May her memory be eternal, may her murderer rot in hell. From the news tab (Thanks, Maurice):
THE plight of India’s untouchables was highlighted again yesterday after a 15-year-old Dalit rape victim was burned alive for refusing to drop charges against her alleged upper-caste attacker.
Asha Katiya reportedly told police before she died of her burns at a hospital in Pipariya, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, that the man had threatened to kill her if she did not change her statement in court.
Raped in July, Asha was a month away from going to court. She was brave enough to seek justice, he was vile enough to react like this:
“I will burn you, set your house afire and cut your father into pieces,” Asha’s mother, Shashibai, quoted the 22-year-old man as warning them when she and her daughter were working in the fields near their home the day before the blaze.
Such determination to punish his accuser:
Newspapers reported that late on the day of the blaze, the man rode past Asha’s home on a horse and that night “doused the victim with kerosene from an opening in the roof of a room where she was sleeping and threw a burning matchstick”.
Asha’s family couldn’t save her; there was no easy way to speed her to a hospital.
“The family members alleged that though there are many vehicles in the upper-caste dominated village, no one came to their rescue and they had to call one from Sandia, 8km away,” one local newspaper reported.
The article used all the right language, i.e. “alleged” or “claimed”, but I can’t help but think that if you do something so evil to silence your victim, there’s no need for doubt.
Police said the man named by Asha as her attacker had been arrested.
I hope he doesn’t get away with this.
Prasad, I appreciate your point of view, and you’re right that Brahmins in some areas are probably finding the going very rough these days, with new social forces having been unleashed throughout India, and sort of a backlash occurring. The ‘cure’ I think (which will never fly politically) is to do away with caste-based reservations and politics (as if that’s possible), and focus on socio-economic status alone when deciding educational and employment policy, regardless of caste. That’s very utopian of course. Things will get a lot worse before they (hopefully) eventually get better.
Amitabh:
I think both of us are in similar boat and are looking for answers. Fighting ingrained prejudices of a billion (and growing) is an uphill task. I sure see a light at end of tunnel. Just being optimistic.
Let me tell you that in the North, (well atleast in Rajsthan, parts of Gujarat and MP) the highest in caste heirarchy are Rajputs, NOT brahmins. Infact Brahmins in rural situations have very little influence on much of anything.
Exactly! Caste structures throughout India are very different from what the Manusmriti of 100 BC may have been. Simply grouping everything as upper caste is simply not accurate-not when the castes in power come from all sorts of backgrounds depending on the region.
“The main perp in this story is a Rajput. So its not a OBC or Shudra on Dalit story. Its upper v/s lower caste story.”
In this case, you’re right, he is a Rajput. I apologize as I was referring to the second story that Anna posted in post #5 where the killers were not “upper caste” in the traditional sense. But even in stories where Kshatriyas/Brahmins are not the perpetrators, the killer/rapist is always identified as “upper caste.”
“Amitabh’s point was about caste mentality, it doesnt matter who is doing the violence.” “The caste grouping and mentality that de-humanizes and fails to see that injustice in such situations.” Being defensive about why Brahmins were called out, unfortunately shows your own caste mentality.”
No, it actually does matter whose doing the violence. This is equally about enacting proper rule of law and strict adherence to civic law. If I am defensive about Brahmins, it is because any crime against dalits or what have you becomes a result of brahminnical power-and at this point, this is often a pretty inaccurate statement. For leftist/FOIL/YSS types, every single problem India currently faces is the result of the brahmins. Not being willing to look at what the situations are today and analyzing them is the result of blaming a “general caste mentality”
What is so wrong about trying to look at caste politics and power as they really are. Yes, let’s learn about history, let’s learn about Manusmriti and everything that goes along with it. But to solely hold all “upper caste” people as responsible for the problems that Dalits face today is irresponsible.
To me, the fact that you would like to hold brahmins responsible in all these cases shows how easily people often try and scapegoat whoever they can.
