Ambedkar Action Alert: BOUDH DALIT GIRL’S BODY FOUND HANGING FROM TREE .Dalits Media Watch

A 15-year-old Dalit girl's body was on Thursday found hanging from a tree in Boudh district. The girl was a class-IX student at Gogendradeb upgraded school at Jaitapur village in the district.

The body, which bore several injury marks, was sent for post-mortem, the police said, adding that the victim's mother in her FIR alleged that it was a case of rape and murder.

The girl had left her house in the evening of Tuesday and did not return till her body was found. As the leg of the body was touching the ground, the family members suspected it to be a case of rape and murder.

The police have picked up two persons for questioning.

In another incident, the body of a female worker (45) was recovered on Wednesday in a pool of blood at a hotel near ITI on the outskirt of Phulbani town, police said. The victim hailed from Kunjanpada village under Komna Police Station in Nuapada district. Khajuripada police station IIC Akshay Kumar Ghadei said the body was sent for post mortem to the District Headquarters Hospital here.

The times of india

Dalit woman gang-raped, seven arrested within hours

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Amravati: Chandur Bazar police nabbed seven people, including two juveniles, who gang-raped a 25-year-old woman in a farm on Jalnapur-Riddhapur roadWednesday night. Police identified the accused as Sandeep Thakare, Shiva Jamthe, Santosh Lakhan Sanskar, Prafulla Waghade and Shivam Wankhade, all residents of Riddhapur. The names of the minors have been withheld.

Police said that the rape survivor is a married woman and mother of a 7-year-old daughter but stays away from her husband, who resides in Warud.

Chandur Bazar Police Inspector SR Rajput told TOI that the woman is a native of Riddhapur but had shifted to Chandur Bazar about a month ago after she lost her job at a private clinic. Rajput said that around 7.30pm on Wednesday, her acquaintance in Riddhapur, a minor, called her on her cell phone. While talking to him, she told him that she was jobless and requested him to suggest patients in need of medicare so that she could earn her living. She also asked for a help of Rs 1,500 till she landed another job.

The youth, Prakash (name changed) asked her to come to Riddhapur with his friend Santosh Sanskar, who, he said, would fetch her on his bike. Santosh reached the woman's place and took the woman with him on his bike. But instead of taking her to Riddhapur, he drove her towards Sonori-Nanori village on Jalnapur-Riddhapur road. Then leaving the main road, he took a narrow lane that led to a farm, about 1km away. There he took her in a hut and they waited there for Prakash.

Prakash reached there with his five friends Sandeep Thakare, Shiva jamthe, Prafulla Waghade, Shivam Wankhade and another minor Hitesh (name changed) around 9.00pm. For the next two hours, they raped the woman and then fled from the spot, leaving the victim behind.

PI Rajput told TOI that the victim walked back to Riddhapur and reached Chandur Bazar police station in a vehicle around 12.30am and narrated her tale. He said that police swung into action and arrested all seven accused from different places in Riddhapur before dawn. He said that the victim's medical examination was conducted and an offence under sections 120, 376(d) of IPC and relevant sections of Atrocity Act was registered around 1.25 am.

SDPO Paunikar is now investigating into the case.

The times of india

Parallel protests in UoH by teachers, students

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HYDERABAD: Anarchy ruled the roost at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Thursday. Two simultaneous protests rocked the campus - one against the 'gender and racial discrimination' faced by Gracious Temsen, an associate professor from the Northeast, and the other against the suspension of five dalit students over a recent altercation.

Members of the University of Hyderabad Teachers' Association (UHTA) began an indefinite relay hunger strike in front of the DST Auditorium, with K Laxminarayana, president of UHTA, and Abani Vhuyan, professor at the chemistry department, taking the lead. They were protesting the raid on Temsen's house by on-campus security guards in her absence on May 31.

"Despite raising our voices for more than a week, nobody from the administration came forward to discuss the issue," said Laxminarayana. The teachers have threatened that if the authorities fail to meet their demands, the final step would be to boycott classes.

The UHTA has asked the authorities to issue show cause notices to the deputy registrar, estate and security, for conducting the search.They have also demanded a public apology to Temsen and inclusion of faculty members from the Northeast in the probe committee.

While the strike was on at the auditorium, hundreds of students shut down the administrative building protesting against the suspension of five dalit students by a proctorial board for allegedly beating up Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) president Susheel Kumar. The students demanded that the proctorial board immediately revoke the decision.

"The report by the proctorial board clearly states that they couldn't find any hard evidence on whether the five dalit students hit the ABVP president Susheel or not. Then on what basis did they take the decision?" questioned Daniel B, general secretary of the students' union.

During the day , vice-chancellor RP Sharma reportedly held a meeting with the heads of departments, chief warden and members of the proctorial board to decide the further course of action. After several deliberations, the administration decided to review the students' issue.

However, the students' union was not enthused and continued the protest. "If the same committee reviews the issue, there are very few chances that they would revoke the decision," said Daniel, demanding that a new board look into the matter to reach a just conclusion.

The times of india

'Funds still hard for dalits, govt must do more'

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Tamil Nadu may have more dalit entrepre neurs in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) category than any other state, but most of them face problems in getting credit because of their caste, Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Milind Kamble (pic) said on Thursday .

"Many dalit MSME entrepreneurs in the state are not able to secure financing once they disclose their caste," Kamble told TOI on the sidelines of the Global Investors Meet. "Most of them are first generation entrepreneurs and don't have any credit worth mentioning to support them."

