Re: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Update 02.01.10

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 7:46 PM, Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com> wrote:

Dalits Media Watch

New Update – 02.01.10

Dalit girl's gangrape has hung for 11 yrs on an MLA's note - Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dalit-girls-gangrape-has-hung-for-11-yrs-on-an-mlas-note/561767/0

SOCIAL JUSTICE
Lesser citizens - Frontline

http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100115270105600.htm

Indian Express

Dalit girl's gangrape has hung for 11 yrs on an MLA's note

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dalit-girls-gangrape-has-hung-for-11-yrs-on-an-mlas-note/561767/0

She was a minor; her alleged assaulter a man with clout. The police initially turned her away; while a decade later, her case is still on in courts. And while Ruchika Girhotra's tragic story may have got the nation's and government's ear, no one remembers the then 13-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly gangraped on the night of the Dhuleti festival, a day after Holi, in a Vadodara village by an MLA's relative and a friend of his.

In the 11 years since, the case is still at a stage where the witnesses are to be examined. Her grandfather has had to sell most of his land in the court battle, while the girl herself is now married to a local youth and has two children.

As for Khumansinh Chauhan, on whose official letterhead a handwritten note was sent to the police sub-inspector concerned over the case (a copy of which is with The Indian Express), he continues to be the Congress MLA from Savli.

On the night of March 13, 1998, the girl from Mokshi village was reportedly abducted fom her home by Ramesh Baria and his friend, gangraped and found abandoned and bleeding near the village pond the next morning. Her grandfather Vashram Vankar had just stepped out, leaving her alone (her parents having split, she was being raised by Vashram).

"We took her to the police outpost, but they told us to go to the Bhadarva Police Station. The Bhadarva police did not register a case, and told us to take her to hospital for medical examination," Vankar says.

At the SSG Hospital, the doctors initially thought that the girl, who was in deep shock, was mentally challenged, and referred her to the Vadodara Hospital for Mental Health. The doctors there realised she had been raped and sent her back. A medical examination confirmed rape.

It took four days for the police to register a complaint. "When the police kept delaying, we met the then Vadodara Superintendent of Police, but he accused us of making up the case to extort money," says Vankar.

The police finally relented after Vankar moved the Gujarat High Court. The family believes the note on Chauhan's letterhead that was hand-delivered to the Bhadarva Police Station on March 14, 1998, even before the grandfather had reached there with the rape complaint, was behind the police delay.

The letter, signed by Chauhan, says the person delivering it was known to him: "Virendra B Solanki is from Mokshi. He is a personal supporter of mine, I had introduced him to you earlier too. His is the issue concerning the rape case. I know this issue. So, it is my recommendation that you too understand the issue as he will tell you, and do the needful."

Chauhan claims his letterhead may have been "misused" by someone and that he doesn't know anybody by the name of Ramesh Baria. "I routinely give many recommendation letters, but I don't recall giving any such letter," he told The Indian Express. "I would never do that, not in a serious case like rape."

Valjibhai Patel, secretary of the Council for Social Justice, which took up the issue, says Chauhan isn't telling the truth. "Baria was definitely a relative on his maternal side," he says.

The police were just the first stumbling block. At every stage, the Vankars met delay, callousness and apathy:

* Police take a month to submit a chargesheet before the local Sessions Court, on April 25, 1998, naming Baria and accomplice Ramesh Vankar.

* A year later, on April 14, 1999, the Additional Sessions Judge refers the case to the Lok Adalat, deciding that the gangrape of a minor was a fit case to try for an amicable "compromise". The girl's family doesn't agree.

* Eight more years would pass, until May 30, 2007, before the court, which had by then completed the entire trial proceedings, would realise that proper procedure was not followed in submitting the chargesheet and that it was submitted directly to the Sessions Court instead of the court of the Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFMC), which could have committed it to the Sessions Court. The case papers were sent back to the Investigating Officer, who was told to submit those to the JFMC court.

* Police would take five months, till October 9, 2007, to submit the case to the Magistrate.

* As things stand, the Sessions Court is to conduct "further hearing" in the case on January 23, 2010.

Says former Gujarat High Court judge Justice S M Soni: "A case so serious as rape cannot go to the Lok Adalat. The court should not have done that. As for sending it back to the Investigating Officer after the trial was almost over, the court could have found some way to rectify the error instead of following mere official formality."

Vashram Vankar, who is in his late 70s now, and the girl's maternal uncle Suresh Vankar say they are determined to fight on. "We were offered Rs 50,000 by relatives of the accused... We refused," says Suresh.

"I wish someone understood our pain," adds the grandfather. "Our only relief is she has settled down with a loving husband and in-laws, who do not object to her appearing in court to fight for justice."

Frontline

SOCIAL JUSTICE
Lesser citizens

http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100115270105600.htm

S. VISWANATHAN

Reservation has had some effect on the conditions of the oppressed sections, including Dalits, but strong government action aimed at their emancipation is yet to come.

THE first 25 years of Frontline covered a turbulent period in the political, economic and social histories of the country. The period witnessed several incidents and events of far-reaching consequences. These include the brutal assassination of Rajiv Gandhi; India's adoption of neoliberal economic policies; the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the consolidation of Hindutva forces; the growing assertion of Dalits inspired by the Ambedkar centenary celebrations; the extension of quota benefits to larger sections as recommended by the Mandal Commission, the Sachar Committee, and so on; a spurt in incidents of violence against Dalits and tribal people; and attempts to empower Dalits and women under the panchayat raj system. The last three are considered significant in terms of social justice.

In a large country ridden with poverty, unemployment and disparities in income, reservation of government jobs and seats in educational institutions is an effective instrument for ensuring social justice. The Constitution provided for reservation in education and employment for the Scheduled Castes (Dalits) and the Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their share in the population. This provision was made as part of positive discrimination in view of the historical discrimination and social injustice faced by these sections. An amendment to the Constitution in the early years of its operation empowered the States to provide reservation for the educationally and socially backward classes in educational institutions and government service.

The Janata Party government led by Morarji Desai appointed a commission headed by the parliamentarian Brindeshwari Prasad Mandal to identify "the socially and educationally backward" and consider their case for reservation. (Article 340 of the Constitution enables the President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes and the difficulties under which they labour and to recommend steps that should be taken by the Union and State governments to improve their condition.)

Although Mandal submitted his report as early as 1980, it gathered dust for nearly a decade. It was Prime Minister V.P. Singh who took the initiative in 1990 to implement the commission's recommendations, as promised by the ruling National Front during its election campaign. He announced in Delhi on December 6, just four days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, that his government would implement the Mandal Commission recommendations and that both Hindu and non-Hindu Other Backward Classes, together accounting for 52 per cent of the population, would be given 27 per cent reservation.

The announcement triggered instant protests, mostly from "upper caste" students. Protesters, who included over 3,000 university students, staged demonstrations and stopped traffic in many places. Violence was reported from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. The next move from V.P. Singh came only on August 13, 1990, when he issued a notification for the OBC reservation, which was also met with a series of agitations. Notwithstanding legal battles against the scheme on one pretext or another, the system has managed to survive.

The next significant move in respect of reservation came in 2006. It was the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006. It provided for the extension of reservation to the prestigious institutions of higher learning. The Act is a significant legislative measure – for the first time, Parliament recognised, through a law, the need for reserving seats in higher educational institutions as an expedient and necessary measure. The Supreme Court has stayed the operation of the Act in respect of Other Backward Classes pending the final disposal of certain petitions. The court also clarified that the operation of the relevant section to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes had not been stayed. The Mandal Commission report pointed out that mere reservation of seats in educational institutions or government jobs would not solve the problems of OBCs. It recommended many other initiatives, such as the intensification of land reforms, extension of credit facilities to deprived sections, clearance of backlogs in respect of poverty alleviation programmes, development initiatives, and measures to spread education. A notable point in this context is that most of those who come under the OBC category live in villages, something that administrators and political leaders simply ignore.

In recent years, some State governments granted separate reservation for Muslims and Christians in the OBC quota. In Tamil Nadu, this has been done by enacting a law, in response to representations from people belonging to these two communities. The law was based on the recommendations of the State Backward Classes Commission. Another reservation-related step taken by some State governments was the creation of sub-quotas for Dalit sub-castes such as Arunthathiyars and Chakkiliyars (in Tamil Nadu), who are the worst sufferers of untouchability, in the 18-20 per cent quota for Dalits. In Tamil Nadu, the State government, through a resolution, has provided for a 3 per cent sub-quota for some sub-sects from the existing 18 per cent reservation for the Scheduled Castes. The percentage, however, changes from State to State depending upon the Dalit share in the population. People belonging to these sub-castes mostly serve as sanitation workers.

Sixty years after Independence, reservation has not done much to elevate these hapless people to any higher position in society. Despite tremendous developments in science and technology, and in violation of a Supreme Court order, the Centre and the State governments have failed to bring an end to the practice of manual scavenging and to rehabilitate those engaged in it in decent jobs elsewhere.

Though reservation has substantially benefited large sections, it must be remembered that with sections of people remaining outside this safety net, ensuring social justice to all will continue to be a distant dream. The disinvestment policy under the neoliberal regime has posed a serious threat to those employed in scores of public sector undertakings (PSUs). The dismantling of PSUs and the steadily falling state investment in employment-generating industries are posing even more serious challenges to the system. More and more people are made to be dependent on jobs in private establishments, which are in no mood to introduce reservation. This has only resulted in increasing the number of the unemployed in the country. Adding to this is the closure of a number of factories and the resultant spurt in the number of the jobless.

In the case of Dalits, the situation is worse, particularly because of what Dalit leaders describe as "tardy" implementation of reservation. Dalit activists complain of discrimination against Dalits in this policy of "positive discrimination". Bureaucrats from the "oppressor castes" do not show any genuine interest in implementing reservation. A large number of posts under the quota remain unfilled, and upper-caste officials show the least interest in clearing backlogs. This only proves that reservation in employment and education is not enough to bring about any big change in raising the social status of Dalits. Dalits on the payroll of private employers presumably suffer a much worse form of discrimination.

A shocking expose in recent years is how Dalits, numbering more than 22 crore in the country, were taken for a ride by the governments at the Centre and in the States in the matter of allotment of funds for improving their lot. The Centre and the State governments failed to implement faithfully the Special Component Plan (SCP), now known as the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP). The SCP was supposed to be in operation for the past over 30 years. Because of the failure of the Ministries to allot money for Dalit-related schemes in proportion to their share in the population, Dalits, according to one estimate, could have lost a whopping Rs.3,75,000 crore in the last 25 years. ("Plan and prejudice", Frontline, October 19, 2007). This shows that even Ministers and highly placed officials cannot claim to be free from prejudice against Dalits.

It is not surprising that the outlawed practice of untouchability is very much alive in the country, taking several new forms, and atrocities against Dalits have become almost a daily affair in most places. The 1990s saw a steep rise in atrocities against Dalits across the country. The manifestation of "upper caste" prejudice against Dalits is now more cruel and vulgar than in the past. However, one can also see a qualitative shift in the response of Dalits to the physical and verbal assaults on them. Dalits appeared determined to resist these, apparently inspired by the nationwide celebrations of the birth centenary of Ambedkar in 1991. They began to hit back. The caste-Hindu response to this Dalit assertion has also been manifesting itself in even more cruel ways. The police force, mostly packed with members of non-Dalit castes, often side with the attackers.

Human rights activists and political observers say caste-based violence against Dalits cannot be contained unless the police are impartial and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is effectively used against the guilty. The situation that Dalits find themselves in has been aggravated by the economic downslide brought about by the policies of an insensitive, market-driven, neoliberal regime in the past 25 years. The period saw the emergence of powerful Dalit leaders in almost all States in which Dalit concentration is substantial, but not all could succeed to any great extent in consolidating their base, maybe because of their need to depend on bigger parties. Also, they did not have an agenda that could radically transform the social and economic condition of Dalits.

--
.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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