Far from television studios, the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal, or Mayawati's Rs 685 crore park, as it is being referred to, is already acquiring a life of its own. In the few days since it opened, it has had many visitors. It might be massive, but there is nothing alienating about it.

People walk in and out, looking at the statues of Babasaheb Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati, many posing with the statues and taking pictures on their cellphones. They read the history recorded in the three sections that surround these statues. After this, most head towards the two fountains and the park on the side.

Dalit Bahujan activist Kancha Ilaiah is here too, looking around at this rewriting of history. In the evening, he has to visit a TV studio for a debate. He observes that most people coming here would be Dalits and lower castes. Many, like him, see this act as an important part of the struggle in rejecting Hinduism and for an alternative future, possibly a Buddhist one. I overhear someone explaining to his friend: "One should learn from this what it is to fight and struggle."

As you enter the monument, you find a long text running from ceiling to floor, tracing the significance of the structure. Unlike most public spaces where the presence of caste is masked, here it is openly acknowledged, and the struggle against casteism celebrated. More than once, the inscriptions refer to Mayawati as Kanshi Ram's 'sole' heir. A plaque explains that her statue is there only to fulfil Kanshi Ram's wish.

But to look here for evidence of Mayawati's megalomania is to miss the significance of this moment. A TV anchor debating the cost of this project, remarked, "Let's not see this from the prism of caste." What else is this about then?

Contextualising the three statues, there are snippets from each of their lives, apart from illustrations carved out on the walls. The text explaining these scenes is in Hindi without translation, unlike the other plaques that are bilingual. Ambedkar is shown handing over the Constitution to Rajendra Prasad, with Jawaharlal Nehru and others in the background. The players of the dominant narrative of the nation's history are present here as passive recipients of the Constitution.

The other two scenes in this section are Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism and the Mahad Satyagraha for temple entry. Kanshi Ram's section shows him on a cycle moving from place to place, building the Bahujan Samaj Party movement from scratch. In the other scenes, he always has Mayawati by his side — first announcing her as his heir, and then together planning out the struggle. There is also one where both of them are shown with 'Muslim leaders'.

The third section, reserved for Mayawati, shows her with her parents, and then commemorates the four occasions when she took the chief minister's oath. Here she is someone who has worked for Dalits, backward castes and upper caste 'poor', a strategy similar to the inclusion of the 'Muslim leaders' earlier. There is also a list of the 'Bahujan Samaj ke Mahapurush' (Great Men of the Bahujan Samaj) starting from Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Sree Narayana Guru. One wonders though why there aren't more details.

On the TV programme for which Kancha Ilaiah went in the evening, a woman felt that the existence of the monument could lead to uncomfortable situations, including her children asking her who a Dalit is. While the anchor seemed to find in this question an illustration of the 'Development vs Caste' debate, this is exactly one of the great possibilities that the Sthal opens up. One can argue the Sthal is giving into the dominant narrative of the nation's history and its obsession with individuals and great men. But one can't deny that this public commemoration of the struggle against caste means that a conversation on caste is no longer taboo. It also means that a society which is caste-centred cannot but be looked at from the prism of caste.

Aakshi Magazine is a post-graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

The Hindu

Inquest indicts police for Paramakudi firing

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2565757.ece

Staff Reporter

The two-day public inquest on the police firing in which six Dalits were killed recently has observed the tragedy is not a mere fallout of a law and order problem but involves larger issues.

More than 100 persons deposed in front of the jury headed by retired Bombay High Court Judge H.Suresh. The jury found that police excesses in Paramakudi violated international human rights standards and, in particular, the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

Mr. Suresh said that the public hearing was part of a democratic exercise with an objective to restore human dignity, as it was important since the government machinery had failed to deliver justice.

The jury in its interim report said that the region, as such, had a long history of conflicts arising out of caste discrimination dating back to pre-Independence days. The role of the civil administration as well as the police, over a period, had left a lot to be desired in this regard.

