"Attackers roam free.
Our Community Correspondent Reena Devi reports from Maha Dalit Tola area of Chitauria Village in Katihar, Bihar, where in April 2014, 12 powerful men from the 'upper caste' burnt down the houses of 4 Dalit families. The families still await fair compensation and justice.
Call To Action: Call the District Magistrate on +91-9473191375 and pressurize him to take immediate legal action against the perpetrators and ensure that the families get compensation.
The conflict arose because the attackers had been trying to forcefully evict the residents. A meeting date was negotiated between both the parties to settle the issue. Instead, 12 men arrived at the spot on the 7th of April, 2 days early, taking the residents by surprise. After beating up and abusing several individuals, they set fire to 4 houses. As if that wasn't enough, the attackers stole 5 the bicycles from the community. Local police officers prevented the families' initial attempts to file a First Information Report with the local police. It was finally registered after orders from the District Magistrate.
Speaking to Ajit Bahadur, Video Volunteers' State Co-ordinator in Bihar, we found that there has been no change in the situation even after 7 months. While 1 of the 12 accused was arrested, the rest of the 11 attackers roam free in the village. They have issued threats against the community to take back the F.I.R. or be killed. Threatened and abused once already, the community is now afraid to even leave their makeshift homes. The situation has left a lasting repercussion on their lives- hunger, exacerbated poverty and a lack of employment opportunities. Ensure that this ends right now. Call the District Magistrate.
About the Partnership: The Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme and Video Volunteers have come together to create the Community Correspondents Network. The videos generated by the network will be able to highlight voices from the margins, providing skills to social communicators to provide advocacy tools to community based organisations."
The Student Teacher Ratio and School Area needs improvement
In this video of UPS Manwan Awoora school, Kupwara, Kashmir, the community correspondent Pir Azhar shows us that there are nine classes for 250 students, and due to lack of space, the lower primary classes are held outside in the open. Also the school has only 7 teachers.