Laxmipeta Dalit Struggle Solidarity Committee, Andhra Pradesh

Plot No:1, Bal Reddy Nagar, Tolichowki, Hyderabad-500008 Ph No: 040-23562525,

Memorandum to Government of India, New Delhi,  by the victims of Laxmipeta Carnage

Honoured Sir,

About forty families, belonging to scheduled castes of Laxmipeta village, Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh, are cultivating 60 acres of Government land for the last 12 years. The Toorpu Kapus, an upper caste, though listed as backward classes, of the same village are cultivating the remaining 190 acres of the 250 acres, which remained as surplus of the acquired land for Madduvalasa Project. Since, the land is of no use to the project, the villagers belonging to the two castes started cultivating the same, to the knowledge of the Government.

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(Update on the situation on 22nd July, 2012)

Geeta Charusivam

Jacqueline is better now. The expenses at the private hospital were quite steep, so her family, friends and colleagues got her discharged on Saturday morning viz. 21.07.2012. They felt that CSI Hospital (their employer) should admit and treat her. So they brought her to CSI hospital on Saturday. But the hospital refused to admit her. Jacqueline's friends and colleagues tried to reason with the duty doctor for about an hour. But it was futile. The duty doctor kept saying that the hospital director had refused permission and he could not do anything. As some of the doctors are supporting the director, many felt that admitting Jacqueline forcibly could prove to be risky for her. So they finally decided to take her back home. Many of the nurses have pledged full support and said they would nurse her back to health at home itself. I met her on Sunday morning. She was able to sit up and talk for a bit and given a little solid food on that day. However, she is very weak right now. The doctors have said that it would take about 8-10 days for the toxins to leave her system completely.

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[Update on the state of health of Jacqueline, the nurse who attempted suicide in CSI Hospital, Kancheepuram, due to casteist harassment by the hospital director, and other developments -- Round Table India]

Geeta Charusivam

There have been further developments in the CSI hospital struggle in Kancheepuram. Some friends visited Jacqueline in hospital today and have informed that she is conscious today but unable to speak. The doctors have said that she is still not out of danger. They are keeping a close watch on her today and hope that her condition remains stable. They would be able to give a further opinion only by tomorrow.

As informed yesterday, one case under Crime No. 946/2012 was booked on 44 persons (including staff, a few lawyers and some Makkal Mandram activists) under - Section 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of IPC for holding a protest demonstration in front of the hospital.

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Attempted suicide by nurse at CSI Hospital, Kancheepuram, due to harassment of the casteist hospital director

(Message from Makkal Mandram)

Dear Friends,

An incident has happened in CSI Hospital Kancheepuram. Jacqueline, a nurse working in the hospital for more than 15 years, swallowed a lot of pills yesterday while on duty and is in a critical condition. She has left a behind a note naming the Director of CSI Hospital, Dr. Brinda Nirmal as the person responsible for her taking this extreme step. Dr. Brinda Nirmal abused both Jacqueline and her husband Soloman (who is also a staff at the hospital) yesterday before the whole hospital. She abused them calling them caste names and threatened to sack them.The staff say that this is routine for the director (abusing and shouting at staff, throwing them out of hospital physically and resorting to a lot more discriminatory and arbitrary practices) but Jacqeline was unable to take this mental torture any more.

Dr. Brinda Nirmal is the Director of CSI Hospital Kancheepuram since last two years and has been accused of harassing the staff of the hospital including nurses, drivers, ward boys, gardeners etc earlier also. Around 90% of the staff are Dalits and have faced constant harassment at the hands of this director who belongs to a dominant caste. Apart from verbal abuse, she has imposed arbitrary fines and penalties and deducted it from the salaries of the staff. Further, she has transferred and terminated the services of several members of the staff on her whims and fancies, without following properly laid down procedures. The staff have complained that she is casteist and vindictive towards them.

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Fact Finding Report of Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha on the Lakshimpeta Massacre

Three women whose husbands were alive on June 11th became widows on the 12th. One lost a father, and another woman also lost a husband a few days later. 20 victims suffer and grieve in a hospital, nursing seriously injured limbs and heads, fighting for their lives. This is the scenario I witnessed with my own eyes in Lakshimpeta, on July 3rd.

They still do not understand why the Toorpu Kapus had launched such a brutal attack on them, armed with spears, axes, bill hooks and bombs, wounded and killed so many when the day had not fully dawned and most of the villagers had not woken up. Nor do they understand why the fact that tilling the 45 cents of land legally allotted to each of them by the Collector should have caused so much caste hatred.

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Stalin K

Last weekend, I was a guest on Satyamev Jayate with Aamir Khan where we discussed the issue of untouchability and how this illegal practice is still shockingly a part of Indian tradition.

In Dangariya village of Rajasthan, "lower caste" women are asked to remove their footwear as they pass "upper caste" neighbourhoods. This has been happening for several years, in spite of untouchability having been declared illegal by the Constitution of India.

If these women wore slippers in front of the so called 'upper caste neighbourhoods' they would be abused and their husbands would be troubled for days.

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Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz

Shri Ali Anwar Ansari, MP and National President, Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz, has described the incident of setting ablaze the houses of the pasmanda muslims of the Asthan village of the Kunda teshil, Pratapgarh, as preplanned and an instance of political conspiracy. He has alleged that the main perpetrators of this violence enjoy protection from top brass of the ruling party and hence are still roaming free.

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