s an 1 resource one era use

Senior c are group AASHA Foundation help s produce two film s in Hindi

BY RAJNIANAND LUTHRA

ijind er Du ga l picked up the phone one day. An e ld er ly woman was on the other end, calling, she said , f roin the park. She was seek in g Bijind er's counsel, after months of strain at home during which her daughter-in -law refused to even speak with her.

Bijind e r is accusto1ned to receiving such ca ll s.

As founder of AAS H A Australia, a volunteer-based organisation that facilitates c ulturally appropr iate aged care and advocacy services, she is aware that elder abuse is incr easing in our con1mu11ity, and particularly so since the sta rt of C OV ID

Working close ly with Seniors Right s Service, AASH A has d e livered progran1s to se niors in the I ndian co1nm unity for ma11y years now.

I n their latest effort, they hav e jointly produced two s hort fi l ms in H indi to ed ucat e seniors as well as younger people about seniors' rights.

I n the filin Down Under, an eld erly mum ar ri ves to liv e with her son and his fa1nily i n their palatial home. Very soo n, she finds her life restricted to household and childcare tasks with little co n1n1unication with her adult children. When she asks for outside interaction , her son loses his pat ience.

In the film Granny Flat, an elderly mu111 l e nd s money to her daughter to build a gra nny flat , with no written agreement. On ce co n struction is co1npl ete, the daughter wants her to move to an aged ca r e hon1 e.

Th e two films are a stark re1ninder of the rights of ow· sen iors to live the life they choo se to live - with self-r espect and dignity.

The films were rel eased in early

Bijinde r Dugal

Septe1nber at an event attended by AAS H A m en1bers, executives from Seniors Ri ghts Service an d special guests including M P Mark Taylor, and L eade r of the NSW Opp osition Jodi MacKay. Members of the co1nmunity tuned in via a virtual link.

" I an1 very happy to have helped created these resource films,"Bijinder told I ndian Link. "They will go a long way in getting the n1essage out to our seniors that your safety a nd well-being are both important.

If you feel you are being physically abuse d , bullied or pressured to do things by someone you know, or if someone yo u r ely on is neglecting you, threatening you, or failing to look after you as they promised, then be bold and sp eak up. "

The filu1s were funded by the Seniors Right s Service, with talent coming from within the community.

" T hey were inspired by s i1nilar film s create d by the Victorian Multicultural Co1nmi ssion in various languages," Bijinder rev eale d.

T he content was tweaked to cater to Indian se n si bili t ies.

Helplines for the elderly

tio n Service : 131 021, 132 300

So li cito r s: (02) 9926 0300

Violence Ho tlin e: 1800 656 463 & 1800 737 732

AASHA Australia Foundation limited: info@aashaaustr alia o r g.a u servi ces may be availed by dialling 131 450

"Elder abuse is a sensitive issue, but it is a conve r sation that needs to be had," Bijinde r observed. "It takes many different forms - emotional, financial, even physical. Often i t goes unrepo r ted because of the stigma involved. We mu st en1power our seniors with the knowledge that se rvi ces such as lega l protections are available. But they need to know about wills and transferring 111oney and other family money matters. They mustn't l et the kids remotecont r ol their life."

H aving presented before the Parliament of NSW inquiry into elder abuse in 2015 , and having run seminars on the issue alongside Seniors Ri g ht s Se r vice, Bijinder has become passionate a bou t elder care overall as a comm unity service.

At the most basic level, con1muni ty measures can help ward off social isolation.

AASHA , like other se niors groups, has been organising soc ial int eraction hubs at various centres across Sydney, with activities such as health talks, legal seminars, mental health information, information on services available to se nior s, free health c he cks, weekly yoga lessons, exercise sessions, comm unal meals, and song and dance.

In COV l D times, th ey've taken to virtua l sess ion s on Zoom and gone liv e on Facebook with a reach of thousands. A YouTube cha nn el h as just b ee n launch ed as well.

" But we want to do n1or e than that," Bijinder stressed "We want to produce more resources lik e the s hort fi ltn s this year and our DVD on dementia ea rlie r We also want to lobby the govern 1ne n t fo r more culturally appropriate se rvice s, and to do that we've s hown the 1n how strong we can be with our own limi ted r es ources."

She finished with a plea : "We kn ow that the syste m has capacity to support. Bu t I do wish the comm un ity at la r ge would s t ep up and do it s bit too - sections of our own com1nun ity are ve r y we ll- establ is h ed! We do get kudos fo r our work and we a r e thankful for that, but I hope 1nore direct support will b e forthcom ing "

For mo re deta il s o n t he activi ties a t AAS H A, vi s it www aas h aa ust ra li a. org au

BY BAGESHRI SAVYASACHI

D light of the events that led to a 19 -yearold Dalit won1an succumbing to a brutal rape at the hands of four upper-c aste 1nen, the hashtag #Dalit L ivesMatter bas been t r ending to bring the issue to the forefront of mainstrean, discussion.

H is clear that the Indian caste system is not a thing of the past 01· something that on ly exists in remote and rural I ndia. Even in this day and age, Dalit comn,unities across the nation continue to be the target of various forD1s of atrocities and persecution.

Anyone who identifies as Indian k n ows that the caste systen1 is a system of oppression . D espite being abolished by the Co11stitutio n of India in 1950, the system still exists because it is still perpetuated.

Why doe s ca s te i s m s till e ndure ?

