Straight from the title, “Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India’s Untouchables,” you know that the new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) out today is pulling no punches when it comes to qualifying the extent and seriousness of anti-Dalit discrimination in India today. The comparison with apartheid gained significant political cover two months ago when the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, drew the link in public remarks at a conference in Delhi. Here’s the prime minister:
Singh said: “Dalits have faced a unique discrimination in our society that is fundamentally different from the problems of minority groups in general. The only parallel to the practice of untouchability is apartheid,” he said. “Untouchability is not just social discrimination, it is a blot on humanity,” Singh said.
Calling for a “political, social, cultural and intellectual battle,” against such discrimination, the PM noted that constitutional and administrative measures alone are not sufficient. “Our government is deeply and sincerely committed to the equality of all sections of our society and will take all necessary steps to help in the social, educational and economic empowerment of Dalits. This is our solemn commitment,” Singh said.
Of course the gap between legal remediation and actual practice has been precisely the problem for 57 years, since the Constitution in 1950 outlawed untouchability in all its forms, with further legislation added over the years. The continuing discrimination against Dalits also violates the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which India is a signatory, as the convention covers not just what its title narrowly suggests but in fact “race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin.” At any rate, this gap between theory in practice is well known, and the problem has always been to end the actual practices of discrimination, violence, and humiliation that Dalits encounter across India to degrees that perhaps (probably) vary by region and locality but are never, ever trivial.
Consider a few choice quotes from the report’s summary (you can download it or read the whole report online here):
DalitsÂ’ fundamental civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights are routinely violated by state actors and private individuals, in violation of Article 5 of the Convention. Caste-motivated killings, rapes, and other abuses are a daily occurrence in India, resulting in routine violations of DalitsÂ’ right to security of person and protection of the state. The police have systematically failed to protect Dalit homes and Dalit individuals from acts of looting, arson, sexual assault, torture, and other inhumane acts such as the tonsuring, stripping and parading of Dalit women, and forcing Dalits to drink urine and eat feces. surveyed. …
India has failed to address the multiple forms of discrimination faced by Dalit women. Even as compared to Dalit men, Dalit women do not have equal access to employment opportunities or justice mechanisms. They must contend with threats to their personal security, including trafficking and sexual violence. In some states in India, Dalit women are forced into prostitution under the devadasi system and are ultimately auctioned off to urban brothels. This puts them at particular risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. …
The right to own property is systematically denied to Dalits. Landlessness—encompassing a lack of access to land, inability to own land, and forced evictions—constitutes a crucial element in the subordination of Dalits. Land reform legislation is neither implemented nor properly enforced. When Dalits do manage to acquire land, access to it is often denied. …
The denial of the right to work and free choice of employment lies at the very heart of the caste system. Dalits are forced to perform tasks deemed too “polluting” or degrading for non-Dalits. According to unofficial estimates, more than 1.3 million Dalits—mostly women—are employed as manual scavengers to clear human waste from dry pit latrines. Dalits comprise the majority of agricultural, bonded, and child laborers in the country. …
Manual scavengers are routinely exposed to both human and animal waste without proper protection. This has severe repercussions for their health; most suffer from anemia, diarrhea, vomiting, and respiratory diseases. In many cities, Dalits clear sewage blockages without protective gear. Over 100 die each year from inhaling toxic gases or from drowning in excrement.
The difficult thing is that much of the discrimination against Dalits is well known and considered a fact of life. This isn’t the kind of report that breaks major news that everyone can immediately mobilize around. Rather, it’s a compendium of practices and contradictions and hypocrisies that are all too often recognized individually but either shrugged away as a whole, or, just as often, so daunting in their totality that it’s hard to know what to do. Besides, the only effective political mobilization against these practices will come from Dalits themselves, which means overcoming patterns of intimidation and resignation that are age-old and surmounting a collective action problem of enormous magnitude.
The principal author of the NRW report is a desi sister. Her name is Smita Narula and she is an assistant professor of clinical law at NYU, having previously worked at HRW as their senior researcher for South Asia. You can read more about her here. She also has an audio clip in English and Hindi on the organization’s website in which she states the principal findings and the importance of the issue.
Which makes it more mystifying. Catlics are not eactly scarce in Mumbai.
No, I’m not. It’s called irony and satire.
Admins, a suggestion: change the name of this thread to
“The thread about untouchability: Not Going Away”
Neale, the evil rapacious brahmin is a staple of hindi movies, so is the virgin-preying lecherous thakur. As Kush pointed out, so many movies have baniyas as villains. In contrast, the priest in a church is always a gentle loving father-figure(Amar Akbar Athony, Kabhi ha Kabhi Na).
Bollywood deals in stereotypes and is pretty equal-opportunity about it. PC has still to reach the level of sophistication it has in the US. Sardarjis are routinely made fun of in hindi movies. Occasionally Tamilians and UP/Bihari bhaiyas too. Its sheer ignorance, the idea is certainly not to target a minority.
Kush, To add to your list, Sagar, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na etc. They are unfortunately in minority.
