News RSSThousands of Christians "Arrested" in Peaceful Protest Against Growing Anti-Christian Violence
For immediate release
May 29, 2007
NEW DELHI, INDIA – May 29, 2007: More than 4,000 protesters marched through the streets of India’s capital today to call for the Union Government of India to break its silence on violence against Christians across the country. The rally, called “Stop Violence On Christians”, was organized after two recently televised attacks on Christians and an increase of anti-Christian incidents in the first few months of 2007.
The rally started at 10am at Jantar Mantar near the Parliament in New Delhi. Rally organizers had expected 2,000 people, but attendance was estimated at 5,000. Speeches demanded human dignity and constitutional rights for the Christian community and other repressed minorities. Minorities are facing harassment from Hindutva fundamentalists and, in many cases, local government officials.
The Station House Officer, Parliament Street Police Station, said he had “arrested” approximately 4,000 people at 1:05pm and released them at 2:10pm. It is standard practice for protesters who obstruct traffic to be detoured into the police station yard. They are temporarily detained for their own protection and allowed to state their demands to police authorities.
“This was the first time since November 1997 that such large numbers of Christians have been arrested in the Parliament Street Police Station. It was incredible to see Catholic nuns, Protestant pastors, civil society activists and more singing Christian songs of liberation within the police station,” said John Dayal, Secretary General, All India Christian Council (aicc).
Large numbers of Catholics and Evangelicals were joined by Muslims, Buddhists and progressive Hindus, leaders of various women’s organizations, students groups from several universities, and Christian lawyers, teachers, and professors. Rally organizers reported attendees from at least seven states in India.
Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the Dalit Freedom Network and the All India Christian Council, said, “The diversity of protesters, from several religious communities, different Christian denominations, and even civil society groups, show that India’s citizens want a truly secular India. People should be able to practice their faith without violent attacks. The government’s silence in the face of recent anti-Christian incidents is not only an injustice, it is dangerous.”
Christian leaders fear copycat attacks could come in the future due to silence by government authorities after recently televised beatings of pastors. Throughout the morning crowds chanted, “Prime Minister, your silence kills”.
At 12:15pm, crowds began a march to present a memorandum of demands to the Prime Minister of India. However, a majority of the attendees were detained at the Parliament Street Police Station. Organizers said that they decided not to submit the memorandum as originally planned. Instead, it will be released as an open letter to the government.
Recent victims of anti-Christian violence spoke, such as Rev. Walter Masih from Jaipur, Rajasthan, whose beating by masked attackers on April 29, 2007 was broadcast nationally. Rev. Masih walks with a limp due to the attack and shared his experience with the crowd inside the police station with the help of a police PA system.
Throughout the day, other speakers protested the recent wave of violence, demanded immediate implementation of the Misra Commission recommendations, and even proposed new legislation.
Bishop Karam Masih, Bishop of Delhi, Church of North India (CNI), said, “Today I don’t come as a CNI leader. I come as a Christian. All denominations should unite until all the anti-Christian atrocities stop.”
Dr. Ms. Begum Fatima Shahmaz, India Peace Organization, said, “Those parties and groups who are persecuting Christians should be treated as terrorists. It is unacceptable to attack others based on a difference in spiritual beliefs.”
Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman, All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Organizations, said, “Today there is a special unity of Christians and Dalits around the country. We, Dalits, have been attacked for thousands of years and you have been recently attacked. Christians have given much to this country so I want to teach you how to be united, and, if you are united, we can stop the attacks.”
Mr. Mudra Rakshas, noted Hindi writer and theatre artist, said, “Because of the increasing attacks, we need a new law that tells police how they should handle people who are mistreating Christians. We should agitate until the new law comes.”
The Misra Commission, officially called the National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities, recommended last week that the Union Government change a 1950 law which restricts government benefits to Scheduled Castes who are Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Scheduled caste is the official term for the Dalit or, formerly “untouchable”, community. Millions of poor Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians would benefit from the change and the recommendations will likely affect pending cases before the Supreme Court of India.
The All India Christian Council (aicc) was a co-sponsor of the rally. Other organizers included several Christian groups and the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations.
The aicc said meetings similar to the Delhi gathering were planned for today in Mumbai and smaller cities like Nagpur and Pune. They also confirmed that yesterday, in 23 of 25 districts in Andhra Pradesh, protest marches were held under the leadership of local aicc chapters.
In 2006, there was an incident of harassment or violence against Christians approximately once every three days. In the first four months of 2007, there has been an attack every other day on average, according to records kept by the aicc. In addition to the televised attack on Rev. Masih, an attack by Hindutva activists on two pastors in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, was televised on May 9, 2007.
The All India Christian Council (http://www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.
The Dalit Freedom Network’s mission is to partner with the Dalits (India’s Untouchables) in their quest for religious freedom, social justice, and human dignity by mobilizing human, informational, and financial resources. Their website is: http://www.dalitnetwork.org
For more information, contact:
Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network
(703) 974-1243
Posted on: May 30, 2007
Lawyers tie, beat up boy in court
From IBN. Click here for video
Full story by clicking here.
New Delhi: After the public attack on co-accused in the Nithari murders, Moninder Singh Pandher, outside the Ghaziabad court in January, lawyers in Uttar Pradesh took law into their own hands yet again.
