Dalit Ancestor's Festival Greetings! Mumbai: 10 lakh Dalits gather for Ambedkar's anniv
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551, mobile:09903717833
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Dear Friends
Dalit Ancestor's Festival is celebrated on December 6th every year to honor Dalit Ancestors and elders and to seek their blessings. May Mother earth and all our Ancestors Bless you on this happy occasion
Booshakthi Kendra, Dalit Panchayat Movement and REDS Tumkur
Rural Education for Development society
Shanthinagar
Tumkur 572102
Karnataka - India
Phone: ++91-816-2277026
Fax: ++91-816-2272515
Web: www.dalitreds.in
Jyothi's Mobile: ++91-9880184667
Raj's Mobile: ++91-9845144893
Nation remembers Dr. Ambedkar on death anniversary
Posted at Thursday, 06 December 2007 14:12 IST
New Delhi, Dec 6: The nation today paid rich tribute to Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his 51st death anniversary.
Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee paid floral tributes to the father of the Indian Constitution at a special function in the Parliament Complex.
In Mumbai, scores of people gathered at the Chaityabhoomi' to pay homage to Dr. Ambedkar.
Dr. Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, scholar, Bahujan political leader and a Buddhist revivalist. Ambedkar, a Bharat Ratna awardee, overcame several social and financial obstacles during his life.
The day is also observed as Mahaparinirvan Diwas.
http://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/Articles.aspx?NewsId=90510
Mumbai: 10 lakh Dalits gather for Ambedkar's anniv
Prachi Jatania / CNN-IBN
Mumbai: Free lunch, medical camps and even television for some evening entertainment — on December 6, all roads lead to the Chaityabhoomi. A few metres away from the colourful gathering is Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's shrine, a place of worship for the lakhs of Dalits who converge in Mumbai every year.
Ashok, an Ambedkar follower says, "We come here to seek Babasaheb's blessings on this day."
In the last few days, over 5 lakh Ambedkar followers have gathered at Dadar's Shivaji Park and the numbers will soar as Dalits from across the state converge here to pay homage to their leader on his 51st death anniversary.
And for first-timers like Sulekha Jagtap from Yavatmal in Maharashtra, this gathering is a time to assert their identity.
"Ambedkar did a lot for us, so we come here to pay homage to him," says Sulekha.
Authorities have made arrangements on a massive scale for the lakhs of followers who have gathered here.
With CCTVs and a highly visible police presence, for authorities, providing facilities for this large congregation is an exercise in management and logistics, a challenge they are gearing up for.
Mumbai's mayor, Shubha Raul says, "This year, we have arranged fire brigades, mobile toilets and drinking water for all the people who come to the shrine to pay their respects."
For the average Mumbaikar, December 6 could mean traffic diversions, but for ardent Ambedkar supporters, it's their chance to take the annual pilgrimage route that leads up to the Chaityabhoomi.
All set for Ambedkar anniversary
Ashutosh Shukla
Wednesday, December 05, 2007 09:53 IST
All authorities are gearing to provide necessary services to the nearly 15 lakh people who are expected to arrive in the city on December 6 to pay homage to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on his death anniversary. Additional municipal commissioner RA Rajeev visited the spot on Monday to review the preparations,
"We are doing it on war-footing and will be completed by December 6", he said. The civic authorities are erecting pandals of 2 lakh square feet on the Shivaji Park.
About 300 water connections in the periphery of the Shivaji Park for washing and bathing would also be provided. Around 314 temporary and mobile toilets will be put near Indu Mills near Shivaji Park and at the stretch between Siddhivinayak Temple and the Veer Savarkar Smarak..
"Our junior overseers will be present 24 hours," said V Pai, assistant commissioner of G/North ward. Over 500 volunteers from NGOs and Dattak Vasti Yojna will be working to ensure cleanliness in the park. There will also be around 100 BMC personnel's monitoring activities at the ground.
For the first time, the BEST has provided a separate provision of Rs 10 lakhs for providing electricity during this time. A control room will be set up to co-ordinate all those who would be providing services to the followers of Ambedkar.
The police have doubled the number of CCTV cameras to 30 this year. A fire engine, medical team will be stationed round the clock with around 10 doctors. Four life boats with 100 life guards will be posted along the seashore to avoid high-tide calamity.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1137308
10,000 dalits, adivasis protest
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Dec. 5: Over 10,000 dalits, adivasis, Muslims and other marginalised people from various parts of the country joined in the Dalit Dignity March, which began from the Ramlila grounds and ended at Parliament Street here on Wednesday.
