After the Common Man, the Convenient Bahujan: CJP Fails the Litmus Test of Representation
Yogendra Yadav sees in CJP a new Bahujan politics. But a caste mix is not automatically a Bahujan distribution of power. The real test is whether communities historically excluded from power exercise authority across the organisation. After the Common Man, the Convenient Bahujan: CJP Fails the Litmus Test of Representation Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, left, with team member Ratna Singh, centre, on August 5, 2026. Photo: PTI, via CJP Yogendra Yadav’s account of the July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar is fine political writing. It encapsulates the core of a youth mobilisation that broke through governmental fear and media silence. Nevertheless, its most ambitious claim is that this movement – led by Dalit activist Abhijeet Dipke and inspired by Sonam Wangchuk – could inaugurate a new phase of social-justice politics. “Instead of demanding its share in the nation,” Yadav writes, “Bahujan politics can now define what the nation is.” Can it, though? Or has the liberal intelligentsia simply found its next common man? The first real litmus test of CJP’s potential was not Jantar Mantar, but during a moment that occurred almost two weeks after it declared its national leadership team. According to CJP, its National Working Committee “ratified” the list of eleven leaders. It would appear from the publicly identifiable composition of CJP’s leadership that it is caste heterogeneous. However, it is disproportionately weighted towards upper-caste and regionally dominant caste groups, including Jats and Reddys. In any case, a caste mix is not automatically a Bahujan distribution of power. The relevant test is whether communities historically excluded from power exercise authority across the organisation. Representation is not merely the identity visible at the apex; it is the distribution of power throughout the institution. In the same vein, protests can tell us who is angry, but it is organisations and their composition that tells us who will get to exercise power. The CJP has yet to explain either the social rationale for this organisation or the process by which it was constituted. The importance of a Dalit convenor is undeniable, but that alone does not make it a Bahujan movement either. Representation does not lie in faces at the top; it lies in power structures below. Further, if the CJP derives its politics from the constitution, social justice cannot wait for the moment when it takes up the question with the state. It must begin at home – with who leads and holds power and whose concerns form its agenda. An organisation that cannot practice social justice in the first institution it has created cannot credibly promise to deliver it elsewhere. Yadav, especially, needs to understand this. He was part of the anti-corruption movement and was one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which promised to transcend ordinary politics through the idea of the common man, with a discourse about corruption, education and service delivery that quietly excluded caste, class and social relations from its agenda. The similarities go beyond political ideology: six out of twelve members of CJP’s core team belong to AAP’s political world, either because they worked with the party or publicly supported it. The question that should have been asked of AAP then is the one that matters as CJP takes shape now: who, precisely, was the common man? The answer lies not in the social composition of AAP’s voters, but in the leadership it chose when it had real discretion – its national executive, Cabinet portfolios and Rajya Sabha nominations. The caste imbalance is visible without much excavation. Even after winning Punjab, where Scheduled Castes constitute nearly a third of the population, AAP sent no Dalit to the Rajya Sabha. Its 2022 nominations favoured party insiders, professionals and business figures; no Dalit, Adivasi or OBC candidate made the list. The language of the common man was addressed to lower-caste and marginalised citizens, while institutional power remained concentrated among upper-caste and socially privileged groups. Then there is Rajendra Pal Gautam, who held the position of Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in AAP governments (2015-2022). He opposed the health department’s notification which excluded mohalla clinic contract workers from reservation policy in 2022. Months later, his presence at an event where Ambedkar’s twenty-two vows were recited was fabricated into a controversy. Being pressured by the BJP and due to the electoral sensitivity of AAP, he resigned. In private, he was questioned for supporting reservation and publicly sacrificed for being an Ambedkarite. It shows the yawning gap between symbolic and substantive representation: a Dalit minister represents inclusiveness; an assertive Dalit minister becomes a liability. The education model of AAP remains fascinating for the Indian liberal community – better classrooms, better exam results, all in the rhetoric of administrative efficiency rather than transformations of social relations. CJP seems to be joining the same league. Paper leaks and recruitment delays are real issues and readily become the agenda of “Indian youth”. Caste discrimination and the deaths of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students inside these institutions remain, as ever, a sectional footnote. The Ministry of Education, say reports, recorded 122 student suicides in centrally-funded higher education institutions between 2014 and 2021, 24 of which were of Scheduled Caste scholars, three pf Scheduled Tribes and 41 from the Other Backwards Classes (OBC). Death is only the most brutal end of a longer exclusion. India still has no continuous, caste-wise registry tracking these deaths, dropouts and complaints – and that is not oversight but evasion of accountability. Across 21 IIMs with 1,880 sanctioned faculty posts, government data count only 62 Scheduled Caste, 16 Scheduled Tribe and 109 OBC teachers. The bureaucratic verdict “not found suitable” has refused to die: a parliamentary committee condemned its continued use against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe academics as recently as in 2025. An education movement that speaks only of paper leaks and examinations, silent on who teaches and who survives inside these institutions, is not confronting India’s educational crisis. It is choosing the part of the crisis liberal