A young boy was beaten mercilessly by lawyers after an argument on Tuesday in the premises of an Agra district court.
The 22-year-old boy, Vinod, had come to the court to sort out a dispute with a relative, Ravinder, who is a lawyer in the Agra court. Vinod is the brother-in-law of Ravinder’s elder brother.
After a heated exchange, Ravinder and Vinod reportedly exchanged blows.
Soon after, the lawyers ganged up and beat up the boy mercilessly for more than an hour after tying him to a tree.
They reportedly shaved a part of his head and even spat on his face.
“We have registered an FIR and will be looking into the case. We are in touch with the Agra SSP,” said DIG Agra Range, Kamal Saksena.
The Bar Council of India has taken a serious note of the incident and sought FIR details.
Posted on: May 30, 2007
Indian low-caste Hindus, nomads convert en masse
Reuters by By Krittivas Mukherjee
About 50,000 Indian low-caste Hindus and nomadic tribespeople converted to Buddhism before a vast crowd on Sunday in the hope of escaping the rigidity of the ancient Hindu caste system and finding a life of dignity.
Monks in orange and saffron robes administered religious vows to the converts as about half a million spectators, mostly Buddhists, cheered the ceremony at a horseracing track in downtown Mumbai.
Some of the converts were low-caste Hindus once considered as “untouchables” by the higher castes, but most were members of India’s numerous nomadic tribes.
Many of the tribespeople had their faces painted and ritually flagellated themselves before being asked by the monks to give up their practices and follow the non-violent path of Buddhism.
“Whatever may have been your religion until now, from today you will take refuge in the teachings of the Lord Buddha,” one told them. Continue reading by clicking here.
Posted on: May 29, 2007
India's Bishops Praise U.S. Proposal on Castes
Resolution Decries Plight of Untouchables
MUMBAI, India, Read full article in Zenit News Agency – The World seen from Rome archives for MAY 15, 2007 – The bishops of India welcomed a resolution placed before the U.S. Congress that asked the lawmaking body to encourage an end to India’s caste system.
Republican Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona introduced the resolution May 2. In his presentation he called on “the Indian government and the world community to look with compassion upon India’s untouchables and reach out to one of the most oppressed peoples on earth.’’
In his address to the members of Congress, Franks called the caste system an “abhorrent form of persecution and segregation” that is particularly harsh on India’s Dalits—members of the “untouchable” caste—especially Dalit women.
“This Congress,” Franks argued, “must urge an end to the social discrimination and injustice faced by the nearly 250 million people known as Dalits in India.”
Franks told ZENIT why he brought this issue to light now: “The plight of the ‘untouchables’ in India is truly one of the most critical human rights issues of our time.
“Millions of these individuals are regarded as less than human and live in some of the most wretched conditions known to humanity.
“We are compelled by the unalienable truth that all men are created equal to contend for the rights of the poor and the oppressed, and it is to that end that I have and will continue to stress the urgency of the Dalits’ cause to Congress and to the world.”
Indian response
Although the resolution has not been adopted, AsiaNews reported that the Catholic bishops’ conference of India expressed its gratitude that the issue was brought to public attention.
Father Arokiaraj Cosmon, the executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Dalits, explained the tragic nature of the caste system, highlighted in the resolution.
“Dalits’ conditions are well-known both at home and abroad,” the priest said. “They are economically and socially ostracized, denied equal access to education and political life.
“Out of 250 million of them, there are 16 million who are twice as penalized because they are Christian.”
“Most violence visited upon Dalits affects women,” Father Cosmon continued. “They cannot report crimes, especially sex crimes, or ask for police assistance because what they say is not taken into consideration.
“Most lawyers and police officers come from the upper castes and are not well disposed towards victims.”
Still, Father Cosmon insisted that education could aid the plight of the untouchables: “While Dalit women are the most vulnerable group in society, if they can get an education and become aware of their rights, they will be better placed to educate their entire family and contribute to the necessary social and economic empowerment of all Dalits.”
Posted on: May 23, 2007
Panel Tells India's Government a Dalit's Faith Should Not Affect Assistance
NEW DELHI, INDIA – May 22, 2007: The National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities’ oft-delayed report was released and the findings could drastically change life for India’s Dalit (formerly called “untouchables”
community. If the government accepts the Commission’s recommendations, decades of religious-based discrimination against the lowest-strata in India’s society will be reversed.
The Commission said a clause in a 1950 law should be dropped to delink status from religion. The clause had restricted government benefits to Scheduled Castes who are Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. The Commission’s decision was based on a two-year study of the socio-economic and educational condition of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.
The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly postponed judgments on cases brought by a Dalit Christian and a Dalit Muslim while the report was pending. The plaintiffs had asked for Scheduled Caste status. Scheduled Caste status brings special government benefits to Indians from Dalit, tribal, and low-caste background such as reserved places in education institutions and government jobs.
Dr. Joseph D’souza, International President, Dalit Freedom Network, said, “Finally, the Mishra Commission Report is before India’s Prime Minister and the government. It calls for Dalit Christian and Muslim reservation which was denied since the Order of 1950. It is high time that the government of India reverses the 1950 law which discriminated against Dalits on the basis of religion.”