The march was organised by the National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR), which is working towards asserting dignity as a universal concern and demanding that the government implement their various schemes in a better way so that the marginalised, dalits, adivasis and Muslims are not left behind.
NACDOR national convenor Ashok Bharti said, "We have observed that the development trend of the SC/STs, minorities and the marginalised is getting from bad to worse. He said according to the Arjun Sengupta report as many as 88 per cent of the population lives on less than Rs 20 per day per person. India has even slid five places in the Human Development Report."
He said this is because people are being marginalised, losing land and livelihood, and not getting education opportunities and facilities for health treatment.
He said the demands of NACDOR are that Parliament should discuss the issues of the marginalised often and to bring back the focus on the disadvantaged people of the country.
Speaking at the rally, CPI MP D. Raja said, "The CPI and other Left parties are supporting this cause and this issue was raised in Parliament today. The issue is not just caste-based atrocities. It is also the economical exclusion of dalits, adivasis and minorities that is worrisome."
He said the UPA government has promised to take affirmative action and also bring in legislation for reservation in the private sector.. He urged the people to intensify their struggle and to unify themselves to be more effective.
http://203.197.197.71/presentation/leftnavigation/news/india/10,000-dalits,-adivasis-protest.aspx
Dalits told to worship mother earth
Monday August 7 2006 13:03 IST
TUMKUR: A gathering of about 5,000 Dalits was sermonised to worship mother earth at a function jointly organised by two NGOs-Rural Development Education Society (REDS), Tumkur and Guru Ravidas International Organisation for Human Rights, London, at Nelahal village, about 22 km from here on Sunday.
A free community hall for Dalits and the poor was inaugurated and a statue of 14th century Sikh saint, Guru Ravidas was unveiled at Bhooshakti Kendra as part of the function.
The heads of Bhooshakti Kendra and REDS, M C Raj and Jyothi Raj said that the Dalits did not belong to any religion as Dalitism itself was a religion and had its own practices. Instead of observing Diwali, Dussera and such festivals, Dalits could celebrate festivals in the name of their elders and also invite the caste Hindus for dinner, they said.
Students lining up at a free book distribution function by Rajasthan Youth Association in Bangalore on Sunday.
DALITHINK An Adventure Into Dalit Philosophy
Review by
Anita Cheria and Edwin, Open Space
An adventure in Nirvana
DALITHINK is third in the series of Dalit weltanschauung written by MC Raj, the first two being Dalitology and Cosmosity. One does not have to agree with everything that the author writes to acknowledge the importance of such work. For too long, the world has been looking at India through the prism of Brahmanism—a product of less than 3% of Indians. The recent survey of Indian food habits provides conclusive evidence of how erroneous the Brahmanic description of Indian reality is: an overwhelming majority of Indians are meat-eaters. The Brahmanic description of India is not only erroneous, but when used as the 'Indian' paradigm, is a hegemonic ideology and tool of domination, acculturation and exclusion.
Dalits have lived and served. They did not have the time to write—and were prevented from doing so as a ritual requirement of Hinduism. This has left the space for defining India to the oppressor, though the many customs and traditions are recorded in songs and other cultural expressions. (Seeing a Brahmin the first thing in the morning is a bad omen even for a Brahmin). But much of this has remained hidden (subaltern) to the general public. The unseen became the unknown. From being unknown, it is a short step to being considered non-existent. DALITHINK has put the THINK of DALIT into INK.
DALITHINK, even more than its predecessors, fills a critical space in defining India from the perspective of the Dalits, who form a minimum 25% of Indians. It is the first book of the 'unbroken people', though Raj has introduced the concept in the previous volumes. It provides a refreshing break from the soul deadening nirvana and moves to an ideology that celebrates life in its fullest. The meaning of life as explained by Raj, is to live fully here on earth. The meaning is found in life here and now: not in the life after death, in a place after earth. DALITHINK then is an ideology of the here-and-now, of life as a celebration. That such a celebration is the right, duty and purpose of life as lived by a people brutally suppressed but unbroken over millennia makes it infinitely more powerful when articulated.
Where the book scores is in applying a 'quantum' approach to wisdom. Every cell in our body is seen as a repository of knowledge. Philosophy then is in every cell of every body, not restricted to the brain. This is an unconscious critique of the Brahmin myth of creation that has the Brahmin created from the head of Brahma, the Kshatriya from the Chest, and the Shudra from the feet. By acknowledging and building an ideological system that legitimises the experience and wisdom of every cell, it is a frontal attack on the belief system that held only the Brahmin—the 'brain'—as a repository of thought and wisdom.
