Caste and Sri Lankan Politics by Izeth Hussain

I must mention some of the salient features of the Sinhalese caste system so as to bring out the essential contrasts with the Indian one. The top caste in the former is the Goyigama, the single biggest caste to which almost fifty percent of the Sinhalese belong. In his book on the Rise of the Karawa Elite, Michael Roberts writes that the numerical weight of the Goyigama caste, its control of the land and its resources, the positions of authority of its notables which continued under the early colonial regimes, and the backing given to the Goyigama by the coercive power of the monarchy, amounted to a very powerful system which prevented anything like social revolution. The Navandanna, Wahumpura, Berava, and other service castes were enmeshed in that system as inferiors with no prospect of change (p 238).

The challenge to the traditional caste system came from the three so-called low-country castes, namely the Karawa, the Salagama, and the Durawe, most of whose members are said to have come to Sri Lanka after 1505. They could not be absorbed as service castes in the traditional ritual order, and the upward economic mobility made possible under Western colonialism meant that they could improve their status and come to question the pre-eminent position of the Goyigama. However - according to Roberts again - the Portuguese and the Sinhalese kings channeled the KSD migrants into new areas of economic activity, establishing a tradition of exploitative labour services which was continued under the Dutch and the British. The areas were in weaving cloth, cinnamon peeling, toddy tapping, coir and rope production, fishing and the transport of goods. Some of these tasks were rigorous and dangerous, many were demeaning, and all were distasteful in the eyes of the established residents (Roberts - 232). So it would be correct to say that despite the challenges posed by the KSD the Goyigama managed to retain their pre-eminent position during the entirety of the colonial period. read it all

Khairlanji : A Strange and Bitter Crop by Anand Teltumbde

Literary Review

December 07, 2008 The Hindu

Trajectory of injustice

TAPAN BASU

Putting into perspective the outrages of caste oppression .

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The kharlanji massacre is... a paradigmatic event of violence against dalits in post-independence india.

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“Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.” Mark Twain, The Adventures of Hucklebury Finn.

Khairlanji : A Strange and Bitter Crop, Navayan Rs. 190.

...........................

At the core of the story is the shocking episode of caste atrocity that happened in Khairlanji on 29 September, 2006, but came to light only a month later. The entire family of Bhaiyalal Bhotmange, a Dalit farmer of the Mahar caste –– comprising his wife, two sons and a daughter –– were lynched by a mob of caste Hindus of the village. The lynching was preceded by dastardly acts of sadism towards the victims, including thrashing, sexual abuse, gang-rape and mutiliation of parts of their bodies. The bodies of the four persons were dumped, following the massacre, into a canal that irrigated the farmlands of Khairlanji.

Teltumbde’s project is to put in perspective the Khairlanji massacre by reading it as a paradigmatic event of violence against Dalits in post-Independent India. Thus, after listing the notable cases of anti-Dalit violence in India since 1947 –– Kilvenmani (44 Dalits burnt alive in Tamil Nadu, 1968), Belchi (14 Dalits burnt alive in Bihar, 1977), Morichjhanpi (hundreds of Dalit refugees massacred by the state in Sunderbans, West Bengal, 1978), Karamchedu (6 Dalits murdered, 3 Dalit women raped and many more wounded, Andhra Pradesh, 1984), Chunduru (9 Dalits killed and dumped in a canal, Andhra Pradesh, 1991), Melavalavu (an elected Dalit panchyat leader and 5 Dalits done to death, Tamil Nadu, 1997), Kambalapalli (6 Dalits burnt alive, Karnataka, 2000) and Jhajar (5 Dalits lynched near a police station, Haryana, 2003) –– he states the purpose of his monograph :  more

Attracting Dalits has proved difficult for the BJP

Politics and violence in Orissa

Why have India’s tribal-majority districts witnessed the bloodiest anti-Christian attacks? The answer to this question indicates why at least 60 people were killed and more than 4,500 houses and churches destroyed in Kandhamal district of Orissa recently.

