Atrocities & Crimes Against Dalits

Dalit teenager dies after hospital refuses treatment

Originally published as “Dalit teenager dies after hospital refuses treatment,” IANS, June 15, 2009.

Lucknow, UP: A Dalit teenager in Uttar Pradesh died Monday after a government-run hospital allegedly refused to admit him, police said.

“Anil Kumar, 18, who had suffered burn injuries after being electrocuted was reportedly denied treatment by the doctors in a hospital in Hamirpur district Monday,” Superintendent of Police Suryanath told IANS over phone.

The kin of the deceased alleged that the doctors asked them to take away Kumar, as the hospital was not meant for treating “lower caste patients”, he added.

A high-level enquiry has been initiated into the case to probe the role of doctors, who have been accused of denying treatment to the Dalit teenager.

“A three-member committee, including the Hamirpur chief medical officer (CMO) has been constituted following the directions of the district magistrate,” Suryanath said.

“The committee members have been directed to submit the enquiry report within two days on the basis of which necessary action would be taken against the hospital staff,” he added.

Hamirpur is some 300 km [186 miles] from Lucknow.

Posted on: June 23, 2009

 


Court gives justice to Mumbai Dalits

Originally published as “12 yrs on, justice for Mumbai Dalit colony”, Hindustan Times, 8 May 2009.

Nearly 12 years after the controversial police firing in a Mumbai suburb, a fast track court on Thursday sentenced the then State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) Platoon Commander Manohar Kadam (56) to life imprisonment for causing homicidal deaths of 10 Dalits in the firing.

The Dalits were part of a mob protesting against desecration of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue in Ramabai Nagar in Ghatkopar, a northeastern suburb of Mumbai on July 11, 1997.

Ad-hoc Judge SY Kulkarni handed the maximum punishment, considering the large number of victims, and that the firing was ordered without assessing the situation and violated mandatory norms.

Judge Kulkarni found that Kadam had ordered firing within 10 minutes of his reaching the scene and did not try to resort to a cane-charge, teargas shelling or firing in the air.

The impact of the killing was such that Dalits, who form roughly 12 per cent of the state’s population, voted to defeat the Sena-BJP alliance government in the 1999 elections. The alliance has not returned to power since.

What incensed Dalits was the way the then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi (Sena) and Home Minister Gopinath Munde (BJP) had defended the firing — arguing that the police resorted to firing as the mob was about to torch a nearby oil tanker.

“It is delayed justice but it will surely help the Congress-NCP build faith among the Dalits,” said Ratnakar Mahajan, Executive Chairman of the State Planning Board.

BJP leaders Munde and Nitin Gadkari did not comment on the verdict.

The court discarded the ‘gas tanker’ theory put forth by Kadam and the then ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine. According to the officer, the mob, which had already set some vehicles on fire, was moving towards the tanker standing on the Eastern Express highway. Kadam said it was at this moment that he ordered his platoon to open fire, sensing danger of the mob setting the tanker ablaze and affecting the entire area within 10 km of the tanker’s periphery.

Posted on: May 21, 2009

 


Dalit political candidate found dead

Originally published as “IJP candidate’s murder a mystery”, by Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui, Times of India, April 18, 2009.

[Editor’s note: The dead politician was running for election under the Indian Justice Party. This party was formed by Udit Raj, a Dalit leader who has worked with DFN, as a platform for social justice for Dalits. It is one of the few competitors to Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party which is currently in power in the state of Uttar Pradesh.]

LUCKNOW: On March 30, Indian Justice Party (IJP) candidate from Jaunpur Bahadur Sonkar informed the district magistrate (DM) Aparna Upadhyay of being threatened to withdraw from the elections. With no help from the authorities, he produced evidences at a press conference on April 6 claiming that circle officer (CO) Ditendra Chowdhary was pressurising him to skip the fray. On April 13, his body was found hanging from a tree near his house. Within the next 24 hours, police said Bahadur committed suicide. However 72 hours later, police are yet to answer some basic queries which question their suicide theory.

This despite ample evidence to strongly suggest that not only Bahadur was murdered but an intelligent attempt was also made to plant evidence which could portray victim’s younger brother Suresh as the prime suspect. But the police appear to have conveniently overlooked this evidence for reasons best known to them.

For a quick recap: Bahadur’s body was found hanging from a babool tree, nine feet above the ground, about a furlong from his house. Ante-mortem injury on the head and a ligature injury on the neck were found during autopsy. The post-mortem report deduced the cause of death as “asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem injuries”.

Neither circumstantial evidences, nor the post-mortem report remotely suggest that Bahadur hanged himself to death. On the contrary, there are a series of elements which suggest that he did not.

Firstly, despite Bahadur having named the CO who was supposedly pressurising him to quit elections, no efforts have been made yet to confirm if the allegations hold water.

Next, Bahadur’s body was found hanging from a tree nine feet above the ground. Why would a person planning suicide hang a loop 14.5 feet (9 feet plus his own height 5.5 feet) and then climb up all the way to hang himself instead of choosing a lower branch to hang the rope from. Next, there was nothing at the scene of crime which could have been used by Bahadur to reach the 14-feet-plus-high knot. So, how did reach there?

When confronted with the query, SP Jaunpur V K Dohre instead came up with a question. “Why wound anyone hang him 9 feet above the ground even if we assume that he was murdered?”

Thirdly, the post-mortem report clearly states that the victim had suffered ante-mortem injuries on his head and a ligature injury on the neck — a common factor in suicide cases.

Posted on: April 20, 2009

 


Two Dalits hacked to death in Tamil Nadu

Originally published by CNN-IBN, March 7, 2009.

Sankarankoil (Tamil Nadu): Two Dalits were hacked to death by unidentified assailants following a dispute apparently over offering worship in the local Muppidathy Ammam temple in Tirunelveli district.

The group of unidentified persons hacked one Dalit, K Paramasivan (27), when he was going to his village on Friday night, police said on Saturday.

Another Dalit, E Easwaran (55), who was coming in a motorcycle with one more Dalit Suresh, was also found hacked to death.

Suresh somehow managed to escape from the scene.

The dispute started over offering worship in the temple, belonging to Konar community, started last year, officials said.

Posted on: March 9, 2009

 


Gujarat teachers sentenced for raping Dalit student

Originally published as “6 Gujarat teachers get life term for gang raping Dalit student”, Press Trust of India, March 6, 2009.

Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Six teachers of a college in Patan near here were awarded life terms by a special court for gang raping a 19-year-old Dalit student today, a year after the incident had led to public outrage in Gujarat.

Manish Parmar, Mahendra Prajapati, Ashwin Parmar, Kiran Patel, Suresh Patel and Atul Patel were pronounced guilty by Additional Sessions Judge S C Srivastava at Patan, about 125 km from here in north Gujarat.

The judge imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 ($77) on each of them and said failure to pay the amount would invite additional six-month imprisonment.

The court also directed the convicts to pay Rs 10,000 ($192) each to the girl, a student of the Primary Teachers’ Training College (PTC), as compensation.

The incident at the state government-run college in Patan came to light on February 4, 2008 after the victim told her parents and relatives that she was repeatedly raped by the teachers over a period of six months.

The girl comes from a poor background and was a resident-student of the college.

She was threatened by the teachers that they will not give internal marks to her and fail her if she did not give in to their sexual advances, police had said.

Posted on: March 9, 2009

 


Dalits in Gujarat say their dead have no place to rest in peace

Original article from ExpressIndia.com by Shubhlakshmi Shukla.

Banaskantha Runi, nearly 25 km from the Rajasthan border, is a village that has always acted as a breeding ground of politicians. Although the village has seen a lot of development, the Dalits have a different story to tell. Their main complaint—they do not know if their dead are actually laid to rest.

Unlike high-caste Hindus, who have well-developed crematoriums, thanks to the Rs 5 lakh grant under the Panchvati Yojana of the state government, Dalits from nine separate categories still follow their age-old custom of burying the dead. But their burial ground has been encroached upon by the village high school that has left little space to bury the dead. The story is similar in over 60 villages under Dhanera taluka of Banaskantha district.

Varsha Ganguly, who heads the Ahmedabad-based Behavioural Science Centre (BSC), said: “The divide is evident, even in the eyes of the government. The reason: in the Hindu religion, last rites are always understood as cremation. The government has not even cared about regularising burial lands for Dalits.”

The divide exists everywhere in the state. According to the BSC, there are nearly 18,100 villages in Gujarat; of these around 5,000 have no legal burial ground for the Dalits.

Bharat Dhabi, a resident of Runi said: “They have funds for the upper castes—those who cremate their dead—but not for our community. We have been using the burial ground for a century now.”

He added, “Runi Gram Panchayat had allotted around 8.5 acres of land to Matrushree Vidyalaya—a private high school. However, the school authorities have encroached upon nearly 1.5 acres.”

Elsewhere, in Ruppur village under Chanasma taluka of Patan district, Valji Patel of the Council for Social Justice recounts how a Dalit burial ground located there was taken over by the Nirma trust. Incidentally, Karsan Patel, the founder of Nirma, belongs to this place, said Patel.

Even as Dalits have been burying their dead for such a long time now, it is not regularised by the state government. As a result, the land is now considered a wasteland, Patel said. Interestingly, the price of burial lands at Ruppur has increased. The reason: with the construction of a national highway connecting Chanasma and Patan, around 1.5 acres of Dalit burial land came to the front.

“Settlements were made between the Gram Panchayat and the trust, and the land was given to the latter, last year, to develop a garden,” Patel said. He added: “We started a 30-day agitation at the collectors office and also filed a petition in the high court, last year.

Inquiry was ordered against the district collector. Land, however, was not allotted. Instead of the piece of land lying adjacent to the highway, a small patch in the interior of the village was given to the Dalits .”

The institute has now taken this matter to the Supreme Court, said Patel.

Despite the fact that the Revenue Department had passed a Government Resolution in September 1989 to consider 1972 as the year for earmarking land for burial, nothing seems to have been done so far.

“Apart from the Revenue Department, the Dalits have to approach the Health Department also to regularise land for burial, but this provided the decaying bodies do not spread any disease. Quite ironically, Gram Panchayats in several villages have allotted residential land that are in close proximity to burial lands,” said Manu Pandya, a local volunteer associated with BSC.

In Odha village of Banaskantha district, the Gram Panchayat has allotted a residential zone just adjacent to the previously existing burial ground.

Leela Solanki (40), a widow from Odhav village witnessed a gory scene when the body of her three-year-old son was accidentally exhumed by the plough of a farmer from the Patel community. “My husband was alive when the incident happened a few years ago. He died a few days later,” she said.

Fakir Vaghela is the state’s Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment of SCs and Socially and Economically Backward Classes. He also holds the portfolio of Sports and Youth and Cultural Activities. Although Vaghela is aware of this problem faced by the Dalits, he was unaware of the status. P Panneervel, Principal Secretary, State Revenue Department, was not available for his comments.

The reality, at the end of the day, is that the tale of woes of the Dalits does not seem to have an end right now. When asked about this, Leela said: “My son, Mahesh, and I work as farm labourers. We get two bags of wheat in lieu of our work on which we have to survive for a few months. I have to fill my stomach before I can fight for the dead.”

Posted on: December 1, 2008

 


Can Love Conquer Caste?

Can Love Conquer Caste?
By Emily Wax, Washington Post Saturday, November 22, 2008

NEW DELHI—She was a gutsy student leader known for hunger strikes and provocative street theater at universities across the country, exposing the plight of India’s beleaguered lower castes. He was a worldly gadfly with a passion for ending nuclear proliferation and exposing environmental crimes.

They fell in love in Iraq nearly 18 years ago while campaigning for peace before the Persian Gulf War. Their romance bloomed, and within three months they were engaged.

But their marriage a year later ushered in another war: In tying the knot, they openly defied India’s deeply entrenched taboos against inter-caste marriage. Anita Pharti, now 42, came from the Dalit caste, still known as untouchables, the lowest in India’s social order. Her husband, Rajeev Singh, 45, is a Rajput, traditionally a landholding caste that had for centuries ruled over Pharti’s peasant community.

“My family was completely aghast,” Singh recalled, sitting with Pharti in their cozy living room, where they have helped clandestine inter-caste couples elope. “My father said he wouldn’t let it happen. But I felt so sure about Anita. We were able to fight back. But we were the lucky ones. Many still get murdered for this.”

Even though India legalized inter-caste marriage more than 50 years ago, newlyweds are still threatened by violence, most often from their families. As more young urban and small-town Indians start to rebel and choose mates outside of arranged marriages and caste commandments, killings of inter-caste couples have increased, according to a recent study by the All India Democratic Women’s Association.

In the past month, seven so-called honor killings have targeted inter-caste couples. In the latest incident, a Hindu youth in Bihar was beaten by villagers this week and thrown under an oncoming train because he sent a love letter to a girl of a different caste. The attacks continue despite decades of government decrees intended to dismantle the bulwark of caste, which is widely seen as the glue of traditional Indian society but is considered among the most corrosive features of the emerging new India.

“The recent rise in violence actually shows that the younger generation—especially women—are slowly gaining individual freedom in marriage. But the older generation still cling to the old ways where marriage is still a symbol of status, not emotional love,” said Shashi Kiran, a lawyer in India’s Supreme Court who married outside her caste and is handling several honor-killing cases. “It shows a society still in transition and wrestling with deep change.”

As part of a controversial incentive for inter-caste couples to marry, the government recently began offering $1,000 bonuses. That’s nearly a year’s salary for the vast majority of Indians. Smaller cash payments first started in 2006 after a Supreme Court ruling in which judges described several high-profile honor killings as acts of “barbarism” and labeled the caste system “a curse on the nation.”

“The government is again deeply concerned over the low rate of conviction and high rate of acquittal of those people involved in incidents of atrocities on people belonging to lower castes,” said Meira Kumar, the minister for social justice and empowerment, who is from a lower caste. “This is not the only way to end the caste discrimination, but one has to start somewhere.”

B.R. Ambedkar, the country’s most famous Dalit leader and chief architect of the Indian constitution, called for an end to caste consciousness more than 60 years ago. He promoted inter-caste marriage as the most practical way to blur caste lines and render them irrelevant.

Despite India’s egalitarian veneer, there remains an invisible separation between the country’s upper and lower castes that lasts from birth to death. Meals are rarely shared between Brahmins and Dalits, the top and bottom brackets of the caste system, which also….click here to read full article and see photo.

Posted on: November 24, 2008

 


BBC Interview of Dr. Joseph D'souza

Dr. Joseph D’souza – President of All India Christian Council and International President of Dalit Freedom Network was interviewed on BBC, which was broadcasted last week.
The interview is available by clicking here.

Posted on: November 19, 2008

 


Hindu Threat to Christians: Convert or Flee

From the NY Times by SOMINI SENGUPTA

BOREPANGA, India — The family of Solomon Digal was summoned by neighbors to what serves as a public square in front of the village tea shop.

They were ordered to get on their knees and bow before the portrait of a Hindu preacher. They were told to turn over their Bibles, hymnals and the two brightly colored calendar images of Christ that hung on their wall. Then, Mr. Digal, 45, a Christian since childhood, was forced to watch his Hindu neighbors set the items on fire.

“Embrace Hinduism, and your house will not be demolished,” Mr. Digal recalled being told on that Wednesday afternoon in September. “Otherwise, you will be killed, or you will be thrown out of the village.”

India, the world’s most populous democracy and officially a secular nation, is today haunted by a stark assault on one of its fundamental freedoms. Here in eastern Orissa State, riven by six weeks of religious clashes, Christian families like the Digals say they are being forced to abandon their faith in exchange for their safety.

The forced conversions come amid widening attacks on Christians here and in at least five other states across the country, as India prepares for national elections next spring.
The clash of faiths has cut a wide swath of panic and destruction through these once quiet hamlets fed by paddy fields and jackfruit trees. Here in Kandhamal, the district that has seen the greatest violence, more than 30 people have been killed, 3,000 homes burned and over 130 churches destroyed, including the tin-roofed Baptist prayer hall where the Digals worshiped. Today it is a heap of rubble on an empty field, where cows blithely graze.

Across this ghastly terrain lie the singed remains of mud-and-thatch homes. Christian-owned businesses have been systematically attacked. Orange flags (orange is the sacred color of Hinduism) flutter triumphantly above the rooftops of houses and storefronts.

India is no stranger to religious violence between Christians, who make up about 2 percent of the population, and India’s Hindu-majority of 1.1 billion people. But this most recent spasm is the most intense in years.
It was set off, people here say, by the killing on Aug. 23 of a charismatic Hindu preacher known as Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who for 40 years had rallied the area’s people to choose Hinduism over Christianity.
The police have blamed Maoist guerrillas for the swami’s killing. But Hindu radicals continue to hold Christians responsible.

In recent weeks, they have plastered these villages with gruesome posters of the swami’s hacked corpse. “Who killed him?” the posters ask. “What is the solution?”

Behind the clashes are long-simmering tensions between equally impoverished groups: the Panas and Kandhas. Both original inhabitants of the land, the two groups for ages worshiped the same gods. Over the past several decades, the Panas for the most part became Christian, as Roman Catholic and Baptist missionaries arrived here more than 60 years ago, followed more recently by Pentecostals, who have proselytized more aggressively.

Meanwhile, the Kandhas, in part through the teachings of Swami Laxmanananda, embraced Hinduism. The men tied the sacred Hindu white thread around their torsos; their wives daubed their foreheads with bright red vermilion. Temples sprouted.

Hate has been fed by economic tensions as well, as the government has categorized each group differently and given them different privileges.

The Kandhas accused the Panas of cheating to obtain coveted quotas for government jobs. The Christian Panas, in turn, say their neighbors have become resentful as they have educated themselves and prospered.
Their grievances have erupted in sporadic clashes over the past 15 years, but they have exploded with a fury since the killing of Swami Laxmanananda.

Two nights after his death, a Hindu mob in the village of Nuagaon dragged a Catholic priest and a nun from their residence, tore off much of their clothing and paraded them through the streets.
The nun told the police that she had been raped by four men, a charge the police say was borne out by a medical examination. Yet no one was arrested in the case until five weeks later, after a storm of media coverage. Today, five men are under arrest in connection with inciting the riots. The police say they are trying to find the nun and bring her back here to identify her attackers.

Given a chance to explain the recent violence, Subash Chauhan, the state’s highest-ranking leader of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu radical group, described much of it as “a spontaneous reaction.”
He said in an interview that the nun had not been raped but had had regular consensual sex.

On Sunday evening, as much of Kandhamal remained under curfew, Mr. Chauhan sat in the hall of a Hindu school in the state capital, Bhubaneshwar, beneath a huge portrait of the swami. A state police officer was assigned to protect him round the clock. He cupped a trilling Blackberry in his hand.

Mr. Chauhan denied that his group was responsible for forced conversions and in turn accused Christian missionaries of luring villagers with incentives of schools and social services.
He was asked repeatedly whether Christians in Orissa should be left free to worship the god of their choice. “Why not?” he finally said, but he warned that it was unrealistic to expect the Kandhas to politely let their Pana enemies live among them as followers of Jesus.

“Who am I to give assurance?” he snapped. “Those who have exploited the Kandhas say they want to live together?”
Besides, he said, “they are Hindus by birth.”

Hindu extremists have held ceremonies in the country’s indigenous belt for the past several years intended to purge tribal communities of Christian influence.

It is impossible to know how many have been reconverted here, in the wake of the latest violence, though a three-day journey through the villages of Kandhamal turned up plenty of anecdotal evidence.

A few steps from where the nun had been attacked in Nuagaon, five men, their heads freshly shorn, emerged from a soggy tent in a relief camp for Christians fleeing their homes.
The men had also been summoned to a village meeting in late August, where hundreds of their neighbors stood with machetes in hand and issued a firm order: Get your heads shaved and bow down before our gods, or leave this place.

Trembling with fear, Daud Nayak, 56, submitted to a shaving, a Hindu sign of sacrifice. He drank, as instructed, a tumbler of diluted cow dung, considered to be purifying.

In the eyes of his neighbors, he reckoned, he became a Hindu.

In his heart, he said, he could not bear it.

All five men said they fled the next day with their families. They refuse to return.

In another village, Birachakka, a man named Balkrishna Digal and his son, Saroj, said they had been summoned to a similar meeting and told by Hindu leaders who came from nearby villages that they, too, would have to convert. In their case, the ceremony was deferred because of rumors of Christian-Hindu clashes nearby.

For the time being, the family had placed an orange flag on their mud home. Their Hindu neighbors promised to protect them.
Here in Borepanga, the family of Solomon Digal was not so lucky. Shortly after they recounted their Sept. 10 Hindu conversion story to a reporter in the dark of night, the Digals were again summoned by their neighbors. They were scolded and fined 501 rupees, or about $12, a pinching sum here.

The next morning, calmly clearing his cauliflower field, Lisura Paricha, one of the Hindu men who had summoned the Digals, confirmed that they had been penalized. Their crime, he said, was to talk to outsiders.

Posted on: October 13, 2008

 


The oppression of untouchables is modern India's shame

From the Sunday Herald by Andrew Duke

Noon in Karimnagar, central India, and already it’s over 40 degrees. A queue of 2000 wedding guests wait patiently in the sun outside a covered courtyard decorated with lotus flowers and ornate drapes. The women wear brightly coloured saris and fan themselves as they chat; the men, clad in sharp, 1970s-cut suits, dab at their foreheads. From time to time, a VIP is whisked along to the front of the line. I know these people are important because they have bodyguards, and their bodyguards are carrying sub-machine guns.

Everyone here knows who these people are, and why this wedding ceremony is so significant. Before the betrothed marry, they will undergo a controversial religious conversion and the congregation of well-wishers, family members, politicians, academics and writers are here to show their support.

Deekonda Tirupathi and his bride-to-be, Sucharitha, are converting to Buddhism because they are Dalits, members of society rooted below even the bottom rung of India’s complex hierarchical system. Above them, four main Hindu classes, or varnas, occupy their own places in life: the priestly Brahmins; then the ruling class, the Kshatriyas; next are the Vaishyas, the artisans and traders; then follow the Shudras, labourers and servants. Those born without varna are seen as sub-human, or, as they used to be referred to, “untouchable”, their lives restricted to menial jobs and duties deemed impure in Hinduism: they alone work leather, dispose of dead bodies, handle carcasses, clear human and animal excrement.

Our wedding couple are the latest in a long line of Dalits who hope to rid themselves of the stigma of “untouchability” and be accepted as equals by adopting a new religion. They follow in the footsteps of one of the country’s greatest thinkers, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a Dalit lawyer and scholar who went on to become the main architect of India’s constitution.

Ambedkar’s attempts to reform the system in the 1940s and 1950s came under attack from an unlikely source: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – later Mahatma Gandhi, celebrated peace campaigner, spiritual leader and father of the nation.

Gandhi’s hope of finding a solution to the problem of untouchability without dividing Hindu society sat at odds with Ambedkar’s intention of direct political action: Ambedkar’s demands that Dalits should form separate electorates were initially accepted by the ruling British but he was forced to back down after Gandhi began to starve himself to death in protest.

Ambedkar did, however, manage to ensure that a quota system was introduced in education, politics, the law and public service before his disdain for caste-based Hinduism led him to convert to Buddhism in the late 1950s. “Ambedkar said if a Dalit is to be empowered, the only true way is to leave Hinduism,” Tirupathi tells me. “Since Ambedkar converted to Buddhism and I follow him, I am leaving Hinduism and embracing Buddhism.”

But for the vast majority of the estimated 180 million Dalits (16% of India’s population), everyday life is about basic survival.

“What can we do?” asks Vimalemma Mari, a widow since 1983. “We have families to support and no choice of what work we do.” I meet Mari as she starts work in a northern suburb of Hyderabad. Every day, seven days a week, the 52-year-old mother of six joins an army of women across India in the unending task of sweeping litter and dust from the nation’s roads. A gangmaster – her boss – circles the neighbourhood on a motorbike checking all the sweepers are pulling their weight.

A couple of metres beneath Mari’s feet, 27-year-old Padma Rao begins his job of clearing the drains of human waste with his bare hands. Once the task is complete, his colleagues pull him out. He lets me take his photograph but, as a friend explains, he doesn’t want to talk to me about his life because he is too embarrassed. He looks at me apologetically, gulps some fresh air and is lowered into another drain.

For their efforts, Mari and Padma will be paid around £1 a day.

Discrimination against Dalits, although outlawed, is deeply ingrained. “In rural areas it is still very dangerous for a Dalit to allow his shadow to fall across an upper-caste man – it is the biggest crime a Dalit can commit,” says Moses Vattipalli, himself a Dalit. “It results in very severe punishment, sometimes death. In villages, all Dalits live together on the east side because the wind flows from the west. This way, members of the upper caste will not have any wind or sound coming in from the direction of the Dalits.”

Vattipalli, 31, manages a website documenting the problems faced by Dalits. Much of the site catalogues violence – the beatings, acid attacks, rapes and murders – as well as day-to-day discrimination. “At my village school,” says Moses, “I was told again and again that I was a Dalit boy, and so I was unfortunate. In class we would sit separately and couldn’t share anything. Teacher would abuse me and beat me with sticks – when the upper-caste boys got something wrong, I got the beating. We weren’t allowed to drink in the same place and I had to bring my own tumbler. I was always angry, always asking, Why was I born a Dalit’ ... thinking it would have been better if I hadn’t been born.”