The early 1990s witnessed an accentuation of this trend and the Kodiyankulam, Kasilingapuram, Tamirabarani tragedy where the police force was found to have played a direct role in attacking Dalits, their households, were indeed a culmination of this pattern.

The long-term factors cannot be glossed over in an attempt to make sense of the tragic developments on September 11, 2011. The terms of reference for the Justice Sampath Commission of Enquiry, indeed, does not contain this factor and is hence inadequate, said the Jury.

Moreover, the commission restricted itself to the incident at Paramakudi on September 11, 2011 and excluded police actions at Chinthamani in Madurai and Ilayangudi in Sivagangai District.

Indian Express

First time ever, communities shake hands past TN's 'untouchability wall'

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/first-time-ever-communities-shake-hands-past-tns-untouchability-wall/864552/0

Posted: Mon Oct 24 2011, 02:49 hrs Chennai:

Two decades after the infamous "untouchability wall" came up in Uthapuram near Madurai, a influential backward community and Dalits signed an agreement last week that may pave the way for a new beginning in this village.

The Dalits will now get access to the Muthalamman temple in Uthapuram, where they were not allowed so far, and the holy tree in its vicinity. In keeping with another demand of theirs, land would soon be identified and construction taken up of a bus shelter on the main road.

In the severely casteist rural heartland of Tamil Nadu, the Dalits of Uthapuram were not permitted to stand on the road to wait for a bus. Instead, they had to wait in the inner streets and run to the main road when they heard an approaching bus.

After the existence of the wall was brought to public and media attention by the 'Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front' three years ago, the then DMK government had reopened a road from the main road to the Dalit hamlet, which the wall had blocked. A portion of the wall was demolished on May 6, 2008, after the intervention of CPM and human rights organisations.

However, fearing reprisals from the influential Pillaimars, the Dalits never used the road connected them to the main road after the police left.

The agreement signed on Thursday at the district police office was made possible by the intervention of the district authorities, especially the rural police headed by Superintendent Asra Garg, who held a series of meetings with the elders of the two communities over the past few weeks. "We involved their leaders not just from the Uthapuram village but from the neighbouring region as well. We impressed upon them the need to resolve outstanding issues," Garg told The Indian Express.

Following the agreement, the cases against members of both the communities related to clashes between them would be withdrawn.

While there had been major clashes between the Dalits and Pillaimars in 1948 and 1964 as well, the 'caste wall' came up after one such conflict in 1989.

Five people died in the 1989 clash, following which elders from 18 neighbouring villages met and decided that a wall be constructed to physically separate the two communities. The wall came up right in the middle of the Dalit hamlet, blocking their access to the main road. Only a small pathway was left leading up to the Dalit area inside the village.

The Economic Times

Lokpal Bill: SC Commission wants definition of corruption expanded

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/lokpal-bill-sc-commission-wants-definition-of-corruption-expanded/articleshow/10474516.cms

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has suggested expanding the definition of the term corruption in the proposed Lokpal Bill by including issues like non utilisation and diversion of funds from schemes meant for the welfare of STs and SCs.

It has also suggested that no judge or the Chief Justice should be eligible for appointment in Lokpal panel if he has "passed adverse judgement on important dalit issues".

In a communication sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel scrutinising the Lokpal Bill, the Commission is learnt to have said issues like non earmarking of funds under Scheduled Caste sub plan and tribal sub plan in proportion to respective population should also fall under the definition of corruption.

The decision to suggest broadening the definition of graft was taken at a meeting of the full Commission held recently.

"...Non formulation of schemes exclusively for the benefit of SC, ST; non utilisation of funds; diversion of these funds for schemes other than welfare of SC/ST, deprivation of rights and safeguards provided in the Constitution and other laws passed by Parliament and state Assemblies and official orders and notifications" be brought ambit under the definition of corruption, the Commission has told the Standing Committee.