Another aspect of the quantum approach to wisdom is the author's consciousness of the pulsing energy that permeates the universe (and 'energy' being inter-changeable with 'knowledge'), and the ripple impact that it has on every thought, action and wisdom. This 'unified knowledge theory' is a rich unified framework that provides a coherent explanation for a wide a range from homosexuality, autoerotism, god (transference to another being and another world), violence (transferring the here and now to the there and then) and war (including the current Iraq War II), love, rape (revenge sex) to life itself. Since the entire body is the repository of knowledge, domination and hegemony are present in every cell… and revenge sex becomes an inevitable consequence.
The 'unified theory' is quite similar to 'advaita'. But the similarity ends with the 'unified' explanation. The Dalit perspective is not a sterile kind of perfection, but one of enormous life and living. The major effect of this distinction is that the Dalit Nirvana has got no space for the Hindu fatalism. The Dalit can, and must, change her destiny. It even has space for 'blemishes'… though the author stops short of saying that blemishes are an intrinsic part of perfection. The one fault that Raj is guilty of is in not carrying through the implications of his arguments and insights to their logical conclusion. But with the book's wide scope, even the limited explanations already lead to over 350 pages and the reader would be willing to overlook them. One does get a feeling that, though unconscious, this is a peculiar stylistic characteristic of Raj, since he lets the reader free to develop the insight based on her own experience and specificities… again a departure from the dominant schools of thought that emphasise monocultures of the mind.
Early in the book, Raj in a rare instance of tongue-in-cheek self-critique quotes a Dalit woman that philosophy is what takes a man 350 pages to write and a woman a couple of lines. Women—and Dalits too—do not need to write or learn 'philosophy' since they live it. The emphasis of knowledge as unity of experience and thought, firmly refuses to accept the dichotomy of the thinker and doer. The powerful implication being that Dalits are perhaps better philosophers since they live their philosophy rather than just talk about it. Philosophy, as the subtitle of the book says, is an 'adventure' not a clinical 'enquiry'. Life is to be lived, not observed. Philosophy an adventure, not clinical. A Dalit perspective. A breath of fresh air. A whiff of truth.
Interestingly, the author critiques Buddhism, clearly differentiating Dalits from Buddhism, but stops short of critiquing Ambedkar the current Dalit icon. The other soft corner of the author is in attributing everything good to Dalits.. It is perhaps needed at this particular juncture of the Dalit movement, and for the discerning reader this author trait does not detract from the overall argument or thesis of the volume.
DALITHINK is almost 'newage' in the primacy it accords to women. 'Almost' because, unlike 'newage' wishful thinking, pseudo-science and romanticism, this book is rooted in experience and an intimate engagement with grassroots life.
DALITHINK explores diverse topics and gives a peek into a fascinating new world of lived wisdom and a philosophy of adventure. The author has ample scope to develop on many of these themes in later books. What the author needs to be cautious about is to ensure that even his work is not coopted by Brahmanism, as has been done even to explicitly anti-Brahmanism movements such as the Ezhava movement in Keralam, the Basava Movement and even Buddhism. How the author will ensure that the cosmic knowledge of Dalits is not subsumed will be keenly noted.
The most glaring gap in the book is the Dalit perspective on colour. Knowing the authors sensitivity to colour, the continual use of blue and black by Bhooshakti Kendra activists, Raj and Jothi, their views on colour would have enlightened the reader. Given that Raj brings a new perspective and a unique angle to the issue at hand, it will be awaited in a subsequent volume.
This book is meant to be read unmediated. Direct experience, reflection and intuitive knowledge in an organic combination—recommended by the author as an approach to life—is possibly the best way to approach this book too. However, to appreciate the work, one needs to step back and look at it in perspective. The richness of the book and the vast scope of its enquiry demands as much. The appropriate analogy would be another DALI-Think, this time of Salvadore Dali. His painting of Abraham Lincoln needs the viewer to be at least 40 feet away. Any closer, it is seen only as a mosaic, without the unifying framework.