Despite everything, Vattipalli made the most of his education and left his village to work overseas. But moving away from the rural areas does not guarantee acceptance. “Discrimination in the city is different and can be more severe,” says Vattipalli, who now lives with his wife and daughter in Secunderabad. “In the villages you know what is happening and can be careful; here it is psychologically oppressive and dehumanising. They always ask your name: they find out you are a Dalit, then treat you differently.”

But that doesn’t stop thousands seeking work in the major IT and industrial centres each year, especially places like Hyderabad, nicknamed Cyberabad, home to Hitec (Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy) City. Here, confidence in India’s future is reflected in the mirrored buildings housing the likes of General Electric, Microsoft and Dell. In the shadow of these multinationals, small shanty towns of itinerant workers have grown up, providing temporary shelter for those lucky enough to be given work.

Others fall into the trap of bonded labour. A few miles north of Hyderabad is a settlement unofficially known as Pipe Village. The encampment consists of discarded pipes beside the factory that produced them. Inside the pipes live the factory’s Dalit workers. Mostly from rural villages, they were enticed by the prospect of a job, accommodation and a loan to help with the move. What they got was a 12-hour day, a pipe to live in and a long-term debt that ensures they stay put.

According to a 2006 survey by the Hindustan Times, 48% of villages still deny Dalits access to water, while three-quarters of villages do not permit Dalits to enter non-Dalit homes. Meanwhile, a third of public health workers refuse to visit Dalit homes. It’s perhaps unsurprising that the contentious process of religious conversion appeals.

“Every day thousands of Dalits choose to embrace a new religion,” says Dr Joseph D’souza, international president of the Dalit Freedom Network. “Dalits are primarily choosing Buddhism or Christianity, although some have chosen Islam. Changing their religion means they – and more important, their children – think of themselves differently. Instead of following holy texts which say they were created only for one role in life and are of lesser value than others, now they learn about a creator who made them equal and truly free. This mental change impacts on their behaviour as they attempt new careers or fight for dignity by embracing their legal rights.”

This growth in confidence has, however, set those with a vested interest in preserving the status quo on a collision course with reformers. “Just 7% of the population rules the majority of India,” says Moses Vattipalli. “When the 93% gain empowerment, the minority fear they will lose everything.”

Realising the threat, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindu heartlands of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu introduced laws to severely restrict conversions, while others, including the state of Gujarat, have attempted to reclassify other faiths and bring them into the fold of Hinduism.

“When the small number of fundamentalist Hindus who want to rule all India and continue to oppress Dalits saw these conversions to Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, they feared they were losing manpower and growing weaker,” says Vattipalli, himself a convert to Christianity. “They realised that soon they would become the minority and said that the other three religions were in fact branches of Hinduism.”

But that assertion met with little sympathy. “The other religions said no, we are not part of Hinduism so long as there is the caste system,’” says Vattipalli.

As their strength has increased, Dalit leaders and support groups have taken their battle further afield to help shift domestic policy.

“The Dalit movement is at a turning point in history,” says D’souza. “Most Westerners have never heard of Ambedkar, Phule, or Periyar, who were great Dalit leaders and writers. But since 2000, influential bodies such as the United Nations, the US Congress, the UK parliament have issued statements condemning caste discrimination. We are gaining momentum. We are gaining recognition that caste is similar to apartheid and deserves the involvement of the international community.”

Unsurprisingly, the talk over lunch at the wedding in Karimnagar is dominated by the topic of change. But any transition from such deeply entrenched positions may prove painful. If the caste system were to be abolished folowing next year’s crucial elections then, according to Vattipalli: “There may be clashes with Hindu fundamentalists because the Hindu scriptures are everything for them.”

His words seem to be have been born out after recent conflict in the states of Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Trouble in Orissa alone left 13,000 people without homes when Anti-Christian violence flared up after local Hindus accused Christian Dalits of murdering a controversial holy man. Claims of forced conversions were also levelled at the Christians. (Both allegations have been vehemently denied). During the most recent clashes, one Christian woman was left dead and scores of others were injured.

So far the outbreaks have been relatively contained, given the size and population of the country, but Moses Vattipalli fears that Dalit empowerment may prompt reprisals.

“Dalits will be angry because of injustices and oppression spread over the last 3000 years,” he warns. “There could be bloodshed, even civil war.”

But Dalit campaigner D’souza takes a different view. “Of course, any group of people that has been oppressed for thousands of years is tempted to take revenge, but I’m confident that Dalit leaders will follow the example of Gandhi and, even more so, BR Ambedkar,” he says. “They will respond with a firm but peaceful defence of their rights and human dignity.”

Posted on: October 13, 2008

 


Where Bibles are Burnt

Click here for the video report

The Indian state of Orissa, in the east of the country, is the theatre of a religious war that few people talk about, the traditional religious flashpoint in the country being between Hindus and Muslims.

But FRANCE 24’s reporting team came here to hear the horrific stories of people who say they are the victims of a new kind of profound religious bigotry. The hatred stems from the extremist teachings of a Hindu guru named Swami Laxmananda Sarazwahti. Since his murder in August, attacks on Christians have multiplied. Sarazwahti claimed that Christians, backed by the USA and Europe, were trying to take over India. Extremist Hindus blame Christians for the guru’s murder. These Hindus and Christians have lived side by side for 20 years, but due to the poisonous words of Sarazwahti and the fervour of his followers, violence soon followed his death. His organization, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, lives on and Indians who have converted to Christianity are especially targeted. Christians in Orissa have seen their churches vandalised and, their villages razed to the ground; 32 people have been killed. Some have even been burnt alive. Most of these Christians have left their ruined villages altogether and have gone to refugee camps for shelter. But they do not feel safe there, and for good reason: Hindus armed with sticks and knives have been trying to steal their food.

In this climate of fear, conversions to Hinduism are on the rise. Some say the violence can be traced back to the nationalist Hindu party BJP coming to power in 2000. They say the BJP is orchestrating and encouraging the violence. The situation is unlikely to improve soon, since the BJP is hoping for a third mandate in elections in Orissa early next year.

Reprinted by permission FRANCE 24

Posted on: October 9, 2008

 


Khairlanji Dalit Murders: 6 Get Death Sentence

Original article from Deccan Herald.

Ending intense nationwide speculation, the trial court here on 24 September 2008 slapped death sentence on six of the eight convicts in the sensational Khairlanji Dalit murder case while ordering life imprisonment for the remaining two.

The six convicts found guilty of brutally murdering four members of a Dalit family in Khairlanji village of Maharashtra’s Bhandara district are Sakru Mahagu Binjewar, Shatrughan Issam Dhande, Vishwanath Hagru Dhande, Ramu Mangru Dhande, Jagdish Ratan Mandlekar and Prabhakar Jaswant Mandlekar. The two sentenced for life imprisonment are Shishupal Vishwanath Dhande and Gopal Sakru Binjewar.

A frenzied mob of about 50 villagers attacked the house of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, a Dalit farmer 29 September 2006 evening and lynched four members of his family including his wife Surekha, young daughter Priyanka and two sons Sudhir and Roshan.

While the Central Bureau of Investigation handling the case had filed the charge-sheet only against 11 of the original 47 accused and discharged 36, the court had acquitted Purushottam Titirmare, Mahipal Dhande and Dharampal Dhande in its ruling 15 September 2008. The court had also dropped the charges of atrocity and conspiracy against the accused.

On 20 September 2008 first ad hoc sessions judge SS Dass had heard the arguments on the quantum of sentence from both sides in which special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had demanded death sentence for all eight convicts for the ‘frozen blooded’ murder while defence lawyers Sudip Jaiswal and Neeraj Khandewale had pleaded for leniency in view of the convicts’ clean past record.

While Khandewale and Jaiswal said they would challenge the verdict in the appellate court, the reaction of Nikam could not be immediately known.

Find out more information about the Khairlanji murders.

Posted on: October 8, 2008

 


Khairlanji Ruling is Not Fair to Dalits

Original article from Times of India.

Many Dalits across the state are expressing unhappiness with the Khairlanji verdict, with several of them saying the charges made under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should have been upheld.

Republican Party of India (Kawade) chief Jogendra Kawade said, “I am really unhappy and unsatisfied with the judgement. One must not comment on the judiciary, but I feel that the judgement is not fair to the Dalits. I cannot understand why none of the accused could be punished under the atrocities act. We feel that the government is supporting casteist forces and now they must set up a judicial commission like the Srikrishna Commission to probe this incident.” Kawade also said Dalits must arm themselves for self-protection in cases where the government fails.

While IAS and IPS officers chose to stay silent, finance wizard and Pune university vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav demanded stringent punishment for the accused.

A Dalit activist and assistant professor of TISS, Shailesh Darokar, said, “The CBI and police had arrested 34 people and just 11 were charge-sheeted. The court has acquitted three people. I hope they punish the rest with a death sentence or a life imprisonment.”

Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil has tried to soothe Dalit tempers and said the government would ask the CBI to seek legal opinion and challenge the acquittal of the three accused. “We will demand stern punishments for the accused,” he said.

MPCC general secretary Nitin Rau, who is a Dalit MLA from Nagpur, said he had been flooded with angry calls. “The court has struck down the charges under the atrocities act. My followers are repeatedly asking me why the Act was formulated. Besides, I am also surprised that three people were acquitted. During the debate it was also said Bhaiyalal Bhotmange’s daughter was not molested. If she was not molested, why were her clothes removed. We are not happy with the verdict. I am unhappy,” Rau said.

Rajendra Gavai of the RPI (Gavai) said if the police had been prompt, alert and cautious, all 11 people would have been proved guilty and evidence of rape and atrocity against SC/ST would have been also obtained.

Find out more information about the Khairlanji Murders.

Posted on: October 7, 2008

 


India's Anti-Christian Violence Unparalleled Among World Democracies

For Immediate Release

Orissa violence continues unabated and enters seventh week. Despite Supreme Court ruling, police neglect duties.

NEW DELHI – October 4, 2008 – Despite the deployment of thousands of central and state law enforcement troops, the violence in Orissa continues to inflict daily casualties and massive damage to Christian properties.

Rev. Madhu Chandra, All India Christian Council (aicc) Regional Secretary, said, “The death tolls are climbing, but less than a hundred are confirmed. Perhaps this is why the Orissa attacks haven’t gained international attention the worst violation of the freedom of religion in any democracy in recent history. What most people don’t realize is the goal of the attackers is to inspire fear. The attackers believe India is only for Hindus and their stated purpose is to convert people to Hinduism or force them to leave. To accomplish this, they only need to kill one or two people in each village or church. This is clearly terrorism and ethnic cleansing, but few Indian leaders are admitting it.” Most of the victims are Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, from a tribe called Pano.

Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc president, said, “The events of the last month, not only the anti-Christian attacks but the negligence of government, would be sad if it happened in a dictatorship or a totalitarian regime. The fact that it’s happening in the world’s largest democracy makes it infinitely sadder.”

Some police, mostly in rural areas, are neglecting their duties. For example, a Roman Catholic nun was raped amidst mob violence on Aug. 25, 2008, in Kanjemandi village between Raikia and Balliguda, Kandhamal District, Orissa. A medical examination of the nun conducted that night at the Balliguda Hospital confirmed rape. Both the victim and a priest, who tried to defend her and was severely beaten, tried to file cases in the Nuagaon police station. Their “First Information Report” (FIR) was rejected. Eventually, the same FIR was accepted at the Balliguda police station. But, in spite of numerous eye witnesses, police didn’t investigate until 38 days after the attack and made four arrests yesterday.
India’s Supreme Court said on Aug. 8, 2008 that any police officer who turns away a person without registering his or her complaint could face contempt of court charges and imprisonment (see “Cops understand only crack of whip, says Supreme Court” by Dhananjay Mahapatra, Times of India, Aug. 9, 2008). Justice B.N. Agarwal and Justice G.S. Singhvi instructed victims to appeal to their local chief judicial magistrate or the chief metropolitan magistrate. Ironically, the decision was scheduled for review on Aug. 25th, the same day as the attack on the nun.

“We demand that the officials in Orissa follow the law. We know multiple cases where Christians have tried to file cases with police after being attacked and the police turned them away. Police say they are overwhelmed and don’t have time to file cases or investigate since they must focus on maintaining order. But surely they realize that, unless crimes are promptly punished, the perpetrators are indirectly encouraged to continue their crimes. Justice is being denied to hundreds of victims,” said Chandra.

There has been no news about a second rape case. A young nun of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Roman Catholic diocese working at Jan Vikas Kendra, a social service centre near Nuagaon, was reportedly gang raped by mobs on Aug. 24, 2008.

Similar violence lasted about a week over Christmas 2007. Some are calling it “Christian-Hindu clashes” but media reports and aicc Orissa state leaders confirm that Christians are the overwhelming victims and are not instigating attacks. There are scattered reports of Christians firing guns in self-defense. The current violence is entering its seventh week since it began on Aug. 23, 2008 after the killing of a controversial swami by unknown assailants. Extremist groups blamed Christians for the murder.

The violence spread to at least ten other states and has affected hundreds of churches and thousands of Indian Christians. Within Orissa, the violence spread to almost half of the districts, and then was contained to Kandhamal District. But now attacks are spreading again with incidents reported in Gajapati and Boudh districts in the last few days.

Other examples of recent violence include:
Sept. 26th – G. Udayagiri, Kandhamal District: A young Christian man named Rajesh Digal was on his way home from Chennai. While walking with his Hindu friend, they were attacked. The Hindu man was stabbed but escaped. Rajesh was buried alive.
Sept. 30th – Rudangia, Kandhamal District: About 60 houses of Christians were burned in the morning, and one Christian lady was shot and killed while seven others were injured.
Oct. 2nd – Sindhipakali, Kandhamal District: At 8 p.m., mobs attacked the village and set Christian houses on fire. They stabbed and killed a father and his teenage son in 9th standard (grade). Both were Dalit Christians.

Across Orissa, aicc leaders have reliable reports of 315 villages damaged, 4,640 Christian houses burnt, 53,000 Christians homeless, 57 people killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 priests/pastors/nuns seriously injured, 18,000 Christians injured, 2 nuns gang-raped, 149 churches destroyed, 13 Christian schools and colleges damaged.

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

For more information, contact:
Madhu Chandra, aicc Regional Secretary, New Delhi

 

Posted on: October 4, 2008

 


India"s Civil Society Defends Christians in New Delhi Rally

About 15,000 people joined Peace & Solidarity Rally on International Day of Non-Violence. “Killers of Mahatma Gandhi are the same killers of Christians in India,” said Swami Agnivesh. Union Minister Lalu Prasad promised to bring up the anti-Christian violence in Parliament. Over 50,000 homeless Dalit & Tribal Christians in Orissa demanded refugee status from UNHCR

imageNEW DELHI – October 2, 2008 – About 15,000 Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Buddhists including politicians and civil society leaders joined the Peace & Solidarity Rally on the International Day of Non-Violence which falls on the 139th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, India’s ‘Father of the Nation’. The protest highlighted recent anti-Christian violence in India.

Addressing the rally, Swami Agnivesh said, “The very killers of Mahatma Gandhi are the same killers and abusers of Christians in Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country. The killers – the Hindutva fascists – do not represent the peace loving Hindu society. Rather they are damaging the Sanatam Dharma [Hindu way of life].”

India’s Union Minister of Railways, Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav, broke his silence over anti-Christian violence across India. Addressing the rally, he said, “I will personally meet the Prime Minister and discuss the implementation of Article 355. I will also bring up the anti-Christian violence in Parliament and debate the hatred of Hindutva forces.” Article 355 of India’s Constitution allows the central government to warn a state government to stop internal disturbances or face federal action and possible dismissal.

In the morning, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Mrs. Sheila Dixit, showed her solidarity and expressed concern and pain over the anti-Christian violence. She condemned the Hindu fanatics who are responsible for widespread crimes and causing damage to properties owned by the Christian minority.

Other dignitaries who participated in the rally included Mr. Oscar Fernandez, Union Minister of Labor; Mrs. Teesta Setalvad, General Secretary of Mumbai-based Citizens For Justice & Peace; Dr. Udit Raj, Chairman, All India Confederation of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe Organisations; Dr. Valson Thampu, Principal of the prestigious St. Stephen’s College of New Delhi; Mr. Sitaram Yechury, senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist); Ms. Shabnam Hashmi, senior leader of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy). There were additional speakers from Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu communities.

The rally concluded seven days of a “Sit-in Protest” organized by the Christians of Delhi and the NCR (National Capital Region). Major contributors included the Delhi Federation of Catholics and the All India Christian Council (aicc). Beginning on Sept. 26, 2008 at 10 a.m and ending today at 6 p.m., there was 152 hours of constant prayer and protest at Jantar Mantar – a park in the center of New Delhi – to express solidarity with victims. Most of the victims are Dalits, formerly called untouchables and officially categorized as Scheduled Castes by India’s government.

Rally participants shouted “Ban Terrorists, Ban Bajrang Dal,” “Ban Vishwa Hindu Parishad,” and “Ban Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” as they marched along a 5 km route from Jantar Mantar to Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. Since the surge in violence beginning in rural Orissa on Aug. 23, 2008 after the murder of a controversial Hindu swami by unknown assailants, civil society groups, human rights activists, and various religious leaders have increasingly called for these Hindutva fundamentalist groups to be banned as terrorists.

Yesterday, a delegation led by noted film maker Mahesh Bhatt along with Christian victims from Orissa met the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in New Delhi and demanded refugee status for over 50,000 homeless Christians. The delegation included Dr. Abraham Mathai from the Indian Christian Voice and Dr. John Dayal, aicc Secretary General.

The toll of violence against Christians from Aug. 23 to Oct. 2, 2008:
BIHAR: 1 Church damaged; CHHATTISGARH: 4 Nuns assaulted; JHARKHAND: 1 Church attacked; KARNATAKA: 4 (of 29) Districts affected, 35 Churches damaged or destroyed, 20 Nuns and women injured by police; KERALA: 4 Churches damaged; MADHYA PRADESH: 4 Churches destroyed or damaged and 4 schools vandalized; NEW DELHI: 2 Churches damaged; ORISSA: 14 (of 30) Districts affected, 315 Villages damaged, 4,640 Houses burnt, 53,000 Homeless, 57 People killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 Priests/Pastors/Nuns injured, 18,000 Men, women, children injured, 2 Women gang-raped, 149 Churches destroyed, 13 Schools and colleges damaged; PUNJAB: 3 Christians harassed and imprisoned by police on false charges; TAMIL NADU: 4 Churches damaged; UTTAR PRADESH: 3 Pastors and a pastor’s wife beaten; and UTTARAKHAND: 2 Christians murdered.

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.

For immediate release

Posted on: October 2, 2008

 


Flood victims face caste discrimination

Original article from BBC News.

image

Hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless after floods hit the Indian state of Bihar last month. Some of the victims face the additional hardships that come from being members of the low caste dalit community. Rajan Khosla of the charity Christian Aid has been meeting some of them in the village of Mirzawaa, where 500 families live in temporary shelters.

“Let me be born again as an animal rather than as a harijan (dalit). We face more humiliation than they,” says Tetar Rishidev, a dalit from Mirzawaa village, in the district of Supaul.

After the floods in Bihar millions of people lost their homes, belongings and even family members. But for the dalits of Bihar there is further misery: the caste system.

In Mirzawaa village, Sakal Sadah is a dalit.

Today – unusually – he is happy. There is a food distribution and his family will get food. His children have been surviving on some leftover rice once in a day.

Sakal Sadah is a landless agriculture labourer and earns about 40 rupees (80 cents) for a 12-hour day.

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Now he’s worried: “Where will I get work now? Everywhere is water. No one is going to employ me, I am a harijan.”

Hundreds of dalit families are in the same situation as Sakal: they have been hardest hit by the Bihar floods.

In this emergency, when everyone should be provided with food, certain groups are denied access.

The plight of these communities in remote, rural areas is very serious – especially in the feudal state of Bihar.

They cling to the little they have. Many families have left behind one male member to keep an eye on their house and belongings.

Segregated society

Asdev Sadah, an elderly dalit, stayed behind to guard the house of his upper caste employer.

“I used to work in their fields,” he said.

“They wanted me to watch their house and belongings. I have to listen to them. They will provide my family food and work once they come back.

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“I have nothing left in my house – because it was made of mud it has already collapsed. My malik’s (employer’s) house is strong and they have stuff kept inside.”

It seems a strange sort of society where an old man stays back, without food or shelter, taking numerous risks to guard the house of his feudal lord.

But Asdev no doubt knows full well that in this segregated society, there is no other support system for him and his family.

The relief camp in Sabela School in Madhepura is run by one of Christian Aid’s partner organisations who are doing all they can to help.

It was set up because organisers knew there were many dalit villages in the area.

I met Jamuna Devi and Puliya Musamaar here.

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They told me that they were not allowed to use the hand pump to get water as it belonged to upper caste people.

The same upper caste people also asked the camp organisers to move displaced people away because as dalits they would contaminate the entire place. Their request was refused.

“When will people understand we are also human beings?” Puliya asked. “We need food and water, our children also feel hungry.”

I asked one of the aid agencies running another relief camp whether they would have a dalit cook.

Their response was negative. They felt that not everyone would eat food cooked by dalits.

Christian Aid and its partner organisations are including two dalits in the cooking teams in the relief camps they run – thus ensuring that they are not excluded.

Everyone needs food in this crisis situation, so why should people like Sakal Sadah, Jamuna Devi and Puliya Musamaar be so discriminated against?

And if Asdev Sadah can work in the fields and loyally guard the house of his higher-caste employee, then why people should refuse to eat food cooked by them?

We have to challenge the system. I know the problem is gigantic. But efforts need to be made. Each one of us has to make a step forward.

Another aid agency working in this area assured me that they tried to treat displaced people equally.

The critical point is that while equality may be an accepted philosophy it can only happen once people also agree in practice to be equals.

Equality means that all people should get food and their rights and dignity are respected.

But flooding and discrimination seem to have taken those rights away.

Posted on: September 12, 2008

 


United States Legislators Concerned about Violence Targeting Christians in Orissa

For immediate release

HYDERABAD – September 6, 2008 – Seven United States members of the House of Representatives sent a letter on Sept. 4, 2008, to India’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ronen Sen, expressing concern about attacks on Christians in Orissa state. Also, on Sept. 3, 2008, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom called for action to stop the violence and accountability within India.

There are still sporadic reports of anti-Christian attacks from the eastern state of Orissa. The violence has entered its 15th day despite the emergency deployment of Central law enforcement troops. Attacks began on Aug. 23, 2008, after the murder of a controversial Hindu swami by unknown assailants.

Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc) said, “The global community is alarmed at the breakdown of law and order in Orissa, and rightly so. The widespread, continuing attacks on innocent Christians and violations of their human rights is unprecedented in India’s history. We welcome the concern of US politicians and all global citizens who believe in freedom of religion. As a proud Indian, I’m grieved that our democratic ideals are being hijacked by religious extremists.”

The seven American legislators were: Trent Franks, Chris Smith, Bill Sali, Robert Aderholt, Bob Inglis, Mark Souder, and Joseph R. Pitts. Excerpts of the letter: “We unequivocally condemn the murder of the Swami, yet we are also appalled to see how mob violence has taken root so quickly once again… The reports of brutal killings and the widespread destruction of property…are extremely disturbing and we strongly urge the Government of India to maintain a strong security presence to guarantee the protection of vulnerable communities which are facing the immediate risk of violence and death. …We urge the Government of India to take immediate steps to investigate these events and bring justice for the victims of the violence. In order to prevent future attacks, it is imperative that the government also address the climate fostering these attacks. India, with its great religious diversity, faces considerable challenges with communalism, but a democratic government must work to ensure the security and freedom of all its citizens.”

Past international condemnation includes last week’s statement by the Italian government and the Vatican as well as a joint letter by Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and Dalit Freedom Network to the U.K. Foreign Secretary, U.S. Secretary of State, French Foreign Minister, and European Commissioner for External Relations. “We also welcome the condemnation of the riots by civil society Hindu leaders like Swami Agnivesh, President of the World Council of Arya Samaj, and Mahesh Bhatt, noted Bollywood film producer, and others,” said D’souza. On Friday, Sept. 5, 2008, Swami Agnivesh returned from a fact finding trip to Orissa and told reporters in Delhi that the attacks on Christians were “very similar” to the 2002 violence against Muslims in Gujarat.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008, India’s Supreme Court instructed the Orissa government to control the violence, and the Orissa authorities promised to halt a procession by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council) on Sept. 7, 2008. However, VHP leaders told Indian journalist they still planned to hold the “Shraad Yatra” on the 16th day of the swami’s death, a traditional funeral rite performed by Hindu sadhus. Previously, Christian leaders from all major denominations and church networks called for a day of prayer and fasting across India on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008.

The Supreme Court was hearing a case filed by Roman Catholic Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar seeking a Central government investigation into the riots. The Central government publicly approved the idea, but the Orissa state government must initiate a request for the probe and has, so far, declined. The only other way to start an investigation is through a court order.

On Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, Minister of Home Affairs Shivraj Patil visited the epicenter of the violence, Kandhamal District, and promised compensation for the victims.
Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu swami and VHP leader, was killed by unknown assailants on Aug. 23, 2008. VHP leaders publicly blamed Christians and mobs attacked Christians in at least 12 of 30 districts in the eastern state of Orissa. Christian leaders reported, as of Sept. 3, 2008, at least 4,014 Christian homes destroyed in 300 villages, an estimated 50,000 people displaced, two pastors and 24 other Christians killed, one nun gang raped, and over a hundred churches burned. See dedicated webpage at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2332/45/

From Dec. 24, 2007-Jan. 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed over 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.
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.

Posted on: September 9, 2008

 


Citizen's Delegation meets President of India; Demands Central Government Action on Orissa

New Delhi, September 1, 2008, 18:25 hrs

A Citizen’s Delegation met President Pratibha Patil on Monday morning calling upon her to enforce Article 355 of the Constitution of India on Orissa so that the Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik administration takes adequate measures to protect Christians in the state from Hindutva violence.

The best legal opinion available. according to the delegation, was Article 355 which calls for imposition of President’s rule and New Delhi takes over reins of power. Article 355 reminds both New Delhi and state governments of their duties to protect States against internal disturbance and should be brought into force now.

The delegation reminded the President that the violence that has continued against Christians in Orissa from 23rd August till today justifies the use of this Article. The violence far exceeds that of Christians 2007, the delegation told the President, reminding her that she had a big role to play at this juncture.

In fact, violence has spilled out of Orissa into neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. In Orissa, it is not confined to Kandhamal but has affected other districts. In Kandhamal, fifty thousand people are hiding in forests or are in a few refugee camps, hiding from murderous gangs seeking to kill them or convert them to Hinduism, Over 4,000 houses have been completely destroyed apart from close to a hundred small and big churches which have been torched.

(Picture: Delegation meeting the President of India, Sep 1, 2008) image

The Citizen’s Delegation, the first such to meet the President, was led by film maker Mahesh Bhatt , Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Mahmood Madani, MP, and Orissa Archbishop Raphael Cheenath. National Integration Council member Dr. John Dayal, Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao, Maharashtra Government State Minorities Commission vice chairman Dr. Abraham Mathai, Jamiat leader Mohd Faruqi, All India Christian Council regional secretary Rev. Madhu Chandra, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese Federation President Adv. Jenis Francis and Mumbai’s Catholic Social Forum secretary general Joseph Dias were the other members.

The President gave the delegation a patient hearing and said she would have their demand for Article 355 examined. She said the government had briefed her on steps which had already been taken. Mr. Bhatt told the President that the State government was in a coma; its police totally complicit in the violence and the Sangh Parivar was running havoc.

Maulana Madani said it was a matter of security of India’s minorities. It was India’s concern for its minorities that had brought it respect internationally, and it was the object of deep concern globally. Archbishop Cheenath, Dr John Dayal and Dr Mathai briefed the President in detail about the Sangh violence in the state which has continued after the murder of the VHP vice President Lakshmanananda Saraswati.

Note: Attached were excerpts from letter to the President of India. See: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2357/47/

Following are excerpts from the Memorandum Citizen’s Memorandum to the President of India:

Letter to the President of India from Citizen’s Delegation
 
Following are excerpts from the Citizen’s Memorandum to the President of India:

September 1, 2008
Shrimati Pratibha Patil
The President of India

Your Excellency,

You are aware of the still continuing carnage against the Christian community, mostly Dalits and Tribals, in the Kandhamal district of Orissa and in several other districts including the state capital of Bhubaneswar since 23rd August 2003 following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, reportedly by Maoist groups who have been operating in the state for some time. The violence has now spread to some other states, especially Madhya Pradesh.

Nine months after attacks in Kandhamal District on Christians of Dalit, Hill peoples and Tribal ethnicity celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, we are deeply saddened by a repeat of the violence in the month of India’s Independence. The Christmas 2007 attacks claimed the lives of at least four Christians, and we verified the destruction of at least 105 churches and 730 Christian homes. The current spate of violence will exceed these totals as it continues to spread into other districts. Our estimate from Ground Zero is of close to two dozen people dead, one a Hindu girl burnt to death working for a Christian orphanage, a Nun has been gang raped, religious men and women personnel humiliated, beaten, tortured, some close to death, while policemen have looked on, or have been absent. We appeal for the restoration of law and order. But the root cause must also be addressed.

We, the secular civil society community, perceive that the great nation of India is at a tipping point. The groups, which favour a “Hindu Rashtra”, have made Orissa their laboratory, as they earlier did Gujarat. The so-called saffronisation of the state has been the subject of well-documented academic and socio-political studies. We entreat you, as President of the Republic, to enforce the rule of law upon Sangh Parivar organisations which blatantly flaunt their divisive agenda. Specifically, we call upon you to bring the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, and Bajrang Dal under the rule of law.

As Orissa authorities have repeatedly said there was ample circumstantial evidence of Maoist involvement in the killing of VHP leader Lakshmananada Saraswati and four others on August 23rd. Additionally, someone who identified himself as Azad, a leader of Maoist outfit, People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army claim responsibility for the killing as Times of India carries the news on August 30 referring to an interview with a leading Oriya daily on August 29.[1]

Yet Praveen Togadia, VHP general secretary, told an international journalist on August 27, “It is clear that the church killed the Swami.”[2] Gouri Prasad Rath, Orissa state VHP secretary, said, “This attack is the handiwork of the Christians.”[3] Subhash Chavan, national co-convener of the Bajrang Dal, said, “The police are trying to hide the truth by blaming the Maoists.”[4] An unnamed RSS spokesperson said, “This is an attack by the agents of Christian missionaries, whose attempts at forcible conversions the Swamiji countered.”[5] RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav told CNN IBN on Tuesday night6 that Christians were behind the murders. Perhaps based on a media report7, Madhav The final word lay with RSS supreme Kupahalli Sudershan who in a Press Statement faxed to the Media called the late VHP vice president a martyr for “stopping Christians from carrying on coversions.”

These types of irresponsible statements must be met with the full force of the law. They are all culpable for penal action under IPC 295A for the crime of creating enmity between communities and religions. This would benefit not only Orissa, but the nation.

We sincerely wish Swami Saraswati was not murdered and he still might be alive if the state government had followed the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities. The NCM urged the authorities to examine the speeches of Swami Lakshmananada to determine whether they amount to incitement to violence.[8] [9] We are confident that, if this had been done, the swami would have been jailed and protected from coming to any harm.

Your Excellency, the violence in Orissa continues without adequate police forces to stop mobs which break curfew and harm innocent civilians, chasing our fellow countrymen and women like animals in the forests where they have taken refuge since August 24. Today the irresponsible leaders of hardliner Hindu nationalist groups are damaging our great democracy and secularism of the nation.

We request you to order the Union Government and the State Administration to take legal action against the irresponsible organisations which called the bundh on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 and have passively watched their members wreak havoc. They must, of course, fully investigate the murder of the VHP vice president.

This is to request you to use your powers as President of India, and the tremendous force of your good offices, to impress on the Central Government to rush adequate Union forces, including contingents of the Armed Forces if required, to restore law and order and governance in the Kandhamal region.

The consequences of any further delay, we the secular civil society fear, may be catastrophic for the small Christian community in the State in particular, for peace in Orissa in general, and for the fair name of India as a secular country

Yours Sincerely and Most Respectfully,

[The delegation included: Bollywood film producer Mahesh Bhatt, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Mahmood Madani, MP, Orissa Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, National Integration Council member Dr. John Dayal, Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao, Maharashtra Government State Minorities Commission vice chairman Dr. Abraham Mathai, Jamiat leader Mohd Faruqi, All India Christian Council regional secretary Rev. Madhu Chandra, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese Federation President Adv. Jenis Francis, and Mumbai’s Catholic Social Forum secretary general Joseph Dias]

[1] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Maoists_claim_Orissa_killing/articleshow/3423908.cms
[2] “Indian state erupts in violence after Hindu shot”, by Saeed Ahmed, CNN, Aug. 27, 2008.
[3] “Orissa on edge, VHP scoffs at Maoist theory”, see above
[4] “Orissa tragedy takes a backseat, hunt starts for scapegoat”, by Soumyajit Pattnaik, Hindustan Times, Aug. 25, 2008.
[5] “Orissa: Bandh-related violence claims 9,” by Krishnakumar P., Rediff.com, Aug. 26, 2008.
[6] “Blind Faith? Fragile Peace Blown to Bits”, CNN-IBN debate, Aug. 26, 2008, 10 p.m. IST.
[7] “Widespread anger in Kandhamal”, The Pioneer, Aug. 25, 2008.
[8] “This mischievous [VHP & Sangh Parivar anti-conversion] campaign has created an atmosphere of prejudice and suspicion against the Christian community and Christian priests and organizations. The role of the Sangh Parivar activists and the anti-conversion campaign in fomenting organized violence against the Christian Community deserves close scrutiny.” From “Report of the NCM visit to Orissa, 6-8 January 2008”, http://ncm.nic.in/pdf/orissa%20report.pdf.
[9] “The recommendation made by the NCM team that visited Orissa in January, 2008 that the State Government must look into the speeches of Swami Lakshmanananda to determine whether they amount to incitement to violence does not appear to have been acted upon.” From “Report on the Visit of the Vice Chairperson, NCM to Orissa, 21-24 April 2008”, http://ncm.nic.in/pdf/VC%20Tour%20Report%20of%20Orissa.pdf.
 
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.
 
Released by

The All India Christian Council
Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary, New Delhi

Posted on: September 2, 2008

 


Even in flood, India's `untouchables' last rescued

Original article from the Associated Press by Gavin Rabinowitz.

In the two weeks since a monsoon-swollen river burst its banks, ancient prejudices have run just as deep as the floodwaters. India’s “untouchables” are the last to be rescued — if at all — from a deluge that has killed dozens and made 1.2 million homeless.

Dalits, the social outcasts at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder, have borne the brunt of the devastation as the rampaging Kosi River swamped hundreds of square miles in northern India after it overflowed and shifted its course dozens of miles to the east.

On Sunday, one Dalit, Mohan Parwan ran up and down a half destroyed bridge that has become the headquarters for rescue operations in this town near the border with Nepal, desperately scanning arriving boats for signs of his family.

Dozens came in but each time he was disappointed.

Parwan, 43, is from a Dalit village just 2 miles away but completely cut off by a deep lake created by the swirling waters. As the village headman, he was put on the first rescue boat that came and was promised his wife, four children and the rest of the community would follow.

“It’s been six days and since then no boat has come from the village,” he said, tears welling in is eyes.

Dalits have long been shunned, holding a status so low they are considered outside the complex caste system that is all pervasive in India, dividing people into hundreds of groups defined by livelihood, class and ethnicity.

Even India’s emergence as a global force — fueled by it’s economic growth and high-tech hubs — has failed to break down the barriers and stigmas that hold them down.

When it comes to rescue operations, it appears Dalits are at the bottom, too.

In Triveniganj, Dalits huddled together in a small group at the end of the bridge away from everyone else. They said rescuers were saving the upper castes and the rich first, leaving their people to suffer without food and clean water.

“We are 200 people on a roof for days. Two children fell in and drowned. No one is coming to help us,” said Kishore Ram, 22, who got out on one of the few boats to visit his village.

“The officials don’t listen to us little people. We can’t offer bribes and influence, I’m just a poor student,” Ram said.

Hearing about the flood, Prithvi Chand Baswan, a 38-year-old Dalit, rushed home from the neighboring state of Punjab where he works as a farm laborer, searching for his wife and six children, ages 3 to 12. Four miles from home, he was stopped by flooding.

“People from the village say they are sheltering in the temple, but I can’t get to them and they won’t send a boat for a Dalit village,” he said, holding his head in despair.

Ravindra Prasad Singh, a state government official coordinating rescue work in Triveniganj, about 875 miles east of New Delhi, the capital, denied that Dalits were being ignored.

“It’s ridiculous. They are lying,” he said, but he could not explain why only a single boat of Dalits had come in during all of Sunday afternoon even though they make up more than half the region’s people.

On Monday, other government officials acknowledged there was a serious problem with Dalits being ignored, but said they were working to fix it.

“We are aware of these complaints,” said Prataya Amrit, a top disaster management official in Bihar state, the scene of the flooding.

Amrit said greater resources were being sent to Dalit majority areas like Triveniganj and army and navy officers were now handling rescues to ensure less abuses.

The military “presence will instill a lot of confidence,” he said. “In an operation of this magnitude you can’t distinguish between rich and poor.”

Officials also commandeered private boats in an effort to prevent richer and higher castes from monopolizing the vessels.

India’s treatment of Dalits is a long and bitter history of good intentions and little progress.

Caste discrimination has been outlawed for more than a half century, and a quota system was established with the aim of giving Dalits a fair share of government jobs and places in schools. But their plight remains dire.

Most Dalits, like Parwan, live in destitute villages of rickety mud and thatch huts with no electricity or running water, kept down by ancient prejudice and caste-based politics.

In much of rural India, people from lower castes are barred from using upper-caste drinking wells, kept out of temples and denied spots in village. Ignoring the prohibitions is often met with violence.

In times of calamity, their situation is no better.

“Caste hierarchy is a source of deep emotions in India. In the face of these emotions it is difficult for the law or the army to do anything,” said Chandrabhan Prasad, a New Delhi-based caste expert. “The rescuers have their caste loyalty and will try rescue their own first.”

Faced with indifference and even hostility from many officials, one group of Dalits gave up waiting for help and waded into the neck-deep water in search of their kin.

“What can we do?” Parwan said, after being angrily shooed away by Singh for again asking to be given a boat to help his village.

“I’m just a Harijan,” Parwan added, using a euphemism for Dalits coined by Indian pacifist icon Mohandas K. Gandhi. It means “child of God.”

Posted on: September 1, 2008

 


Communal violence is sequel to Dalit assertion

Original article from the Deccan Herald by R Akhileshwari, DH News Service, Hyderabad.

The violence in Orissa against Christians is not communal as it is being generally portrayed, rather it is against the perceived empowerment of the Dalits, according to human rights activists.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on phone from the affected areas, the AP-based activists explained that the anger against the Dalits and Tribals, who have been the main targets of Hindu fundamentalist groups and organisations, was against the increasing empowerment of the traditionally oppressed people.

“The Church is seen as the instrument of this change and is therefore being targeted,” said Father Thomas Palliphanem of the A.P based People’s Action for Rural Awakening.

Dalit assertion that is visible in many ways like wearing better clothes and speaking English language is not to the liking of the entrenched merchant-fringe Hindu fundamentalist groups who have aligned themselves to ‘teach a lesson’ to the Dalits, according to the activists.

Economic Reason:

Dr Sirivella Prasad, general secretary of the National Dalit Movement for Justice who has been visiting the affected areas since last December when the attacks began, said the visible economic improvement in the status of Dalits and Adivasi families was not to the liking of the upper castes.

For instance, in Brahmanigam village in Kandhamal district where the attacks started last December, the first and foremost targets of the attackers were the shops belonging to a group of young men who formed “Ambedkar Vanijya Sangh”.

“The violence then slowly spread to institutions which are supporting this process of empowerment which is mainly the Church,” said Dr. Prasad.

In another village, Barakama which like Brahmanigam has 90 per cent Christian population, the youth told the human rights activists that wearing “good clothes” and speaking English fluently was ‘unbearable’ for the Hindu upper castes. “By giving a communal colour to the attacks, everybody is comfortable,” Dr. Prasad observed.

Meanwhile, 5000-odd Christian schools and colleges in Andhra Pradesh were shut on Friday in protest against the attacks on Christians in Orissa.

According to the All India Christian Council here, about 50,000 Christian denominational institutions were closed in response to a joint call for by All India Christian Council, Catholic Bishops Conference of India, the Evangelical Fellowship of India and the National Council of Churches in India.

Christian leaders are also calling for a day’s prayer and fasting across India on the coming September 7.

Posted on: August 30, 2008

 


Massive rally in India's capitol and nation-wide closure of Christian schools

For immediate release

New Delhi, August 29, 2008

Reports of attacks from the eastern state of Orissa are decreasing, but many rural villages remain cut off from communication and being attacked at night. Outside Orissa, the Indian Christian community engaged in several peaceful protest actions to highlight the breakdown of the rule of law and governance. After six days of rioting, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, broke his silence and called the violence a “national shame”.
 

“We are thankful that we did not receive any reports of new attacks last night. However, there are literally thousands of displaced Christians whose homes were destroyed in the mob violence. Hundreds more are afraid to return home,” said Rev. P.R. Parichha, All India Christian Council (aicc) Orissa state president. “The violence in towns and cities seems to be over, but the villages face the strong possibility of more attacks since security forces are spread thin. We still are requesting military intervention,” said Parichha.

Media reports said Orissa officials estimate 4,000 Christian families are homeless. The death toll, currently at 17, is expected to raise as troops secure rural areas. The violence, which at one point spread across 12 of 30 districts in the state, now seems to be contained to Kandhamal District, the epicenter of similar attacks during Christmas 2007.

In protest of the collapse of governance and the rule of law in Orissa, about 10,000 Christians rallied in New Delhi this morning and were joined by Muslims, Buddhists, and progressive Hindus. Protestors tried to march to Orissa Bhavan (the official state government guest house in the capitol), but police issued a localized curfew to stop the rally. Attendees were forced to regroup at the Teen Murti traffic circle, but eventually reached Orissa Bhavan.

“Udit Raj, a major Dalit leader, and other non-Christian human rights activists clearly explained that the violence in Orissa is not because Christians are fraudulently converting people. That allegation is simply lie and hate propaganda.”

Civil society leaders suggested India needs an investigation into why Hindu nationalist organizations – who have converted tribals and Dalits in a major campaign – are not being held accountable under Orissa’s 1967 Freedom of Religion Act. “We must confront the fictional idea of “re-conversions”, created by Hindutva activists, which ignores the fact that these people’s ancestors were animists and not Hindus,” said Rev. Madhu Chandra, aicc Regional Secretary and a member of the rally’s organizing committee.

Also, an estimated 30,000 Christian schools across India closed their doors on Friday. The goal was to make millions of children – and their parents – aware of the evil of communal violence and the damage it is doing to the world’s largest democracy. Aicc and major church networks which called for the closure encouraged people to pray for victims as well as perpetrators. Much of the Indian press inaccurately reported that only Roman Catholic schools were closed.

Christian leaders are also calling for a day of prayer and fasting across India on September 7, 2008.

In the aftermath of the murder of a Hindu swami by unknown assailants on August 23, 2008, mobs attacked the Christian community across the eastern state of Orissa. Media reports and eye witness accounts from aicc leaders indicate thousands of Christian properties burnt, sexual assaults of nuns, and pastors killed in their homes. See dedicated webpage at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2332/45/

From Dec. 24, 2007-Jan. 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed over 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.

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.

For more information, contact Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs, , +91-9989697778

Release by

Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary

Posted on: August 29, 2008

 


Unprecedented Anti-Christian Violence Spirals Out of Control in India

HYDERABAD, August 28, 2008, 23:15 hrs

For immediate release
 
Reports from eastern India of burning Christian homes, murdered pastors, and massive destruction of Christian property continued for a sixth day. All India Christian Council (aicc) leaders in Orissa state reported 17 Christians are dead and expect the figure to rise when communication is made with remote regions.

“Differences over religion cannot be blamed for these crimes. We are distressed at the defiance of law and order by Hindu fundamentalist leaders and their public comments which are spreading lies and hate. Their unpardonable excuse is that followers are uncontrollably angry about Christian conversions in the region,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc President. “We are also deeply troubled by the state and central government’s inadequate response. The fact that identical attacks happened in the same area exactly nine months ago is unbelievable. What will convince authorities to protect human rights and enforce constitutional guarantees?”

Although some state authorities claimed there were no new attacks, the situation continues to spiral out of control, especially in rural villages. Yesterday police were given shoot on sight orders in Kandhamal District, the epicenter of the violence, because mobs were violating curfews. Also, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr. Prakash Jaiswal, was supposed to visit affected areas. But his trip was canceled due to security concerns. Aicc had reliable reports of increased violence in Gajapati District in the southern part of the state.

Today Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) sent joint letters to the U.K. Foreign Secretary, U.S. Secretary of State, French Foreign Minister, and European Commissioner for External Relations urging them to issue statements of concern about the anti-Christian attacks in Orissa. CSW and DFN are aicc partners in Britain and the USA, respectively. France currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Yesterday, in his afternoon address at Vatican Square, Pope Benedict XVI said he was deeply saddened by the violence against India’s Christians. A senior Vatican official called the attacks “a sin against God and humanity” according to one newspaper.

A seven member inter-denominational delegation from the aicc Orissa state chapter met with the governor, Mr. Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, for about 30 minutes this afternoon. “We apprised him of the situation and requested emergency deployment of the army, compensation for the victims, rebuilding of houses and churches, construction of relief camps, and restoration of the rule of law,” said Rev. P.R. Parichha, aicc Orissa state president. This evening the aicc Secretary General was scheduled to meet Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the ruling Indian National Congress Party in Delhi.

The aicc is supporting the call from major Indian church networks to close all of India’s Christian schools on Friday, August 29, 2008. The groups want children – and parents – to learn about the situation in Orissa and realize that communal divisions are harmful for India. They have encouraged people to pray for victims as well as perpetrators. It is estimated that about 30,000 schools will close their doors across India.

Christian leaders are also calling for a day of prayer and fasting across India on September 7, 2008.

In the aftermath of the murder of a Hindu swami by unknown assailants on August 23, 2008, mobs attacked the Christian community across the eastern state of Orissa. On Monday, a 12 hour strike called by hardliner Hindu nationalist organizations resulted in the spread of violence. Media reports and eye witness accounts indicate thousands of Christian properties burnt, sexual assaults of nuns, and pastors killed in their homes. See dedicated webpage at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2332/45/

From Dec. 24, 2007-Jan. 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed over 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.

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.

For more information, contact Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs, , +91-9989697778
 
Release by
 
Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary
9868184939

Posted on: August 28, 2008

 


Indian state erupts in violence after Hindu shot

Original article from CNN, by Saeed Ahmed.

image

The remote east Indian state of Orissa, historically a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions, erupted in violence this week after gunmen killed a Hindu leader and mobs burned churches in retaliation.

Four days of communal clashes left at least nine people dead. Authorities have imposed a curfew and ordered security forces to shoot violators on sight.

Pope Benedict XVI “firmly condemned” the fighting and urged the state’s residents to “re-establish with the members of the various communities the peaceful cohabitation and the harmony that has always been the distinctive mark of the Indian society.”

The Hindu leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, and four others were killed Saturday in the Kandhamal district when up to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and opened fire, Orissa’s chief minister’s office said.

Authorities have not definitively determined who killed Saraswati, but they detained five Christian people after the incident, said Sukanta Panda, spokesman for the chief minister.

The government said the killings may have been the work of Maoist rebels, but hardline Hindus blamed the Christian minority.

They took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses. They chopped down trees to block roads, making it difficult for police to reach trouble spots. Christian residents fought back.

By Wednesday, an eerie calm prevailed, but both Hindu and Christian leaders said they were bracing for the worst.

“The state is a mute spectator to the violence that has been unleashed in the Christian community,” Joseph D’Souza, president of the All India Christian Council, said Wednesday.

Amit Sharma of the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) said Hindu people in the area had taken the death of the Swami (religious leader) “very seriously, and now they are going to pay them back.”

Orissa, on the east coast of India, is a poor state with a population of about 36.7 million: 94 percent are Hindu, with little more than 2 percent Christian.

However, for thousands, converting to another religion—such as Christianity or Islam—is the only way out of the confines of Hinduism’s centuries-old complex caste system.

The caste system dictates a Hindu’s lot in life, elevating some to positions as priests and labeling others as “untouchables.”

Some Hindu groups accuse missionaries of bribing or forcing Hindus into converting.

“There is no forcible conversion,” said D’Souza of the All India Christian Council. “This is nothing but pure political hate propaganda against the Christians when the root problem is, of course, caste oppression.”

The simmering anger sometimes boils over, with deadly consequences.

In 1999, a Hindu mob burned to death an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two children while they slept in their car.

At Christmas, clashing groups killed four people and burned several churches in Kandhamal.

D’Souza said Saraswati “piloted” the Christmas communal violence and had carried out a “vicious campaign against the Christians.”

Sharma said missionaries were threatened by Saraswati’s growing influence.

“He was doing a good job of propagating the bright points of Hinduism, and the missionaries were not able to convert the tribal people as effectively as they were doing previously,” Sharma said. “So they decided to do away with him.”

Investigators, however, have raised the possibility that Maoists rebels may be to blame.

The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed, have been battling the government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s.

However, Hindu groups insist Christians was behind Saraswati’s death.

“It is clear that the church killed the Swami,” said the Hindu council’s general secretary, Praveen Togadia. “The rest of what happened is something the government needs to investigate and tell the people of India.”

On Monday, Hindu hard-liners declared a general strike, prompting banks and markets to close across the state.

Mourners marched to a Christian orphanage and set it on fire. A 20-year-old woman who was teaching children burned to death, Panda said.

The next day, armed Hindus and Christians fired at each other, resulting in four deaths, he said.

Both sides said the communal violence had destroyed Christian churches and Hindu temples.

The violence spread to the state capital, Bhubaneshwar, about 140 miles (225 km) away.

Father Pius Fernandes said mobs threw stones at a children’s school and ransacked a nearby college.

