NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS is an Advocacy Platform committed for Dalit Human Rights at the Grass root, National and International levels. Dalits In News aims at sensitizing Civil societies, HR Mechanisms and providing updates of HR violations on Dalits for their Intervention.
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS NCDHR Dalits In News December 15, 2006 Social boycott being imposed on eight Dalit families in village near Mysore- The Hindu http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Hindu/400x60/0 Sevayats lock Keredagada temple after entry by 18 Dalits-- The Pioneer http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Pioneer/400x60/0 Politics woos it, but marriage can kill caste- The Times Of India http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Times_of_India/400x60/0 The Hindu Social boycott being imposed on eight Dalit families in village near Mysore http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Hindu/400x60/0 Special Correspondent Punishment for refusing to carry out `social obligations' _____ Informal social boycott imposed by village panchayat Dalits not allowed to even buy groceries in village _____ Kamanakerehundi (Mysore taluk): Mahadevaswamy and his friends dreamed of leading a life of dignity and strive to become economically self-sufficient. So they protested against the traditional occupation that was thrust on them by society. First, they refused to remove carcasses of dead animals and bury them 3 km away from the village as was expected of them. Then, they decided not to perform the dirge at funerals for which they were not only paid a pittance but also scorned by other communities of the village. Nightmare But three years on, their dream has turned into a nightmare. The village panchayat decided informally to boycott the eight Dalit families who refused to carry out their "social obligations." Further, any person from the village found socialising with these families was subjected to public ridicule. Shopkeepers who sold groceries to them were fined and the local telephone booth owner was instructed not to allow the Dalits to use the telephone. The feudal order in which Dalits are at the mercy of the landed gentry is still in place in this village, which is close to the city of Mysore. Some of the Dalits who have been denied jobs in the village have to come to Mysore or nearby areas to earn their livelihood. Vote denied Nagamma, one of the Dalits from the village, said they were not allowed to vote during the gram panchayat elections, and all their groceries have to be brought from Ramanahalli or Mysore. But people of the dominant caste in Kamanakerehundi refute any such insinuations and say there is "harmony" in village. There is no social discrimination against Dalit families, they maintain. However, on gentle probing, a few open up and not only accept that there is a social boycott but also justify it as a necessity to "protect the unity and solidarity of the village." A local entrepreneur who makes bricks said, "If I disobey the diktat of the village heads, I may face a hostile climate in the village." When asked if it was true that members of eight Dalit families were being turned away by shopkeepers, he said, "There is no written rule as such, but a few individuals may be doing it out of fear." Women in the Dalit colony in the village fume at the social discrimination they are being subjected to. "Our relatives have stopped visiting us because even they have been refused service by the local shopkeepers and are subjected to humiliation," one said. A few of them were members of the local Mahila Sangha and paid the membership till 2005. But their membership has not been renewed. When a few passers-by from the neighbouring village of Kesare were questioned about the boycott, they raised their eyebrows in surprise and said the social boycott was old news and had been going on for three years. The Pioneer Sevayats lock Keredagada temple after entry by 18 Dalits http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Pioneer/400x60/0 Rajesh Behera | Kendrapara Sevayats of the Jagannath temple at Keredagada on Thursday locked up the shrine's sanctum sanctorum at the instance of the upper caste people following the entry of 18 Dalits into the temple. The sandhya arati ritual of the temple was also stopped. The upper caste people said the temple's sanctum sanctorum would not be reopened till the Raja of Kanika decided the next course of action. The outer entrance of the temple, however, remained open. A police force later tried to bring about a settlement between the upper caste people and the Dalits. Earlier in the day, a group of four Dalits of Keredagada village under Rajnagar block in Kendrapara district first entered into the sanctum sanctorum of the 300-year-old temple, which was built by the then King of Kanika, Sailendra Narayan Bhanjdeo, informed the Tehsildar of Rajnagar. During their entry into the shrine, no untoward incident took place and the situation there was totally normal, official sources added. However, the trouble began when 14 more Dalits entered the temple later in the day, with the upper caste people asking the priests to leave the shrine after closing the door of the sanctum sanctorum. The four Dalits, who entered the temple first, were identified as Kailash Jena, Aswini Jena, Ramesh Jena and Suresh Gochhayat. They said their feelings of satisfaction and happiness after witnessing the Lord in the temple could not be expressed in words. "It was a special day for us in our life, as we have entered into the temple, said Gochhayat. The Dalit Manch was not opposing the Kanika King, but it was opposed to the old practices preformed by the Kanika royal palace. Dalits are like other citizens of the country and are not slaves or anti-Hindu, he said. Earlier, the upper caste people and sevayats of the temple had restricted the Dalits from entering the temple as per a long-standing tradition, According to the King's order, the Dalits only had the privilege of witnessing the deity