Dalits Media Watch
Dalit rights, poverty, safety for woman, end to corruption, proper implementation of Forest Rights Act, Right to Education, Right to Information and MGNREGA, equality for minorities were some of the issues put forth as members of the civil society sought to bring politicians towards setting up a specific agenda for the polls.
"Political parties must be careful and must not form their manifestos on their own. They must take proper representation from the people and seek their help in framing the laws. These laws must be discussed and debated," said Justice Surendranath Bhargav.
But that was not to be. Cries for a respectful right for minorities, a fearless world for women or students being picked up by police and branded as terrorists or that of untouchables were answered by how each party was better than the other by the CPI, CPM, AAP, BSP, BJP and the Congress.
"We are all talking of the symptoms without addressing the disease," felt Dr Virendra Singh, AAP's candidate from Jaipur. For Congress it was the sheer mandate for decades that proved them better than the others.
Nikhil Dey of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) intervened and demanded that the RTI be extended to all public, religious and social organizations. "Its ambit should also be extended to cover NGOs, trade unions, cooperative societies and even the media. There should be transparency and every question should be answered else there must be provisions for a fine," said Dey clearing setting the agenda for the government ahead.
"We should all work towards unity and not bring in more divisions. But it is often the government that acts against the Constitution. If someone raises a voice against it the government should answer it and not term the protestors as working against the country or terrorist. And of course, we want a place where civil protests, either in Delhi or Jaipur, can be held. The Constitution provides for peaceful protest in a democracy and Statue Circle in Jaipur and a better place than Jantar Mantar in Delhi should be earmarked for such protests," said noted social worker Aruna Roy.
News Updates 25.03.14
Act to curb abuse of women sought- Deccan Chronicle
Of love and its demons in the battle for Dharmapuri- The Hindu
'Vote Only for Party that Supports SC/STs'- The New Indian Express
First dialogue between civil society, political parties sets the agenda for polls- The Times Of India
Deccan Chronicle
Act to curb abuse of women sought
Hyderabad: Self-help groups of women who have lost their husbands and voluntary organisations working for them want political parties to include in their manifesto the promise to bring about an Act to prevent atrocities against these women on the lines of the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act.
Representatives of such organisations met TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana PCC president Ponnala Laxmaiah and YSR Congress leaders asking for enactment of the “Prevention of Atrocities against Women Act” to prevent using abusive words against them. They demanded an end to discrimination against them in social parties and functions in villages where it is still felt that a widow is a bad omen.
Y. Rama of the widows’ self-help group of Torrur in Warangal said, “Our group have 15,000 members across the state. We are sharing our experiences of psychological torture meted out in society. People think that we are bad omen. With the SC/ST Atrocities Act in vogue, people are cautious of abusing or ill treating dalits and tribals. In social gatherings and marriages, we are still abused. After the husband’s death, for 10 days it’s hell for us. The practice that is rampant in villages is that relatives come in and give white saris, white bangles and flowers and again remove them.”
Many of the widows are young, aged around 25, whose husbands have died in accidents or due to alcohol abuse or illnesses. T. Ahalya of Dantalapalli in Narsingampet in Warangal, who is a tailor, said, “There is no respect for us in society. Sexual abuse is very common. People don’t invite us to functions. Men pass lewd comments when we walk in the streets in villages and towns.”
Executive director of Balavikasa NGO, S. Shoury Reddy, said, “In the modern age it is a shame for our society to practise this discrimination. Our internal survey indicates 28 per cent of widows have committed or attempted to commit suicide for not being able to cope with psychological, social and financial problems.”
“Widows are looking for security. An Act can ensure that security and dignity to them. Being a single head of the family, it is becoming too burdensome for young widows to educate their children. Hence, along with increased widows’ pension, special packages must be introduced for young widows with children studying.” he added
The Hindu
Of love and its demons in the battle for Dharmapuri
Riven with the aftershocks of a tragic love story, the constituency appears divided on community lines
Just a little away from Natham Colony at Naikkankottai, the epicentre of a tragic love story that shook the conscience of Tamil Nadu last year, Dalits of Vellalapatti still feel its aftershocks.
