Skip to main content

10 Dalit women raped every day, Supreme Court should intervene: Dalit NGOs

By Our Representative 

India’s top Dalit advocacy groups in have insisted that the Supreme Court should take suo moto cognisance of the rising atrocities against Dalit women and minor girls in the country. In a joint statement, the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) and the National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) said, the Hathras gang rape and murder is “not stand-alone case”, adding, data suggest “every day 10 Dalit women and girls are raped in the country.”
Issued following a protest at the Ambedkar Bhawan in New Delhi, the statement, which also demanded the resignation of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, said, “The crime rate against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh has been rising exponentially” and “dominant castes are using sexual violence as a tool to showcase their power and authority.”
Pointing out that such ghastly incidents of violence are perpetrated everyday against women and minors during the pandemic and the lockdown, the statement said, “UP has witnessed several cases of atrocities against Dalit women, with Lakhimpur Kheri district leading in the graph of violence.”
It continued, in the past 60 days more than six atrocities were reported in the district against Dalit women and minor girls. In Saharanpur district, six cases of abduction and rape have been reported, adding, cases of sexual assault of Dalit girls have also been reported from Balrampur, Azamgarh and Bhadoi districts.
Asserting that “these gruesome incidents of sexual violence reflect the real picture of Indian society constructed on violent casteist patriarchal structure”, the advocacy groups also demanded that the Centre and State governments should “strictly implement” cases of caste and gender based atrocities under relevant sections of the Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act, Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO).
Insisting that there should be “fast track all cases of sexual assault on Dalit women and girls” under these laws, the statement said, “We hold the state responsible for providing the impunity enjoyed by the dominant caste in Uttar Pradesh for being complacent and delaying legal investigation and action sin the Hathras gang rape and murder case.”
The advocacy groups demanded prosecution of the police and administrative officials of Hathras, including the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, for forcibly disposing of the remains of the deceased and trespassing her last rites, destroying evidence, harassing the Dalit family, its wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and physical assault on the victim’s family.

#LockdownCasteAtrocities campaign launched

Meanwhile, the Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network, another advocacy group, has launched a social media campaign in an attempt to bring light cases of atrocities during the pandemic. Especially highlighting cases of atrocities that happened during the pandemic lockdown in collaboration with the Public Bolti, a citizen journalism and media advocacy platform, the campaign has been launched under the hashtag #LockdownCasteAtrocities.
The campaign is focusing on 30 cases for 30 days, each case presented by artists from what are called Bahujan communities, a network statement said, adding, the aim is to educate young people on actrocies against Dalits and Adivasis as also laws such as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which need to be used against the perpetrators. In all, the campaign plans to highlight 100 cases.

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.