The “Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order” of 1950 only awarded government benefits to Hindus. It was later amended to included Sikhs and Buddhists in 1956 and 1990, respectively.
The Misra Commission (http://www.ncrlm.com), a five-member commission under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court Justice Ranganath Misra, was appointed by the government in March 2005 and officially called the National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities. Its mandate was to examine criteria for defining “backwardness” among people of Scheduled Caste origin who had converted to religions other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. It was to suggest necessary constitutional, legal and administrative changes. Its tenure, originally for six months, had been repeatedly extended to May 15, 2007. The report was submitted and has now become public.
“We are one step closer to justice for all Dalits. It is our hope that the Government does not come up with any more delay tactics at the next hearing of the Supreme Court case brought by a Dalit Christian scheduled for July 19th,” said D’souza.
The Supreme Court of India hearing, which has already been postponed multiple times, was most recently delayed on April 3, 2007. The case was originally filed in 2004.
The case asks the Indian government to restore Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians and thereby allow them to receive national government benefits guaranteed them by the Indian Constitution. There is a similar case filed by a Dalit Muslim.
Hindu Nationalists, including most upper-caste communities, have opposed the restoration of Scheduled Caste status to all Dalits. They argued that it would encourage religious conversions of Hindus since exclusion of Dalit converts from Scheduled Caste benefits acted as a deterrent. Indeed, one of the five panel members, Ms. Asha Das, issued a dissenting opinion and said that giving Scheduled Caste status to Christians and Muslims would amount to inserting caste in religions which don’t recognize caste.
However, various studies conducted by the Misra Commission involving leading social scientists, politicians, and academicians indicated that Dalits continue to suffer caste-based discrimination, irrespective of their religion. In particular, Dalit Christians – even after their conversion – suffer social discrimination and remain in the same educational and economic condition as before.
The Dalit Freedom Network’s (http://www.dalitnetwork.org) mission is to partner with the Dalits (India’s Untouchables) in their quest for religious freedom, social justice, and human dignity by mobilizing human, informational, and financial resources.
For more information, contact:
Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network
(703) 974-1243
Posted on: May 22, 2007
Dalit Woman Killed in Bihar
by Bimlendu Chaitanya on NDTV.com
Sunday, May 20, 2007 (Gaya)
A fifty-year-old Dalit woman from Dhansera village in Gaya district of Bihar succumbed to injuries on Saturday after being assaulted by upper caste villagers.
Kari Devi’s only fault was that she dared to ask Saroj Singh, the former village headman whether he had seen her cow, which had been missing for two days.
Singh’s answer was a physical assault on Kari Devi and her family.
‘’This woman is our family. Whenever he wishes, he enters our homes, drunk and insults us. We do not want to see him. Either he should be jailed or given death for death,’’ said Malti Devi, victim’s family member.
Villagers say Saroj Singh has a history of criminal assaults and has seven cases filed against him. Singh has gone into hiding and the police are investigating the case.
‘’Kari Devi’s husband says that at night two people came. Their names were Sanjay and Saroj. They came and threw her down. She was taken to hospital and treated and she died in the morning,’’ said Amjad Ali, DSP, Gaya.
The incident, however, serves as a grim reminder that medieval feudal arrogance and lawlessness still coexist in Bihar.
Posted on: May 21, 2007
Indian youth of today more biased about caste
Q&A: ‘Today’s youth is more biased about caste’
Originally published in the Times of India, 16 May 2007.
Human rights activist and documentary film-maker, Stalin K, became intensely involved with untouchability when he made his first documentary film, Lesser Humans, on manual scavenging nearly a decade back. Now, in his latest documentary, Indian Untouched: Stories of a People Apart, he exposes the continued oppression of Dalits and the widespread existence of caste system across Sikhism, Islam and Christianity. Caste, he tells Meenakshi Kumar, is as much a part of modern India, as it was in the past:
What was the idea behind the film?
The fact that everybody denied the existence of untouchability. The film is an attempt to wake up people from this denial and make them realise that it exists, naturally and sublimely. The point is made so clear when a child in the film says that he knows he is a Dalit but he does not know who told him so.
You travelled across different states to shoot the film. What was the most amazing discovery during the making of the film? What were the shocking ones?
The children. Their inability to figure out who told them about their caste but at the same time their complete awareness of the whole issue was simply mind-boggling. On the other hand, what really was a sad experience was to find that untouchability exists in Sikhism, a religion which was founded as an answer against the caste divisions of Hinduism. In Amritsar, we found a Gurudwara which had two separate doors, one was meant for the Mazhabi Sikhs and the other for the Jat Sikhs. There have been cases where Mazhabi Sikhs have tried to take offerings from the other door and were beaten up. One was aware of untouchability in islam and Christianity but to discover it in communist Kerala was shocking. They even have separate cemeteries for the untouchables there. Even worse is its existence among different sub-castes in Dalits. Again, there are instances where a Harijan boy has refused to drink water from a Valmiki boy.
Is the youth more aware and untouched by untouchability?
