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OBSERVE WORLD AIDS DAY....DEC 1st A.......Abstinence B.......Be faithful (to the partner) C.......Condom use Prevent HIV/AIDS ,Create awareness India Thinkers Net ------------------------------------------------------ [1] Economic boom blurs lines among India's castes Despite educational and social advances, some barriers still remain for the Dalits By Ken Moritsugu Special for USA TODAY NEW DELHI Kicking back in blue jeans and a black pullover shirt, Yudhishthir Kumar looks like many other young engineers riding India's high-tech boom. Some of his colleagues at a computer company in Mumbai don't know that one thing sets him apart. He is a Dalit, a member of the lowest caste in India that once was derisively called the "untouchables." Kumar, 28, a computer network specialist, represents a small but slowly expanding segment of India's 170-million-strong Dalit population that is taking advantage of new economic opportunities and affirmative action. But as Kumar and other upwardly mobile Dalits challenge their caste's stereotypes, they are finding that centuries-old attitudes change slowly. The Hindu caste hierarchy, a more than 2,000-year-old system, divides society into groups based on traditional professions. At the top are the Brahmins, descended from teachers or priests. Next are the Kshatriyas, once warriors. Then there are the Vaishya, whose forebears were traders, followed by Shudra, or laborers. Dalits are at the bottom. Relegated to sweeping floors, carting away human excrement and other dirty jobs, they were deemed "untouchable." To make physical contact with a Dalit was to sully oneself. India's rigid caste divisions have begun to break down. The Indian Constitution, drafted in 1947-48 by B.R. Ambedkar, an early Dalit leader, outlawed "untouchability" and directed the government to promote the educational and economic interests of Dalits. Kumar's path to computer engineer began a generation ago when his father, Dhanai Ram, landed a job as a police officer under an affirmative-action quota. Ram, who never finished college, used his earnings to send his seven children and younger brother, Chandra Bhan Prasad, to college. "He tried to give us the best education," says Prasad, now a Dalit activist here in the capital. "He didn't care about a car and other luxuries. He couldn't even buy a refrigerator for himself." Kumar's battles have been mainly psychological. As a child, he learned to ignore taunts from higher-caste classmates. In college, where he received a place reserved for Dalits, he studied longer than most other students to prove he was as good, he says. Kumar says he believes some Indians still question whether Dalits are suitable for certain jobs. "If they know I am a Dalit, they will often be of two minds: whether to hire me or not, even if I am better than the others," he says. For a Dalit, Kumar is well off. About 80% live in poor rural areas where caste discrimination remains strong and custom generally dictates that Dalits live in separate enclaves. Those who challenge established power structures such as by running in elections for village council have been threatened or beaten, the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights in New Delhi says. The group logged 142 incidents of election violence during an 11-month period that ended in July, including instances where Dalits were prevented from voting. Citing media reports and other sources, the group said those cases were among 574 incidents of discrimination or caste-based violence against Dalits, mostly in villages. Nearly a quarter of the 260 million Indians living below the poverty line are Dalits, according to the government's National Sample Survey, a survey of socioeconomic conditions in 1999-2000. Even in cities, most are slum-dwellers. "They come to Delhi as laborers, and they die in Delhi as laborers," Prasad says. There are some signs of economic gains, though. The proportion of Dalits living under the poverty line fell from nearly 50% in 1993-94 to 37% in 1999-2000, according to the National Sample Survey. Dalit households with electricity grew from 29% in 1991 to 44% in 2001, two government censuses found. Social advances have come, too. Prasad, who is the only Dalit columnist for a major Indian newspaper, The Pioneer, sees parallels to African-Americans in the 1950s. "The emerging black bourgeoisie not only made blacks and other minorities more confident, it made America more of a nation of all," he says. "Similar things can happen in India if there is a significant Dalit bourgeoisie." For now, success stories are largely urban. Cities provide a cloak of anonymity for many Dalits, who are not distinguishable from other Indians. Arun Chaudhary, who grew up in New Delhi, did not know he was a Dalit until he was 16 something unthinkable in his father's native village of Asrouli. Today, Chaudhary, 34, runs an advertising agency with 10 employees, mostly Dalits. A few Dalits have risen to prominence. Among them: K.R. Narayanan, who held the largely ceremonial but high-profile post of president from 1997 to 2002. A Dalit woman, Mayawati Kumari, was governor of Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state. Since an official quota sets aside 15% of public-sector jobs for Dalits roughly their share of the population they hold 79 of the 545 seats in the lower house of Parliament. A 15% quota also exists for admission to publicly funded universities. Dozens of other policies from scholarships to targeted development funding are designed to help Dalits. "This reservation policy definitely acted as a kick-start for securing upward mobility," says Bhalchandra Mungekar, a Dalit who is a professor of economics and former vice chancellor of the University of Mumbai. He