As mentioned by Raj, the book is a product of the undocumented collective wisdom of the Dalits. Given the importance given to women, the subtle nuances, and the multiple perspectives of complex reality that are seamlessly woven together into a simple narrative, the lines between the creators, the co-creators and the authors blur. To return to Dali, on being asked why he was a genius, Dali suavely replied: because 'I married my wife Gala'. MCRaj would probably reply likewise about Jothi. One hopes that the next book on the journey of discovery would be like their first: co-authored.
DALITHINK is available at the Ambedkar Resource Center, REDS Road, Shanthinagar, Tumkur 572102.
DALITHINK
An Adventure Into Dalit Philosophy
Reviewed by Cynthia Stephen
As Published in People's Reporter Vol 19 Issue 21
The book, 'Dalithink: An Adventure into Dalit Philosophy' by M. C. Raj, basically tries to lay out the way in which the existing forms of knowledge are at a total variance with the way Dalits have constructed their philosophy of life, based on the wisdom of the ancestors and the life-giving Mother Earth.
As Raj writes from a 'materialist' basis, denying any form of afterlife except the cosmic waves set off in the cosmos by the lives of those Dalits who went before, he does not need to go into any aspects such as soul, spirit, God, faith, religion, scripture, incarnation except to refer to the numerous ways in which these concepts have been used effectively to enslave the underclass and grab their assets including labour. Concepts such as Sin, Good and Evil, of course, never enter the discourse; as they do not fit in this framework, as "bipolarities are artificially engineered by the dominant and anti-cosmic forces", while Dalit Philosophy is an 'integrative' way of life. In essence, one could say that his recounting/reconstruction/articulation of the Philosophy of the Dalits has a 'secular humanist' feel, and is therefore likely to be popular with those who 'vibe' with that school of thought. His position is in keeping with the (postmodernist) assertion that 'There is NO ONE TRUTH' (p. 156), a classic tautomer if ever there was one.
He quotes the Bible and the Mahabharatha extensively to show how both Brahminism and the Christian Church have been using faith and scripture to subjugate the Dalits – very interesting and informative. Raj is also uncertain about the historicity of Jesus Christ (and Rama). It is interesting to note that contrary to the present trend among the Dalits in the country, he does not feel that even Buddhism is a good choice of religious persuasion for a Dalit.
His critique of how Christian and Brahminical teachings and scriptures have been used to serve the political ends of those in leadership would be of value for those who study the role of religion in Indian society. But one wonders whether he has also gone into serious and fundamental critiques on male scholarship that feminist theologians of both the liberal and evangelical schools have essayed, at a theoretical level.
Some may find it problematic that Dalithink essentialises Dalit women as nurturing, inclusive, and incapable of discriminating against others, whereas "the cell systems of dominant caste women find fulfillment in the type of dominance that their men enjoy", thus making them incapable of "governance that will augur well for the whole of cosmic beings and cosmic order." Other areas likely to be found controversial are its section on Dalit Philosophy of Human Life, where he speaks of the role of Dreams, and also the possibility that 'Through an entropy process the energy-giving waves of ancestors enter body of living Dalits and energize them to be active participants in the cosmic order. When the intensity of such communicative interaction increases in some bodies who have either experiences similar to those of the ancestors or whose cell systems are completely open to their communicative waves there is a ripple impact of an extraordinary nature. The body of a Dalit who remains in intensive communicative interaction with ancestral waves then begins to communicate directly as if the ancestor was living right in front." Perhaps Raj refers thus to the "oracles" which are commonly seen to speak in village assemblies in the Indian countryside.
His attempts to define pleasure, pain, love, and sex, addiction, masturbation, homosexuality, etc are somewhat laboured and fail to fully satisfy, perhaps partly because of the use of the as-yet-unfamiliar terms coined by the author. In the same section he also speaks of God's Love, which he terms a contradiction in terms, as it is actually "an illusionary creation of cell systems in the organic bodies of human species to deceive itself… generated out of an obsessive need for fulfillment'. According to the author, "God's love is a toxic waste dumped in the intellectual dustbin of those organic beings that refuse to fill their cell systems with cosmic waves and energy."
The book attempts to explicate the thesis that Dalit Philosophy is an effective instrument of liberation. "when there is no difference between cognition and emotion, when there is a congruence between feeling and thinking, it is a mark of Dalit Philosophy… we cannot ask (the dominants) to recognize our emotive intelligence to become a ground for argumentation. We are ready to engage Brahminism and Capitalism at their levels. We do not have to make philosophy a tool of oppression as has the dominant order done (sic). But we can make philosophy an effective instrument of liberation."