Anaya Bangar fires back at Marizanne Kapp over transgender cricket debate
Anaya Bangar became the first Indian trans-cricketer to play in Women’s Community Cricket. She has been provided the green light by Cricket Australia (CA) to play the game. After CA allowed her to play, South Africa Women’s National Cricket Team icon Marizanne Kapp was fuming about the fact and questioned Bangar’s push for a WBBL opportunity. Now the former has replied with the same. The 25-year-old is the daughter of former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar and a former Mumbai youth-level player. However, she changed her gender back in March 2026, in Thailand, and has been outspoken for transgender athletes in the midst of a worldwide controversy over transgender rights in sports. She will look forward to many more opportunities. Anaya Bangar slams Marizanne Kapp Marizanne Kapp, while replying to CA’s post, stated that it is ridiculous to allow a player and voiced that it should not be allowed. Now replying to Kapp, Anaya Bangar said that the people and cricketers who are questioning her integrity, and also Cricket Australia, should go and educate themselves before making any comments on the fact. Australia cricket apparel Anaya, while speaking with PTI, said, “I think people who want to raise their voice against it should actually educate themselves on this topic, and I’ve already provided the necessary information in terms of not having any unfair advantage, and also complying with the guidelines set by Cricket Australia.” “If anyone’s personal opinion is in that sort of way, I hope they go and educate themselves,” she replied. She is planning to feature in the WBBL next season, but will only be allowed to play if her testosterone levels remain within prescribed limits.” “Yeah, it is very disappointing”: Anaya Bangar expresses disappointment over BCCI Apart from slamming Kapp, Anaya also shared her disappointment with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the board did not reply to her and served her with silence, and she hopes that the BCCI changes its policies to allow some transgender cricketers to play for the country, as she is the first case in India. “Yeah, it is very disappointing and heartbreaking that I was sold with silence. And I knew that transitioning was gonna make me steer away from cricket. So I was, I’m, I’m just grateful that at least I’m getting this opportunity to play and I hope that BCCI is open to this and tries to form policies surrounding this topic since I’m the first case in India.”Choosing Cricket Gear Anaya Bangar sights eye for India Women team She further added that she would be happy to share her experience and insights with the team and through her journey and for the development of women’s cricket in the future. The BCCI currently does not have a formal regulatory policy or official guidelines regarding the participation of transgender cricketers in domestic women’s cricket. “I’d be happy to be a part of the team and provide my insights and gatherings throughout my whole journey and what would work best for our country and women’s sport in the future.” Anaya Bangar further added, “To be honest, transitioning was always about being happy and comfortable in my own skin. And I had to take the necessary steps during that time in my life to basically give up the sport that I loved.” By Anirban Bose Courtesy : Cricket Addictor Note: This news is originally published on https:/cricketaddictor.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
In uniform, back home: Trans constables return to Garima Grih for Rakhi
Raipur: For the transgender community at Garima Grih in Raipur, Raksha Bandhan this year was more than a festival of threads and sweets. The celebration carried a special sense of pride as newly appointed transgender constables returned to the centre to celebrate with members of the community. For many residents of the shelter home, who have experienced estrangement from their biological families, the sight of members of their community joining the police force and returning in uniform was a powerful symbol of acceptance, visibility and a growing place in institutions once considered beyond their reach. Residents tied rakhis to one another, recreating familial bonds within the community. One of the most touching moments came when trans woman Nikki Dhruv tied a rakhi on the wrist of her brother, Sparsh Kashyap. Poppy Devanath said Raksha Bandhan at Garima Grih was about experiencing the affection and security of a family. Transgender rights activist Vidya Rajput said many transgender persons grow up with painful distances from their parents and siblings, even though emotional bonds often remain. Celebrating Raksha Bandhan together, she said, helps recreate some of that lost sense of home. The participation of the transgender constables added a deeper significance to the occasion. In a space created to provide shelter and dignity to a community that has long fought for recognition, seeing members of their own community return in uniform reflected a larger journey from the margins towards the mainstream, with every rakhi strengthening the bond of belonging. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Not publisher of Sonia Gandhi’s memoir’: Penguin rejects ‘editorial changes’ claim