India saw its first large-scale attacks on the minority community in December 1998 in Gujarat’s Dangs district, where 93% of the population is tribal. In March 2004, anti-Christian violence broke out in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district, where tribals constitute 85% of the population. Then followed the mayhem in December 2007, and again in August 2008 in Kandhamal, where nearly 52% of the population is tribal. These incidents took place during the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its allies.  more

In India the upper castes celebrate progress while mass slaughter and bestial genocide await the Dalits

Yes, India, the second most populist nation in the world, moving swiftly into prominence in the 21st century. India, new leaders in almost all technology and engineering; where your phone call asking for tech support or product delivery may be answered; where an automobile that runs on compressed air reportedly has been built and will be marketed. India, where in April a successful space launch expanded the nation's importance in the solar system.

But also India, where, also in April, a 6-year-old Dalit (untouchable) girl was thrown into a roaring fire about 40 km from the temple town of Mathura and burned alive. The little girl was accused of the dastardly crime of walking through the footpath meant for only the upper castes, on the very day those "upper caste" people were exulting over India's successful new satellite launch – another devastating indictment of mankind.

It seems just unthinkable, rationally impossible, that these two vastly contradicting events could happen, in the same month, in the same country, and in the 21st century. But wait; you haven't heard the worst, not by a very long shot.  

While the upper caste elite in India is celebrating the technological progress going on in the major cities, mass slaughter and bestial genocide is raging in the "less modern" provinces of the huge country. India is considered a Hindu nation, in much the same way Arab states are Muslim and England and the U.S. are Christian. And most Indian citizens, while practicing their various faiths benignly, profess tolerance toward fellow citizens who may be different religiously. But shockingly, in this "modern" world, India is still committed to an ages old caste system, in which upper castes enjoy freedom and all contemporary advances, while over 300 million human beings who happen to have been born in India are considered "untouchable" and unworthy of anything more than bare existence and that grudgingly.

These people, this entire caste, are called Dalits. The Hindu scriptures refer to them as "the unborn," meaning it would be better for the world if they had never been born. They're literal outcasts, denied access to public wells, parks, basic medical services, and education. Though born in India, their homeland, they've had the misfortune to be born to Dalit parents and a whole class created long ago by Aryan invaders. In India, there is no way out, or up, from this bottom rung of society.

Dalits are trapped, imprisoned, faceless, and nameless, and of no concern to the upper classes, except as bondservants, menial employees, and burden bearers. They are considered to have been evil in a former life, and therefore justly banished to this humiliation. Their only hope is to accept their fate and somehow earn a "step up" in a future reincarnation.

I met with a young Dalit in my office just recently. He's a fine, good looking, very intelligent young man named Jyothi. He loves his country, his people and his God. He's a Christian.

Yes, in Hindu India, at least 2.5 percent are officially Christian, and some 11 percent, though cowed by public pressure and physical threat, are "unofficially" Christian. And 75 percent of the Christians are Dalits. And why not? A ray of hope, of freedom, of personal worth has been offered them by a loving God, through Jesus and his representatives. 

more

Clash over wall preventing the entry of Dalits at Uthapuram village in Madurai

Groups clash in Uthapuram

Staff Reporter, The Hindu , October 2, 2008

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Trouble erupts over painting of wall adjacent to temple

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MADURAI: Two groups belonging to different castes clashed at Uthapuram village in Madurai district, hurling stones and country bombs at each other. Trouble erupted when the members of one group painted the wall adjacent to the Muthalamman Temple despite objections from the other group. Police resorted to a mild lathi charge and opened three rounds of teargas shells to disperse the mob.

The situation is now under control, said Inspector-General of Police (South Zone) Sanjeev Kumar. Adequate police strength, led by the Deputy-Inspector General of Police S.S. Krishnamoorthy, had been deployed at the village, he told The Hindu.

Superintendent of Police M. Manohar said that they were on the lookout for some suspects behind the incident. Security had been strengthened and combing operation was on, he added. The village had been witness to animosity between these two groups over the construction of a wall preventing the entry of Dalits. A portion of the wall was later demolished on the initiative of the State government.  read 

Social justice minister Meira Kumar: More laws to Protect Dalits and Tribals

'States must act on crimes against Dalits' 24 Sep 2008, 0358 hrs IST, Subodh Ghildiyal,TNN

The amendment proposed to the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/STs Act is serious as it is believed that it would push the states to act. Social justice minister Meira Kumar told TOI: "We have to make the PCR and POA Act more stringent."

According to the proposal mooted by the Union ministry, the states would have to submit reports for three types of crimes, which involve — fabricating evidence to implicate a Dalit in a crime providing for life sentence or death; using explosives or fire to damage property belonging to SC/STs, or commiting an offence which is punishable for a term of 10 years or more. The proposal is to insert a clause in section 21 of the POA Act dealing with "duty of government to ensure effective implementation of the Act".