On the contrary, the youth is more biased today. They feel that if we talk about untouchability and caste system, we will perpetuate it. This mindset is much more common among the urban youth. And they take such a stand because they have not been given a platform to discuss and debate. Even in a prestigious institution like JNU in Delhi, it is a revelation to see caste system work.
How can a film like yours address this serious issue?
At least the discussion on reservations will go one step further. Right now, the discussion is, where is caste? Hopefully, the film will help in stopping us from denying its existence. This can help in moving discussions to real grounds.
[DFN editor’s note: The new documentary, “INDIA UNTOUCHED: Stories of a People Apart” is 110 minutes and available in Hindi, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Telugu, English, Punjabi, Malayalam and Gujarati with English sub-titles. It’s produced by DRISHTI Media, Arts & Human Rights. DVDs are available from Drishti for a contribution of Rs.500\$25 (for individuals) and Rs.3000\$200 (for organizations):
103, Anand Hari Tower,
Sandesh Press Road
Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380054, India
+91-79-2685 1235 and 6661 4235 or ]
Posted on: May 21, 2007
Priest shot and injured seriously in New Delhi
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS)—A priest who is the Principal of Vincent Pallotti School was shot and seriously injured before noon yesterday, a news service in the area reports.
Rev. Father George was shot by two men who came to seek the admission into the school. Father George has been admitted into a private hospital. No further details were available on this incident.
Meanwhile, a 57-year-old Dalit has been brutally persecuted by police in Kerala, according to Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) news service.
The news service says a Dalit Christian named Chacko was savagely tortured by the police on May 14 at Karimkunnam Police Station in Thodupuzha in Idukki District of Kerala in India.
The agency says Police brutally nailed Chacko’s penis with steel pins.
Chacko was admitted to the District Co-operative Hospital when he became unconcious. Doctors removed the steel pins from his penis through immediate surgery.
Chacko, who lives in Vellappuzha House at Purappuzha Village, went to the police station along with his wife Kuttiyamma to make a complaint. In the complaint they stated that Kaniyamparambil Manoj and his wife Maya forcibly entered their house and beat them severely due to a quarrel.
“Police called both families to the station to make a mutual understanding. But at the station, police sent back Manoj and family and tortured Chacko very cruelly and beat him up,” the SVM report states.
Prasannan, the Circle Inspector of Police in Thodupuzha, went to the hospital, met with Chacko, and started an investigation into the incident.
Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the National President of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) and the Director of the Salem Voice Ministries, condemned the cruelty of police towards Dalit Christians. He asked the government to punish the related policemen involved in Chacko’s incident.
The Thodupuzha Block Committee of Congress also condemned the attack.
Posted on: May 17, 2007
Indian News Captures Violent Attacks on Christians
For immediate release
May 14, 2007
Indian News Captures Violent Attacks on Christians
Attacks Prompt National Appeal to Congress Party for Protection and Justice
Two recent attacks on Christian leaders were captured by television film crews and have appeared on national news in the past week. The attacks have prompted a letter from Dr. Joseph D’Souza, president of the Dalit Freedom Network and the All India Christian Council, and other prominent Christian leaders to appeal to the Congress party for protection for Christians and justice for those who have been attacked.
In the first attack, Pastor Walter Masih was beaten in his small house in Jaipur, Rajasthan following his Sunday morning service. He was hit repeatedly by Hindu youth as his daughter cowered behind a door on April 29, 2007. Video of this attack is available here: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/39465/pastor-attack-media-under-scanner.html
In the second attack, two priests were beaten by a mob of Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu nationalist organization, on May 8, 2007. Claiming that the priests were trying to convert local Hindus, the mob beat the priests and then carried them to a local police station to register charges against them under anti-conversion legislation. The police detained the priest but took not action against the mob who had beaten them. Video of the attack is available here: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/39994/vhp-activists-beat-up-two-priests.html
Dr. D’Souza commented on these attacks in his letter:
“These images should have seared the conscience of the nation, but they have invited nothing more than a smug silence from all governments—the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra to the BJP chief minister in Rajasthan…. There is little doubt now that Hindutva extremists are running a series of planned attacks against the Christian community for over a year now.
The intensity of these attacks is increasing.”
The attacks are seemingly part of a push by Hinduthva (nationalist Hindu) organizations to use violence and oppression as a means of growing support for the BJP party in coming elections. After losing six seats in the recent election, many BJP supporters have called on the party to again focus solely on a Hinduthva agenda of anti-conversion and anti-Christian and Muslim violence.
Dr. D’Souza’s letter openly criticizes the Congress-rules government for not doing enough to protect Christian who supported the party in national elections. He writes:
“The fault indeed squarely lies with the Central Government which was voted to power by Dalits, minorities and the majority poor who hoped that the new UPA Government would at least insist upon the rule of the law and protect the minorities and Dalits. The lack of protection is all the more painful as the vast majority of Christian workers and communities in north India are Dalits, tribals or from the most backward castes. These are the communities which are bearing the brunt of the attacks.”
The full text of the letter is reprinted below.