It has also suggested that in the prescribed qualifications, a provision should be added that Lokpal or its members "must be free from caste bias".

Commission Chairman P L Punia had recently appeared before the Parliamentary panel.

NDTV

Bhatta Parsaul rape case: 'Contempt proceedings if no action'

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/bhatta-parsaul-rape-case-contempt-proceedings-if-no-action-143832

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: October 24, 2011 13:01 IST

Lucknow: It pitched Mayawati against Rahul Gandhi and while the Uttar Pradesh administration may have dragged its feet in registering cases against policemen, alleged to have raped women in Bhatta and Parsaul villages, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission has now stepped in.

The chairman of the SC/ST Commission, PL Punia, has told NDTV that it will initiate contempt proceedings unless the Uttar Pradesh Police initiated immediate action on the Bhatta Parsaul rapes and registered FIRs.

"If an FIR is not registered in the Bhatta Parsaul case, it means the Uttar Pradesh government officials are indulging in contempt of court. The commission has powers to initiate contempt proceedings. Although the commission has never exercised these powers but it is willing to do so if an FIR is not registered," Mr Punia said.

For almost six months their ordeal during the violent farmer-police clashes in Bhatta Parsaul, which took place in May this year, went largely unreported. But now women are speaking out and alleging cases of rape against policemen, who cracked down on the protesters.

Says a rape victim, (name withheld). ''The day the firing happened (May 7) police forcibly entered our homes. Some stood outside our homes and some 3-4 policemen misbehaved with us. They forced themselves upon us and raped us.'' Another victim adds, "The day the firing began, the same evening police raped us. We went to the High Court and tried to register a FIR, but they did not register our FIR and now police keep coming back and threaten us.

One of the victims had filed a case of rape before the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Dankaur Police Station, alleging rape by the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawans deployed in Bhatta-Parsaul. However alleging police inaction they took the matter to court. A lower court ruling ordering an FIR be registered was then challenged by the state government. The matter was then taken up by Allahabad High Court, who then slammed the state government for its refusal to lodge an FIR.

Justice SC Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court had said the state government had no business to challenge the lower court's decision ordering the police to register an FIR on the complaint of the victim. The state government has so far denied the rape cases.

Despite the government's denials, the Bhatta issue is not likely to go away anytime soon and could play a major factor in the run-up to UP elections next year. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi first raised the issue during a visit to the twin villages of Bhatta and Parsaul. He claimed that locals told him that the police had raped women.

The tension between the police and the villagers stems from large protests by farmers who want the government to return the land that had been acquired for them for public projects. The farmers allege that the land they had surrendered had been passed onto commercial real estate developers and the government was making a profit. As protests broke out, police allegedly opened fire. Four people were killed, including two policemen.

The Telegraph

Home voices against Anna

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111024/jsp/frontpage/story_14661002.jsp

- Life under one man's diktat rankles with Ralegan youth JAIDEEP HARDIKAR IN RALEGAN SIDDHI

Vilas Bhagwan Pote grins as he recalls his election as sarpanch of Ralegan Siddhi, Anna Hazare's village in Ahmednagar district, 11 years ago.

"I was the traitor, the bad guy," he jokes. "I openly defied Anna because I felt he was wrong."

Pote, a Dalit charmakar (cobbler) then in his 30s, had been unhappy as the 2000 panchayat polls drew close. As always, Anna had nominated a new executive body for the gram sabha.

That year, the sarpanch's post had been reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Anna had proposed a Dalit's name and wanted the gram sabha to adopt his choice, Pote says. "I felt it was unfair."

Mustering courage, Pote challenged the "arbitrary decision" and demanded elections for the first time. He ran for the post and the village elected him by a sweeping majority.

The villagers had defied Anna, who, Pote says, believes that party politics divides a village.

Until that year, Ralegan had had no time for elections: the villagers would simply accept Anna's choice for sarpanch and the executive. The sarpanch would always be from one of the three most dominant families — the Pathares, the Maparis and the Awatis — all Marathas.

In 2010 too, Jaisingh Mapari, son of former sarpanch Sadashiv Mapari, defied Anna, contested and won.

The father and son are staunch Nationalist Congress Party workers and today dominate Ralegan's political landscape. Mapari Sr is president of the Sant Yadavbaba Education Trust founded by Anna, who is its secretary.

The trust runs the village school. Mapari Sr says he has issues with Anna. "I was not by his side in his agitations in the past two years for many reasons," he says. One of the reasons is Anna's lack of trust in Mapari Sr, explain villagers.

While Ralegan Siddhi holds Anna as a virtual deity, many among the younger generation here feel it's time they began to come out of his shadow.

It isn't that the villagers don't respect him, Pote says, but some of them feel it is detrimental in the long run that one man decides what is good or bad for them. The days of he-says-we-follow are over, Pote claims.

The lore

It's early September 2011. Ralegan Siddhi is in a festive mood, not because of the Ganesh festival but because of Anna's successful agitation in Delhi that, the villagers boast, "shook the UPA government".

There's a steady flow of visitors every day to meet Anna. A few village leaders now speak perfectly before the TV cameras, at times exaggerating stories about Anna.

Yet, as Pote and several others note, the generational shift is bringing a subtle but sure change to the way the village's politics has worked so far.

While the regard for the man credited with its transformation from the days of poverty and drought is still intact, young villagers, barring those associated with his anti-corruption campaign, have begun to dismantle the belief system on which the Ralegan Siddhi model stood.

Three decades ago, the village had rallied behind Anna believing he was a saviour and could never err.

One hears stories that Anna would flog drunkards, prescribe vegetarianism, or ask people to stay away from films that he thought might be a bad influence. It was true in part but all that's history, says Mapari Sr."We don't have liquor shops but people do go outside the village to drink. Even in the past, prohibition was never total."

Some also eat meat from time to time. But Ralegan still follows certain social norms it had set for itself in the 1970s after severe droughts. It doesn't splurge on marriages or festivities: thus the community weddings and the lone Ganapati celebration.

Like most villages around it, Ralegan is dominated by Marathas. Most households are small farmers with barely one to two hectares of landholdings; a handful has more than five hectares.

In the village of 2,317 (about 430 households), the Dalits and tribals together number just about 200. More than 50 of Ralegan's youths, including Anna's nephew, are in the army; several others hold government or private jobs elsewhere.

Shindhi to Siddhi

The original name was Ralegan Shindhi, the second word referring to a local tree from which liquor is made. The village was a liquor hub, with 40-odd shops selling a homemade brew. When these shops were closed, the village renamed itself Siddhi (divine revelation).

When Anna, then just Kisan Baburao Hazare, quit the army and returned home around 1975, the first thing he did was persuade the villagers to close the liquor shops and call for prohibition. But the change came only when those who made liquor got alternative livelihoods through agriculture and milk economy.

"He enjoyed our support because women were tired of beatings by men," recalls Tulsabai Awati, who runs a small tea-and-snacks shop. "When some men refused to listen, he would thrash them with our consent."

Anna emerged as the saviour of the village.

The beginning

As you approach the village off the Ahmednagar-Pune highway, what catches your eye is the manmade terraces and trees planted all along the hillock slopes. Rainwater seeps through and raises the water table. The stair-like terraces check soil erosion or run-off.

Still, the nearby villages aren't too different, apart from the one-man rule and the drinking ban. They too grow food crops and have a roaring farm-and-milk economy, sound cooperative societies and watershed area development.

It was in Ahmednagar district that the first cooperative sugar mill, an institution that changed the socio-economic and political landscape of western Maharashtra, was founded.

Ralegan was, and still is, one of hundreds of villages in this region that adopted a collective cooperative model, through the contributions of the government (grants), people (share capital) and financial institutions such as banks (low-interest loans).