NEW DELHI: Penguin Random House India on Friday clarified that it is not the publisher of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love in India. The Publishing house rejected reports that it decided against publishing the book because the author declined editorial changes. In a statement posted on X, the publishing house said it had remained “willing and keen to publish” the memoir and stressed that fact-checking and providing editorial recommendations are a normal part of the publishing process. “In response to the news reports about Sonia Gandhi’s book ‘Belonging’, Penguin Random House India is not the publisher of ‘Belonging’ in India. Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish ‘Belonging’ because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances. As a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interests of their books. This is a normal part of the publishing process. Throughout the relevant discussions, Penguin Random House India’s position was that we remained willing and keen to publish the book. We will not comment further on confidential discussions with the author.” — PenguinIndia (@PenguinIndia) The clarification comes weeks after US publisher Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House, announced that Belonging would be released on November 10. The status of the memoir’s publisher or distributor in India remains unclear. An e-commerce listing has shown an ebook edition of Belonging available for pre-order at Rs 2,615, with William Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins UK, listed as its publisher. Sonia Gandhi, 79, is expected to offer a personal account of her life, including her childhood in post-war Italy, her marriage into the Nehru-Gandhi family and the death of her husband Rajiv Gandhi, according to Alfred A Knopf. The memoir will also cover her entry into the “public world of politics” following Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and her decision to turn down the prime minister’s post in 2004. The publisher had earlier described the book as tracing Sonia Gandhi’s life “from her childhood in post-war Italy, to the romance that brings her to India, to the shattering losses that will reshape not only her own future but also that of her adopted home”. Sonia Gandhi has rarely discussed her private life at length in public, making the memoir one of the most closely watched political books ahead of its release. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘We are very clear’: TN minister says Rahul Gandhi is INDIA bloc’s PM pick for 2029
NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu minister P Viswanathan on Friday dismissed calls to project TVK chief Vijay C Joseph as the INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, asserting that Rahul Gandhi is the “definitive” choice.“As Congress leaders, we are very clear. Our beloved leader and leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, is the INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial candidate for 2029,” Viswanathan said. His remarks came after several TVK leaders pushed for Vijay to be projected as a prime ministerial candidate for 2029 Lok Sabha polls , drawing sharp reaction from Congress. TVK leaders, including KA Sengottaiyan and D Sarathkumar, have compared Vijay with former Tamil Nadu chief ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa, claiming he would not only rule Tamil Nadu but also lead the country in the future. TVK legislator Kallanai, who organised an event marking the party’s 100 days in office, said people had immense faith in Vijay’s leadership. He expressed confidence that Vijay would eventually lead the country and hoist the national flag at the Red Fort as a representative of the Tamil people, news agency PTI reported. Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that while party workers may have deep admiration for their leader, national leadership ultimately depends on securing the numbers required to form a government. “I fully accept that they have great love, affection, expectation, and admiration for their party leadership. This is their party. What they say within their party makes no difference to the public discourse. In public discourse, what you should ask about is policy and the law. Their wishes within a party make no difference to me,” Chidambaram told reporters, according to ANI. He said every political party has its own ambitions and aspirations, but any prime ministerial aspirant must ultimately have the numbers to command a majority in the Lok Sabha. “Every party has dreams, ambitions, and desires. One cannot pass laws to stop that. Everyone expresses their own wishes and talks about their favourite leader in their party. But we know what the political reality is. There are 543 constituencies,” Chidambaram said. According to the Constitution, the leader of whichever alliance wins 272 constituencies, or whichever party wins, will be the Prime Minister of India. Anyone who achieves that number can become the Prime Minister, individually or collectively. You and I both know what that political reality is,” he added. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Cong Using Tribal Students’ Stir to ‘Relaunch’ Rahul Gandhi: Bawankule
