[ZESTCaste] After journey from sickle to camera, they have a message for Vidarbha’s farmers

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/After-journey-from-sickle-to-camera-they-have-a-message-for-Vidarbhas-farmers/327139/

After journey from sickle to camera, they have a message for Vidarbha's farmers

Jinal Shah
Posted online: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 2308 hrs IST
Mumbai, June 24

In city to release series of films on 'food sovereignty', Dalit and
peasant women film-makers advise cotton farmers to move to food crops
A group of poor, uneducated Dalit women from Pastapur, a small village
in Andhra Pradesh, is in the city with a piece of advice for
Vidarbha's farmers: Form communities, shift to food crops and stay
strong, not just to survive, but also to live with dignity.
All peasants, these women know a thing or two about living with heads
held high. For they are now in the city as filmmakers, here to release
a series of films on "food sovereignty" in south India.
"The reason Vidarbha's farmers are forced to commit suicide is because
they have nothing with them. They worked on a crop not suiting their
eco-system, they don't have seeds of their own, even manure is
procured from the market, labour is hired, their own lands are leased
out," said Holigeri Chandraumma (62), speaking in Telugu. "They need
community support. Those farmers not cultivating cotton should
encourage others to go back to food crops and be self-sufficient in
terms of own nutrition as well as earning good money," added
Chandramma who, along with 5,000 other Dalit women of the Deccan
Development Society (DDS) from 75 villages of Medak District in Andhra
Pradesh, is actively involved in capturing issues related to
agriculture on camera.
The message comes from lessons learnt the hard way. "Just when things
were going right with our millet crop, the N T Rama Rao government
introduced rice at Rs 2 in the public distribution system. Not just
the landlords, even the daily wage earners making Rs 25 per day got
their ration for the whole month. This not just affected the nutrition
of the family members as dietary patterns changed but also the
cultivating patterns. People became apathetic towards farming, since
rice was easily available," recalls P V Satheesh, director of the DDS.
In 2001, after a few Dalit women from the group were selected to
undergo training in media, the Community Media Trust came into
existence. Since then, the trust has been working on farmers' issues
and their rights.
Today, the trust has 10 cameras plus editing equipment. Many of their
videos have had great impact not just on society but also forced
governments to act. One such instance was the ban on BT Cotton by the
state government. "Our five years of extensive research captured on
film paved the way to a ban on BT Cotton by the AP government," said
Hasangari Narsamma (35). All the women were trained extensively for
eight months, to shoot as well as to edit.
Cameras in tow, they have come a long way from village roads to global
highways, acting both as peasant representatives as well as media
personnel. Their films are not just shown in international and
national film festivals but are also an integral part of biodiversity
conferences in London, having been dubbed in French, German and
Spanish.
"The camera can only record, but at the fundamental level, it is the
issue of food driving us," said Chandramma.
"A big hurdle was that we were all victims of untouchability, but the
camera lifted us from untouchability. We requested one of the upper
caste landlords to allow us to shoot the way they celebrate Dasera. We
were not just allowed into their houses but also into their house
temples," said Begari Laxmi (40), who says her camera is no different
to her from her sickle.

[ZESTCaste] Harsha Kumar flays rasta roko

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20080625044101&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0

SOUTHERN NEWS - ANDHRA PRADESH Jun 26, 2008

Harsha Kumar flays rasta roko
Wednesday June 25 2008 15:02 IST
Express News Service


RAJAHMUNDRY: Amalapuram MP GV Harsha Kumar on Tuesday alleged that
'some Congress leaders' were inciting the upper castes to organise
rasta rokos and resort to violence over the Pottilanka incident.

Talking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, he said those opposed to him
were trying to tarnish his image in the name of Pottilanka incident.
He said while the Dalits were maintaining restraint, while others were
resorting to provocative measures. He said these leaders were
provoking the upper castes to organise protests.

He said he had already briefed the Pradesh Congress Committee and the
All India Congress Committee about the role of some political leaders
in worsening the situation in Pottilanka.

Meanwhile, a fact-finding committee of the Dalit Stree Shakthi (DSS)
on Tuesday alleged that the police were acting in a partisan manner
and were filing cases against the upper castes with inadequate and
inaccurate details.

The committee demanded that the Rajahmundry DSP be transferred as he
was acting in a partisan manner. The committee said that the
provisions under which the cases were being booked were weak.

Dalit Stree Shakthi state convener G Jhansi alleged that some police
officers belonging to upper caste were trying to suppress the facts.
DSS district coordinator J Santoshi Kumari, programme manager GVV
Prakash and others were present.

[ZESTCaste] IIT-Delhi’s expelled Dalit students demand justice

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/iit-delhis-expelled-dalit-students-demand-justice_10064909.html

IIT-Delhi's expelled Dalit students demand justice
June 26th, 2008 - 9:30 pm ICT by IANS -  Email This Post

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Scores of students from the Indian Institute
of Technology- Delhi, Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) Thursday held demonstrations, seeking justice for 28 students
who were expelled from the IIT. "All the students were 'bahujan samaj'
and faced caste-based discrimination and harassment from the faculty
and the administration," Ravindra, one of the expelled students,
alleged.

