmative action policy to combat caste-based discrimination in Pakistan, unlike in India.
The research presentation was followed by a discussion in which about 40 participants, including Dalit community representatives, political leaders, academics, researchers and activists, took part. At the end of the workshop the participants decided to form a Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network.
Former MNA Dr Khatumal Jewan, former MPA of Punjab Lala Mehar Lal Bheel, Rochi Ram Advocate, Dr Sono Khingharani of the TRDP, journalist Surrendar Valasai, Dr Aly Ercelawn of the Piler and others also spoke.
A number of representatives of the scheduled castes from Sindh and Punjab attended the workshop.
Link to the article
10:28 AM
Friday, May 11, 2007
PAKISTAN: LOWER CASTE HINDUS TURN TO MUSHARRAF FOR HELP
AKI - Italiy
10 May
Low caste Hindus or Dalits in Pakistan have written a letter to Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf urging him to take "swift action" to ensure an end to "many forms of untouchability, caste discrimination, human inequality and humiliation" at the hands of higher caste Hindus and those who have converted to Islam. The letter was written by the founder president of the Scheduled Castes (or Dalits) Federation of Pakistan, Surendar Valasai, but is yet to receive any response from the general.
Speaking to the Indian daily, the Asian Age, in a telephone interview from Pakistan, Valasai, who takes pride in being the "first" Dalit journalist in Pakistan, said the two million Dalits in that country did not want to be clubbed together with higher caste Hindus. They are currently classified as part of a single community. He said most Dalits live in Lower Sindh and Lower Punjab and have been deprived of their due share in government schemes, with all the benefits going to upper caste Hindus. He said 70 percent of Hindus in Pakistan are Dalits, and pointed out that in many areas they were not allowed to share the same utensils in schools and government offices.
Valasai said the situation was bad, but even then "it is better than that of dalits in India, as at least our lives are secure." Pointing out that the discrimination faced by dalits was similar in all South Asian countries, he said the discrimination against the entire community should be recognised and addressed by the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as an issue on its agenda. He said the Dalits in Pakistan were in the process of conducting a study to determine the social indicators of development. Admission to schools was not a major problem, but discrimination faced by students after they were admitted certainly was.
The letter to Gen. Musharraf was written on the eve of his visit to Naunkot in Sindh province, the centre of Mirpurkhas division, where Dalits form almost 35 per cent of the population. It has drawn the general's attention to the "Law (Code) of Manu" being followed in the region despite Mohammed Ali Jinnah's statement in 1944 when he is quoted as having said: "I can tell my friends of the scheduled castes (or Dalits) that at no time have I overlooked their interests and position, and I may claim that in the past I have done all I could to help them and I shall always stand for their protection and safeguard ... for I think the wrongs and injustices inflicted on them for centuries should not be allowed to continue under any civilised form of government."
The Dalits have started a signature campaign to be considered as a distinct group, separate from the "Hindus and scheduled castes" category. The petition points out that Dalits are poorly represented in Pakistan's parliament compared to higher caste Hindus. It also demands separate reserved seats for Dalits in parliament and the four provincial assemblies in accordance with their population, as well as special concessions in the economic, educational, social and political fields to remove "the wrongs and injustices done to them in the past." Other demands include the constitution of a National Commission on Scheduled Castes; allotment of land to landless Dalit peasants and state protection against harassment and discrimination.
Valasai said they had not received any positive response from the government but were optimistic that their demands would be listened to. He is in touch with Indian Dalit groups but rules out any "pro-active cooperation." He has made common cause, however, with resistance movements within Pakistan and participated last year at the Karachi World Social Forum.
Link to the articleLabels: Pakistan
1:55 PM
Caste based discrimination still prevalent in India, says ILO report
Hindustan Times
11 May 2007
Caste-based discrimination maybe abolished by law in India but it remains a major cause why backward classes, especially the Dalits, remain confined to menial tasks like manual scavenging and removal of dead animals, a latest report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on discrimination in the job sector has said.
Affirmative action has been able to assist only a small number of Dalits in finding formal jobs but has failed to provide even and equal opportunities to all, the report added.
"Violence, discrimination and segregation are a daily experience for millions of men and women in several regions of the world. But the practice (of discrimination that is rooted in caste or similar systems) is most widespread in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal," the report, titled 'Equality at Work: Tackling the Challenges' remarked.
The report, a follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, was released in New Delhi by the Union Labour and Employment Minister, Oscar Fernandes, on Thursday.
The report added that Dalits are generally not accepted for any work involving contact for water and food for non-Dalits or entering a non-Dalit residence. "Thus, they are excluded from a wide-range of work opportunities in the area of production, processing or sale of food items, domestic work and the provision of certain services in the private and public sectors," the report said, adding their situation is further impaired by limited access to education, training and resources.
The report advised authorities not to merely adopt a "purely development approach to improve the lot of Dalits". It suggested that underlying structural causes and caste barriers need to be addressed simultaneously.
The ILO is also looking closely at the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP). "It is premature to draw any conclusions about the impact of the scheme on poverty and gender equality, but concerns have been voiced about possible tensions within families over the selection of the member to be given the job and about women being left out," it said.
The ILO is conducting surveys in select districts to examine the decent work and gender equality aspects of NREGP. "The ultimate goal is to devise the necessary safeguards to be put in place in the NREGP so that men and women can benefit from it equally," the report said.
Link to the article
1:51 PM
Workplace discrimination persists - ILO
Daily News, Sri Lanka
11 May 2007
GENEVA: - Despite major advances in fighting discrimination at work, mounting inequalities in income and opportunities and significant and persistent forms of workplace discrimination are causing growing concern, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO) published today.
In its most comprehensive report on discrimination on date, the ILO’s “Equality at work: Tackling the challenges” provides a global picture of job-related discrimination, citing both progress and failures in the struggle to fight discrimination ranging from traditional forms such as sex, race or religion, to newer forms based on age, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status and disability.
“The global picture of the struggle to overcome discrimination shows a mixture of major advances and failures,” the ILO report says, citing progress since its first edition issued four years ago and noting that most of the ILO’s 180 member States have ratified its two core conventions on discrimination and are thus committed to creating legislation and policies against discrimination.
A major theme of the Report is the persistence of gender gaps in employment and pay and the need for integrated policies addressing sex discrimination in remuneration and occupational segregation by sex, while reconciling work and family responsibilities.