D r M rid u la Nath Chakraborty, a Senior Lect u re r at M onash Un iversity and an exp ert in literatures of the I ndian subcontinent, says, "Historica lly, casteb ased vio lence as a whole i n I ndia, exists b eca u se of a Hi ndu dominant majority and its p sychology of control. This funda1nental ideo logy exists in p olit ics and the public sphere with i 1np un ity."

Sh e adds, "What is now called H induism w as o nce a set of p hilosophies and practices full of n1 u ltiplicity, and now it has

New directions for the anti - caste movement

becotne a variant of son,eth ing that sti ll cannot be seen as a unitary religion."

"Atrocities committed in the name of Hindu fundamentalis1n are as dangerous as other forms of r e ligious fundamentalis1n," warns Dr Chakraborty.

In 2 0 12 , a horrific rape of a woman in Delhi s hook the e ntire country, con1pelling people to take to the stre e ts in protest and rage online zealously.

Jn contrast, in 2020 , a s imilar inju st ice inflicted upon a Dal it woman in H athras seems to be received with nonchalant indifference; no ' I ndia 's daughter', no nationwide outrage.

In the same vein, the lack of data depict s the turning of a blind eye towards Dalit suffering in the countless migrant labourer s and daily-wage worke rs who died during the abrupt COV ID Iockdown in I ndia.

The migrant s, many of whom identified as Dalits even said they would die of hunger before the virus could kill them.

Wilful ignorance sanctioned by many dominant political, cultural and social pa r ties is the prin,ary proof of this undisguise d perpetuation of the caste system

P hilosopher, literary theorist, feminist critic and recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award given by the Republic of I ndia, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak of Colun1bia University, says it best. H ighlighting the reasoning behind

"sanctioned ignor a n ce" iD he r book titl e d

A Critique of Postco lonial Reason, s he describes it a s "a n institutionalised way of think i ng" where the aim is to excl ude certain opinions and scr utini es from enter ing the public debate, in this casethe exclusion of Dalit di sco u r se.

Ro l e o f th e di a s po ra

The re is much to say about people in the Indian diaspora who complain about White hegemony but perpetuate similar power str uctures in their own communities.

22 -year -o ld artist and Dalit activist Priyanka Paul for example , has called out non- r esident Indians and upper-caste Hindu s who have been hush -hus h over the caste-based sexual violence carried out in Hathra s lf we do not question ou r families or people in our community when they exhibit casteist attitudes or oppressive ideology, we are complicit. O ur s il ence speaks volumes of the issues we don't consider worthy of addressing. Our sile nce is violence.

"Indians must critique the idea of 'only one kind of Hindu ','' Dr Chakraborty explained. "In Australia , the idea that all H indus are lovely or spiritual or vegetarian, has to go."

It is time H indus, whether in India or in Australia, acknowledge this oppression in order to stop pract ising it.

H ow yo u c a n h e lp

Ther e are parallels in the re l ationship b e tween non -Indigenous Austra lians a n d First Nations people, and that between Dalit s and non -Da lits. i t's not as much 'what' as about 'how'.

" What can we do?" is something that is repeatedly asked by non-Indigenous Australians as well as non -D alits who wish to participate in the obliterat ion of this prolonged oppression.

Take that first step, look at the rept·ession of Dalit knowledge systen,s square in the eye, and test your privilege.

An in1portant resource can be 'Steps to be an Anti -Caste Ally' as outlined by Ferninis m in India 's Astha B an,ba 1-lere a r e her suggestions:

• Read and p r omote writings by D alits

• Check your language for casteist slurs against Dalits

• Have that uncomfortable conversation about privilege

• Understand the history and reality of caste-based reservations

• Mind casteism around you - in your houses, schools, univers i ties a nd workplaces

O ne of I ndia's great founding fathers

D r B R Ambedkar often sa i d, "Educa t e, agitate, organise". We must bring D a li t phi losophies and perspect i ves to t h e f r ont of our minds to be able to fight op pr ess ive ideologies like the caste system.

It's time to b ecome active an d vocal allies to eradicate our own priv il ege

BY PREETI JABBAL

ike it or not, masks are here to stay. I f yo u wear a tur ban or a h ijab though, t hat poses a proble 111: how do you loop t he m aro u nd your ears?

T hree 1nedica l stu d e n ts fron1 Me lbourne have now got that covered

T heir in novative face n1ask des ig n for people wear ing re ligious or other headgear won fi rst place in the Monash SEE D [n cubator P rogratn

It saw the launch of t heir socia l enterprise Ekta. m elbourne that has now taken off in the co 1nm u n ity.

When n1asks beca 1ne n1andatory to mitigate t he r isk of Coronavirus, healthcare stude n ts Ayes ha Bannare, Monish P uri and A nika Yesn1in realised that conventional masks were not designed to be all inclusive.

" We be li eve that everyone has the right to feel safe during the pandemic," Monish P uri to ld Indian Link. "There was, however, a large gap in the 1narket when it came to reusable 1nasks for people who wear religious headgea r, like t urbaned Sikhs and J1ijab wearing wome n ."

To fulfil this overlooked need of cultu r ally diverse coin1nun it ies/Ekta n1asks' were innovated.

T he n1asks have longer ties that al low them to be secured on the back of the head and away fro1n the ears

T he design works wonderfully also for t hose wearing earrings and headphones.

"T he inner and middle layer of our 1nasks are made from organic cotton and the outer Layer is recycled polyester. Th is ensures that t hey are environmentally fr iend ly, sustainable and we can n1inunise our carbon footprint on p lanet ea r th," described Anika Yesmin.

" By securing an iJ1 itial amount of $1000 in p re-ord ers within the first week, we were able