Dalits Media Watch
NewsUpdates 01.07.13
Dalit woman axed to death after rape-Hindustan Times
Kin of 'missing' wife attack Dalit youth in Theni-The New Indian Express
Many courses still open in DU for SC/ST-The Times Of India
'State should ensure Dalit panchayat presidents function independently'-The Hindu
Overcoming odds for education-The Hindu
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Hindu/400x60/0
NOTE : Please find Hindi News Updates in the attachment (PDF)
Hindustan Times
Dalit woman axed to death after rape
A 35-year-old Dalit widow was allegedly axed to death after being raped by a man of upper caste at Rambas
village of Mahendergarh district on Saturday.
The accused identified as Satbir Thakur, 36, a resident of the same village, who was arrested by the police on
Saturday. The police have booked him for rape and murder, besides provisions of the SC/ST Act.
The accused had visited the house of victim in the wee hours of Saturday and asked the victim to accompany
him to the jungle on pretext of searching his goats. The police said that the accused allegedly raped the victim
in the jungle and then axed her to death.
The body was first spotted by women of the village who had gone to the jungle for attending nature's call. The
police reached the spot and sent the body for autopsy. Narnaul DSP Jaipal Singh said, "We have recovered
the axe used in the crime from the spot designated by the accused and are interrogating him."
The New Indian Express
Kin of 'missing' wife attack Dalit youth in Theni
A Scheduled Caste youth whose caste Hindu wife was forcibly separated from him and allegedly married off to
another man was beaten up by the girl's relatives in Theni district on Friday last, soon after the Madras High
Court (Madurai Bench) directed the police to produce his wife in the court on July 15.
The love story of the young couple is almost a scene out of a commercial film.
According to advocate Arul, a Dalit youth Prabakaran of Kurumbapatti in Bathalagundu in Dindigul district had
fallen in love with a minor girl Divya, belonging to a caste Hindu family. Six months ago the couple eloped to
Tirupur and married in February.
Later, with the alleged knowledge of the police the girl's relatives spread a false message that Divya's father
had died. The police asked her to come to the station saying she would be let off if she signed a statement
saying she had gone with Prabakaran out of her own will.
When the couple went to the station on February 15, police cornered them by producing Divya's school
certificates to prove that she was a minor and cannot go with her husband.
"Divya had conceived by then. Police insisted that she must go to a Government Home for the time being and
rejoin her husband after two months, by when she would attain the age of majority," Arul said.A nurse
allegedly fed Divya some pills to abort the foetus and later the police sent her away with her parents.
"The Sub Inspector belonged to the same caste as Divya's parents. So he separated the couple," charged
Arul. Divya was allegedly tortured and on attaining the age of majority married off to another man a week
ago against her will.
Following this, Prabakaran filed a habeas corpus petition seeking to produce his wife and set her at liberty. A
two-judge bench of the High Court had on Friday directed police to produce Divya in the court on July 15.
The Times Of India
Many courses still open in DU for SC/ST
NEW DELHI: Colleges that have closed admissions for the general category are still open for reserved
category candidates in the second list for courses such as commerce and economics. The drops in cutoff from
the first list are substantial with several colleges recording a difference of 2-5 points.
All Delhi University colleges, except Ramjas and Ram LalAnand, will be admitting other backward classes
(OBC) category applicants into their commerce courses. At Hindu, the drop for OBC is of one mark (0.25%);
Shri Ram College of Commerce has reduced it to 94% from 94.5%; and at BhaginiNivedita, the difference is of
5%. For persons with disability (PwD), seats are free at all colleges except at Ramjas, RLA and SRCC. Again,
for schedule caste and scheduled tribe (SC/ST) applicants, seats are available in all colleges except Acharya
NarendraDev and Deshbandu (open only for ST).
There is good news for those from the reserved categories hoping to study economics. Only Gargi has
admitted OBC candidates to the course; admissions remain open everywhere else.
For SC/ST candidates, it's open even at Gargi, though the cutoffs at the college remain unchanged. Even at
Ramjas, the cutoff for OBCs remains 90%-93%. At IP College, the drop in economics cutoff for OBCs is
0.25%; 0.75% at Hans Raj and 1% at Hindu. LSR had reduced minimum score for OBCs from 96% to 95.5%.
The Hindu
'State should ensure Dalit panchayat presidents function independently'
The State government should take adequate steps to ensure meaningful Dalit participation in local body
governance as elected Dalit members in many villages are not able to function independently and freely, Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP and president, ViduthalaiChiruthaigalKatchi, said on Sunday.
