Dalit

4 more held for Dalit man's lynching in Raebareli under Gangster Act, NSA

Police have arrested four more persons in connection with the lynching of a Dalit man by villagers who mistook him for a thief in the Unchahar area of Raebareli district, officials said on Wednesday. Police said the stringent Gangsters Act and the National Security Act (NSA) will be invoked against the accused, and cautioned against attempts to give the incident a casteist slant, saying the accused were unaware of the victim's caste. While the NSA empowers states to detain individuals to prevent them from acting in a manner "prejudicial to the defence of India" with a maximum detention period of 12 months, which can be revoked earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, is aimed at combating organised crime by making special provisions to deal with gangsters and anti-social activities. Hariom Valmiki (40) was reportedly lynched by villagers who mistook him for a thief during a night vigil at about 1 am on October 2 amid rumours that a gang

Raebareli lynching: Congress demands UP CM's resignation, SIT probe

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has spoken to the father and brother of a Dalit youth who was lynched in Raebareli and stands in complete solidarity with them in this hour of unbearable grief, AICC media and publicity department head Pawan Khera has said. In a post on X on Sunday, Khera said the horrific lynching is both heartbreaking and enraging. "In his final moments, as he was being mercilessly beaten with sticks and belts, the deceased young man remembered his last hope - Shri Rahul Gandhi," he said. "For Rahul ji, who represents Raebareli in Parliament and considers its people his family, this tragedy is deeply wounding. He has personally spoken to the father and brother of the deceased and stands in complete solidarity with them in this hour of unbearable grief," Khera said. "He (Gandhi) has also expressed his profound concern over the dangerous normalisation of lynching in India, vowing that such violent elements must face their legal end. Justice must be served," the Congress

Punjab Cabinet approves loan waiver worth ₹68 crore for Dalit families

The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to waive loans amounting Rs 68 crore taken by over 4,000 Dalit families from the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said. At a cabinet meeting chaired by Mann in Chandigarh, it was decided that debt accrued till March 31, 2020 will be waived. Addressing the media after the meeting, the chief minister said the state government will waive the debt incurred due to loans taken by Dalit families from the corporation for various purposes, including for opening shops, dairy farming, etc. The decision will benefit 4,727 beneficiaries, he said. Mann said Finance Minister Harpal Sigh Cheema in his budget speech this March had promised to waive the debt. With the cabinet approval, the promise will now be fulfilled, he said. Cheema, who was also at the media briefing, said the debt would include the principal amount and any interest on it, including penal interest. It is a big relief for the

BJP suspends former MLA for 'purifying' temple after Dalit leader's visit

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also slammed the BJP, terming it as an anti-Dalit party

Delhi polls: BJP focuses on intensive outreach in 30 Dalit-dominated seats

The BJP is hopeful of "markedly improving" its performance in Dalit-dominated constituencies of the city on the basis of a sustained and focussed outreach campaign spread over months ahead of the February 5 assembly polls, party leaders said. The party failed to win even one of the 12 SC (scheduled castes) reserved constituencies in the assembly polls held in 2015 and 2020. In previous elections too, the BJP never won more than two-three of these seats. There are 30 assembly constituencies in Delhi, including 12 reserved for SC candidates, in which the Dalit community voters range from 17 to 45 per cent, according to Delhi BJP leaders. Apart from the 12 reserved constituencies, there are 18 other seats with up to 25 percent SC community votes, including Rajender Nagar, Chandni Chowk, Adarsh Nagar, Shahdara, Tughalaqbad, Bijwasan, where the BJP and its SC Morcha worked in the past several months, they said. An elaborate outreach campaign through SC workers was conducted in the slums

How Dalit divides and political ties create a complex battle in Maharashtra

In wake of Supreme Court's sub-classification verdict, SHREYAS UBGADE analyses how ideological divides and political alignments of Dalit groups make this a complex electoral battle in Maharashtra

Amethi murder case: Prime accused Chandan shifted to jail in Raebareli

Chandan Verma, accused of killing a Dalit family in Amethi, has been shifted to the district jail here, officials said on Sunday. Verma (35), who was arrested on Friday, was shot by the police on Saturday while they were trying to recover the pistol he allegedly used in the killing. He was admitted to the hospital from where he was shifted to the district jail on Saturday evening. Verma was produced before the court on Saturday evening and sent to jail. Jail Superintendent Aman Kumar said Verma reached the jail at around 8 pm on Saturday. The government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam and their two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi on October 3. During the initial investigation, the police found that Poonam had lodged an FIR against the accused in Rae Bareli on August 18 for eve-teasing and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The complainant had also mentioned that "if anyt

Accidents, safety issues: A balancing job ahead for Railway Board's chair

As Railway Board chairman, Kumar, the first Dalit to get the office, will have to deal with rising cases of accidents and concerns of people both within and outside the Railways

Many Scheduled Caste sub-categories have limited urban presence in Punjab

In the last of a three-part series, Business Standard looks at Punjab's Scheduled Caste population and inter-group variance on key parameters

IRMS officer Satish Kumar becomes 1st Dalit chairman of Railway Board

Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) officer Satish Kumar has been appointed as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Railway Board, officials said Tuesday. This makes him the first chairman and CEO from the Scheduled Castes in the board's history, senior officials of the Railway Board said. Jaya Varma Sinha, who is the current chairperson and CEO of the board, is superannuating on August 31 and Kumar's appointment will be effective from September 1. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Shri Satish Kumar, Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS), Member (Traction & Rolling Stock), Railway Board to the post of Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board," a govt order said. It further added that his appointment is in the apex pay scale (pay level 17 as per the 7th central pay commission).

