Many of us fail to think that in today’s modern society there is truly a caste system and that populations, including children, would be deemed ‘untouchable’. For me what first comes to mind is the Biblical references to the Lepers, or how our society once condemned most with mental or learning disabilities to a life of institutionalized isolation. However caste-based discrimination is far from a thing of the past in India, as discrimination against Dalits, or “untouchables” in Indian society, continues.
In India’s historical Hindu caste system, which was set in a hierarchical order, with Brahmins (educators, law makers, scholars and preachers) at the top, then the Kshatriya (military or ruling class) and Vaishya (commoners), with the Sudras (essentially seen as labors/slaves) at the bottom. Untouchables, also known as Dalits, essentially fall outside of the system all together, leaving them in a perpetual cycle of poverty as they are marginalized from all aspects of Indian society.
After centuries of oppression the Dalits, left them with a complete denial to education. The continual fight for the right to education across India has been been increasing over the years, however the Dalit children continue to struggle even as access has increased. As while many school doors may have opened, the enrollment and drop out rates of Dalit child remain increasingly high due to lack of access to local schools, discrimination/harassment and child labor. Harassment’s of Dalit children has even resulted to violence;
“Twelve Dalit children aged between eight and 13 have been hospitalised here after they were allegedly beaten up by some youth belonging to an upper caste Hindu community.
“The attackers, who were allegedly not happy about the children receiving a formal education, wanted to send a message across to all the parents in the Dalit community, about the repercussions if they decided to send their children to school.
“When the children, most of them girls, were returning from school on Friday, they were stopped on their way and beaten up by a group of caste Hindu youth. They also reportedly hurled verbal abuses at the children by referring to their caste, before beating them up. (Dalit children beaten up for going to school, Express News Service, November 2009)
A recent report, by the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, with the Navsarjan Trust, has been released thanks to three years of intensive research. The report, Understanding Untouchablity, details a diverse range of human rights abuses against Dalits, including; being barred from public temples and excluded from religious rites, being forced to perform labor considered “unclean” (including disposing of carcasses and human waste), being prohibited from non-menial occupations, and segregation in public places. The report is the largest data-gathering effort to date on the topic, and outlines a pattern of persistent discrimination not only against Dalits by members of non-Dalit castes, but even between sub-castes of Dalits.
This is a must-read report for anyone interested not just in the subject of untouchability but discrimination more generally. The report provides a way to quantify the social effects of discrimination, a powerful tool for helping human rights movements not just in India but across the globe. To download and read the full report, visit our website:
“Understanding Untouchability is crucial to ending untouchability,” said Martin Macwan, founder of the Navsarjan Trust and 2000 RFK Human Rights Award Laureate. “Dalits face untouchability in every aspect of their lives. By lifting the veil of ignorance we have no excuse not to end it.”
