Community Correspondents

Saroj Suna

Saroj from Bikramnagar, Odisha has faced social inequality at close quarters. His earliest realization of being Dalit came when the village barber made excuses for not cutting his hair. In 2000, he started reading Dalit literature which inspired him to work towards a solution to end this inequality. He is an active member of National Movement for Social Justice, NCDHR, Pachim Odisha Dalit Adhikar Manch and Odisha Dalit Adhikar Manch. Experience has taught him that well written letters and articles don’t move the authorities as much as visual documentation does. He is eager to document the human rights violations & other issues around his village using video and work towards changing these conditions.

Videos from Saroj

The missing piece in rising farmer’s suicide in India

 
/ April 15, 2016

Hiralal Sahu ended his life in October in Odisha, joining several thousands of farmers across the country in a tragic and seemingly unending saga of despair and death. Sahu, a resident of a small village in Baragada district of Odisha consumed a large dose of pesticides because he was unable...

Rampant casteism in Odisha: Dalits thrown out of the village

 
/ February 3, 2015

February 3; Bargarh, Odisha In the month of July last year, three dalit families were thrown out of their house in Deultunda village. The mob, which chased them out of the village, mostly consisting of ‘upper-caste’ Hindus, also vandalised whatever little possessions they had. “They were drunk and chased us...

Success: Waking a languid administration in Odisha

 
/ September 3, 2014

In the month of July last year, three families were thrown out of their house in Deultunda village of Bargarh district in Odisha. The mob, which chased them out of the village, mostly consisting of ‘upper-caste’ Hindus, also vandalised whatever little possessions they had. “They were drunk and chased us...

Mining Vs. The Hills of Odisha

 
/ August 4, 2014

In the late 1980s the Gandhamardan hills in Odisha’s Bargarh district were home to a powerful people’s movement. Not unlike today’s Niyamgiri movement, that too was a cry of the people of the land to save their forest, their Gandhamardan Hill from Bauxite mining. The movement was successful in bringing...