Uttarakhand village tense after dalits refused temple entry

Dalits Media Watch

News Updates 11.04.14

Uttarakhand village tense after dalits refused temple entry- The Times Of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Uttarakhand-village-tense-after-dalits-refused-temple-entry/articleshow/33516082.cms

On Introducing Ambedkar- EPW

http://www.epw.in/commentary/introducing-ambedkar.html

The Times Of India

Uttarakhand village tense after dalits refused temple entry

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Uttarakhand-village-tense-after-dalits-refused-temple-entry/articleshow/33516082.cms

DEHRADUN: Weeks ahead of Lok Sabha polls, tension gripped the remote Kanora village of Kashipur after a group of Dalit women were allegedly denied entry into a temple to offer prayers. 

On a complaint from the Dalits, senior police officials rushed to the village and ensured that the "pooja" by Dalit women was performed, in the presence of a police team. 

Keeping in mind the exigencies of the situation and the Lok Sabha polling here onMay 7, a team of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was stationed in the village. 

Kashipur police booked members of Saini Samaj under the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/STs Act and arrested one person on Wednesday. 

"I went there on Tuesday to inspect the situation, and found it under control," ASP Kashipur Devendra Pincha told TOI. 

The police official said a group of Dalit women went to offer prayers in the temple on the last day of Navratra, but they were denied entry by members of Saini Samaj. The religious ceremony was later carried out with police presence, he said. 

The ASP said it did not appear to be a case of deliberate disruption of law and order, but one of personal enmity. 

"A meeting between the two communities was held and both have been requested to maintain peace and not indulge in any unlawful activity," said Pincha. 

A PAC team is stationed in the village as a precautionary measure, and is likely to be withdrawn by Thursday if the tension abates.

EPW

On Introducing Ambedkar

http://www.epw.in/commentary/introducing-ambedkar.html

For an act of representation by savarnas to seem fair and unremarkable to dalits, we need to have achieved a society in which to be a dalit is not a stigma, and to be a savarna is not a marker of superior status. Until that day arrives in India, the dalit objection to B R Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste being introduced and annotated by savarnas will remain a worthy objection.

News Monitor by Girish Pant

.Arun Khote
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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.