About 35 Dalit families of Shahpura village in Bhilwara district were thrown out of the village by the upper caste-dominated panchayat for filing a complaint.

Police said Papu Kalbelia had filed a complaint at the Bajnore police station against Kalu Singh Rawat from upper caste in the village for beating him up on August 1.

Papu was forced to withdraw the complaint on August 3 due to panchayat pressure.

However, the caste panchayat was not ready to forgive the Dalits and told them vacate the village.

he 35 families of the Dalits were on the run after that.

In the meantime, the district administration on Tuesday assured the Dalits of total protection and escorted them to the village. The police force is deployed in the village now.

Area SDM Jai Prakash said the Dalits were brought back to the village and police protection is being provided to them.

Kalbelia community has traditionally earned its livelihood by singing folk songs and dances.

However, with the passage of time they have shifted to rearing cattle business.

The villagers alleged that ever since the community got in to cattle rearing, the grassland is being destroyed which is the common property of the whole village.

They also suspect that some members of the community to be involved in some theft cases reported in the village.

The Jaipur based Centre for Dalit Rights, an NGO, has demanded strict action against the perpetrators of the crime against the Dalits.

Hindustan Times

Mirchpur Dalits submit charter of demands to DC

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Haryana/Mirchpur-Dalits-submit-charter-of-demands-to-DC/Article1-1104255.aspx

The Dalit families at Mirchpur village, who have been putting up at Tanwar Farm House here for the past three years, met sessions judge Ajay Jain and district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) Sumit Kumar in the deputy commissioner's office and submitted their charter of demands here on Tuesday.

The team constituted by the apex court visited Mirchpur village and Tanwar Farm House here on Monday to know the plight of Dalits. The team advised them to submit their problems and demands to the deputy commissioner.

Dalits have requested for the supply of good quality tents, drinking water in tanks on a daily-basis, dress and stationery to the school-going children, power supply, LPG connection, ration and one torch to each family.

They have also demanded for a new place to re-settle.

Shamim Modi, a member of the team, said they would submit its report to the Supreme Court within a month.

It may be recalled that Dalit community of the village had torched the house of balmikis on April 21, 2010 and Tara Chand and his disabled daughter were burnt alive. The Haryana government had been insisting them to return to the village but they have categorically declined to return to the village.

The Times Of India

Dalits get entry into temple in Anand village

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Dalits-get-entry-into-temple-in-Anand-village/articleshow/21664147.cms

Anand: A day after TOI published a report aboutdalits being prevented from entering a temple, the state government authorities swung into action on Tuesday.

Social welfare officer of Anand, Nayna Shrimali along with Petlad police officials rushed to Bamroli village and directed the sarpanch not to stop dalits from entering the temple of goddess Khodiyar.

The officials also met the dalit families and took them inside the temple. "I have given my contact number to the families and asked them to get in touch with me if they have any complaint," Shrimali said.

The villagers had asked the dalits to keep a distance of 100 metres from the temple. The ex-sarpanch had asked them to worship from a small indent in the wall of the temple. A few days back, two persons were arrested after the dalits lodged a complaint about atrocity. They were released on bail later.

Anand superintendent of police Rajendra Asari told TOI: "Some villagers met me today and said that that dalits are always allowed to enter the temple. They are free to worship in the temple whenever they want."

The Times Of India

Dalit scholar arrested for Facebook post blasting UP govt on Durga

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Dalit-scholar-arrested-for-Facebook-post-blasting-UP-govt-on-Durga/articleshow/21663629.cms

LUCKNOW: The UP government waded into another controversy over the DurgaSakthiNagpalcase on Tuesday when cops hurriedly arrested adalit writer in Rampur for criticizing on Facebook the administration's double standards in suspending a young IAS officer for reportedly demolishing the wall of a mosque in Noida but ignoring another communally sensitive demolition in senior minister Azam Khan's district, Rampur.

Dalit writer Kanwal Bharti claimed in his post on July 29 that "an old madrassa was demolished in Rampur. The in-charge of the madrassa was arrested and put in jail for opposing the move. The Akhilesh government did not suspend any officer because Azam Khan rules the district, not Akhilesh... Even the Almighty cannot stop Azam Khan."

Bharti was arrested on Tuesday on the complaint of Shafaquat Shanu Khan, an aide of Azam Khan, but was later released on bail. The chief judicial magistrate did not find any merit in the charges leveled against him.

Police, however, denied that any madrassa had been demolished. SP Rampur Umesh Kumar Singh said, "It was part of a graveyard where encroachments had come up and we have cleared that. Madrasa was not even touched."

The DG office in the evening said Bharti was arrested because of the objections raised over his post that "even God cannot stop Azam Khan from doing what he wants to". Bharti was charged with instigating and hurting communal feelings. He was produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate who granted him bail saying that there was no merit in the case.

Bharti described his arrest as an assault on the freedom of speech and expression. He said he was arrested around 8 am. "They did not even allow me to wear my clothes. I was made to sit inside the police station in my pyjamas for six hours," he said. "They have confiscated my computer and books."

Bharti first posted comments on Durga's suspension on July 29 in which he compared the demolition of the structure by Durga and the madrassa in Rampur. In another post on August 2, he attacked the Akhilesh government and Azam Khan again. On August 5, he posted: "Akhilesh Yadav's government has completely failed on the issue of reservation and Durga Nagpal. Akhilesh, Shivpal, Azam Khan and Mulayam Singh Yadav (four chief ministers of UP) might pat each other and their government's back on these issues but they are unable to see the reality in the state. The public is criticising them and ridiculing them. Criminals are emboldened and uncontrolled ministers have become 'devils'. They are scripting their own decline. Power has made them blind and to try and understand such people is futile."