“I would say the violence is seven times worse [than in December],” he said. “I mean, the government is trying its best. But it’s like a mad frenzy. They are just destroying everything.”

Posted on: August 27, 2008

 


Updated List of Violence Against Dalit Christians in Orissa

The aicc is maintaing this list to keep the world informed of the ongoing persecution of Christians, largely Dalits or Tribals, in India. This list is being updated daily as more incidents occur. Go to this link to see this list.

If you would like to help the victims, please click on the donate button now.

Posted on: August 27, 2008

 


Tragic & Widespread Anti-Christian Violence in Eastern India

For immediate release

Government authorities unable to stop Hindu nationalists from wreaking havoc

HYDERABAD – August 26, 2008 – In the aftermath of the murder of a Hindu swami by unknown assailants, mobs attacked the Christian community across the eastern state of Orissa. On Monday, a 12 hour strike called by hardliner Hindu nationalist organizations resulted in spreading violence. Media reports and eye witness accounts indicate several Christians were killed and hundreds of Christian properties burnt.

“Local leaders of the All India Christian Councill have lost count of the churches damaged, Christian homes vandalized, and pastors or priests beaten. On August 26, 1910, Mother Teresa was born. Today, exactly 98 years later, we are deeply saddened that her legacy of peace and compassion are being ignored by society in the state of Orissa,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc).

Large numbers of police and Rapid Action Force troops were deployed over the weekend, yet twelve of thirty districts were reportedly affected by the violence. According to reports collected by the aicc, at least five people have died, one nun was raped, and hundreds of churches, Christian homes, Christian non-profit organizations’ offices, and Christian schools were heavily damaged or destroyed. See list at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2325/45/
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati was killed during an attack at an ashram in the hills of Kandhamal District, Orissa, on August 23, 2008, Saturday night. The elderly swami spent several decades in the district. He routinely criticized missionaries for conversion activities and sought to “re-convert” tribals and Dalits. aicc leaders as well as major networks of churches in India, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and the Evangelical Fellowship of India, condemned the killing of the swami and called for his attackers to be arrested and punished.

D’souza said, “The Orissa state government must restore order and prevent VHP activists from carrying out attacks and violating the rule of law. Then they must file cases against the perpetrators and push for rapid convictions. Lastly, we need fair and just compensation to victims, and we appeal to the Prime Minister to visit the victims as soon as possible.” “Today hardliner Hindu nationalists say they cannot control their followers who are simply unleashing their frustration with unethical missionaries. Police say they cannot put officers in every village to protect Christians. Behind all the excuses, the reality is that there is a complete collapse of governance in Orissa,” said John Dayal, aicc Secretary General and Member of the National Integration Council. “It is the duty of the President and Prime Minister of India – as well as state governments – to protect the life, liberty, and property of every citizen. We hope and pray they will act before more innocent people are killed.”

Yesterday, on Aug. 25, 2008, the aicc appealed in writing to various authorities including the Prime Minister, President, Minister of Home Affairs, and various Orissa state government officials such as the Chief Minister and Home Secretary. A delegation of both Protestant and Catholic Christians met the Minister of Home Affairs, Shivraj V. Patil, yesterday, Monday, evening. He offered federal resources but said he was awaiting the required request from the state government.

Orissa is ruled by a coalition government which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, widely known as a party which embraces the creation of a Hindu homeland. Unlike many other states, Orissa has not set up a state commission for minorities which would investigate discrimination and violence against non-Hindu religious adherents.

From Dec. 24, 2007-Jan. 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed over 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Several dozen women were sexually harassed and assaulted, and more than 40 shops belonging to Christians were looted and destroyed. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.

India’s National Commission for Minorities issued a report after visiting Orissa on January 6-8, 2008 and again on April 21-24, 2008. They noted that caste-based discrimination played a role as well as an anti-conversion campaign conducted by Hindu extremists which “has aimed to prevent the conversion of tribals and Dalits to Christianity.” They faulted state government officials for not preventing the violence. Aicc leaders issued two reports. For these reports and other resources, please visit: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1947/45

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.

For more information, contact Dr. Sam Paul, aicc Secretary Public Affairs

Posted on: August 26, 2008

 


The Outsiders

Original article from Tehelka.com by SHOBHITA NAITHANI.

FOR AKSHAY (name changed), his admission in 2002 to the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, (IIT-D) was an achievement whose magnitude has less to do with his being Dalit than with the fact that he has battled schizophrenia since his early teens. Diagnosed in 1997, Akshay has been through years of therapy, which his doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have certified to have had 95 percent success. His struggle with this complex, mind-debilitating illness, however, meant that it took him six years to reach third-year studies at India’s premier engineering institute.

This May, Akshay went to his professor of Applied Mechanics to request an attendance waiver because he hadn’t been keeping well. A sensitive response is what one would have expected, particularly from a person of the sophisticated calibre IIT professors can be thought to possess. What Akshay received, instead, was a reprimand of stunning crudity. “Every second beggar on the street is a schizophrenic,” he claims the professor told him. “IIT has no room for such people. Degree engineer ko milti hai, bimaar ko nahin (engineers get degrees, not the sick).” Then came the crowning blow: “The only reason you’re here is because of reservations.” The stunned 24-year-old stood speechless.

But worse was to come. Akshay’s name, along with those of 19 other IIT-D undergraduates, was struck off the institute’s rolls earlier this month because his “performance was below the required minimum level for continuation”. This is the first time the institute has asked so many students to leave; 12 of them are Dalits. Akshay, a bank clerk’s son from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, doesn’t deny the fact that he hadn’t done well, but insists that the institute must examine the reasons for his poor show. “I sought support but all I got was a dressing-down for being a Dalit,” he says. “I can’t get over that, and I can’t understand why the faculty is not more supportive.”

Along with AIIMS, IIT-D was at the vanguard of anti-reservation protests in 2006, when the human resources development ministry sought to expand reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in State-funded institutions of higher learning. The anti-quota campaign reached a nadir of vulgarity when IIT-D students took to articulating their protest by pretending in public places to mend shoes and sweep roads, implying that these “low” professions (to which Dalits have traditionally been confined) would be the upper-caste IIT aspirant’s only career options were the quota law to be enforced. Propaganda through SMS and e-mail was a highlight of the campaign — these and other inspired ideas were, it was later found, the brainchild of a Gurgaon-based public relations firm, which had offered to help out.

Resentment of backward-caste students is apparently endemic at IIT-D, and comes not just from peers but the faculty as well. Where professors are meant to guide students through the institute’s demanding course work, many of them actively demoralise those from disadvantaged backgrounds. “The IITs were never democratic,” avers a former student, who asked not to be named. “I don’t mean in terms of functioning, but in their attitude towards students.”

The 20 students expelled this year were also obliged to vacate their hostels without delay. Some left without questioning. One decided to fight back. Last December, Ravinder Kumar Ravi achieved passing marks in a subject he was later informed he had failed. He approached the Dean with the initial mark sheet, but, he says, “the Dean took no heed and said the teacher’s word was final”. He then went to the teacher concerned (whom he doesn’t wish to name); she subsequently e-mailed the Dean to explain that the discrepancy had occurred because she had missed one of Ravi’s assignments, which had caused his grade to fall from D to E. “Is it not perverse that the same teacher who gave me passing marks at first found cause to fail me later?” Ravi asks.

Read the rest of the article.

Posted on: June 29, 2008

 


Bihar, where water's divided on basis of caste

By Prabhakar Kumar via CNN-IBN.

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(WATER WOES: Muslims, backward castes and upper castes all have separate wells in Bihar’s Vaishali district.)

It’s a known fact that in some areas of Bihar, people from different castes live in separate colonies. But the caste divide doesn’t end there. Now water too is being divided on the basis of caste.

Kulhara village in Bihar’s Vaishali district has six drinking water wells. And in the scorching summer, Janpatia Devi’s family doesn’t have a drop to drink. That’s because she is a Dalit, and the well in the village meant only for her community has gone dry.

Wells — the only source of drinking water in this village — are divided on the basis of caste. but Dalits get the worst deal.

“The water is not potable at all. It is dirty but we have no other choice,” Sunita Devi, a distraught villager, says.

And dry wells mean a half-kilometre trek to nearby villages to fetch water.

“There are three wells. One well’s water is not potable and people don’t let us draw water from the other two. I went there yesterday but they threw my bucket,” Binda Devi, another villager, says.

With nothing being done so far to stop this mindless division, caste has also coloured the village waters.

Posted on: May 30, 2008

 


Dalits remain unempowered

By Rashme Sehgal via The Asian Age.

Panchayati raj has allowed a critical mass of 5.4 lakh dalits enter the mainstream panchayat system but they remain an unempowered lot. A report on the state of panchayats (2007-8) has highlighted that the practice of untouchability continues even during gram panchayat meetings where they are made to sit separately and drink tea and water from separate glasses.

The report, sponsored by the ministry of panchayati raj, cites examples of several violent incidents in which dalits have tried to assert their rights.

One such example is of a dalit sarpanch Bholaram, who was battered to death in the village of Phooljhar close to Raipur because the villagers were not happy with a dalit sarpanch.

Even in a state like Tamil Nadu , there have been complaints of dalit panchayat members being done to death by uppercaste Hindus.

Ten Scheduled Caste panchayat presidents in Tirunelvelli district have recently complained that their lives are under threat from uppercastes.

Four villages in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu which saw Dalits elected are witnessing accelerated caste tension.

Following panchayat elections in October 2006, P. Jaggaiyan, president of Nakkalamuthanpatti village was done to death because he refused to oblige the `upper caste vice-president ‘ by being a rubber stamp president. This was followed by the death in suspicious circumstances of M. Servaran, president of the Maruthankinaru village panchayat. He was found dead near his house on February 9 2007.

Several other dalit panchayat heads in different districts of Tamil Nadu complain of not being allowed to function by their deputies and other caste members.

Dalit women also face similar discrimination. The report cites the example of Savita Ben, sarpanch of saddha gram panchayat in Himmatnagar taluka of Sabarkantha district in Gujarat who took part in several development activities but was suspended from her post on one pretext or the other.

Another way to prevent dalit members from functioning is to introduce no-confidence motions against them. Last year, 34 no-confidence motions were introduced against dalit heads of panchayats in Chattisgarh alone.

This has led a Dalit Mukti Morcha activist to conclude that `whenever dalits come to power, their posts are declared null and void so as to prevent them from exercising their rights’.

This problem is heightened by the fact that the majority of elected SC representatives in the BIMARU states are illiterate. State governments have set up social justice committees to protect the interests of SCs, STs and backward classes but these committees remain only on paper.

Posted on: May 30, 2008

 


Dalit woman manual scavenger Film

Originally posted on WNN.

This 2003 film, shows the degrading conditions for a Dalit woman manual scavenger. Without protective gloves, masks or shoes she works to clean the dry latrines.

Posted on: May 16, 2008

 


Spring 08 Newsletter

Download the Spring 08 Newsletter to find out the latest news on DFN’s involvement with the Dalits in India.

Posted on: May 11, 2008

 


A 6 year old girl thrown on fire for being 'lowest class'

Original article from CNN.com.

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Dalits, or “untouchables,” are victims of discrimination in India despite laws aimed at eliminating prejudice.

A man, incensed that a 6-year-old girl chose to walk through a path reserved for upper caste villagers, pushed her into burning embers, police in north India said Wednesday. She was seriously burned.

The girl is a Dalit, or an “untouchable,” according to India’s traditional caste system.

India’s constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country.

The girl was walking with her mother down a path in the city of Mathura when she was accosted by a man in his late teens, said police superintendent R.K. Chaturvedi.

“He scolded them both and pushed her,” Chaturvedi said. The girl fell about 3 to 4 feet into pile of burning embers by the side of the road.

The girl remained in critical condition Wednesday.

The man confessed to the crime and was charged with attempted murder, Chaturvedi said.

The assault took place in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, about 150 km (93 miles) south of Delhi. The state is governed by Mayawati, a woman who goes by one name and is India’s most powerful Dalit politician.

Her Bahujan Samaj Party seeks to get more political representation for Dalits, who are considered so low in the social order that they don’t even rank among the four classes that make up the caste system.

Hindus believe there are five main groups of people, four of which sprang from the body of the first man.

The Brahmin class comes from the mouth. They are the priests and holy men, the most elevated of the castes.

Next is the Ksatriyas, the kings, warriors and soldiers created from the arms.

The Vaisyas come from the thighs. They are the merchants and traders of society.

And the Sudras, or laborers, come from the feet.

The last group is the Dalits, or the “untouchables.” They’re considered too impure to have come from the primordial being. Untouchables are often forced to work in menial jobs. They drink from separate wells. They use different entry ways, coming and going from buildings.

They number about 250 million in India, about 25 percent of the population, according to the Colorado, U.S.-based Dalit Freedom Network.

“Dalits are seen to pollute higher caste people if they come in touch with them, hence the ‘untouchables,’” the group says on its Web site. “If a higher caste Hindu is touched by, or even had a Dalit’s shadow fall across them, they consider themselves to be polluted and have to go through a rigorous series of rituals to be cleansed.”

Recent weeks has seen a rise in violence against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, CNN’s sister network, CNN-IBN, reported Wednesday.

Posted on: May 1, 2008

 


Dalit beaten by upper caste villagers for smoking

Original article from IBN Live.
by Hemender Sharma

Halki Bai, a Dalit woman from Madhya Pradesh’s Biharipura village, does not have any idea where her husband and son have gone. The only thing she remembers is an attack on their house allegedly by the village Thakurs.

She said her husband was mercilessly beaten up and asked to leave the village with a warning not to show his face again.

“The Thakurs do not behave properly with us. It is not just this incident, they do not allow us to fetch water and we are forced to carry our shoes on our heads while passing in front of their houses,” Halki Bai said.

The immediate provocation for the Thakurs’ action was apparently a Dalit smoking without taking permission during a funeral procession. Halki Bai is not the only woman whose husband has been forced out of the village. All male members of the 15 Dalit families in the village have fled and individually reported to the police.

On Saturday, it was the turn of Chaaokiri Chaudhary who alleged the police refused to listen to any complaint against the Thakurs. “I have been forced out of the village. I want justice. I want to go back,” Chakori said.

Meanwhile, SP of Jabalpur Markand Devaskar denied the allegations by the Dalits and said, “There are some complaints and we have taken action but there is nothing like Thakurs forcing the Dalits out of the village.”

Almost all political parties including the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh are trying to woo Dalits to make a good votebank. These votes can make the decisive difference but when it comes to making a difference in the life of a Dalit, no one seems to be bothered.

(With inputs from Deepesh in Jabalpur)

Posted on: April 20, 2008

 


Dalit throats the most thirsty

Original article from The Times of India.

On Ambedkar Jayanti, Dalits in Babajipura village, 40 km from Surendranagar, were hesitantly standing near the village well, hoping that a higher caste person would come and draw water for them. Dalits themselves are not allowed to draw water here.

On Monday, TOI visited two villages in Saurashtra where caste still decides who gets access to drinking water. The lower you are in the caste hierarchy, the thirstier you are likely to be in this semi-arid region.

In Babajipura – a village dominated by Koli Patels – Dalits have their separate well, but the water was contaminated last month, allegedly by some miscreants. They now have to rely on the mercy of higher caste people to get water from the other well.

“Villagers decided that Dalits could take water from their well but they cannot draw it themselves,”say Laxman Shenva.

A Dalit woman from the village said, “We have to hope that a woman with a good heart comes that way while we are waiting and agrees to draw water for us. Some people even refuse us.”

In Tavi village, 18 km from Lakhtar, Dalits were given water connections 10 years ago. But, they got water for only for the first four days! Says Nandu Vadher, a Dalit, in the village dominated by Rajputs, “Our pipeline has been blocked by upper caste people.”

The well meant for Dalits has also been contaminated. Because they are not allowed to even venture near the other well – located in an upper caste neighbourhood – they now have go to the Narmada canal two km away and draw water from there.

Posted on: April 15, 2008

 


Dalits threaten suicide over caste wall

Original article by NDTV.com.
By Prasad Kathe

Around 100 Dalit families in Maharashtra’s Satara district threatened to commit suicide on Monday – Dr Ambedkar’s birthday.

The Dalits are protesting against a 150 meter long wall erected by upper caste people from their village. The wall confines the Dalits to one area.

The situation was brought under control by the police but the root cause of the problem – the wall – persists.

The wall separates Bhim Nagar from Darre Nagar – the Dalits from those of the upper caste Marathas.

Built three years ago, villagers from Bhim Nagar allege the wall encroaches upon their part of the village and it blocks their access to a community hall, which was built for them.

‘’We want access into the community halls. But we will abide by the courts order,’’ said Uttam Kamble, member, Bhim Nagar Panchayat.

But solving the dispute is not going to be simple. The upper caste community has won a court order that allowed them the construction of the wall

But the Dalits still believe their cause is just and the wall must go. It is this desperation that led them to threatened mass suicide before the police brought the situation under control.

Maharashtra led the campaign against social discrimination under Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. But on the day of his 107th birth anniversary, a protest has brought to attention the forces that continue to divide people, which shows that much still remains to be done to bring in social equality.

Posted on: April 14, 2008

 


A house divided

Original article from Frontline Magazine, by S. VISWANATHAN.

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PHOTOGRAPH: Social Awareness Society for Youth
Victims of caste violence at Eraiyur.

This year’s Holy Week (March 16 to 22), the week that precedes Easter Sunday, was observed as “untouchability protest week” in parts of northern Tamil Nadu. This was in response to a call given by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Dalit Christians’ Liberation Movement to highlight the plight of Dalits in the Christian community. At least 10 churches in Cuddalore and Villupuram districts had to go without or curtail the ceremonies that usually begin with Palm Sunday, celebrated in commemoration of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In some places Dalits hoisted black flags atop churches and in a few others they locked up the places of worship. Demanding justice to Dalit Christians, VCK general secretary Thol. Thirumavalavan led a demonstration on March 19 near the Bishop’s House in Puducherry, the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore.

The immediate provocation for the protest was violence against Dalits by “upper caste” (Vanniar) Christians at Eraiyur in Villupuram district on March 9. In the police firing that followed, two Vanniar Christians were killed.

Dalit Christians of the village have been on a fast since March 7 demanding that the Archbishop recognise the Sagaya Matha Chapel they had built for a new Dalit parish in the village. Their complaint was that they were not treated as equals by the Vanniar Christians within the Church of Our Lady of Rosary, the present Eraiyur parish church, located in the centre of Eraiyur. Archbishop Anthony Aanandarayar was firm that there could not be two churches for the same order in one village.

On the third day of the fast, on March 9, angry Vanniar Christians carrying sticks, poles, iron rods, stones and other weapons stormed the Dalit colony in the village. Over 30 Dalits were injured and about 80 of their houses were damaged.

The two Vanniar Christians killed in police firing were innocent onlookers, it is said. In the mob retaliation, seven police personnel, including the Superintendent of Police, A. Amal Raj, were injured. The State government has ordered payment of compensation to the families of the firing victims, although the Dalits, who were injured and lost property, are yet to receive any assistance from the government. Worse, they complained, the Vanniar Christians had subsequently imposed a social and economic boycott of the Dalits. Most of the Dalits in the village are agricultural workers who depend on the land-owning majority community (Vanniars) for their livelihood, and they are now jobless.

Vanniar Christians, who are angry about the police firing, accused the clergy of standing in the way of “maintaining certain traditional practices” and threatened to convert to Hinduism. The Archdiocese has initiated a dialogue with Vanniar Christians and Dalit Christians. Meanwhile, the parish church administration has ordered the closure of the church until the return of peace. The Eraiyur parish has a 300-year-old history behind it. Eraiyur is one of the earliest Tamil Nadu villages in which Christianity took root in the second half of the 17th century. A note on the parish, published on the website of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore states: “The first Catholic community was established in the 17th century when Christianity began to grow around 1660. Eraiyur began to grow in Catholic faith.”

“The building up of the first Catholic community,” the note further says, “was the hard work of Rev. Fr. Freyre who was a Jesuit priest.” The priest went to Eraiyur around 1679 and met the people in and around the village. They used a small house as the place of worship. “But because of the rule of Maratiar [Marathas] these people were tortured and also because of a great famine they began to move away from Eraiyur and settled near Salem. It is not known when the second Catholic community in Eraiyur was built,” the note says. It, however, mentions Fr. Beschi among the priests who stayed in the village and converted more people to Christianity.

Fr. Costanzo Beschi (1680-1746), a Jesuit missionary from Italy, gave himself a Tamil name, Veeramaamunivar, and authored a classical Tamil epic, Thempavani, in honour of St. Joseph. Eraiyur became a separate parish in 1870. The Church of Our Lady of Rosary at Eraiyur was built in 1894.

Dalits account for about 70 per cent of the 25 million Christians in India, but caste-based discrimination against them is not uncommon. This despite repeated appeals from the Church leadership against such practices. Eraiyur is no exception to discrimination, particularly because Dalits, both Christian and Hindu, are in a minority in the village dominated by Christian Vanniars. (Christian Vanniars number about 20,000; the Christian Dalit population is less than 1,500.) There have been instances of caste clashes in the Eraiyur parish, which has the distinction of having produced 30 priests and 55 nuns.

Read the rest of the article.

Posted on: April 9, 2008

 


Dalit women forced to swallow excreta

Original article from Times Of India.

DHANBAD: Days after a widow was paraded naked in a village here for entering a temple, two Dalit widows have been forced to swallow human excreta by villagers who blamed them for being responsible for an outbreak of chicken pox.

Police arrested four people on Sunday for violating the Jharkhand Anti-Witchcraft Act, 2001 and Prevention of Atrocities on SC/ST Act after they tortured Rashmi Devi (60) and Samri Devi (65) in Manaydih village, 15 km from Dhanbad. Samri Devi is a sweeper in a local branch of a nationalized bank.

“It was because of superstition. The villagers, including the son of one of the victims, believed the elderly women were practicing witchcraft,” said Vinod Kumar, an officer at Barwaadda police station.

The trouble started after the four-year-old son of Koleshwar Das, one of the villagers, died two days ago. The family of Das suspected it was because of the “witchcraft” of the two elderly women.

The villagers caught the women on Saturday forced them to eat human excreta. They alleged that the women were a “curse on the village” and chicken pox had spread in the area because of them.

Last Thursday, another widow from a backward community was paraded naked in Ranwatand village, 35 km from Dhanbad, for entering the village temple. The culprits said a widow had “no right to enter a temple”.

Posted on: April 7, 2008

 


Atrocities in Bihar on the Rise

Original article from The Times of India.

Altogether 3,091 cases of atrocities on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are pending in Bihar till January 2008.

According to official figures available from the state headquarters in Patna, of the 3091 cases, 378 cases were reported from Muzaffapur.

In 2007, there was rise in cases of atrocities on them as compared to previous years, official sources admitted.

Altogether 1932 cases of atrocities on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes were registered during 2007 against 1729 in 2006.

Of the cases registered during 2007, one related to murder, 11 to rape, 8 arson, and 67 under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act 1989 and others under the Indian Penal Code.

Posted on: March 21, 2008

 


Dalit kids face bias: Group

Original article from The Asian Age newspaper.
By RABINDRA NATH CHOUDHURY

Bhubaneswar, March 19 : Dalit children are being treated as untouchables in the government-run schools in a coastal district of Orissa. They are not permitted to sit with the upper-caste children while taking mid-day meal.

This shocking disclosure was made by the Ambedkar-Lohia Vichar Manch, a rights body espousing the cause of the dalits in the state. A fact-finding team of the body, which visited the government-run schools in the coastal district of Kendrapara recently, found how small children belonging to scheduled castes are facing caste bias in these primary educational institutions.

The team has submitted its report to the National Commission for Scheduled Caste seeking action against the authorities of these schools for treating dalit children shabbily.

“The caste bias has permeated into social milieu mainly in villages. Ironically, it is in the government-run primary schools that impressionable minds of small children are vitiated in caste cauldron,” the fact-finding report stated.

“In some schools, the dalit children are served mid-day meal only after the children belonging to general castes have taken their lunch, ” the report said.

Posted on: March 19, 2008

 


Caste difference contributes to violence against Dalit women - Central India

Posted on: March 17, 2008

 


NDTV News Report

Linked from WNN.

Dalit women and their families in Bapcha village in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh are living in fear. The pressure from the powerful is so strong that violence is usually not reported or greatly “under-reported”. This is an NDTV news production from Sept 2007.

Posted on: March 17, 2008

 


Created Equal?

Linked from Listen Up TV.

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Listen to the program

A multi-million dollar kidney transplant scam and its victims. We’ll examine religious realities in India that set people up to be sold for body parts.

We’ll also examine atrocious vulnerabilities amongst the poorest people in the world’s largest democracy. India is prosecuting the latest of an underground kidney trafficking ring that shocked the world.

Today we’ll learn about the people targeted for exploitation: those known as Dalits and scheduled caste’s. We’ll find out why they’re vulnerable to the most violent of human rights abuses. And we’ll hear a plea to speak out on their behalf after the trail of their misery found its way to Canada.

THE CONTEXT

A suspected mastermind accused of a shocking crime. Amit Kumar, is alleged to have coordinated the theft of human kidneys for sale in markets around the globe. Over 500 people from underprivileged castes in India were victimized in the scandal. Some desperate for money, sold their kidneys. Others were forced at gunpoint and drugged as their kidneys were surgically removed, then sold to wealthy recipients around the world.

