Chicago, IL: International Association of the Advancement of Dalits, an international Dalit advocacy group, working to provide a rightful share for Dalits in India's wealth, institutions, and capital, and Indian Muslim Council-USA, an advocacy group working towards safeguarding India's pluralist and tolerant ethos, strongly denounce to the segregation of Dalit children, reportedly being practiced in Gujarat schools and call for an immediate end to it.

According to media reports, schools in Surendranagar district of the Indian state of Gujarat have been segregating Dalit children from children belonging to the upper caste communities and teachers who oppose such segregation have been punished with punitive transfers.

The constitution of India grants equal rights and privileges to all its citizens, including the Dalits. IMC-USA stands by Dalit Indians and IAAD in the fight against segregation and firmly believes that integration of all Indian communities is crucial to India's future progress. IMC-USA and IAAD further call upon the Gujarat government to investigate the incident and initiate disciplinary action against officials who promote such practices.

Dr. K.P. Singh, Chairperson of IAAD said "the State Government of Gujarat must be condemned in strongest possible words for becoming idle on the growing crimes against Dalits and letting them to be oppressed and discriminated by the caste Hindus. Dalits cannot live in terror and their children cannot study in a horrified environment in which not only the non-Dalit students spread hate crimes based on the caste even supremacist Hindu teachers promote such inhuman practices against Dalits. The Dalit rights must be protected by the government of Gujarat as well the central government."

Dr. Singh has expressed his deep sorrow on the pathetic conditions of oppressed Dalits who have been squeezed and crushed by the Hindutva fascist forces. Terming crimes against Dalits as the crimes against humanity, Dr. Singh has sought the intervention of Human Rights organization to find the truth so that justice could be rendered to the helpless and oppressed Dalits as soon as possible.

Commenting on the reports, Mr. Rasheed Ahmed, Vice President of IMC-USA said "Dalits have been forced to live under a system of apartheid for the last several hundred years. It is about time that this oppression is put to an end as demanded by the Indian constitution. Equal access to education is one of the hallmarks of any viable democracy, India's vision of becoming a positive global power could only be achieved by living together, learning together and respecting each other."

Since its inception, IMC-USA has been actively promoting values of pluralism and tolerance amongst the Indian Diaspora in the United States and is spearheading efforts to build bridges between the various Indian Diaspora communities in the USA.

For information on IMC-USA, please visit http://www.imc-usa.org
Or, write to info@imc-usa.org

HASSAN DEC. 21. The Home Minister, M. Mallikarjuna Kharge, on Saturday came down heavily upon the heads of religious math for allegedly propagating untouchability and adhering to the principles contained in Manu Dharmashastra to exploit the members of lower castes.

Addressing a gathering after unveiling a bronze statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here, he said those who fed sugar to ants were not prepared to offer even drinking water to people from the lower castes.

Stressing the need to follow the ideology professed by Dr. Ambedkar, he noted that the values of democracy were in danger. Accusing the Sangh Parivar of endangering the plurality of the country, he said the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution were facing a grave threat. He said a few people wanted to keep the caste system alive for vote bank politics, and were making attempts to divide society in the name of caste and religion.

"Few people, while preaching that we are all one, are engaged in setting up separate maths for the members of different castes. Does this country belong to just a few people?" he asked and said it was time to take every one irrespective of his/her caste, creed, and culture into the mainstream in the interest of the country.

It was imperative for Dalits to get educated as it would help them achieve economic stability and organise themselves to defeat the "divisive" attempts being made by a few people. He said the Dalits had failed to achieve this due to the conspiracy of the upper class.

He underscored the need for progressive forces to come together as any danger to democracy would first affect the weaker sections of society. The Constitution was sacred than any of the religious texts as it was an unifying force, he said.

He said Dr. Ambedkar was not only a leader of the Dalits but of every person of the country as he had worked for the betterment of people.