For the government, though, Ralegan has been a "model village" since 1978. Old-timers say its transformation had a social and political context.

After back-to-back droughts in 1972 and 1973 across northwest Maharashtra, agriculture was sinking. There was no allied income. Liquor flowed freely; superstition and orthodoxy reigned.

After his return from the army, Anna began to take an interest in village development. Instead of living with his family, he chose to live in the Yadavbaba temple, which he repaired with his own money. The village rallied behind him since he worked for the community and had no personal agenda, the old-timers recall.

Mapari Sr says the Tata Relief Centre and several government agencies were already working in the district, focusing on rainwater conservation. So, Ralegan too adopted the practice.

"Anna didn't introduce it here all alone," Mapari Sr says. "What we did was not wait for funds but spend from our own pockets, offer collective labour, and build the necessary structures, terraces and ponds."

Over 30 reservoirs (ponds and nullah bunds) and three community wells were built. Hundreds of trees were planted. From 100 feet deep, the water table rose to about 45 feet.

Helping hands

The late Balasaheb Bharde, a local Congress heavyweight and former minister, liked Anna's small community initiatives in Ralegan that had been adopted by the Tata Relief Centre. Bharde, a Sarvodayee, helped Ralegan start a school, a primary agriculture society and other institutional structures.

He ensured routing of the government funds through the incorruptible Anna, and became a mentor of sorts for him.

A convergence of schemes flowed, and Anna emerged as Ralegan's unquestioned moral authority. "He had the key to everything," Mapari Sr recalls. "We put all our faith in Anna, because he had some education to talk to outsiders (city people)."

Anna's key strategy was to mobilise people around him and make them contribute their labour: from building water storages to setting up a school for dropouts to enforcing prohibition.

But, Pote says, things would not have changed without the village leaders' participation and will. Mapari Sr, Pote's father Bhagwan Pote and Sampatrao Awati, Ralegan's three dominant voices then, joined hands with Anna.

Through the 1980s, the village focused on three things: education (Mapari Sr helped Anna open a school); social uplift (prohibition, community works, bridging differences), and livelihood (farm improvement and diversification to milk). When incomes rose, Ralegan and Anna gained fame.

With Anna's influence, the village received government support and schemes. A lift irrigation project changed the way it farmed. Ralegan lifts water from the nearby Ukali dam to a reservoir built in the mid-1970s. With protective irrigation and subsidised drip sets, farmers can grow vegetables round the year.

Today, the village "exports" vegetables and produces over 3,000 litres of milk. The Mapari family alone produces tomatoes worth over Rs 1 crore.

Ralegan suffered a setback in the 1980s that it does not talk about: Anna's collective farming effort did not work. When the richer farmers opposed the idea of pooling land, it was dropped.

One-man show

Ralegan also took to heart Anna's panch-sutri or five diktats: nasbandi (family planning); nashabandi (prohibition);charaibandi (regulated cattle grazing); kurhadbandi (total ban on tree felling); and shramadaan (voluntary labour). Only in recent times have these been broken, villagers say.

Anna's image received a boost when the government decided to implement the Ralegan model as an "Adarsh Gram Yojana". So it set up a centre where people from other villages and government officials could be trained. Ralegan became the government's rural development showpiece.

What cements the Ralegan-Anna equation is that the villagers derive huge personal benefits from his influence in the state government, particularly among the bureaucracy.

Yet the contrast with Hiwre Bazaar, a village about 30km away and known for its vibrant gram sabha, is difficult to miss.

While Ralegan's fame derives mainly from Anna's charisma, Hiwre owes its reputation to its culture of participatory democracy rather than its driving force, sarpanch Popatrao Pawar.

It's this difference that rankles with some of Ralegan's youths. Anna's dominance is too stark. As his former driver and aide Ashok Dasre puts it: "What is Ralegan without Anna?"

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