He said the faculty singled them out as Scheduled Castes or Scheduled
Tribes students and declared them weak students, "incapable of doing
well".

Twenty-eight students were expelled from the IIT-Delhi earlier this
year on the grounds of low academic performance. While 20 of them are
from the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes, the others are from the
general category and the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minority
communities.

The protesters, demonstrating outside the IIT campus, Delhi, argued
that the evaluation and grading system was arbitrary and lacked
transparency. They also said the faculty were influenced by their
personal prejudices in their grading.

"The lives of all of us students have been ruined," said Ravindra added.

The students said that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes
(NCSC) has informed them that it is "unconstitutional to expel
students on the grounds of low academic performance".

The commission has asked IIT-Delhi director Surendra Prasad to
reconsider the decision and has given the administration 15 days' time
from June 17 to reply.

Following the commission's directive, the IIT-Delhi has set up a
committee to review the situation.

But the students were not satisfied.

"Dalit students who have deposed before the (review) committee have
expressed their complete dissatisfaction as the committee was not
willing to listen to the students' version," said a protestor.

The protesters demand the 28 students' expulsion be immediately
revoked and that the existing review committee be disbanded. They want
an independent committee comprising "socially sensitive members" to be
constituted under the aegis of the government or the human resource
development ministry to look into the issue of caste-based
discrimination at the IIT-Delhi.

They said that every year there are a few cases of Dalit students
being expelled because of "low academic performance" but the number
was quite high this year.

Anoop, a JNU student and convener of the National Dalit Student Forum,
said the institute needs to "create an atmosphere where the students
are not considered weak because of their caste".

[ZESTCaste] Fwd: IIT Delhi: Dalit Students Forum For Justice

[Siddhartha Kumar]

-- Forwarded message --

Dear Friends,

IIT Delhi: Dalit Students Forum For Justice



In the beginning of this month, IIT Delhi, citing 'very low' academic
performance as the reason, served termination notices to 28 students
coming from 1st, 2nd and Final Years of the B.Tech. Programs.
Majority of the terminated students are SC/ST (20), with rest from
General Category primarily including OBC and Minority students. All
these students were asked to leave the campus immediately.



There is a complete lack of transparency in the Grading System
followed by IIT Delhi giving Absolute Powers to the Professors and
leaving the fate of the students on the mercy of the faculty members.
The arbitrariness of such system is the basis of the alleged poor
academic performance. Though IIT Delhi claims to follow a 'relative'
evaluation system, however, the   Administration is highly secretive
and does not disclose any information, which can be used to make any
relative evaluation and comparisons. The Administration is not even
disclosing the complete list of terminated students, despite repeated
requests to the Administration by the students.



With dreams shattered and   taken aback by the highhandedness of the
Administration, the terminated Dalit students were forced to approach
the National Commission for   Scheduled Castes for redressing of their
grievances. The students narrated their experiences of Caste Based
Humiliation and the Discrimination they faced in campus, both from the
Faculty & the Administration. The Chairperson of the Commission, Sh
Buta Singh called the Director of IIT Delhi for explanation on 17th
June 2008, wherein the Director underplayed the issue by giving wrong
information that only 12 students were terminated of which 7 belong to
SC/ST.  Sh Buta Singh has given 2 weeks time for the administration to
reply back to the Commission.



Meanwhile, IIT Delhi has formed a Review Committee headed by a Retired
Dalit Professor with some Internal Faculty Members, which has started
the inquiry into the termination. However, the student who have
deposed in front of this committee have expressed their
dissatisfaction with the committee, as it is not revoking the
termination also not redressing the caste discrimination faced by the
students.



Our Justifiable Demands



·Immediate repeal of the termination order of all 28 students.

·Nullification of the existing committee to look into the
alleged termination of students.

·An independent Committee headed by an outside Expert,
comprising of Socially Sensitive members to be constituted under the
Aegis of Government/HRD Ministry to look into the caste based
Discrimination in IIT Delhi.



We Appeal



The Progressive People, Students & Supporters of Human Rights &
Dignity to join hands in IIT Delhi Students for Struggle for Justice &
join the Demonstration At IIT Delhi Main Gate on 26th June 2008 at
10:30am



Contact: , Anoop: 09313432410; Sanjeev: 09958797409,  Chandra Nigam
9899870597 Dr Ajita Rao 9818929480 ; Rajesh  09868664313

__-

Sanjeev Kumar: NCDHR

[ZESTCaste] AP journalists get bail

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/26ap.htm

AP journalists get bail

Mohammed Siddique in Hyderabad | June 26, 2008 | 17:55 IST

A Hyderabad metropolitan court granted bail to the editor of Telugu
daily Andhra Jyothy, K Srinivas and two reporters, two days after they
were arrested under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They
were released on bail on a surety of Rs 10,000 each.

The judge ordered the two reporters Vasmi Krishna and N Srinivas to
report to the Banjara Hills police station once a week.

Though Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and Home
Minister K Jana Reddy has promised that the government will not oppose
their bail, the public prosecutor opposed it in court.

The three journalists were arrested Tuesday night on a complaint of a
Dalit organisation Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti that the newspaper
employees had abused their leader Manda Krishna Madiga on his caste.