through the nine holes of the shrine. A controversy erupted last year when the upper caste people imposed penalty on some Dalit women after they entered the temple premises. Two months back, the Dalits of Jenasahi, Keredagada, Ostia Sandhaipali and adjoining areas formed the outfit Dalit Manch under the leadership of Rajkishore Muduli and Kahnu Muduli and submitted a petition to District Collector Kashinath Sahu to take necessary steps to allow them to enter the temple, failing which they would enter the shrine forcibly. They asserted in the petition that as they were also Hindus they have every right to enter the temple as everywhere else in the district. In order to end the controversy, the Orissa High Court, in response to a petition, ruled on December 5 that any Hindu, irrespective of caste, has every right to enter the Keredagada temple under Article 17 and Section 3 of Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. The High Court also directed the district administration to ensure proper law and order situation during the entry of Dalits in the temple. After the court's order, there were rumours in the area that the Dalits would enter the temple in massive numbers and that some political forces were trying to encourage the Dalits for this in order to create a vote bank for the coming panchayat elections. In view of this, the administration mobilised police in and around the temple to carry out the court's order and avert any unwanted situation. Dwarka's Swaroopananda Saraswati had also backed the Dalits over the issue during his visit to the State last month. The upper caste people had allegedly stated that they would respect the court's order but would restrict the Dalits from doing traditional works in their (upper caste people's) households. The Times Of India Politics woos it, but marriage can kill caste http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Times_of_India/400x60/0 Subodh Ghildiyal [ 15 Dec, 2006 0333hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] The word 'caste' was flashed in the news almost constantly this year, thanks to the angry polemic surrounding the reservations policy announced by the Union government. The fury of the anti-reservationists was directed at the politicians. It is they, said students, who are dividing the country and ensuring that caste has a healthy future. But the politicians refuse to take the rap. Caste, they say, is far too old a sin to be blamed on them. It is a deep-rooted weed that certainly doesn’t their help to flourish. Students may say what they like but the "social reality’’ is far too entrenched to be made or marred by netas. Claims by urban middle class youth, that they only became aware of caste because of the "politically motivated’’ Mandal Commission, are brushed aside as "claims of innocents who suffer from a ghettoised aloofness and a contrived ignorance of the ground reality’’. A look at the matrimonial columns of any newspaper bears this out. Even sub-castes have separate slots. Says B L Mungekar, member, Planning Commission, "While politicians may make it difficult for caste to wither away, caste is such a foundational institution that it will take steps other than the political to give it a burial." It’s a veritable chicken-and-egg tale: politicians use caste because it exists and because it serves as a stimulus for voters. The opposing view is that caste was on its way out but for politicians. Caste and politics have in fact always walked hand in hand. The most ironic manifestation being that from pre-independence India. Ironic because while the flag bearers of the anti-imperial struggle slammed colonialism as anti-human, there is also evidence that they were not above exploiting the pernicious practice of caste. Probably the best illustration of this remains the Congress’ unabashed gambit to contain its bitter critic, dalit emancipator B R Ambedkar. In 1937, after the superbly talented cricketer Palwankar Baloo (the central character of Ramachandra Guha’s cricket history Corner of a Foreign Field) emerged as an icon of sorts, the Congress fielded him against Ambedkar for a Mumbai assembly seat. While both men were from scheduled castes, historians record that Congress went to the extent of inciting sub-caste identities to split the dalit voter: Baloo was a chamaar, Ambedkar a mahar. Ambedkar barely managed to scrape past the left-arm spinner. Mohan Singh, Samajwadi Party MP, a Lohiaite who has closely observed the rise of caste politics, says, "Politicians are only exploiting something well entrenched. Even movements like Buddhism and the Arya Samaj, which started to uproot caste, ended up becoming a sort of caste themselves. Caste has given birth to vested interests and it is these interests that are not letting it die." Sharad Yadav of JD (U) echoes the same views. For S Japhet, teaching the sociology of law at the National Law School, Bangalore, there exists a "qualitative difference" between upper and lower castes rallying around caste. "Lower caste mobilisation through social movements is an attempt to gain their rights, as politicisation provides them scope for bargaining. But the same by upper castes is aimed at consolidating their social position," he says. While he argues that the two cannot be compared until they are on an even keel — "till the vertical social structure is made horizontal" — implicit in his argument is the recognition of the continued pull of caste, its ability to be the rallying point. There is no agreement on how, or whether, caste will fade away. Mungekar believes the real solution lies in what Ambedkar suggested years ago: inter-caste marriage. "Endogamy is the basic source of caste as purity of blood and the idea of purity and pollution are at the root of the caste system. Inter-caste marriage would allow the fission and fusion of blood," he says. Sharad Yadav agrees that inter-caste marriages have to be ensured between upper caste and lower castes to ensure a mix. Mohan Singh says economic upliftment is the way out. 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