In another key move, the Centre is seeking to cut down on the time of trial in crimes against SC/STs by completely doing away with the first level of scrutiny — the magistrate. The MSJ has proposed that special courts designated to try cases under the POA Act shall be "competent to try the offences as a court of original jurisdiction without the case having been committed to it by a magistrate under the said code (CrPC)". 


Link 

Story of Resistance and Caste Victimization

Verdict in Khairlanji Dalit killings

IANS

Sunday, September 14, 2008  14:31 IST

BHANDARA (Maharashtra): Almost two years after the killings of Dalits in Khairlanji village here caused a nationwide outcry, a court will give its ruling on Monday.

A frenzied mob of about 50 villagers attacked the house of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, a Dalit farmer, Sep 29, 2006, and lynched four members of his family including his wife Surekha, young daughter Priyanka and two sons Dilip and Roshan.

Initially treated as a gory fallout of a village feud, the murders were later seen as a case of atrocity against a Dalit family by caste Hindus, inviting nationwide media attention.

With the case turning into a volatile political issue, the state government transferred investigations from the local police to the state Criminal Investigation Department and then to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The government also suspended four police officers and three medical officers for dereliction besides offering Bhaiyyalal Rs.1.2 million as compensation, a house and employment.

After taking charge of investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet against 11 of 46 accused in the court of First Ad-hoc Sessions Judge S.S. Dass Dec 27, 2006 but had a tough time marshalling clinching evidence.

That was because there were virtually no witnesses to the killings apart from Bhaiyyalal.

The immediate provocation for the attack was said to be the evidence given by Surekha and Priyanka against 15 of the villagers in a case of beating up of their kin and well-wisher Siddharth Gajbhiye a fortnight earlier.

After the framing of charges March 2, 2007, the trial court recorded the evidence and statements of 36 out of 74 witnesses (originally listed in the case). It heard arguments from both sides and announced Sep 15 as the date of pronouncement of verdict.

Link

End fraudulent conversions of Dalits and Tribals: Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM)

As the menace of conversions is perpetuated with the receipt of foreign funds, the Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM) has steadfastly demanded that the church utilize all foreign funds exclusively for the welfare and uplift of poor Christians who are suffering from terrible discrimination within the community. Indeed, this is the reason why PCLM has been petitioning the Government of India not to appoint Bishops, priests and nuns to official Commissions and Committees, and instead appoint ordinary Christians.    The church annually receives so much money that we want the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and the National Christian Council of India (NCCI) to set up a Rs. 1000 crore “Dalit Christian Development Fund” to ensure the integrated social and economic development of this huge populace that was lured to Christianity on the promise of a better life. ....>Read more   Considering the confusion created by propagation activities in remote areas, the PCLM demands that church authorities defer mass conversion programmes for at least a century. It is our view that evangelism cannot be a measurement of a society’s socio-economic development. Rather, the evangelism programme funds should be utilized for the welfare of Dalits and Tribals who have already been converted to Christianity, and whose lot has not been improved by the church.    There should be reservation of seats for Dalit and Tribal Christians, as well as other Dalits, in Church-run schools, colleges, technical institutions and other vocational organizations. As of now, the reality is that a handful of priests and bishops are monopolizing Church funds and property in the country. This has led to sharp deterioration of the conditions of   neo-converted Christians who are living in a pitiable condition, deprived of basic necessities.   Instead of worrying about their living conditions, the church leadership is interested only in increasing the numbers of its flock. Even worse, a large chunk of foreign funds are being utilized for purchasing land and for the luxurious lifestyles of a few Christian leaders in India. Bishops are monopolizing the Church estates and treating it as their own property and are indulging in its sale-purchase without the consent of the community....>Read more   

Race row erupts again

Scotland Yard's race row erupted again yesterday after the head of the National Black Police Association, Commander Ali Dizaei, was suspended from duty for allegedly wasting police time, perverting the course of justice, assault and unlawful arrest.

Dizaei is a close adviser to the force's assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, who is suing the Met for racial discrimination, and who was suspended last week.

Dizaei's supporters reacted to the news by accusing the Met of a "witch hunt".