Where the book scores is in its analysis of why Brahminism has been, and continues to be, so successful in co-opting the Dalits for so long – "while the symbols of Christianity and Islam are looked upon as alien the symbols of Hinduism are accepted as native'. This is because "there is a ripple impact in their cell systems that is pleasant and in agreement with what the symbols convey. Ages ago the very same symbols manifested the innateness of our Dalit ancestors…Therefore, the ripple impact of antagonism in the bodies of Dalits is generally directed against the Shudra castes rather than on the Brahmin caste." The last statement can be accepted as true, based on our exposure to the ground realities.
Raj's prescription for a just world order is Cosmic governance, i.e. governance of communities of people according to cosmic order and cosmic communication. This system will be unique in that it will be led by the communities, not individuals. Dalit women will not allow the concentration of cosmic resources in the hands of a few. Nations will relate to each other based on a respect for the differences of the people, their systems and structures. There will be no criminals in such a system, and corrective and punitive measures will be in tune with cosmic ethos. Knowledge and means to grow in knowledge will not be sold; exclusion will not be a mechanism of governance, though it will be the prerogative of the individual. Doublespeak and double standards will be outside the purview of governance. Production of weapons of mass destruction will be anathema.
All this, naturally, will take time – the transformation will be called Dalitisation, which will involve several projects, such as opening up the knowledge systems of the world to all, land recovery, cultural resurgence, resurrecting lost histories of indigenous peoples, establishing Dalit religion, promoting internal governance, "don't touchability" i.e. promoting self-defense capacities in Dalit and indigenous women, national political party of Dalits, and last but not the least, promoting the primacy of Dalit women, whose lack of capacity for dominance, arrogant expropriation, aggrandizement and violence make them the ideal people to govern the world, and lead it thereby into the liberation of all humans and integrating them into the cosmos as cosmic beings.
While there is a lot of original thinking that has gone into this book, some minor errors and 'misspelling' have crept in.
All in all, a brave attempt to transform the world. Only time will tell whether the prescription will work, or whether the solution is too harsh for the world to accept.
SC permits women bartenders in capital's hotels
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the employment of women as bartenders in the capital's hotels and restaurants.
A beach of Justices SB Sinha and HS Bedi also reduced the age limit of such bartenders from 25 to 21 years. The apex court passed the orders while dismissing an appeal filed by a person challenging employement of girls in bars and restaurants for serving liquor.
Anbumani forced to withdraw bill
New Delhi: The government suffered a major embarrassment in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday when Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had to withdraw a bill granting autonomy to a post-graduate medical institute in Puducherry after the CPI-M's Brinda Karat pressed for an amendment to ensure the existing fee structure would not be altered.
Given the reservations of certain members on the Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry Bill, 2007, Ramadoss sought an hour to discuss the issue with his Cabinet colleagues. He then once again sought passage of the bill, saying the bill couldn't have a provision for fixed fee structure but such a provision could be incorporated in the rules. Karat said she couldn't withdraw the amendment.
SS Ahluwalia (BJP) then said his party would press for a division if the government refused to accept the amendment. In such a situation, "I will take it (the bill) back to the Cabinet", Ramadoss said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister PR Dasmunsi said the situation was unfortunate as it was the first time a bill, after being scrutinized by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and Cabinet, was being sent back to Cabinet.
Thinking of abandoning your parents? Don't!
New Delhi: Children who abandon parents in their twilight years may face three months' imprisonment and cannot even appeal against the punishment.
A bill passed by Parliament today will ensure that elderly people are taken care of by their children failing which they would face penal action.
"The bill provides for a jail term of three months if children do not look after old parents. The penal provision is meant to act as a deterrent," Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar told Rajya Sabha.
Kumar said children cannot go in for an appeal. "This has been done deliberately as they have a lot of resources which the old people do not have," she said.
Later, the Rajya Sabha passed the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007 by a voice vote.
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says though the parents can claim maintenance under the CrPC, the procedure is both "time-consuming as well as expensive", and there was need to have simple, inexpensive and speedy provisions for care of parents.
The bill has a clause for punishment to those who abandon their parents or relatives whose property they have inherited or would get as their legal heirs.
The bill, already passed by Lok Sabha, provides for setting up of a tribunal in each district for helping the old in distress.
It also has a provision for establishment of old age homes which, the Minister said, should be the last resort for the poor and the childless..
'Govt committed to women's reservation in legislature'
New Delhi: Noting that women's participation in politics could bring about a revolutionary change in governance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh o Thursday said his government was committed to women's reservation in state Assemblies and Parliament and was working for a broad consensus on the issue.