In India, it’s led to nationwide revulsion. Charges of “crimes against life and health” were laid against Kumar, who made his home in Canada where he was known as a medical doctor and where he kept his money and family.

Indian police said teams of kidney scouts roamed labour markets in Delhi and cities in India’s poorest state, searching for potential donors for the kidney scam. Implicated in the case are 20 paramedics, five nurses, three hospitals, 10 clinics and seven police charged with accepting bribes.

Kumar denies all wrong doing. News reports here, say emails he had been receiving suggest Kumar was getting transplant inquiries from Canada.

Posted on: March 16, 2008

 


Dalits face discrimination in southern Tamil Nadu

Original article from webindia123.com.

When young Raji, a Dalit, took her one-and-a-half-year-old son to the vaccination centre in her village in southern Tamil Nadu, the baby was denied polio drops. Two new studies have found that despite all the talk of equitable distribution of resources, the condition of Dalits in the region remains dismal.

The pulse polio campaign, for instance, is a free nationwide drive of the government meant to cut across caste and religion to eradicate polio. But if you are a Dalit like Raji, your baby can be denied even these life-saving drops.

Raji’s family belongs to Keelavilanchampatti village in Sivaganga district, about 550 km south of Chennai.

After the child was denied polio drops Feb 10, an outcry in the local media made the police register cases against six people in the village. Raji’s son was then given the polio drops under the hawk eye of the police.

But the story of discrimination was far from over.

Four Dalit families in this village, including Raji’s parents, were given two acres of land under a government free-land scheme some eight months ago. The upper castes wanted the families to donate their land to the village, which the Dalit families refused to do.

As a result, the Dalit families and their relatives were boycotted by the village and not allowed to take even water from the village taps.

In Madurai district’s Vadugapatti village, to bury their dead Dalits have to walk half a kilometre on a narrow bund strewn with thorns that separates an upper caste man’s rice field.

“The thorn bushes were planted to prevent Dalits from touching the paddy crop,” Muthaiya, 70, told local media.

“I want to be buried in peace. I don’t want fights with big caste Hindu landowners over my body.”

“Even to get ration, we had to get a separate shop. Upper caste people did not allow us to collect ration from the common village public distribution shop. There is always a fight if we try to do that,” he added.

At a time when Tamil Nadu posts a seven percent growth rate and 75 percent literacy, stories of anti-Dalit atrocities continues to appear in the local media here.

On Feb 2, a Dalit girl, 16, was kidnapped from Kachirayanpatti village near Madurai and raped by an upper caste man. The girl’s father, Andisamy, complained to police and the girl underwent a medical check up at the government hospital in Madurai, which confirmed rape.

But police took no action against the culprit identified by the victim.

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front has done a random survey across 20 of Tamil Nadu’s 30 districts, and is now preparing to launch a state-wide campaign to abolish manual scavenging, which still continues.

The Front’s study found that eight million Dalit households lacked proper toilet facilities. Human waste is still carried here as “headload”, the study said.

Releasing the study here last week, P. Mohan, Madurai MP, told the media 107 teams had surveyed the living conditions of Dalits in 47 villages in February second week and found all of them practise untouchability. “Discrimination comes in many forms and is practised in ways unknown before,” the member said.

In Andarkottaram and Thaniamangalam villages, postmen do not deliver post to Dalits and barbers and washer-men refuse them their services.

In Uthapuram village, a 500-m long wall separates Dalit houses from the rest of the village.

The “double tumbler” system is in vogue, a practice by which Dalits are served tea/water in separate tumblers or coconut shells at teashops.

Dalits cannot join temple festivals, use footwear and their bulls cannot win in `jallikattu’ runs.

A Madurai-based NGO, Evidence, this week released yet another study of Dindigul district that said, “Untouchability is practised in all 60 reserved administrative units (panchayats) in the district”.

The Government Statistical Handbook 2006 inspired the study carried out by Evidence. The handbook had recorded 60 panchayats in this district as “atrocity-prone”.

“This prompted us to look at the districts carefully,” Evidence director A. Kathir told the media here. The Handbook says 538 villages in Tamil Nadu are “atrocity prone” and 152 of these are highly sensitive caste conflict hotspots.

After surveys in January and February, Kathir said, “Not just 500 but as many as 4,000 such villages exist in Tamil Nadu.”

Posted on: February 27, 2008

 


Orissa govt failed to protect Christians: panel

Original source from IBN Live.

New Delhi:

Commission members Dilip Padgaonkar and Zoya Hasan, who toured Khandamal to probe allegations by Christians, said in Delhi on Thursday that the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) “vitiated” the atmosphere in the district but refrained from blaming it for the attacks.

“The Government and the local officials had been warned of trouble as early as on December 22 but they did not take any action and the result was the large-scale violence,” said Padgaonkar in a press conference.

“It was an organised and pre-planned attack on the Christian community,” he said.

An important reason for the violence was the rivalry between the Kui tribals and Pana Christians. “Some Christian groups (Panas) have been asking for inclusion in the scheduled tribe (ST) category to get benefit from the reservations that go with the status,” Hasan said.

The Kuis are against this demand on the ground that they are ethnically different from the Panas. “Kuis have also been agitated because Scheduled Caste (SC) Christians allegedly obtained false certificates to benefit from the reservations,” Hasan said.

Padgaonkar said two strikes called by two separate organisations on December 26 fuelled the violence. Another important factor was the anti-conversion campaign conducted by VHP and Sangh Parivar for the last few years.

When asked whether the riots were planned, Padgaonkar said, “There was enough evidence to suggest that the outbreak of violence in Khandamal was organised.”

“An anti-Christian atmosphere was created and there was large-scale destruction of Christian property.” He alleged that the local administration did not take appropriate and quick measures to control the mob.

Padgaonkar said 2,000 trees were cut in two hours to block roads leading to the riot-affected areas. “This was done to delay the patrol parties from reaching the riot-affected areas. It shows that the riots were organised,” he was quoted by IANS as saying.

“Rehabilitation package announced by the Orissa government should be reviewed to provide rehabilitation keeping in view the actual loss suffered by the victims of violence,” the delegation members said.

Posted on: January 17, 2008

 


Rally taken out against Kandhamal violence

Original source from a staff reporter of The Hindu Newspaper.

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(Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty)
IN PROTEST MODE: Activists of All India Confederation of SC/ST taking out a rally against Kandhamal violence in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

BHUBANESWAR: A fortnight after the communal violence engulfed several remote villages of Orissa’s Kandhamal district, church leaders and hundreds of villages, who claimed to be victims, staged a demonstration here on Thursday raising slogans against ‘sangh parivar groups and apathetic State administration.’

All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations (AICSO) and All India Christian Council (AICC) took out the rally which was participated by several leaders from Christian community from Master Canteen Square to Lower PMG Square.

Speaking to media, AICSO Chairman Udit Raj said: “I don’t think that the State government, led by Naveen Patnaik, is a secular government since BJP is the ruling alliance.”

He flayed the State government for its reported announcement of probe into violence through the perspective of involvement of Left wing extremists. “The State government does not have any proof of any NGO having links with extremists groups. And they even lack evidence of connection with naxalite groups with churches. The allegations are baseless,” Mr. Raj said. State government should produce proof of its claims, he dared.

Several priests of Churches described as to how the victims of violence spent their days of horror in forests.

They said several families had to consume roots and leaves and drink dews deposited on leaves.The State-level coordination committee on communal harmony, which met here on Thursday, recommended putting a grievance redressal mechanism in place for the communal disturbances. Moreover, such forum should also be activated in panchayat, block and district level in order to act proactive manner to prevent communal disturbance in the State, it said.

Meanwhile, Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA), which was pressed into service to carry out relief and rehabilitation programmes after violence broke out, said distribution of food, winter clothes and other necessary articles were going on in full swing.

Single window system approach had been adopted for distribution of relief and all types of facilities were made available at the three relief camps, it said.

Posted on: January 11, 2008

 


Speakers at Historic Rally Demand Orissa Government Tell Truth about Christmas Attacks on Christians

Written by AICC
Thursday, 10 January 2008

For immediate release

About 10,000 protestors from all religious backgrounds; speakers slam Orissa government for blaming Naxalites involvement and limiting Christian NGOs relief efforts

BHUBANESWAR – Jan. 10, 2008 – Today about 9,000-10,000 people marched to the Orissa State Assembly building in Bhubaneswar to protest Christmas attacks on Christians and demand justice for victims. Rally speakers demanded the Orissa state government stop making allegations about Christian association with an outlawed Maoist rebel movement and allow Christian churches and groups to provide direct relief to victims.

“Some people have characterized the violence as a Hindu-Christian clash. This is wrong. Dalit Christians were clearly the targets and innocent victims. The state government has also made baseless accusations that some Christian NGOs are aligned with Naxalites. The authorities must write a white paper or give proof about these sensitive issues instead of spreading rumors,” said Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations. Naxalites are Maoist rebels who often attack government installations throughout central India. Most are disenfranchised Dalits or Tribals.

Christian leaders expressed concern about relief efforts for the devastated Christians in Kandhamal District. “Orissa’s government should allow direct relief projects by churches and Christian NGOs. Currently, we are being told we can only distribute blankets, food and other supplies through the District Collectors. We are deeply concerned this will delay needed assistance and could create opportunities for discrimination or corruption,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, President, All India Christian Council (aicc). “There is no logical reason to ban the direct involvement of established, peaceful Christian organisations that are already registered with the government.”

Bishop Joab Lohara of the Free Methodist Church said, “We are worried about reports that aid to the homeless Christians still in relief camps is not being fairly distributed. We appeal to authorities to be even-handed in their compensation to victims of this horrific violence. They have suffered enough already.”

The “Stop Violence Against Christians Rally” was sponsored by the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations and the aicc. Protestors met at Master Canteen Chowk and marched to the Orissa State Assembly. Speakers included Raj, D’souza, Lohara, as well as Muslims, progressive Hindus, and Buddhists.

Rally organisers also announced they would set up a “Communal Harmony Monitoring Group” which will closely watch relief and compensation for victims and report progress to the national offices of the aicc and SC/ST Confederation. Dr. Udit Raj also demanded that any enquiry commissions set up by the Orissa government include representatives from both the aicc and SC/ST Confederation since they represent Christians and Dalits, respectively.

In the last few days, aicc leaders released two fact finding reports on the anti-Christian violence after visits to rural Orissa. Newly confirmed cases of arson, murder, and assault make this violence qualify as the largest attack on the Christian community in the history of democratic India. Both reports show that the Dalits – formerly known as untouchables – were the main group affected by the violence. Reports are at:

http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1826/45/ and

http://groups.google.com/group/JohnDayal/browse_thread/thread/17aef1aebe4f1e70

According to media reports, three investigators appointed by India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) are currently in Orissa. A Christian delegation, including an aicc leader, met with the NHRC chairman on Dec. 31, 2007 in New Delhi to request the visit.

The violence allegedly began when Christians in Bamunigaon village in Kandhamal district of Orissa began to celebrate Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, 2007. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a quarrel ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—he alleged they were Christians. The next day a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-affiliated group called for a strike and VHP members began attacking Christians across the state.

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.

For more information, contact:
Benjamin Marsh
bmarsh@dalitnetwork.org
(919) 841-8280

Posted on: January 10, 2008

 


Upper caste girl's relatives pierce Dalit boy's eyes

Original article from IBN Live.

The Nanded district police have arrested six of the girl’s 12 relatives allegedly involved in the assault under the Atrocities on Scheduled Castes (Prevention) Act and are on the lookout for others accused of the assault, sources said.

The enraged relatives of the 15-year old girl, Premala Jadhav, who admitted the dalit youth Chandrakant Gaikwad and his friend Milind Jondhale in two hospitals in Nanded in an apparent attempt to keep the crime under wraps, also warned Gaikwad’s parents against approaching the police, according to the sources.

Chandrakant and Milind told the police that Premala’s relatives caught them in Milind’s house in Khamareddy in Andhra Pradesh, where the three had fled last Saturday, and brought them to Sategaon in a jeep.

The assaulters had gagged Chandrakant and Milind while beating them all through the night of January 5 and piercing their eyes, said the police sources.

“When we fainted from severe thrashing, they sprinkled water on our faces to bring us back to consciousness and beat us up again,” the sources quoted Chandrakant and Mlind as saying.

“We have made the arrests on the basis of the two young men’s statement and started interrogating the accused in what looks like a clear case of atrocity falling under the ambit of the act,” Superintendent of Police Ravindra Singhal said.

Singhal said, while it is true that Chandrakant has sustained injuries in both his eyes and Milind in one, the version that their eyes were pierced is not true.

“The hospital authorities are yet to tell us about the severity of the wounds and whether the two young men stand a chance of regaining their eyesight,” he added.

While Chandrakant’s parents refrained from registering a complaint for fear of reprisal, the police took the action on their own following a tip-off received by Deputy Superintendent of Police Vasant Jadhav, the sources said.

Posted on: January 9, 2008

 


Dalit beaten for trying to enter UP temple

Originally article from The Times of India.

Shailendra Tiwari, the priest, allegedly attacked and abused the Dalit, Sudhir Kumar of Gangapur village under Bidhnoo police station, as he tried to enter the temple for a puja at the local temple. He was accompanied by three friends – two men named Bablu, both from Gangapur, and Dharmendra of Rajivnagar.

Tiwari did not act alone; he had his friends Rajan Dixit and Shiv Singh Yadav join him in physically attacking and preventing Sudhir and his friends from entering the temple. “They not only assaulted us but also threatened us with dire consequences and demanded money to purify the temple,” said Sudhir. “The priests used filthy language against us,” he further alleged.

News of the assault created immediate tension in the village with Dalits holding a meeting in which they decided to inform senior district administration officials about the incident and renew attempts to enter the temple.

“We requested the police officers to act against the priest and others involved in beating up Sudhir,” a village Dalit said. “We are going to enter the temple,” he added.

The incident took place in an area where the Dalit-Brahman collaboration had worked well for the BSP, enabling it to sweep the constituencies in rural Kanpur. BSP’s Brahmin candidate, Anil Shukla Warsi, won the by-election for the Bilhaur Lok Sabha seat. His wife, Pratibha Shukla, represents Chaubepur in the assembly.

Posted on: January 9, 2008

 


Facts Emerge on Christmas Violence in Orissa: 730 Homes, 95 Churches Destroyed, 4 Dead, More Missing

For immediate release:

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India – All India Christian Council (aicc) leaders released two reports on the anti-Christian violence in Orissa which began on Christmas Eve. Newly confirmed cases of arson, murder, and assault make this violence qualify as the largest attack on the Christian community in the history of democratic India. Both reports show that the Dalits – formerly known as untouchables – were the main group affected by the violence.
Four leaders from aicc chapters in Orissa visited the affected villages from January 3-5 and released their report on Jan. 7, 2008. The report says 95 churches were vandalized or destroyed, 730 Christian homes burnt, and four Christians killed with many still missing and presumed dead. To view the entire Fact Finding Report, see:http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1826/45/

On Jan. 5, 2008, aicc Secretary-General John Dayal released a white paper after visiting the area. Advocate Nicholas Barla, a lawyer and human rights expert, and Mr. Hemant Nayak, a social scientist and human rights and development activist, were also part of the fact finding team. They concluded that the attacks on Christians included simultaneous, planned violence by extremist Hindutva supporters and complicity and consistent incompetence by police and local authorities. To view the entire white paper, see:http://groups.google.com/group/JohnDayal/browse_thread/thread/17aef1aebe4f1e70

According to media reports, two members from India’s National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Dileep Padgaonkar and Zoya Hasan, are currently in Orissa to investigate the violence. Aicc leaders met with the NCM chairman on Dec. 27, 2007 in New Delhi.

“We are saddened to acknowledge the violence in Orissa will go into the history books as an unprecedented attack on Christians in India. The tragedy is deepened by proof that the violence was avoidable if the authorities had enforced the rule of law,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc President.

Together with the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations led by Dr. Udit Raj, the aicc will hold a “Stop Violence Against Christians Rally” in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, on January 10, 2008. Protestors will meet at 10am at Master Canteen Chowk and march to the Orissa State Assembly for a public meeting. Confirmed speakers include Dr. Udit Raj, Dr. Joseph D’souza, Bishop Joab Lohara of the Free Methodist Church, and victims from Orissa.

“Many have expressed outrage with the authorities and Hindutva extremists whose actions hurt innocent people during Christmas – a season of peace across the world. But we must express our anger and frustration in a peaceful manner. I invite all Indian citizens of good will to join the “Stop Violence Against Christians Rally” on Thursday,” said D’souza.

The violence allegedly began when Christians in Bamunigaon village in Kandhamal district of Orissa began to celebrate Christmas Eve. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a quarrel ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—he alleged they were Christians. The next day a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-affiliated group called for a strike and VHP members began attacking Christians across the state.

The All India Christian Council (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: www.dalitnetwork.org

Posted on: January 8, 2008

 


Fact Finding Report by aicc Orissa Chapter

Posted on: January 7, 2008

 


Chennai Leaders Express Solidarity with Fresh Victims of Anti-Christian Attacks in Orissa

HYDERABAD – Jan. 2, 2008 – Today the All India Christian Council (aicc) led a rally in Chennai to protest the anti-Christian violence in Orissa. Several civil society leaders, including Dalit and Muslim leaders, expressed solidarity with the victims. Meanwhile, violence resumed overnight including attacks on at least two Christian villages and the estimated death toll has increased.

Today’s rally in Chennai, opposite the Central General Hospital and in front of Memorial House, included about 1,000 leaders from both Christian and non-Christian organisations. Pastor Titus Kumar of Vision for Orissa gave an eye-witness report with video footage of the destruction and havoc caused by extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Other speakers included: Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc President; Rev. K.B. Edison, aicc Tamil Nadu chapter President; Bishop Ezra Sargunam, Evangelical Church of India; and Mr. Umar Farooque, the Islamic Federation for Change.
“Although the government and media are saying the attacks on Christians have stopped, rural pastors with mobile phones contacted us in the last few hours with news of fresh attacks. We are devastated to report that there were at least two attacks last night,” said Dr. D’souza. “As I talk with Christians in Orissa, it is clear the death toll has been underestimated. We have reliable but unconfirmed reports of up to 70 Christians killed or missing and presumed dead.” Official reports from the Orissa authorities have put the death count at about four to six people.
Independent act finding teams continue to be blocked from entering affected areas. Police allegedly cannot access troubled rural areas due to roadblocks. The federal government has only dispatched a handful of troops, reportedly because the Orissa government is not requesting assistance. However, media reports said the Minister of Home Affairs visited the area today, but his findings have not been released. Aicc leaders in New Delhi were told the National Commission for Minorities scheduled a team to arrive on Jan. 8, 2008, and the National Human Rights Commission is deputing a team as soon as possible.

At the rally, many cries were heard for the state government of Chief Minister Neevan Patnaik to step down in light of continuing attacks against Christians – most of whom are Dalits and Tribals. Also, leaders demanded that the Orissa government increase the promised amount of compensation for families of those murdered from 100,000 to 500,000 rupees.

“The Orissa police and politicians seem focused on blaming Christians or Naxals for the violence. We anticipate the findings of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. We implore authorities to act now and save innocent lives instead of assigning blame. We condemn any violence – whether done by Hindus or by Christians. But the world must know that, contrary to media reports, there is no evidence that Christians attacked Hindus—including Swami Saraswati,” said Sam Paul, aicc Secretary of Public Affairs.

The violence allegedly began when Christians in Bamunigaon village in Kandhamal district of Orissa began to celebrate Christmas Eve. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a fight ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—he alleged they were Christians—near Daringbadi while he was traveling. The next day the VHP called for a strike and its members began attacking Christians across the state.

Reports collected by the aicc as of Dec. 30, 2007, indicated 65 churches burned down, 600 Christian homes destroyed, hundreds of Christians forced to flee into forests to save their lives, and thousands homeless. The aicc obtained a copy of the complaint filed with police in Bamunigaon village by Roman Catholic priest Thomas Nayak, whose church was one of the first attacked on Christmas Eve. He names twenty-two attackers who are all allegedly part of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), a sister group to the VHP, and says that Swami Saraswati visited the area on Dec. 9, 2007 and planned the attacks.

The aicc and the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations will organise a protest rally in Bubhaneshwar, Orissa, on January 10, 2008. Details are to be announced soon. A press conference yesterday, Jan. 1, 2008, in Bubhaneshwar included statements by film maker Mahesh Bhatt, National Integration Council member John Dayal (also aicc Secretary-General), and Abraham Mathai, Vice Chairman of the State Commission for Minorities, Maharashtra.

The aicc will engage in relief work as soon as curfews are lifted and the affected villages are accessible. Relief plans call for rebuilding churches, Christian homes, and distribution of blankets and food for people who have been hiding in forests for days.

The All India Christian Council (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.

Posted on: January 2, 2008

 


Black Christmas


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The police guarding a church at Darigibadi in Phulbani district, on December 26.

On December 24, when the world was preparing to celebrate Christmas, the Kui-speaking tribal people of Orissa’s Kandhamal district were getting ready for a 36-hour bandh beginning the next morning. But even as preparations were on, the bomb of hatred that had been ticking for long went off, ripping the communal fabric of the district.

Trouble apparently began when a section of Hindus opposed the preparations for Christmas. Following this, a group of Christians allegedly attacked Swami Lakshmananda, a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, who was on his way to perform a yagna in the Brahmanigaon area of the district. Activists of the VHP retaliated by setting ablaze churches and other Christian institutions, and houses belonging to members of the community. The VHP also called for a four-hour, State-wide bandh the next day in protest against the attack on its leader. The bandh coincided with the one that was called by the Kui Samaj Samanwaya Samiti.

The Kui Samaj has been agitating against the alleged granting of Scheduled Tribe (S.T.) status to Dalits in the district, which has a sizable Christian population. The vast majority of the Dalits in Kandhamal are Christian whereas only a small section of the tribal population has embraced Christianity. The divide between the tribal people and the Dalits has widened in recent years with the VHP repeatedly contending that religious conversion was at the root of the trouble in the central Orissa district.

As the agitating tribal people felled trees on all roads leading to the district on December 24 night to enforce their bandh beginning from the next day, VHP activists put their organisation’s stamp on the Kui Samaj agitation and went about vandalising churches and prayer houses.

Prayers were not held in any church in Kandhamal on Christmas day. One person was killed and over 30 people were injured in the clashes between the two communities.

Caught unawares, the administration imposed a curfew on Phulbani, the district headquarters, and three other towns – Brahmanigaon, Baliguda and Daringibadi. Prohibitory orders were enforced in the remaining areas of the district. In Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appealed to the people of Kandhamal to maintain peace and harmony.

It was only on December 26 that the State government took up the matter seriously and deployed additional forces in different parts of the district. The situation, however, did not show any improvement as the police could not enter most of the areas because of roadblocks put up by Kui Samaj members.

When Kandhamal was burning, on December 26, leaders of the ruling Biju Janata Dal were busy at a massive rally in the State capital, Bhubaneswar, on the occasion of the 10th foundation day of the party. At the rally, Naveen Patnaik, who is also the BJD president, reiterated his party’s resolve to realise the dream of his father, the late Biju Patnaik, of building a prosperous Orissa.

Patnaik, however, took time off and reviewed the Kandhamal situation at the State Secretariat twice that day. The government said three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force had been called in from other places in the State to restore peace in Kandhamal.

As Kandhamal remained cut off from the rest of the world for the fourth day on December 27, the Chief Minister flew to Phulbani and held a review meeting, which was attended by Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda and top officials of the police and the administration.

On his return, Patnaik told reporters in Bhubaneswar that the situation in the district had normalised to a great extent. Admitting that churches and prayer houses had been damaged or burnt down in the district, he said more than two dozen people were arrested and action was being initiated against the offenders. In reference to the tribal agitation, Patnaik said that his government would look into the grievances and take necessary steps to resolve the issue.

Patnaik, however, appeared to be unaware of the fresh violence that was occurring around the same time in Kandhamal. By evening, reports started pouring in that at least a dozen more churches and prayer houses had been burnt during the day. Besides, three persons were reportedly killed in police firing when an armed mob, said to be VHP supporters, attacked the Brahmanigaon police station. A mob attacked the police station after the police personnel tried to prevent them from attacking members of the Christian community. A senior officer was injured in the police station attack. Fresh trouble began in Brahmanigaon after the body of a child was recovered from the locality earlier in the day.


KAMAL SINGH/PTI

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An All India Christian Council demonstration in New Delhi on December 27 demanding that the safety of Christians in Orissa be ensured.

Confirming the death of three persons in police firing, a top official said that the police had opened fire in self-defence. Confronted with reports of the damaging and burning down of more than 40 churches and prayer houses by December 27 evening, he said the exact details were not available. It was difficult for the administration to keep track of incidents taking place in remote hilly areas, he explained.

Police stations were also attacked at Phiringia and Tikabali and many police vehicles were burnt by mobs. It was difficult to assess as to whether the attackers were Sangh Parivar members or Kui tribal people, an official observed.

On December 27, a delegation led by Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, met the Chief Minister and submitted a memorandum stating that Christians were not safe in Kandhamal. The representatives of the community, who claimed that at least 50 churches had been damaged over the previous four days, also demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incidents. The VHP alleged that Hindu places of worship were also attacked in some places.