The action has created a big storm pitting journalists against the
government. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists continued
its protest on the second day on Thursday. Journalists took out a
rally and attempted to march towards the state assembly. However the
police stopped it midway.

[ZESTCaste] Uneasy calm prevails in Pottilanka

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20080624031043&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0

SOUTHERN NEWS - ANDHRA PRADESH Jun 26, 2008

Uneasy calm prevails in Pottilanka
Tuesday June 24 2008 13:32 IST
Express News Service

POTTILANKA: Even after 48 hours of the clash which left one person
dead and 12 injured in Pottilanka in East Godavari district, the
village continues to be tense with the community elders of one group
trying to organise a meeting.

However, the police claimed that the situation was normal.

Tension returned to the village this evening when rumours spread that
the woman, with whom an auto driver of the victim's commmunity
allegedly misbehaved two days ago in the village, attempted to commit
suicide.

Elders of the woman's community reportedly assembled near Kadiyam
vilage on Monday and discussed the future course of action.
Rajahmundry DSP S Saibaba said the police had so far arrested 29
persons in the case.

According to a complaint lodged by the victim's (who died in clashes)
community, about 100 persons raided the colony with lethal weapons.
Meanwhile, the funeral of Palli Veera Pandu, who died in the clashes,
passed off peacefully in the village on Sunday night.

Suspended: Superintendent of Police Y Nagi Reddy suspended Rajahmundry
Rural CI L Ankaiah and Kadiyam SI Satyanarayana for failing to control
the situation in the village.

A departmental inquiry has been ordered to go into the cause of the
incident. SC and ST Commission Chairman M Nagarjuna directed
Rajahmundry RDO M Jitendra to submit a report on the incident.

[ZESTCaste] Temple talks fail

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20080624234124&Page=T&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0

SOUTHERN NEWS - TAMIL NADU Jun 26, 2008

Temple talks fail
Wednesday June 25 2008 10:02 IST
Express News Service

SALEM: The conciliatory talks between Dalits and Vanniayars to resolve
the rights of the respective communities over the Draupati Temple at
Kandhampatti held here on Tuesday failed.

The talks, organised as per a High Court direction was presided over
by Minister for Agriculture, Veerapandi S Arumugam.

The Dalits were reportedly denied the right of worshipping inside the
temple sanctum and were not included in the trust of the temple. As
the two sides stuck to their respective positions, the matter was
referred to the High Court. In the meantime, the temple was locked.

As both sides continued to dispute over the resolutions, the report of
the meeting will be submitted to the Madras High Court, District
Collector N Madhivanan said.

[ZESTCaste] Upper castes blockade NH 5

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20080625034507&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0

SOUTHERN NEWS - ANDHRA PRADESH Jun 26, 2008

Upper castes blockade NH 5
Wednesday June 25 2008 14:06 IST
Express News Service

VEMAGIRI (EG Dist): The Pottilanka caste clash took a turn for the
worse today as the upper caste people blocked the busy Chennai-Kolkata
National Highway No 5 at the key Vemagiri Junction for over seven
hours, braved lathicharge twice, vandalised at will and bashed up cops
and scribes alike.

The upper caste ire was directed against the police for not
registering a case over the complaint filed by the upper caste woman,
who was allegedly molested by the Dalits. They were also livid at what
they felt was a 'biased' media reportage of the events in Pottilanka.

The protest was organised by the Kapunadu and was led by its State
president Pilla Venkateswara Rao and East Godavari district unit chief
P Manga Rao.

Hundreds of Kapu youths gathered at the Vemagiri Junction, deflated
lorry tyres and damaged the glass panes of several stranded vehicles.

The protesters demanded that cases be registered against the Dalit
youth, who misbehaved with a woman and attacked the Kapu youth.

They alleged that though a complaint was lodged with the Kadiyam
police, no cases were booked so far. They also demanded that
Small-Scale Industries Minister Gollapalli Surya Rao and Amalapuram MP
GV Harshakumar, both Dalits, resign their posts and burnt them in
effigy.

They also wanted that Rajahmundry rural CI and Kadiyam SI, who have
been suspended in the wake of the Pottilanka violence, be reinstated.

The angry protesters paid no heed to the pleadings of the officials
and as the situation went out of hands, the cops had to wield the
lathis to ease the traffic congestion.

However, the youths regrouped and pelted stones, injuring traffic SIs
R Venugopal and A Sanyasi Rao and homeguard P Nageswara Rao and two
media lensmen.

Alleging biased reporting and suppression of facts, the protesters
chased the mediapersons and even tried to snatch their cameras away.
Utter chaos reigned supreme for over seven hours as frightened traders
pulled down their shutters and harried vehicle drivers picked up wordy
duels with the protesters.

Giving in to the protests, District Collector Gopalakrishna Dwivedi
and SP Y Nagi Reddy came to the spot at about 3 p.m and held parleys
with the Kapunadu leaders.

They assured the protesters that their demands would be looked into.
After this, the blockade was lifted.

