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 January 16,2007 Paswan shields quota laws in 9 Schedule- CNN IBN http://www.ibnlive.com/news/paswan-shields-quota-laws-in-9-schedule/31105-3. html?xml Bonded migrant labourer rescued from Punjab village- Punjab Newsline http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/2472/38/ Day 1: chief justice hears plea of bias against Dalit- Telugu Portal http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=28420 Rajasthan tops the chart in atrocities against SC/STs - Zee News http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=348089&sid=NAT Khairlanji murders' hearing begins- IBNLIVE.COM http://www.ibnlive.com/news/khairlanji-murders-hearing-begins/31284-3.html CNN IBN Paswan shields quota laws in 9 Schedule http://www.ibnlive.com/news/paswan-shields-quota-laws-in-9-schedule/31105-3. html?xml New Delhi: The Lok Janshakti Party Chief Ram Vilas Paswan has demanded review of the Supreme Court judgement that states the laws under Ninth Schedule "are open to judicial review". ''Government should thoroughly study the judgement of the Supreme Court to protect the benefits given to the poor, weaker sections, dalits and adivasis through various acts included in the Ninth Schedule,'' LJP National General Secretary S N Singh was quoted by PTI. Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the judgement, if implemented would have a negative impact on the social fabric of the country. The party expressed concern over the fact that the Tamil Nadu Act (providing 69 per cent reservation for SC/ST and OBCs) was very much included in the Ninth Schedule. The question of creamy layer among SCs/STs is another issue. Similarly, the reservation for the socially and educationally backward communities, including Muslims, may also be legislated in future. ''If Parliament's right to insulate such laws from the intervention of the Courts is not respected then the weaker sections of the society will not be able to get a fair and just treatment. Socially dominant individuals will always try to deny the benefits to the weaker section through lengthy litigation defeating the very purpose of including such laws in the Ninth Schedule,'' he added. Punjab Newsline Bonded migrant labourer rescued from Punjab village http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/2472/38/ GURPREET SINGH MEHAK Sunday, 14 January 2007 FATEHGARH SAHIB: A migrant labourer and his family held captive by a brick kiln contractor was Sunday rescued from vilalge Rurki in this district with With the efforts of district administration and the Dalit Dasta Virodhi Andolan (DDVA). Charan Singh Khumb, district president of DDVA informed that Rishipal(32) originally resident of Mujjaffarnager (UP) has sent a complaint to organization head office in Phillaur that he and his family was forced to work on the brick-klin by a contractor. After receiving the complaint, DDVA office bearers approached district Fatehgarh Sahib and got Rishipal and his family members freed from the captivity of the contractor. When contacted Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner Jaspreet Talwar informed that after receiving the complaint, she deputed Fatehgarh Sahib SDM to look into the case. Rishipal alleged that he was not paid proper wages for his work and he and his family members were forced to work at the brick-klin when they were not ready to work. But the contractor has denied the charges. Sources said that though labourer and his family had freed from the captivity of the contractor but appropriate action was not initiated against him as per rules. Telugu Portal Day 1: chief justice hears plea of bias against Dalit http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=28420 New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan had a busy first day in office Monday, presiding over 52 cases including one involving insult to a Dalit politician. A judge for over three decades, Balakrishnan is the first to rise to the <http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=28420> pinnacle of India's judiciary from among the socially oppressed Dalits, overcoming tremendous odds since his humble beginnings in a Kerala village. On Monday, as he entered Court Room 1, which he will occupy as the country's 37th chief justice until May 2010, he marked a new chapter in the history of the apex court. By sheer coincidence, Balakrishnan found himself adjudicating a 2004 petition related to the age-old bias and prejudice against low-caste people in India. The matter cropped up in the form of a plea by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Barkhuram Verma, a Dalit, seeking prosecution of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and other senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders for making insulting, casteist remarks. The SP leaders allegedly had made the remarks against BSP president Mayawati and Verma, a former Uttar Pradesh minister, when they were confined in a Lucknow guesthouse in 1995 amid political turmoil in the state. Following an alleged assault on them, the BSP leaders had lodged criminal cases against SP <http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=28420> activists, along with a complaint accusing them of making casteist remarks. The BSP had sought prosecution of the SP leaders under various sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. After the trial court and later the Allahabad High Court