For example, the report states that throughout the EU, the difference in average gross hourly earnings between women and men across the economy throughout all establishments has remained high at 15 per cent.
Female labour force participation rates continued to rise significantly, currently at 56.6 per cent, thus narrowing the worldwide gender gap in labour participation rates. However, the report states, progress has been uneven with North America at 71.1 per cent, 62 per cent in the European Union, East Asia and the Pacific at 61.2 percent and the Middle East and North Africa at 32 per cent.
The report also provides many examples of discrimination on the basis of race and religion, social origin, caste or indigenousness, as well as against migrant workers. And it warns of the consequences of discrimination against younger and older workers, as well as inequalities based on sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, or a person’s disability.
With approximately 470 million people with disabilities of working age, there is a growing concern regarding discrimination against persons with disabilities.
The report states that the likelihood of a person with a disability finding a job decreases as the level of disability increases. In Europe, a person aged between 16 and 64 has a 66 per cent chance of finding a job. This rate falls to 47 per cent for a moderately disabled person and 25 per cent for a person with a severe disability.
The Global Report recommends a series of steps to combat discrimination and achieve the ILO’s proposed action plan.
Link to the articleLabels: employment, ILO, India
7:52 AM
Thursday, March 22, 2007
MPs allege caste-based discrimination at AIIMS
The Hindu
21 March 2007
Parliamentarians today staged a demonstration at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences alleging caste-based discrimination against medicos at the institute.
The premier healthcare institute had been rocked by student protests a few months back after a group of medicos claimed that some of them were failed in examinations because they belonged to a different caste.
"Students are failed on caste basis. They face discrimination from day one. We have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met the health minister and raised questions in Parliament," said Rajya Sabha member Nirmala Deshpande.
Deshpande, who was leading a group of five MPs in the protest at AIIMS, Ajay Singh, a final year student belonging to the Scheduled Caste was allegedly discriminated against and failed in the examination.
She claimed that the AIIMS governing body had ordered a re-test under a different set of examiners, which was flouted and the same examiners failed Ajay Singh for a second time.
Deshpande demanded that the institute implement the decision of the governing body and conduct a re-test under a different set of examiners.
Link to the article
8:34 AM
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Caste in a discriminatory mould
Scheduled castes in three districts of southern Punjab share their tales of socio-economic and political deprivation
The News - Jang Group
By Zulfiqar Shah
Kanji Ram Menghwar, a young member of Sadiqabad district council, has good news to share with his scheduled caste community: the government has declared Hindu festivals like Holi and Dewali as official holidays. He came to know of this in his meeting with Ejazul Haq, minister for religious affairs. He held a copy of the notification provided by the minister like a sacred document.
For a community, which stands at the bottom in social and economic indicators and has been a victim of social exclusion on the basis of caste and religion, even this simple government gesture was like a dream come true.
Sadiqabad, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur, three districts of southern Punjab, which also share borders with Sindh, have a sizeable population of scheduled castes -- Bheel, Kolhi, Menghwar, Balmaki and Jogi.
These castes, which are commonly considered minority within minority, rarely see people from majority faith around them interacting or discussing issues concerning their socio-economic and political deprivation. If and when such a rare opportunity is provided, they just burst out. This is what exactly happened last week at a day-long consultation on 'caste- based discrimination' held in in Rahimyar Khan that brought together about 50 men and women from scheduled castes.
They have so many stories to tell -- ranging from complaints of downplaying their number in population census to forced conversion. The worst comes in the shape of refusal of food and other services at common places or what's commonly known as 'untouchability'.
According to population census report of 1998, the only authentic government document on the population prepared a decade ago, scheduled caste population in Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur districts is 17459 and 876 respectively.
But quoting this data is like abusing the community, which is already marginalised. "These figures are totally wrong," comments Bhayya Ram Anjum, who has twice contested the election for provincial assembly. "There are more than 50,000 Hindu registered voters in Rahimyar Khan, ninety per cent of whom are scheduled castes," is his angry response to the official data.
Lala Mehar Lal Bheel, a former MPA, shares Ram's anger: "The population census data is absolutely incorrect. We have raised this issue time and again but nobody listened." In his view, this is the beginning of discrimination meted out to the scheduled caste population. "When our actual numbers in population are not accounted for, what else may we expect."
They agreed that a large portion of those described as scheduled castes have wrongly been included in Hindu (Jati) category. During census, people are usually asked about their caste and they reply by saying: 'Hindu'. This way those scheduled castes that did not specifically describe them as such are counted in the boarder category of Hindus.
According to census report total population of Hindus in Pakistan is 21,11,171. Of this only 332,343 are identified as scheduled castes and rest as Jatis (upper castes). But Lala Mehar says the fact is quite opposite. "More than 90 per cent of Hindus in Pakistan are scheduled castes. That means our population is around two million even according to government figures."
There are also chances that many of the scheduled castes are completely left out during the head-count due to their social invisibility. "In many cases we are even not considered humans; what difference does it make if we are not included in census," says Nathu Ram, a young participant of the consultation.
Scheduled castes in this part of the country, young and old and women and men, say they face discrimination and hatred in every walk of life with no one talking about this issue. "Every body hates us; often we are asked to sit on floor in hospitals and other places," says Kanya Lal, 30, from a basti near Rahimyar Khan. "We are told that we are Menghwar and deserve this treatment."
Kanya Lal gets emotionally charged when he shares how a nurse refused to treat his sister when they went to a local private hospital after a severe pain in her teeth. "She said she won't pollute her hands by touching my sister."
It's interesting to hear such stories despite tall claims by state and non-state actors that there is no question of caste-based discrimination in Pakistan. In reality exclusion on the basis of caste is present in its worst form. The scheduled caste Hindus particularly Kolhi, Bheel, Menghwar, Bagri, Balmaki face discrimination in the shape of untouchability. They are often termed achoot (untouchable) by faithful Muslims and also by upper caste Hindus.
This discrimination haunts them from Tharparker in the bottom of Sindh to Rahimyar Khan in southern Punjab. There is hardly any change in the pattern of social, economic and political exclusion and forms of discrimination against this group of citizens -- regardless of which part of the country they reside.
They are not welcome at hotels and restaurants to share utensils and barbers refuse to offer them services. In some instances they have been physically humiliated when eating in hotels when they dared to break this rule.