Support for him mounted on social networking sites. Some of his friends re-posted his statements and challenged the Samajwadi Party government to arrest them as well while others described the arrest as attack on freedom of speech. One of the friends even suggested that they should organise a demonstration and collectively lodge a protest.

Bharti has written several books which have been prescribed by many universities in UP and other parts of the country. He has been critical of SP government's policies for long.

The Hindu

Dalit assaulted

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/dalit-assaulted/article4997901.ece

The Tirupur Central Police have registered a case against three employees of a private hospital for allegedly assaulting a person from the Dalit community.

Police sources said the incident occurred on Monday when the employees questioned the complainant for running a shop selling flowers close to the hospital.

NDTV

Ilavarasan's death a case of suicide, not murder, says police in status report

http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/ilavarasan-s-death-a-case-of-suicide-not-murder-says-police-in-status-report-402295

Chennai: For the first time, the Tamil Nadu Police has officially said that the death of Ilavarasan, a Dalit man who was found dead in Dharmapuri district last month, was a case of suicide and not murder.

In the status report to the Madras High Court, filed by District Superintendent of Police Asra Garg, the police have provided a list of evidences.

The police claim the hand writing on the suicide note recovered a few days after Ilavarasan was found dead was his according to the forensic experts who examined it.

A report by forensic experts says the recorded conversations between Ilavarasan and his wife Divya on his phone too indicate suicidal tendencies. The report says Ilavarasan told Divya that he would commit suicide if she did not return to him.

The report also says that statements deposed by his close friends to a Magistrate also confirm that he told them about his plans to commit suicide from the alleged suicide spot.

Police say Ilavarasan was hit by Kurla Express at 1:20 pm and his watch too remained stuck exactly at the same time. Though the train drivers did not see anyone jumping in front of the track, they do not rule out the possibility of any person being hit by the side of the train, the report says.

Ilavarasan's marriage to Divya, a woman from the higher Vanniyar community, led to her father's suicide last year. This had triggered riots against Dalits. Around 250 Dalit homes were set on fire. Ilavarasan was found dead a day after his wife refused to return to him citing continuing clashes between both communities and memories of her father. Two autopsies were conducted on his body after his family suspected foul play.

The Tamil Nadu government too has appointed a one man commission to probe his death.

The Hindu

Tsunduru Dalit massacre: a blood-soaked chapter in modern history

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/tsunduru-dalit-massacre-a-bloodsoaked-chapter-in-modern-history/article4996786.ece

Dalit associations say justice eludes victims

On this day, twenty two years ago, the remote village of Tsunduru in Tenali revenue division was witness to a brutal massacre of Dalits in a carnage unleashed by socially-dominant communities.

On Tuesday, families residing in the village converged at 'Raktha Sketharam', the place where the bodies of Dalits were buried, and offered their homage to the departed souls. A meeting was held in which Dalit Bahujan Front convener Korivi Vinaya Kumar and others spoke.

But years after the incident, Dalit associations say justice is still eluding them. An appeal seeking life imprisonment to 35 persons who were convicted and awarded simple imprisonment by Special Court Judge Anis in the year 2007 is still pending in the High Court. The special court awarded life imprisonment to 21 persons. The State government had not appointed a successor to special public prosecutor B. Chandrasekhar, who died in January this year.

Jaladi Wilson, convener of Tsunduru Dalit Victims' Association, told The Hindu they had requested the government to appoint Bojja Tarakam as Special Public Prosecutor to present the case. Back on August 6, 1991, the savage attack on Dalits left eight persons dead but had many more wounded. In a planned attack, the Dalits fleeing for safety were lynched, their bodies pierced into pieces, stuffed into gunny bags and thrown in the Tungabhadra drain. One more youth, Anil Kumar, was killed in police firing in the village. The gory incident galvanised the Dalits into launching a nationwide crusade seeking social justice and emancipation of Dalits. Dalits in towns and villages poured on the streets protesting the massacre. The State government doled out welfare schemes in a bid to contain the anger but was forced to act firmly against the perpetrators of the most heinous attack on Dalits in India's modern history. Police filed charge-sheets against 219 people belonging to Tsunduru and neighbouring villages.

Under pressure from Dalit associations, the State government established a special court under the provisions of SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Tsunduru to try the accused. On a tense day on August 1, 2007, special court judge Anis convicted 56 accused, out of which 21 were awarded life imprisonment and 35 simple imprisonments. It let off 115 others citing lack of evidence.

The Hindu

Objection

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/objection/article4998268.ece

The Dalit Sahitya Parishat, Mysore taluk unit, objected to the move to collect fees from SC/ST students for providing admissions to different degree, PG and diploma courses by several departments under the University of Mysore. In a statement, parishat general secretary Harohalli Ravindra, alleged that several Dalit students, whose parents' annual income was below Rs. 2 lakh, were forced to pay fees for seeking admissions, much against the government circular issued last year. The Governor, Minister for Higher Education and the Vice-Chancellor should take note of the developments and initiate appropriate action against the erring staff, Mr. Ravindra demanded. He said that many students were forced to pay fees but not before undergoing hardship.

He said he had a copy of a letter issued by the Registrar, UoM, which stated that fees from Dalit students from families with annual income of less than Rs. 2 lakh should not be insisted upon. The parishat would launch an agitation, if anomalies were not set right immediately, he said.

— Special Correspondent

News Monitor by Girish Pant

--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
...................................................................
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.

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