Limbless singer gives voice to India’s rural poor
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NEW DELHI — Bant Singh, a scarred survivor of class violence in rural India, has an indisputable claim to be a voice for India’s impoverished and muted millions.
The folk singer lost both legs and an arm in an attack five years ago after he dared to challenge high-caste landlords in his area of northwestern state of Punjab who had raped his 17-year-old daughter.
Set upon by a gang armed with iron bars, he was beaten to a pulp and left for dead, but neither the assault nor the subsequent amputations broke his resolve to denounce oppression in India’s hinterlands.
“We as the proletariat want the same rights as the rich, a life of respect and equality,” he told AFP during an interview at his home, a humble brick building with mud floors..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110223com5.html
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