Nagpur: Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday accused Congress of attempting to use an agitation by tribal students as a political launchpad for leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra. He alleged that Congress was keeping the protest alive for political reasons even as the govt has given assurances to students over their demands. Gandhi, during his “Chhatron Ki Goonj” interaction in Pune on Aug 22, publicly backed the tribal students’ agitation in Maharashtra. In a letter written to CM Devendra Fadnavis, he raised several of their demands. “The state govt has discussed the issues of students and is ready to engage with them repeatedly, if necessary. But why insist on continuing the agitation when the issues are moving towards resolution?” he said. The minister alleged that Congress was seeking to sustain the agitation until Gandhi’s next tour of Maharashtra, using the students to build a political narrative around their demands. “Maharashtra would not accept tribal students being drawn into such an exercise,” he said. As per Bawankule, political parties should not use educational concerns as a vehicle for political mobilisation. He said the immediate priority should be resolving issues affecting students rather than extending an agitation for partisan purposes. “This is like playing with the future of tribal students,” he said. The Nagpur and Amravati district guardian minister maintained that the administration had already moved beyond assurances by taking decisions on the demands raised by the students. He also sought to draw a political contrast between the govt’s approach and that of Congress. “The administration led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was working to expand facilities and educational opportunities for tribal students. Their academic future should remain at the centre of the issue,” he said, adding, “Congress appears more worried about saving the political careers of its leaders than those of students.” Bawankule urged Congress to engage with the govt directly if it wanted to pursue unresolved issues concerning the tribal community. Rather than turning students into participants in a political confrontation, he said, the party should help create conditions for negotiations and resolution. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Parliament passes Transgender Persons Amendment Bill, 2026 with Rajya Sabha approving it today
Parliament has passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, with the Rajya Sabha approving it today. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday by a voice vote amid an Opposition-led walkout. The bill seeks to redefine the category of transgender, removes the provision of self-perceived gender identity and excludes several socio-cultural identities as well as transmasculine individuals from its ambit. It also further defines transgender persons within a biological framework, based on intersex variations and differences in sexual development. Replying to the discussion on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Virendra Kumar said the government is compassionate towards the well-being of the transgender community. He said the Bill has provisions to empower the transgenders and give them dignity. The Minister said that the NDA government has taken several initiatives to bring transgender people to the mainstream and stop discrimination against them. Starting the discussion in the Upper House, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury said this bill dilutes the privacy of an individual provided under the Constitution. Opposing the Bill, Ms Chowdhury said self-identification cannot be taken away through bureaucratic certification. Criticizing the government, she said that the proposed bill undermines the fundamental rights and dignity of transgender persons. Calling such a move wrong and illegal, she argued that forcing transgender persons to provide their identity through official certificates is against the spirit of equality and dignity guaranteed by the constitution. She also questioned the government’s approach for not properly consulting with the transgender community before bringing the Bill. She also referred to the Supreme Court’s landmark NALSA judgement of 2014, which recognized the right of transgender persons to self-identify their gender. Ms Chowdhury said the proposed Bill violates the principles laid down in that judgement and fails to respect an already established legal framework. DMK MP Tiruchi Shiva also opposed the Bill, saying that even if the Bill is passed in Parliament with a majority, it will be struck down by the Supreme Court. He further added that the Bill violates Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution and it deprives the community of the right to freedom, dignity and self-determination. Supporting the Bill, BJP MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni said, ” This Bill ensures justice, dignity, protection from criminalisation and legal safeguards for transgender persons. She also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing this bill with certain amendments in order to ensure that the benefits reach the deserving people in a proper manner. She said there is a need for a law that brings justice to real transgender individuals and punishes fake ones. Mrs Kulkarni said the benefits should be extended to those who are transgender by birth. She said that the amendment to extend punishment will bring down the rate of crime and forced identities. TMC’s Saket Gokhale said that 31% of Transgender people in India have attempted suicide because of the discrimination that they are facing. He alleged that now the government is going to start discriminating against them as though social discrimination were not enough. He called it unacceptable. Mr Gokhale expressed concern that gender is going to be decided by the Chief Medical Officer and a District Magistrate, and the bill does not prescribe any qualifications for the Chief Medical Officer. Sanjay Singh of AAP said the Bill is a big let-down for the transgender community. He accused the government of not doing anything for the community. RJD’s Manoj Kr Jha said that prejudices against transgender people should stop, and they should be able to live with dignity. He added that self-determination of gender should not be taken away. CPI(M)’s John Brittas said it is a black-letter day and the Bill is taking India a century back. He pleaded with the government to either withdraw the Bill or refer it to a Select Committee. Jaya Bachchan of the Samajwadi Party also questioned the government over the legislation. She sought to know what the urgency was in bringing the Bill, without examining it with the depth and care that it deserved. Courtesy : News On Air Note: This news is originally published on https:/newsonair.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