"My friend and me were literally beaten up in Khanpur when we attempted to eat in a hotel," says a young man who doesn't want to be quoted by name. He says he and his friend were eating in a hotel in Khanpur but were pushed out when some other clients pointed that we were non-Muslims.
Similarly, a young student of pre-medical shares how scheduled caste Hindu students are described as polluted. "The most frequent comment is that we do not take bath for months and emit a bad smell," says Shankar.
The day-long candid interaction with the group suggests that they face discrimination at both public and private spheres. Add to the injury is complete silence particularly on the part of so called intellectuals and liberals from majority religion.
It's actually the caste system coupled with class. Discussions with different groups suggest that there may be a little space for the highly educated which is a rare breed anyway; uneducated and poor Hindus are the worst victims. These are literally broken people and there would be no harm to describe them as Pakistani Dalits.
Scheduled caste women say they are easily identified from their dresses and face multiple discrimination. "When we go to bazaar, we are asked not to touch the things but ask the price from a distance," says a woman participant. "We also face discrimination in public transport and are treated like second class citizens." They also complain of sexual harassment.
A look at the demography of these communities reveals that both in Sindh and Punjab, they are residing in districts near the Indian border. The assumption is that upper caste Hindus left the country at the time of partition but these dalits couldn't because they did not have the means to do so. Ironically, scheduled castes in these two areas are in the same condition regardless of the development of the area.
For instance, the conditions of Kolhi, Bheel and Menghwar in district Rahimyar Khan is not different from that of the same castes in Tharparker and Umerkot, despite the difference in development indicators of the two areas -- district Rahimyar Khan is supposedly better-off.
"They live in pathetic conditions," says Bushra Khanum, a Multan based social scientist who has recently conducted a series of field visits to the area as part of a research study. "They live in literally inhuman conditions." She says of the 20 bastis (villages) visited by her, majority has no basic amenities including health facilities and sewerage. "Hardly two or three bastis had a primary school and that too in bad conditions."
She says, in Chak No 115, women had to walk a long way just to bring drinking water. "These communities are really poorest of the poor. Their biggest demand was a common toilet." Toilets and latrines are a frequent demand of excluded population groups including scheduled castes and bonded labour but the government development programmes have no provision for this basic facility.
Unfortunately, these Pakistani dalits are also not visible in donor-prescribed development programmes -- as reflected from their obviously pathetic conditions. Heavy funding by multilateral donors has also failed to target these communities.
Though the state of Pakistan has promised equal treatment to minorities and even the national flag carries a white portion, a symbol of minorities, that promise has yet to be fulfilled.
Obviously, there is widespread poverty in Pakistan and Muslims may make majority of the poor because of their size of population; social exclusion on the basis of caste, religion, work, ethnicity and gender is rampant.
There is an urgent need to break the culture of silence on the issue. The debate and discussion would need a follow-up strategy to bring in rapid change in the lives of those ignored for decades.
Link to the articleLabels: Pakistan
10:56 AM
India asked to implement UN recommended steps to end discrimination against Dalits-- rights bodies
Associated Press Pakistan
13 March 2007
The Indian government should take immediate steps to implement the recommendations of a United Nations committee that found persistent violence and discrimination against Dalits -- the "untouchables", a group of international human rights organizations said Monday.
The organizations include Human Rights Watch, the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law, and the International Dalit Solidarity Network.
On March 9, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) issued its Concluding Observations regarding India's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee's report found that "de facto segregation of Dalits persists" and highlighted systematic abuse against Dalits including torture and extrajudicial killings, an "alarming" extent of sexual violence against Dalit women, and caste discrimination in post-tsunami relief.
The Committee called for effective measures to implement laws on discrimination and affirmative action, and sought proper protection for Dalits and tribal communities against acts of "discrimination and violence." The Committee has given India a year to respond to four of its recommendations, including its recommendations on how India can end widespread impunity for violence against Dalits, and Dalit women in particular.
"The UN Committee's concluding observations confirm that India has failed to properly protect Dalits and tribal communities," Brad Adams, Asia Director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "This is a prime opportunity for India to give its own policies on discrimination some meaning. Laws need to be implemented, and those who violate them must be prosecuted."
The Concluding Observations were issued following two days of hearings in Geneva on February 23 and 26 between Committee members and the Indian delegation. During the hearing, Committee members uniformly took issue with the Indian government’s refusal to acknowledge that caste-based discrimination is covered by the Convention and is an issue of international human rights concern.
In particular, the Committee called on the Indian government to:
- Introduce mandatory training on the application of India's Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for police, judges and prosecutors, and take disciplinary measures against those who fail to implement this law.
Ensure the protection of witnesses and victims to caste-based crimes and ensure their immediate access to effective remedies.
Prosecute and punish perpetrators of sexual violence and sexual exploitation of Dalit women, and sanction anyone found preventing or discouraging victims from reporting such incidents, including public officials. - Eradicate the social acceptance of caste-based discrimination through public education and awareness campaigns.
Ensure equal access to healthcare, safe drinking water, and other public services.
Investigate all alleged cases of discrimination against Dalits in post-tsunami relief and compensate or retroactively grant benefits to victims of such discrimination.
Take effective measures to reduce dropout rates and increase enrollment rates among Dalits at all levels of schooling by providing scholarships and by ending classroom segregation.
Ensure proper enforcement of reservations or quotas to counter the under-representation of Dalits and tribal communities in government and public services.
Adopt measures to enhance Dalits' access to the labour market, including by extending the reservation policy to the private sector.
Repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that, while providing the armed forces with widespread powers to search, arrest and shoot suspects, leading to allegations of human rights abuses, has immunity provisions under which troops cannot be prosecuted unless authorized by the Central Government.
The Concluding Observations reflect the Committee's disappointment with India's presentation before the Committee on February 23 and 26, HRW said. Despite India’s Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati's claim to the Committee that the government is "deeply conscious and concerned about caste and is fully committed to tackling this at every level," it said, the Indian delegation resorted to a semantic debate on the difference between caste and race to support its erroneous assertion that the Convention only covers race-based discrimination.
In its Concluding Observations, "the Committee reaffirmed that discrimination based on the ground of caste is fully covered by article 1 of the Convention.” It cited its position expressed in General Recommendation No. 29, "that discrimination based on "descent' includes discrimination against members of communities based on forms of social stratification such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status which nullify or impair their equal enjoyment of human rights."
