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[1] From:johndayal@vsnl.com Subject: Gov't survey sheds light on Christian's development crisis [John Dayal's initial comments: The Indian government agency NSSO survey made public last night proves and confirms what the Catholic Union and Christian Council have always said based on their own spot surveys nationwide -- that Christian prosperity in a very few metropolitan cities is a mere shimmer that hides utter poverty, unemployment, under employment and illiteracy among the vast rural masses who are mostly Dalit and tribals and may constitute over 90 per cent of the population of Christians in the country. It is significant to note that in spite of all the schools Catholics and Protestants run in the country, illiteracy is still a problem in both urban and rural areas. In some areas, illiteracy is more than thirty per cent -- which means one in every three Christians in illiterate. The figure for women is much more 9n tribal and Dalit areas. The survey also shows very categorically how vulnerable Christians are because they are employed in the service sector. The figure for self- employment is the lowest for them. If a Sachchar committee had focussed on Christians, or even if the Justice Misra commission had an economic and development charter, the grim reality of the Christians would have been exposed. Even what has come is cause enough for the church and Christians leaders to think about. They have to take urgent steps and set their priorities correct. While I am on the job, may I also express our disappointment at the Supreme Court staying the implementation of the OBC reservations. Christians in many states would have benefited from such reservations in central institutions as they come under OBC and Most Backward communities groupings. I am surprised that the established church has not come out and demanded that the Supreme Court show sensitivity towards the aspirations of the poor and the deprived.] Times of India reported today: NSSO report may add to quota woes Mahendra Kumar Singh [ 30 Mar, 2007 2346hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ] NEW DELHI: In what could further fuel the reservation demand from minorities, the latest survey of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) reveals that the unemployment rate among Christians is higher than among Muslims and lowest among Hindus. The NSSO report, made public on Friday, with its findings on the status of employment belonging to major religious groups, suggests that in rural areas, the unemployment rate was 4.4% among Christians, 2.3% among Muslims and 1.5% among Hindus. In urban areas too, Christians were more prone to unemployment than those from other major religious groups. However, the unemployment rate in urban areas was a little more for Hindus at 4.4% than for Muslims at 4.1%. Further, the rate for women was generally higher in all major religious groups as compared to men in both rural and urban areas. Unemployment was highest (14%) among urban Christian women. This is despite the fact that the survey also shows that Christians had the lowest illiteracy rate both in rural (20% for men and 31% for women) as well as urban areas (6% for men and 11% for women). Except for rural women, the proportion of literates among Hindus was higher than that among Muslims. Among men in the rural areas, the literacy rate for Hindus and Muslims was 68% and 63%, respectively. In case of urban men, the literacy rate for Hindus and Muslims was 89% and 77%, respectively. Among women in urban areas, the literacy rate for Hindus and Muslims was 73% and 60%. Among rural females, the illiteracy rate was almost equal among Hindus and Muslims (59%). According to the survey, nearly half the Muslims living in urban areas are self-employed, while the incidence of wage employment is higher among Hindus and Christians. In 2004-05, when the survey was conducted, about 49% of Muslim households in urban areas were self- employed as against 36% Hindu households and 27% Christian households. In urban areas, the survey highlights that only 30% of Muslim households worked for regular wages as compared to 43% Hindu households and 47% Christian households. It pointed out that 14% Muslim households worked as casual labourers as compared to 12% Hindus and 11% Christians. In rural areas, the worker population ratio (WPR) among men was the highest among Christians (56%), followed by Hindus (55%) and Muslims (50%). The WPR for women in rural areas was 36% for Christians, 34% for Hindus and 18% for Muslims. The WPR among men in urban areas was the highest for Hindus (56%) followed by Muslims (53%) and Christians (51%). The WPR for Christian women was 24%, followed by Hindus (17%) and Muslims (12%). ----------------- [2] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Sat Mar 31, 2007 Subject: What Happened in Nandigram: An Alternate Version from a Proponent of the SEZ What Happened in Nandigram: An Alternate Version from a Proponent of the SEZ http://www.financialexpress.com/print.php?content_id=158194 Left Front puts Nandigram land acquisition on hold Sanjay Basak ------------- [3] From: MN sanil <mn_sanil2003@yahoo.co.in> Date: Sun Apr 1, 2007 Subject: Race and Popular (Cult)ure http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2183956&SectionID=55 ------------ [4] From: Regi P George <george_regi@yahoo.com> Date: Sat Mar 31, 2007 Subject: Reliving a communal horror, 20 years later http://www.khabrein .info/index. php?option= com_content& task=view& id=155&Itemid= 2 Reliving a communal horror, 20 years