Links: press
IDSN’s searchable documentation database
Search the link database by categories or by clicking the pre-defined categories on the right. To use multiple tags, separate them with commas, for example: women, india
Pakistan’s first Dalit woman senator to champion girls’ education (Reuters)
As the first Dalit woman senator in Pakistan, Krishna Kumari Kohli, has an ambitious to-do list, from improving the health and education of women and girls to tackling honour killings, kidnappings and child marriage.
Dalit Boys as Young as 12 Languish in Yogi’s Jails on ‘Attempt to Murder’ Charges (The Wire)
Arrested during nationwide protests in April, called by Dalit organisations, the juveniles' families have stated that the boys were picked up by police only because they were Dalits standing up for their rights. “My son’s only crime is that he is a Dalit,” says the father of one of the boys. “We thought that if our son studied well, the family’s fortune would change for the better. But now they have pressed so many charges against him that his whole life will become embroiled in it.” News site The Wire has covered this story and IDSN members in India are currently conducting fact-finding in relation to this case.
Dalit beaten to death in Rajkot, India, 5 arrested after the video goes viral (Times of India)
A 30-year-old Dalit ragpicker was beaten to death over suspicion of theft from a factory in Shapar industrial area on the outskirts of Rajkot on Sunday. Four persons were arrested and a 17-yearold boy held on Monday for beating Mukesh Vaniya (30) to death and assaulting his wife Jaya and aunt Savita. While police said that the accused suspected Vaniya and his family members to be thieves, Vaniya’s wife Jaya alleged that the accused had first inquired about their caste, hurled casteist abuses, and then began thrashing them when they refused to clean up filth near their factory.
Newly married Dalit Christian man beaten to death in ‘honour killing’ that shocks southern India (The Independent)
Osu Caste System: Group seeks end to obnoxious traditions, laws (Vanguard News)
UN experts urge immediate release of detained Mauritanian blogger writing about caste-based discrimination in Mauritania (Newstage)
News article on: UN experts urge immediate release of detained Mauritanian blogger writing about caste-based discrimination in Mauritania
Atrocities Act protests: Bias against Dalits runs deep, as proved by actions of police, media
The actions of the police and the media during the April 2 bandh against changes in the Atrocity Act demonstrates that prejudice runs deep.
‘Caste-based discrimination must be criminalised’ | Karachi | thenews.com.pk
BBC Asian Network debate on caste legislation in the UK « DSN-UK
BBC Asian Network’s host of the Big Debate, Nomia Iqbal, led a live debate on the caste legislation in the UK. Satpal Muman, Chair of CasteWatch UK and Satish Sharma, from the National Council of Hindu Temples, were in the studio and DSN-UK Director, Meena Varma called in.
Unspent money for Dalits, Adivasis (Millennium Post, 2016)
In India, a Revolution of the Untouchables (Pacific Standard, 2016)
On the outskirts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home city, the stench from cow carcasses littering the roadside is overpowering as India’s lowest social caste keeps up protests against deep-rooted discrimination.
Pregnant Dalit woman beaten up for not disposing of cow carcass (The Hindu, 2016)
A five-month pregnant Dalit woman was beaten up by a group of upper caste men for refusing to dispose of the carcass of a cow in a village in North Gujarat. The incident occurred late on September 23 night.
India’s plan to tackle disasters neglects women, disabled and lower castes: aid workers (Reuters, 2016)
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - India's new plan to tackle disasters fails to address the needs of vulnerable groups, which could lead to millions of women, children, disabled and elderly people as well as lower caste and tribal communities being put at further risk, aid workers said.
Dalits plan extensive drive to attain due status, rights (Dawn, 2016)
HYDERABAD: The scheduled caste Hindu communities along with some other religiously oppressed castes in Sindh have chalked out a detailed programme aimed at attaining their due status in society and work for their rights and welfare.
Case study: Dalits with disabilities in India (Minority Stories, 2016)
Dalits, long victim to a caste-based system of social hierarchy that regards them as ‘untouchables’, comprise around 17 per cent of India’s total population.[i] While caste-based discrimination was outlawed in 1955, the social phenomenon of caste persists and is imparted through birth. As a result, Dalits still face severe hardship and exclusion from mainstream society, with prejudicial attitudes and practices underlying much of Indian society today.
L’Entraide protestante suisse soutient les droits des minorités discriminées auprès de l’ONU (protestinfo)
Des partenaires de l’Entraide protestante suisse défendent les droits des intouchables, lors la 31e session du Conseil des droits de l’homme des Nations unies qui se déroule du 29 février au 24 mars, à Genève. Si la situation de ces populations discriminées reste critique, une lueur d’espoir apparaît dans certains pays.
Collective efforts stressed to root out discriminations against downtrodden people (New Age)
Lawmakers and human rights campaigners on Monday called for taking collective efforts by all concerned to root out all sorts of discriminations against downtrodden (Dalit) people in the subcontinent.
Shackles of caste: No end to discrimination against ‘achoot’ (The Express Tribune)
Forty-five-year-old Choko Bheel still remembers the day when his father was penalised for fetching fresh water from a well belonging to an upper-caste Hindu in Umerkot district.