Two Manual Scavengers Die of Suffocation – The New Indian Express
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Two-Manual-Scavengers-Die-of-Suffocation/2015/11/29/article3152299.ece
Minorities, Dalits living in fear: Arundhati Roy – The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/minorities-dalits-living-in-fear-arundhati-roy/article7928332.ece
SC/ST panel warns Haryana govt over minister-SP spat – The Indian Express
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/scst-panel-warns-haryana-govt-over-minister-sp-spat/
Church Converts Ambedkar for Dalits’ Sake – The Sunday Standard
http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/Church-Converts-Ambedkar-for-Dalits-Sake/2015/11/29/article3151594.ece
Speed up trial of tonsure case: Bojja Tarakam – The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/speed-up-trial-of-tonsure-case-bojja-tarakam/article7929574.ece
Delhi LGBT group joins hands with intolerance brigade – Mail Online India
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3337702/Delhi-LGBT-group-joins-hands-intolerance-brigade.html
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The New Indian Express
Two Manual Scavengers Die of Suffocation
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Two-Manual-Scavengers-Die-of-Suffocation/2015/11/29/article3152299.ece
By Express News Service Published: 29th November 2015 04:22 AM Last Updated: 29th November 2015 04:22 AM
TUMAKURU: The scourge of the prohibited practice of manual scavenging returned to haunt the city as two young labourers were suffocated to death here on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Murthy (34) and Chikkanna (32) of Kuripalya area. They were hired by contractor Kempanarasaiah to clean the latrine pit at his house.
They entered the 13-ft pit to lift the night soil and after some time, they were suffocated to death. It was at the 6th Cross of Devaraj Urs Road at Saraswathi Puram.
The Tilak Park police led by CPI Bale Gowda rushed to the spot. The accused contractor, who was still at large, was booked for involving the labourers in manual scavenging. Activists, including writer K B Siddaiah, visited the spot and sat in a dharna. Siddaiah demanded that the Corporation Commissioner be held responsible for the incident.
The Hindu
Minorities, Dalits living in fear: Arundhati Roy
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/minorities-dalits-living-in-fear-arundhati-roy/article7928332.ece
SHOUMOJIT BANERJEE
“Dr. Ambedkar left the Hindu religion and proselytised himself to the Buddhist religion precisely for reasons of intolerance prevailing in the Hindu religion”.
Novelist and Booker Prize-winner Arundhati Roy on Saturday said ‘intolerance’ was “too mild” a word to describe the grave state of current socio-political affairs.
Ms. Roy, who earlier this month joined the swelling numbers of artists and writers returning their National and Sahitya Akademi awards to protest the climate of intolerance, was in the city to accept the Mahatma Phule Samata Award on the occasion of the great social reformer’s 125th death anniversary.
Ms. Roy received the award from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal.
In her speech, Ms. Roy expressed her concern over the state of affairs under the Bharatiya Janata Party-government led by Narendra Modi, evoking the Dadri lynching and the highly controversial ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programme initiated by the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates. She alleged that millions of people from the minorities, including Muslims, Christians and members of lower castes or tribal communities, were being forced to live in a perpetual state of terror.
“Dr. Ambedkar left the Hindu religion and proselytised (sic) himself to the Buddhist religion precisely for reasons of intolerance prevailing in the Hindu religion.
“And today, the Phule-Ambedkarites are clubbed and branded ‘anti-Hindutva’ by this government [BJP] who seem to harbour sinister intentions against minorities,” Ms. Roy said. Police detained several activists of the ABVP who attempted to disrupt the award ceremony to protest her ‘anti-national’ statements in the past, including against the Indian Army.sss.
The Indian Express
SC/ST panel warns Haryana govt over minister-SP spat
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/scst-panel-warns-haryana-govt-over-minister-sp-spat/
Written by VARINDER BHATIA Chandigarh Published:Nov 29, 2015, 3:55 – See more at:
Dalit woman IPS officer shunted out, panel
threatens case against minister
HARYANA’S SC/ST Commission has sought a “detailed report” from the state government on a verbal exchange between Health Minister Anil Vij and a Dalit woman IPS officer during a public interaction on Friday, a panel member told The Sunday Express.
Sangeeta Rani Kalia, SP of Fatehabad, was transferred and appointed as Commandant 4th IRB at Manesar on Saturday after she refused to leave a meeting despite being asked to “get out” by the minister who was irked by her response to a query on illicit liquor trade in the area.