[ZESTCaste] God as Political Philosopher: Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism By Kancha Ilaiah

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=VO29HpufYUgC&dq=%22kancha+ilaiah%22&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=bw5_V1Y68f&sig=SC1ClL5mJUAGbf9DAEbloPBdNAU#PPP15,M1


God as Political Philosopher: Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism By Kancha Ilaiah

[ZESTCaste] Andhra Jyothi editor held amid drama

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/25/stories/2008062550310100.htm

Front Page

Andhra Jyothi editor held amid drama

Special Correspondent

Two reporters also arrested under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act

HYDERABAD: The row between the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS)
and a vernacular daily Andhra Jyothi took a dramatic turn on Tuesday,
when police arrested the newspaper editor K. Srinivas and two
reporters under the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act.

The arrest of the journalists was based on a complaint lodged by MRPS
leader Manda Krishna Madiga alleging that the action of Andhra Jyothi
staffers in slapping an effigy with footwear attracted the provisions
of the Act. This alleged incident took place near Jubilee Hills check
post during a rally taken out by newspaper employees in protest
against the attack on the Andhra Jyothi office by MRPS activists on
May 26.

They were protesting against a report in the daily describing some
unnamed leaders belonging to backward classes as 'saleable
commodities'.

Tuesday's high drama unfolded in the afternoon, when police summoned
two reporters of the daily to Jubilee Hills police station and
announced their arrest. The newspaper staff rushed to the station and
objected to the manner in which the arrests were carried out.
Succumbing to the pressure, the police took the arrested reporters to
the daily's office in Jubilee Hills where arguments continued for well
over two hours over the propriety of the arrest.

Legal opinion


The police maintained that they had sought legal opinion on whether
the act of smacking the effigy with chappals attracted the provisions
of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and that they were
proceeding with the arrests only after their legal counsels felt there
was a prima facie case against the journalists.

After several rounds of protests and gherao by the newspaper staff,
the zonal DCP declared that the editor Mr. K. Srinivas was also being
arrested in the same case.

Till last reports came in, the newspaper staff were not allowing the
police contingent to leave their office along with the three arrested
persons.

[ZESTCaste] AP: Journalists arrested over article on Dalits

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/24ap.htm

AP: Journalists arrested over article on Dalits

PTI | June 24, 2008 | 22:56 IST


Amid high drama, the editor and two journalists of a leading Telugu
daily Andhra Jyothi were arrested on Tuesday night for publishing an
allegedly offensive story on Dalit organisations and its leaders.

A police team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramakrishnaiah,
went to the daily's office at Jubilee Hills and took its Editor K
Srinivas and two journalists Vamsi and Srinivas into custody.

High drama and tension prevailed as the employees of the newspaper
resisted the arrest move and raised slogans against the Congress
government and Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

The police said the arrests were made by invoking the provisions of
the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act following publication of a lead story in the second
largest circulated daily of Andhra Pradesh last month that criticised
unnamed Dalit leaders and their organisations.

The police team had a heated argument with the newspaper's managing
director V Radhakrishna and other staffers over the arrest.

The entire staff came out to voice their protest, squatted on the
staircase and tried to prevent the police from taking away their
colleagues.

Condemning the arrests, Radhakrishna said, "This is a gross misuse of
SC/ST Act".

"Already our office has been attacked and now our journalists are
arrested. After this, what fundamental rights do we journalists
have?", he said.

The arrests were made based on a complaint by a Dalit outfit Madiga
Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) which is spearheading a movement for
increasing reservations for Madigas, sub-sect of SCs.?

[ZESTCaste] MRPS for arrest of Andhra Jyothi MD

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/26/stories/2008062654110400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

MRPS for arrest of Andhra Jyothi MD

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) has announced a
week-long agitation from Thursday demanding the arrest of Andhra
Jyothi Managing Director V. Radhakrishna in the case against him under
provisions of SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

At a press conference here on Wednesday, MRPS founder president Manda
Krishna warned that the failure to arrest Mr. Radhakrishna could lead
to law and order problems.

Mr. Radhakrishna, he said, was the main accused in the cases booked
against the daily and its staff for alleged defamatory writings and
thrashing of an effigy with chappals.

He said the MRPS would also organise public meetings to educate
members of Madiga community to quit Telugu Desam and TRS in the wake
of Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu and Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, presidents
of the two parties respectively, condemning the arrest of Andhra
Jyothi Editor K. Srinivas.

Such meetings would be held in every place that Mr. Naidu and Mr. Rao
visited. The TDP and TRS chiefs had indirectly supported the thrashing
of his effigy, he added. Mr. Krishna alleged that by giving a call to
TRS cadre to stage dharnas against the editor's arrest, Mr.
Chandrasekhar Rao had exposed his bias in favour of the upper castes.
The MRPS would mobilise Madiga community against Mr. Rao with the
objective of forcing him to quit public life, he said.

[ZESTCaste] A.P. media up in arms against Editor’s arrest

[Siddhartha Kumar]

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/26/stories/2008062660881000.htm

Andhra Pradesh

A.P. media up in arms against Editor's arrest

HYDERABAD: Media and major political parties were up in arms
throughout Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday to protest against the arrest
of the Editor of Andhra Jyothi, K. Srinivas, along with two reporters
of the daily under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Mr. Srinivas and the two journalists were produced before the VI
Metropolitan Magistrate well past Tuesday midnight and remanded to
judicial custody for 14 days. They were shifted to the Chanchalguda
Central Prison on Wednesday morning after detention overnight in the
Banjara Hills police station.