quashed the charges, Verma moved the Supreme Court, which issued notice to Mulayam Singh Yadav and other SP leaders on May 5, 2004. As the case was taken up by the bench headed by the chief justice, Uttar Pradesh government counsel Rakesh Dwiwedi argued that the trial court had quashed the charges in a well-considered verdict and the matter needed to be dismissed summarily. The chef justice, however, was not convinced. In his soft but firm voice, he ordered further hearing in the case and directed that it be listed in the third week of April. Among the 52 cases that the new chief justice adjudicated along with judges D.K. Jain and H.S. Bedi on the bench, two of particular public interest included the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into charges of corruption in defence deals and hearing of a plea seeking a ban on publication of exit and opinion polls till the actual voting is over in elections. While monitoring the CBI probe into various cases arising out of the Tehelka news portal expose of alleged corruption in defence deals, the bench ticked off the investigative agency for tardy progress. What upset the bench was that the agency had not begun even the preliminary enquiry into many of the 40 matters related to defence deals referred to it. When Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam told the court that the agency would submit a status report on the probe into the various cases, Justice Jain curtly remarked: "We do not want status report; we want the CBI's action taken report." Zee News Rajasthan tops the chart in atrocities against SC/STs http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=348089&sid=NAT Jaipur, Jan 16: With nearly 5,000 cases of atrocities against schedule castes and schedule tribes registered, Rajasthan has topped the list of such cases. Bihar followed with 700 cases, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meera Kumar said on Monday after a meeting of the committee for reviewing the implementation of the protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in Rajasthan, Bihar, Assam and Haryana. She expressed concern over the low rate of conviction and the dismal picture of filling chargesheets, despite increased central assistance to the state over the years. "We have asked the state to identify problem areas so as to give focussed attention to the problem of atrocities against SC and ST." Kumar said during the meeting she also stressed upon the need for strengthening of enforcement and judicial machinery, awareness generation and incentives to inter-caste marriages. She said the Centre has directed the state governments to set up a toll-free helpline in the states where incidences of atrocities have been reported on the higher side. Kumar said states and union territories have also been advised to consider enhancement of the amount of incentive for inter-caste marriages to Rs 50,000 for which 50 per cent central assistance would be provided. Bureau Report IBNLIVE.COM Khairlanji murders' hearing begins http://www.ibnlive.com/news/khairlanji-murders-hearing-begins/31284-3.html New Delhi: The hearing of the rape and brutal murders of four members of a Dalit family in Khaiarlanji has begun in a Maharashtra fast track court on Monday. On September 29, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange's family - wife Surekha, daughter Priyanka, and sons Roshan and Sudhir - was brutallly killled in Khairlanji village. His wife and and his 17-year-old daughter Priyanka were raped in the most savage manner by men belonging to the OBC caste. The murders of four members of the Bhotmange family went unnoticed for over a month. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has chargesheeted 47 people in the case reportedly on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and unlawful assembly with deadly weapons. as the news about the rapes and the killings trickled down, the simmering anger among the Dalits came to the fore. In the first week of November, Nagpur erupted. In the line of fire was the Maharashtra police for failing to investigate the murders and controlling the swelling Dalit mobs. The police resorted to fire aggravating the situation further. The next flashpoint was Amravati, where the protesting mobs were bigger and more violent. The clashes left scores of policemen and protestors injured and one Dalit youth dead. On November 8, 100 Dalit women activists stormed the Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh's office demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident. The government of Mahasahtra finally woke up but only to blame the Naxal groups for the violence. The government was still clueless about the ground situation which was turning volatile. On November 11, the government relented and Chief Minister announced the CBI probe into the Khairlanji killings. But there was no let up in the protests. In the third week of November, the protests hit the western Maharashtra city of Sholapur. By now, the caste politics was at display and other state parties were also joining in to make the most of what were in the beginning spontaneous protests. ARUN KHOTE National Media Secretary NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS (NCDHR) Add: 8/1, South Patel Nagar, NEW DELHI- 110008 ( INDIA) Mobile : 91# 9350183802 Ph & Fax- 91#11-25842249, 91#11-25842250 E Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website : www.dalits.org www.ncdhr.org