He was suspended yesterday at the offices of the Metropolitan Police Authority and given the news by its chief executive, Catherine Crawford.

The main reason for the suspension is said to be an arrest he made outside a West London restaurant after he was allegedly assaulted by a man. Dizaei says he was approached by a man who shouted at him and then attacked him with the mouthpiece of a sheesha pipe. He arrested the man who has now made a complaint that is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Authority.

Dizaei was also suspended because of claims that he gave advice to a solicitor whose client was being prosecuted after a case brought by the Met, and because of allegations concerning the use of a police credit card.

Dizaei was previously suspended in 2001, when the force alleged he was a danger to national security, had consorted with prostitutes and taken illegal drugs. He was cleared unanimously by an Old Bailey jury after a £4m inquiry involving covert surveillance and undercover surveillance teams. The unit that investigated him then was headed by Sir Ian Blair, who is now the commissioner of the Met.

Blair's allies insist that their treatment of Dizaei has not been not influenced by the fact that he is a vocal and persistent critic of the Met's record on race. But Alfred John, chairman of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, said: "Without doubt it is a witch hunt. It is an attempt to destabilise our movement. It is a farce."

The Metropolitan police authority said it had unanimously decided to suspend Dizaei, adding: "Suspension is not a disciplinary sanction and suspension should not be taken as a presumption of guilt."

Last year the Met apologised to Dizaei for putting him on trial at the Old Bailey, and for aspects of the £4m inquiry. After his acquittal, he was reinstated and paid compensation.

He won promotion earlier this year to the rank of commander and oversaw the operation which led to the barrister Mark Saunders being shot dead after allegedly firing at police and neighbouring homes.

As the NBPA's head, Dizaei was planning further protest action against the Met over its treatment of Ghaffur. 

Link

Poor pay more for Groceries - Indian Researcher

Low-income? No Car? Expect To Pay More For Groceries

ScienceDaily (Sep. 2, 2008) — Households located in poor neighborhoods pay more for the same items than people living in wealthy ones, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Author Debabrata Talukdar (Columbia University) examines the impact of what has been dubbed the "ghetto tax" on low-income individuals. His study found that the critical factor in how much a household spends on groceries is whether it has access to a car.

"Arguably, as the bigger, more cost-efficient stores move out, the poor increasingly are likely to find themselves choosing between traveling farther to purchase nutritious, competitively priced groceries or paying inflated prices for low-quality, processed foods at corner stores," Talukdar writes. Read full story

Chicago Students Boycott First Day of School

Education and Social Construction: ABC News: Chicago Students Boycott First Day of School

Pope drawn into row over racism

Pope drawn into row over racism

Robert Mickens


Pope Benedict XVI has found himself in the midst of a heated debate over Italy's controversial new security measures - which some say unfairly single out Gypsies and foreigners - after he warned against the rise of "new and worrying signs of racism" in "some countries" around the world.

The Pope never mentioned Italy in remarks he made last Sunday before praying the Angelus at Castel Gandolfo, but some Italian commentators and politicians were quick to link his comments to stinging criticism that the country's most popular Catholic magazine has been levelling for weeks against Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Government.

Famiglia Cristiana, a mainstream family-oriented publication that sells up to two million copies a week, preceded the Pope's remarks with its latest critique, insinuating that the Berlusconi Government was verging on fascism.

Read it all

Dalit village faces 'economic boycott'

Wed, Aug 20 03:27 AM

The Dalit settlement in Pirali village in Limdi Taluka is facing an economic boycott of sorts by the upper caste Darbar community which blocked their access to the village and even stopped them from going outside for work. The trouble started after the Dalits protested against the Darbars releasing sewage into their area three years ago.

"Earlier, the sewage from the Darbar locality used to flow out of the village, but about three years ago they changed the direction of the water and made it flow towards our village," said Tulsi Parmar, a resident of the Dalit village. "With the sewage flowing straight into our area we have major water contamination," he said.

The Darbars have now blocked the road connecting the settlement to the Dalit village. The Dalits are now being forced to travel through another road which bypasses the village. The Indian Express reporter, too, was accosted by some men wielding sticks when he tried to take the disputed road."What are you doing here? You guys have no business here," said a member of the group. Asked about the problems with the Dalits, a youngster in the group, said: "Yes, there are issues with the Dalits here, but we do not wish to discuss it with you."