The Andhra Jyothi management moved a bail petition in the Andhra
Pradesh High Court and the court posted the matter for Thursday. The
government, which was widely criticised for the arrests, refused to
intervene in the matter, barring an assurance by Home Minister K. Jana
Reddy not to oppose their bail petition.

Mr. Jana Reddy faced the brunt of the journalists' protest when
reporters remained standing at his press conference and staged a
walkout after raising slogans against the "efforts to stifle the voice
of the press." Mr. Jana Reddy was grilled for his response to the open
threats held out by Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi leader Manda
Krishna to attack Andhra Jyothi's offices. The Home Minister, however,
defended the action claiming "arrests under the SC/ST (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act can be made at anytime."

[ZESTCaste] Fwd: The Indian Jews - "Brahminism"

[Ayesha Matthan]

-- Forwarded message --

 COUNTERPOINT *The Indian Jews*  *To be against "Brahminism" is part
and parcel of the political correctness of progressive scholars in
twenty-first-century India, much like being against Muslims is part of the
message of their Hindutva colleagues.* [image:
...]Jakob
De Roover  | e-mail | one page format | feedback: send -
read
 |

Social science debate in India has been hijacked by the struggle between
secularism and *Hindutva *for decades now. Usually the *Sangh Parivar* is
blamed for this turn of events. However, it could well be argued that the *
Hindutva* ideologues simply adopted the stance of the secularists.  Perhaps
the best illustration is the case of anti-Brahminism.

To be against "Brahminism" is part and parcel of the political correctness
of progressive scholars in twenty-first-century India, much like being
against Muslims is part of the message of their *Hindutva* colleagues. This
indicates that something is very wrong with the Indian academic debate.
Promotion of animosity towards a religious tradition or its followers is not
acceptable today, but it becomes truly perverse when the intelligentsia
endorses it.

In Europe, it took horrendous events to put an end to the propaganda of
anti-Semitism, which had penetrated the media and intelligentsia. It
required decades of incessant campaigning before anti-Semitism was relegated
to the realm of intellectual and political bankruptcy. In India,
anti-Brahminism is still the proud slogan of many political parties and the
credential of the radical intellectual.

Some may find this parallel between anti-Brahminism and anti-Semitism
ill-advised. Nevertheless, it has strong grounds.

First, there are striking similarities between the stereotypes about
Brahmins in India and those about Jews in the West. Jews have been described
as devious connivers, who would do anything for personal gain. They were
said to be secretive and untrustworthy, manipulating politics and the
economy. In India, Brahmins are all too often characterised in the same way.

Second, the stereotypes about the Jews were part of a larger story about a
historical conspiracy in which they had supposedly exploited European
societies. To this day, the stories about a Jewish conspiracy against
humanity prevail. The anti-Brahminical stories sound much the same, but have
the Brahmins plotting against the oppressed classes in Indian society.

In both cases, historians have claimed to produce "evidence" that cannot be
considered so by any standard. Typical of the ideologues of anti-Brahminism
is the addition of *ad hoc* ploys whenever their stories are challenged by
facts. When it is pointed out that the Brahmins have not been all that
powerful in most parts of the country, or that they were poor in many
regions, one reverts to the image of the Brahmin manipulating kings and
politicians behind the scene. We cannot find empirical evidence, it is said,
because of the secretive way in which Brahminism works.

Third, both in anti-Semitic Europe and anti-Brahminical India, this goes
together with the interpretation of contemporary events in terms of these
stories. One does not really analyse social tragedies and injustices, but
approaches them as confirmations of the ideological stories. All that goes
wrong in society is blamed on the minority in question. Violence against
Muslims? It must be the "Brahmins" of the Sangh Parivar. Opposition against
Christian missionaries and the approval of anti-conversion laws? "Ah, the
Brahmins fear that Christianity will empower the lower castes." Members of a
scheduled caste are killed? "The Brahmin wants to show the Dalit his true
place in the caste hierarchy." An OBC member loses his job; a lower caste
girl is raped? "The upper castes must be behind it." So the story goes.

This leads to a fourth parallel: in both cases, resentment against the
minority in question is systematically created and reinforced among the
majority.

The Jews were accused of sucking all riches out of European societies. In
the decades before the second World War, more and more people began to
believe that it was time "to take back what was rightfully theirs." In India
also, movements have come into being that want to set right "the historical
injustices of Brahminical oppression." Some have even begun to call upon
their followers to "exterminate the Brahmins."

In Europe, state policies were implemented that expressed the discrimination
against Jews. For a very long time, they could not hold certain jobs and
participate in many social and economic activities. In India, one seems to
be going this way with policies that claim to correct "the historical
exploitation by the upper castes." It is becoming increasingly difficult for
Brahmins to get access to certain jobs. In both cases, these policies have
been 

[ZESTCaste] Dr Shyamprasad is with me - please call

[Benjamin Kaila]

Dear friends,
 
Dr Shyamprasad, best known for his contribution as the author of Thorat 
committee report that exposed the descrimination of Dalits in AIIMS, New Delhi 
is staying with me. He will be here today till evening. If anyone is interested 
to talk to him personally, please call him at 818.248.5889.
He is very interested to talk to activists in US.
 