"The Indian delegation's arrogant rejection ofwell-documented abuses against Dalits before UN
experts in Geneva mirrors India's systematic denial of Dalit rights at home," said Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice. "India once again squandered an opportunity to enlist the support of experts in its efforts to ensure equality in law and practice for its citizens."
Committee members characterized India's position as a "broken record," a "step backwards," and cautioned that India should not "confuse growth with development." Sicilianos reminded the government that "change cannot be achieved by legislation alone." The Committee also highlighted its concern over "abuses at the local level" for which "radical measures" were necessary.
"Instead of sidestepping its responsibilities, India should welcome assistance from the international community to eliminate caste-based discrimination," said Rikke N.hrlind, coordinator of the International Dalit Solidarity Network. "The fact that European Parliament strongly urged its own institutions to address caste discrimination in all EU-India relations reflects growing worldwide concern about India’s 'hidden apartheid'."
More than 165 million people in India continue to be subject to discrimination, exploitation and violence simply because of their caste, the HRW said.
Link to the articleLabels: CERD, India
10:25 AM
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
India Criticized for Discrimination Against Untouchables
Voice of America
26 February 2007
By Lisa Schlein
The plight of untouchables in India is being considered by U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is meeting this month in Geneva. Two non-governmental organizations - Human Rights Watch and the International Dalit Solidarity Network - held a news conference Monday to bring greater attention to the abuse that they say members of the so-called "untouchable" - or Dalits - still face. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA in Geneva.
Representatives of Human Rights Watch and the International Dalit Solidarity Network said India is failing to uphold laws against caste discrimination as they relate to the rights of members of the untouchable caste, who are also known as Dalits.
According to the officials, the country's 165 million Dalits continue to face segregation in housing, schools, and access to public services. They are also, the officials say, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused by police and upper-caste community members who enjoy the state's protection.
The human rights officials, whose advice was sought by the U.N. committee, said the discrimination is taking place despite the fact that the caste system is abolished in the Indian Constitution.
Smita Narula is a professor of Law at New York University and co-author of a report called Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India's "Untouchables." She says the Dalits are the most vulnerable and exploited people in India.
"We are talking about over 167 million people in the country. The majority of whom live in segregation and experience violence, murder, rape and atrocities to the scale of 110,000 registered cases a year according to 2005 statistics," she said. "A majority of those cases end in acquittals if they ever get to trial. The solution is to end impunity and for the state to stop colluding and acting in this capacity and to end hidden apartheid in India. It is not a new solution. It is an end to oppression and discrimination and violence."
Ruth Manorama is president of the National Federation of Dalit Women in India. She told the committee about the prejudice the Dalits face.
"Formerly we have been called untouchables. If somebody touches, they get polluted…They cannot fetch water from the common wells from the common task," she said. "If there is a restaurant in the rural villages, they cannot ordinarily go and have a cup of tea in the same cup others drink. They will have a separate class system. If they have to go and worship in the temples… If they want to go to the temples, they are not allowed. And, anything menial, anything devalued, anything non payment, anything bonded laborers-most of them are from the Dalit communities that has been assigned to Dalits."
In December, Manmohan Singh became the first sitting Indian prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel between the practice of "untouchability" and the crime of apartheid. Singh described "untouchability" as a "blot on humanity" adding that "even after 60 years of constitutional and legal protection and state support, there is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our country."
After it is finished hearing witnesses, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is expected to issue its conclusions and recommendations in March.
Link to the articleLabels: CERD, India
11:41 AM
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
European parliament criticises India for abuses against Dalits
AsiaNews.it
6 February 2007
by Nirmala Carvalho
India is accused of not doing enough to protect Dalit rights. Strong-worded Indian diplomatic reaction finds support in the European parliament itself.
Strasbourg (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The European Union has passed a resolution expressing concern over India’s treatment of its Dalit community. I
ndian diplomatic sources have called the motion flawed; similarly, the parliament’s position has been criticised from within.
The Development Committee of the European Parliament approved a resolution that calls India’s laws protecting Dalits “grossly inadequate” and highlights abuses Dalits face such as child labour, illiteracy, violence, landlessness and employment discrimination.
MEPs expressed their concern that abusers are not prosecuted to the fullest of the law and that very few are convicted.
The European parliament urges the Indian government to take appropriate legal measures against these crimes and their perpetrators and asks Indian authorities to heed complaints by Dalits and take special steps to protect Dalit women.
In India, Dalit community leaders have welcomed the resolution by the European parliament. They point out that in 59 years of independence the economic and social conditions of their community have not substantially improved. For this reason, they see statements by foreign powers like the European Union as a positive step towards getting Indian authorities to act.
By contrast, Indian reactions were far from positive. Amar Sinha, a spokesperson for the Indian Embassy in Brussels, said that the resolution was “unfortunate,” lacking in “balance and perspective.”
“It [the resolution] indicates a highly negative mindset on the part of the people who have drafted it,” the Indian diplomat said, adding that the “report focuses only on the negative aspects and has selectively used statistics to prove its hypothesis.”
British MEP Neena Gill condemning the report saying, it “is riddled with inaccuracies and does a clear disservice to the human rights cause! The value of this report is seriously drawn into question by the whole lack of scrutiny applied to it.”
Gill, who is the president of the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia and the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in the European Parliament, noted that of the 785 MEPs, less than 30 took part in the vote.
“This is a highly sensitive report on a very important issue and the way it has been rushed through Parliament without consultation of either the SAARC delegation, the Sub-Committee on Human Rights, nor the Foreign Affairs Committee, is outrageous!” Ms Gill said.
Link to the articleLabels: EU, EU Parliament, India
10:49 AM
EU Parliament Passes Resolution on Untouchability
Journal Chrétien
6 February 2007
From Dalit Freedom Network
In association with OM India/A.I.C.C/SC-ST Federations
For Immediate Release
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, CO (ANS) — The Dalit Freedom Network commends the passage this past week of a resolution advanced by the Development Committee of the European Union Parliament dealing with untouchability in India. The resolution describes laws protecting Dalits as “grossly inadequate” and highlights the ongoing atrocities facing Dalits, including child labor, manual scavenging, illiteracy, violence, and landlessness.