I would never accuse mainstream B’wood (or H’wood) of realism but that’s not how the world sees it. These stereotypes have hurt way too many of my Katlic friends (as usual, women get it worse) to let it slide w/out comment.
Does it bother me when I see yet another chutiya Desi cab driver in an American film? Yes. Does it bother me when I see yet another bewda / slutty Katlic in a hindi film? Yes.
It’s my totally unsupported theory that stereotypes hurt minorities the most.
As you said, it’s not that simple.
Fitty cents (#331), what you describe is not survival of the fittest. It would have been survival of the fittest if your grandfather and all his bonded labor has started at the same point with the same advantages/disadvantages. After that if he defeated them all in hand-to-hand-combat, he would have had a claim to describing himself as the fittest. What you describe is merely survival of the most fortunate. Your grandfather happened to be born in a more priviliged position, and took advantage of it. The slaves(who you euphemistically describe as bonded labor) never had an equal chance. In the wild a gorilla does not get a harem because his grandfather had a harem. He has to start from scratch and earn it.
As for ethics, most people, and experiments show that primates such as chimpanzees, have an internal sense of fairness and ethics, that everyone should have an equal chance. They also do not like to see other people in pain for their advantage. Experiments have shown that a chimpanzee would not pick a banana if he sees that it results in an electric shock to another chimp. If you do not feel that sense of ethics, thats okay. No one can force anyone to feel these things.
PS: Does your family still keep bonded labor?
I have not heard of Goans storming the hinterland on New year’s Eve to “celebrate.”. You have to live thru the reverse scenario to see what an impact Hindi films has.
Ok. I’ll concede that.
And this is what you are defending?? Your mom and millions of other simple-minded hindus have been brainwashed by an irrational, immoral system that condemns them to a lower status simply by pedigree. And that actually makes perfect sense to you!
Why dont you explain why you/your mom are so convinced that there is “no question of being as good as a Brahmin”? What exactly makes the brahmins so superior? Since there is no test for “fitness” that they have to pass, how do you conclude that they are qualified for the status naive gullible hindus such as yourself are brainwashed into accepting?
Caste system is bad/immoral/degrading because it is unfair and inhumane. There is no evidence whatsoever that all brahmins are superior by birth to you and your mother. Or that you are superior to all sudras and dalits. Thats brainwashed idiocy, plain and simple.
If you really subscribe to the jungle law of “survival of the fittest” (again we see the nazi sympathies of these hindu fundoos) then why dont you fake jingos quit whining about brahminical/casteist India being regularly conquered by handfuls of foreigners. Indians of all castes must be unfit to survive in your ideal world then.
What do you think is the reason for the obvious degradation of hindu society if not brahminism/casteism?
Sakshi, As you may have noticed, I used the term Hindi films iso Bollywood because to me, personally, recent films appear to be dispensing with the above mentioned stereotyping. So, there is change.
Now, pass the feni 🙂
:). Since we’ve discussed pretty much everything here, I had one question: why can’t one get feni outside Goa? I think its one issue all Indians need to unite on.
Consider what happened in India after the Tsunami disaster of a couple years ago, Divya. Higher castes were blocking relief from reaching the lower caste. Thats the ugly reality of the casteism that you are trying to justify:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/158/story_15877_1.html
“The killer tsunamis of December 26 washed away everything that people in southeastern coastal India held precious, but failed to obliterate deeply-divisive social caste lines. This rigid, inherited social hierarchy determines which victims are entitled to relief supplies and an opportunity to rebuild their lives. The dalits or “broken people” of southern Tamil Nadu state are doubly damned. They were battered by the tidal waves, and those who survived are being denied food, water, toilet facilities and space to recover in overcrowded relief camps, aid workers said Friday.”
You seem to be under the illusion that casteist India is a successful society that has everything together. It takes a seriously twisted mind to consider a casteist culture that has resulted in perennial defeats and enslavements, that is the most degraded and wretched on earth, as a success story and a shining model of social security!
Funny to see you, Kush Tandon et al trying to exalt hindu brahminical casteism with examples from a muslim people! In Islam, charity towards your fellow muslim is one of the five pillars of the religion. It is a stark contrast to Brahminism. For you to use muslim tribals as an example of hindu casteism is obscenely dishonest. Casteism is not the equivalent of tribalism. And muslims are not hindus. Drill that into your skull.
Great question. I am sure Google or Wikipeida will be no help for once 🙂
When I find a free moment this weekend I am going to actually read all the comments on this thread and start getting rid of people that should have been banned from these boards a long time ago. It is long past time to take out the trash that has been accumulating here. Also, if you feel the need to accuse any blogger at SM of being anti [insert religion here] then you can go fuck yourself. We don’t need your traffic or your anonymous comments. Thanks.
Seperate plate, Brother, you dont have to explain to anyone about if you give to charity or not. sic semper tyrannis has the nerve to ask you whether you have done charity or not?? What about yourself, sic semper tyrannis?? Shows that there are still a lot of apologists for caste.