National Dalit Election Watch - (NDEW) a network of Civil Society organisations and concerned citizens released a report on election watch experience in the just concluded parliament elections at a National Consultation on Dalits and the Right to Franchise on 25th June 2009 at the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi.
 
The report was released by Shri P. S. Krishnan, Former Chief Secretary, Government of India and Chief Adviser, NDEW. Shri Madhav Rao, former Chief Election Commissioner, Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Karthiyani Chamraj, Senior Journalist, Prof. Gopal Iyer, Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Adv. Mimroth, Convenor NDEW were also present at the release.  While releasing the report, Shri P. S Krishnan observed that the context of increasing election based violence against Dalits is rooted in increasing political assertion by Dalits.
 
At the outset, S. Prasad, General Secretary of National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) set the tone of the event. He stated that the NDEW experience had now provided an experiential backing to the long held beliefs about Dalits and the right to franchise. He said that there were four chief myths that had been broken viz. Election-based violence is not caste based; election violations would be higher in atrocity prone areas; election violations would be higher in general constituencies than in reserved constituencies; and, the process of preparation of electoral rolls is mediated through caste. 
 
Two testimonies on caste based violence were presented at the release as examples of election violence. The first testimony was from Kolar in Karnataka, where one person was killed and others injured for not supporting the BJP candidate. The second testimony was from Saran, Bihar where 7 dalits were beaten up and hospitalised for refusing to support the RJD candidate. The violence continued against another relative of one of the victims, as the victims refused to compromise on the registered case.

 The experience and findings of the NDEW has vindicated this long known fact - the coercion of Dalit voters is an important means of determining the electoral fortunes of the dominant castes across parties. We received approximately 478 complaints during all the 5 phases from 3770 polling stations across 226 constituencies in 13 states. The following is a table which gives you the final picture of the coverage of NDEW:

 Coverage of NDEW 

 I-Phase States

II-Phase States

III-Phase States

IV-Phase States

V-Phase States

9 May 2009, 2251 hrs IST, TNN

KANPUR: Angry over their refusal of casting vote in favour of the ruling party candidate, as many as 12 assailants attacked a Dalit family,  including four women in Ursan village under Derapur police station on Friday night.

The injured persons were identified as Ram Das, Ram Babu, Somwati, wife of Ram Das, Mohini, wife of Ram Babu, Pappi, wife of Rakesh and Paraga, wife of Lallu.

The victims said that the relatives of the ruling party candidate forcibly entered the house of Ram Das, attacked him and other members of the family with the sharp-edged weapons and lathis at around 11 pm on Friday night.

Ram Das said that the assailants were relatives of Mithilesh Kartiyar, BSP MLA from Rajpur in Kanpur Dehat, who had asked them to cast vote in favour BSP candidate in Etawah. The incident had led to tension in the village.  The miscreants ransacked the house, causing extensive damage, he added.

Following the attack by the henchmen of the ruling party MLA, about six other Dalit families have left the village. The injured persons are undergoing treatment at the district hospital.

Ram Das said that the police action was belated and they are satisfied with it. According to SP (Kanpur Dehat) KS Pipil, the incident was the fallout of an incident, in which the members of the Dalit family refused to give way to the relatives of BSP MLA from Rajpur Mithilesh Katiyar, who were on a tractor. This resulted into a scuffle. A case has been registered and investigations are on.

Fear still loomed large on on the faces of victims undergoing treatment and they are not ready to return to their village. “It is true that the police have registered a case against them but what is the guarantee that they would not attack us again. We now want full police protection at our village,” the family members said.

Our women were attacked and robbed of ornaments, Ram Babu added. Somwati added that the authorities at district hospital earlier refused to admit them. But on the intervention of district magistrate Saroj Tewari, they were admitted.

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Moga, May 6 : District Magistrate (DM) of Moga Satwant Singh Johal has stated that the committee constituted by the SC commission comprise SAD MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sheetal Singh as one its members, which has forced him to apprise the commission of his inability to conduct the probe with him at a time when the elections are in progress.

The DM said he was the enforcing authority for the effective implementation of the model code of conduct of the elections; therefore, it was not possible for him to travel or sit with any political figure.

He said, “The district administration is very much concerned about the unfortunate incidents faced by the Dalit woman and wants to provide help for her medical care and rehabilitation”.

If the Election Commission granted permission to the committee to record the statement of the victim and conduct a probe, there was no point in delaying the sensitive issue.

Meanwhile, the SC commission has written a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab seeking a clarification on the issue, the reply of which was still awaited.

The Dalit woman, who faced sexual harassment and acid attack on her, has been missing for the past couple of days.

Arvinder Kaur, daughter of the victim, said a head constable came to their house on May 2 and took away her mother. Since then, she had not returned.