From India to America: How Caste Discrimination Followed the Diaspora
Jana Eid explores how the Indian diaspora brought caste discrimination to the U.S. and highlights the growing legal and social movement to outlaw it. Caste and caste discrimination are no longer limited to India. The system has followed the Indian diaspora across the globe, including to the United States. Today, Indian Americans represent one of the largest and fastest-growing immigrant communities in the country; in 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau recorded more than 6.5 million people of South Asian descent residing in the U.S. Many Dalits who moved to America to escape persecution found that the very system that caused them to leave was also embedded within various domestic institutions, primarily the workforce. Equality Labs, a South Asian civil rights organization, released a report in 2018 titled Caste in the United States, revealing that 67% of Dalit respondents felt they were treated unfairly at an American workplace due to their caste. Approximately 12,000 Dalits responded to the survey, with 41% stating they experienced discrimination in education and 25% reporting they had been physically assaulted in the U.S. because of their caste. While respondents hailed from an extensive range of fields, the tech industry has garnered the most public outcry. Major technology employers, including Cisco Systems, Inc. in Silicon Valley and Google, have come under scrutiny for enabling discrimination by higher-caste employees who predominantly occupy senior-level, higher-paying positions. In July 2020, the California Civil Rights Department filed a lawsuit against Cisco and two of its managers for discriminating against an engineer on the basis of his Dalit identity, denying him both a raise and promotional opportunities. The engineer worked on a team composed entirely of higher-caste employees who had immigrated to the U.S. from India. The Washington Post reported that after the Cisco lawsuit was announced, Equality Labs received roughly 260 complaints from workers in the tech industry concerning caste bias. The executive director of Equality Labs, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, told The Washington Post that complaints detailed “caste-based slurs and jokes, bullying, discriminatory hiring practices, bias in peer reviews, and sexual harassment.” A member of Google’s Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), speaking under a pseudonym due to fear of workplace retaliation, noted that “companies like Alphabet employ a large number of workers of South Asian origin … via contracting, which strongly intersects with caste” (“In These Times: Meet the Activist Coalition That Outlawed Caste Discrimination in Seattle”). She highlighted how lower-caste individuals are particularly vulnerable to losing their immigration status (as many are on work visas) and to being doxxed or harassed online. AWU is urging Google to add an explicit ban on caste discrimination to its U.S. code of conduct, matching its policy in India, given that there are currently no U.S. federal employment laws that explicitly ban caste discrimination. To date, several jurisdictions and institutions have succeeded in banning caste discrimination, including the Seattle City Council and various universities. In February 2023, Seattle became the first American city to explicitly outlaw caste discrimination. The Seattle City Council voted 6,1 to approve an ordinance adding caste to its municipal anti-discrimination laws, officially banning caste-related discrimination and harassment in employment, public accommodations, and housing. Several years prior, in November 2019, Brandeis University updated its non-discrimination policy to include caste, becoming the first higher education institution to do so. A number of universities followed suit over the next several years, including Colby College, California State University, Brown University, and Rutgers University. Different arguments have been made in favor of addressing caste under existing protected class categories. The New Jersey State Bar Foundation defines a protected class as “a person or group of people who are legally protected from discrimination or harm if they possess certain characteristics.” In terms of caste, the most notable established categories are religion and race. California’s Civil Rights Department has argued that the Hindu caste system falls under the protected class of religion. However, this argument rests on the false premise that caste is practiced exclusively by Hindus; in reality, caste cuts across religious boundaries and is frequently observed among Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs as a deeply ingrained sociocultural practice. While caste is historically rooted in the Hindu varna framework, it cannot be comprehensively regulated through religion alone because of its persistent presence across multiple religious communities. The case for interpreting caste discrimination as a form of racial discrimination involves a rich historical precedent, intersecting with the fight against anti-Black racism in the United States. The caste-race analogy has been drawn repeatedly throughout American history because caste is fundamentally a hierarchical system of social stratification. The Chambers Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (1872) defined caste as “a breed or race; one of the classes into which society in India is divided; a tribe or class of society.” To demonstrate that slavery and segregation ran counter to the core principles of American