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| << November26, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Re-Nandigram ,Khaskars ,APCR,AIMF arrests |
November29, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]The teddy ,Pak news,Taslima ,secularism etc >> |
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[1] From: WebXpurt <webxpurt@yahoo.com Date: Mon Nov 26, 2007 Subject: TASLIMA'S EVICTION: Indian Express News ‘Taslima’s eviction exposes Left’s pseudo-secularism’ http://indiaview.wordpress.com New Delhi, November 24 The BJP said that the eviction of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen from Left-ruled West Bengal exposed CPM’s ‘pseudo-secularism’. The saffron party came out in full support of the controversial novelist, facing threats from several Muslim fundamentalist groups for her alleged anti-Islamic writings, and demanded that she should not be deported and allowed to stay in the country. BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar visited her at the Rajasthan House here, where she has been put up as a guest of the state government since Friday night. “The Taslima affair has exposed the CPM’s so-called secularism. First they failed to protect her, then reduced her security in the face of threat from Muslim groups and finally forcefully evicted her from Kolkata and sent her to Jaipur,” he said. “She is happy and doing her regular work,” Javedekar said after meeting Nasreen. He said, “Taslima was forced to leave Kolkata without her consent and she wants to go back but the government there is refusing to provide guarantee and security.” The BJP has been demanding grant of permanent visa to Nasreen, who was shifted to Jaipur on Thursday by the West Bengal police following large scale violence in Kolkata by a Muslim organisation demanding her expulsion. Nasreen is living in self-exile in India following death threats in Bangladesh after her alleged anti-Islamic writings. url: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Taslimas-eviction-exposes-Lefts-pseu\ dosecularism/243002/ NANDIGRAM TO NASREEN @ http://www.newkerala.com/oct.php? action=fullnews&id=21141 http://indiaview.wordpress.com --------- [2] From: Khan Arif <ank2000pk@yahoo.com Date: Tue Nov 27, 2007 Subject: Mysterious Pakhtoon Girl with Captivating Eyes Her eyes have captivated the world since she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985. Now you can read her story. She is Sharbat Gula. Her name, in the Pashto language of the Pashtun people, means sweetwater flower girl. Many women share the name Gula; it shows the love of the people for flowers. Millions around the world have wondered who the mysterious girl was. Now she is a grown woman with girls of her own, and NG has given Sharbat Gula the dignity of her name. http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/afghangirl/ Arif Khan Arif N. Khan http://www.netvert.biz/wordpower ------------ [3] From: Pradip Kumar Datta <pradip200@yahoo.com Date: Tue Nov 27, 2007 Subject: Calcutta HC cracks the whip on comrades Calcutta HC cracks the whip on comrades November 27, 2007 16:52 IST The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday issued criminal contempt notice against three Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders, including Left Front chairman Biman Bose for allegedly making unsavoury comments against its order terming the police firing on March 14 at Nandigram unconstitutional and unjustified. A division bench comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice P C Ghosh took cognizance of two applications by the Bar Library Club and the Calcutta High Court Bar Association seeking contempt proceedings for the alleged comments and directed that contempt notice be issued against Binoy Konar and Shyamal Chakraborty, both central committee members of CPI-M, apart from Bose. The matter will be heard by the bench in January next year, the court directed. The three leaders had at a public meeting on November 17 allegedly derided the court order of the previous day that had also directed the West Bengal government to pay Rs five lakh as compensation to each of the families of the 14 who died in the police action on March 14. Bose had reportedly termed the court order as 'interference,' apart from the other two leaders allegedly making unsavoury comments on the judiciary. The same division bench had on November 16, while rejecting the state government's arguments justifying the firing, directed that the CBI inquiry into it will continue and asked the agency to submit its report within a month. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/nov/27nandi.htm ------------ [4] From: jindia <raj.justindia@gmail.com Date: Tue Nov 27, 2007 1 Subject: Muslim Dalits a downtrodden lot *Muslim Dalits a downtrodden lot * *Nalin Verma * * http://www.bihartimes.com/book_review/book_review5.html* *Ali Anwar's book, 'Masawat ki Jung' has sent a sever down the spines of Muslim elites as it dwells at length on the plight of dalit Muslims derided and treated as pariahs by the upper caste brethren and ulemas. This goes against tenets of Islam which don't sanction inequality on the basis of caste and birth. * "*Aagaya* ain ladai mein waqte-namaz Qiblaru hoke zamin-bos hui qaum-e-hejaz Ek hi saf mein khade ho gaye Mahmood-o-Ayaz Na koi banda raha aur na koi banda-nawaz (In the midst of raging battle if the time came to pray, Hejazis turned to Mecca, kissed the earth and ceased from the fray. Sultan and slave in single file stood side by side. Then no servant was nor master, nothing did them divide)" This famous couplet of Alamma Iqbal highlights the virtue of an egalitarian society that Islam professes. The religion propounded by Prophet Mohammad does not sanction inequality on the basis of caste and birth. That's why the king and the slave stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer as Iqbal mentions in his verse. But the book, "Masawat ki Jung (crusade for equality)" authored by Ali Anwar, journalist and activist, and published by the Vani Prakashan , New Delhi, vividly depicts the caste inequality and hatred in the Muslim society and the plight of the dalit Muslims. Former Prime Minister V. P. Singh recently released the book at the book fair in Patna. The book has sent shiver down the spine of the Muslim elite. In Anwar's work focusses the movement that the dalit Muslims of Bihar have launched against the "exploitative" upper castes and ulemmas in their own community, under the banner of the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz. The book written in the Hindustani language illustrates in detail how the small number of upper caste Muslims who constitute only 15 per cent of the total Muslim population in India have been enjoying control over the religious, political and social institutions of the country for centuries. The author has identified the dalit castes in his community and has described their pitiable condition on the basis of his field survey and spending time with time. The Muslim dalits include Jolaha, Nutt, Bakkho, Bhatiyara, Kunjra, Dhunia, Kalal, Dafali, Halakhor, Dhobi, Lalbegi, Gorkan, Meershikar, Cheek, Rangrez and Darji. The book emphasizes how these castes have been socially and economically "abused" by the upper caste Muslims for centuries. "Not to speak of others, even the great social reformer like Sayed Ahmad Khan abused Jolahas describing them as badjat (bad caste)", the book says. The jolahas are hard working people who earn their livelihood by weaving cloths. "But it is an irony that the people who are relatively more hard working are frowned upon in the Muslim society. The way Ahirs are ridiculed in the Hindu society, the Jolahas are abused and described as fools in the Muslim society." The book quotes numerous popular idioms which the "high born" Muslims use to despise the dalits in their community. Among them is "Khet khaye gadaha, maar khaye jolaha (Jolaha should be beaten up if the donkey grazes the harvest)." Another is: "Dom ghar khaibo, dhob ghar khaibo na (Eat at Dom's house but never eat at a Dhobi's house). Dhob is a washer man community. The book says that the condition of dalit Muslims is "worse than dalit Hindus". "It's a big farce that there is no untouchability in Muslim society. The disease of untouchability is very much prevalent in Muslim society. In fact, neither the Muslims' ruling elite nor the religious leaders have so far made any meaningful efforts to remove the disease of inequality that has made the dalit Muslims to suffer for centuries." The author says that the Muslim political and religious leaders have rather tried to conceal the casteism, untouchability and inequality in the community to serve their vested interests. Interestingly, the book disputes the general opinion of historians and social scientists that the Muslim society adopted the vices of social inequality and casteism from the Hindu society. "The general belief that Muslim society has absorbed the caste based disparities from the Hindu society is not wholly true." The book says that the disease of social inequality was prevalent even in the Arab society during the pre-Islam and post-Islam days. To drive his point home the author asks: "If there was no inequality in Arab(ia)-where Islam was born-how does the Arabic literatures contain the words, ashraf, azlaf and arzal? These three Arabic words are derived from their Arabic roots, sharf, zalf and razl which mean gentle, lowly and pariah respectively." The book does not wholly deny the theory that the Hindus who were converted to Islam carried the vestiges of their caste-based culture with them in the Muslim society. "Who denies