Inaugurating the 2nd East Asia Gender Equality Ministerial Meeting here, Singh said the election of more than a million women in the local bodies has brought about a significant shift in public policy and in social attitudes towards women.
"We are committed to providing similar representation to women in our state Assemblies and the Parliament. We are working for a broad consensus on this matter," Singh said, holding out hope for the much-delayed Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in the legislature.
"We firmly believe that the participation of a critical mass of women in politics at the highest level will bring about a revolutionary change in ensuring good governance," he said.
Singh noted that the experience of other countries shows that greater participation of women in the process of governance does contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment.
"Our Government seeks to impart a new sense of urgency to the task of ensuring gender equality in our society, in our polity, in our economic life and, above all, in our families and communities," he said.
Now woman officer heads Central Railway
Mumbai: President Pratibha Patil has appointed a woman officer to head the Central Railway (CR), the country's oldest and second largest zonal railway network headquartered here.
Sowmya Raghavan created history as she stepped into the 154-year-old World Heritage building Central Railway headquarters at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, Wednesday evening to take her new charge.
Raghavan's work will be keenly observed by the 1.25 billion commuters who use the Mumbai suburban network, and another 170 million long-distance passengers on the nearly 3,835-km route network, a CR spokesman said citing latest figures.
Prior to her new charge, Raghavan was financial advisor to the Railway Board. This made Raghavan second in command to the finance commissioner at the board, which is the highest policy-making authority of the Indian Railways.
An IRTS officer of the 1973 batch, Raghavan also served as the Southern Railway finance advisor and chief accounts officer (FA&CAO).
It is considered quite a rare instance when an officer from the purely office-oriented accounts stream is made a GM, which is highly operations-oriented job.
Incidentally, the Central Railways enjoys a previous record of women breaking the male bastion. In 1992, Surekha Yadav became Asia's first woman engine driver, followed by Mumtaz K.
At present, the Central Railway has five women train drivers, the spokesman said.
Raghavan's tenure comes at a critical time when the Central Railway, plus the two other networks serving Mumbai - the Western Railway and the Konkan Railway - will join hands with the Maharashtra government to implement new mega-projects, oversee the ongoing projects and modernization programme, and take steps to ease the miseries of the suburban commuters.
sefat ullah to manik061624
Hi Mr. MaNik,
I have been reading your write ups in the Mukto-Mona for a long time.
I like your Openions and art of your writing.
You are theSon of a Freedom fighter and I am a freedom fughter.
So we are from the same Family.
I think by this time you came to know from different medias and from my writings and Mukto- Mona forum writers and members that A group of Freedom fighters and the next generation together came forward through an Organisation known as Justice for Genocide Bangladesh 1971 based in Sydney, Australi who are working around the globe to awake up the sleeping Bangalees by demanding the Justice of genocide in 71 in Bangladesh.
Please go ahead and write more and more to motivate the people in and out side Bangladesh.
Keep well.
Besrt regards.
Sefat Ullaj
Vienna
Dalits stage protest in Chandigarh
Chandigarh: Scheduled-castes from across the State on Thursday staged a demonstration here protesting against the alleged failure of the government in preventing bonded labour and implementation of SCs atrocities act.
The dalits owing allegiance to a Punjab-based NGO, Dalit Dasta Virodhi Andolan, staged a protest march in the city and later submitted a memorandum to Punjab Governor Gen (Retd), S F Rodrigues.
The NGO claimed there were around five lakh bonded labours in the agrarian sector. "Lot many atrocities are committed upon us," said Jai Singh, head of the NGO.
He criticised the government's failure in filling up of backlog vacancies for SCs in public sectors.
"Since long, we are working to get released various bonded labours from different places of Punjab. So far the number of such labours stood at around 9,000," said Swami Agnivesh, a social worker.
Elders demand quota for dalits in private sector
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Wednesday made a strong plea in the Rajya Sabha for a legislation to provide job reservation for dalits in the private sector.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Brinda Karat (CPI-M) said thousands of dalits were in the capital to press the demands against discrimination and for reservation in private sector jobs.
Asserting that politics was strengthening the caste system, she said the country could not be modern till the caste system was abolished. She sought a nodal agency to look at the demand for reservation for dalits in the private sector.
Associating himself with the demand, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja sought a legislation for enforcing job quota in the private sector. Thousand
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