A Dalit youth was allegedly tortured by the police in the Nathuwala police post of the district. He was admitted to the district hospital by his parents where he was undergoing treatment.

While under treatment in the emergency ward, Bittu, son of Kora Singh, a resident of Vadda Ghar village of this district, alleged that he was tortured in the said police post when he went there on Monday after the cops summoned him in a complaint of theft against him.

His mother, Balwinder Kaur, sitting beside him said that the police came to their house to arrest her son on Sunday but he was not at home at that time as he had gone to Amritsar for some work. When he came back on Monday, he was taken to the police post where he was kept in illegal confinement and tortured by the police, she said.

The youth alleged that the police tortured him by rolling a heavy wooden log over his thighs and also beat him. "I was released by the police late in the night after the intervention of local people. Yesterday, suddenly, pain started in my thighs and upper abdominal portion of the body and my mother brought me here in the hospital," he said.

On the other hand, ASI Gamdoor Singh, in charge of the police post, while talking to The Tribune on telephone denied the allegations of torture and said that Bittu was telling a lie to save his skin from the allegations of theft.

He said Ajmer Singh and his cousin, Balaur Singh, had given a written complaint against him of stealing Rs 9,000 from them. "I called him to the police post to inquire into the complaint against him. When he said the allegations were not true, I asked him to satisfy the complainants," he said, adding that instead of satisfying the complainants and going for a "panchayati" compromise, the youth levelled false allegations against the police. The ASI claimed that he was not tortured by the police.

Meanwhile, the doctors who attended to him opined that there were no visible marks of torture on the body but there could be "internal injuries", which could be determined only after proper medical tests.

Express Buzz

'We are not rowdies'

http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/we-are-not-rowdies/248788.html

Express News Service

First Published : 17 Feb 2011 03:32:59 AM IST

Last Updated : 17 Feb 2011 07:25:51 AM IST

CHENNAI: Reacting strongly to the Express story on SC/ST hostels published about two months ago, an ex-inmate of M C Raja SC/ST Hostel on Wednesday 'clarified' that the inmates were not rowdy elements and organised agitations only for securing their basic human rights.

At a public hearing on 'Discrimination and violation of human rights standards in Government (Adi-Dravidar Welfare) hostels for college students in TN' here, Pichaipillai, an ex-inmate said, "Though a newspaper portrayed inmates staying at these hostels were rowdy elements, the agitations that happened that time were only for our basic rights."

Appealing to journalists present, he said, "We seek minimum facilities from the government which sits idle on crores of funds meant for us."

Venting his anger against the government, S M Madankumar, an inmate of Royapuram PG Hostel, said, "Just like how Lankan refugees at the Chengalpet Camp, we were also forced to live like those camp inmates."

While most of them complained about the government machinery for failing to utilise funds meant for SC/ST people under Special Component Plan fund, an ex-inmate from Nandanam hostel held students also be responsible for not seeking their rights in proper way.

The Times Of India

High-level meet to discuss quota for dalit minorities

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/High-level-meet-to-discuss-quota-for-dalit-minorities/articleshow/7511774.cms

Arvind Singh Bisht, TNN, Feb 17, 2011, 04.02am IST

LUCKNOW: The Congress-led UPA government has come under sharp criticism from minorities for ignoring their demand for reservation by refusing to scrap clause three of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950, which excludes Muslim and Christian dalits from reservation.

While the Samajwadi Party has taken the cause of minorities on the issue, the Congress has been forced into a damage-control exercise. A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to discuss the matter in New Delhi on Thursday.

Criticising the Congress for its ambiguous stand, the UP Muslim Dalit Association (UPMDA) on Wednesday said that the above clause of the Constitution was discriminatory against minorities and the Congress was allowing it to continue.

When asked to comment, Abdul Naseer Nasir, a founder member and general secretary of the UPMDA, said: " Fed up with the Congress's ambiguous stand on the issue, minorities are now left with no option, but to mobilise people's support for its demand." Towards this end, he said, UPDMA had sought meetings with Union ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Salman Khurshid, Farooq Abdullah and Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi.

The issue has hogged the limelight as the Supreme Court, hearing a petition in this regard, has asked the Centre to file an affidavit by February 24. The petition, filed by Franklin Caesar Thomas and others in 2004, sought to challenge the clause of the Constitution and pleaded that it was was discriminatory against Muslims and Christians. Despite Supreme Court's repeated reminders, the Centre has been evading filing affidavit on the issue, predictably fearing a backlash from dalits. Now, the apex court has set a deadline.

