Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 06.03.14
SC/ST Panel Orders Reprobe- The New Indian Express
Cops Cool to PoA Act, Dalits Upset- The New Indian Express
Dalits unite for a cause- Deccan Herald
Students agitate for hostel building- The Hindu
Note: Please find attachment for HINDI DMW (PDF)
The New Indian Express
SC/ST Panel Orders Reprobe
After five days, the local police registered a case under the Explosives Act following the interference of various Dalit organisations. Again, the relevant sections of the PoA Act were not invoked. Later, when the organisations mounted pressure, a DySP level inquiry was carried out. But the investigators ‘failed’ to nab the culprit. The state SC/ST Commission pulled up the district police chief and ordered a reprobe in the case.
Majority of such complainants from the SC/ST comunity, who seek justice, are dissuaded by the police at the very beginning from registering the case under the PoA Act, which stipulates immediate arrest of the accused for committing the non-bailable offence.
But if one tracks the cases that get registered under the Act in the State, it reveals an intriguing phenomenon.
Not even half of the cases reported get chargesheeted. A good majority of cases ‘gets disposed otherwise’ in early stages. If at all they reach the seat of justice, wriggling through the legal maze, convictions would be rare.
If statistics could speak for itself, here are a few dry figures. Out of the 7,367 cases reported under SC/ST PoA Act in Kerala from 2000 up to 2013, (including the cases pending at the beginning of 2000), only 3,685 reached the courts. Out of them only 237 cases ended up in conviction.
Data from past 12 years show that tribals are the worst affected. Out of the total of 1,205 cases, only 688 reached the chargesheet stage. A total of 463 cases were ‘disposed’ through other means. Of the 717 cases that reached the courts during these years, including cases pending from previous period, only 54 trials resulted in conviction. Accused in 663 cases were let off. In the SC category, 5798 cases were reported, 2907 were chargesheeted, while 2718 cases were disposed even before reaching the courts. Only 181 cases resulted in conviction. Justice P N Vijayakumar, Chairman of the state SC-ST Commission, told ‘Express’ that the conviction rate in SC-ST PoA is less than four percentage of the total cases. Most of the crimes do not get registered at all and even if they did, they won’t get properly investigated. “Within a year of its formation, the Commission received 813 complaints. All of them alleging failure of the police department to investigate the cases properly and invoke the provisions of SC-ST PoA,” he said.
Thirteen such complaints were related to unnatural deaths, Vijayakumar said.
The New Indian Express
Cops Cool to PoA Act, Dalits Upset
Police officials in the state are shying away from including the provisions of the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act (SC/ST PoA Act) while filing chargesheets in the court in relevant cases, if the complaints piling up before the State SC/ST Commission are any indication.
Take the case of V Laxmi, a Dalit widow from Cherukunnu near here, who has approached the commission against the dropping of the Act’s provisions, from a chargesheet based on a police complaint preferred by her.
Laxmi, a government employee, in her petition says her problems began after she decided to shift from a Dalit colony to the newly built house in a predominantly upper caste locale. She had faced stiff opposition from her neighbours during the construction of her home. After she moved in along with her three children, a police officer barged in to her home and allegedly threatened her. Even more unnerving is the case of Koyyon Sheeja, living at Chal near Azhikkal, whose house was attacked with a crude country bomb on May 22, 2011.
The attack, Sheeja suspected, was the latest in a series of atrocities perpetrated by a neighbour against whom she had filed two complaints under the PoA Act. The fear-stricken Dalit family lodged another complaint with the Valapattanam police, but they refused to register a case initially.
Deccan Herald
Dalits unite for a cause
Mangalore, March 5, 2014, DHNS:
Various Dalit Sangharsh Samiti units that had remained disintegrated for long time, have now united and created a forum - Dakshina Kannada Zilla Dalit Sanghatenagala Okkuta, to fight for the cause of Dalits in a combined way, by keeping aside their idealogical differences.
Four organisations, namely DSS Ambedkarvada, DSS Nagavara Bana, DSS Bhimavada and DSS Dr B R Ambedkarvada have jointly formed the forum and for the first time organised a district-level Dalits convention at SDM Law College on Sunday.
Addressing the gathering, Dalit leader and progressive thinker Jayan Malpe regretted that none of the three Estates of the Constitution, including the most significant Judiciary system is not in favour of Dalits. Intervention of vested interests in the judiciary system, has blocked Dalits from getting justice when they meet atrocity, he said referring to a few examples.
Jayan Malpe analysed a few aspects that have led to the disintegration of Dalit movement and gave a call to all Dalit organisations and individuals to forget their differences and fight to get justice. “Dalit organisations have split into various units like Ambedkarvada, Marxsvada, Gandhivada and Maovada which is the result of Dalits failing to understand Ambedkar.
We have failed to understand the religious and political views of Dr B R Ambedkar. His prominence has been made to limit for Ambedkar Jayanthi celebrations. The united Dalit movement that was led by writers like Devanoor Mahadeva and Siddhalingaiah, does not exist anymore,” he lamented.
Inaugurating the convention, Ganapathi PU College Mangalore, Principal Rathnkar Bannadi stressed on the need to educate Dalit students to climb the ladder. Let the government provide quality education to Dalits and also fill the vacant backlog posts, he demanded.
In his introductory remarks, Dalita Sangharsha Samithi leader P Keshav said that the forum has decided to observe Ambedkar Jayanthi, unitedly from this year, thus putting an end to different programmes that were organised by various Dalit units.
The form has also placed several demands before the government including, providing career guidance training to educated Dalit youth, fill backlog posts, denotify D C Manna land taken over by the forest department, construct Ambedkar Bhavan in Urva Store.
The Hindu
Students agitate for hostel building
Road blockade staged on arterial Chennnai-Kolkata highway.
Hundreds of Dalit students staged a road blockade on the arterial Chennai-Kolkata highway and later laid a siege to Prakasam Bhavan hereon Wednesday protesting against the dilapidated condition of the AP State Social Welfare Hostel-I in the city.
The hostel inmates came in a huge procession from Mamidpalem and obstructed plying of vehicles on the expressway before swarming Prakasam Bhavan demanding construction of new hostel building for them.
They later staged a massive demonstration in front the Collectorate to highlight the poor maintenance of the hostel which is now in a rented building.
Hostel secretary G. Gopal Rao said it was unfortunate that though the State government had sanctioned Rs. 2 crore for construction of the building, suitable land had not been allotted for the purpose.
A delegation of students’ leaders submitted a memorandum to Collector G.S.R.K.R.Vijaykumar.
Even as the Collector suggested a site near S.N. Padu on the city outskirts for the purpose, the students insisted that the hostel should be constructed in the heart of the city.
Road blockade staged on arterial Chennnai-Kolkata highway
News Monitor by Girish Pant
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of “Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC”)
Pl visit on FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/
..............................
Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of “Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC”)
Pl visit on FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/
..............................
Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
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