Meanwhile, last week the police refused to register an FIR against the Darbars for assaulting Tulsi Parmar who had been protesting the release of sewage. Though a few arrests were made, the accused were later released on bail. "I have arrested 12 men as a preventive measure and produced them in the local court, where they have been granted bail," said Panshena SI P L Padvhi, who claimed to have visited the village.

The Dalits allege that an economic boycott has been imposed since they approached the police. "Most of us work in their fields. Now they have stopped giving us work, they also stopped us from working in other villages," said Raju Soya.

Read it all

White Party, Black Party: Racial Division in American Politics

Rarely Discussed in Public and Almost Never by Politicians
By RON CLAIBORNE
MIAMI, Aug. 17, 2008


In an interview on National Public Radio last week, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean touted the racial and gender diversity of the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. In what sounded like a slip of the tongue, he momentarily referred to the GOP as the "white party." Paging Dr. Freud.

In American politics, racial differences are rarely discussed in public and almost never by politicians.
The McCain campaign pounced on the remark. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and chair of Victory 2008 -- and one of the highest-ranking females in the McCain campaign -- issued a statement calling Dean's comments -- as if they had been intentional -- "insulting, inappropriate, and have no place in this election."

What Dean said was, "If you look at folks of color, even women, they're more successful in the Democratic party than they are in the white, uh, excuse me, in, uh, Republican party."

"He misspoke and corrected himself immediately," Stacie Paxton, DNC press secretary said Sunday.

In any case, Dean raised an issue that is rarely discussed in public and almost never by politicians: the marked racial division by party in American politics. Members of the country's largest minority groups -- blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans -- are predominantly Democratic.

According to 2004 statistics, white Americans are split evenly between the two parties with an equal percentage who are independents. But 90 percent of registered Republicans are white.

These cold numbers are reflected in the audiences Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., attract. In this year's presidential race, a crowd at an Obama public event often looks like a Benetton ad, compared to a McCain event, where the crowds are overwhelmingly white.

No doubt, a lot of this is because Obama is African-American (or, more accurately, half-black). The prospect of a black president has clearly excited many black Americans.

For more than 40 years, African-Americans have voted overwhelmingly Democratic for president, by margins of up to 9-to-1. Hispanics and Asian-Americans traditionally vote Democratic, but by smaller margins. A look at voter registration shows that 45 percent of Latinos are Democrats. Just 19 percent are Republican. Forty-one percent of Asian-Americans are Democrats compared to 18 percent, who are Republican. The Democratic party overall is 65 percent white and 35 percent non-white. Ninety percent of registered Republicans are white.

Read full

Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated - CNN.com

Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated - CNN.com

Oz Muslim cab drivers refusing to carry blind, disabled passengers - Yahoo! India News

Oz Muslim cab drivers refusing to carry blind, disabled passengers - Yahoo! India NewsOz Muslim cab drivers refusing to carry blind, disabled passengers

Thu, Jul 17 04:35 PM

Melbourne, July 17 (ANI): Muslim taxi drivers in Australia are refusing to carry blind and disabled passengers with guide dogs - because their religion tells them the animals are "unclean".

A Courier Mail report revealed that Brisbane's Yellow Cab Company has been forced to sack some drivers over their conduct towards passengers with assistance dogs.

Now, the company has produced a booklet informing drivers of their duty towards blind and disabled customers with dogs.

Islamic Council of Queensland president Suliman Sabdia said dogs were considered a health risk for Muslims but "to use religion as a reason to refuse blind and disabled passengers is unjustified". (ANI)

Teach India: From 'peon' to V-C-India-The Times of India

Teach India: From 'peon' to V-C-India-The Times of India

Malayala Manorama Indian Newspaper of Malayalam Language from eight places in Kerela

Malayala Manorama Indian Newspaper of Malayalam Language from eight places in Kerela

ABC News: Rosa Parks Collection Could Sell for $10M

ABC News: Rosa Parks Collection Could Sell for $10M

Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, helps him reach out to Asian-Americans

THE RACE

Obama’s half-sister helps him reach out to Asian-Americans
Associated Press
Posted online: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 at 2350 hrs Print Email

San Francisco, July 1 : The throng of Asian-American donors drew closer, drinks in hand, to hear Barack Obama’s sister describe the wide arc of his life: beyond politics and Chicago, into his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii.