“This resolution is an important step in encouraging EU nations and the world to engage with India on the inhuman persecution facing Dalits across India,” said Joseph D’souza, International President of the Dalit Freedom Network. “EU members and allies should follow this resolution with concrete steps, including engaging India on untouchability and ensuring the Dalits benefit from direct aid from the World Bank, IMF, and other development organizations.”
The EU resolution follows several recent high-profile attacks on Dalits, including the September 30, 2006, rape and killing of Dalit Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange’s wife and children in response to his pro-Dalit activism.
D’souza continued, “We hope the United States Congress and individual European parliaments can follow this resolution with similar legislation. Ending Caste discrimination, like ending Apartheid, will require help from the international community.”
Read the full articleLabels: EU, EU Parliament, India
10:44 AM
NEPAL: Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers
Peace Journalism
6 February 2007
By: Human Rights Watch
The Maoists’ policy of recruiting children for fighting or supporting combat is one of the most disturbing aspects of Nepal’s decade-long civil war. The concept of "recruitment" covers any means (formal or de facto) by which a person becomes a member of the armed forces or of an armed group, so it includes conscription (compulsory/obligatory military service), forced recruitment, and voluntary enlistment.
The Maoists have used a variety of techniques for recruiting children: kidnapping of individual children; abduction of large groups of children, often from schools or at mass rallies that they are forced to attend; and use of propaganda campaigns to attract children as “volunteers.”
At the height of the civil war, in areas firmly under their control—particularly in the insurgency’s heartland in Nepal’s west and far west—the Maoists operated a “one family, one child” program whereby each family had to provide a recruit or face severe punishment. This campaign operated at a particularly high capacity in 2004 and 2005, as the civil war was escalating.
Media reports, citing high-level Maoist leaders, suggested that it was called the “Special People’s Military Campaign” and involved training secondary and higher secondary students from many villages in “secret camps.” Citing the same source, the paper suggested that “15,000 recruits have completed their basic training there.” According to the account, the “model districts” for the campaign were far-western Jumla and Jajarkot.
Over half of the children interviewed by HRW were from these districts. Our research strongly suggested that systematic abduction of children, or forced recruitment, also occurred in other areas where the Maoists could operate unfettered.
The Maoists conducted a systematic campaign of recruiting child soldiers. This campaign operated at a particularly high capacity in 2004 and 2005 in Nepal’s west and far west, the insurgency’s heartland.
Human Rights Watch’s interviews supported investigations by credible Nepali groups such as Children as Zones of Peace and Advocacy Forum that indicated that most of the affected children are initially recruited by and for local Maoist militias, not the People’s Liberation Army (PLA, the armed wing of the CPN (M)). Militia units are expected to, and do, provide crucial military and logistical support to the PLA during combat operations, for instance by carrying supplies, providing frontline medical care, transporting the dead and injured away from battle, and, most directly, engaging in offensive or defensive military maneuvers. While local militias are not as well trained and well armed as the PLA, nonetheless both empirical evidence and statements by the Maoist leadership indicates that the CPN (M) closely monitors and controls the activity of local militias and exercises an effective chain of command when required.
We also interviewed some children who told us that they served with the PLA.
Most children were recruited by and for local Maoist militias. Militia units provided crucial military and logistical support to the Maoists’ armed wing, the People’s Liberation Army.
confirming accounts by Nepali NGOs and international monitors about the PLA’s use of children. While the PLA and local militias may differ in their degree of professionalism and military training, both groups have taken part in major military operations, and both have been subject to attacks by Nepali security forces. Maoist military strategy has relied on overwhelming government forces by superior numbers.
Read the full articleLabels: child, maoist, Nepal
10:40 AM
Monday, February 05, 2007
India slams European Parliament resolution on Dalits
India News in Europe Programme
2 February 2007
Brussels, Feb 2, INEP – A resolution adopted by the European Parliament(EP) here Thursday on the human rights situation of the Dalits in India has come under strong fire from several sides.
“It is unfortunate that the European Parliament could come out with such a resolution which lacks balance and perspective,’’ Indian embassy spokesman in Brussels, Mr. Amar Sinha, told INEP Friday.
“It indicates a highly negative mind-set on the past of the people who have drafted it,’’ he said , adding that the “report focuses only the negative aspects and has selectively used statistics to prove its hypothesis.”
In a strong-worded resolution put forward by the Development Committee, the EP resolution said that implementation of laws protecting the rights of Dalits remains “grossly inadequate, and that atrocities, untouchability, illiteracy, inequality of opportunity, continue to blight the lives of India’s Dalits.”
The EP resolution noted with concern “the lack of substantive EU engagement with the Indian Government, notably within the EU-India Summits, on the vast problem of caste-based discrimination.’’
British MEP Neena Gill condemned the report saying, it “is riddled with inaccuracies and does a clear disservice to the Human Rights cause! The value of this report is seriously drawn into question by the whole lack of scrutiny applied to it.”
Gill, Chair of the SAARC Delegation in the EP, noted that of the 785 MEPs, fewer than 30 members took part in the vote.
"This is a highly sensitive report on a very important issue and the way it has been rushed through Parliament without consultation of either the SAARC Delegation, the Sub-Committee on Human Rights, nor the Foreign Affairs Committee, is outrageous!" said Gill.
Mr.Sunil Prasad, Secretary General of Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) and President of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Belgium also condemned the resolution. “The European Parliament’s Resolution on protection of Dalits in India is somewhat ideologically misplaced and strategically misguided. It is not fair on part of the European Parliament to rush and pass a resolution before verifying the facts and the current situation,’’ he told INEP.
The EP resolution urged the EU Council and the European Commission to raise the issue of “caste-based discrimination during EU-India Summits and other meetings as part of all political, human rights, civil society, development and trade dialogues and to inform the committees concerned of the progress and outcome of such dialogues.”
The House nevertheless welcomed the various provisions in the Constitution of India for the protection and promotion of the rights of Dalits.
The resolution followed a hearing in the EP’s Development Committee on December 18 on the human rights situation of the Dalits with Ruth Manorama, President of the National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW), and Paul Divakar, National Convenor of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights in India.
Both alleged that human rights of the 165 million Dalits were being violated in India.
The meeting was chaired by a Danish MEP for the Greens, Margrete Auken, who is also the rapporteur of the EP report.