Chirag Paswan solidifies status as political heir of father Ram Vilas

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan has solidified his status as the real political heir of his father, Ram Vilas Paswan. In a stunning turn of events, Chirag was inducted into the Narendra Modi government on Sunday, marking a remarkable comeback in Bihar's turbulent political landscape. Chirag's meteoric rise came by winning all five Lok Sabha seats allocated to the party in the NDA alliance in the recent elections, maintaining the party's 100 per cent strike rate. This sensational success has catapulted him as the new Dalit icon in Bihar politics, overshadowing many seasoned politicians. In a stark contrast to this victory, the 2019 elections had seen LJP, under Ram Vilas Paswan's leadership, sweep all six seats allotted to the party. The drama heightened in June 2021, when Chirag's uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, orchestrated a midnight coup, ousting Chirag from all key party positions and claiming a spot in Modi's cabinet. Chirag was left in the political wildernes

PM Modi has ended rule of law, says Rahul on Dalit woman's death in MP

Hitting out at the BJP over the death of a slain Dalit youth's sister in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ended the rule of law and asserted that "we will create a system where even the weakest person will be able to raise his voice strongly against oppression". The woman, who had lodged a case last August claiming her brother, a Dalit, was beaten to death by some persons pressuring her for a compromise in a harassment case, died on Sunday after she fell from an ambulance carrying her uncle's body in Sagar. Notably, her uncle Rajendra Ahirwar was beaten to death on Saturday night by some persons over an old enmity, police sources said. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi has ended the 'rule of law'. My heart is filled with pain and anger just thinking about what the BJP leaders have done to this Dalit family in Madhya Pradesh." It is a matter of shame that under the BJP rule, the governmen

LS polls: Dalit colonies of western UP want basic necessities, dignity

In the rural expanse of western Uttar Pradesh's Hathras and Firozabad, where the pastoral beauty belies deep-seated challenges, those living in Dalit colonies want basic necessities and dignity and freedom from filth and sewage. Several villages this PTI reporter visited had a Dalit colony separately and these villages had debilitating homes and sanitation issues. In these villages, the realities of sanitation and poverty shape the narratives of women like Aarti Devi and Maya, whose voices echo the aspirations and frustrations of their communities. In Hathras's Pilakhana, the air is heavy with the stench of stagnant water that surrounds modest homes, many of which are precariously perched in disrepair. For Aarti Devi, a Dalit woman whose days are consumed by cleaning the households of so-called upper caste people, her own living conditions are in stark contrast with the cleanliness she strives to achieve elsewhere. "Our houses are swallowed by filth and sewage. We clean the homes

Congress extends Dalit outreach programme in UP till December end

Seeking to further connect with the Dalit community ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has decided to extend its ongoing Dalit outreach programme in Uttar Pradesh till December end. The 'Dalit Gaurav Samvad' which started on October 9 --- the death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshiram --- was earlier scheduled to end on Sunday to coincide with Constitution Day. "In view of the positive response received during the Samvad, we have decided to extend it further, so that we could reach out to every Dalit household in the state. This Samvad will continue till December end," Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai told PTI. Addressing a Samvad in Sarojininagar assembly constituency here on Saturday, Rai had charged that, "Dalits are being targeted and killed under the BJP government in the state. The BJP government is saving criminals. The (BJP) government stood with criminals in the atrocities committed on Dalits in various districts, including Hathras, Umbha (Sonbhadra), Lakhimpur

BJP's anti-Dalit, anti-tribal face exposed with urinating incident: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that atrocities on tribals and Dalits are increasing under the BJP rule as he decried the incident in Madhya Pradesh where a tribal was urinating upon by a man, alleged to be a BJP leader. He said the real face of BJP's hatred towards tribals and Dalits was exposed with the "inhuman act." A video of a man, purported to be a local BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, showing him urinating on a tribal person in the state's Sidhi district recently went viral on social media leading to demands for his arrest from several quarters. He was rounded up Wednesday after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called for the immediate arrest of the man, who has since been identified as Pravesh Shukla. "Atrocities on tribal brothers and sisters are increasing in the BJP rule. The entire humanity has been put to shame by the inhuman crime of a BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi on Wednesday. " "This is the ...

Not only Lingayat, BJP lost Dalit, OBC votes too in Karnataka elections

Muslims with conviction voted for Congress without giving any leverage to JD(S) and SDPI

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani demands SIT probe into IITB student's death

Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Thursday demanded probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the death of a student of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to find out whether it was a case of murder, caste discrimination or ragging. After meeting the Ahmedabad-based family members of Darshan Solanki (18), who allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a IIT hostel building on Sunday, Mevani said the Dalit community suspects it to be a case of murder, caste discrimination or ragging. The Congress leader from Gujarat said the Dalit community has given a call for a nationwide candle march on February 19 in support of Solanki, who was a first-year student of BTech (chemical) course. A Mumbai Police team visited Solanki's house here on Thursday to record the statements of his family members in connection with his death. Mevani said, "Darshan's father Ramesh Solanki told me that he was not even allowed to see the face of his dead son when

Rajasthan govt's new scheme gives a boost to businesses of Dalits

Provisions for subsidies for eligible people

In court, Centre defends excluding Dalit Muslims, Christians from SC list

It told the Supreme Court the Ranganath Mishra Commission, which had recommended the inclusion of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the SC list, took a myopic view of the issue and was 'flawed'

Popular Front of India: Understanding the organisation and the controversy

Created in 2007, the organisation describes itself as the "organisation that fights for the rights of minorities, Dalits, and marginalised communities".