As violence continued in Kandhamal, the Opposition parties and other organisations criticised the government for its failure to maintain law and order. They also blamed Patnaik for being soft on the Sangh Parivar because the Bharatiya Janata Party was a partner in the two-party coalition government.

Four days after Kandhamal smouldered, Patnaik went on a damage-control exercise. He ordered a judicial inquiry into the violence in Kandhamal on December 28. He, however, clarified that only one person had been killed in police firing the previous day and not three persons as had been reported in the media. Only one body had been recovered, he added.

Soon after Patnaik ordered the judicial inquiry, Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera, who hails from the violence-hit district, resigned from his post. The government also appointed a new District Collector for Kandhamal.

The dropping of Behera from the Cabinet was one of the demands put forward by the Kui tribal people. Behera belongs to the Dalit community. The Kuis have also been demanding the appointment of a direct Indian Administrative Service officer as Collector instead of an officer who was promoted to the cadre.

Posted on: January 2, 2008

 


Details emerge in deadly Oak Forest arson case

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter


image
(STNG)

In a hearing at the Markham courthouse Tuesday morning, Subhash Chander was ordered held without bond by Cook County Judge Martin McDonough in connection with the arson and murder of Chander’s pregnant daughter Monika Rani, 22; her husband Rajesh Kumar, 30; and their son Vansh.

He was charged Monday night with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child in the Oak Forest blaze. It was unclear whether a second man questioned in the fire would be charged.

The fire that gutted a 36-unit building was set Saturday night at the Le Claire Station Apartments in Oak Forest.

The fire had some residents jumping from second-floor balconies to escape the flames and left dozens of people homeless.

Witnesses saw two men pouring accelerant in the hallway outside the Aroras’ apartment moments before flames engulfed the building. Lab tests completed Monday by Illinois State Police showed that the accelerant was gasoline and that it matched gasoline found on the clothes of the two suspects.

Earlier Monday, Oak Forest Police Chief Dennis Olszewski had declined to say whether the men were related to the victims. Police said the investigation was hampered because the suspects didn’t speak English well.

Rani’s uncle lived in the same building as the young family and her father lived in a building 50 yards away—two doors down from a second apartment Rani and Arora shared until August, friends said.

Arora, who worked at gas stations in Chicago Heights and Steger for five years, was “a good person,” Raj Bains, who owns gas stations in the area, said. When customers heard news of the cashier’s death, many were moved to tears, Bains said.


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Subhash Chander, 57, was ordered held without bond in connection with the arson and murder of his pregnant daughter in Oak Forest. (STNG)

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The victims of the weekend arson at a south suburban apartment complex were identified as Monika Rani, 22, Rajesh Arora, 30, and their son Vansh, 3. (STNG)

Posted on: January 1, 2008

 


Suffering of Orissa's Christians Presented to National Human Rights Commission of India

Note: As the majority of Christians in India are Dalits, DFN takes a special interest in publicizing cases of persecution of Christians, as well as any form of religious persecution among the Dailts of India, whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or Sikhs.

Press Release from the All India Christian Council

For Immediate Release

HYDERABAD – Dec. 31, 2007 –Today a Christian delegation met with Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in New Delhi. The delegation requested action to stop violence against Christians in Orissa and help victims recover. The chairman promised to send a fact finding team immediately. At the same time, two fact finding teams which include aicc leaders continue to be turned away by Orissa police.
The delegation led by Archbishop Vincent Cancessao included: Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations; Fr. Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI); Rt. Rev. Karam Masih, former Bishop of the Church of North India (CNI); Ms. Lansinglu Rongmei, Christian Legal Association (CLA); and Mr. Madhu Chandra, Regional Secretary of the All India Christian Council (aicc). They delivered a memorandum with fourteen recommended actions to deal with anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal district and other parts of rural Orissa which erupted on December 24, 2007.
“Our leaders in Orissa and media reports both indicate that attacks on Christians were not spontaneous but preplanned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindutva groups. Also, the state government misled the people of India by making repeated statements that the situation was under control. It is tragic. Orissa burned while politicians talked,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc President. “It seems that most attacks have ceased and now it’s time for all parties and all authorities to help the innocent victims,” said D’souza.
Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations and a Buddhist, said, “Hindutva leaders say the violence is a response to conversions by Christian missionaries. But this is a lie. Christian missionaries are targeted by Hindutva and upper caste forces because Christians truly provide education and social upliftment services to Dalits and tribals in rural Orissa.”

Massive violence against Christians began on Dec. 24th, Christmas Eve. As of Dec. 30, 2007, the aicc had collected reports of 65 churches burned down, 600 Christian homes destroyed, hundreds of Christians forced to flee into forests to save their lives, and thousands homeless. Despite promises by state and central government leaders during meetings with aicc leaders, the violence continued for at least six days.

“According to some reports, the Orissa government has promised to give 1 lakh (about USD $2,631) compensation to the families of people who died. If true, we welcome this first step. However, Christian leaders have been united in asking authorities for at least 5 lakhs (about USD $13,158) per victim and we hope this request is honored,” said Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs.
An aicc fact finding team headed by John Dayal, aicc Secretary-General and Member of the National Integration Council, tried to reach the hardest hit areas over the weekend. On the evening of Dec. 29, 2007, Inspector General of Police Pradeep Kapoor turned away the team while they were passing through the town of Phulbani. Efforts by another Christian delegation to visit Baminigaon on Dec. 30, 2007, called the epicentre of the trouble, were unsuccessful as well due to police curfews.
John Dayal, aicc Secretary-General and member of the National Integration Council, said, “First-hand accounts of the violence in the Kandhamal district are needed because rumors, absence of authentic media reports, and often inaccurate government accounts of the casualties have left people confused. Our fact finding is important part of building long term peace and harmony and to ensure proper relief, compensation, and rehabilitation.”

Timeline of past events:
•On Dec. 31, 2007 a delegation including an aicc leader met Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, in New Delhi.
•On Dec. 30, 2007 candle-light vigils and protest marches were held by Christians in many cities including Delhi (est. attendance 4,000) and Hyderabad.
•On Dec. 30, 2007 the aicc Jharkhand chapter delivered a memo to the state Chief Minister and Governor to request action.
•On Dec. 29, 2007 a delegation including aicc leaders met the Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, in New Delhi and appealed for action by the Central Government.
•On Dec. 29, 2007 a six-person fact-finding team headed by aicc Secretary-General John Dayal is turned back by Orissa police.
•On Dec. 28, 2007 John Dayal reaches Bhubaneswar and holds press conference along with aicc Orissa chapter President Rev. P.R. Parichha and other Christian leaders.
•On Dec. 28, 2007 the Governor of Chennai received a memorandum from the aicc Tamil Nadu chapter demanding action.
•On Dec. 27, 2007 large rallies of Christians and non-Christian civil society leaders were held in numerous cities across India including about 1,000 people in New Delhi.
•On Dec. 27, 2007 a delegation including aicc leaders met the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, Mohamed Shafi Qureshi, in New Delhi.
•On Dec. 27, 2007 a delegation including aicc leaders met the Minister of Home Affairs, Shivraj V. Patil, in New Delhi.
•On Dec. 27, 2007 an aicc-led delegation met the Orissa Chief Minister, Neevan Patnaik.
•On Dec. 25, 2007 Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs appeals to the President of India in writing.
•On Dec. 24, 2007 John Dayal, aicc Secretary-General appeals to the Prime Minister of India and other officials in writing.

The violence allegedly began when Christians in a village 150 kms from Phulbani, the headquarters of Kandhamal district, began to celebrate Christmas Eve. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a fight ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—allegedly Christians—near Daringbadi while he was travelling. The next day the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) called for a strike and its members began attacking Christians across the state.

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.

For more information, contact:
Benjamin Marsh
bmarsh@dalitnetwork.org
(919) 841-8280

For immediate release

Posted on: December 31, 2007

 


Fact Finding Teams Tell of Unprecedented Anti-Christian Violence in Orissa

HYDERABAD Dec. 30, 2007


Roads continue to be blocked by Hindutva fundamentalists and police curfews prevent fact finding teams from traveling. Confirmed reports from one village give a sense of the carnage which is likely being under-reported. In Barkhama, a village near Baliguda in Kandhamal district, three pastors emerged after hiding in the jungle for five days and reported: – over 100 Christian homes destroyed – two Christians killed and burnt in front of the local church and another murdered in a market on Christmas Eve – at least fifteen Christians missing and suspected to be killed and buried in the nearby forest


An aicc fact finding team headed by John Dayal, aicc Secretary-General and Member of the National Integration Council, has been unable to reach the hardest hit areas due to police curfews. On Dec. 29, 2007, Inspector General of Police Pradeep Kapur forced the team to leave the affected areas due to safety concerns. Efforts by a Christian delegation to visit Baminigaon, called the epicentre of the trouble, were unsuccessful as well.


We continue to plead with leaders of the worlds largest democracy to uphold the rule of law and protect Christians in rural Orissa. The governments actions seem to be too little, too late. We are distressed that radical Hindutva groups justify their violent attacks on innocent victims especially children by saying they are protesting forced or fraudulent conversions. Similar claims over the past decade have always been proven false. But the bottom line is that religious differences are never an excuse for violence, said Dr. Joseph Dsouza, aicc President.


We are deeply worried by media reports that police and other local authorities in Orissa stood by and watched attacks on Christians. Some media commentators have said the violence is a combination of politics, caste-based discrimination, and religious vendettas. Whatever the motivation, we must not forget that innocent people mostly Dalits and tribals are suffering right now, said Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs.


Upcoming events:

– a Christian delegation including aicc leaders will meet Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu, Chairman of India’s National Human Rights Commission on Dec. 31, 2007 at 12:30pm

– a major protest rally to be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu onJanuary 2, 2008

– another rally is planned for in Bhubaneswar, Orissa to be organized by aicc and the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations; details to be announced.



Past events:

– On Dec. 30, 2007, candle-light vigils and protest marches were held by Christians in many cities including Delhi and Hyderabad.

– On Dec. 30, 2007 the aicc Jharkhand chapter delivered a memo to the state Chief Minister and Governor to request action.

– On Dec. 29, 2007 the Governor of Chennai received a memorandum from the aicc Tamil Nadu chapter demanding action.

– On Dec. 29, 2007 a delegation including aicc leaders met the Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, and appealed for action by the Central Government.

– On Dec. 27, 2007, large rallies of Christians and non-Christian civil society leaders were held in numerous cities across India including about 1,000 people in New Delhi.

– On Dec. 27, 2007, a delegation including aicc leaders met the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, Mohamed Shafi Qureshi.

– On Dec. 27, 2007, a delegation including aicc leaders met the Minister of Home Affairs, Shivraj V. Patil.

– On Dec. 27, 2007, an aicc-led delegation met the Orissa Chief Minister, Neevan Patnaik.



The violence allegedly began when Christians in a village 150 kms from Phulbani, the headquarters of Kandhamal district, began to celebrate Christmas Eve. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a fight ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—allegedly Christians—near Daringbadi while he was travelling. The next day the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) called for a strike and its members began attacking Christians across the state.


The All India Christian Council (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 Networks mission is to partner with the Dalits (Indias Untouchables) in their quest for religious freedom, social justice, and human dignity by mobilizing human, informational, and financial resources. Their website is:

Posted on: December 30, 2007

 


All India Christian Council appeals attack on Christians in Orissa

Greetings from the All India Christian Council.

Our Orissa Chapter had been in touch with us about the massive destruction and fear caused by the fundamentalist forces of Orissa in the Districts of Kandhmal and Phulbani.

Since 24th December 2007 just in two days time where the celebrations of Christmas are disturbed at gunpoint, I was informed that 13 Churches in total were demolished or razed to the ground and 3 Christians shot dead and several others injured.

Our local leaders tried to contact the The District Collector and the Superintendent of Police of the District of Kandhamal who are confessing their inability to stop the violence and bloodshed of the Christians and are unable to maintain the law and order.

The District collector and Superintendent of Police of Phulbani have warned our Christian pastors not to come near the Christian places as they are unable to provide security to them. The situation is getting worse by hour and I request your kind intervention in this matter.

If the State Government is unable to control the situation the deployment of Army should not be ruled out before more people get killed and to restore peace and order in the Districts. The affected are poor Christians that are celebrating the birth of Jesus and are soft targets of the RSS and Sangh Parivar fundamentalist elements in the local places.

Madam, I am obtaining the full details of the Churches demolished in a few hours which will be passed on to you.

Thanking you for your kind intervention.

Sincerely Yours,

For more information, contact:
Benjamin Marsh
bmarsh@dalitnetwork.org
(919) 841-8280

Posted on: December 25, 2007

 


DFN Social Justice Updates

Dalit widow fired from position as cook because students refused to eat food prepared by her “polluted” hands
On December 16th 2007, school officials fired a Dalit cook because students had refused their mid-day meals. While the older students attempted to justify their decision by claiming that the food was “unhygienic,” an investigation revealed that the food was perfectly acceptable to consume. Younger children were more open with their reasons, and declared that they would not eat food prepared by a lower caste woman. Officials believe the boycott is being encouraged by a high-caste village leader and are hesitant to re-hire another Dalit cook for fear that the protests will continue. Their willingness to surrender to community pressures is evidence of the persistence and power of caste-stigma.
Read More here.

Dalit leader murdered by strangulation
On December 14th, 2007 a Dalit village leader in Lapra was strangled to death by “unidentified assailants.” His body was found near a canal the next morning. The police chief claims the death is related to “old rivalries” and will not acknowledge the role caste played in the attack.
Read More here.

Gap between male and female literacy rates is growing, especially in India
A UN report released Wednesday addressed the increasing literacy gap between male and female children of the world. According to the report, South Asian countries, including India, are among the worst for educational equality. Poverty is cited as the primary reason for the disparity, as many poor families who rely on their children for labor and income will send only their sons to school. The report emphasizes that education and employment opportunities will play a vital role in the economic development of these countries, but suggests that the continued exclusion of females from this process could have severe consequences.
Read More here.

The situation for the GSCC pastor in Bihar continues to worsen
If it was not enough for the GSCC pastor in Bihar to be physically attacked and thrown into jail for his commitment to follow Christ, he and his wife are now facing urgent medical problems. While he is suffering from a kidney stone that may require an operation, his wife is in immediate need of surgery for a gal bladder stone. Her surgery will cost Rps. 12,000 or more. Because the pastor was forced to pay Rps. 700 for his release from jail, they have no money for the medical treatments they so desperately need.

Posted on: December 21, 2007

 


A gift for India's inter-caste couples

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 4, 2007

BAIRAGHAR, India — Plenty of women may feel they deserve an award for marrying their husbands, but Madhavi Arwar is actually getting one—from the Indian government, no less.image

Not that her husband, Chandrashekhar, is a bad sort. In fact, he’s a good-looking guy, holds a steady job at an insurance company and dotes on their apple-cheeked son.

But he is also a Dalit, or an “untouchable,” the lowest of the low under India’s ancient caste system. Madhavi is not a Dalit, and for marrying “down” the social ladder, she is entitled to $250 in cash, plus a certificate of appreciation.

“I was a bit amazed that even for a thing like marriage, they were giving money,” Madhavi, 33, said as she sat in her living room here in central India.

The windfall is part of the government’s campaign to chop away at the barriers of caste, the complex hierarchy wherein a person’s place in society is determined purely by birth.

As India struggles to modernize and transform itself into an important world player economically, officials know they need to erase these age-old divisions and expand opportunities for social mobility for all the country’s 1.1 billion people, including the majority who have historically been considered low-caste and oppressed.

Mandatory quotas in education and public-sector jobs have been in place for years. Now private companies, the engine of India’s rapid economic growth, are also looking to train and hire more employees from lower-caste backgrounds.

The integration efforts have enjoyed some success, especially in booming….read full article by clicking here.

Posted on: November 5, 2007

 


Thrown out of hospital, two Dalit women die

From The Times of India, Nov. 2, 2007.

KANPUR: If it was expected that atrocities against Dalits would become a thing of the past after their icon Mayawati came to power with a BSP majority in UP, it was misplaced because in a shocking incident, two Dalit women died after being thrown out of a government hospital here on Thursday.

What will send the state government particularly into a tizzy is that the gruesome assault took place not in some remote district but right in the heart of UP, and that too for the inability of the two women to bribe government health officials with a paltry Rs 1,000 each barely two hours after they gave birth to two babies.

While the incident speaks volumes about corruption in the health department, it also underlines the continuing humiliation of Dalits.

Devorati (25), who gave birth to a boy around 5 pm, was the first to die. Her husband Dilip had admitted her to the hospital after bribing an official with Rs 500. As per government norms, admission to hospitals is free and women coming for delivery should get Rs 1,400 as an allowance. But on the contrary, Dilip was asked to pay an additional Rs 1,000.

“Soon after childbirth, the medical staff demanded Rs 1,000. When I said I had no money, they threw out my wife despite the fact that she was bleeding and had not regained consciousness,” said Dilip. Back in the village, Devorati’s condition deteriorated rapidly and died.

Within hours, Kamla, wife of Ramprakash of Ambarpur village, too was thrown out of the hospital just after she gave birth to a girl child when her family members refused to pay a bribe of Rs 500 and instead demanded Rs 1,400 under the Janani-Suraksha Yojna meant for pregnant women under BPL category.

Enraged by their deaths, villagers laid a siege on the hospital and thrashed the staff. Kanpur Dehat DM O P N Singh told TOI, “ADM (City) Anurag Patel has been asked to conduct an inquiry. I have received complaints about doctors’ not coming to the hospital and demanding bribe.”

Posted on: November 2, 2007

 


The caste system - India's apartheid?

by Balakrishnan Rajagopal,
From The Hindu

In what was perhaps a controversial but telling comparison, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on December 27, 2006, likened discrimination against Dalits in India to the apartheid system in South Africa. A couple of months later, in February, Indian officials were busily denying the existence of caste discrimination and untouchability, in February 2007 in New York, before a leading U.N. human rights body — the committee in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Indian Solicitor General flatly denied that caste discrimination was something the outside world should care about. This attitude of the Indian bureaucracy flatly flies in the face of not only the Prime Minister’s own statement, it does not fit in with India’s own track record in dealing with caste discrimination against Dalits, which should not make it act defensively but should make it more determined to wipe out such practices. This attitude also reveals a knee-jerk negativist mindset that the Indian foreign policy establishment has developed over the years towards international human rights, which needs to change.

It is well known that caste discrimination against Dalits is rampant in India. In an overt form, it is both a political reality and social fact. Dalits are subjected to violence, especially in rural areas, their women raped, and their land stolen. Dalits perform the most dangerous and odious forms of labor in Indian society including that of manual scavenging (removing human or animal waste) or performing low-end ‘dirty’ wage labor in tanneries. For the past two years, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) team has been working with Navsarjan, a leading Dalit rights NGO (non-governmental organization) in Gujarat, documenting the socio-economic and health consequences of manual scavenging in Gujarat, and has designed new technological and planning solutions to the problem that go beyond the simple adoption of more anti-discrimination or sector-specific laws and policies. In Gujarat, the legal route has been pursued as much as possible, through public interest litigation and government orders. Nevertheless, the data reveal that the number of manual scavengers has kept increasing and is likely to be between 50,000 and 60,000 in Gujarat alone. Research indicates that social and economic discrimination against Dalits persists to an alarming degree despite all the laws in the books. For example, in the village of Paliyad in Gujarat, where the MIT-Navsarjan team has been working, data indicate that more than 40 per cent of manual scavengers are frequently or always denied access to the marketplace, thus preventing normal economic activity or labor mobility.

Dalits are poorly represented in the professions, business, media, and the higher levels of the government including the police, the army, and the judiciary. Recent studies based on available data indicate, for example, that 47 per cent of the Chief Justices of India have been Brahmins (who constitute 6.4 per cent of the population) as have been 40 per cent of all the other judges. There is also rampant social discrimination against Dalits, including through the caste-ridden system of ‘arranged’ marriages. There is little social mixing of forward castes with the Dalits through shared festivals or even routine social interaction. Residential areas tend to be segregated along caste lines, especially in rural areas where most people still live. Caste discrimination against Dalits is deep-rooted in society and the economy and quick-fix solutions through the law alone will not help. Measures against discrimination are complicated by the fact that there is increasing evidence of intra-caste differentiation among Dalits, with some sub-castes like manual scavengers suffering significantly more discrimination. For example, in the village of Paliyad, the water source for 47 per cent of manual scavengers is a 30-minute or longer walk from their homes, while for a majority of non-scavenger Dalits that time is only five minutes or less of travel. Distance to water collection affects health, economic productivity, and gender equality.

The Indian government delegation that appeared before the U.N. human rights body cited a litany of laws that have been passed to end caste discrimination and atrocities against Dalits. This much is, in fact, true and India should certainly take much pride in the establishment of a formal system of equality through laws. The political gains made by Dalit parties in recent years can also be celebrated as a healthy example of the virtues of Indian democracy in ending social ills. But, in practice, these laws are poorly implemented. The Indian delegation refused to share data on implementation with the U.N. body, which it is legally obligated to do. Instead, the government delegation argued that ‘descent-based discrimination’ does not constitute racial discrimination under the specific U.N. treaty in question, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

This is a misguided position. India’s own Prime Minister has compared caste discrimination to apartheid, which is the worst example of racial discrimination. India should also not forget that its current position goes against much of the history of the last 50 years of human rights law making. The irony is that it was India that suggested the definition in the CERD be expanded for ‘descent-based discrimination’ to include caste when the treaty was being drafted. India’s current position simply disavows its own history.

India’s position before the U.N. human rights body also typifies its overall attitude towards the place of human rights in its foreign policy. Nervous, Third Worldist, lacking confidence in its own democratic credentials, India constantly sides with the likes of Zimbabwe and Sudan at the U.N. on human rights issues. In international politics, as in domestic life, one is often judged by the company one keeps. There is no reason why India should not recover the moral high ground it occupied in the first few decades after Independence, suffused with the glow of Gandhian anti-colonialism, and often taking a leading position on human rights issues of the day. Instead, it has abandoned the human rights agenda to the west. On the issue of caste discrimination against Dalits, India’s recalcitrant and nervous attitude is only reminiscent of similar attitudes adopted by the government of the U.S. in its treatment of minorities or the white South African state over apartheid. It is no wonder that the Prime Minister aptly compared caste discrimination to apartheid.

Nervousness about being accused of racial discrimination is understandable but the Indian bureaucracy is too quick in biting its finger nails. The Prime Minister’s reference to apartheid should fan the flames of moral outrage at caste discrimination, rather than acting as a panic button. India has a proud history of battling South African apartheid and was the first nation to put the apartheid issue on the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly in 1948, when no nation dared to criticise the ‘internal affairs’ of other nations. Having taken a principled stand in foreign policy against racial discrimination and apartheid, India should not hide behind a false sense of Third World sovereignty in discussing the real problems of how to effectively end caste discrimination in a complex society.

How to end caste discrimination against Dalits is a profound issue because its roots go to the structural importance of caste for the operation of Indian society and the economy itself. After decades of legislating to end caste discrimination, it is legitimate now to ask: can one end caste discrimination without ending caste itself? If so, what does that imply for policy making and law? Caste discrimination exists because people continue to believe in caste. Indian democracy is, paradoxically, a culprit. By encouraging the formation of democratic participation along the lines of identity, caste is, in fact, reinforced every time India goes to the polls. The recent electoral gains of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh must be seen in the context of this double-edged nature of caste. It may be hard to imagine Indian society and state outside of the system of caste. Even Dalit Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims find that caste discrimination continues to exist after they have acquired different religious identities. Yet caste discrimination against Dalits, in all its forms, is a stain on the idea of a modern India, and needs to be eliminated effectively.

While the Indian Constitution outlawed untouchability and caste discrimination, it did not abolish caste itself. This was realized by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, who called for the ‘annihilation of caste’ itself. It may be time for the government and society to reorient themselves towards this goal and begin the process of ending India’s system of apartheid.

(The writer is Ford International Associate Professor of Law and Development and Director, MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice. He is currently leading a collaborative effort between MIT and Navsarjan, a major Dalit NGO in Gujarat, on the elimination of manual scavenging.)

Posted on: August 21, 2007

 


Manual Scavengers, Victims of Caste Pyramid

From CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The focus on this week’s 30 Minutes is perhaps the most degrading practice of 21st century in India – a practice that deprives thousands of their fundamental right to live with dignity.

Meet Bhuri with her broom and a basket, every morning she makes her way to the upper caste houses in her village – Gohad in Madhya Pradesh.

Her job is to clean toilets, pick other people’s excreta. Bhuri is a manual scavenger. She has been scavenging for last 10 years soon after she got married.

Bhuri says, “I used to hate the foul smell, I used to vomit after a while I got used to it. Now it’s not a problem.”

Molded into submission Bhuri has responsibilities – the four children and a husband who barely makes enough money to keep the home fires burning. “My husband gambles and drinks. I go to work and he just drinks. Sometimes I have to beg for food to feed my children, “ Bhuri adds.

The Valmikis of Madhya Pradesh, the Bhangis of Gujarat, Pakhis in Andhra and the Sikkaliars of Tamil Nadu are all manual scavengers.

Their daily job is to pick up other people’s excreta from dry toilets using brooms and baskets. This is not something they choose to do but something they’re born into – because they are at the very bottom of the caste pyramid.

