'In yet another case of crackdown on dissent in academic institutions, six students of the Mahatma Gandhi Antarastriya Hindi Viswavidyalaya (MGAHV), Wardha (Maharashtra), have been reportedly been sent suspension letters for allegedly violating university orders. All the six belong to socially marginalised sections of the society, So, what was their crime and what order did they violate?
'The applications to construct toilet under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and home under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yogna (PMAY) by the dalit family—whose children were killed for defecating in the open—were rejected by the sarpanch months ago. The incident took place in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on Wednesday, September 25... While the employment assistant, Shiv Singh Rawat, who was responsible for constructing toilets in the area first said that they don’t use toilets despite having it.
'Tension prevailed in Delhi’s Tughlaqabad area even as sporadic incidents of violence were witnessed in Delhi and Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh after a huge protest rally by the dalit organisations in the Capital on Wednesday against the recent demolition of a Ravidas Temple by the BJP-led Delhi Development Authority, which maintained that had followed the Supreme Court’s order. According to reports, after the massive protest in Ramlila Grounds, some protesters headed towards Tughlaqabad where the demolished temple of Sant Ravidas, revered by the dalit community, was located.
'Thousands of dalit activists from across the country under the banner of Ravidas community, Bhim Army, Dalit Soshan Mukti Manch (DSMM), Dalit Sant Samaj and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will protest on Wednesday at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against the demolition of the historic Sant Ravidas Temple in the Tughlaqabad area. Dalit activists said the demolition of the temple by the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had enraged people and demanded that the temple be re-constructed on the same location...
'Mangesh and Aarti loved each other. Both belonged to the same village, professed the same religion, had the same cultural heritage. Their class and status in society did not differ much either. Yet, their families objected to their marriage. The two were from two separate castes. Marriage would mean going against the set conventions of society.
'A Dalit man was allegedly hacked to death by his upper-caste wife’s relatives in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district on Monday night, PTI reported. Eight men, including his father-in-law, have been booked for murder and are on the run. The murder took place in the presence of officials from state-run women helpline Abhayam. Haresh Solanki had sought the helpline’s assistance to bring his wife Urmila back from her parents’ house to his home in Kutch district, The Indian Express reported...'
'Thousands of people—students, workers and activists belonging to Dalit, OBC and Tribal organisations along with workers of opposition parties—took to the streets in Bihar on 5 March as part of the bandh (shutdown) against the BJP’s anti-Dalit and anti-Adivasi policies.
'A dalit professor from Lucknow has faced the ire of the Rajya Karamchari Sahitya Sansthan (State Employees’ Literary Association) for a Facebook post criticising the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A large number of people including students from all walks of the society came forward to protest against this on the streets of Lucknow streets on Sunday evening (March 10).
'While crimes against SCs registered an increase of 32 per cent, the crimes against STs increased by 55 per cent in the period between 2013 to 2017... Despite higher number of criminal cases committed against the marginalised sections of the society, the state authorities have failed in bringing the culprits to the book. The data furnished by vigilance and monitoring committee of social justice and empowerment suggest that the state has miserably lagged as far as the conviction rate is concerned. The state registered a 3.78 per cent conviction rate in 2017 and 2018...'
'Several cases were raised in the Assembly, exposing BJP’s anti-dalit attitude in the state... An RTI activist and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Kedar Singh Jindan of Bakras village of Sirmaur district was brutally murdered on September 7, 2018, reportedly by upper caste people of the area, by crushing him under a Scorpio Jeep. Jindan, an advocate by profession, had exposed through several RTI petitions, the alleged loot of certain upper caste people who had denied the benefits of government schemes meant for weaker sections of the society.