"In the context of expanding trade relations with India, the EU must put pressure on the Indian government and demand basic human rights for all Indian citizens,’’ she said in a separate statement.
"Caste discrimination in India is one of the best kept secrets in terms of human rights violations and to date the EU has failed to address this serious issue openly,’’ claimed Auken.
Explaining why no representative of the Indian government was present during the hearing, Mr. Sinha said a draft report had already been prepared and was in circulation even before the first hearing on the subject took place.
The EP resolution also calls on the Government of India to “ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to take preventive measures to reduce the risk of Dalits facing torture.’’
Mr. Prasad said, “I do not think Dalits are being subjected to any type of human right violations or discrimination in India. The government has taken many policy initiatives and economic measures to see that Dalits have the same rights as all Indians. “
“The Indian constitution outlaws caste and caste bias cannot be equated with racial discrimination. The Parliament should know that altering of an age-old tradition takes time, and India has taken numerous laws and schemes as a measure of its commitment to protect Dalits,’’ added Prasad.
Link to the articleLabels: EU, EU Parliament, India
2:51 PM
NEPAL: Low caste communities still suffering discrimination
Reuters Alertnet
05 January 2007 2007
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
Nepal's impoverished low caste 'Dalit' community continue to be discriminated against almost 20 years after the caste system was banned, human rights activists in Nepal's southwestern city of Nepalganj have complained.
"We still have to live with the hard reality of being discriminated [against] in every aspect of our lives," said Dalit school teacher, Hari Bahadur Biswokarma, in Nepalganj, 600 km west of the capital Kathmandu.
Biswokarma added that the situation was much worse in the remote western areas of Nepal, which remain among the least developed areas in the country with a per capita income of less than US $1 a day.
The Dalits have suffered from caste discrimination ever since the former Nepalese rulers, the Mallas, introduced the system in the 13th century. It was only in 1990, following the restoration of democracy, that the new constitution declared the practice of caste discrimination a crime.
"But even today, the situation has barely changed as discrimination is rife in both social and economic aspects," said Dalit activist, Parsuram Nepali, from the local rights NGO, Neglected Community Awareness, Nepal.
He added that due to discrimination, the Dalit families are excluded from most development and economic activities, children are often deprived of education, and women have to work under exploitative conditions in the cities in order to make a living.
According to the Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), around 80 percent of the five million-strong Dalit population lives below the poverty line. DNF explained that the literacy rate is barely 10 percent, with only 3.2 percent of women literate, and most Dalit children suffering malnutrition.
Until recently, the former Maoist rebels had been supporting the Dalits while engaged in a decade of conflict with the Nepalese government. However, following a peace agreement between the two parties in November, the Maoists have been preoccupied with their own political issues, Dalit activists have complained.
"The Maoists had proved themselves committed to end discrimination by punishing especially the high caste landlords who had been exploiting the low caste farmers," said activist Bhim Nepali from the NGO, Dalit Sewa Sangh.
"The only way to end the discrimination is by empowering and educating more Dalits, but the government has to be seriously committed, otherwise another civil war will start in the country if the neglect continues," claimed activist Ram Singh Karki, who explained that one cause of the armed conflict over the past decade was related to the social exclusion of the low castes. He warned that the Dalits may be forced to take up arms if their wellbeing is constantly ignored by the state.
Link to the articleLabels: Nepal
2:05 PM
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
India Plans New Scheme To Rehabilitate Scavengers
Playfuls.com
30 January 2007
India is planning a new scheme to provide alternate employment to people who earn their living by manually removing human excreta, news reports said Tuesday.
According to official estimates about 400,000 people, largely lower caste Hindus, are engaged in manual scavenging. The government defines a scavenger as a person who is partially or wholly engaged in the inhuman occupation of removing human faeces and other filth by their hands usually from dry latrines which do not have a flush system.
India abolished the employment of manual scavengers through a legislation adopted in 1993, but the practice still continues in many parts of the country. Under law, the employment of scavengers or the construction of dry latrines which are not connected to a drainage system can result in imprisonment up to one year and/or a fine of 2,000 rupees (45.41 US dollars).
Under the government's proposed scheme manual scavengers and their dependents will be provided loans for self-employment ventures, PTI news agency reported quoting official sources. They will also be provided training for up to a year in developing skills for their new ventures. The loans will be in the form of long-term credit from financial institutions and micro-financing through self-help groups at interest rates fixed by the government. India's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government is hoping the scheme will help it meet a fresh deadline of 2009 to achieve the goal of total eradication of manual scavenging.
The earlier deadline was 2007. The scheme will be linked to a programme to eliminate dry latrines, an official release said. A report by the International Dalit Solidarity Network in 2002 found that manual scavengers are exposed to viral and bacterial infections that affect their skin, eyes, limbs, respiratory and digestive systems. Tuberculosis is a common disease in the community, the report said. Most of the manual scavengers belong to the community of Dalits or former untouchables who comprise the lowest rung of the ancient Hindu caste-system.
The Dalit Solidarity Network report said a manual scavenger earns 160 to 500 rupees a month and their attempts to switch to an alternative livelihood are often undone by deep-seated social discrimination, especially in rural areas, that force them to return to scavenging.
Link to the article
10:42 AM
Monday, January 22, 2007
Big dad of discrimination- Protecting India’s pride is fine, but don’t bury home truths
The Telegraph
20 January 2007
You’re an insect, stay down where you have always been — an upper caste MBBS student to a scheduled caste junior at AIIMS
Indians can be worse than whites when it comes to discrimination against blacks — Samantha Naokeme, Nigerian student at Delhi’s Jesus and Mary College
Before raising a stink over the bullying of Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother House, ministers Anand Sharma and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi may have done well to pause and sniff the air at home.
When it comes to discrimination on grounds of birth or colour of skin, India doesn’t exactly smell of roses.
It took a trend-bucking Prime Minister to end years of official hedging on the subject last month.
“Dalits have faced a unique discrimination in our society that is fundamentally different from the problems of minority groups in general. The only parallel to the practice of untouchability was apartheid,” Manmohan Singh told a “Dalit-minority international conference” in Delhi on December 27.
“There is still (such) discrimination….”
Technically, the two are different — apartheid was official policy in South Africa while caste bias in India is not.
Also, scholars, politicians and bureaucrats are ever ready to split hairs about whether “caste” can be equated with “race” — though many believe the origins of the caste system did lie in varna, the colour of people’s skin.
