Odisha schoolgirl was Not Allowed to be Part of Ganesh Pooja:
A Dalit girl from Bande Mataram High School in Andara gram panchayat of coastal Kendrapara district barred from attending Ganesh Puja festivities celebrated in the School. Her trouble starts after she touched the coconut to be given to the God.
According to her, as punishment, she and 20 other Dalit students were insulted, faced casteist slurs, were barred from offering prayers, and kept locked in the school for five hours.
Savita remembers that it was her friend who had asked her to help scrape the coconut. “I had just started scraping when our sports teacher came and scolded me for touching the coconut and said I can’t participate in the puja.
When I started crying, the headmaster said we were destined to face such discrimination throughout our lives. As I was about to leave the school campus with my friends, a teacher snatched our bicycle keys and asked us to stay till the puja gets over. We begged our teacher that we were hungry and wanted to go. But they kept us locked till 3 pm, when one of us scaled the wall and told our parents what was going on,” says Savita.
Many Others Students Facing Issues:
“Though upper-caste students are allowed to enter the computer room and practice but don’t even have permission to enter the room”,” says Monalisa Malika, a Class IX student.
Bande Mataram High School reopened recently after the Puja vacations. While headmaster Ramesh Rout was not available for comment, Ashok Mallick, who is accused by the students of casteism, denies any such discrimination.
Later, following an FIR by her and other Dalit students with the Pattamundai police station, against five of the upper caste teachers plus the school headmaster, the teachers had to issue a public apology.
The upper caste have got back in kind. At least 30 Dalit landless families of Andara are no longer allowed on upper caste land for sharecropping work, that they had been doing for decades. According to the Dalits, they have also been stopped from selling vegetables while local barbers have been told to turn them away.
Last month, the Dalits approached the State Human Rights Commission seeking a stop to the “boycott”. The Dalit sub-caste Kandara makes up one-third of the panchayat’s total population of around 4,000. Discrimination is common, and the Dalits say they had learnt to live with it. But this time it is different.
At least 30 landless Dalit families of Andara are no longer allowed for sharecropping on upper caste land:
This has become a routine for Dalits. They are barred from their rights by upper caste people. According to Indian Express, at least 30 landless Dalit families of Andara are no longer allowed for sharecropping on upper caste land. According to the Dalits, they have also been stopped from selling vegetables. Dalits say they had learn to live with it. But this time it is different.
Madhav Malika, who was among the villagers who lodged a complaint with the tehsildar over the school incident, says, “They have declared war on us. They are hurt by the apology which we extracted from upper-caste teachers… We no longer feel safe as the Khandayats are in a majority.”
But the Upper caste people see nothing wrong in the “boycott”. “No one can force us to give their land, “If we don’t like somebody, how can we allow them to go near our land?” says former sarpanch Upendra Mallick.
Dalit students add there are other areas of the school “out of bounds” for them. “We are yet to touch the computer keyboard though upper-caste students are allowed to enter the computer room,” says Monalisa Malika, a Class IX student.
Santosh Malika says that day, at the school, their children “begged” teachers to let them go. “The teachers mocked them saying it was the destiny of Dalits to touch the feet of upper-caste people.”
Four months ago, Dalit farmer Ratha Malika’s 75-year-old father was allegedly beaten up after his sheep strayed into the backyard of Kalandi Nayak, a Khandayat. One of the sheep was allegedly struck to death. When Ratha complained to the police under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, upper caste villagers gave Rs 6,000 for the dead sheep as compromise.
“Even the Ganesh Puja issue was blown out of proportion,” he says. Kendrapara District Collector Debraj Senapati and Kendrapara district education officer Sangram Sahu too claim they have “no information” of caste discrimination, “Let somebody complain. Then we will take action,” says Sahu.
A Dalit girl from Bande Mataram High School in Andara gram panchayat of coastal Kendrapara district barred from attending Ganesh Puja festivities celebrated in the School. Her trouble starts after she touched the coconut to be given to the God.
According to her, as punishment, she and 20 other Dalit students were insulted, faced casteist slurs, were barred from offering prayers, and kept locked in the school for five hours.
Savita remembers that it was her friend who had asked her to help scrape the coconut. “I had just started scraping when our sports teacher came and scolded me for touching the coconut and said I can’t participate in the puja.
When I started crying, the headmaster said we were destined to face such discrimination throughout our lives. As I was about to leave the school campus with my friends, a teacher snatched our bicycle keys and asked us to stay till the puja gets over. We begged our teacher that we were hungry and wanted to go. But they kept us locked till 3 pm, when one of us scaled the wall and told our parents what was going on,” says Savita.
Many Others Students Facing Issues:
“Though upper-caste students are allowed to enter the computer room and practice but don’t even have permission to enter the room”,” says Monalisa Malika, a Class IX student.
Bande Mataram High School reopened recently after the Puja vacations. While headmaster Ramesh Rout was not available for comment, Ashok Mallick, who is accused by the students of casteism, denies any such discrimination.
Later, following an FIR by her and other Dalit students with the Pattamundai police station, against five of the upper caste teachers plus the school headmaster, the teachers had to issue a public apology.
The upper caste have got back in kind. At least 30 Dalit landless families of Andara are no longer allowed on upper caste land for sharecropping work, that they had been doing for decades. According to the Dalits, they have also been stopped from selling vegetables while local barbers have been told to turn them away.
Last month, the Dalits approached the State Human Rights Commission seeking a stop to the “boycott”. The Dalit sub-caste Kandara makes up one-third of the panchayat’s total population of around 4,000. Discrimination is common, and the Dalits say they had learnt to live with it. But this time it is different.
At least 30 landless Dalit families of Andara are no longer allowed for sharecropping on upper caste land:
This has become a routine for Dalits. They are barred from their rights by upper caste people. According to Indian Express, at least 30 landless Dalit families of Andara are no longer allowed for sharecropping on upper caste land. According to the Dalits, they have also been stopped from selling vegetables. Dalits say they had learn to live with it. But this time it is different.
Madhav Malika, who was among the villagers who lodged a complaint with the tehsildar over the school incident, says, “They have declared war on us. They are hurt by the apology which we extracted from upper-caste teachers… We no longer feel safe as the Khandayats are in a majority.”
But the Upper caste people see nothing wrong in the “boycott”. “No one can force us to give their land, “If we don’t like somebody, how can we allow them to go near our land?” says former sarpanch Upendra Mallick.
Dalit students add there are other areas of the school “out of bounds” for them. “We are yet to touch the computer keyboard though upper-caste students are allowed to enter the computer room,” says Monalisa Malika, a Class IX student.
Santosh Malika says that day, at the school, their children “begged” teachers to let them go. “The teachers mocked them saying it was the destiny of Dalits to touch the feet of upper-caste people.”
Four months ago, Dalit farmer Ratha Malika’s 75-year-old father was allegedly beaten up after his sheep strayed into the backyard of Kalandi Nayak, a Khandayat. One of the sheep was allegedly struck to death. When Ratha complained to the police under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, upper caste villagers gave Rs 6,000 for the dead sheep as compromise.
“Even the Ganesh Puja issue was blown out of proportion,” he says. Kendrapara District Collector Debraj Senapati and Kendrapara district education officer Sangram Sahu too claim they have “no information” of caste discrimination, “Let somebody complain. Then we will take action,” says Sahu.
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