Saturday, March 15, 2008

Fwd: Chindu reporting on Dalit Christians

No investigative journalism by Chindu's prominent journalists like in the case below.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : A Dalit temple's encounter with official India
I arrive at the NCSC armed with the documents I have collected from Bibipur, a small village in Haryana's Karnal district where the Dalit struggle to build a temple to Sant Ravidas has come up against severe forward caste and official resistance.

No screaming headlines about caste discrimination like the ones below.
The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Salem News : Dalit student's death: caste discrimination alleged
The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Atrocities against Dalit women continue in the State

No misleading article on the front page to project a family crime as a dalit issue as in the case below.
The Hindu : Front Page : Dalit youth's murder: three held
Five days later, his wife Shirisha approached the Uppal police suspecting the involvement of her mother Shakuntala, the corporator and Maruthi Ramulu with whom Ashok was reportedly seen last.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/10/stories/2008031054320600.htm

Two die in police firing

A.V.Ragunathan

VILLUPURAM: Two persons died in police firing at Eraiyur near Elavanasurkottai in Ulundurpet block on Sunday. Trouble erupted following a friction between two sections of converted Christians over access to church services.

The police resorted to firing to disperse a mob that had ransacked houses of Dalit Christians....... In the police firing, two persons, M.Periyanayagam (40) and Mahimai (30), Vanniyar Christians, died of bullet injuries.

Dalit Christians of about 150 families complained that they were discriminated against in offering worship at the Annai Sahaya Mary church at Eraiyur. Since Vanniyar Christians constituted a majority, numbering about 2,000 families, they got preference in all church functions and Dalit Christians were relegated to the background....
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Readers should note the heading, surprisingly mild by Chindu standards, given that the issue involves Dalits. Normally, the story would be flashed in the first page with a full banner heading such as "Atrocities on Dalits". But, here it is relegated to the interior (page 10, in the print edition). Normally, any Dalit issue would invite the obligatory centre page Op Ed by "Rural Affairs" Sainath and a sermonising Editorial (by none other than the Chief himself) to wash it down with.

The problem here is the clashing parties are Chindu's pet minorities, although Chindu calls them "converted Christians" so as to (indirectly) lay the blame on their "purvashrama". It would be interesting to know about non-converted Christians in India (Mataji Sonia, may be the rare one).

In contrast to Chindu, the New Indian Express (Monday, March 10, 2008) carried the same story prominently on the first page.

For a brilliant and detailed write-up on the topic, see:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hinducivilization/message/26735

Posted by Anonymous to The Chindu at March 15, 2008 10:40 AM


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Though this is not relevant to this topic, please note the utter silence on Chindu's part on Tibet police violence. Chindu takes pride in Hu Jintao's election again with a qualifier "rising political star" but no referene to tibetian struggles. As usuall commies may comment about US "attrocities" in iraq or cuba and none other than speaker himself to come to the rescue in aid of reference to nandigram issue, but Tibet will not be in their list. A commie pet NDTV itself is reporting this news, but Chindu proved to be loyal slave to China.
"http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080044128&ch=3/16/2008%2012:10:00%20AM

Anonymous said...

The readers of The Hindu will never know what is happening in Tibet. Poor things, they are the targets of daily dose of morals dumped on them by Somnaths, Karats and Yechurys.

The Hindu's job is to not let the wounds of Gujarat heal. And it's other job is to blank out all mention of Tibet.