“I have brought the matter to the notice of the local police in writing, but no efforts have been made to trace my mother”, she alleged.

Since 24th April 09, the Rajasthan Dalit Election Watch & Centre for Dalit Rights, Jaipur have organized as many as 59 Dalit voters awareness camps, meetings & programs and distributed large number of pamphlets & other material relating to Lok Sabha elections and Dalits voting rights. The detail of each event/program is given below:-

The first two phases of the 2009 General Elections has proved the worst of our fears; that intimidation and violence against the Dalit voters are increasing by the day. There are a large number of villages where the Dalits decide to keep silent about the threats and intimidation due to fear of socio-economic boycott or of reprisal attacks. Obviously in those areas there would be no visible, reported violence. Where the Dalits assert, or even attempt to exercise their franchise, there is violence. The NDEW watched 2386 polling stations in 121 constituencies during these two phases. The update that was sent earlier covered certain cases which were representative of the kinds of cases which flowed in during the whole day on the 16^th of April, 2009. This update will give a more comprehensive coverage of the two phases of the elections.

Overview of states, PCs and PS being watched by the NDEW during the 2 phases

First phase states:

Second Phase States

21 Apr 2009, 0350 hrs IST, TNN

ANANTAPUR: Making a mockery of democracy, Yadavs in about 120 villages in the Madakasira assembly constituency in Anantapur district have been
preventing SC candidates from entering their areas for campaigning. Locals said this obnoxious practice has been going on for several decades.

According to locals, “The Yadavas (golla) never allow the Scheduled Caste people, particularly Madigas, to step into the villages by fencing them off. These areas are called `golla hattis.’ Only Malas are allowed to play drums during processions on Krishnashtami.”

The problem has become severe after the delimitation exercise as Madakasira constituency is now reserved for Scheduled Castes. As a result, the Congress,Telugu Desam, Prajarajyam and BSP have fielded candidates from the Madiga caste.

These candidates have to rely on others to campaign in these Yadav-dominated villages. TDP candidate M Eeranna told TOI that he had never entered the `golla hattis’ in order not to disturb the harmony in the areas.

“If any Madiga enters, we collect donation and cleanse the village,” a senior citizen from Dinnehatti village said.

Interestingly, agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy, a Yadav, had been elected from the Madakasira segment thrice, has now moved to Kalyandurg constituency. MRPS leader P Jayaram said that Madigas had supported the minister in the last five elections but the latter had never made any effort to stamp out this practice perpetrated by his caste men.

Express News Service

Rajkot: Sunday , Apr 19, 2009
Dalits from Ghanshyamnagar in Savarkundla taluka of Amreli district have threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha polls on April 30 alleging discrimination by the leaders of the gram panchayat.

They have also registered a complaint against deputy sarpach Ravji Khoda for allegedly announcing a fine of Rs 1,000 on any one who socialises with the Dalits.

Bhavesh Rathod, the president of the Ambedkarnagar Youth Organisation submitted a memorandum to taluka development office in this regard, on Friday.

The memorandum said: “There has been a conspiracy to discourage people from having a social interaction with the Dalits. During a recent meeting, Ravji Khoda announced a fine of Rs 1,000 for the same.”

The mamlatdar office said, at the heart of the controversy was a demolition drive in the area.

According to reports, on April 14, following a green signal from the nagarpalika, the house of a Dalit, Uka Jogadiya, which was allegedly illegally constructed, was demolished.

Following the demolition, the Dalits wrote an application to the taluka development office, urging it to demolish illegal constructions of the upper castes too.

Rathod said: “The fine order was given by Khoda following our representation to demolish illegal construction of the upper caste houses. If discrimination continues and no action is taken in the matter, the Dalits from the taluka will call for a boycott of the elections.”

Savarkundla Malatdar M A Jagani said the administration has begun a probe into the matter.

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: The National Dalit Election Watch has identified 1,087 “sensitive areas” in 12 districts of Rajasthan where Dalits are intimidated and threatened by dominant groups belonging to so-called higher castes during every election and called upon the State Government to take steps to facilitate fearless voting by Dalits in the Lok Sabha elections on May 7, 2009.
Dalit Election Watch has established a control room for Dalit voters here to receive complaints about threats, coercion and violence and forward them to the Election Commission and the local administration with request for prompt action.
Dalit activist and Election Watch convenor P. L. Mimroth demanded here on Saturday that the State authorities take measures for security of all Dalit voters in the sensitive villages, hamlets and polling booths and launch immediate action on Dalits being attacked, forced to stay at home or coerced into exercising franchise in favour of a specific candidate or party.Mr. Mimroth said there was a strong likelihood of irregularities such as booth capturing, bogus voting and intimidation of Dalits taking place in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Dausa, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Alwar, Dholpur-Karauli on polling day. Security sought for Dalits in Rajasthan