Vij subsequently stormed out of the District Grievances and Public Relations Committee meeting in Fatehabad.
The commission warned in a notice sent to the government that it may register a criminal case against the minister if it did not get a satisfactory explanation on his behaviour, said Ishwar Singh, member, SC/ST Commission, Haryana.
“We have issued a notice to the Haryana Chief Secretary and asked him to submit a detailed report on the issue within seven days. If a person belonging to the Dalit community is humiliated in public, it attracts punishment under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Anil Vij asked a Dalit officer to “get out” from a grievance redressal committee meeting. If it is not a humiliation, what else is it?” said Singh.
“We have taken a stern view of the issue. If we are not satisfied with his reply, we may register a criminal case against Anil Vij,” he said.
Sources told The Sunday Express that the transfer order was issued by the Home Department, which comes under Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, after Vij insisted that action be taken against the 2009-batch officer. Kalia was replaced by Om Prakash as Fatehabad SP.
While Kalia refused to comment, Vij said on Saturday that he shall continue his “struggle against the ineffective officers in the administration”.
Vij tweeted on his official twitter handle: “I shall always be ready to get justice to people who were administration’s harassment victims. I am ready to pay any price or make any sacrifice for that.”
The transfer drew sharp reactions from the Opposition while senior IAS and IPS officers in the state appeared divided with some criticising the shift and others saying Kalia should not have engaged in a spat with the minister.
Objecting to the transfer, the IPS (Central) Association posted on its official twitter handle: “We expect IPS officers to be treated with dignity when they uphold law. In solidarity with Sangeeta Kalia; salute her courage.”
ADGP B S Sandhu, head of the Haryana IPS Officers Association, said, “We have called for a meeting of our officers on Sunday and will discuss the issue.”
Kalia is the daughter of Dharam Pal, who retired as a painter in Haryana police in 2010, the same year she joined the force after earning the IPS rank in the third attempt. Pal used to paint the walls of police buildings in Fatehabad, said local police officers.
Kalia is a post-graduate in Economics and first appeared for the UPSC exams in 2005, making to the Railways service on the second attempt but opting to pursue an IPS rank.
Married to IAS officer Vivek Kalia, who is the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Narnaul, she is the daughter-in-law of Mohinder Kumar who was also an IAS officer and retired as Secretary to former Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia.
Kalia’s transfer, meanwhile, drew heavy criticism from Leader of Opposition and INLD MLA Abhay Chautala who said “the minister had no right to publicly rebuke… a woman officer, who is also a Dalit”.
Congress leader and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said “demoralising bureaucracy or officers is not good”.
One senior IAS officer, who did not wish to be named, questioned the “behaviour of the minister”. “What message will such a fearful environment send to the lower ranks?” he said.
A senior IPS officer, however, said Kalia should have exercised restraint. “When the minister was pointing out some lapses in police functioning, the officer should have listened to him and told him that corrective measures would be taken,” he said.
Another senior IAS officer agreed with that view. “In our conduct rules, it is mentioned that if a public representative misbehaves with an officer, he or she should maintain the decorum and dignity of the uniform. The officer should not have tried to lock horns with the minister. She should have informed her superior officers about the constraints in addressing the minister’s issues, if any,” said the official.
‘No sir, this is wrong’ : Excerpts from the exchange between Minister Anil Vij and IPS officer Sangeeta Rani Kalia during a public grievance meeting in Fatehabad when a participant raised a query about alleged illicit liquor trade in the area:
Kalia: Sharaab ke licence toh sarkaar deti hai (Liquor licences are granted by the government).
Vij: Sarkaar jaayaz bikri ke licence deti hai, najayaz ke nahi (Government grants licences for legal not illegal sale
f liquor).
Kalia: Sir, hum nahi bikwa rahe sharaab (Sir, we don’t sell the liquor).
Vij: Aap bikwa rahe ho (You are getting it sold).
Kalia: Nahin sir, yeh galat baat hai (No sir, this is wrong)… publicly you cannot accuse an officer like this.
Vij: Chaliye yahan se, chaliye, you get out.
Kalia: Why?
Vij: Leave from here.
Kalia: I will not leave.
Vij: No, you leave now.
Kalia: No.
Vij: Then, I will leave.