In 2006, the Centre didn't file the affidavit on the ground that the matter had been referred to the Ranganath Mishra Commission for its opinion. Again it delayed the matter by referring the issue to the Sachar Commission. Set up by the Congress-led Central government, both these commissions in their reports had held the demand justifiable within the preamble of the Constitution and also recommended to do away with the contentious clause three of the Constitution.

But, now the Centre has pressed the panic button following the Supreme Court's deadline. Also, addressing the issue urgently is crucial to the Congress, which is trying to make a comeback in the 2012 assembly elections.

The demand to scrap clause 3 of the Constitution finds favour with all sections of Muslims, irrespective of their status and political leanings. Prominent cleric Khalid Rasheed Friangi Mahali said: "The Congress should come out with clarity on the issue, if at all it is honest to stop religious discrimination."

In the same vein, president of the UPMDA, retired IAS officer Anees Ansari
said the above clause of the Constitution was plainly arbitrary, unconstitutional and unfair. "The Congress government should have no hitch in doing away with it, as this had already been recommended by the Commissions set up by its governments," Ansari, who is also the vice-chancellor of Urdu Farsi University, said.

The biggest disadvantage of this clause, he said, was that it extends the benefit of reservation only to those declared as scheduled castes of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhism religions and not to dalit Muslims and Christians, even though they were engaged in the same job. "For instance, Muslim butchers, weavers, sweepers, vegetable seller etc were not treated at par with those of the same groups from Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist communities," he said.

Pleading that reservation should be extended only to socially and educationally backward classes of Muslims and Christians, Ansari said that a large number of minority problems would be solved, if the above clause was removed from the Constitution. This would not only increase the representation of Muslims in political institutions, but also make them eligible to get the quota benefit given to Scheduled Castes.

The Times Of India

Sevashram girls accuse teacher of sexual harassment

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Sevashram-girls-accuse-teacher-of-sexual-harassment/articleshow/7511751.cms

TNN, Feb 17, 2011, 12.28am IST

KORAPUT: The Rayagada district administration has initiated an inquiry into the alleged sexual harassment of some students by a teacher and a male peon at a sevashram in the district.

The government move comes after at least four girls, two each of Class III and IV, of Gadiseshkhal sevashram in Kolnara block met the collector and lodged a complaint with him accusing an assitant teacher, Narendra Meneka, and a male peon, Lingaraj Kulusika, of sexually harassing them, on Wednesday.

"The administration has taken the matter seriously and has initiated an inquiry by the district welfare officer and district's social welfare officer. If the complaint is found to be true, then an FIR will be lodged against the offenders and stringent action will be taken," said collector (Rayagada) Nitin Bhanudas Jawle.

The sevashram holds classes from I to V, with a student strength of 220. Situated about 20 km from the district headquarters town of Rayagada, the sevashram is run by the SC and ST Development Department.

Sources said, a few days ago, unable to bear the harassment by the teacher, the students left the sevashram. Refusing to return, they narrated everything before their parents.

According to the collector the four girls, who approached him along with their parents, brought serious allegations against the teacher and the peon.

"Our teacher used to call us to his room at night and used to make sexual advances. We were urged to cooperate with him. If we didn't obey, we would beat us up and threatened us of dire consequences if we tried to call for help or informed anyone," the collector said, quoting the students.

"The situation may also have aroused for rivalry among teachers but we can't jump to any conclusion at this moment. A through investigation will be made and anyone found to be guilty will not be spared," Jawle said.

The Hindu

Government neglecting SCs, STs: CPI (M)

http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/17/stories/2011021757730400.htm

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded that the State government take steps to avoid diversion of funds earmarked for the development of scheduled castes and tribes and ensure that the budgetary allocations were fully spent for their welfare.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu has criticised the government for "neglecting" the two communities which could not achieve development on par with others for want of proper attention. The government's indifference on the development of SCs and STs could be seen from the fact that the chairman and members of the SC/ST Commission were not appointed since past two years.

Mr. Raghavulu was speaking after welcoming the cycle rally launched by the party MLA J. Ranga Reddy which reached the city on Wednesday.

The Hindu

30-day training programme for SC graduates

http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/17/stories/2011021761720200.htm

Special Correspondent

MADURAI: In a bid to rope in young and educated graduates/diploma holders mainly from Scheduled Castes and others, the State-run Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) has planned to impart a month-long training-cum-exposure on entrepreneurship programme.

