Dalit Camera Seeks Support
By Dalit Camera Team
15 February, 2013
Dalitcamera.org
Dear Friends,
Firstly we want to thank you all for extending your support and encouraging our work all through the brief existence of Dalit Camera (DC). Without your support or the activists on the ground, DC could have not survived. It is almost a year since we started with an ordinary still camera with rudimentary video recording facility. Now with your support we own a DSLR Sony Alpha 37. Many people directly and indirectly support DC. Once again thanks to all of you.
Who are are and what do we do?
One could describe Dalit Camera as a team of students which takes videos and uploads it to the Internet. The expenses for the same are usually met by volunteer contributors. Some of the students get fellowships and use that for traveling and taking videos. However, with that money, we cannot really afford to buy cameras or production equipment, as the money is just sufficient to meet our daily requirements. Earlier, to buy one DSLR, we had sought the support of the public and collected Rs100 each from every contributor. We had collected a total sum of Rs36,050 for our first camera. Similarly, we are forced to seek your support yet again, as we have decided to expand further.
Why DC?
DC is a YouTube Channel, through which we (largely students) cover the perspectives on/voices of Dalits, Adivasis, Bahujans and Minorities (DABM). DC has been active for the past one year. The first incident covered by DC was the desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad. Though we did upload some videos before, this was the first time that we started taking the perspectives of different voices on an issue. Basically we were fed up with mainstream English channels that were outdoing each other on accusing DABM people. As a response to the cartelised-hegemony of the English news channels, we started taking different views, including that of Dalit activists and making it available to the public. The first issue that we dealt with at length and gave us some fame was the Osmania University beef issue. Our standpoint found resonances in many campuses across India like the English and Foreign Languages University, Osmania University, Hyderabad Central University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University, where Dalit-Bahujan and Minority students rubbed shoulders for conducting beef festivals for gaining basic food rights in their respective campuses. The next issue we took up was the Ambedkar Cartoon controversy. This was soon followed by a critical discussion on Onam. The videos taken by DC in this regard played a vital role in examining the history of Onam from different DABM perspectives and forced several campuses across India to relook the way Onam was being celebrated and a hegemonically 'neutral' but violent Kerala identity was being constructed through that.
Recently one of our videos on Dr. Satyanarayana’s perspectives on Prof. Ashish Nandy was re-telecast by NDTV. At present we have volunteers in New Delhi and Kerala, but they do not have cameras to work with. It should be remembered that, although we were blighted by limited resources, some of our videos were transcribed, printed and the issues taken up by popular media like Business Standard, Kafila, NDTV, Reporter TV and Prajavani.
In the same vein, We have initiated a new project of taking the perspectives of women activists, based in Kerala, on reported and under-reported cases of rape in Kerala, especially in the context of almost all rape cases remaining unresolved and the victims being harassed continuously in the 'model state'. Along with this, we are also planning to cover the Muthanga anniversary on 19th February. However, we need funds to cover the expenses of this campaign and buy cameras for the Delhi and Kerala teams of DC. As of now, they are renting/borrowing cameras for taking videos, which is quite difficult and disheartening for the cash-strapped volunteers. This has forced us to seek donations for buying our own cameras again, as mentioned earlier. Also, at present, the videos are stored in YouTube and there is a big chance that we would lose it for ever, if the company decides to delete our account due to political reasons or other expediencies. We also think, it is necessary to provide our burgeoning archives to researchers or other interested parties, if necessary, in the future. We appeal to our supporters to please generously contribute so that we can fund our requirements and expand further.
Estimated Budget (Flipkart prices):
Cannon 550D : Rs50,435 2 Pieces: Rs. 1,00,870
Tripod BENRO T600EX : Rs 1,770 2 Pieces: Rs 3,340
Memory card 64 GB : Rs 3,799 2 Pieces: Rs 7,598
Extra Battery : Rs 4,247 2 Pieces: Rs 8,494
Two TB hard disk : Rs 7,271
Laptop Macbook Pro
(Pro 2.7GHz Quad-core Intel i7): Rs. 1,21,311
Total : Rs 2,41,613
People/organisations can sponsor us either one or all of the equipments. If you want to donate money, you can deposit a specific amount in a bank account mentioned below. Your contributions would be made public in our website dalitcamera.org and our Facebook page.
Name of the account holder and number: M.S.Narayanan, SBI A/C NO: 30660564155, Branch Kappiset, IFSC code: SBIN0008786.
Ph: +918790687317 email: [email protected]
Dalit Camera Team
James Michael, EFLU, Kerala (Organizer)
Narayanan, EFLU, Hyderabad Treasurer
Sadique PK Mampad, EFLU, Hyderabad (Organizer)
Sudhershan OU, Hyderabad
Sarath Nalgandi OU, Hyderabad
Mohan Dharavath, EFLU, Hyderabad
Pritha Chakrabarthi, West Bengal
Georgy Kuruvila Roy, Kerala
Kt Hafis, JMI University, Delhi
Mohamed Shareef, Hyderabad
Sudheesh, EFLU, Translator from Malayalam to English
Ravichandran, EFLU, All India Coordinator
Ria De, EFLU, Website maintenance
Ajith Francis, EFLU
Aby Abraham, Kerala, Principal Photographer
Hashir K Mohammed, Kerala, Principal Videographer
Muhsin Parari Kerala, Documentary, Video Production
Abid Aboobaker - Principal Designer
Content producers:
George Kurivila Roy, Aby Abhraham and Hashir Mohammed in Kerala
KT Hafis in Delhi
Ravichandran in Hyderabad
Uploading video/Video in charge: Ravichandran in Hyderabad. Volunteers send videos to Hyderabad or upload it from their place.
Contact for taking videos:
Hyderabad, Ravichandran,
Hasir K Mohammed (Calicut), Kerala, Georgy Kuruvila Roy, Hashir (Kottayam), Muhsin Parari (Calicut)
Delhi, Kt Hafis
Videos will be taken depending on whether the volunteers are free on the given schedules.
Contribute videos:
Anybody who has videos and want to contribute it to Dalit Camera can write to us at [email protected]
Thank You once again.
DC Team.
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