the impact of Hinduism over Islam or vice versa….. Synthesis and compromises happen when the two cultures and civilizations meet and decide to co-exist." But if the Muslim society, the book argues, imposes the onus of the vice inequality and casteism wholly on Hindu society it is absolutely wrong. "It's a design to hide one's own vice." The author strongly advocates reservation in jobs for the dalit Muslims on the pattern of the one provided to the Hindu dalits who include Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He describes the failure of the Muslim leaders to ask for reservation in Government jobs for the dalits in their community at the time of the formation of the constitution as a "design" to conceal the social inequality. More than 50 years down the line, the "unholy design to conceal the weakness of the society and maintain the hegemony of a selected class of the community over the rest has festered into deep wounds causing untold sufferings to the dalit Muslims". The benefit of reservation in the jobs has enabled a fair number of SCs and STs become IAS and IPS officers and get services at various levels in the central and state governments. "But one can not find a single Jolaha, Dafali, Bhatiyara, Cheek or any dalit Muslim getting the job of even a clerk in the Government's office or teacher in the schools", the book claims. The book says that the dalit and backward Muslims who constitute more than 75 per cent of the total Muslim population in the country are now awakened to the "reality" that the Muslim political and religious leadership "dominated by the upper castes" will not raise their (dalit Muslim's) cause. But in a bid to guard their "vested interests, the likes of Sayed Shahabuddin and several ulemmas are now clamouring for the reservation for all the poor Muslims in the Government job". "It's yet another design to perpetuate the hegemony of Sheikhs, Pathans and Malliks-the high caste Muslims-who have been ruling the mosques, Muslims' religious and charity related bodies and the politics." The book also holds the Muslm ulemmas responsible for the plight of the dalit Muslims. "Why these ulemmas don't wage a crusade against the casteism and inequality which are against the basic tenets of Islam", the author asks, adding: " these ulemmas mainly belonging to upper castes dominate the rich religious and charity related bodies." "And they are as much attracted towards power and pelf as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad sponsored sadhus are." Religious and charitable organisations of the Muslims, according to the book, used to be supported by the subscriptions from the people in the past. "But now these organisatinos are run on petro-dollars and the ulemmas exercising control over them have their eyes on money coming from the Arab and other Muslim countries." "So", according to the book, "these ulemmas are more interested in maintaining their credibility with the Arab countries rather than dealing with the day to day life, struggle and problems of the Muslim masses at large in their own country." The book warns: "The foreign money can add colours and decorations in our mosques but it has all the potential to deviate our neo-rich ulemmas from the path of truth and religiosity." "Besides, the foreign money can add to several other vices." To prove that how the religious and charitable organisations of the Muslims ignore the cause of their poor and socially backward brethren, the book cites the example of the headquarters of the Imarat-e-Shariah (Bihar and Orissa) located in the Phulwari Sharief area of Patna. Close to the Imarat-e-Shariah office there is a huge settlement of halalkhors (Muslim dalits). "Cholera broke out in the halakhors locality a few years ago killing six poor people. Not to speak of providing any material assistance, the Imarat-e-Shariah's office bearers did not even prefer to meet the affected families and inquire about their welfare", the book says. The book intersperse with numerous popular anecdotes, idioms and tales, dwells at length on the travails and exploitation of the dalit Muslims and how they are treated as "pariah" by the upper caste Muslims and ulemmas calling the shots. To prove that how the vested interests have caused immense harm to the Muslim society, which has now deviated from the path of masawat (equality), the author once again quotes Alamma Iqbal: "Waize-qaum ki woh pukhta-khayali na rahi Bark tabai na rahi, shola-maqali na rahi Rah gai rashme-azan, ruhe-Belali na rahi Falsafa rah gaya, talqeene gazali na rahi. (There is no substance in what the mentors preach. No lightning flashes enlighten their minds. There's no fire in their speech. Only the ritual the call to prayer; the spirit of Bilal has fled. There is only a philosophy left. Ghazali's discourse is no longer