2 Oct 2011

The 'Saranda' literally means a forest of seven hundred small hills is also known as the largest Sal Forest in Asia, situated in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Approximately, 10,000 Adivasi families with the population of 1 lakh 25 thousand Adivasis live in the forest. The Adivasis depend on agriculture, forest produces and livestock for their livelihood. The forest is full of Iron-Ore therefore; there was always clash between the community and the business interest, which created space for the Maoist. Consequently, today the Maoists rule the vicinity. The Jharkhand police and the paramilitary forces have been carrying on series of joint operations against the Maoists. The "Operation Anaconda" was the last in the queue carried out in the Saranda forest from 1st to 31st of August 2011, led to rampant human rights violations of the Adivasis.

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A Joint Statement by Vikas Samvad and the Asian Human Rights Commission

Despicable it might be, yet it is a relatively irrelevant incident in India. The latest is the case of Firoz, a 12-year-old boy who is now reportedly suffering from serious psychological trauma after being forced by a Head Constable of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to gather the severed remains of a human body run over by a train in Indore, Madhya Pradesh state. The incident happened on 26 September 2011 in full public view. According to the psychiatrist, Dr Ramghulam Razdan, Head of Department, Department of Psychiatry, at the MGM Medical College, who examined Firoz, the boy could be suffering from a "permanent phobic reaction" or that he has developed a "psychotic behaviour" as the direct result of his horrific experience. Firoz is reported to be a rag-picker boy, living in Indore, who initially refused to do the illegal job, but was forced to by the police constable, who also paid him Rs 100. DNA, an independent media group reported the incident on 1 October 2011.

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Paramakudi: a police engineered violence and firing

[ An interim report from People's Watch since police and District Magistrates have not been personally met, circulated in public interest by Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director, People's Watch]

September 11th, the 54th death anniversary of the dalit leader Immanuel Sekaran has not only been a day observed to pay homage to the one who initiated the challenge against caste oppression in the then undivided Ramnad district but also has served as a 'cultural expression' of the Dalit communities' aspirations to pay respect to their leader 'on par with' what the dominant castes of the region do to their revered leader, Muthuramalinga Thevar. It is precisely this that has been the 'trigger off' to what has resulted today in the demise of 6 dalits in Paramakudi town as a result of a police firing on Sunday the 11th.

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PUDR condemns in the strongest terms the arrest of Lingaram Kodopi by the Chhattisgarh police from his village in Dantewada district

People's Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi (PUDR) condemns in the strongest terms the arrest of Lingaram Kodopi on 9 September 2011 by the Chhattisgarh police from his village Sameli in Dantewada district. The police team continues to be present in the village since then and there is fear that the police intends to arrest his aunt Soni Sori too. This arrest comes immediately on the heels of the Chhattisgarh government's attempt to undermine the Supreme Court order disbanding the practice of exploiting SPOs to fight the Maoists.

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by Pallavi Polanki,

Discrimination is a dynamic industry in India. A survey recorded an astonishing 80-odd practices of untouchability—new, bizarre, vintage. 

Two thousand years and counting. We must hold the record for perpetuating one of the worst crimes on humanity for the longest time running. The practice of untouchability has an unbroken history. A record the Indian state, in violation of its own Constitution, has become a collaborator to. Not hesitating to lie, even denying it at times, the state machinery stands guilty of turning a blind eye to this inhuman practice.

A grave failure, seen most recently in Haryana, where the Supreme Court had to warn the government with “serious consequences” if it further delayed justice to the Dalit community in Mirchpur, where two citizens were burned to death and houses of 150 others reduced to ashes by the upper caste Jat community.

To call the bluff on sanitised official reports that feign ignorance about an ugly social truth, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, an umbrella group comprising nearly 150 labour, Dalit and human rights movements, set off on a comprehensive survey three years ago. They started documenting all manifestations of untouchability, circa 2010. They visited 1,845 villages in 22 (of 32) districts in the state. 

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Irom Sharmila, the Iron Lady of Manipur as she is often called, has been on a fast for the last ten years protesting against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that is in place in parts of Manipur and the north east and gives the Army and the paramilitary forces the power to shoot or arrest on mere suspicion.

The Indian state has kept her alive on a cocktail of vitamins and nutrients. She is force-fed twice a day through her nose.

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report translated by Cynthia Stephen

On June 30th 2010, Karnataka woke up to hear the news of Honamma's horrific murder, killed with stone slabs by an upper caste mob of men. A year since, there seems to be no substantial progress in this case. We hope more awareness about it might expand and strengthen the struggle for justice for Honamma and also help us understand why assertive dalit women continue to be brutally attacked and murdered in modern India -Round Table India.

The study of the status of Dalit women in Karnataka has been difficult. There are very few success stories of Dalit women. Where they have been successful, they have also been difficult to pin down, as they are very busy with their day-to-day work. But there are many stories of women who were brave, assertive, and fearless in the public sphere, but they are also dead.

Honnamma (40), a Madiga dalit woman lived in Gopalpura village, Huliyur Hobli, Chikkanayakanahalli Taluk of Tumkur district of Karnataka. It is located about 3 kms from Hobli and about 25 km from the taluk centre. In falls under the Handikeri police station. The village is a small one, with just 4 Madiga households. The other residents include Madivalas – 20 houses, Eediga – 40 households (local dominant caste), Kuruba -10, Koracha – 10, Gangamathasthas – 10, Rayaru – 10, Upparas – 10, and Vaddas – 10. Other than the Madigas, most other households are OBC caste houses.

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