Sorry for the delay in sending this message.
Thanks
Benjamin P Kaila







--
An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. 
If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to 
society. 
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar
Please visit www.ambedkarscholarship.org or www.friendsforeducation.org 

[ZESTCaste] Tension over desecration of Ambedkar statue

[Pardeep]

 Tension over desecration of Ambedkar 
statuehttp://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=42,6684,0,0,1,0

 TNN, Jun 24, 2008
  RAIPUR, India -- Tension gripped a village in Rajnandgaon district of 
Chhattisgarh on Monday following the desecration of a statue of Baba Saheb 
Ambedkar by unidentified miscreants.


 
Police registered a case and deployed cops at Gopalpur village to prevent any 
untoward incident. "Some people put a garland of shoes on the statue on 
Sunday," Rajnandgaon SP V K Choubey said. Police said Jagatram Sahare, a 
Buddhist, lodged a complaint with Chhuriya police station. Police have detained 
six people for questioning.
 
 Gopalpur is a small village with about 180 families. Most of them belong to 
Mahar community while the others are either STs or OBCs. Choubey said the 
villagers do not share a cordial relation.




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http://dalitindia.blogspot.com/

Know Buddha, Know Life 
No Buddha, No Life..!




   
-
 Get an email ID as [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Click here.

Re: [ZESTCaste] Re: Fw: [grey-youth-movement:816] Dalit internet politics-possiblities and probl

[CHITTIBABU PADAVALA]

Dear Viswanath.
Thanks for posting this in ZestCaste group. But, you posted the incomplete,
uncorrected mail I sent you. Perhaps we should delete this post and use the
corrected version I posted in humanhorizons group.
Chittibabu.


On 6/24/08, shailbruce <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>   More than the commentators, we need discussion and debate among
> ourselves. Many of our people have widely varying and even conflicting
> opinions and perception of the real problem and situation.
>
> -- In ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com , "C.K.
> Vishwanath"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Dear friends,
> > Chittibabu asks about the relevance of internet activism.Please give
> your comments
> > in solidarity,
> > Vishwanath
> >
> 
>

[ZESTCaste] International award for Mr. Kancha Ilaiah (Writer of book named "Why I am Not a Hindu")

[Pardeep]

  JaiBHIM sir & Dear friends,


  I heartily congratulate you sir on this auspicious moment. This book is 
really good & has been compared with many other books like “Annihilation of 
Caste” by Dr B R Ambedkar & Frantz Fanon's "The Wretched of the Earth" by many 
scholars. It was listed as a millennium book by the leading English language 
news-paper "The Pioneer". All those who have read “Annihilation of Caste” by Dr 
B R Ambedkar should also read this book. 
 
 This book "Why i am not a Hindu" by Mr. Kancha Ilaiah is one of the best book 
that i have ever read. The way he represented the whole book is really 
appreciable & hard to put down while reading.


  Mr. Kancha Ilaiah explained in detail about the social, economical & cultural 
differences between the lower caste DalitBahujans & the Upper caste; Brahmin,  
Baniyas & Kshatriyas which plays important role at each & every step of lives – 
childhood (how lower caste children suffer because of casteism; how their 
upcoming is just different from upper caste children & many other ways), family 
life (Relation between wife & husband in upper caste people & lower caste 
people), market relations (How market affects lower caste farmers, workers & 
how lower caste people are exploited by upper caste market holders), jobs (How 
DalitBahujans get lower wages, dirty jobs), Gods & Goddesses (lower caste & 
upper caste people worship are different & lower caste people never allowed to 
worship upper caste Gods), difference between the birth & death ceremonies etc 



  The way he argued on the life of DalitBahujans of India that DalitBahujan 
hardly have anything common (everything is opposite) with social, economical & 
cultural environment of upper caste Hindus is brilliant. Brahmanism mentality 
is just to destroy the DalitBahujan culture & not to give any chance for 
progress.


  I highly appreciate Mr. Kancha Ilaiah’s views on “Neo Kshatriyas emerging 
movement”.  Hope his views on “Neo Kshatriyas” will help many to come out of 
their dream world of Brahmanism.

 
  Once again thanks for writing such a nice book & congratulation on this great 
moment.