What Singh was emphasising, though, was how caste oppression is a part of life in India, as shown by the lynching of a Dalit family of four in Maharashtra after they were paraded naked and the two women among them raped.
There can be no dispute, however, that Samantha’s bitter experience had to do with her skin colour. The final-year student, a member of the Delhi University girls’ basketball team, says she is now “used to” hearing people scream “Michael Jordan” the moment she steps on court.
“They see a black basketball player and they draw the association with Jordan. I am clearly being recognised by my colour,” she said.
A 2004 survey in South Africa’s Guateng region revealed that 37 per cent of its 3 lakh Indians, compared with only 19 per cent of the whites, would prefer a return to apartheid.
Racist or not, the colour bias exists across Indian society, as a glance at newspaper matrimonial ads would show.
Might the “dusky” Shilpa have faced taunts in Mumbai similar to the “she’s a dog” remark by Danielle Lloyd? The Bollywood grapevine has it that the duskier Bipasha Basu was snubbed as a “kali billi” (black cat) on a set.
An industry source played it down as “normal bitching between two actresses”.
Sharma and Das Munshi, too, might have been less sanctimonious if they had stopped to think whether Lloyd’s comments might be deemed the sort of bullying that is normally expected on — and may be the whole point of — a reality show.
Bollywood has been no stranger to racial stereotyping, either, with all south Indians (often seen as racially different from the “Aryan” upper-caste northerners) once dubbed “Madrasis”. One such character, played by Mehmood in Padosan, is taunted with “kala re ja re ja re” in a hit number lip-synced by the “hero” and sung by a chum.
To Satinder Meena, recipient of the “insect” jibe at his AIIMS hostel after winning a game of table tennis, the brouhaha over Big Brother is, at best, “ironical”.
After The Telegraph last year exposed how SC/ST students were abused at the premier institute, the Prime Minister had got a three-member probe set up. A member of the panel said today: “Our findings completely corroborate those of your newspaper. The situation in AIIMS is scary, and a lot needs to be done.”
To the government, till Singh took the lid off, Dalit oppression had been an “internal matter”. This line was used to repeatedly block Dalit efforts to raise the issue at global anti-racism forums.
To be fair to Das Munshi and Sharma, they, like most educated Indians, would agree such discrimination exists. What prevents a public admission is “national prestige”.
The Indian thin skin about how the country is seen by the world — especially the white West — is reflected in the BJP reaction: “The PM’s statement is unfortunate and denigrates India’s reputation abroad.”
Defending the Prime Minister’s remarks, Congress spokesman A.M. Singhvi had said: “The UPA government does not believe in an ostrich-like approach of ignoring reality. We can’t find the cure unless we admit the malady.”
His colleagues might learn from the British, protesting in thousands to cure what they see as a national canker.
Link to the article
9:43 AM
RIGHTS-INDIA:
Gov't Failing Low Caste Women, U.N. Says
Inter Press Service
19 January 2007
Haider Rizvi
India, the world's most populous democracy, has come under fire from a United Nations body for its failure to protect low caste women and those belonging to the country's religious minorities from discrimination.At a meeting held here this week, a General Assembly committee responsible for monitoring discriminatory practices against women worldwide charged that the South Asian nation was falling short of its obligations under a prominent equal rights treaty.
India has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), but continues to claim reservations on articles dealing with the issues of sex role stereotyping and those concerning marriage and family life. "The convention is for every woman in the country, not just the upper class or upper caste," said committee member Glenda Simms, noting that low-caste women in the Hindu system and other minority groups were suffering from "deeply rooted structural discrimination."
The committee urged India to join the ranks of other democracies by ratifying the convention's optional protocol, which lifts barriers to justice for the victims of sexual violence, and to intervene on behalf of its most marginalised female population.
"It is difficult to understand how the Indian government can claim democratic rights for all, yet see women killed because they cannot pay dowry and young girls given away in marriage," noted another member of the committee.
[...]
Noting that 70 percent of women live in rural areas, several members expressed their concerns at the displacement of tribal communities as a result of industrialisation and other development projects, such as construction of dams. In her remarks on various forms of discrimination against women in India, Simms said she feared that children sold into prostitution, including many Dalit (low caste) children, would be victims and conduits of HIV/AIDS. "One cannot speak about children without speaking about their mothers," she added, referring to millions of displaced minority and Dalit women, who are often forced to place their children in wealthier households as domestic labour, where they are sometimes sexually exploited.
In response to the committee's criticism and concerns, Deepa Jain Singh, secretary of India's Ministry of Women, defended her government's position by saying that women in her country were "guaranteed the right to equality" and "equal protection before the law."
[...]
In an attempt justify the Indian government's reservations about ratifying the Convention's optional protocol, Singh pointed out that, "It is indeed optional." Though she did not indicate a timeframe, she added that the government would "like to see through it" and that "it is only a matter of time." While conceding that certain groups of women do suffer from "multiple forms of discrimination based on caste, religion and disability," the Indian delegation said the government was determined to pursue changes in existing laws to address discrimination against women.
Read the full article
9:15 AM
Noida police ignored Dalit complaints: rights group
The Hindu
20 January 2007
`Most missing children belong to marginalised communities'
- Police still reluctant to admit most victims were Dalits
- Book accused under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
NEW DELHI: A group of human rights and social activists has accused the Noida administration and the police of showing indifference and apathy towards the Dalit families whose children went missing in Nithari.
A fact-finding team of the group claims that a majority of the missing children belong to the marginalised communities that are more vulnerable to such crimes.
"During the past two years, 38 children were reported missing and a majority of these were from Dalit and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe families. As these children come from families that do not have a ration card or other forms of recognition, the police and the administration have not paid adequate attention to their complaints," said Annie Namala of the Solidarity Group for Children Against Discrimination and Exclusion.
Easy targets
"The case of missing children has become a new urban and suburban crime and children from poor and marginalised families are easy targets," she said.
A report of the group says that "none of the authorities, including the police and District Magistrate, seems to have taken any action to register a case and investigate the case of missing children."
It alleges that even now the officials and the Government are reluctant to admit that majority of the children who lost their lives were Dalits.
"Both Surender Koli and Moninder Singh were aware of the local area and the caste background of the poor people and they took advantage of this fact and lured little children," said Ms. Namala.
