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1) From: "CHROkeralam" <chro1@rediffmail.com> Date: Thu Jan 6, 2005 9:41pm Subject: Dalits made to drink urine over cricket dispute New Indian Express, January 04, 2005, Tuesday Dalits made to drink urine over cricket dispute CHANDIGARH: In a shocking incident, a fight over a cricket match between schoolboys escalated into a full-fledged caste war that led to three Dalit boys being forced to drink urine by upper-caste landlords in Ferozepur district. Presenting the three ???victims??™ ??” Gurbax Singh (20), Bittu Singh (16) and Piara Singh (12) ??” at a press conference here on Monday, state BJP leaders said the incident took place at Patrewal village near Abohar. All the victims belong to the Rai Sikh community. Jagir Singh said it was during a cricket match that his son Nanak, a Std VIII student, picked up a fight with his upper-caste classmate, Amardip Singh. Nanak??™s relatives visited Amardip??™s residence, but were abused and forced to leave. ??????Amardip??™s father, Gurdip Singh Jakhar, even threatened to teach us a lesson,??™??™ Jagir said. ??????A few days later (on November 27 last), a group of Jakhar landlords accosted our relatives who had come from the neighbouring Bulla village,??™??™ Jagir said, adding while his younger brother, Balwinder, managed to flee, three other boys ??” Gurbax, Bittu and Piara ??” were dragged to the residence of the sarpanch, Gurdas Singh, where the landlords urinated in their juttis (shoes) and forced them to drink it at gunpoint. Gurbax said: ??????Apni jutti vich peshab kar ke saanu pin nu kiha??™??™ (They urinated in their shoes and made us drink it). Later, the boys were handed over to the police where they were kept in custody for eight days. When a former panchayat member, Malkiat Singh, went to meet the sarpanch to seek the boys??™ release, he was asked to produce two relatives of Nanak Singh. Later, two uncles of Nanak, Balwinder Singh and Kulwant Singh, were kept in police custody for 11 and eight days, respectively. Sarpanch Gurdas Singh denied the incident, saying he was not in the village that day. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20050103223009&Page=O&Title=This+is+India&Topic=0& --------------------------------------------------- 2) "UNTOUCHABLES" DISPOSE TSUNAMI DEAD IN NAGAPATTINAM New Indian Express, January 03, 2005, Monday 'Untouchables' dispose tsunami dead in Nagapattinam ANI NAGAPATTINAM: "Untouchables", regarded as the lowest in India's caste hierarchy are performing the onerous task of clearing the area of rotten corpses left in the aftermath of last week's tsunami attacks. The overwhelming majority of the 1,000 or so men sweating away in the tropical heat to clear the poor south Indian fishing town of Nagapattinam, which bore the brunt of the giant wave, are lower caste "dalits" from neighbouring villages. Locals being too afraid of disease and sickened by the foul odour, refuse to join the grim task of digging friends and neighbours out of the sand and debris. They just stand and watch the dalits perform the work. Although it has been a week since the tsunami struck, and the destruction too remained confined to a tiny strip by the beach and the port, the devastation was so fierce that several bodies located by the stench and the flies are still being discovered daily. The task itself is sweaty and backbreaking with the shifting sand and rubble making even standing difficult. "We get the dead bodies from those places where no one dares to go because of fear of diseases. So we are required here," said Sanjay Guru, a volunteer from Mumbai. Guru and other sanitation workers from neighbouring municipalities are working round the clock to clear Nagapattinam, for an extra 50 cents a day and a meal. The smell of death still hangs heavily in the area, mixing with the sea breeze and the almost refreshingly tart smell of the antiseptic lime powder that has turned the streets and paths white. More than 5,525 people, close to 40 percent of India's estimated total 14,488 fatalities, died along this small stretch of pure white beach, where the huts of poor fishermen were built on the beach itself. "First we clear the bodies from hospitals and after that we cremate them straight away. We also took a round of the places and found bodies. There is no problem for us," said Ravi, a dalit who is also involved in the task of finding and disposing off the dead bodies. Mohan, another worker said: "If my relatives would have died, I would have done the same thing I am doing now." In the early hours of the tsunami disaster, Mohan and his colleagues worked feverishly to clear the thousands of dead bodies without gloves, masks or even shoes in some cases. Although they are now better equipped, the mask does not in any way prevent the gagging smell of rotten human flesh, which becomes almost overpowering as the body is dug out, from lodging somewhere deep at the back of the mouth. Each new body discovered is painstakingly prised free of the wet sand, torn palm thatch and debris, mostly by hand. After which it is carried on a mat to the beach and placed on a pyre and consigned to the flames. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20050103082936&Page=O&Title=This+is+India&Topic=%2D367& ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Mata gives Rs 100 crore to tsunami victims Rediff.com, January 03, 2005, Monday Mata gives Rs 100 crore to tsunami victims George Iype in Kochi India's most famous woman spiritual leader, Mata Amritanandamayi, has set aside Rs 100 crore to help the survivors of the tsunami disaster. The hugging saint, as she is known, on Monday said that the suffering caused by the tsunami disaster is unfathomable. An official at Amritapeetam, Mata Amritanandamayi's headquarters in Kollam district in Kerala, said that the Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt would submit proposals to the state governments of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to carry out its biggest ever charity work. "Amma is anguished by the tragedy. Therefore, she has decided to embark on relief operations in the largest scale," he told rediff.com A release from the mutt said Mata Amritanandamayi's gesture is not meant "to compete or bargain". "But we cannot turn a deaf ear to the heartrending supplications of those who are crying for help." To begin with, the mutt proposes to reconstruct all the houses in Kerala that have been completely destroyed, if the government permits. These houses, which will have two rooms, a kitchen, a small veranda and a toilet, will be built according to government specifications. "Amma is ever ready to help the deserving, irrespective of religion, caste, nationality and language," the release said. Mutt officials on Monday asked the Kerala government's permission to proceed with the plan. However, the mutt requested the government to renovate and maintain houses that are only partially damaged. The mutt will come out with similar proposal for those who have lost houses in Tamil Nadu and Andhra. "Nonetheless, we request that these charitable projects proposed by the mutt must not affect or stop any aid or privileges promised by the state and central governments to the victims," it said. For each affected house, the mutt will give Rs 1,000 for buying household items. A total of Rs 1.5 crore has been set aside for this purpose. All applications for funding must be made to the mutt before this Sunday. Mata'a Amritanandamayi's followers and aides point out that in the last three decades she has hugged nearly 30 million people alone across the globe. She has built up a spiritual and service empire that includes educational, charity and medical institutions across India and abroad. Today, at the age of 51, Mata Amritanandamayi heads huge projects -- estimated to be worth Rs 1,000 crore -- to help the sick and poor. http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/03tsunami3.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ New Indian Express, January 04, 2005, Tuesday Certain forces acting with prejudice against me: Amma KOLLAM: Mata Amritanandamayi on Monday said that certain forces were acting with prejudice against her and the Math. Reacting to the propaganda unleashed by certain quarters about the collapse of the houses constructed under the Amritakuteeram project in the tsunami waves, Amma said: ``Though I was doing service to the society, these forces were presenting me as a murderer. It is an injustice and they should change their approach.'' Only a few houses constructed under the Amritakuteeram project had collapsed in the killer waves and the casualty was less compared to the number of deaths occurred owing to the collapse of other houses. Amma said that she was not an anti-communist and not interested in politics. There were good values in all political parties and leaders. ``I am not an avatar or a person with divine powers to predict things and what I am doing is only service to the humanity,'' Amma said. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20050103093440&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0& ------------------------------------------------------------ |
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| << January07, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]J.N. Dixit - a tribute By Gopal Gandhi |
January08, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Dalits and Tsunami >> |
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