The Dalit Freedom Network’s mission is to partner with the Dalits (India’s Untouchables) in their quest for religious freedom, social justice, and human dignity by mobilizing human, informational, and financial resources. Their website is: http://www.dalitnetwork.org
Letter text:
Hon’ble Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
PMO, South Block
Central Secretariat, New Delhi
And
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
President, Indian National Congress / Chairperson, UPA
10, Janpath, New Delhi
May 14, 2007
Dear leaders of the Indian Nation:
You must have been busy in the elections in Uttar Pradesh, but surely you would have seen television images of large mobs brutalising Christian pastors in various parts of the country this last fortnight. I wonder if you noticed the glee with which people in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, smashed their fists into the stomach of a helpless Tamil pastor on May 8. Others in the same mob proudly told the camera they were from Hindutva groups even as they rained blows at the head of the second pastor. Did you notice Pastor Walter Masih in his small house in Jaipur, Rajasthan, being hit repeatedly by lathi-bearing youth as his wide-eyed daughter cowered behind a door on April 29? The child is still traumatised. As, indeed, is the Christian community in India.
These images should have seared the conscience of the nation, but they have invited nothing more than a smug silence from all governments—the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra to the BJP chief minister in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the women raped for being Christians on May 28, 2006, have wept in silence, even the police and TV refusing to listen to them.
There is little doubt now that Hindutva extremists are running a series of planned attacks against the Christian community for over a year now.
The intensity of these attacks is increasing.
Their own leaders have encouraged them to further violence by word, statement and support. Sadly, there has been no voice in authority which would discourage them; much less to caution them of punishment under the law of the land.
The deafening silence of the UPA Government in New Delhi when anti-conversion laws were passed in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and more recently by the Congress run Government in Himachal Pradesh, has in fact served as a tonic to the killer gangs and their hate-mongering leaders.
These anti-conversion laws demonise the Christian community as much as Muslims are elsewhere identified as ‘anti-national’ in the Hindutva propaganda. The present violence against Christian community in general, and pastors and priests in particular, takes us back to the dark days of 1998-2000 of the mass violence against Gujarat Christians and the brutal Orissa murder of Graham Stuart Staines and his young sons Philip and Timothy.
There is not a day but my colleagues in the All India Christian Council report anti-Christian violence from Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka and sadly, also from Andhra, Maharashtra and Himachal, the last three in control of the Congress. The most heinous of them all is sexual violence against Christian women, particularly in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
We fear this overwhelming cloud of hate and violence has in it the seeds of a much tragedy in the future. I hope and pray it will not lead to a massacre of my community possibly in some distant village area or in a Christian compound.
It is not enough for the Central Government to say that law and order is a State subject, while remaining a mute spectator of the violence against the micro minority Christian community. In all this violence, the community has never retaliated or taken recourse to any form of violence. There never has been a communal riot involving Christians anywhere in the country.
Chief Ministers of the concerned states, whatever be their political identity, cannot absolve themselves of responsibility in this tragic environment of hate and violence. The blame for the state of affairs lies squarely also on the Union Home Ministry in New Delhi which time and again has received complaints from bodies like the All India Christian Council and the All India Catholic Union.
What has the Union Home Ministry done about the violence against tribal Christians in Madhya Pradesh, in Chhattisgarh, in Rajasthan, and in Gujarat in the last six months? What has the Home Ministry done about the recent attack on Pastor Masih in Rajasthan or the workers in Kolhapur? What is it doing about the consistent attacks against the tribal Christians in Orissa?
The fault indeed squarely lies with the Central Government which was voted to power by Dalits, minorities and the majority poor who hoped that the new UPA Government would at least insist upon the rule of the law and protect the minorities and Dalits. The lack of protection is all the more painful as the vast majority of Christian workers and communities in north India are Dalits, tribals or from the most backward castes. These are the communities which are bearing the brunt of the attacks.
It is not too late. We feel the situation can be retrieved, the marauding mobs contained, and tragedy averted, if the Union government were to:
1. Repeal the anti-conversion law in Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh just as Chief Minister Karunanidhi revoked the anti-conversion law in Tamil Nadu as these laws legitimise demonising of the Christian community.
2. Issue statutory notices to State Governments, and especially the Governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh to give protection to Christian places of worship and Christian priests.
3. Book the perpetrators of hate crimes and violence against the Christians under the Indian Penal Code and deal strictly with them.
We are proud of India’s democratic traditions, and the Freedom of Faith it has nurtured since Siddhartha became Gautama Buddha. Independent India has codified the same tradition in its Constitution.
It is not too much that we seek as Citizens of India. Let there be rule of law, and let the Constitution prevail in every state of the Country.
God bless you
Sd/-
Dr Joseph D’souza
President
All India Christian Council
For more information, contact:
Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network
(703) 974-1243
Posted on: May 14, 2007
Mayawati sets eyes on Delhi now
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, MAY 14, 2007 03:16:15 AM] Read original article by clicking here
LUCKNOW: While subtly making her intentions clear that her eyes were now set on the Prime Minister’s chair, Mayawati said that she was in favour of quota for religious minorities and economically weaker among the upper castes.
Having tasted blood with her Dalit-Brahmin-muslim political alliance, securing a majority in the UP assembly, she has gone ahead in an aggressive bid to keep her party’s caste alliance together.
Addressing her maiden press conference after being sworn in as the chief minister, she said, “We would welcome any move by the central government to provide reservations to the minorities and the economically-weaker sections from the upper castes.”