Ilavarasan from the community married Divya, a Vanniyar, setting off a series of events that led to the young man’s death. The police say he committed suicide after she disowned the marriage under pressure from her community. The social consequence of the episode has been, however, a divide between Backward Caste sections and Dalits in parts of the State. For many in the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency, their voting decisions will depend on which side of the divide they stand.
“In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, we voted for political parties irrespective of who the candidate was. This time however, we will vote for our community,” says Ilakkiyam, a Dalit woman, who is leaving for Bangalore next week to find work.
Krishnaveni, Ilavarasan’s mother, says the relationship of Dalits with the landowning Vanniyars has soured. No longer are Vanniyars willing to employ Dalits to work their land. Many in the Scheduled Caste community across Dharmapuri have begun migrating seasonally to other States in search of work, putting their families under extreme pressure.
The grieving mother says that while the death of her son was a personal loss, the repercussions of the love affair go beyond the realm of the personal.
“In the past six months, this has become an unbearable livelihood issue. Our income has plummeted. We have been set back by 20 years. We believe our vote this time will decide our future,” she says. The women in the villages, where toilets are few, fear even using the surrounding lands to answer nature’s call.
Ms. Krishnaveni says she is even willing to campaign for those espousing the Dalit cause.
Without exception, the community members, in over 15 villages this reporter visited, pledged their support to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, led by Thol. Thirumavalavan. The Dalit party is in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which looks set to gain from this consolidated vote bank, despite fielding a candidate from the Vanniyar community.
But in Vanniyar pockets, a counter-polarisation seems to be building up. On almost every wall is painted the “Mango,” the election symbol of the Pattali Makkal Katchi. Its founder, S. Ramadoss, has accused Dalit youth of enticing girls from other communities with an eye on their wealth or for extortion. The party has fielded his son and former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss as its candidate in the constituency.
The people of Sellankottai, where Divya lives, and nearby places say their vote would be for those who have taken up “burning issues” affecting the community and its women in particular. “Whatever Ayya (Dr. Ramadoss) is saying is the reality,” says Jeyaraman, an agriculturist, recollecting a number of cases filed against Vanniyar youth in the area under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The tremors of the Ilavarasan episode are palpable in faraway Pennagaram, where those from Sellankottai have taken up electioneering for the PMK. While the Vanniyars are considered the largest vote bank in the constituency, Dalits are a close second.
Sampath Kumar, political commentator and Professor at the Asian College of Journalism, says the campaign which the PMK undertook to unite all non-Dalit communities may benefit the party in Dharmapuri, which has sizable non-Vanniyar Backward Caste and minority vote banks. The Communist parties also have a strong presence in Harur, but are not in the fray this time.
The PMK’s victory may hinge on the extent to which the two principal Dravidian parties, which have won here twice each in the past, make inroads into Vanniyar votes.
The New Indian Express
'Vote Only for Party that Supports SC/STs'
Leaders of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities gathered here to celebrate the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, 2014 Amendment Ordinance that was passed in Parliament recently.
For them, it was the greatest milestone achieved in the Dalit history. Representatives from nearly 500 Dalit human rights organisations across the country, who formed the National Coalition for Strengthening PoA Act, gathered at the one-day State-level consultation on SC/ST PoA Amendment Ordinance 2014, here on Sunday.
They expressed their deep gratitude over the passing of the amendment ordinance.
With elections around the corner, the SC/ST community representatives demanded both National and State political parties to include the ordinance in their political manifesto, if they needed the community’s support.
“Now that the Ordinance is passed, our next focus should be on enforcing this law with immediate effect in the Parliamentary session soon after the elections. This is possible only if State political parties, who pledge their support to the SC/ST community, promise in their manifesto to bring in the Act in the next six months in the new government that is formed at the Centre,” said Ramesh Nathan, general secretary, National Dalit Movement for Justice.