later User Rating: / 0 PoorBest By Rana Ajit New Delhi, Feb 8: The 20-year-old horror story of at least 40 Muslim youths being massacred by the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in the killing fields of Uttar Pradesh's Hashimpura town came alive in a Delhi court Thursday as an eyewitness painfully recounted the last moments. It was the night of May 22, 1987, in Hashimpura, 80 km from the national capital, when PAC troopers swooped down and picked up 400-500 Muslims from their homes. Forty-two people arrested from Hashimpura on charges of rioting were put in a truck belonging to the 41st battalion of PAC and taken to the Upper Ganga Canal in Muradnagar. All of them were allegedly fired upon and their bodies dumped in the river. Mohammed Usman, 48, one of the five survivors of the incidents, remembers counting 50 youths being herded into a truck, though PAC said it was between 30 and 42. As Usman began his crucial deposition, a hushed silence descended on the court of Additional Sessions Judge N.P. Kaushik. Usman recounted how a retinue of PAC troopers picked them up from their homes and separated the youths from the old and children by "pressing their biceps". They were pushed into the mustard-coloured truck and driven to the banks of the canal. "The lights of the truck were switched off. The PAC jawans from the driver's cabin got off the truck and the next moment, one of us was ordered to get down. As he stepped out, he was shot from point blank range by a PAC jawan. Our colleague fell down with blood oozing out of his chest," said Usman. At this point, the judge, apparently shaken by the vivid description, adjourned the hearing of the case citing paucity of time. Judge Kaushik fixed Friday as the next date of hearing of the case for Usman to complete his crucial deposition. While adjourning the hearing, he did not record the deposition about the first bullet fired. Usman will have to go over the details of that again Friday. In his chilling deposition, Usman also recounted how they were made to sit on the floor of the truck with the gun-wielding troopers ordering them not to raise their heads. Last year on July 22, another witness Nasir had given virtually the same description: "The lights of the truck were switched off... they then started bringing down persons one by one. The first person to come down the truck was one Yaseen from our locality. PAC officials then fired bullet shots on Yaseen and threw him into the canal." The Uttar Pradesh government is prosecuting 19 PAC personnel on charges of murder, conspiracy, abduction and other serious crimes. They had allegedly picked up their victims from the Muslim locality after riots at Meerut-Maliana in western Uttar Pradesh. Three PAC personnel, including company commander S.P. Singh, have already died over the last 20 years. As the trial made little headway in a Ghaziabad court, the Supreme Court transferred the trial to Delhi on a plea by the victims' relatives. Some of them escaped death, including Zulfiqar Nasir, Naeem Arif, Usman and Mujibur Rehman. They have given a detailed account on the incident. (Agencies) ---------- [5] Battles In Batticaloa: Too Early To Tell By Chandi Sinnathurai http://www.countercurrents.org/sl-sinnathurai310307.htm Colombo seem to have prematurely claimed victory in Kokoticholai. This Tamil Tiger base in the East has functioned as Tiger HQ since the days of the defected iron-fisted Karuna. Its no doubt a prized trophy ??“ in terms of both the psychological-effect on the Eastern Tamils and in its sheer symbolism. But the problem is, the Government has published only (including photographs) half the story Mandal Will Have The Last Laugh By Vidya Bhushan Rawat http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-rawat310307.htm Shockingly, the judgments in the past few years reflect of the growing trend to keep the middle classes happy. We have judges who speak for Hindutva terming it as a way of life. We have a former Supreme Court Judge who did not implicate a single politician in the anti Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984 and later became a Member of Parliament against all the ethics of impartiality of an institution. Right to Strike was also banned by the Kerala Highcourt, which was appreciated by the media and industries Conflict Rape Victims: Abandoned And Forgotten By Syed Junaid Hashmi http://www.countercurrents.org/kashmir-hashmi310307.htm Deserted by their families, abandoned by society, forgotten by both separatists and mainstream political parties, rape victims during the last seventeen years of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir live an appalling life. Reports of Kashmir based social organizations put the figure of women raped, molested and abused above one thousand --------------- [6] From: Regi P George <george_regi@yahoo.com> Date: Sat Mar 31, 2007 Subject: Re: [Mahajanapada] 63 New SEZ Approval by Congress Leadership The so called intelecutal NGO assocaites are claiming that their Brutual Killing and Raping in Nandigram put SEZ in different parts of Indian in a stand still. This congress party meeting prooving that NGO Inc. activity is not making any change in the political process of congress party. regi. ------------- |
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| << March31, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net] Assam -ISI news,Regis replies ,Nandigram etc |
April02, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net] Secular India updates ,Buddha ,Iran strike etc >> |
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