She said that providing reservations was the prerogative of the Union government, but if it does not make a move on it, her government would work for the development of these weaker sections. With a complete majority on her side brought about by her unique feat of stitching together a rainbow caste alliance, Mayawati said her party cadres are now looking towards Delhi.
“We have secured a complete mandate in UP and the results show that the road to the Centre is clear,” she said. Mayawati pointed out that the BSP is doing well in other states also and the results point out that power at the Centre is now within their reach.
She announced that all decisions taken by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, after the announcement of polls on February 21, have been revoked by her, soon after taking charge as the CM. “All illegal acts of the Yadav government would be probed and strict action will be taken against those found guilty. However, there would be no political vendetta.”
She said that her government would work for a fearless, corruption free and socially just government and focus on the development of the state. “The unemployment allowance to the youth would be done away with and jobs would be provided instead.”
She said that the high-profile UP Industrial Development Council, which was chaired by Amar Singh, would be scrapped. The economic development of the state would be the thrust area and new industries would be promoted, she added.
To end the Jungle Raj that had come about during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s regime, Ms Mayawati would launch a campaign to throw the criminals behind bars.
“Gunners provided to criminals during the SP regime would be removed immediately,” she said. Eyeing her core Dalit vote bank, Mayawati announced that job quotas which remained vacant during earlier governments would be filled through a special drive.
The bureaucracy, which has always been on tenterhooks during earlier Mayawati regimes, was in for some relief as Mayawati said, “officers are warned to carry out their duties diligently. But those who do not work properly would not necessarily be transferred. But strict action would be initiated against them.”
Posted on: May 14, 2007
Dalit Woman Emerges Electoral Winner in India's Largest State
For Immediate Release
11 May 2007
Even as India is celebrating the 150 years of the first revolt of independence against the British in 1857 the lady called as Sister
Mayawati is to become Chief Minister in India’s largest state- Uttar Pradesh (UP). This is the state that has traditionally given India most of her Prime Ministers.
In what is possibly one of the most intriguing elections in recent Indian history, Mayawati’s party, the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP (translated-the party of the majority community of the oppressed castes), won an absolute majority in India’s largest state-Uttar Pradesh with a population of about 170 million people.
While analysts try to make sense of the election result, everyone is agreed that Mayawati cleverly took the majority of the Dalit votes in the State along with good sections of the Muslim and the Brahmin votes. Her strategy lay in reaching out to the Brahmins, whom she earlier had attacked fiercely as the perpetrators of the caste system, but now lay marginalized with the completely caste driven politics of UP. The Backward Caste ‘Yadav’ vote largely went to the runner up party, the Samajwadi Party (SP) which ruled UP for the past few years.
Even though Brahmin politicians ruled the State for nearly 45 years, it is in the wake of the caste churning and caste politics in UP of the last 15 years that the ruling Brahmin castes have been marginalized politically as their caste percentage in UP is that of a minority. It is a curious twist of history that the Dalit leader offered the Brahmins some honor while at the same time offering development and prosperity to the Dalits and other oppressed groups.
The media has often lampooned Mayawati for her imperious style, luxurious living, extravagant spending, and as a politician who would ally with any party to get to political power. Earlier, her party members have deserted her to join other parties due to the lure of power and money. She now has 5 years to keep her flock together and govern one of India’s most complex states where law and order has become a huge problem. UP is the state where the 30 children were kidnapped, abused and killed recently. The media also criticized her in the past for supporting the Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of the Gujarat carnage. At that time, she was firmly aligned with the Barantya Janata Party (BJP).
Whatever her politics, Sister Mayawati has a tremendous opportunity to address the educational needs of Dalits, to ensure justice for Dalits where caste-discrimination is still going on in UP, to invest in a globalized English medium education for Dalits, to give Dalit Christians their due in her State, and maintain religious freedom in the State of UP for the next five years. UP and Bihar are the two large Hindi states in north India where there is religious freedom. She has promised development for the downtrodden. She must go some distance in delivering on her promises to the people if she wants to fulfill her stated dream of becoming the Prime Minister of India one day.
For more information, contact:
Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network
(703) 974-1243
Posted on: May 11, 2007
UK Parliament Debates Caste in Westminster Hall
For immediate release
May 10, 2007
UK Parliament Debates Caste in Westminster Hall
House of Commons Debate Witnessed by Dalit Family
The British House of Commons yesterday debated the ongoing problem of Caste oppression and Untouchability facing India’s Dalit and Tribal people. The debate lasted well over an hour and was initiated by Stephen Crabb M.P. (Preseli Pembrokeshire) and joined by several Members of Parliament from different parties. The debate included discussion on the recent atrocities at Khairlanji, exploitation of labor, and anti-conversion legislation. The debate, held to inquire specifically about the UK Government’s response to the Caste system, received an uninspired response from The Minister for Europe, Geoffrey Hoon.
The debate was attended by Sam Paul, a Dalit activist from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, and his family. “It is inspiring to see these respected Members of Parliament to confront a problem that has hurt the Dalits for centuries,” said Mr. Paul. “The issue was very well debated and, though it is not an inherently British problem, I am glad to see the Parliament raise the issue as a friend of India. I hope the UK Government will raise this issue with British businesses in India so that they might hire and train Dalits and give support to Dalit small businesses and NGOs.”