More than 50 such women in Gohad go to work with brooms and baskets every morning. They’re all from Dalit sub castes. They all got married into scavenging families. And the job came as a legacy – passed on from the mother-in-law to the daughter-in-law.

Ladkunwar, who was working as a scavenger says, “I had to do it because women in the family did it. My mother-in-law forced me into it.”

Cleaning dry toilets and manually removing human waste is a violation of human rights and dignity and a punishable offence. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act of 1993 says – offenders can face a jail term of up to one year or fined Rs 2000.

But 15 years on, the ground reality is that this law is far from being implemented.

Valmikis don’t have too many options. If they wish to take up another occupation, it is not allowed. Born into a Valmiki family you can only become a sweeper or a scavenger.

Even a minute in this overpowering stench seems too long but thousands across the country have been doing this every morning for years now. These women go through the worse possible form of caste oppression. Even in the 21st century, caste hierarchy and untouchability prevent them from rising to any other job.

“There’s no other work for Valmikis in this village because we’re untouchable. Who will give us a respectable job?” Ladkunwar questions.

Shame comes with very little money these scavengers scrape a meager Rs 10 to Rs 20 per month from every house they clean. Come afternoon and they go back to the same houses this time scavenging for food.

Bismillah, a resident of Gohad, believes in God and in the caste-system. Picking up human waste is the domain of the downtrodden. Ironically, till some time back, Bismillah was herself discriminated against – for belonging to the minority community.

Bismillah says, “Who will clean? If the sweeper gets better work then who will do this work?”

Click here to view the IBN video on Manual Scavenging

Posted on: July 23, 2007

 


Scavenging Deeply Rooted in Caste System

From CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The country has not been able to do away with the dehumanizing practice of manual scavenging because the issue is not just about poverty or lack of awareness. Manual scavenging is deeply rooted in caste and attempts to stop the practice are still resisted.

CNN-IBN travelled to another village – Navrol in Madhya Pradesh to meet Shantibai. She’s a manual scavenger and she hates her job. She has been doing this for 20 years because this is what her ancestors did.

Shantibai says, “We have been doing this for years. Our ancestors did it so we’re also doing it.”

For this work that she finds extremely repulsive, Shantibai is not even paid regularly.

“We get food grains when the crop is good. This year there was a hailstorm, what will we get?” Shantibai adds. Here in Navrol, manual scavengers are paid in kind. During harvest, they’re given food grains in exchange of an entire year of work. But many like Shantibai have not received anything in the last 2-3 years due to crop failure.

And being Valmikis, they’re at the bottom of the caste ladder and are not allowed to do any other work.

Shantibai tried her best to shrug the scavenger’s tag but people in her village wouldn’t allow ‘the untouchable’ to touch another job.

But all hope is not lost. Many have taken up the struggle against manual scavenging and the caste system and regained some of their lost dignity.

Battobai from Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh has found her lost voice. After marriage, she was forced into scavenging by her mother in law. Often locked up and denied food when she refused to work.

But last year her case was taken up by a local NGO and she successfully quit scavenging. Today she knocks doors of other scavenger women cajoling them to a better life.

Battobai says, “I tell people what will they eat in a salary of Rs 10 per month from each house? I tell them if they quit this job, they can earn up to Rs 50 a day.”

But even after quitting this work, Battobai finds that untouchability remains untouched.

“They say just because we’re not scavenging anymore we can’t become Thakurs. We will always remain Bhangis,” Battobai adds.

Ramvati also a manual scavenger gave up the disgraceful work two years ago. She’d much rather sweep the local police station than go back to cleaning other people’s toilets.

Battobai and Ramvati may have had the courage to fight the system. But activists say, even today the country has as many as 13 lakh manual scavengers.

Safai Karamchari Andolan convenor Bezwada Wilson says, “We have enough money to convert the toilets. The main problem is we want to start we actually practice untouchability everywhere. Even the civil society and the government -everybody feel that, untouchables when they are cleaning the dry latrines there’s nothing wrong because they are meant for that. They can only do these jobs.”

And sure enough the local government in Gohad, Madhya Pradesh refuses to even acknowledge the presence of manual scavengers in the area.

Gohad BJP MLA Lal Singh Arya says, “There is not a single manual scavenger in Gohad.”

So even as laws are being flouted and human rights violated, the state simply chooses to look away.

Posted on: July 23, 2007

 


Inter-caste marriage means death for Haryana couple

From CNN-IBN

New Delhi: They fell in love and are now paying a price for that.

A panchayat in Haryana has given death sentence to a married couple for tying the knot despite coming from different castes.

Manoj, a dalit hailing from Nooh village of Haryana, married Rimpy, a girl from the influential Saini community of the state at an Arya Samaj temple in Delhi on June 18 defying opposition from the girl’s family.

The marriage raised the hackles of the elders in Nooh village, who issued a death fatwa of sorts on the couple.

Since then Manoj and Rimpy have been running for their lives and reached Hauz Khas police station in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“We are running for our lives. Sainis want us dead. Girl’s father has been threatening to kill us,” says Manoj’s grandmother, Lakshmi.

The couple says they got their marriage registered in the Tis Hazari Court on the June 19 and sent a copy of the certificate to the Nooh police station.

However, they claim police still filed a case of kidnapping against Manoj.

“They lodged a false FIR against Manoj on the 20th despite the papers having reached the police station on 19th,” says Manoj’s friend.

The Delhi Police initially sent Manoj and Rimpy back to Nooh. But after women’s rights activists intervened, they were called back to Delhi. The two are now under police protection.

Posted on: July 20, 2007

 


Jobs, facilities elude UP Dalits

From the Times of India

LUCKNOW: In a state headed by a powerful Dalit leader, the community members are yet to gain much in terms of employment, land or other facilities that could push them socially upward. Even cases of atrocity against Dalits have not gone down drastically in the past few months.

For the past few years, the government’s efforts to procure surplus land and distribute them among Dalits have remained on paper only.

In 1999, the government had asked district magistrates to give detailed reports about surplus land which could be distributed among Dalits. After persistent persuasion of several years by the government, most of the DMs said that there was not enough land to be distributed among Dalits.

The state had 1.36 crore landless people who were promised small patches of land by various governments but not one could be given till now, according to official sources.

Only three DMs said that there was some land which could be given to Dalits. Interestingly, the government always maintained that there was enough land to be given to Dalits.

Further, though the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme — providing for 100 days job to rural poor—is being implemented in 22 districts in the state, many Dalits fail to avail this facility because their names do not figure in BPL cards. Without their names in the BPL cards, they cannot be given jobs. This has left thousands of Dalits scurrying for rural jobs which should have been given to them.

Of the total population of the Dalits, nearly 26 per cent are daily wage earners. This percentage has refused to go down during successive governments.

In the past three months, cases of atrocity against Dalits have not decreased, said SR Darapuri of Ambedkar Mahsabha.

At least in half a dozen cases where crime were committed against Dalit women, the government did not act on time, he added. Darapuri felt that unless Dalits “retaliate in affective manner”, their plight would not improve irrespective of claims made by political leaders.

Posted on: July 18, 2007

 


Will Dalit Christians Get Justice?

by M. Madhu Chandra
16 July, 2007

1. Introduction

After constitutional denial of Scheduled Caste origins converted to Christianity and Muslims after the Presidential Order 1950, a million dollar question remains in the minds of Indian Dalit Christians “Will the Judicial system of India give justice to Indian Dalit Christians now after 57 years of injustice done to them?”

After much prolong delay, Commission for Minority Religion and Linguistic Minority known as Misra Commission has finally submitted its report to United Progressive Alliance Government with recommendation that Dalit Christians and Muslims suffer socio-economic and educational backwardness, who should be given back the Scheduled Caste status and its beneficiaries to them. Upon its report and recommendation, Supreme Court of India is to give its judgment on July 19, 2007.

India’s 75% Christians belong to Scheduled Caste communities, whose statutory and benefits available in Constitutional were denied after 1950 Presidential Order.

The debate on Dalit Christian reservation has been ongoing for many decades in spite of repeated assurance given to Dalit Christian communities to be included in Constitution Scheduled Caste Order 1950.

The fundamental, birth and constitutional rights of Christians from Scheduled Caste origins have been denied for last 57 years. Looking at then and now background of Dalit Christians’ demand for Scheduled Caste status, we will able to conclude to say that Justice Misra Commission setup by present UPA government is unnecessary commission because enough commissions before it, have done the necessary research and submitted with recommendation to provide Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians.

2. Background of Dalit Christian Reservation Movement

For first time, Indian’s lowest caste known as “Untouchables” or “Depressed Classes” have been identified as Scheduled Castes introduced by Colonial Government of India in 1935.

In the following year Colonial Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order 1935 specified, “No Indian Christian shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.” Since then any Scheduled Caste origins converted to Christianity lost its Scheduled Caste status, although they remain economically, educationally, socially and politically backward as much as before their conversion.

After India got Independent from Colonial power, while framing Indian Constitution the Presidential Order of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Order 1950, the Scheduled Caste Origins converted to any other faiths or religions different from Hinduism has been left out in Para 3 of Article 341.

Dalit Sikhs protested to be included in Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 1950 and got after six years’ denial of their birth, fundamental and constitutional rights of being Scheduled Caste origin converted to Sikhism. They were listed in Presidential SC/ST Order 1950 by amending Para 3 of Article 341 in 1956.

Dalit Buddhists remained their birth, fundamental, constitutional rights of scheduled caste status denied for 40 years until the Para 3 of Article 341 was amended in 1990 to include Scheduled Caste origins converted to Buddhism.

Every time Dalit Sikhs and Dalit Buddhist demanded to be included in Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 1950, assurances were also given repeatedly to Scheduled Caste origins converted to Christianity. The birth rights of Dalit Christians have been kept suppressed for 57 years that too without any assurance either from legislate nor political heads.

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Posted on: July 17, 2007

 


Panchayat denies tap water to Orissa Dalits

From the Times of India

BALANGIR: An Orissa panchayat has prevented at least 16 Dalit families from consuming tap water on grounds of untouchability. Bileisarda village panchayat in Balangir has kept pending the pipe-water connection to Harijanpada, though eight other wards of the panchayat have been given pipe-water connections.

Sources said the sarpanch allegedly refused to connect Harijanpada with the same pipe that supplies water to houses of upper caste people. The panchayat, which started laying down pipes in 2005 for fetching water from Suktel river, only completed the work this summer.

“Still, we have been denied water as the sarpanch won’t take up the issue with the high caste people,” said Sarmila Chhatria of Harijanpada. “Despite drawing the attention of the district administration, no official has turned up at our village,” said another Dalit, Tulsiram Bag. The sarpanch belongs to the higher Dumbal (Kshatriya) caste.

He said, “We even requested the sarpanch many times to repair the tube well, but to no avail.”While sarpanch Tapa-swini Biswal refused to speak, her husband Jamidar Biswal told TOI that his wife was elected a few months ago but she did not know much about village politics.

Posted on: July 17, 2007

 


Woman Gives Birth Under Tree as Doctor Refuses Treatment

From the Daily News and Analysis of India

Jagatsinghpur: A woman gave birth to a child under a tree near a government hospital in Orissa after a doctor refused to attend to her as her husband failed to pay a fee of Rs.2,000.

The shocking incident took place Tuesday in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district, around 100 km from Bhubaneswar , but came to light after the women’s husband lodged a police complaint against the doctor Wednesday.

Ranju Sethi, 23, a poor dalit woman from Jhimani village, came to the government-run Community Health Centre at Kujang town with her husband after she started experiencing labor pains.

Abhaya Kumar Dash, a doctor at the center, demanded Rs.2,000 to admit Ranju to the hospital, her husband Gandhrab Sethi told the police.

“When I expressed my inability to pay the amount the doctor abused us and refused to admit my wife in the hospital.

“Finally my wife could not bear the labor pain and delivered a baby under a tree outside the hospital,” he said.

At least 200 locals surrounded the hospital Tuesday evening and demanded immediate action against the doctor, who fled the hospital.

“We are investigating the case and a report will be submitted to the chief district medical officer within two days,” said Binod Kumar Mishra, head of the hospital.

Posted on: July 12, 2007

 


A "Reign of Terror" in Rajasthan

by a special correspondent of The Hindu

JAIPUR: A Dalit man was allegedly murdered near Bilia village in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan this past week on his wife’s refusal to withdraw a rape case against a person belonging to the dominant Gujjar caste. With the prime accused now absconding, Dalits in the region claim that Gujjars are threatening them with dire consequences.

A fact-finding team of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), which visited Bilia earlier this week, found that the brutal murder of Banna Bairwa was the direct outcome of his struggle to get justice for his wife, while police were trying to hush up the rape case and shield the accused, Bhanwarlal Gujjar.

Bhanwarlal, accompanied by two other persons, allegedly followed Banna Bairwa, who was going from Bilia to Sadas village along with two of his friends on a motorcycle on July 6. Bhanwarlal allegedly fired at Banna Bairwa from point blank range, killing him on the spot. Dwarka Raigar, accompanying Banna Bairwa, was seriously injured in the incident.

Pressure on police

NCDHR State monitoring secretary Suman Dewathia alleged here on Wednesday that Gujjars had unleashed a reign of terror in the region and were pressuring police not to arrest the accused, who has since absconded. Police have taken no action to protect the victim’s family and have not even supplied them with a copy of the first information report.

The 12-member fact-finding team, after examining medical reports and documents and interacting with the Dalit community, victim’s family members, eyewitnesses and those defending the accused, reached the conclusion that Banna Bairwa was killed because he and his wife were demanding stringent action against Bhanwarlal on the rape complaint they had lodged against him in Phulia Kalan police station a few months ago.

A delegation of NCDHR, Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) and Dalit Adivasi Adhikar Abhiyan met the Bhilwara Collector, Hemant Gera, and Superintendent of Police, Mohan Singh, demanding immediate arrest of Bhanwarlal and his accomplices and probe the case in an impartial manner “without succumbing to political pressure”.

CDR Director Satish Kumar regretted that no senior official had visited the village since the murder took place, nor was any action taken to provide security to the victim’s family. “The family of the deceased is entitled to get an immediate financial assistance of Rs.1.5 lakh under Rule 12(4) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,” he said.

Posted on: July 12, 2007

 


Protect witnesses in cases of atrocities against Dalits

from The Hindu

Bangalore: The acquittal of all the accused in the Kambalapalli massacre in which seven Dalits were burnt to death is not an exception. The Karnataka State Commission for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes has found that the accused in 98 per cent of cases of atrocities against Dalits were allowed to go scot-free. The reason: witnesses do not turn up for fear of being attacked.

This was disclosed by commission Chairman Nehru C. Olekar at a press conference here on Tuesday after a meeting with representatives of various Dalit organizations. The commission sought their views on the condition of the people from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the jurisdiction of the Bangalore Zilla Panchayat.

Mr. Olekar said the commission would recommend to the Government to provide security to witnesses. However, around 10 per cent of complaints of atrocities were found to be false. There were around 500 cases of atrocities pending in each district.

Strangely, the commission had hardly come across cases of Dalits being ostracized. Three such cases had been reported in the State, including two in Kolar district.

He said 446 atrocity cases were reported in five years in Bangalore Rural district. The taluk-wise break up is: Channapatna – 32, Devanahalli – 44, Doddballapur – 22, Hoskote – 133, Kanakapura – 88, Magadi – 47, Nelamangala – 143 and Ramanagaram – 43.

Confirmation

Mr. Olekar said the commission had taken up the case of confirmation of the services of municipal cleaners (pourakarmikas) in the State with the Legislature Committee on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The working conditions of the municipal cleaners in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (around 8,000) were so bad that they were paid just Rs. 1,200 a month, whereas their counterparts in the Gulbarga City Corporation were paid Rs. 4,900. He said the Government would be asked to stop hiring cleaners through contractors. Instead the workers should be paid directly by the civic body.

Another serious problem Dalits were facing in the State was the inordinate delay in the regularization of unauthorized cultivation by them on government land. Each district had 2,000 to 3,000 such cases that had pending for years.

He said the Government would be asked to regularize such cultivation, barring those on forest land.

Mr. Olekar expressed displeasure over the absence of the Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore Rural district from the meeting. He would write to the Government to take action against the official, he said.

Some Dalit organizations had complained that beneficiaries were not getting subsidies, the Chairman said. The Government would be asked to build one hostel in each of the eight taluks in the district to accommodate post-matric students. The Government would also be asked to remove youths staying in hostels for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who were not students.

The commission would ask the Government to conduct a Statewide survey on the academic performance of students staying in such hostels. This was to refute the criticism that they were enjoying government largesse without improving their academic performance.

Internal quota

Mr. Olekar supported the demand of organizations representing people from the Madiga, Bhovi and Korama communities for internal reservation to prevent a few influential sections among the Dalits from cornering all the benefits.

The Commission had so far visited 12 districts and would be visiting the other districts. It would give its report to the Government before August 20, he said.

Posted on: July 5, 2007

 


After 22 years, justice fails Dalits

by Rakesh Bhatnagar
Article originally appeared at DNAIndia, July 05, 2007.

NEW DELHI: Twenty-two years after around 20 upper caste Hindus were accused of meting out inhuman treatment to the body of a Dalit which had been brought for cremation, the Uttarakhand [Uttaranchal] high court has acquitted all of them. Reason: the sessions court’s records had been “weeded out” in 1999 and, thus, could not be reconstructed.

A copy of this unprecedented judgment delivered by Justice Dharam Veer last week has been made available in Delhi now.

The case involves a Dalit called Barfu, who had lodged a police complaint in 1985 that some 200 Hindus had attacked mourners carrying his father Bachu’s body for the last rites in village Dugadda, the place where Bachu wanted to be cremated.

Enraged axe-wielding caste Hindus allegedly obstructed the funeral procession. They are also alleged to have insulted the body and abused the mourners. The complaint said the caste Hindus declared that the ‘body’ of a scheduled caste member couldn’t be cremated at Dugadda because “it was a cremation ground for Savarna Hindus.”

The court verdict noted that the cremation was thwarted as the Hindus practiced untouchability. “The women cut the rope and threw the body on the roadside,” the judgment noted.

“The accused fought with Bachu’s son and other mourners . . . The body was left and mourners ran for safety,” the court noted. For three days, Barfu tried to recover his father’s body, but failed.

On the fourth day, Bachu, accompanied by the police, found the body lying on the roadside in the Hindu-controlled area where it had been thrown.

The police later registered a case against two dozen people charging them with hurting the religious sentiments of Dalits, practicing untouchability and defying the Protection of Civil Rights Act.

A trial court convicted the accused, and the verdict was upheld by a sessions court. The latter held the accused guilty of practicing untouchability and of committing various other offences under the rarely applied Protection of Civil Rights Act.

The accused then sought a retrial. In response to the HC judge’s order seeking case records in 2002, the person in charge of the record room replied in 2006 saying “the record of the case has been weeded out on October 15, 1999”. The HC then noted that the records couldn’t be “reconstructed” to appreciate the evidence.

Posted on: July 5, 2007

 


Now, Muslims refuse food cooked by Dalit

From the Times of India

PATNA: Dozens of Muslim students of a government-run Urdu school in a Bihar village have refused to take mid-day meals cooked by a Dalit woman.

“We will not touch the food. There is no question of taking food cooked by a woman belonging to the scheduled caste,” said Nurjahan Bano, an eight-year-old student of Amri Urdu middle school in Rohtas district. Md Aslam Ansari, a teacher in the school, admitted that Muslim students were not eating mid-day meals for nearly a month. “It is an unfortunate thing,” he said. “All the Muslim students of the school refused to eat food cooked by a Dalit woman,” villager Naushad Alam said. There are over 100 students in the school. He blamed some parents for the decision.

“Last month, only a few students refused to eat food cooked by a Dalit woman but later most of the students followed them,” he said.

Posted on: June 29, 2007

 


Two-tumbler system prevailing in 33 panchayats in Salem, Erode districts: study

by R. Ilangovan, The Hindu

SALEM: The practice of keeping two tumblers — one for dalits and another for others in tea shops — is persistently prevailing in 33 reserved village panchayats in Salem and Erode districts.

In 40 reserved panchayats, dalits are banned from entering temples. In 48 panchayats, they are being forced to beat tom-tom to announce the death of caste Hindus and remove the carcass of dead animals. Discrimination is noticed in Primary and Sub Health Centres, fair price shops and schools. Women are prevented from using sanitary complexes in 11 panchayats and in few other panchayats hair dressers refuse to patronise dalit customers.

These are not mere studies on this social issue. They are bold declarations not by individuals but by a group of dalit presidents of these reserved village panchayats.

They have openly admitted to the prevalence of these acts of caste-based discrimination in writing in affidavit formats. Sadly they are also the victims of these despicable acts of prejudice.

These startling endorsements of the dalit presidents on the prevalence of various forms of untouchability in their reserved village panchayats in Salem and Erode districts have come to the fore during a study carried out by a social organisation ‘Evidence,’ which also recently exposed similar issues in Madurai and Sivaganga districts.

A dalit woman president of the Kandikattu Valasu in Erode district, V. R. Eswari, in her signed affidavit, has declared that a caste Hindu adopts two tumbler system in his tea shop.

Marappan, a dalit president of Uthandiyur, also in Erode, in his written statement, claims that dalits in his village would never be permitted to sit in town buses.

In Salem district, Vellerivelli panchayat president S. Kannan, also a dalit, says that the tea served in plastic cups to him and other dalits would be of sub standard quality. “We will not be permitted to sit on the benches to drink tea,” he claims. He even names the owners of these tea shops in his affidavit form.

The study insists that the Government should immediately form a committee comprising of independent members to probe these claims.

These village panchayats should also be declared as ‘prone to untouchability,’ they demand. Local Administration Minister should convene a meeting of ‘Dalit Presidents’ to hear their grievances.

Posted on: June 26, 2007

 


Dalit attacked for touching water pump

From the Zee News

imageJaipur, June 21: A Dalit man approaching a community water pump would not have imagined what crime he was about to commit. But as he washed his hands, a group of people came down upon him, beat him up and also filed a police complaint against him.

Ramlal, 40, sustained three fractures in his hands Sunday as the mob beat him up with sticks and iron rods for touching the pump, in Takholi village in Tonk district.

While Ramlal was admitted to a hospital, one of the alleged attackers filed a complaint against him in the Mehendwas police station.

The victim’s family said they were threatened that their house would be burnt down if they approached police. ‘But we finally decided to lodge a complaint on Monday,’ said Shamu, a relative of Ramlal.

‘One Murari Yadav has lodged a police complaint against Ramlal for attacking him on Sunday and a group of Dalit community members filed a complaint on Monday. We are probing the matter and offenders will be punished,’ a senior police official said.

Posted on: June 25, 2007

 


Caste apartheid in India - Ahmedabad is witnessing ''only-Dalit'' residential societies

From the India Daily
June 19, 2007

In a recent trend, Ahmedabad is witnessing ‘’only Dalit‘’ residential societies—around 300 of which have come up in the last few years. However, for most Dalits, it is not a matter of choice, but of compulsion.

“Even if a Dalit can afford a flat in areas dominated by the upper castes, they are often denied by the builders or the seller,” retired IAS officer P K Valera, who lives in one such Dalit society in Ramdevnagar, says.

Some social scientists say the alienation started in 1982, after the anti-reservation agitation, but agree that the caste and class distinctions have become more serious in recent years. This trend can be seen not only in the walled city but also in the posh areas of west Ahmedabad like Satellite, Vastrapur, Bodakdev, Ambavadi. Socio-political scientist Achyut Yagnik says, “There are more than 300 Dalit societies in the city. In Chandkheda alone, there are 200 societies, most of which have come up after the 2002 riots when people moved out from Gomtipur, Bapunagar and Dani limda area. You will find construction contractors who only build Dalit societies.”

Posted on: June 21, 2007

 


NHRC asks for factual report from District Collector, Karnal, on violation of human rights dalits

From the National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi May 1, 2007

The National Human Rights Commission has sent notice to the District Collector, Karnal, Haryana asking for factual report on violation of Human Rights of dalits of Bibipur village. Taking suo-motu cognizance of newspaper reports the Commission said if the contents are true, they raise the serious issue of violation of human rights of dalits of Bibipur village.

The reports published in the “Hindu” on 14 & 15th March, 2007 captioned as “A Dalilt temple’s encounter with official India” and “A System against Dalilts”, which brought out the atrocities committed on dalilts in village Bibipur, Tehsil Indri, District Karnal, Haryana. According to the newspaper articles, in Bibipur a small village in Haryana’s Karnal Distirct, the Dalits struggled to build a temple against severe resistance from forward class people and officials. However, their temple has been razed ostensibly because it was sought to be built on village school land. However, a shrine constructed by forward class villagers in the same village remains on public land. It is further reported that many of the dalits women do “begar” labour (a form of bonded labour) working in the fields from sunrise to sunset for little more than subsistence level food. The forward caste people refuse to admit dalits into their temple. There is no sanitary facilty available for dalits, which puts the women at considerable risk. It is also reported that, in Haryana violence against Dalits is constant and it is quite often brutally physical.

The Commission has given four weeks time to the District Collector, for the factual report.