present)." ---------- [5] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com Date: Mon Nov 26, 2007 Subject: Theses on Feuerbach, Woody Allen and Nandigram http://www.kafila.org/2007/11/25/theses-on-feuerbach-woody-allen-and-nandigram/ Theses on Feuerbach, Woody Allen and Nandigram Published by Nivedita Menon at November 25, 2007 In Wolfgang Becker's film Good Bye Lenin set in East Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a young boy tries to protect his invalid mother from the shock of learning about the transformation that has overtaken their country. When despite his elaborate deception, she manages to see a television programme showing thousands of cheering Germans at the remnants of the wall, he tells her that the capitalist west has fallen, that refugees from West Berlin are pouring into the East, and that East Germany has welcomed them with open arms. And she believes him. Thing is, there was no historical inevitability to the fall of communism. The story the boy tells his mother in Good Bye Lenin could well have been the way things went in history, but for the self-destructiveness of Stalinism – its hubris, its fetishization of a certain notion of industrialization and progress, its anti-democratic core, its contempt for the "people" it claimed to represent (or rather, the people it claimed to be.) Watching the 21st century Stalinist saga unfold in West Bengal, one is overwhelmed by anger and deep sadness. Among the graffiti during the 1968 struggles in Paris was this one – "We are the people our parents warned us against." To Buddhadeb and the "Left intellectuals" who rally to his defence one can only say – "You are the people Marx warned us against." If there is one truth to take away from Marx it is this – there can be no one Marxism for all times. The philosopher who said "It is not consciousness that determines being but social being that determines consciousness" – that Marx would have been a post-marxist today. The Eleventh Thesis on Feuerbach ("Philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point however, is to change it") has been read by Stalinist marxism to mean "Don't Think, Just Act!" Say the Stalinists, "We have already given you the truth, the way and the life" (the resonance with biblical liturgy is inescapable), "all you need to do is to have your consciousness raised to ours, and to follow." But the Theses on Feuerbach are a critique of Feuerbachian materialism, which assumes that the world exists independently of, and outside our minds. Marx, in the ten theses that precede the famous Thesis XI, polemically argues that Feuerbach and all previous materialists envisaged objects in a contemplative way, as if they exist independently of human activity. For Marx, the objects of human perception are not simply given in nature, but are produced in a complex interaction with human needs and efforts. The third Thesis criticizes the "materialist doctrine" of Feuerbach for the assumption that human beings are the mere products of external circumstances and upbringing, forgetting the crucial factor that when circumstances change, it is human intervention that changes them. In Marx's materialism there is a dialectical relationship between external reality and human thought. Without this element of human agency, a materialist doctrine must necessarily divide society into two sections - one of which is superior, which understands the abstract laws of progress of matter; and another which is ignorant of these laws and lives its everyday life as if their petty little lives were as real as the laws of progress of matter. The irony of course, is that to posit in advance the metaphysical category of 'laws of history' by which we measure 'progressive' theory and politics, is not to be materialist at all. It is to give primacy to the conceptual – to the Idea. It is only when we start with the ways in which subjectivity is constructed - for 'women' and 'men', for "peasants", or whatever, within patriarchal/raceist/casteist/capitalist society , and engage with these actually existing subjectivities that our political practice and understanding would be materialist. A 'materialist' politics would have to track actually existing subjectivities and engage with their potentialities and limits. Marx emphasises the fact that the development of the mind is at the same time the process by which the world is transformed - the mind and the world are interdependent. Society can be changed only by the mass of people transforming the world (their worlds), and not by a handful of reformers explaining the world to the masses – then shoving the masses into line with armed guards if they have the temerity to have their own understanding of their reality. Hence Thesis XI. Far from denying the importance of philosophy and thinking, its claim is that to change the world is not to be