A barbed wire fence put up on Government land dividing two different groups of Dalits for nearly a decade in Santhaiyur village near Peraiyur was removed by the Madurai Rural district police on Wednesday. A section of people belonging to one of the Scheduled Castes had erected stone pillars and fenced the poromboke land for about 30 feet with barbed wires to “prevent the people of other group entering the land...

Rajasthan has emerged as the state with the highest incidence of registered atrocities against Dalits across the country. In 2010, the state recorded 51.4 cases of atrocities against Dalits per lakh population under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act. It had registered a similar number of cases in 2009 too. The latest data from the ministry of social justice and empowerment show that five states – Uttar...

This month a group of Dalit (or Untouchables, as they were formerly labelled) students organised a Beef Festival in Osmania University of Hyderabad. It was the festival to assert their culinary rights in public and make a political statement of dietary habits of Dalits and Muslims – by cooking and eating beef Biryani on campus. About 2000 students participated and although it started out well, the festival was disrupted and students...

In what could be perceived as a disturbing trend, vaccination in rural Bihar has been adversely affected due to casteism. According to the recent survey report, which was prepared after an on-the-spot study in 14 villages of Bihar’s nine districts, several instances of “Caste Discrimination” have came to fore. For instance, such was the social divide in a Rohtas village that vaccinations could not take place either in Brahmin’s tola (colony) or...

Several activists have asked the Planning Commission to take into account cultural norms if it wanted to ensure success of minority welfare schemes. To make his point, Shabnam Hashmi, of the NGO Anhad, cited as example the plan panel’s proposal of giving bicycles to girls from the minority community where school attendance is low. “This,” Hashmi said, “shows the complete lack of understanding of cultural norms in Muslim areas.” While bicycles provide mobility...