http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/31/stories/2010033162670300.htm
Karnataka - Mangalore AIR: Dalit employees complain of harassment Sudipto Mondal Complaint to Superintendent of Police brings matter to light In the last 10 years, seven ‘victims' are said to have left the station Former Station Director says he too faced harassment in 2000 MANGALORE: In the past 10 years, seven persons from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes have left the Mangalore All India Radio station because of alleged harassment by a group of employees. Making this allegation, the national general secretary of the All India Akashvani and Doordarshan SC/ST Employees' Welfare Association, O.P Gautham, said, “The Mangalore AIR is a hub for the worst kind of casteism and prejudice.” “Although none of the seven persons wanted to lodge formal complaints, they all said that they were leaving because they could not bear the daily mental torture and harassment,” he said. Background Mr. Gautham spoke to The Hindu over telephone from New Delhi on Monday about the case of Sudhakar (35), a Dalit transmission executive of the radio station. He said, Mr. Sudhakar was allegedly stripped, beaten and humiliated by the Mangalore East police on January 25 and detained for the entire day in connection with his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of Rs. 5,000. The case came to light when Mr. Sudhakar complained to Superintendent of Police A.S. Rao during the monthly SC/ST grievance meeting held here on March 28. Mr. Sudhakar said that he had been fixed in the misappropriation case and that a group of employees at the station, which “hates people from SC/ST communities”, connived with the police in this incident. This conspiracy had been hatched by some employees to take revenge against him for a complaint filed by him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 2008. Grievance meeting Mr. Rao reprimanded the Kadri police during the grievance meeting, and said that even if the allegation was not true, he saw no need for such extreme action in such a petty case. He even ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident. Speaking to The Hindu from Bangalore, Banandur Kempaiah, Executive Producer at Doordarshan, said he too faced harassment when he was in Mangalore as Station Director in 2000. On the condition of anonymity, another former employee who sought a transfer in 2009 because of alleged caste-based harassment, said that several tactics were used by “caste” Hindu and non-Dalit employees to unsettle SCs/STs. “They rate us as substandard and often say that we got the jobs because of reservation,” this employee said. Mr. Gautham, Mr. Kempaiah, Mr. Sudhakar as well as the former employee referred to above named the same set of people as those who had harassed them, while speaking separately to The Hindu. The present station head of AIR, Mangalore, could not be contacted. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