outside it, objectively "interpreting" a fixed reality and pushing it in pre-determined directions. When you engage with the world, it changes you as much as you change it. For this Marx, the term "Narodnik" would not be the term of abuse it is for Karat, who hurled it at Sumit Sarkar at some point in this long and dreadful saga. Sumit and his colleagues too, were careful during their press conference to deny they were Narodniks, but after all, what is a Narodnik, and why shouldn't we be Narodniks? Narodniks believed that peasant communes could be the basis for socialism (see Aditya Nigam's earlier post for a detailed discussion on this issue) – but my point here is about the ecological unsustainablity of capitalist industrialization. Not only is it not a desirable road to socialism comrades, it is not a possible road to anywhere but the bleak hell of a devastated earth. Woody Allen once mused, "I love humanity. It's people I can't stand." The CPI(M) conversely, loves peasants (the party is permanently "in solidarity with struggling peasants everywhere"); it's the peasantry it can't stand. Unless the class itself is obliterated and every last peasant is transformed into a wage slave, how is the economy to be thoroughly industrialized, and how else will the path be cleared for socialism? "There Will Be No Chemical Hub in Nandigram." Nice bumper sticker. But will there be one on some other farmland? A nuclear plant in Haripur? A SEZ in another village? A corporation setting up a "Singapore-type" housing society on farmland anywhere in the state? In that case comrades, remind us again – the difference between you and every other pro-capitalist neo-liberal party is…? Peace is doable. ----------- [6] Nandigram-III: Lessons And Challenges By Dipankar Bhattacharya http://www.countercurrents.org/dipankar261107.htm The year 2007 will be remembered as the year when the CPI(M) completely unmasked itself in the mirror of Nandigram. If January 2007 was re-enacted in March, November witnessed a brutal replay of the atrocities perpetrated in March 2007. Each time the operation has been more lethal and barbaric than the previous episode Nandigram: The Cowardice Of Mediocrity By Aseem Shrivastava http://www.countercurrents.org/shrivastava261107.htm Nandigram shows that the CPM is just another face of the forces that threaten the polity Gujarat Muslims: The Way Ahead By Ram Puniyani http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani271107.htm That a section of our society is made to think that one sided forgiveness is the only way out just shows that our system is deeply infected and needs to be cleansed by the spirit of Indian ness. And that's where all the conscientious and aware citizens believing in democracy have to stick together, for getting justice for all and to soothe the wounds of those thinking of unsolicited, unilateral forgiveness ------- [7] Hi Friends, This barbaric nature of crime committed to Adivasi who were demanding their rights of ST status from Assam Government were brutally beaten and women striped naked by local residents of Guwahati in broad daylight running for survival of her life, must be condemned and punished the culprits. This can not be accepted in today's society. These adivasis are migrant tribal from Jharkhan, Orissa, Assam and Bengal but living in Assam from British colonial period. They have been threaded much lower even by local tribal. They live in extreme poverty and supper low education. The Tarun Gogoi's Government must be pressured to book the culprits under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocity Act and the victims should be compensated as per as the provision of SC/ST POA act. Madhu Chandra www. madhuchandra. org To Fight Faith Base Discrimination - www. aiccindia. org To Fight Caste Base Discrimination - www. dalitnetwork. org To Fight Racial Base Discrimination - www. nehelpline. net Shame on Guwahati streets A STAFF REPORTER http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071127/asp/frontpage/story_8597904.asp Guwahati, Nov. 26: A young Adivasi woman ran down a Guwahati street naked, stripped by ethnic rioters, while leering city youths clicked away with their cellphone cameras. As television today brought to Assam homes one more scene of Saturday’s street horror — when hundreds of tribals were attacked over a 3.5km stretch of the city — police arrested the woman’s three tormentors. “The three had pounced on her like a pack of dogs and started stripping her. All her pleas fell on deaf ears till they had stripped her naked. Only then did they let her go,” said a police officer quoting eyewitnesses to the mob retaliation to a violent Adivasi students’ march. The woman sprinted away from a large group of jeering men and ran on in panic till somebody threw her a piece of clothing. The sight left homemaker