Fwd: Upper Castes and Lower.

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta, "Tony OClery" <aoclery

wrote:

 

Despair of the discriminated Dalits

By Monica Chadha

BBC News, Nagpur

 

 

 

Some of the accused have been released, I want them arrested again

Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange

 

The brutal killing of a family from the lower castes - known as

Dalits - in India's western state of Maharashtra has revived the

community's demand to be treated as equals in a society that has

labelled them as outcasts.

The incident took place in a remote village called Khairlanji in

Bhandara district situated in the north-east of the state.

 

On 29 September, Surekha Bhotmange, her 17-year-old daughter

Priyanka, and two sons, 19-year-old Roshan and 21-year-old Sudhir

were at home when an upper-caste mob broke into their mud hut and

murdered them.

 

The details are gruesome. The four were reportedly dragged out and

beaten with bicycle chains, sticks and other weapons. The mother and

daughter were allegedly stripped and raped by the mob, many of whom

lived in the same village and were possibly their neighbours.

 

 

The father and only surviving member, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, is a

broken man but shows steely resolve when demanding justice for his

family.

 

 

 

"Some of the accused have been released, I want them arrested again,"

he said. "Some people take life for a life but I am not like that, I

want the law to punish the guilty."

 

While he wants justice for his family, the Dalits are demanding

justice for the community as a whole.

 

There have been protests across the state against the alleged

mishandling of the investigations by state police and crowds have

come onto the roads demanding fair treatment.

 

Desecrated

 

Journalist and professor Ranjit Meshram, retired chairman of the

Board of Sociology at Nagpur University, says there is anger among

the Dalits because they feel no one pays attention to them.

 

"Even though they are a sizeable number, they feel people in power do

not listen to them. They have been feeling ignored for some time and

Khairlanji pushed them over the edge," he said.

 

The frustration is palpable.

 

 

Recently, after news broke out that a statue of Dalit leader and

scholar, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, had been desecrated in the northern

city of Kanpur, angry Dalits took to the streets in Mumbai (Bombay),

burned trains and threw stones at buses and other vehicles.

 

About 10.2% of Maharashtra's approximately 100m-strong population

belong to the Dalit community. A large number of them live in Nagpur,

Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Gondhia districts.

 

Ill-treated

 

In the traditional Hindu caste system, Dalits, formerly called the

untouchables, were considered the lowest of low castes.

 

They were expected to do the most menial jobs in villages. They could

not share basic amenities including drinking water with upper-caste

people.

 

 

They keep calling us names and telling us we are dirty people

Baby Manohar Ramteke, a Dalit

 

Such practices still exist in rural areas.

 

Thirty-year-old Baby Manohar Ramteke is a Dalit by birth and works in

the fields.

 

She has lived in Bhabal, a village about two hours drive from the

city of Nagpur, all her life and says they have always been ill-

treated by others on the basis of their caste.

 

"First they wouldn't let us fill water from the common well, then

there was an incident of someone vandalising the village temple

statue so they blamed us for it. They keep calling us names and

telling us we are dirty people," she said.

 

She finally got a separate water tap installed in the village for

Dalit families.

 

Families belonging to higher castes living in the same village say

they do not treat them differently.

 

"We tell them anything and they tell us you are pointing fingers at

us because of our caste," says Gangadhar Kodhramji Bawane, a

carpenter who belongs to a higher caste and lives in the same

village.

 

"We all live together and there are bound to be fights but they think

we target them," he said.

 

Iconic status

 

 

In order to escape the caste system, many Dalits have adopted

Buddhism as their new faith, as their leader, Dr Ambedkar, did.

 

 

The chief architect of the Indian constitution, Dr Ambedkar was born

a Dalit but rose to a respectable position in society despite all

odds. He enjoys iconic status among his people.

 

Retired professor and social worker Dr Rupa Kulkarni says those who

followed him have forged ahead in life socially and financially. She

said many of them have become top doctors, writers and bureaucrats.

 

"Leaving Hinduism and accepting Buddhism changed the entire mentality

of Dalits, made them believe that even they were someone. They

realised they had to revolt against the caste system and because of

this their self-respect awakened," she said.

 

"But those who did not adopt this path are still backward. In Nagpur

today, more than 70% of the rickshaw pullers are Dalits. Among

domestic workers the overwhelming majority of women belong to the

Dalit community. Many of them are still illiterate," she said.

 

Dr Kulkarni said discrimination in cities may not be as obvious as

that in the villages, but it still exists and Dalits are not allowed

to forget the caste they were born into.

 

"Before giving a house out on rent here, the tenant's caste is asked

and Buddhists are banned completely even though their economic

condition is such that they can buy the place. Inter-caste marriages

are still prohibited.

 

"No matter how progressive people call themselves, that really

progressive element - a generous and big heart - is still missing."

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6211532.stm

 

Published: 2006/12/05 18:56:47 GMT

 

© BBC MMVI

 

--- End forwarded message ---