entered college under the reservation program. The quotas, however, are controversial here, echoing debates in the USA over affirmative-action programs for minorities. Pankaj Dhawan, 35, a high-caste dentist, says the intent behind quotas is good, but the quotas discourage Dalits from trying: "If you want to make a lower-caste person study, you don't give it to him on a platter." The broader challenge is how to spread the progress made by a few Dalits to the remaining 90%. One factor is whether successful Dalits are willing to help. "The question is whether this (Dalit) elite is responding to the needs and aspirations of those lagging behind," Mungekar says. "Probably not as much as they should." http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20061122/a_dalit21.art.htm?POE=click-refer ---------------- [2] From: <jitu11in@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Nov 29, 2006 Subject: to facilate parking contractors, no parking is made everywhere at BKC empty roads. Hi all, Bandra Kurla complex has very wide roads and on inner roads, there is hardly any vehicle seen moving at any given hour during the day, so there is absolutely no traffic or parking problem, but MMRDA had allotted parking contracts at fix sites, if they dont make traffic police lift vehicles parked in BKC, no one will go for these parking sites, so just to see that parking contractor gets his full business, vehicles are picked from even remote roads, where there is no traffic. The very ethics of convenience to public is forgotten and book rules that apply to other crowded streets, are applied without applying mind. Also parking for minimum 2 hours even for two wheeler, is charged Rs. 5, even though, chart shows as Rs. 2. Rgds, Jitendra gupta -------------- [3] From: kashif <kaaashif@gmail.com> Date: Thu Nov 30, 2006 Subject: IndianMuslims.info: download Sachar committee report Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India Prime Minister's High Level Committee For Preparation of Report on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India Chairperson: Justice Rajindar Sachar Reported prepared in November 2006 and tabled in Parliament on 30 Nov 2006. Please see the link below to download the full report. full report of the Sachar committee <http://indianmuslims.info/files/sachar_committee_report.pdf>; Other documents of interest: http://indianmuslims.info/documents.html -------------- [4] From: "P.J. Victor Raj" <pjvraj@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Nov 30, 2006 Subject: 'Society must realise misuse of religions by vested interests' 'Society must realise misuse of religions by vested interests' Kannur, Nov 21: The society will tend to fail in comprehending the designs of those who misuse religions for vested interests if the message of communal harmony did not reach people properly, noted historian K K N Kurup has said. "If the message of fostering religious harmony did not reach the people from time to time, the society would fail to realise the evil designs of those who tend to misuse religion for vested interests," Kurup said in his key-note address at a meeting on 'religious harmony' here last evening. Although the basic objectives of every religion was to turn a person into a best humanist by removing one's negative traits, a section of the society was trying to protect vested and political interests by mobilising others' resources by spreading religious hatred among people, Kurup said at the function hosted by the youth wing of Ahmediya, North Kerala. "A democratic country aims at distributing income in an equitable manner but today we find that some vested interests seek to impose justice by misusing religion by spreading communal hatred and forcing clashes among various cultures. This tendency needed to be resisted," Kurup remarked. He said India's greatest strength was its avowed belief in secularistic values and that needed to be fostered. Stating that no religion ever try to profess extremism, the former Calicut University Vice-chancellor said Kerala, compared to other states like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, was not affected much by activities of naxal elements thanks to its over a century-old struggle for social justice. http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?action=fullnews&id=53933 --------------- [5] From: rkurian@bgl.vsnl.net.in Date: Wed Nov 29, 2006 Subject: Learn from Asia...International Herald Tribune The New York Times November 29, 2006 Globalist When War Is History, Let the Boom Begin By ROGER COHEN International Herald Tribune HO CHI MINH CITY If you're wondering why Asia is booming and the Middle East is not, it's worth pondering the recent visit to India by President Hu Jintao of China. The two countries don't agree on their border and have fought over it. Their response? Double trade to $40 billion by 2010. Underlying that accord, announced after Hu met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, is the broad Asian consensus that growth, trade and globalization's web of connections resolve or marginalize other problems. Exchange Indian steel for Chinese electronic goods and the shedding of blood for a mountain pass begins to seem silly. These two leaders of the world's most important emergent powers have understood that in the age of globalization the utility of wars has declined. It simply does not pay for big countries to go to war to get what they want. ------------ |
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| << November28, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net] Dalit girl burnt ,Caste atrocity on Karnataka etc |
December02, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net] Pak news ,Mumbai ,Nuke news etc >> |
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