Westminster Hall debates are a forum for Members of Parliament to raise direct questions with the Government on specific issues. This debate on Caste is the first of its kind in Westminster Hall.
Full text of the debate is available here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070508/halltext/70508h0004.htm#070 50819000003
For more information, contact:
Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network
(703) 974-1243
Posted on: May 10, 2007
Khairlanji: Dalit murder trial begins
Piyush Pushpak,
CNN-IBN Read original article by clicking here
The CBI, which has been investigating the murders, has been able to chargesheet only 11 of the accused as of yet. The matter is now up for hearing, but the prosecution alleges that witnesses to the massacre are being threatened
Says prosecution lawyer, Ujjawal Nikam, “I have been told that certain persons are threatening prosecution witnesses. I have instructed local police agencies to keep a close vigilance on such persons.”
Though security was provided to some witnesses, the guards themselves have come under suspicion.
Says Khairlanji Action Committee’s Asit Bagre, “The guard appointed to ensure security for the witness actually started threatening the witness. He was later suspended.”
The defence, on its part, has denied all these allegations. Says defence lawyer, Sanjay Lakhnikar, “These allegations are baseless as the accused are all in jail.”
Seven months ago, the Khairlanji killings had sent shock waves across Maharashtra and there were violent protests at many places, after which a CBI inquiry was ordered.
But with the recent allegations of threat to witnesses, it seems the wait for justice could prove long for Bhaiyalal Bhotmange.
Archived articles at Dalit Freedom Network:
http://www.dalitnetwork.org/go?/dfn/news/dalit_survivor_calls_on_sonia
Posted on: May 10, 2007
Stephen Crabb MP: Caste and Human Rights in India
From the ConservativeHome.com, May, 2007
Stephen Crabb MP is the new Chairman of the Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission.
On 29th September last year the wife, daughter and two sons of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, from the village of Khairlanji in the Indian state of Maharashtra, were dragged from their home and lynched in broad daylight.
After being bludgeoned to death by a mob, their mutilated bodies were dumped in a nearby canal. The female family members are believed to have been gang-raped before being murdered.
At the heart of this horrific case was a property dispute fuelled by a toxic mix of caste-based jealousy and prejudice. The killing of these Dalits, and the apathetic response by local police, led to violent protests and the case continues to receive attention from international human rights groups and media.
In February, while on a human rights visit to India with CSW, I was taken to Khairlanji by a group of Buddhist activists who had helped to disseminate information about the massacre in the first days after the event. I later met Bhotmange, now living under police protection, who fears that justice will never be served on those who murdered his family.
Khairlanji represents just one example of the systemic caste-based human rights abuse which still exists in India today, despite a constitutional and legal framework in which “untouchability” is abolished.
During my brief visit in February I was presented with a wide range of evidence of continuing discrimination against Dalits in the fields of education, employment, and access to health services and justice.
On virtually any statistical measure one can choose – literacy, malnutrition, infant mortality, sexual violence – Dalits fare much worse than the national average. Furthermore, Dalits are overwhelmingly the victims of bonded labour and human trafficking, two of the most serious forms of modern slavery.
In March the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission held a hearing in Parliament which took oral evidence directly from a delegation of Dalit representatives visiting the UK.
Last Tuesday we sought to present this evidence to Foreign Office Minister Geoff Hoon MP in a debate where I found myself being supported by the likes of Jeremy Corbyn MP in calling for the Government to use our friendship with India to help bring justice to India’s 200 million Dalits.
The importance of our relations with India is recognised on both sides of the House of Commons. I have previously argued in Parliament for a stronger trading relationship between the UK and India.
But the pursuit of close economic and political relations must not mean that we remain neutral on issues of caste. As Thomas Friedman says, globalisation has created a world which is now flat. India’s increasing global reach, through its trade and diaspora, means that it should expect the international community to take an interest in the condition of Dalits.
India is a beautiful and wonderfully diverse nation; it is also a truly remarkable liberal democracy. When we speak of human rights issues in India we are talking about a fundamentally different set of issues than those associated with the authoritarian regimes of Burma and North Korea.
In India there is a freedom to debate the issue of caste and an increasingly critical media which is responding to the new aspirations and values of young Indians.
Last December Prime Minister Manmohan Singh became the first sitting Indian prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel between the practice of “untouchability” and apartheid in South Africa, describing it as a “blot on humanity”.
I am hugely optimistic about India’s future. But the societies that are likely to do best in the 21st century are those in which the conditions of freedom and social mobility are maximized.
Caste-based discrimination, which constrains the life chances of more than 200 million people, must have no place in the new India.
Posted on: May 7, 2007
Dalit killed for digging own well
by Satyajit Joshi
First Published: 04:58 IST
Last Updated: 05:02 IST
From The Hindustan Times, Friday, May 4, 2007
Gautam (name changed) is a police constable in Satara’s Man taluka, but even he could not save his brother-in-law Madhukar Ghatge.
