KHARAGPUR: Sunil Kujur, a fourth year student of IIT Kharagpur, was found hanging in his hostel room on Tuesday evening. He was a brilliant student and had no problem with studies but was depressed for some reason, say his friends.

This is the second suicide at IIT-Kgp in three months. In July, a final year student of the metallurgy department had killed himself.

"Kujur had stopped interacting with his friends and hostel mates for the past month. He had become a recluse and even refused to take food at times," said an institute official. On Tuesday, his friends knocked on Kujur's door at Jahangir Hall but got no reply. They broke it down to find the 22-year-old hanging from the ceiling.

He was a resident of Bhilai in Chhattisgarh. "He had an excellent academic record. There is no possibility of stress due to studies. We initially thought Kujur was remaining aloof due to the semester examination," said the IIT-Kgp official. Kujur's family members are on their way. No suicide note was found, said Kharagpur additional SP Miraj Khaled. "We are trying to speak to his friends to find out why he killed himself. We will take his laptop for investigation," Khaled said.

The Times Of India

'Dalit atrocities on the rise'

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Dalit-atrocities-on-the-rise/articleshow/10405975.cms

TNN | Oct 18, 2011, 10.34PM IST

MYSORE: Sarvajananga Welfare Forum president P Mahadev on Monday said atrocities against dalits are on the rise after BJP government came to power.

Demanding action against police officers who failed to act on the atrocity complaint, Mahadev claimed incidents of attacks on dalits are higher in Mysore, Mandya and Hassan districts. The latest was from Mandya, in which a dalit's nose was cut off.

The Times Of India

Teen aged lovers in suicide pact in Rohtak

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Teen-aged-lovers-in-suicide-pact-in-Rohtak/articleshow/10410223.cms

Deepender Deswal, TNN | Oct 19, 2011, 06.32AM IST

ROHTAK: A minor couple committed suicide by consuming poison in the Garhi Mohalla colony of Rohtak on Tuesday. The victims were school dropouts. The couple, Sumit Kumar,16 and Manisha,15 had reportedly been in love for some time now. The two, belonging to the scheduled caste were neighbours. They consumed celphose tablets in a street near their houses on Monday night.

Rohtak city police SHO Satender Kumar informed that the families of the victims rushed them to the PGIMS here after they found them lying unconscious in the street.

"The duo died during treatment on Tuesday morning. The bodies have been handed over to the parents after post mortem. We are awaiting the postmortem reports after which further action would be taken. At present, the families have not made any statement about the reason for their taking the extreme step", the SHO said.

Deccan Herald

False pretences

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/198940/false-pretences.html

''Statues can-not improve human conditions.''

A new dalit memorial park in Noida has kicked up heated debate in the country. Its critics have dismissed it as a colossal waste. Colossal it surely is. Spread over 33 hectares, the Bhim Rao Ambedkar Park cost the government Rs 684 crore. It houses statues of dalit icons including Ambedkar, Jyoti Rao Phule, Kanshiram as well as Mayawati, Uttar Pradesh's chief minister.

Mayawati has justified the park on the grounds that statues honouring the contribution of dalit icons are a rarity in India. Indeed but for some statues of Ambedkar, those of other dalit leaders are rare. The few that exist are often desecrated. For centuries dalits have been excluded from public spaces and their contribution to India's history, literature and culture has not been recorded or recognised. The Bhim Rao Ambedkar Park aims at righting this wrong. Clearly, the conception of the park is rooted in the deep vulnerability that has been the dalit experience for centuries. Mayawati wants to ensure that there will be no erasure of the icons; hence the statues are made of stone or bronze — both hard to destroy.

Mayawati is right in pointing out that she is being singled out for criticism when many others too have gone on statue building sprees. It is a pity, however, that Mayawati, who has broken several stereotypes and been a trailblazer in many ways, has chosen to imitate other politicians who've built statues of themselves or affixed their names to airports, hospitals and roads in order to be remembered.

If Mayawati wants to be remembered and more importantly thanked by future generations of dalits, she should focus on improving their situation. Spending on health and literacy rather than on statues should be her priority. That her priorities are seriously misplaced is evident from the fact that while Rs 684 crores was spent on the park in Noida, just Rs 18 crore has been sanctioned by her government for control of Japanese encephalitis, an epidemic that has taken the lives of over 400 children in Gorakhpur district alone this year.