democracy, abolitionists such as Thomas Dalton, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe routinely equated the treatment of Black Americans to the caste system of South Asia. The author of an 1833 article in The Abolitionist asserted that members of “the African race are essentially a degraded caste, of inferior rank and condition in society.” Charles Sumner, an American lawyer and U.S. senator, drew a similar comparison: “In India, Brahmins and Sudras, from generation to generation, were kept apart. If a Sudra presumed to sit upon a Brahmin’s carpet his punishment was banishment. With similar inhumanity here, the black child, who goes to sit on the same benches with the white child, is banished, not from the country, but from the school. In both cases it is the triumph of Caste. But the offense is greater with us, because, unlike the Hindoos, we acknowledge that men are born equal” (Brown and Thorat 956). Furthermore, in August 1866, the Republican Party circulated bulletins clarifying that the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees U.S. citizenship to everyone born in the country, was created in part to prohibit caste, and class-based discrimination. While the historical connection between race and caste
AAP names Dalit face Garhi as in charge of Channi’s former seat
Patiala: The Aam Aadmi Party has appointed Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission chairperson Jasvir Singh Garhi as its halqa in charge of the SC-reserved Chamkaur Sahib constituency, triggering speculation over a possible candidate change before the 2027 assembly elections. The seat is held by AAP MLA Dr Charanjit Singh, who defeated the then CM, Charanjit Singh Channi, by more than 7,900 votes in 2022. Channi had won the seat in 2007, 2012 and 2017. Party insiders said appointing an outsider as halqa in charge in a constituency represented by a sitting MLA had often preceded a candidate change. Garhi, a prominent Dalit leader with a grassroots network built during his years in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), will now oversee party activities in the constituency. AAP functionaries described the move as a routine organisational exercise to energise workers. Political observers, however, see it as a possible recalibration of the party’s field leadership in a constituency with a substantial Dalit electorate. The appointment assumes significance given Garhi’s political background. A former govt veterinary inspector, he quit service in 2019 and headed the BSP’s Punjab unit for nearly five years. BSP expelled him in Nov 2024 on charges of indiscipline. He joined AAP on Jan 1, 2025, in the presence of CM Bhagwant Mann and became SC commission chairperson two months later. As commission chairperson, Garhi has taken on several Congress and BJP functionaries. He summoned Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring over remarks about late former Union minister Buta Singh and sought a written response. He also summoned leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa twice, including over alleged casteist remarks against Punjab minister Harbhajan Singh ETO. Garhi also summoned Congress-turned-BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu over alleged casteist remarks during a civic poll-related dispute in Dhuri. He rejected Sangrur police’s initial report as unsatisfactory despite Bittu issuing a public apology. MLA Dr Charanjit Singh and AAP media in-charge Baltej Pannu could not be contacted for comment. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit girl taps down mom’s folded hands, faces HM’s ire; found dead next day
Madurai:: A 16-year-old dalit girl from Madurai was found hanging at her home on Aug 25, a day after a headmistress ordered her out of school for tapping down her mother’s folded hands while she was seeking admission there. Her mother P Thavamani told police that her daughter P Nijanthi was deeply distressed after Vimala, headmistress of Government Model Higher Secondary School in Usilampatti, who belongs to a dominant caste, rebuked her over the gesture. Thavamani, from Ambedkar Nagar, said Nijanthi completed Class X at Thottappanayakkanur before joining a nearby govt school in Poochipatti. She attended the first group there for 20 days but discontinued because she wanted to pursue the nursing group. She remained home for a month. Later, Thavamani took her to TELC Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Usilampatti, where they submitted an admission form. According to the police FIR, the school sought Rs5,000, which Thavamani could not pay immediately. So, they approached Government Model Higher Secondary School in Usilampatti. Its headmistress questioned Nijanthi and telephoned her former headmaster. Speaking over a loudspeaker, the former headmaster described her as disciplined and good at studies. As Thavamani listened with her hands folded, Nijanthi tapped them down. The model school headmistress allegedly questioned the teenager over her action. She accused her of arrogance and claimed such behaviour may have led to her leaving the earlier school, the FIR said. “She made a casteist remark, asking, ‘Why can’t people like you keep your hands folded?’ She then berated the child and ordered her out. The humiliation left her distressed,” said Selvam, a relative of the girl. Nijanthi ran from the campus and walked five kilometres towards Nallamalpatti. Her mother located her and brought her home by autorickshaw. Thavamani said her daughter skipped dinner and remained distressed. Returning from work around 5.30 pm the next day, she found the bedroom locked. A neighbour broke open the door, and Nijanthi was found dead. “She cried throughout the night after the humiliation. Police are refusing to invoke SC/ST Act and appear to be protecting the headmaster, who belongs to the Kallar community,” Selvam said. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights