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I
saw this article in Wall Street Journal this
morning - "UNTOUCHABLE Brutal Attack in India
Shows How Caste System Lives On by YAROSLAV
TROFIMOV December 27, 2007; Page A1"
A quote from article summarizes - "Forgoing his
ancestral occupation of handling rotting cow
carcasses, Bhaiyalal Bhotmange set up a tiny
wheat and rice farm in this village. The income
enabled him to buy a cell phone and educate his
three children. His 17-year-old daughter learned
English, a rarity here. A son studied computers
and enrolled at a local college. "I knew that
only through education can we uplift our
status," Mr. Bhotmange says. "This was my
dream."
Last year, the dream ended. A mob of
higher-caste neighbors, angered by the family's
refusal to accept their destiny as the lowliest
of the low, attacked their home. Mr. Bhotmange's
wife and children were dragged out and murdered,
their bodies dumped in a canal. Mr. Bhotmange,
who had managed to flee, is now a refugee in a
nearby city, afraid to venture into Khairlanji."
To me this illustrates two things. Whole of
India shares same rotten problems even if
Marathis think that they are better than
Biharis. To move forward every one has to work
towards rule of law. The other issue illustrated
is somehow I did not see this story in Hindustan
Times or Times of India though I visit their web
sites quite regularly. To play its role in a
democracy, Indian press must cease to be an
instrument of regional supremacy. All news must
be reported. Some of the news is censored to
make one region look worse than others.
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