Dalit literacy in Uttar Pradesh is far lower than the national average. It is in primary education of dalit children and public health in rural areas that her government should focus. Building dalit self-confidence and solidarity is undoubtedly important but these will come by providing dalit children with education and health facilities. Statues cannot improve the human condition.

Deccan Chronicle

Extra charges hit hostellers

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/regions/anantapur/extra-charges-hit-hostellers-637

October 19, 2011 , By DC Correspondent

About 1,800 undergraduate students are worried about their studies due to irrational decisions taken by management of the government arts college in Anantapur.

Alleging harassment by the management to pay extra fees to stay in hostels, students gheraoed principal Mr R. Muralidhar Rao on Tuesday.

About 1,100 students are staying in the college hostel and 700 students are utilising the mess while staying outside the overcrowded hostel.

The college management has collected 2,800, Rs 3,800 and Rs 6,000 from SC & ST, BC and OC students to stay in the hostel at the commencement of the academic year.

Recently, the management issued notice to SC, ST, and BC students to pay extra fees of Rs 3,200 and Rs 2,200, to stay in the hostel.

Students are lamenting how their parents could pay such large amounts of money as they are already reeling under drought.

The college principal, Mr Muralidhar Rao, said that the amount deposited by students were exhausted since four months and that there were no funds to purchase ration of Rs 20 lakh per month.

When questioned why this problem emerged, although students paid prescribed fees, he replied that delay in release of scholarships was the reason.

He said that government used to release quarterly scholarships for second and third year students every year, and those scholarships would be utilised to manage the hostel. "But the government is now releasing scholarships in March or April, which makes it difficult to run the hostel," he added.

However, students said that the state government introduced online scholarship process two years ago and asked how the management ran the hostel without problems in the previous year.

Hostellers also questioned whether management did not know about the funds scarcity as the government was releasing scholarships at academic year-end after online system came into effect.

Mr Muralidhar Rao admitted that they could not collect extra fees from students during admissions, due to protests launched by the student organisations.

He said that the management of hostel would not be possible after December, though students paid extra fees.

The hostellers questioned why they should pay extra fees in the middle of the academic year. They said that they might have paid the demanded fee if management had asked during admissions.

IBN Live

Dalit contestant seeks votes by hailing Thevar

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dalit-contestant-seeks-votes-by-hailing-thevar/194337-60-118.html

Express News Service , The New Indian Express

MADURAI: It's unbelievable, but for politics. In a strange move, a Dalit contestant from the caste sensitive Pappapatti (reserved) village in Madurai district worships Thevar icon Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar to win over the hearts of the Mukkulathor community to emerge victorious in the local body elections on Wednesday. Contesting from the Caste Hindu majority hamlet, the 45-year-old candidate, T Palsamy, is in the fray for the second time, though he lost in the last local body elections, five years ago. "I was defeated as the non-Dalits unanimously nominated another SC candidate to oppose me in 2006," he told Express. "However, the same people have backed me this time with their chosen candidate has proven to be a poor performer," he added. With the Thevars extending their support for him, Palsamy has pulled up his socks to woo the dominant castes. He has printed pamphlets, which hails the Thevars as his god and praising their leader Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar as temple.

In a rare gesture by any Dalit, Palsamy has also chanted "Thevar Naamam Vazhga! Thevar Pugazh Vazhga!" (Hail Thevar) through his election pamphlets. "I am quite popular among the Thevars. That's why, despite there was stiff opposition from the Caste Hindus, few of my well wishers from the other side (Thevars) exercised their franchise in favour me in 2006," he claimed. Asked whether his attempts would hurt the sentiments of Dalits, Palsamy replied, "We had even pasted these bills on the walls of Dalits' houses. Absolutely, there is no problem." The Commerce graduate was also quick to add that he did not try the same formula to attract the Thevars in the previous elections. Pappapatti came to the limelight when the Caste Hindus in the village refused to accept a panchayat president from the oppressed classes. Elections were not held in the village, for five years, after it was brought under the bracket of reserved panchayat. Agitated over the move, the Caste Hindus nominated a Dalit candidate, who would in turn withdraw his nomination, stalling the polls. Interestingly, the successful contestant in 2006 was asked to continue in his office with Palsamy contested against him as an independent. Now, six candidates, including Palsamy, are in the fray. Of the 1,543 total number of voters, 1,023 are Caste Hindus.

--
.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.