The group has recommended that the terms of reference of the Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry should clearly spell out that the Nithari killings were one of the worst atrocities committed against Dalits.
It has demanded that the accused be booked under Section 3(1) (xii) and 3(2) (v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.
Seeking the United Nations' intervention, the group has said the General Assembly should request the Secretary-General to conduct an in-depth international study on the "violence against Dalit children and women in India."
Link to the article
9:06 AM
New twist in Khairlangi Dalit killings
Hindustan Times
January 19, 2007
Pradip Kumar Maitra
There was a new twist to the Khairlangi Dalit tragedy when one of the prime witnesses in the case, Rajendra Gajbhiye lodged a complaint with the Andhalgaon police in Bhandara district for getting life threats and facing casteist abuses from the local NCP legislator Nana Panchbudhe.
Confirming this, the superintendent of police (SP), Suresh Sagar said that Rajendra had lodged a complaint on Friday morning and the police registered an offence against the NCP legislator under 310 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. "We are investigating the matter and an appropriate action would be initiated accordingly," he added. The offence is a non-bailable one.
Both, Rajendra and his elder brother, Siddharth Gajbhiye, another prime witness in the case, alleged that they were being constantly threatened by a section of upper caste in the district. They had also alleged against Panchbudhe, a trusted lieutenant of union minister, Praful Patel, for protecting the culprits in the murder case, from the beginning and insisted his arrest.Four members of Bhotmange family — Surekha, her daughter Priyanka, sons Rahul and Sudhir — were on September 29 butchered by a group of villagers at Khairlangi, some 100 kms from Nagpur in Bhandara district.
The incident had sparked protests in various parts of the state and the Maharashtra
government finally handed over the probe to the CBI which filed the chargesheet before a fast track court last week at Bhandara. The trial of the case also began.
Meanwhile, Sudhakar Suradkar, a retired IPS officer filed a complaint against the IGP, Pankaj Gupta at Bandara on Friday for suppressing facts in the case.Alleging castist bias, Suradkar insisted an action against Gupta. Gupta was holding the charge of IGP (Nagpur circle) during the tragedy and the state government had taken action against as many as eight officers, including the civil surgeon of the district and a Dy SP on the basis of his report. The IPS officer, Suradkar personally reached Bandara on Friday morning and filed the complaint against the IGP.
Link to the article
9:03 AM
15 of 17 killed were Dalits, says NGO team
Delhi Newsline
20 January 2007
Express News Service
A fact-finding team of human rights activists and social activists has claimed that the majority of children killed in Nithari belonged to the Dalit community. Out of the 17 children identified to have been killed, 15 came from Dalit families, it claimed.
The 14-member team that visited Nithari on January 15 to probe into the incident has also charged the Noida Police with negligence in registering complaints of missing children.
The team that included activists from non-governmental organistations like National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), Solidarity Group for Children Against Discrimination and Exclusion (SGCADE) and Shristi among others found out that both the accused, particularly Surender Koli, were well-aware of the caste background of the locals and took advantage of their vulnerable status.
“We find that this is the crime of a very modern kind where children from suburban and urban areas were targeted by the accused. They were also clever enough to target only children who were not registered anywhere,” said Annie Namala of SGCADE.
The team also demanded stringent action against Noida police for lax investigation.
Link to the article
8:49 AM
Monday, January 15, 2007
‘IT sector is not immune to caste bias’
Tehelka
13 January 2007
A recent survey finds few employees from backward castes or poor families in the industry
PC Vinoj KumarChennai
Companies vie for talent from the top 50 colleges and the students most often are the affluentHas the Indian information technology (IT) industry become the preserve of upper castes? Sociologists who have studied the socio-economic profile of the industry’s workforce believe so. A study conducted by Carol Upadhya and AR Vasavi of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, states that the IT “workforce is less heterogeneous than is commonly assumed, and that the large majority of IT professionals come from middle class, educated, urban backgrounds, and from the upper castes.” Of the 132 software engineers who were interviewed, 71 percent belonged to the upper castes. About half were Brahmins. Eighty-four percent of the respondents were from middle class families, while only 5 percent hailed from rural areas.
Other studies have arrived at similar conclusions. “Oomen and Meenakshisundararajan (2005), in their survey of 100 software professionals in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram, found that 12 percent were from rural areas. Three-fourths of their respondents were found to be from forward castes and the rest from backward castes. None were from the sc/st categories,” points out the NIAS report. However, the report concedes, “Like our sample, most of their respondents worked in the major IT companies such as tcs and Wipro, so the sample is biased towards the ‘cream’ of the IT workforce.” The report further states, “Fuller and Narasimhan’s (2006) smaller study of software professionals in Chennai also found that they come overwhelmingly from Brahmin or forward caste, middle class, urban backgrounds.”
The NIAS study found the socio-economic profile of bpo employees similar to that of those from the IT industry. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents were from metros, and 36 percent from tier two towns such as Mysore and Coimbatore. Thirty-two percent were Brahmins and 23 percent belonged to other upper castes. An earlier study done by Babu P. Ramesh of the VV Giri National Labour Institute, Noida, found that 96 percent of the 277 respondents from the bpo industry belonged to the forward castes.
In 2000, M. Vijayabaskar, a labour economist, conducted a study for the International Labour Organisation and interviewed 160 software engineers in Bangalore and Delhi. The study found that 80 percent of the respondents belonged to forward castes. Vijayabaskar, an assistant professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, argues that the scenario in the IT industry justifies the demand for reservations for other backward castes and dalits in central educational institutions like the IITs. “Leading IT companies recruit from top-notch engineering colleges like the IITs and the regional engineering colleges (REC),” he says.
[...]
The NIAS report sums up the situation and suggests what needs to be done: “The IT industry insists that it must be left free to recruit only the best workers if it is to maintain its competitive edge in the global market, and for this reason it has consistently opposed the idea of job reservations in the private sector. However, some companies and industry spokespersons have acknowledged that the private sector must bear some responsibility for social justice and for creating greater opportunities for a wider section of the population, and the idea of evolving a voluntary affirmative action programme has found favour in some quarters. But barring only one or two, till date most companies have not taken substantial steps in this direction. This is a central issue for debate and policy formulation, either by the State or as a voluntary initiative by the industry.”
Read the full article
9:15 AM
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