Although we are
celebrating Dalit History Month, which is significant for Dalit communities,
this special month includes the birth and death anniversaries of important
Dalit leaders and social reformers in the movement against systemic
discrimination based on caste, such as Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule,
Mangu Ram Mugowalia and Sant Ram Udasi.
But has the
condition of Dalits really improved in the country despite the continuous
efforts of these Dalit leaders and social reformers? Let's discuss.
Caste-based
discrimination has been deeply rooted in Indian society for centuries and has
been on the rise in recent years, leading to widespread marginalisation,
exclusion and violence against Dalits and other marginalized groups.
Despite the constitutional provisions and various laws aimed at protecting
the rights of Dalits [Untouchables] and other marginalized groups, the reality
on the ground remains grim, with frequent reports of violence and
discrimination against these communities, violation of their fundamental human
rights continues on a massive scale.
Incidents of crimes
against Dalits and Scheduled Castes are coming to the fore daily in different
parts of the country, Hate speech and discrimination against the Dalit minority
is another issue of enormous concern; In such a situation, the claims of ending
caste discrimination and violence by the society or the government seem false.
These crimes include physical violence, such as assault and murder,
economic exploitation, discrimination in access to education, employment, and
healthcare. Violence against Dalit women, including sexual assault and
discrimination in access to justice, is seemingly normal.
There has been an alarming increase in sexual violence perpetrated against
dalit women, who are at the bottom of India's caste system. Furthermore, the
nature and frequency of the violence faced by Dalit women is unique to them as
it is backed by economic oppression and socially sanctioned through the
continued existence of the caste system.
Political parties always talk about ‘Upliftment’ of these minorities but
Dalits still live in a state of humiliation. In reality, this community is not
only the victim of this scourge caste system but also faces institutional
discrimination and social exclusion.
Painful life of Dalits/Untouchables in India,
"Dalit boy beaten to death for plucking flowers"; "Dalit
tortured by cops for three days"; "Dalit 'witch' paraded naked in
Bihar"; "Dalit killed in lock-up at Kurnool"; "7 Dalits
burnt alive in caste clash"; "5 Dalits lynched in Haryana";
" two Dalit sisters gang-raped and murdred, “a woman paraded naked after
rape"; "Police egged on mob to lynch Dalits", "gangrape and
murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl", "brutal murder of a Dalit man by
his in-laws for marrying an upper-caste girl".
Such incidents of violence against the Dalit community have become
increasingly common across the country.
In India there are approximately 240 million Dalits. This means that nearly
25% of the population is Dalit. It also means that in a country, where
everybody is supposed to have equal rights and opportunities, 1 out of 5
persons is condemned to be untouchable.
In India's southern states, thousands of Dalit girls are forced to become
prostitutes for upper-caste patrons and village priests before reaching the age
of puberty.
An estimated sixty million people in India, among them twenty million
children, are bonded laborers, working in slave-like conditions in order to pay
off debts. The majority of them are Dalits. At least one million Dalits work as
manual scavengers, clearing feces from latrines and disposing of dead animals
with their bare hands. Dalits also comprise the majority of agricultural
laborers who work for a few kilograms of rice, or 50-60 rupees a day.
Caste dynamics pervade every aspect of life in vast areas of India,
particularly in rural areas. The
country's latest National Crime Records Bureau showed nearly 71,000 crimes
against people from Dalit castes were also pending investigation at the end of
2021.
The prevalence of
“untouchability” practices was also noted by the United Nations Committee on
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1996, while reviewing India’s tenth
to fourteenth periodic reports under the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination.
An October 2021 analytical study about sexual violence
against Dalit women in the Journal of International Women's Studies found that
significant factors such as caste and gender interrelated or correlated with
each other in rural pockets.
"Dalit women are
illiterate, helpless to accept the social hierarchy norms, working as bonded
laborers as landless beings, bearing untouchability as social pressure, and
unaware of their civil, social, economic, and cultural rights," the study
found.
What NCRB report
says on crime against Dalits and Adivasis,
Since the early
1990s, violence against Dalits has escalated dramatically in response to
growing Dalit rights movements. Despite strict laws and affirmative action
policies, caste-motivated killings, social exclusion and other abuses are a
daily occurrence.
According to the
National Crime Records Bureau of India, some 45,935 cases of violence are
recorded each year. The report revealed that atrocities or crimes against
Scheduled Castes (SCs) have increased by 1.2% in 2021 with Uttar Pradesh
reporting the highest number of cases of atrocities against SCs accounting for
25.82% followed by Rajasthan with 14.7% and Madhya Pradesh with 14.1% during
2021. Further, the report reveals that atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (ST)
have increased by 6.4% in 2021 with Madhya Pradesh reporting the highest number
of cases accounting for 29.8% followed by Rajasthan with 24% and Odisha with
7.6% in 2021.
Violence against
dalit and Adivasi women has also risen. Cases of Rape against SC women,
(including minors) account for 7.64% and ST women account for 15% out of the
total cases reported. The report has also tabled detailed numbers for cases of
rape against Dalit Women cases of minor rape, attempt to rape, assault on women
to outrage her modesty, and Kidnapping of women and minors which cumulatively
stood at 16.8% in SC women and 26.8% in ST women.
Discrimination against Dalits is endemic in Indian society, especially with
regard to notions of “impurity” and “contamination.” It does not matter whether
a Dalit is in school, at work, in temple, or at play, they are constantly
reminded of their impurity and caste. The rising frequency of crimes against
Dalits is a reflection of the increasing exploitation of Dalits by upper-castes
socials.
A study by the International Dalit solidarity network on untouchables in
India covering 565 villages in 11 states has revealed the extent to which
untouchability and social exclusion are practised despite being officially
banned by the constitution of India; It is the ideology which still continues
to dominate the Indian public consciousness.
0 Comments