To many in this crowd Obama’s Asian-American half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, represents yet another aspect of Obama’s identity that makes him unique as a presidential candidate, although it has been underplayed amid the excitement surrounding his shot at becoming the first black president.

“It would be the first time that the first family is comprised in part of Asian-Americans— as well as African— Americans, of course,” said Keith Kamisugi, a coordinator with Asian-Americans for Obama, describing the fundraiser he organised in early June.

Discussion of those ties has taken a back seat to the Obama campaign’s efforts to win the Hispanic vote and his ability to rouse young and black voters. In spite of the drawn-out primary season, many voters have heard little about Obama’s years in Jakarta— he lived there between 1967 and 1971, while his mother was married to Soetoro- Ng’s father, an Indonesian businessman— or about his years in Hawaii, where Asian-Americans are a majority.

Soetoro-Ng and Obama have different fathers and the same mother. Her father is Indonesian, his is Kenyan. Her husband is Chinese-Canadian.

Will Racial Integration Cause Violence Among Prisoners?

Inmates' Threat: No Segregation, No Peace
Some Fear Court-Ordered Integration May Trigger Racial Violence Among Inmates
By ALEX STONE
July 1, 2008



When an inmate who is not black enters Will Williams' cell for the first time at San Quentin State Prison in Northern California, one of the last forms of legalized segregation will come to an end.
San Quentin
In a case that went as high as the United States Supreme Court, California's prisons must begin... Expand
In a case that went as high as the United States Supreme Court, California's prisons must begin racially integrating their cells this month. Integration goes against an unwritten code of conduct among inmates inside San Quentin. That code says they must never communicate with other races. Collapse
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

In a case that went as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, California's prisons must begin racially integrating their cells this month. Integration goes against an unwritten code of conduct among San Quentin inmates, which says they must never communicate with other races.

Click here to listen to a radio report by ABC News' Alex Stone about the San Quentin integration.

Inmates and guards admit they are nervous about the changes because so much of the violence inside the walls of the prison, which sits on the rocky shore of the San Francisco Bay, is caused by racial tensions.

"I just don't think it's going to really work because everybody is so against it," said Williams, who has been locked up at San Quentin for 35 years on a kidnapping and robbery conviction. "The whites are saying they don't want blacks, and the blacks are saying they don't want whites."


Until now, most California prisons, including San Quentin, have been segregated in order to keep the peace. Guards say nearly every inmate in the prison is in a gang. The gangs only recruit their own races, and when the races meet it can often result in deadly violence.

It is hard for outsiders to understand the gang lifestyle inside the prisons.

"We have the whites and they're not even allowed to talk to blacks," said Officer Jamie Allejos, who watches over inmates in San Quentin's B Block. "We've got guys who get beat up just for talking to another race or sharing food with another inmate."

The integration is the result of a 1995 lawsuit filed by a black inmate in California who claimed being segregated infringed upon his rights. The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which handed it down to a federal mediation court. Both sides agreed to integrate the cells.

Allejos made it very clear that he believes integrating the cells will lead to increased violence.

"The guys who are making these decisions don't know nothing about prison. I think the people who are making these decisions should come here for six months and find out the conditions in here," Allejos said.

Parole sought by black man convicted in 1964 rape

Parole Sought in 1964 Murder With Racial Backdrop
Parole sought by black man convicted in 1964 rape, murder of white woman in Alabama
By BOB JOHNSON Associated Press Writer
MONTGOMERY, Ala. June 29, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press


The crime — a pregnant white newlywed raped and murdered, the chief suspect a black escapee from a chain gang — jolted residents of north Alabama's Jackson County in 1964.

The wanted man, Johnnie Daniel Beecher, lost his leg and his freedom in the aftermath of a furious manhunt.

Now 75, Beecher is up for parole again Tuesday.

Time, however, hasn't faded the feelings in the case, which evokes an era of powerful racial tension in Alabama. Relatives of the victim, Martha Jane Chisenhall, and the local prosecutor are urging the board not to release Beecher.

"From my perspective as prosecutor and a citizen, there are certain crimes so horrendous and heinous that a life sentence ought to mean just that, that those people never get out of jail," said Jackson County's current district attorney, Charlie Rhodes.


Chisenhall, 21, was kidnapped from her home near Stevenson in northern Alabama, raped and strangled, her body hidden beneath a pile of uprooted trees. Relatives said the young woman, married for seven months, had just learned she was pregnant.