Posted on: June 20, 2007

 


Humiliations by 'casteist' teacher force Dalits in Jharkhand village to start their own school

From The Daily India

Dumka (Jharkhand) June 18,: Dalit villagers in Thadi Village of Jharkhand’s Dumka District have started a school on their own, after their children were humiliated by a ‘casteist’ teacher.

In April this year, Dalits belonging to Bhandoch caste started a Bhandoch Middle School, after upper caste teachers and students at a local state-run school allegedly subjected their children to caste bias.

The low-castes alleged that neither the District administration nor the police took any action against the erring teachers.

“The police station in-charge just spoke to the teacher and his friends and refused to register our complaint. The teacher Subhash was casteist and was biased towards our children. He would call them by derogatory names. When we realised that no action is being taken against him, then we decided to open a school for our children,” said Surendra Maholi, who opened the Bhandoch Middle School.

It was the beating up of a young boy, Sarun Kumar, by a teacher named Subhash that infuriated the community.

“Once when I was drinking water here, Subhash sir came and started calling us by dirty names. He said we would not be allowed to drink water from there and started beating us. I went home crying and told this to my father. When my father came and spoke to sir, he said he would continue to beat us,” said Kumar.

The education officials said they are investigating the matter and would take strict action if required.

“We are investigating the matter and if these charges are proved then we will take stern action against the teacher as per the Dalit Act,” said Shiv Narayan Sah, District Education Superintendent.

Nearly 50 low-caste children are enrolled in the one-room Bhandoch Middle school. All the schoolteachers and members of the school management are from the low-caste community.

Posted on: June 19, 2007

 


Slaves to the goddess of fertility

By DAMIAN GRAMMATICAS from BBC News

image“You’re lucky the child is a boy,” the women tell the mother. In this society girls are valued far less.

The women are all devadasis, literally slaves of the goddess.

As children their parents gave them to serve Yellama - the goddess of fertility. Her cult is thousands of years old, her followers spread across southern India.

At the temple to Yellama in Saundatti women dance and praise the goddess.

The practice of dedicating young girls as devadasis has been outlawed for over 50 years, but still it happens.

Anti-slavery campaigners estimate that there are at least 25,000 devadasis in the state of Karnataka alone.

Sexual slavery

“Being devadasis means we are slaves of the goddess. We have to visit this temple. We wear necklaces of pearls to show we are bound to Yellama. We give blessings and perform her rituals,” says Imla, a devadasi in her 40s who is swathed in a pink and yellow sari.

When girls dedicated to Yellama reach puberty they are forced to sacrifice their virginity to an older man. What follows is a life of sexual slavery, they become sanctified prostitutes.

The money devadasis earn goes straight to their parents who often act as pimps for their daughters.

“My parents didn’t have any sons, so there was nobody to earn the family a living,” says Imla.

“Instead they turned me into a whore. I don’t even remember when I started because I was so young. My parents thought at least they’d get some money from me.”

Once girls are dedicated the course of their lives is decided. They can never marry, never have a family life.

In a town nearby we found Shoba who is just 20 and has been a devadasi prostitute for seven years.

Shoba showed me her brothel, a single room she shares with her parents.

She comes from a long line of devadasis. Her grandmother was one, her sister is too.

Shoba remembers how, when she was 13 her parents dressed her as if for marriage. They auctioned her virginity to the highest bidder.

Tough life

“When the first man arrived I thought he was going to marry me,” Shoba recalls, “but he slept with me and then never came back. I realised this was now my trade. Every night I was sold to whoever paid the most.”

Life here on the dry, harsh Deccan plateau has always been tough, especially for girls, who are often seen as a burden for poor families, expensive to marry off.

Recent years have been marked by droughts and crop failures.

Campaigners say there are 25,000 devadasis in Karnataka state alone

The goddess of fertility is seen as a powerful force. Many believe that giving girls to Yellama will bring good fortune on a family.

It also means they don’t have to save for a dowry, and the daughter becomes a bread-winner.

We found Shoba’s mother Satyavati tending to her field of sunflowers. Sacrificing their daughter’s life has enriched Shoba’s parents.

“Someone had to continue the tradition. It had to be my daughters,” she shrugs.

“Because Shoba earns so much money she has been able to build us a house, and she bought these fields. So what’s the big deal?”

Secret ceremonies

Despite campaigns by India’s national and state governments, the system of devadasis endures.

The number of young girls being dedicated is declining. But now the ceremonies happen in secret, so it is impossible to know exact numbers.

I asked Shoba why she doesn’t just give up being a devadasi, and leave it behind?

“I can’t get out of the system, even if I say I’m not a devadasi any more nobody will come forward to marry me,” she says.

“I keep telling other people not to make their daughters devadasis, you are abused, it’s a horrible life.”

So it’s a life that Shoba will never escape from. Women already dedicated cannot be freed.

The power of belief is still so strong here that she will always be a devadasi, enslaved.

Posted on: June 11, 2007

 


In UP, invite Dalit, be boycotted

By AMITA VERMA from the Asian Age

Lucknow, June: The Dalit-Brahmin combination may have catapulted Ms Mayawati into the seat of power but when it comes to ground realities, there is still no harmony between the two caste groups yet and no one knows this better than Urabrani Devi of Mahoba district.

Last week, Urabrani Devi, an upper caste resident of Daharra village in Mahoba district, gave a feast to which some Dalits were invited. After the feast was over, her son picked up the leaf plates and threw them away.

The Brahmins in the village, apparently enraged by Urabrani’s “audacity”, have given a call for her social boycott. The Brahmin community has said that unless Urabrani holds a Satyanarayan puja, takes a holy dip in the Ganga river and organises a brahma bhoj (feast for Brahmins), she cannot be pardoned for her sins.

Since the past one week, the upper caste villagers have not spoken to Urabrani, her husband Ghasita and her family members and have also banned them from drawing water from the village well.

Her daughter-in-law, who tried to draw water from the well, was beaten up by the village women and her grandson received a thrashing for playing near the well.

Urabrani reported the matter to the police but the latter refused to intervene and instead asked her to reach a compromise with the village elders. The village pradhan, Ramesh Chandra Shukla, says that Urabrani would have to respect the sentiments of the village folk on this issue if she wishes to stay on in the village.

“We are not asking for too much. All she needs is to purify herself by taking a dip in the Ganga and organising a puja and a feast to atone for her sins. There is a social system and we are all a part of it. We cannot break traditions at will,” he says.

Urabrani, on the other hand, is determined not to follow the village diktat.

“I have merely hosted a feast, not committed a murder that I should be asked to make amends and beg forgiveness. If the village people continue to socially boycott my family, we will commit suicide but we will now bow before them,” she says.

Posted on: June 8, 2007

 


Lawyers strip, beat Dalit on court premises

From the Time of India by Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui/TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Previous story by clicking here

LUCKNOW: Reacting with dismay to Tuesday’s assault and humiliation of a Dalit youth by a group of lawyers in Agra’s sessions court, Bar Council of India (BCI) has asked the district authorities for a complete account of the incident.

Uttar Pradesh police too acted with alacrity and filed an FIR against a lawyer and his colleagues for stripping 22-year-old Vinod and tying him to a tree inside the court in full view of public.

According to police, Vinod was “punished” for not agreeing to marry a girl his lawyer-relative had suggested. The lawyers and their companions also partially shaved his head, spat on his face, apart from manhandling and hitting him.

Agra SSP Hariram Verma said Vinod’s relative, Ravindra Singh, has been named in the FIR for leading the assault. Verma said Singh invited Vinod to his chamber at the sessions court on Tuesday afternoon to discuss his marriage, but what followed was something else.

On Wednesday, BCI asked the Agra DM and SSP to submit a report on the incident. “After BCI receives the report, we will ensure action is taken against the guilty. They could even lose their licence to legal practice,” said Lokendra Sharma, secretary of Bar Association, Agra.

BCI vice-president Rajendra Raghuvanshi told TOI that lawyers involved in the incident would be “dealt with very strictly.” Police said Vinod was let off only after he was repeatedly made to touch the feet of Ravindra and his associates and beg forgiveness.

Posted on: June 4, 2007

 


Guruvayur shuts doors on non-Hindus

From IBN Live by Naveen Nair

Watch video by clicking here

imageThiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The head priest of the Guruvayur temple, Sathisan Namboodiripad, has made it clear that non-Hindus will not be allowed into the temple.

“Temple traditions are not such that they should be changed with the times. The purpose of this meeting was to make this clear,” he said.

The latest debate over the entry of non-Hindus inside the Guruvayur temple was sparked off by the temple performing purification rites, after Ravi Krishna, Union Minister Vayalar Ravi’s son visited the temple.

The reason given was Ravi being married to someone from a Christian family. But now Ravi Krishna has a new spin to the story.

“I’m an OBC and that is why they did not allow me in. I am willing to take the matter to court,” says he.

The Left government in Kerala too may not give up on the debate. On Monday, the government spoke of a possible legislation to allow non-Hindus in temples and clearly promises to keep the temple entry issue alive.

Posted on: June 2, 2007

 


Thousands 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.

imageNew 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

 


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

 


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

 


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

image 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

imageFrom 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

 


Teacher sprinkles cow urine to 'purify' Dalit kids

Gopu Pimplapure in The Times of India. Full article by clicking here

BHANDARA: Caste corrupts civil society even in the 21st century. A so-called upper caste lady teacher at a Zilla Parishad higher middle school in Surewada village, about nine km from Bhandara city, sprinkled ‘gomutra’ (cow’s urine) on students and inside the classrooms to “purify’’ them and drive out an “evil spirit’’ from the premises earlier this month.image

The ZP school runs classes from first to seventh standard and has 210 students, including 20 Dalit students. Last month, Tilottama Tembhurkar, headmistress of the school, who belongs to a ‘lower’ caste, was transferred but not relieved of her charge. However, teachers from the upper caste believed that Tembhurkar’s presence was inauspicious for the school.

In the last week of March, Tembhurkar handed over charge to senior teacher Sharad Kaitade (an upper caste). In early April, when he formally took over as the school headmaster, Kaitade allegedly performed a puja in the school and asked a lady teacher Madhavi Raut to sprinkle gomutra inside the classes and school premises.

Raut promptly went around the school premises and classes sprinkling cow urine—while the students were appearing for their annual exam. She entered the class where Dalit students were also solving the question paper.

Raut allegedly asked the Dalit students to get up and sprinkled ‘gomutra’ on them, saying it would “purify’’ them. However, while doing so, some of it fell on the answersheets and the students’ faces too. Feeling humiliated, the students narrated the incident to their parents, who along with other villagers, registered a protest with Kaitade. Subsequently, he and Raut, both tendered apologies to the irate villagers and assured such an incident would not recur. But the villagers wanted a written apology, which the teachers refused.

The villagers then approached the district collector and superintendent of police, Bhandara, demanding action against the erring headmaster and lady teacher. The administration ordered a probe into the incident. The police personnel interrogated the headmaster, Raut, other teachers and also met the students and their parents. Finding substance in the villagers’ complaint, an offence was registered against Kaitade under Section 7, 1(D) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1985. He was arrested and later released on bail.

Posted on: April 21, 2007

 


Dalit landless are out

J P Yadav: From The Indian Express.
PATNA, MARCH 18
Last Friday, two persons were killed and at least six persons were injured when police opened fire at people protesting irregularities in preparation of the below poverty line (BPL) list in Matihani block in Bihar’s Begusarai district.

The coupon scheme is Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s brainchild to streamline the public distribution system (PDS) for the poorest of the poor and plug leakage which, according to a Planning Commission study, is estimated to be over 50 per cent in the state. Under the scheme, every BPL family is handed coupons to obtain subsidised grains and kerosene oil from the local PDS shop. Part of the coupon is to be kept by the PDS shop-owner — this will be the basis for his allotment by the government next month.image

But an investigation by The Indian Express in Patna district, including Sadisopur where nearly 500 people stormed the local Urdu primary school building on March 1 and looted coupons — shows that genuine BPL families are being left out of the scheme because of irregularities in the BPL list which decides who gets the coupons. While names of the genuinely poor have been struck off, many from the above poverty line have made it to the list. Consider these:

• Basgit Chowdhury, a resident of Kanhaulee village of Sadisopur panchayat, figures in the corrected BPL list. A retired Armyman, he lives in a pucca house and draws a pension of Rs 2,500.

Yet he has been awarded a score of just 1 point in the BPL survey — in effect, he is one of the poorest of the poor. Like Chowdhury, Madan Prasad, who too retired from the Army and lives in the village, is also in the list. Both say they never petitioned to be included in the BPL list. “I don’t know how my name has made it to the list. This shows how faulty this new list is,” Chowdhury told The Indian Express.

• In the same village, Jagannath Ram, a Dalit, has scored 21 points and fallen off the BPL list — he has been placed in the APL list. The state government has fixed 13 points as cut-off to divide BPL and APL families. Ram is landless, lives in a thatched house constructed on government land and can barely manage two meals a day. Had Ram’s family been the only…...Read full article by clicking here

Posted on: April 21, 2007

 


Dalits in the Kitchen

From S T Beuria, DH News Service Bhubaneswar:

Read full article in the Deccan Hearald by clicking here

For the last few years, coastal Kendrapara district, a politically important district of the state, has witnessed a sharp increase in caste conflicts on various issues.

Upper caste villagers in a remote coastal village in Orissa’s Kendrapara district have reportedly decided not to send their children to a government-run primary school protesting the government’s decision to assign the job of preparing food for the students under midday meal scheme to a self-help group (SHG) consisting of Dalit women.

Kendrapara district administration is inquiring into the matter. The members of the SHG have complained to the district administration that they were being humiliated and ill-treated by upper caste villagers after they took up the job.

Earlier, preparation of mid-day meal was in the hands of the school authority. However, the government had handed the task over to the SHG last February. The move was not appreciated by the upper-caste villagers, who constitute a majority in the coastal village.

A few days ago, a group of upper caste villagers had reportedly entered into the school kitchen forcibly and damaged the oven. They had also threatened the Dalit cook and her assistants to stop cooking.

For the last few years, coastal Kendrapara district, a politically important district of the state, has witnessed a sharp increase in caste conflicts on various issues. The district was in the news recently following a dispute between upper-caste people and the Dalits’ over right to enter a Jagannath temple.

Posted on: April 20, 2007

 


Dalit entry into Jagannath temple: HC seeks report

From the Indlaw.com

The Orissa High Court has directed the Kendrapada District Magistrate to furnish a report in a sealed cover about the steps initiated for the entry of dalits into the 300-year- old Jagannath temple at Keradagada.

A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice A K Ganguli and Mr Justice N.Prusty issued the direction after hearing a writ petition filed by one Akhaya Mallick of Kendrapara Earlier, a division bench of High court comprising the then Chief Justice S B Ray and Mr Justice M M Das on December five last had ordered that all the Hindus irrespective of caste have rights to enter the temple under Article 17 of Constitution and Section 3 of Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955.

The High court had also directed the District administration to ensure law and order situation during the entry of Dalits into the Jagannath temple at Keradagada.

Mr Mallick in his petition alleged that the authorities had violated the court and did not allow dalits to enter the temple and instead erected an iron grill on the outer wall of the temple from where the dalits were allowed to worship the deity.

He further said the priests of the temple had refused to give the dalits Prasad inside the sanctum sanctorum. The dalits were also not provided with “dhanda” and “paduka” by the priests, who were even not receiving coconut directly from the hands of the dalits.

Many dalits in the area were socially ostracised by the upper caste people and the priests after their entry into the temple, the petitioner alleged.

When contacted District Magistrate Kashinath Sahu said the authorities demolished the nine holes on the outer wall of the temple and constructed an iron grill.

The iron grill was constructed after both dalits and upper caste people of Keredagada agreed in a meeting in presence of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central) Suresh Chandra Mohapatra and Deputy Inspector General of Police Santosh Upadhhaya on December 17 last, he said.

Posted on: April 20, 2007

 


Village terrorized by casteist attacks

Excerpts from “Village terror ” by T.K. Rajalakshmi, in Frontline magazine, Volume 24 – Issue 06, Mar. 24-Apr. 06, 2007.

At Saalwan, the largest village in Haryana’s Karnal district, an eerie calm prevails. The government school for girls, in the south of the village where Dalits’ houses are also located, has been converted into a police cantonment with the Deputy Superintendent of Police P.S. Sheokhand himself camping there. Dalits are living in fear after an isolated incident metamorphosed into a casteist vendetta.

On March 1, Rajput youth destroyed 73 Dalit establishments, including four houses, in the village. One of the shops was set on fire. For the record, Saalwan, with around 5,000 households, is the latest in the long list of places where atrocities against Dalits have been reported in Haryana since the lynching of five Dalits in Jhajjar in October 2002. “This was another Gohana,” said S.N. Solanki, State vice-president of the Kisan Sabha, referring to the torching of 50 Dalit homes in Gohana village of Sonepat district in 2005.

The flare-up began as a scuffle between a group of inebriated Valmiki (Dalit) youth and Mahipal Singh, a Rajput who was tending his one-and-a-half-acre wheat crop, on February 26. Mahipal objected to the youth letting their goats graze in his field, where the crop would be ready for harvest in a few weeks. In the brawl Mahipal was injured and he died subsequently. The police rounded up some of the accused, but failed to take steps to prevent untoward incidents despite open threats to Dalit families.

The Dalits’ worst fears came true on March 1 when organised groups of armed upper-caste youth attacked their homes around noon. The assailants walked freely into the lanes and smashed and looted property in the Dalit houses, in particular television sets and gas stoves, which were seen as symbols of prosperity. There were no human casualties as, anticipating trouble, the women and children had moved out the previous day. Some of the men hid in the fields, while others watched helplessly from their rooftops.

...Not all upper-caste families in the village were seeking revenge. Even Mahipal’s family did not want any retaliation. His brother Rajveer apparently gave a statement to the local dailies that he was against any revenge, but they did not publish it. Instead, the newspapers carried incendiary statements of influential Rajputs.

Neither did the dailies report on the peace committee, said Sheeshpal, a Valmiki himself and a State leader of the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (AIAWU). The peace committee brought together rational members from both groups and resolved that neither the murder nor the retaliation should be used as a pretext to foment caste tensions

...The Valmikis of Saalwan are relatively better off than their counterparts elsewhere in the country. Of course, their houses, like other Dalit houses in Haryana, are also located on the southern side of the village. The logic is that their breath would not reach the upper-caste homes on the northern side. Education and jobs and the concomitant higher incomes have brought in several changes.

...Dalits in Haryana comprise as much as 19.5 per cent of the State’s population. The main Dalit groups are Chamaars, Dhanaks, Valmikis and Raisikhs. There are tribal groups as well, such as Sikligars and Gadiya Lohars.

A report prepared by the Haryana Gyan Vigyan Samiti, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialising in literacy and education, states that the notion that Dalits are not discriminated against in the State is untrue. In villages, it is common for Dalits to have separate wells, taps and chaupals or meeting places. Dalit children are forbidden from addressing village elders as Tau or Chacha and in temples holy water offered by Dalit kaanwads or pilgrims is accepted reluctantly. Dalits are not encouraged to participate in village congregations.

The study says that the majority of Dalits are landless; neither do they have control over the shaamlat or common grazing grounds. Even in government jobs, the bulk of Dalits are Class III or Class IV employees. In higher educational institutions, only 1.91 per cent of principals in colleges are from the Dalit community.

...In the case of teachers, too, the situation is no different. In Kurukshetra University, there are only 35 Dalits among 500 teachers; in Hisar Agricultural University, the number is only five in a total of 600 teachers, and in Guru Jambeshwar University it is only one in a total of 125 teachers. Maharshi Dayanand University has only 13 Dalit teachers.

Ironically, despite Dalits comprising 19.5 per cent of the population, their political empowerment is largely a myth even in seats reserved for them. Saalwan village has a woman sarpanch, but she remains “underground” most of the time. The legislator of Asandh, under which Saalwan falls, is also a woman, Raj Rani of the Congress. But there is very little she can do for Dalits of the place.

For complete article, see “Village terror ” by T.K. Rajalakshmi, in Frontline magazine

Posted on: April 9, 2007

 


Dalit survivor calls on Sonia

Special Correspondent from The Hindu

NEW DELHI: Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the lone survivor of the Dalit family killed in Khairlanji village in Bhandara district of Maharashtra, met Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Saturday. Ms. Gandhi is understood to have assured him that she would personally follow up the matter.

Mr. Bhotmange was accompanied by local Congress MLA Sewakbhau Vaghaye-Lakhani who said the entire village had ganged up against the Bhotmanges and only a brain-mapping test of the accused would reveal their real intent.

Four members of the Bhotmange family were killed on September 29 over a land dispute. After the killings came to light and questions were raised over investigations by the local police, the Maharashtra police handed over the case to the CBI.

Posted on: December 6, 2006

 


Upper caste men beat Dalits, burn houses

Patna, Sep 7 (IANS) Over half a dozen Dalit men were beaten, women humiliated and their houses burnt in a Bihar village by a mob of landed upper caste men.

The incident occurred Tuesday night in Sonwaliya village under the jurisdiction of the Baikhanthpur police station in Gopalganj district.

According to a police official, over 50 upper caste men attacked the hamlet to avenge upon the Dalits for breaking age-old social set-up in semi-feudal rural areas. The incident was triggered after a Dalit boy in love with an upper caste girl dared to marry her.

The mob set ablaze houses of three Dalits – Shyamnath Ram, Ramnath Ram and Satyendra Ram. No burn injury was reported and the villagers managed to save the children and women from the blaze, the official said.

Satyendra lodged a police complaint in this connection against 13 people and 55 unidentified people. Police personnel were deployed in the village to keep a close watch on the situation in view of the tension.

The state often witnesses clashes between upper caste and the Dalits resulting in loss of life and property.

From Teluga Portal, September 7, 2006

Posted on: September 8, 2006

 


An Eye for Two Bottles of Liquor

From the Mubai Mirror

Bhola Choudhary, 60, of Mahinawa village in Maner district is now undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Patna.

Fearing for the life of his family, Choudhary refuses to name the culprits.

Choudhary said he was surrounded by some people around the village temple on Monday night, was beaten up and his eye damaged.

His wife Rampuri Devi said that last week some people had threatened her husband with dire consequences for stealing two bottles of liquor.

Earlier this month, 10-year-old Ajit Kumar’s eye was gouged out by some people in Dhabouli village in Begusarai district allegedly because his parents refused to vote for a particular candidate in the panchayat elections.

Posted on: August 23, 2006

 


Atrocities on Dalits: `police did not do duty properly'

The public hearing organised by NCDHR brought to light cases of atrocities against Dalits in five States

BANGALORE: A jury hearing the cases of atrocities against Dalits found that the police had not done an efficient job in handling the cases.

Out of the 51 cases that the jury heard, the Dalits claimed that the police had refused to register a first information report in 14 cases and in 35 cases no charge sheet had been prepared. At the end of the two-day session on Tuesday, the jury comprising chairperson of the Women’s Commission of Andhra Pradesh Mary Ravindranath; retired district and sessions judge of Karnataka J. Chandrashekeriah; advocate of the Kerala High Court Prameela; senior advocate of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh Bojja Tarakam; member of the SC/ST Commission of Pondicherry M.S. Kaliaperumal; professor of Bangalore University Samathadeshmi and former member of the National SC/ST Commission of New Delhi, C. Chellappan, said that the police had not done their duty properly. In its recommendation, it said that the State should register cases against the police personnel concerned.

The public hearing on `Dalit Human Rights Violation’ organised by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), brought to light cases of atrocities against Dalits in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Fifteen cases from Karnataka were heard. The jury also recommended that comprehensive rehabilitation packages such as allotment of land, pension for widows and children, provision of adequate drinking water facility be provided to Dalits who were victims of these atrocities.

Five-year-old Subbalakshmi, from Tamil Nadu, told the jury how she was raped by an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old. The two boys kidnapped her from her home and committed the crime. In another case that was narrated, Dalits from Gummanahalli in Mandya district, said that they had been denied permission to enter the “gramadevatha” temple and take water from the tank during the village festival.

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Posted on: July 10, 2006

 


Dalits denied water in Rajasthan village

by Harsha Kumari Singh

Monday, July 10, 2006 (Jaishinghpura, Rajasthan):

In a case of caste discrimination, 18 Dalit families in a Rajasthan village are denied water by upper caste members.

During the past five days a government water tanker was not allowed to supply the Dalits in Jaishinghpura near Jaipur because the upper caste believes the water would become polluted. “They say you are lower castes, you work with animal skins. If you take water from the tanker, it will become contaminated,” said a Dalit man, Ram Sahay. The move forced Dalits to seek water from a hand pump in the village containing high levels of fluoride, which is unfit for human consumption. Dhapu Bai, another Dalit resident added, “They make the tanker driver sit at a tea stall and take the tanker to their own houses first”.

Caste discrimination

There is a long-running dispute between the majority Upper caste community and the Dalits of Jaisinghpura. The Dalits are not allowed to draw water from village wells after wells reserved for them dried up. A separate water tanker is supplying the Dalit now after police registered an atrocities case under the SC/ST Act. “I have asked people to approach district officials. If only one tanker supplies this village, another can be organised for enough water,” said the deputy SP for rural Jaipur, Dharampal Chaudhary. The Indian constitution gives equal status to all castes, but the dispute, just 45 kilometres away from state capital Jaipur shows untouchability in Rajasthan runs deep, despite 59 years of independence.

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Posted on: July 10, 2006