Anumeha Yadav

More than 50 Adivasi farmers, including women, were detained for over six hours on Tuesday at the Sundarpahari police station in Godda, a kilometre from the venue where President Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation for a thermal power plant to be set up by Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL).

Villagers Hopanmai Marandi (left) and Mary Hasda are among those detained at the Sundarpahari police station in Godda, Jharkhand, on Tuesday. Photo: Manob Chowdhury

Farmers from 11 villages in the Nimpaniya and Goiarijor blocks said they had gathered at Sundarpahari to oppose land acquisition by JSPL. At 10 a.m. they were detained by the police and kept on the station premises till evening.

"My family lives at Seemaldhap village in Chota Amarpur. More than 200 of us had gathered at Tiril Tola over the last two days because we planned to march to the venue but the police arrested us. I had rice with me for my little daughter but the police kept that away too," Hopanmai Marandi told this reporter.

"We were already displaced when the Sunder Dam was built. We will not allow ourselves to be moved from our land again," said another villager Mary Nisha Hasda.

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S. Harpal Singh

Jenda erected in every tribal village as a memorial for the departed souls: Bhumanna

The very ritualistic tradition of paying homage to its departed by the Gond tribal community in Adilabad has come into being only after the martyrdom of Komram Bheem in 1940.

In reverence:Gonds paying homage to victims of Indervelli police firing at the 'jenda' at Indervelli in Adilabad district on Wednesday.-Photo: S. Harpal Singh

As the legendary tribal leader was killed by the Nizam's forces on the full moon day after Dasara festival, the tribal community pays its respect to departed souls on Punnak Dasara (full moon that follows the festival) every year ever since.

Some Gond elders supplied this information to youngsters in the community who turned up at Heerapur village in Indervelli mandal to pay homage to the victims of the Indervelli police firing of April 20, 1981.

Since 2004, the descendants of the victims pay homage at the site of the firing either on April 24 or 25 though this constitutes a departure from tradition.

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Viluppuram:

Pradeep Kumar

The Dalits at Kattayan Street in Marakkanam Colony are trying to rebuild their lives from the ashes. They are seen picking up remains from the burnt houses. The residents were left with nothing to eat or wear. Most of them, women and children, are yet to recover from the shock.

In the clashes that erupted between the PMK activists and the Dalit residents on Thursday, 11 houses were reduced to ashes. While seven houses were burnt on Kattayan Street, four were damaged in another colony. The first help came from the local panchayat which provided the families of the area with food.

Sobia, a resident, said some of the political outfits also reached out to the residents on Friday with packaged food and water. "On Saturday, the panchayat officials served food and water. They also provided us with one sack full of rice for the seven families in the area. This was a big relief as we have lost everything in the violence," she said.

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Anumeha Yadav

Jharkhand villagers get frequent news of their kin missing or rescued in metropolitan cities

Last week, two 14-year-old adivasi girls, who had migrated from Khunti district to work in Delhi as domestic help, were found dead in mysterious circumstances, both within two days of each other.

On April 19, Jyoti Mariyam Hora died soon after she was brought to the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital in Delhi's Malviya Nagar. Two days later, Dayamani Guriya, who had studied with Jyoti till class VI and had migrated to Delhi with her, died in mysterious circumstances at the Ranchi railway station when she was being sent back to her village in Torpa in Khunti with police's intervention.

The Delhi Police have arrested one Chandumani, who had brought the two girls to Delhi. "We are waiting for a second autopsy report to verify if Dayamani was poisoned. Jyoti's family members have left Khunti accompanied by a police team to bring Jyoti's body back," said Superintendent of Police, Khunti, M. Tamilvanan.

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Kavita Kishore

In front of one of the burnt houses at Kattayantheru lie a number of charred certificates, including ration cards and other important documents that belong to the members of the Marakkanam Dalit Colony.

"We have salvaged whatever we can, but most of us have lost documents including ration cards, mark sheets, birth certificates and death certificates. Many of us whose houses were burnt even lost currency notes they had been keeping with them," said Narayanasamy whose house was the first one to be burnt in the violence that took place in Marakkanam on Thursday.

One of the women, Angalam bemoaned the loss of 10 sovereigns of gold that she had bought for her daughter's wedding next month, while Mulliamma had lost the insurance money that she received as compensation for her husband's accident.

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Kounteya Sinha

LONDON: Dalits in the United Kingdom have recorded a landmark victory after the British parliament finally agreed to outlaw caste discrimination.

In a major U-turn, the House of Commons, which had earlier trashed an amendment to include caste among other forms of discrimination, on Tuesday voted for legal protection for the four lakh dalits living in the UK.

This makes the UK the first country outside South Asia to legislate against caste discrimination. On Wednesday business secretary Vince Cables said "caste is to be outlawed in the UK".

Jo Swinson, the Equalities Minister

Jo Swinson, the equalities minister, told the House of Commons the government recognized that caste discrimination existed in the United Kingdom and it was "unacceptable". She said "very strong views have been expressed in the Lords on this matter and we have reconsidered our position and agreed to introduce caste-related legislation". "We hope that this decision will serve as an example to other countries," said Rikke Nohrlind, coordinator of the International Dalit Solidarity Network. "Caste discrimination is a global issue, affecting hundreds of millions of people in many parts of the world."

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Deepender Deswal

KAITHAL: As politicians and administrators in many northern Indian states were preparing to celebrate Dalit icon B R Ambedkar's 122nd birth anniversary this weekend, more than 100 Dalits were fleeing a small Haryana village after being chased by upper caste goons, angry that a Dalit man had dared to marry one of their girls.

Meena and Surya Kant of Pabnama village in Kaithal were in a relationship for the past two years and they tied the knot on April 10. But their happiest moment in life turned tragic for the entire village. The marriage - with Meena, from a community called the Rods and Surya, a Dalit - led to a bloody clash on Saturday that forced Dalit men and women to flee, fearing violent reprisals. Members of the Rod community attacked Dalits, injuring 10 people, including seven cops.

The couple has been living in a Kaithal town under police protection following instructions from the Punjab and Haryana high court last week.

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