Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Why Dalits cannot get a haircut in their own village?



NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 
(L A W D I V I S I O N )
FARIDKOT(HOUSE)
COPERNICUS MARG, NEW DELHI - 110 001

Dated: 08/05/2012
Case No :368/6/0/2012

To,
LENIN RAGUVANSHI, SECRETARY GENERAL
PEOPLE'S VIGILANCE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS, SA 4/2 A, DAULATPUR, MOB.9935599333,
VARANASI
UTTAR PRADESH

Sir / Madam,

Your complaint dated 08/05/2012, received in the Commission has been registered as Case No.368/6/0/2012. Further progress made in the matter will be intimated to you in due course.
You may quote the above case number in the all future correspondence with the Commission in regard to this case.

Yours faithfully,

(Section Officer)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shabana - <shabana@pvchr.asia>
Date: Tue, May 8, 2012 at 10:07 AM
Subject: Why Dalits cannot get a haircut in their own village?
Cc: Lenin Raghuvanshi <pvchr.india@gmail.com>, akpnhrc@yahoo.com


To,
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
I want to bring in your kind attention towards the news published in Yahoo video on 3 May, 2012 Why Dalits cannot get a haircut in their own village?
Caste on Camera
Y! Editor's note: New voices, transforming societies, that's the theme of World Press Freedom Day 2012. Here's an example of video activism which actually does what journalists try and do, which is get at least two sides of a story. In partnership with Video Volunteers, we bring you a series called Caste on camera.
In this video, Sanjay Parmar shows a subtle reality that makes the most casual of things, a hair-cut, a contested untouchable space in Gujarat. In a world of furious sound bytes, the silences of the status quo speak loud and clear.

Video Volunteers

Notes from the Video Volunteers team
"The question is simple - why do the Dalits of the village have to go all the way to the nearest city for a haircut when there are three barber shops right there? I posed this question to both an educated Dalit boy from the village and a non-Dalit barber. The barber hems and haws until his prejudice is split wide open, even in his denials. The Dalit youth, ends up saying a lot, despite being in an understandable, evasive hurry. This is the silent vocabulary of caste, of both the oppressed and the oppressor. This is how people really speak when they speak of caste. This is the status quo that must be challenged. This is where the camera comes in between," says Parmar.
Sanjay Parmar has been a longstanding Dalit activist. He first understood the power of the camera when he began making educational videos aimed to empower and educate Dalit children in rural Gujarat. A few years later, he emerged as a full fledged video activist using his camera to document and questioning caste prejudices. The videos he made would be screened for the community who would then decide on a plan to bring about social change.
If you'd like to know more , see ARTICLE 17, a campaign launched by Video Volunteers this April, to urge the National Commission for Schedule Castes, (the government body that is constitutionally appointed to direct and implement the safeguards against untouchability), to prosecute such cases.
Video Volunteers is a team that continues to attempt igniting ideas and reality with the power of the camera.
Therefore it is a kind request please take appropriate action at earliest to end this type of inhumane untouchability practice and case should be registered under SC/ST PoA Act and ensure the rights of the Scheduled Caste. Under rule no. 7 of SC/ST Act the investigation should be done by the Dy. Superintend of Police and report should be submitted to investigation officer within 30 days. Under rule no. 8 State Government should formed Sc/St cell. Under rule no. 9 State Government should appoint a nodal officer to ensure the rehabilitation of victim and elimination of untouchability practices.
Thanking You
Sincerely Yours
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Secretary General
Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights
Sa 4/2 A Daulatpur, Varanasi
Uttar Pradesh
Mobile No: +91-9935599333





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