Hundreds of dalits belonging to Chettipulam, a village near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district are planning to embrace Buddhism on December 6, the death anniversary of B R Ambedkar. During September 2009, the CPI(M) had alleged that the dalits were not being allowed entry into the temple by the villagers. The party organised temple entry agitations twice - on Sep 30,and Oct 14 of that year. On the first occasion, the temple remained...

In a shocking incident in Rajasthan, three dalits were fined Rs 45 thousand by a Panchayat for daring to drink water from a public tap. A case has now been registered against the accused. These dalits have been discriminated against not just by the upper castes, but also by Muslims. The three of them from Randhisar village near Bikaner were fined Rs 15,000 each by their Muslim sarpanch Gope Khan. Their...

An ' untouchability fence' that prevented dalits from using roads in a hamlet near Krishnagiri in western Tamil Nadu was pulled down after it was brought to the notice of the police and revenue authorities. The barbed wire fence put up by non-dalits around an elementary school at Ittikkal Agaram in Krishnagiri district prevented eight dalit families of the locality from using an approach road leading out of the village for...

Former MLA and Haryana Vanchit Varg Sangharsh Samiti president Roshan Lal Arya on Sunday urged upon Congress president Sonia Gandhi to issue directions to the Haryana Government to take special measures for the protection of dalits and non-Jats of Mirchpur village in Hisar district, “who are being pressurised by the Jat community”. In a statement, Mr. Arya alleged that non-Jats in Haryana were “facing threats” as the State Government was...

Narayanpatna, a tribal dominated area in Orissa's Koratpur district, is once again on the boil. It was just in 2009, that Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh, an organisation believed to be a frontal body of Maoists, was involved in a land-grab movement that shocked the rest of the state. In July 2009, the organisation had forcibly taken over 2000 acres of land, owned by non-tribals, forcing 400 dalit families to flee. Now, after a...