 
  JaiBHIM
  ---Pardeep 
  



BODHI-Centre for Adivasi Dalit Bahujan Initiatives <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:   

  Dear all,
  On behalf of BODHI, I am pleased to inform all friends that Prof.Kancha 
Ilaiah got International award  for his book "Why I am Not a Hindu"
  Let  us  join in  the  moment
   
  Thanks and Regards
   
  Chalamalla Venkateshwarlu
Executive Director
 BODHI
 Centre for Adivasi Dalit Bahujan Initiatives
 # 12-13-441, 2nd Floor, Street No.1
 Tarnaka, Secunderabad-500017
 Tel: 040-27017205
 email: 
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   
   
   3 Blacklands Drive, Hayes (Middlesex) UB4 8EU. Tel: 020-8797.3729 E-Mail: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED],com

[ZESTCaste] FW: international award for kancha Ilaiah

[BODHI-Centre for Adivasi Dalit Bahujan Initiatives]

Dear all,

On behalf of BODHI, I am pleased to inform all friends that Prof.Kancha Ilaiah 
got International award  for his book "Why I am Not a Hindu"

Let  us  join in  the  moment



Thanks and Regards



Chalamalla Venkateshwarlu
   Executive Director
BODHI
Centre for Adivasi Dalit Bahujan Initiatives
# 12-13-441, 2nd Floor, Street No.1
Tarnaka, Secunderabad-500017
Tel: 040-27017205
email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]





 3 Blacklands Drive, Hayes (Middlesex) UB4 8EU. Tel: 020-8797.3729 E-Mail: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED],com









From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of bodhi cadbi
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 12:50 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Dalits-International] international award for kancha Ilaiah



I am sending with an attachment file  please find it.



International award  for Kancha Ilaiah's "Why I am Not a Hindu"

 3 Blacklands Drive, Hayes (Middlesex) UB4 8EU. Tel: 020-8797.3729 E-Mail: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED],com




“ Why I am not a Hindu” by Professor Kancha Ilaiah


Chosen for Annual lisa Book Award 2008 to be presented

on 17 July 2008 at Westminster



London Institute of South Asia (LISA) makes an award every year to an author 
from South Asia for a “book that made a difference”. The award is Two Thousand 
Pounds and a return air ticket to receive the award at a ceremony held in 
London. This year, the book chosen for the award is “ Why I am not a Hindu” 
written by Professor Kancha Ilaiah, former Head of the Department of Political 
Science at the Osmania University, Hyderbad, India. The Award Ceremony will be 
held at Thatcher Room, Portcullis Hose, Westminster, London, on July 17. 
Professor Ilaiah will give lecture on BEING AN UNHINDU WRITER after his 
acceptance speech.



Ever since this book was first published in 1996, it did not only become the 
bestseller of the year, it has been declared one of the Five Great Millennium 
Books in Dalitbahujan stream of thought by the Indian National Daily, PIONEER. 
It has influenced a whole range of new discourse on understanding of India and 
South Asia. It has been translated not only into several Indian languages but 
also European languages – French and German. It has been adopted as the common 
core text of New Reading on South Asia by several American and European 
Universities. Most Indian Universities include it in the curriculum of courses 
in Sociology and Anthropology.



The native peoples of India (erstwhile untouchables) called Dalitbahujan by 
Prof. Ilaiah have been denied a separate identity by denying them education; 
they were not even allowed to be lettered. Under British rule, they were given 
an identity; they were grouped into Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes 
(STs) and Other Backward Castes (OBCs). They also got two things they never had 
before – reserved seats in education and right to vote. That caused a slow 
change in the beginning but a veritable revolution in the new millennium.



The caste Hindus are at best 15 % of the population of India today. The 
Dalitbahujan may be as many as 65% of the population depending on who is 
included. Realising the power of the vote, Mahatma Gandhi condescendingly 
called them Harijan (children of Hindu god Hari) and insisted they were Hindus. 
 In 1932, under the Communal Award, the British Government offered them 
‘Separate Electorate’ alongside the faith groups – the Muslims, Sikhs and 
Christians. The leader of the Dalitbahujan, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, accepted the 
Award. But Mahatma Gandhi went on ‘fast unto death’ opposing the principle of 
separate electorate. Mahatma Gandhi pressurised Dr.Ambedkar under the duress 
his death to accept the present principle of Reserved Seats for SCs and STs. 
The pressure worked; Dalitbahujan agreed to ‘Joint Electorate’ under which they 
were put on electoral rolls of the Hindus. That is how the myth of India being 
a Hindu majority country was born.



Universal adult franchise makes Dalitbahujan the majority in India. Dalit 
parties, by themselves or in coalition, rule several states. The voice of 
Dalitbahujan is heard loud and clear all over India; more and more of them are 
seen in high office of state; yet alienation is so acute as to be almost 
unbearable.  The repression of Dalitbahujan is not so overt but it is still 
vicious and highly effective as the Brahmin priest caste is adept at evolving 
covert methods. Complaining about discrimination and securing more places in 
education and in government jobs has run its course; it still leaves 
Dalitbahujan at the bottom of the social pile.