Ghatge (48), a Dalit farmer and a father of three, retired from the Railways a few years ago and moved home from Mumbai to farm on his family’s 5-acre plot here. He was murdered last week by upper-caste villagers who did not want him to dig a well on his own property.
It would have been the first well in Kulakjai village on land owned by a Dalit.
The police said Ghatge was hacked so violently that even the earth-moving machine he was using at the time was damaged.
‘They left him to die’
“They were armed with axes and iron rods. They attacked him and left him to bleed to death,” said Ghatge’s 21-year-old son Tushar, a law student at a local college.
Ten people have been arrested and charged under the Atrocities Act and special police teams deployed. “They said his well would mean less water for the common well in the village,” said Tushar.
Ghatge tried to reason, saying he had acquired permission from the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti and had promised to share the water in times of scarcity, but the crowd grew menacing.
Ten arrested
The field where Ghatge was digging his well is about 5 km away from the ‘Harijan basti (settlement)’ where the village’s lower castes live.
As word of Ghatge being hacked to death last week at around 9 pm spread, his son Tushar told his mother and two younger sisters to bolt the doors and windows and dashed to the field.
“He was lying in a pool of blood,” he told HT. “No one came forward to help.” Tushar carried his father to the nearest hospital 2 km away. He died on the way.
Ten people were arrested and two others listed as absconding. Local officials declined comment.
Even Ghatge’s younger brother Sudhakar, the deputy sarpanch, would only confirm that the gramsabha had sanctioned the well.
“Rs 60,000 was granted in funds through a scheme,” he added.
‘Peaceful’ town
Back at the Harijan basti on Saturday, Ghatge’s neighbours gathered at his house to pay homage. They put up photographs of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, champion of the Dalit cause, and Gautam Buddha — most basti residents have converted from Hinduism in a bid to escape the stain of their caste.
Friends and relatives from Mumbai sat in stunned silence. “A special police team has been deployed to avoid any trouble,” said Satara District Superintendent of Police Prakash Mutyal.
It’s always been a peaceful town, he frowned.
Posted on: May 4, 2007
Congressman Trent Franks Introduces Resolution on Untouchability
Washington, DC – Congressman Trent Franks today introduced an historic resolution on Untouchability in the United States House of Representatives. The resolution, when passed, will be the first official statement of Congress that Untouchability is an unacceptable practice in any modern democracy and that the United States Congress should do all within its power to ensure American Business and the United States Government are not discriminating against Dalits in their programs, hiring, and funding. The resolution was introduced on the 200th anniversary of the enactment of William Wilberforce-sponsored bill abolition the cross-Atlantic slave trade in the United Kingdom.
The resolution was introduced shortly after a briefing with the Congressional Human Rights Caucus entitled Untouchables: The Plight of Dalit Women with testimony from DFN Executive Director Nanci Ricks; Joseph D’Souza, International President of the DFN; Kumar Swamy, South India Director of the All India Christian Council; Smita Narula, Executive Director of the Center for Global Human Rights and Global Justice at the New York University School of Law; and T. Kumar, Advocacy Director Asia & Pacific, Amnesty International.
The testimonies were both moving and informative, as Mrs. Ricks highlighted the dehumanization facing Dalit women from before birth into their adult lives, Ms. Narula covered the systematic discrimination facing Dalit women at the national, state, and local levels in all areas of life, Mr. Kumar delved into the root causes of Untouchability and potential solutions, Dr. D’Souza spoke of Dalit girl sex trafficking and recent examples of violence against Dalit girls, and Mr. Swamy spoke of his experience as a Dalit in India and the violence he has personally seen perpetrated on Dalit women.
The speakers were unanimous in calling for a swift response from the Unites States Government. In particular, each called on the United State Congress to pass the resolution dealing with Untouchability introduced by Congressman Franks. Moreover, they called on US businesses to allocate jobs and training to Dalits, especially Dalit women, and to ensure that Dalits and low-caste people do not face discrimination in the workplace or in hiring. The panelists also highlighted the need for education for Dalit girls across India to afford them greater economic opportunity.
Following the briefing, Rep. Franks introduced the resolution with thirteen original cosponsors from across the political spectrum. In a moving speech, he called on his fellow Members of Congress to focus on “an ancient and particularly abhorrent form of persecution and segregation in one of America’s closest allies.” Echoing the December 27th, 2006 words of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he likened the Caste system in India to Apartheid in South Africa and called on the United States Congress to join with him in raising the issue with the Indian Government.
The resolution and briefing arrive following a flurry of action in the United Kingdom and in the European Union on the issue of Untouchability. Last month, the UK House of Lord and House of Commons took up the issue in a public debate while the Conservative Human Rights Commission held a groundbreaking hearing on Untouchability. In February, the European Union passed a resolution on Untouchability which called on the government of India to drastically improve its response to the egregious human rights violations caused by Caste and Untouchability.
“We are in the midst of a worldwide movement,” commented Dr. D’Souza following the briefing. “The world is just now awakening to the oldest and largest human rights atrocity. Now is the time for action, and we call on others to join with leaders like Congressman Franks in calling for movement by the United States Government and other world governments.”
For more information, contact:
Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network
(703) 974-1243
For immediate release
May 1, 2007
Posted on: May 2, 2007