Ananya Baruah dumbfounded on her second-floor balcony at Beltola, the epicentre from where the rioting spilled over several localities. “She was running like mad. Some people were clicking pictures with their cellphones. It was one of the worst crimes any civilised society could have committed. I felt so helpless just watching. The girl disappeared into one of the by-lanes.” The victim was probably a participant in the armed Adivasi procession in demand of Scheduled Tribe status that had turned violent and damaged private and public property, including cars. As the police began dispersing the tribals, angry local mobs chased down the stragglers among them. Adivasi men, women and children were dragged across streets and mercilessly beaten up with the police refusing to intervene. The violence left some 300 injured and a 12-year-old boy dead. The ethnic conflict claimed a second life this morning. Santosh Kumar, 17, was dragged out of a vehicle on a highway for “defying” an Adivasi-enforced bandh that was yet to begin, and hacked to death. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi announced the arrests of the trio who had stripped the woman and offered the victim Rs 1 lakh in compensation. Prasenjit Chakravarty, Sandip Chakdar and Ratul Barman were nabbed on the basis of video footage and eyewitness accounts. Ratul, a waiter at Mahalaxmi Hotel in Beltola, is barely 18. The main accused is Prasenjit, 28, owner of Dainty Fast Food restaurant in the same locality. Sandip, 20, owns a paan shop near the hotel where Ratul works. The charges against them range from outraging a woman’s modesty to attempt to murder. Gogoi announced a judicial probe into the violence by the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam as well as the mob backlash. The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the families of the dead. Central Helpline Team 9868184939, 9818314146, 9810554901; South Delhi – 9899886774; Delhi North – 9911886062; West Delhi – 9868740513. Fax 011-42811185. www.nehelpline.net Email – info@nehelpline.net For Immediate Release NE Support Centre & Helpline condemns Guwahati violence against Adivasi Protestors. The culprits must be booked immediately under SC/ST POA 1995. New Delhi, November 26, 2007 (NE Support Centre & Helpline) North East Support Centre & Helpline condemns Guwahati violence against the protest organized by All Assam Adivasi Student’s Association on last Saturday. The culprits must be immediately arrested and high level enquiry must be setup. The barbaric manner of local residents chasing 250 Adivasi (Dalit) men and women who were protesting for their demand in democratic manner and striping a woman protestor by a local Assamese business man and kicking at her belly is unacceptable and must be punished according law. North East Support Centre & Helpline call all citizens to condemn such inhuman and barbaric act and such act can not be accepted in today’s society. North East Support Centre & Helpline demands Mr. Tarun Gogoi’s government to pay the compensation as per as SC/ST Prevention of Atrocity Action 1995 to bereave families of those killed and all those injured in the violence. The culprits must be booked under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocity Act. North East Support Centre also appeals to the public to maintain peace and harmony and refrain from any form communal violence. North East Support Centre & Helpline (www. nehelpline. net) is a joint initiative of various human rights activists, social workers, students, journalists and lawyers seeking to prevent harassment and abuses meted out to North East People and tribal communities of other states. Release by, Sd/- Ms. Lannglui Rongmei President, NESC&H Sd/- Mr. Madhu Chandra Spokes Person, NESC&H ------------ [8] Hi Friends, Good news to all those who run Dalit Empowerment through English Medium schools. Kaivan Munshi of Brown University have found out the students in Dadar of Mumbai break caste barriers with English schooling. 31.6% youngster with English school do not bother about their intercaste marriage while 9.7% Marathi medium school reserve to marry within their caste. In the word of Prof Kancha Ilaiah, educational and spiritual democracy will set the dalit free from the caste oppression. Dalit activist and writer Chandra Bhan Prasad has also said that all the dalits should keep the indigenous languages at museums and English should be chosen as medium of education as it gives the global power. Yes, English education will liberate Dalits from cluches of caste. Give more English education while dalits themselves work out of spiritual democracy by following the foot path of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. Madhu Chandra Girls breaking caste barriers with English schooling: Study 23 Nov 2007, 0112 hrs IST, Ashish Sinha, TNN