A posse of several hundred outraged white men hunted the accused across the mountain and caught him in a field in Tennessee. Beecher was shot in the leg and forced at gunpoint to confess. Later, his gangrenous leg was amputated at a prison hospital. Injected with morphine after the surgery, he signed a confession.

The mishandling of the case by law enforcement and prosecutors led to three convictions being reversed, including two death sentences. Beecher did plead guilty later to murder and received a life sentence, avoiding the electric chair. He is incarcerated at the Bullock Correctional Center.

David E. Kendall, an attorney who represented Beecher in the 1970s, said he hopes the parole board will consider Beecher's age and how long he has been in prison. Beecher, whose case is going to the board for a seventh time, is not expected to attend the hearing.


Comments

The convict was in jail for more than forty years. The punishment is for correction and deterrence. What ever be the crime, even if he is the real culprit, it is time to rethink, of his punishment. It has served the purpose of punishment more than enough. Hope th eParole board would make sensible decision.Molemax
Posted by:
jacthanni 7:42 PM
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"From my perspective as prosecutor and a citizen, there are certain crimes so horrendous and heinous that a life sentence ought to mean just that, that those people never get out of jail," said Jackson County's current district attorney, Charlie Rhodes.While I am not suggesting that this man be paroled ,I am suggesting that these DA's know the difference between life with the possibility of parloe and life without parole.It is not the inmates fault that the State offers parole and it is entirely up to the indepedent parole board to see fit that the inmate is freed or not.Thank goodness it is not up to the DA's office alone or no inmate would ever be freed from prison.
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35Steve 7:15 PM
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It would be interesting to see how some of you posters would be reacting right now if the man was white instead of being black. Suddenly the concept of fair justice is ruled out, doesn't apply. This man never received a fair trial. Now as inhuman as this actual crime was, he was never convicted of this crime. Instead, he had a confession tortured out of him. True, the guy was a convicted rapist at the time of the crime (No Saint), but that in and of itself, doesn't automatically make him guilty. Where was his day in court? Here we have a guy who was tortured into confessing to a crime that he may not have committed. Then maybe some good ole boys thought it would make their jobs easier to simply pin it on a black guy and be done with it. Lords knows they got a double whammy and hit the jackpot with this fella. But while they were busy depriving him of his constitutional rights, the actual killer - may have gotten away scott free to kill again another day. And as we have become accustomed to learning from little tidbits of modern day forensic science, in all likelihood this woman may have been killed by SOMEONE SHE ACTUALLY KNEW. Though knowing all of this, most of you posters would still like nothing more than to see this guy burning in hell just because of who he is - black. So he's gotta' be guilty - right? Is that how it still goes in America circa 2008? What about the law? What about being innocent until proven guilty?
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UoosierBrain 6:04 PM
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If there are legitimate questions about this man's guilt, then re-examine the evidence and see if the case holds. If so, then he should not be released. A life sentence should be just that - behind bars until breath and spirit leave the body. If there is truly reasonable doubt about his guilt, re-open the case and work on sealing it up tight in a legitimate manner. But don't take his word for it because most of these people ALWAYS say they're innocent, even when the evidence nails them to the wall. My condolences to the family for the loss of two lives - the woman and her unborn baby. It's hard to have the wound reopened again and again by parole hearings.
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MsKittyMom 5:44 PM
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Judge Wants Ex-Black Panther's Murder Conviction Tossed After 36 Years in Solitary

After 36 Years in Solitary, Prisoner's Conviction Could Be Overturned
Judge Wants Ex-Black Panther's Murder Conviction Tossed, State Disagrees
By MEGAN CHUCHMACH
June 27, 2008


An ongoing legal battle in Louisiana could result in the overturning of a murder conviction that sent a prisoner there to solitary confinement for 36 years. A judge recently recommended that the murder conviction of former Black Panther Albert Woodfox, now 61, be overturned. The State of Louisiana disagrees.
albert
Ex-Black Panther Albert Woodfox, now 61, spent 36 years in solitary confinement. Now a judge is recommending his murder conviction be overturned.
(Courtesy State of Louisianna )

In her report, Magistrate Judge Christine Noland said that Woodfox's attorneys were ineffective and had been unable to cross-examine the state's lead witness "regarding the promises made to him in exchange for his testimony because such information was still being suppressed by the State at the time of the 1973 trial."