In an interview, he said the 73rd Constitutional Amendment instituted a policy of political reservation in local
government and ensured participatory democracy at the grassroots-level for historically disadvantaged social
groups, including Dalits and women.
"However, in many places, the decentralised nature of grassroots democracy has made it easier for local elites
to hold sway over village panchayats," he said.
Political mobilisation and assertion of Dalits had, unfortunately, led to an increase in attacks on them. When
the VCK wanted to come out of dependence on the State's principal political parties - the DMK or the AIADMK
- and join the mainstream even while adhering to its core ideals of safeguarding rights for Scheduled Castes,
casteist forces joined hands and sought to target the VCK, he charged.
He contended that the formation of PattaliMakkalKatchi (PMK)-backed AnaithuSamuthayaIyakkam was in
response to the emergence of the VCK as a significant political force.
In the past 20 years, Dalits-backed political parties had launched several agitations on a number of issues
including equal status in temples for worship and performance of rites and equal rights in auctioning of
common property resources.
On the decision of Dalit leaders ParithiElamvazhuthi and E. Ponnusamy to join the AIADMK, Mr.
Thirumavalavan said it was a sign of "social insecurity," and it was the rigidity of caste structure that did not
allow Dalit leaders to identify themselves with Dalit parties.
No other mainstream party other than the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was paying homage to six
electedpanchayat Dalit members who died fighting for their political rights in Melavalavu near Madurai in 1997
where they were hacked to death for contesting elections.
He wanted the DMK, the DravidarKazhagam, and the Communist Party of India to participate in the Memorial
Day and recognise their sacrifice.
On Neyveli Lignite Corporation disinvestment issue, the VCK's stand was that the Centre should not divest
shares of the NLC to the private sector. The VCK supported Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's offer to buy the stake
through Tamil Nadu's public sector undertakings.
Mr.Thirumavalavan appealed to the State government to appoint a monitoring committee to ensure proper
implementation of post Matric scholarship scheme for SC/ST students and Dalit Christians.
The Hindu
Overcoming odds for education
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Hindu/400x60/0
Son of parents who worked as daily labourers shelling coconuts in farms at Kallipatti near Pollachi, 17-year old
P. Arjunan's only focus was on studies. That has paid off, and today Arjunan is all set to attend the Tamil
Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA) vocational counselling on July 1 with an overall rank of 16 and
community rank 1 under Scheduled Castes (Arundhadhiar).
The weekly family income of Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,000 never came in the way of the boy as he continued to be
among the top three in every class in school. He passed SSLC from Government Higher Secondary School,
Negama, with 436 out of 500.
He enrolled himself for higher secondary in the SRNV Higher Secondary School, Lakshminaickenpalayam at
Karadivavi near Palladam, where he had to pay a very meagre amount as fee. The school was nearly 25 km
from his house. Hence, he stayed at a Government hostel nearby and completed his school education.
He cleared the general machinist course in the vocational stream with 1,135 out of 1,200 and stood second in
his school.
With an aggregate mark of 198.17, he realised his engineering dream would come true.
When his call letter to attend TNEA vocational counselling arrived, Arjunan knew that he can have the pick of
course and college with his rank.
"I want to study mechanical engineering in the department of Anna University or at Government College of
Technology, Coimbatore. My aim is to teach after completing post-graduation and doctoral studies. My dream
is to become a Vice-Chancellor of a university," says this first generation learner.
Even though he is sure of getting an engineering seat, Arjunan is not spending his holidays doing nothing. He
has enrolled himself in two classes that will enable him be on a par with English-medium classmates in
college. He travels 10 km to Pollachieveryday in the afternoon to attend a C++ class to equip himself for
mechanical engineering programme, and a spoken English class for improving his language skills.
A. AbulKalam Azad, a lawyer in Pollachi, who teaches him spoken English, says Arjunan is very focussed and
does not mind going that extra mile to achieve what he wants.
"He has overcome poverty to come this far.
He travels long distances from his village to attend classes so that he does not lag behind in college."
As he is preparing himself to leave for Chennai on Sunday to attend the counselling, Arjunan is confident of
tackling the engineering syllabus like he did his school curriculum.
He is a self-learner and never gone for tuitions.
He is not so confident about handling the financial burden that he foresees for the next four years.
The first generation graduate concession of the State Government will not be enough for him to sustain
throughout his education.
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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