The book “Why I am not a Hindu” is chosen because it has ‘made a difference’ 
since it was first published in 1996. The Constitution of India describes a 
Hindu as one who is ‘not a Muslim, Christian or a Parsi’; the Sikhs, Buddhists, 
Jains and all the animal/ancestor worshipping faiths, are thus denied their 
separate identity. This definition portrays India as overwhelmingly 

[ZESTCaste] AP: Journalists arrested over article on Dalits

[Pardeep]

AP: Journalists arrested over article on Dalits

http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/24ap.htm

June  24, 2008 22:56 IST
   Amid high drama, the editor and two journalists of a leading Telugu daily 
Andhra Jyothi were arrested on Tuesday night for publishing an allegedly 
offensive story on Dalit organisations and its leaders.
A police team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramakrishnaiah, went to 
the daily's office at Jubilee Hills and took its Editor K Srinivas and two 
journalists Vamsi and Srinivas into custody.
High drama and tension prevailed as the employees of the newspaper resisted the 
arrest move and raised slogans against the Congress government and Chief 
Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
The police said the arrests were made by invoking the provisions of the 
stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 
following publication of a lead story in the second largest circulated daily of 
Andhra Pradesh last month that criticised unnamed Dalit leaders and their 
organisations.
The police team had a heated argument with the newspaper's managing director V 
Radhakrishna and other staffers over the arrest.
The entire staff came out to voice their protest, squatted on the staircase and 
tried to prevent the police from taking away their colleagues.
Condemning the arrests, Radhakrishna said, "This is a gross misuse of SC/ST 
Act".
"Already our office has been attacked and now our journalists are arrested. 
After this, what fundamental rights do we journalists have?", he said.
The arrests were made based on a complaint by a Dalit outfit Madiga Reservation 
Porata Samithi (MRPS) which is spearheading a movement for increasing 
reservations for Madigas, sub-sect of SCs. 




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Know Buddha, Know Life 
No Buddha, No Life..!

[ZESTCaste] The Truth About Reservations

[Shivam Vij शिवम् विज्]

The passions that reservations incite amongst us, on both sides of the
divide, are surprisingly not reflected in any research or even journalism on
the impact of reservations. Given below is a report about a happy exception,
but much more work of this kind is required. The full paper which this
report summarises is available at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w13926

If you are a hardened anti-reservationist, please don't read any further,
it's not going to help your shock of the Supreme Court giving a go-ahead to
"Mandal II".

best
shivam

o o o o

Social justice and its myths

Mihir Sharma
The Indian Express
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/326971.html


Who benefits from reservations? And who loses out? A new study has some
answers


No politically fraught issue has been debated without hard data for as long
as has the question of caste-based quotas in higher education. Very little
is known definitively about who actually wins and loses from the policy;
even the parameters around which the size of the quotas are based are almost
certainly outdated. In this vacuum, anecdotal evidence has combined with
political polemic to lead to a generally believed set of principles, which
are trotted out with monotonous regularity whenever required.

This is one commonly held belief: students benefiting from reservations are
frequently not good enough — or do not have the skills — to actually benefit
from the education they will receive. This 'mis-match' is, we are expected
to believe, not only a waste for the institutions forced to admit them and
to the individuals themselves, but to the economy as a whole. Twelve
students, recently expelled from IIT-Delhi, allege that they were told this
quite explicitly.

Consider, also, the marvellously evocative phrase 'creamy layer'. While the
phrase now has a legal meaning — the children of government employees above
a certain rank, or of households earning more than 2.5 lakh a year — its
centrality in discussion reflects the degree to which people are convinced
that those who benefit from reservation are 'rich' in some sense, and indeed
probably better-off than the candidates that they displace. Thus it is
implied that deserving candidates are frequently excluded for the dubious
social benefit provided by admitting candidates who are already, in economic
terms, privileged.

Fortunately, for the first time, these common assumptions — and others like
them — can be put to the test. This is thanks to a mammoth project
undertaken by a small group of economists: Marianne Bertand of Chicago, Rema
Hanna of New York University, and Sendhil Mullainathan of MIT. They spent
years gathering information about applicants for admission to engineering
colleges from an unnamed Indian state in 1996, focusing on those who just
made and those who just missed the admissions cutoff in each caste category
— general, SC and OBC. This required them to trawl through lists and
actually, physically, trace and interview those applicants and their
families — some of whom had moved several times since their last known
address was recorded.

What did their analysis of that information, now available online, reveal?
First of all, it is certainly true that successful SC and OBC applicants
have a family income higher than that of the average SC and OBC family in
their state. That much of the 'creamy layer' story is correct. Absolutely
everything else appears to be completely false. They find that exactly the
same thing is true of all SC/OBC applicants as a whole — not just the
successful ones — and, indeed, even of general quota applicants, who also
have family incomes above the average for their state and caste. So it is
not the case that relatively richer families benefit from quotas in
admission; only relatively richer families ever have children that sit for
admissions tests anyway. And it is definitely not the case that richer
lower-caste applicants are taking seats away from poorer general-category
students; when the economists compared "applicants offered a seat in an
engineering college in 1996 due to the reservation programme to those that
were refused a seat but would have been admitted in the absence of the
programme", they found that the family income of the former set was, on
average, less than 60 per cent of the family income of the latter group.

Secondly, the 'mis-match' theory isn't supported either. If it were true,
then just being admitted to an engineering college under a quota would not
mean that an applicant became a more productive worker. This wasn't the case
when that 'productivity increase' was measured in terms of the salary
increases that those individuals were able to command and hold down.

Those salary increases, while significant, were however not as much as the
salary increases an upper-caste candidate would expect if he happened to
make it through the engineering admissions test: this, at last, is partial
support for at least one of the standard stories, t