Don't use the word Dalit to identify someone: Punjab SC panel
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Sep, 2021 11:09 AM
Chandigarh, Sep 21 (IANS) Taking note of the word 'Dalit' being used for newly-appointed Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi by the media, the Chairperson of the state Scheduled Castes Commission, Tejinder Kaur, on Tuesday issued instructions not to use the nomenclature to mark the identity of any person belonging to Schedule Castes.
In a statement issued here, Kaur said the nomenclature Dalit does not find mention in the Constitution or any other statute.
Even the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has directed all state governments and Union Territory administrations to use the word Scheduled Caste instead of Dalit for persons belonging to SCs.
Acting on the reports of violations being made by the media, the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has issued a notice to private satellite TV channels, asking them to comply with an order passed earlier by the Bombay High Court to not use the word Dalit in reports, Kaur said.
Rejecting as “inconclusive” the report of the Zora Singh Commission, the Punjab Government on Friday constituted a fresh Commission of Inquiry, headed by Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh, to investigate all cases of sacrilege in the state.
To raise awareness among the Punjabi youth on the state’s heritage, history and culture, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu intends to introduce a compulsory subject on culture in schools and colleges.
Five persons were arrested on Friday in connection with the assault on CRPF men during bypoll to the Srinagar parliamentary seat on April 9, while two more disturbing videos went viral, sparking a fresh row in the restive Kashmir Valley.
The court also came down heavily on the trial court for not believing that the child was raped merely because the then four-year-old girl did not disclose that she had been sexually assaulted.
The 22-year-old man and the girl had met and fallen in love in Singapore where they had gone for further studies. After promising to get married, the accused took intimate pictures of them and that of the girl alone, a police official said.
A rash of videos showing security forces assaulting Kashmiri youth flooded social media on Friday, after internet services were restored in the valley following the Srinagar parliamentary by-poll.