Addressing members of the SC/ST Welfare Committee, Collector C. Kamaraj said here on Wednesday that the EDI had formed a team of eminent industrialists and professors like C. K. Ranganathan, R. Ramaraj, P.K. Mohapatra, Prof. Jhunjhunwala, Fr. Christie, Dr. Jayashree Suresh among others to design a special month-long programme.

Pilot programme

A pilot programme was attended by over 50 students at IIT Madras last year.

According to the organisers, the programme was a success as five of the 12 teams received funding commitments from visiting entrepreneurs.

Keeping this in mind, the EDI had proposed to launch a similar training programme for about 200 graduates (including 140 from SC/ST category ) each in Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.

While the programme fee is Rs 12,500, it is being offered at 50 per cent discount to BC/MBC and free to SC/ST diploma/graduates below 30 years of age. The programme is scheduled to commence on March 1 at Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College here. For more details, aspirants can contact consultant Prathap Sethu on 98421-65063.

Presentation

According to Mr. Kamaraj, interested students can submit applications at the above centre on February 20 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

An entrance test would be conducted and selected candidates can attend the training programme from March 1.

Mr. Sethu said that the one-month programme would include training on entrepreneurship skills, risk-taking, leadership skills, man management, resource management, product survey, market research, marketing strategy and selling techniques, business plan case study, and industrial visits.

Confidence-building

In a nutshell, he said, the training programme would equip a candidate from the most suppressed class in the society with much-needed confidence to be an entrepreneur with adequate technical and other expertise.

The Hindu

Dalit outfit to support parties backing demands of Arunthathiyars

http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/17/stories/2011021762930400.htm

Staff Reporter

MADURAI: The Adi Thamizhar Peravai (ATP), a Dalit outfit, has said that it will support political parties that accept the immediate demands of Arunthathiyars and highlight them in their manifestos, in the Assembly elections. Addressing a press conference after its State executive council meeting here on Tuesday, R. Adhiyaman, founder president, ATP, said that the organisation had a significant presence in western and central districts. "We expect seats for Arunthathiyars in eight reserved constituencies. If any of the major parties fail to give seats, the Peravai will field its own candidates."

The Hindu

'Dalits will not prosper unless they gain political power'

http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/17/stories/2011021763020500.htm

Special Correspondent

AU Department of Psychology holds national symposium

VISAKHAPATNAM: "When they face injustice, dalits must agitate," Chairman of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (Shimla) and Rajya Sabha Member B.L. Mungekar said here on Wednesday.

Dalits must not ignore education and they would not prosper unless they gain political power, Prof. Mungekar said while inaugurating a national symposium on 'Empowerment of socially disadvantaged: challenges and remedies' organised by the Department of Psychology of Andhra University. Out of 80 per cent national dropout rate after high school, dalits constituted 60 per cent and most of them were girls, he regretted.

"Dalits must get themselves educated, launch their own organisations, NGOs, SHGs, training organisations, small businesses, etc. We shall help the government and dalits are the most loyal and honest because they do not go out of the country," he said.

Discrimination

Prof. Mungekar, a former Member of the Planning Commission and who was the first dalit Vice-Chancellor of University of Mumbai, said conditions being faced by dalits were extremely unsatisfactory though there had been some progress since 1950 when the Constitution came into force. No policy of the government was helpful to them.

Prof. Mungekar said discrimination was being shown due to caste, gender, religion and even complexion of the skin. Women, irrespective of their caste and creed, were the most discriminated section and no discussion would take place in Parliament or Assemblies in spite of large number of women harassment cases being reported every year.

Dalits were still not able to get political power, which was necessary for their development as said by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, he said, and added that if Dalits were given power they should be empowered through social and political struggles.

He hailed Dr. Ambedkar as a person with unparalleled qualities like understanding, integrity and commitment and who had left no question unanswered.

While Gandhiji felt that he would represent India, Dr. Ambedkar differed saying that untouchables needed political power without which no single problem of theirs would be solved, Prof. Mungekar said while explaining the difference of opinion between the two leaders.

He presented three of his books to Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University B. Satyanarayana for the university's library. Professor of psychology and director of the symposium M.V.R. Raju spoke. Senior professor of Andhra University B. Appa Rao, a professor from Mumbai University Gautam Gawali and a professor from Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda, S.M. Busi, spoke on different topics.

--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")