The Sunday Standard
Church Converts Ambedkar for Dalits’ Sake
http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/Church-Converts-Ambedkar-for-Dalits-Sake/2015/11/29/article3151594.ece
By CITHARA PAUL
Published: 29th Nov 2015 09:38:22 AMNEW DELHI: It’s not just political parties who are vying for Dalits. The Catholic Church, feeling the heat of increasing instances of ‘ghar wapsi’ where converted Christians are reconverting to Hinduism, has joined the Dalit bandwagon. The Catholic Bishops Council of India (CBCI) will hold sessions on the rights of Christian Dalits to create awareness.
The move is significant as the Indian Church is in the clutches of casteism where Dalit Christians have never been accorded the same status as other Christians, though they account for nearly half the Christian population in the country.
The Hindu
Speed up trial of tonsure case: Bojja Tarakam
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/speed-up-trial-of-tonsure-case-bojja-tarakam/article7929574.ece
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
It has been over 18 years and the trial of the sensational Ramachandrapuram tonsure case has hardly made any progress. So far, the witnesses have not been cross-examined and the trial has not moved as desired in an SC/ ST atrocity case, said Senior Advocate and activist Bojja Tarakam here on Saturday.
On December 29, 1996, two Dalit youths — D. Venkatratnam and Koti China Raju — were forcibly tonsured by the then local MLA Thota Trimurthulu and his men. Three other Dalit youths — Ch. Pattabhiramayya, K. Ganapathi and P. Venkatramana — were beaten up. The youths were called up by the MLA on the night of December 29 in 1996 at Venkatayyapalem village under Ramchandrapuram mandal of East Godavari district and were beaten up and two of them were tonsured for allegedly opposing the MLA in the Assembly election.
An FIR was lodged on January 4, 1997, and the MLA and nine others were arrested. The MLA even served a three-month jail term at Rajahmundry Central Jail.
“Thereafter, a case was filed under Section 310 of SC/ST Atrocities Act in Rajahmundry. But the MLA influenced and got transferred the case to the SC/ST Court in Visakhapatnam. And since then the case has not moved,” said Mr. Bojja Tarakam.
The MLA had won the election as an independent candidate and is now the sitting MLA of the Telugu Desam Party.
According to Koti China Raju, the village is predominantly a Kapu village and the MLA also hails from that community. “The Dalits are treated as sub-standard citizens, even after 68 years of Independence,” he said.
“We demand immediate completion of the trail and speedy justice to the Dalits who were humiliated,” Mr. Tarakam said.
According to him the judicial system has been slow in disposing of the cases related to Dalits.
Mail Online India
Delhi LGBT group joins hands with intolerance brigade
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3337702/Delhi-LGBT-group-joins-hands-intolerance-brigade.html
By BAISHALI ADAK
PUBLISHED: 00:19 GMT, 29 November 2015 | UPDATED: 00:19 GMT, 29 November 2015
India’s ‘intolerance brigade,’ comprising writers and artistes who have decried the BJP-led central government, now have support from the country’s LGBT community.
The Delhi Queer Pride parade, 2015, which is being held on Sunday in Connaught Place, will march in solidarity with “Dalits, Muslims, women, advocates of free speech and all those voicing dissent.”
They will share dais at Jantar Mantar with members of the ‘Occupy UGC’ movement, FTII students, and some of the historians and film makers who have returned State awards.
The official Delhi Queer Pride 2015 Facebook page announces: “Once again, we take to the streets of our city to celebrate – publicly, proudly – the diversity of gender and sexuality that mark our lives”
The Delhi Pride Committee, which organises the bold event each year, says, “Many of them have stood by the queer struggle in the past. We stand by them in return today.”
The official Delhi Queer Pride 2015 Facebook page announces: “Once again, we take to the streets of our city to celebrate – publicly, proudly – the diversity of gender and sexuality that mark our lives.
“Yet this year, more than ever, we march in solidarity for a whole range of freedoms that are under threat.
“Intolerance and violence towards Dalits, Muslims, women, advocates of free speech, rationalists, and those voicing dissent, surrounds us.
“This year, we assert that queer freedoms are inseparable from a broader culture of respect for dissent and difference.
“Many movements have stood by the queer struggle in the past, we stand by them in return today.”
Dhrubo Jyoti, a gay rights activist, said, “This time, our motto is: ‘Pride for Azadi’.
“Our fight against 377 cannot stand in isolation. Also, the LGBT movement is not mono-identical.
“There are many LGBTs who are Dalits, Muslims and Christians. What is happening in the country affects all of us.
“The Bangalore Pride parade, recently, also made a statement against beef banning. Their slogan was ‘Beef eater and Man Lover’.”
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