"My father was a small businessman in Maharashtra," he said. "When I wanted to start a company , the first hurdle I faced to secure funds was my caste. This situation is still the same in TN."

As access to funding is a major impediment for dalit entrepreneurs, the government should relax credit norms for dalits, Kamble said.

"The government should devise schemes to give loans to dalit entrepreneurs without any collateral," he said. "That will help more people from the scheduled castes and tribes start businesses." He said the 1991 economic reforms not only opened the economy to foreign investors, they also created business avenues for dalits.

The number of dalit entrepreneurs in the country has been increasing exponentially. According to the 20152016 Union budget, there are 5.77 lakh dalit entrepreneurs, including 77,000 in TN.

"Apart from funds, acquisition and retention of talent are also a hurdle for dalit entrepreneurs," he said.

Tamil Nadu MSME minister P Mohan said of the `11 lakh crore investments the state received during the summit, around `16,000 crore was for small industries. The state was drawing up a separate industrial policy for MSMEs, he said.

Many MSMEs participating in the meet complained of delayed credit and clearances.

"I set up a unit in the Sipcot complex in Ariyalur. I have been running around for two years to get clearances and still have not got a power connection," Dhananjayan of Ariyalur said. "I will be able to get the remaining clearances in 30 days as the chief minister promised."

The times of india

Southern districts on high alert for Immanuel Sekaran's guru pooja

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MADURAI: Madurai and its surroundings districts have been brought under a thick security blanket ahead of the 58th death anniversary of dalit leader and freedom fighter, Immanuel Sekaran, which falls on Friday.

Paramakudi town in Ramanathapuram district, where the death anniversary will be observed is now the centre of focus with a large posse of police personnel from various districts deployed there. Elaborate arrangements have been made to monitor the crowd and control traffic movement.

Ramanathapuram police would monitor the situation through video streaming captured through blimp, a barrage balloon with high-end camera, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in addition to a device to automatically recognise number plates.

Over 4,000 police personnel, including 3000 drawn from various parts of the state are to be used for the guru pooja. Security arrangements are being made under the direct supervision of South Zone IG. Around 10 SPs and more than 35 DSP rank police officers will also monitor the situation. In Sivaganga, over 2,500 police personnel will be kept on high alert on Friday.

A dry day has also been announced in various districts including Madurai and Ramanathapuram. In a statement issued by the Madurai district collector all Tasmac units, elite bars and bars attached with hotels will remain closed throughout the day on Friday.

Officials said that all vehicles will be thoroughly checked in the district borders. In Madurai, a total of 14 checkposts and over 100 mobile units are in place to monitor the roads en route to Paramakudi. Closed circuit television cameras have been established at the checkpoints to record vehicular movements.

With a large number of vehicles expected for the guru pooja necessary traffic regulations have been announced by the respective district police. In Madurai, vehicles from Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Tuticorin going to Paramakudi should take Aruppukottai, Tiruchuli and Parthibanur. Vehicles from Pudukottai should take Tirupattur, Sivaganga, Manamadurai, Parthibanur route, while those from Madurai, Theni and Dindigul districts including buses should go via Silaiman, Tiruppuvanam, Manamadurai, Parthibanur. Vehicles towards Ramanathapuram should go via Sivaganga Road Junction on Ring Road, Karuppayurani, Varichur, Poovandhi, Sivaganga and Ilaiyankudi, district police said.

The times of india

Former MP Balkrishna Wasnik passes away

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Nagpur: Veteran Congress leader and three-term member of Parliament Balkrishna Wasnik passed away on Thursday at a private hospital here following cardiac failure. His son and All India Congress Committee general secretary and ex-Union minister Mukul Wasnik was by his side when he breathed last around 2pm. He was 86.

Wasnik Sr had represented two constituencies of Vidarbha in Parliament — Bhandara and Buldhana. At a young age of 28 he was first elected in 1957 from Bhandara and from the same constituency he was elected again in 1962. Later, in 1980 he shifted to Buldhana at the western end of the region. After that term, his son Mukul inherited the seat and contested four elections before shifting in 2014 to Ramtek.

Wasnik is survived by son and two daughters, Dr Dipti and Dr Seema, and large number of family members, followers and well-wishers. The funeral procession will start from his residence near LAD Square at 10 am and the cremation will take place at Ambazari Ghat, MPCC member Nana Gawande said in a note issued on behalf of family.

All his life Wasnik fought for the poor and oppressed sections of the society. He was at the forefront in agitations to secure reservations for Dalits. A staunch supporter of separate Vidarbha, he led the movement in 1967 as president of Mahavidarbha Rajya Sangharsh Samiti. Despite advancing age, he participated in every agitation for the cause until recently.

Loyal to the core, he worked relentlessly for the Congress. However, his role along with Nashikrao Tirpude in the 1954 Lok Sabha by-election from Bhandara, became a sore point in later years. That by-poll was historic as Dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar, contesting as Scheduled Caste Federation candidate, lost to Congress candidate Borkar. The Congress, which always claimed to be champion of the oppressed classes, was blamed for nipping in the bud Ambedkar's electoral ambitions.

Local Congress leaders and workers gathered in large numbers at his Gandhinagar residence as the news of the veteran leader's demise broke in the afternoon.

News monitored by AMERSH & AJEET

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

arun.khote@gmail.com

pmarc2008@gmail.com

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