“Our support in this upcoming election will be to the party which comes with a support system for SC/ST people. This includes budget allocation, providing housing aid and employment for the community people, and also bringing in legislations to enforce it,” he added.
It is said that this Amendment Ordinance 2014, which is a result of intensive work put forth in the past five years, will be benefiting more than 240 million Dalit and Adivasi communities in the country. “It would ensure them speedy justice, the leaders said.
Leaders from SC/ST communities educated people about the rights that they can demand and spoke to them about the amendment ordinance, at the event.
“There are seven major amendments that are proposed in the ordinance that will enhance the living condition of Dalits and Adivasis. The amendments include addition of new category of offences to the existing punishable offence. These include, forcing Dalit people to dig graves and engage in manual scavenging a punishable offence,” said Ramesh Nathan.
Besides the demands, a status report in the form of a book ‘Justice Denied - People Betrayed’ was released by V Vasanthidevi, former Vice-Chancellor, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University. The book delved on the atrocities against the Dalit community people.
“The book is a reflection of how the criminal justice system has failed miserably to protect the rights of Dalits and Adivasis in Tamil Nadu. It is high time that people take notice of these things and fight together for justice that has for long been denied for these people,” said Vasanthi Devi.
The one-day consultation programme was attended by various other guests that include R Ramamoorthy, retired judge, Madras High Court, and writer and columnist Geetha.
The Times Of India
First dialogue between civil society, political parties sets the agenda for polls
JAIPUR: Oratory skills, a hiccup or two forgone, scored better once again when pitched against sharp demands. Meant to be the first of a series of dialogues between the civil society and representatives of political parties for enabling the voter to make the right choice, politicians managed to maneuver the sharp edges set forth as the three-hour discussion by the Right to Information Manch, Rajasthan, unfolded here on 'What kind of India do we want.'
Dalit rights, poverty, safety for woman, end to corruption, proper implementation of Forest Rights Act, Right to Education, Right to Information and MGNREGA, equality for minorities were some of the issues put forth as members of the civil society sought to bring politicians towards setting up a specific agenda for the polls.
"Political parties must be careful and must not form their manifestos on their own. They must take proper representation from the people and seek their help in framing the laws. These laws must be discussed and debated," said Justice Surendranath Bhargav.
But that was not to be. Cries for a respectful right for minorities, a fearless world for women or students being picked up by police and branded as terrorists or that of untouchables were answered by how each party was better than the other by the CPI, CPM, AAP, BSP, BJP and the Congress.
"We are all talking of the symptoms without addressing the disease," felt Dr Virendra Singh, AAP's candidate from Jaipur. For Congress it was the sheer mandate for decades that proved them better than the others.
"People's choice cannot be questioned and it is they who have been selecting us over the others. We have brought the country ahead from the time when it could not make even a pin to a time when it makes modern gadgets. We have taken tribals, dalits and minorities with us," said Archana Sharma, spokesperson of the state Congress. BJP's state spokesperson Kailashnath Bhatt had only the party's dreams for a better India to speak about.
Nikhil Dey of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) intervened and demanded that the RTI be extended to all public, religious and social organizations. "Its ambit should also be extended to cover NGOs, trade unions, cooperative societies and even the media. There should be transparency and every question should be answered else there must be provisions for a fine," said Dey clearing setting the agenda for the government ahead.
"We should all work towards unity and not bring in more divisions. But it is often the government that acts against the Constitution. If someone raises a voice against it the government should answer it and not term the protestors as working against the country or terrorist. And of course, we want a place where civil protests, either in Delhi or Jaipur, can be held. The Constitution provides for peaceful protest in a democracy and Statue Circle in Jaipur and a better place than Jantar Mantar in Delhi should be earmarked for such protests," said noted social worker Aruna Roy.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment