LUCKNOW | Monday, June 1, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Dalit supressed under Maya rule?
Biswajeet Banerjee | Lucknow
The atrocities against Dalits have gone up by almost five per cent during the last year of Mayawati’s tenure as compared to 2007, a Human Rights report claimed raising a big question over the alleviation of the plights of downtrodden under BSP rule.
Atrocities against the Dalits and Tribals under the Chief Ministership of Mayawati, a Dalit herself, increased by 4.74 per cent in 2008 as comapred to 2007, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) said in its report.
Total 6,942 atrocities were registered in 2008 against 6,628 in 2007, it claimed on the basis of Uttar Pradesh Police records.
These cases of atrocities included 229 cases of murder, 333 cases of rape and 2,390 cases under SC/ ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
However, the report claimed that the figures could be inaccurate in view of low levels of public respect for the institution of the police as a result of their repeated involvement in serious crimes.
It added that as the Dalits were in a state of trauma, the 17-member State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Uttar Pradesh was hardly effective.
The ACHR, which used to work in seven Asian countries, released its detailed report of Human Rights-2009 talking about the violation of human rights in Asian countries including India.
“The Chief Minister has failed to take appropriate measures to ensure the rights of the Dalits while they continue to be denied entry into temples, barred from using public facilities, including wells and faced discrimination in educational institutions”, the report said.
It said discrimination persisted in educational institutions in the state. Mid-day meal cooked by Dalits in government schools was often rejected by the upper caste students who received support from their parents in that act.
This practice was prevalent despite government orders for appointment of Dalit cooks on priority basis.
According to a survey, Dalit cooks were appointed in only 17 per cent of schools.
Besides, the report cited many atrocities in its report:
In November 2008, a Dalit student of the Government Girls Inter College in Ferozabad district was allegedly forced to do the job of a sweeper and sit separately from others by upper caste teachers because of her dark complexion and her caste.
In December 2008, a school principal Madhuri Pandey allegedly refused to eat the food cooked by Dalit students during an examination in Mau.
On 10 November 2008, an elderly Dalit woman was beaten up with sticks by the upper caste people for using a hand pump installed in Mudaiya locality of Lachhu village in Auraiya district. The police refused to register her complaint when the victim approached the police.
On November 2, a 14-year-old Dalit was raped in Banda district after the attacker poured hair dye into her mouth. She died in hospital.
In February, teachers of a government primary school in Jalaun segregated Dalit pupils before the mid-day meal, forcing them to squat on the veranda and eat.
A ACHR senior official said that rise in crime rate could be because of increase in awareness level among Dalits. After being politically sensitised because of having a dalit chief minister in the saddle, they now probably feel more secured and register case, he said.
“This political sensitisation cam also lead to increase in direct confrontation between dalits and upper castes,” he said.
The report also highlighted Government’s inability to utilise welfare funds for Dalits. Against Rs 421 crore earmarked for the scholarship of SC students only Rs 74 crore was spent. The report even quoted cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh as saying that 27 out of 30 departments spent no money under Special Component Plan (SCP). This plan was meant exclusively for uplift of Dalits.
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