Earlier this week, the State of Louisiana filed an objection denying allegations that it suppressed information that would have discredited its lead witness, a convicted rapist imprisoned at the time, and that Woodfox's attorneys at his second trial in 1998 failed to raise crucial objections.

"It's significant to me that two juries 27 years apart heard this information and convicted [Woodfox] of murder," said John W. Sinquefield, the original trial prosecutor who is now Louisiana's first assistant attorney general. "The case should not be reversed."
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Woodfox, who became known as one of the Angola Three when it was revealed that he and two other inmates were segregated for over three decades at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, had argued that the state should have revealed that Hezekiah Brown had been rewarded for his testimony.

Brown testified that he saw Woodfox and three other inmates murder prison guard Brent Miller. At the time, Brown was serving a life term without parole after being taken off death row, according to court documents.

But other documents from the prison's record office, and obtained by ABC News, show that after the trial, the prison's warden began campaigning for a pardon for Brown and authorized the use of prison dollars to pay for an advertisement urging his clemency. (click here to see the Warden's letter)

And in another letter, the warden makes a request that Brown be delivered a carton of cigarettes every week to "partially fulfill commitments made to him in the past with respect to his testimony." (click here to see the Warden's letter)

Racism Not Always Black and White: Indian style

Racism Not Always Black and White
Experts Say Immigration Rancor Fuels Hatred
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
June 25, 2008



Sparkle Reid Rai's 6-month-old daughter probably heard the commotion when a man and two women pretending to deliver a package showed up at their Union City, Ga., apartment in 2000.

There, say prosecutors in the high-profile murder trial, the 300-pound man allegedly choked and repeatedly stabbed Rai — a newlywed, whose only apparent crime was being black.

Today, a Fulton County jury began deliberating whether India-born businessman Chiman Rai ordered hit men to murder his daughter-in-law. Prosecutors contend Rai, 68, feared the mixed marriage would smear the family name in a caste-conscious Indian society.

Prosecutors established with black and white non-family witnesses that Rai had never told them his son "Ricky" had married a black woman and that they had a daughter. Sparkle Rai was killed a month after they wed. They are seeking the death penalty.

This case, which turned from a simple murder investigation into an alleged hate crime across two communities of color, highlights the complexity of race relations in a country that has often framed its prejudice in black and white.

But racial intolerance, sometimes in the form of violence, is increasingly more inclusive. Experts say that such bias is nothing new, although the national immigration debate has fueled that hate, giving bigots of all complexions more excuses to act on their ignorance.

Donna Lowry, who married Sparkle Reid's father and is now raising the victim's daughter, said, "It was such a shock to us when we found out a few years ago and we were floored.

"We had no idea it would go in this direction," she told ABCNEWS.com today en route to the trial. "It's mind-boggling. We are raising her biracial child and there is so much hatred on the other side of the family."

Rai's lawyer, Don Samuel, told ABCNEWS.com, "I'm arguing that my client is not guilty. There is no racial issue involved at all."

A dozen witnesses of all colors who had known Rai -- once a professor at two historically black colleges -- said he was not a racist. But Rai's former cellmate, a convicted forger, testified this week that the accused had made bigoted remarks while in jail, according to reports in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

American-born Amardeep Singh, director of the national Sikh Coalition, which defends the civil and legal rights of Sikhs, admits that his own ethnic group is capable of bigotry.

"You don't come to American to learn to be a bigot," Singh said. "There is bigotry in India. The caste system is deeply ingrained and South Asians in the U.S. still practice caste exclusion."

And he, too, has been a victim.

Racial Slurs Against Sikhs

The 37-year-old is routinely a victim of racial slurs because he wears a beard and a turban. Just recently, while walking home from a Starbucks in culturally diverse Hoboken, N.J., a passerby shouted, "You've got to take that sh-- off your head, you look like a terrorist."

And not just by rednecks. "To be honest, I've been called a terrorist by every single racial category — white, Latino or black," Singh said.

Last month, during a fire drill at Hightstown High School in New Jersey, for instance, an African-American teenager set fire to a Sikh student's turban, singeing the boy's hair.

The incident at this diverse public school with a significant number of blacks, Latinos and Asians enraged New Jersey's large Sikh community

"The fact that something like this could have happened is beyond comprehension, especially in this day and age," the victim's mother told the New Jersey Star-Ledger.