http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Girls_breaking_caste_barriers_with_English_schooling_Study/rssarticleshow/2563346.cms A study suggests that girls are proving to be quicker learners than boys (TOI Photo) NEW DELHI: As the processes of globalisation strikes deeper roots in India, girls are proving to be quicker learners than boys. And, these are not girls who have benefited from a privileged upbringing, but those from more modest, urban working-class homes where traditional caste identities are still quite strong. These young girls, authoritative studies reveal, have been breaking several social retardants and surging ahead in education and, empowered by their skills, are making job and marriage choices which are helping shake off their dependence on caste rules and the weight of family tradition. An extensive study published in The American Economic Review , conducted by economists Kaivan Munshi of Brown University and his Yale University counterpart Mark Rosenzweig, shows that a traditional institution like caste (jati) has been impacted by schooling, career and marriage choices of boys and girls in the "new" economy. Its study areas are the dynamic urban context of Mumbai's Dadar for 1980-2001, and families of the metro's 'labour market'. These form its fairly large sample size of 4,945, with upper-castes accounting for 17.5%. The response to the inquiries reveals that the premium on an English language education has gone up steeply. For boys it went up from 15% in 1980-90 to 24% in 1990-2000. But it really shot up for girls from near zero to 27% in the same period. The study also found that English schooling contributed to increase in inter-caste marriages as 31.6% of such respondents married outside jati, several of whom were girls, as against only 9.7% of those who studied in the Marathi medium. Among siblings, who were subject of the study and who are currently employed, 13.9% of those educated in English work outside Maharashtra. For those who studied in Marathi, the percentage is just 2.1. With marriage outside jati and out-migration seen to weaken caste ties and networks, an exposure to the modern economy can produce uneven results. Those with English education get better jobs and this can result in differences between boys and girls of the same jati and also challenge social networks. As the economists conclude, "The forces of modernisation could ultimately lead to the disintegration of a system that has remained firmly in place for thousands of years." The findings reveal that whether families put their children in English or Marathi-medium schools may well be a deciding factor in the trends uncovered by the study. These could form the basis of similar inquiries in larger Indian cities. English school passouts are placed well for the expanding white-collar job market, while those from Marathi schools are more likely to be headed for the blue-collar labour market. The study showed that while a majority of boys from working-class families still attend Marathi schools, more and more girls from the same background are headed for English schools, increasingly making a difference in their attitudes to social and personal matters. The reason is not far to seek. Historically, women did not form part of Mumbai's labour market — the mills, factories, dockyards or construction sites. "Historical occupation patterns kept in place by caste-based networks continue to shape occupational choice, and hence schooling choice, for boys in the new economy," says the study. "In contrast, lower-caste girls, who historically kept away from labour market and so, have no network ties to constrain them, take full advantage of opportunities that become available in the new economy." According to the study, growing disparities in school choices within the traditional jatis not only point to a new gender equation in boys and girls availing of emerging economic opportunities, but also threatens the stability of the caste system, based on marriages within the same sub-castes. Significantly, the change in favour of girls took place despite English school fees being significantly higher than those in Marathi schools (Rs 480 versus Rs 200 at 1980 prices) and other expenses at Rs 1,100 versus Rs 710, respectively. This also suggests that parents of these girls were prepared to pay more for their education. The area, moreover, had only 10 English schools, performing better in terms of pass percentages, against 18 of the Marathi medium. --------- |
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| << November26, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Re-Nandigram ,Khaskars ,APCR,AIMF arrests |
November29, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]The teddy ,Pak news,Taslima ,secularism etc >> |
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