Oh, whether it’s OBCs, Rajputs, Shudras, Brahmins, Dalits themselves – who did it is not so important as the fact that caste hierarchy made it happen. You can’t blame an entire caste for it. You can blame an entire religion: this is the dark side of the Hindu religion.
50,
Its hard out here for a “brahmin” !!!
You can blame an entire religion: this is the dark side of the Hindu religion.
Shivam Vij,
You have a Hindu name. Do you consider yourself a Hindu, or have you disavowed Hinduism because you consider it rotten to the core? OTOH, if you are not a born Hindu, I apologize for the assumption.
WOW! The fact of course, who can dispute that. Why bother looking for answers when you can blame somebody in the distant past for the caste hierarchy. Excellent theory you got there.
my comment #55 had a link to the lyrics of “Its hard out here for a pimp” … but I screwed up the link, thats why this comment explaining that attempted joke.
what religion doesn’t have a ‘dark side’?
the ‘dark side’ of each religion is mostly a matter of corrupt people interpreting the religion to their advantage.
nowhere in hinduism does it say it is appropriate for a man to rape a 15 year old girl. nowhere does the religion state it is appropriate for a member of a ‘higher’ caste to assault one of a ‘lower’ caste and get away with it.
in addition to caste rivalries, this crime has to do with power and the access to power, money, sexism, police incompetence, etc. similar crimes happen all over south asia– in pakistan, bangladesh, etc. they may not be tinged with caste-related issues if they don’t involve hindus, but they have their own negative socio-cultural aspects.
the man who committed this heinous crime will probably buy his freedom– it is up to the courts and government to make a true effort to curb these hateful crimes on an institutional level. the importance of empowering impoverished peoples and women in south asia will take a grass-roots effort on the part of NGOs and committed citizens.
desitude, Thats an offensive question. Why does one need to explain their religious background, to make an argument about Hinduism. ??
desitude, Thats an offensive question. Why does one need to explain their religious background, to make an argument about Hinduism. ??
He’s a public figure though, a journalist who writes and comments in MSM. I was just curious about his backstory. Sorry if it offends you.
I don’t think it is an offensive question.. Infact i’d advise everyone to come out with a declaration saying I was born into a family that believes in ‘X’ and right now I believe in ‘Y’. whare ‘X’ and ‘Y’ could be same of different set of beliefs like Hinduism/Atheism/Islam/Christianity/Spiderman stories/Flying spaghetti monster/ etc.. That gives the readers a better perspective.. For example, the writer Amitava Kumar converted to Islam for his marriage in Pakistan (still retains the Hindu name though I don’t know what he claims to believe now ). That would give a better perspective on his writings.. 🙂
Desitude: what do you think?
Vikram Sez:
In the long and illustrious line of entirely tangential digs at the Clinton administration and things associated with it, I believe you have just outdone yourself. As Jon Stewart would say (while slow hand-clapping), bravo, braaa-vo!
The last 2 days have witnessed violent incidents of rioting in Bombay and Maharashtra because a statue of Ambedkar was desecrated in Kanpur. No doubt this was the spark for the simmering anger felt by dalits since the Khairlanji incident where a dalit family was killed by upper caste villagers.
Radha
When the media reports caste conflict in terms of the “upper caste/lower caste” dichotomy it does not create an impression that the actual violence is being perpetrated by brahmins against dalits for the reason that brahmins cannot fight because:
They do not have the numbers
They do not have the aptitude (this is more true of the south than the north)
Brahmins have created and fostered the mentality that sustains the caste system, but it is also being perpetuated by upper as well as lower castes.
Tushar,
Here is a quote from an article about the case
Get it? NOT upper caste!
The varnas described in the scriptures may have been written by the Brahmins-but they didn’t create just thakurs, vanniyas, patels and whatever other jatis-the concept of jati was most likely something that pre-existed from pre-Aryan India. So let’s be fair, anyone from ANY CASTE who has ever tried to gain power through the system at any point in history has contributed to caste mentality.
Think about it, there were so few brahmins as a percentage of the population-yet when dominant shudra castes rose to power-none of them attempted to overthrow the system.