After 60 yrs of Independence, untouchability alive and kicking in India

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After 60 yrs of Independence, untouchability alive and kicking in IndiaTNN 3 August 2009, 09:35am IST

More than 60 years after Independence,

untouchability is alive and thriving in India’s hinterlands. Pockets of

social change have been but mere drops in an ocean of casteism and prejudice.

This was borne out in a survey by National Law School, Bangalore, which was

reported recently. Following this, TOI correspondents did a reality check in

eight states across India.

Dalits are still segregated with little

access to temples, water sources and upper caste areas. And ironically, even in

Radhanagar in Hooghly district, the birthplace of social reformer Raja Ram Mohan

Roy, there are separate crematoria for Brahmins and non-Brahmins. And in a

bizarre case in Waganagere village in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, 120 Dalit

households were forced to draw water from their well even after a dog fell in

and died. During festivities, not only are they served food separately, but they

have to bring their own plates and tumblers. Gulbarga, incidentally, has 126

cases registered under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 and the

Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, the highest in Karnataka.

In

UP, almost every village has a chamar toli, a place segregated for them. Dalit

children are made to sit separately in schools. In Malasa village in Kanpur

Dehat, though the post of gram pradhan was reserved for scheduled castes, it has

been lying vacant as no Dalit has the courage to contest the election, fearing

backlash from the dominant Thakurs. And when they do, as two Dalits did last

year, their candidature was rejected because no one, not even Dalits, seconded

them during the filing of nomination papers. Uniquely in UP, untouchability is

practised by Dalits too.

 

In Rajasthan’s Dholeria Shashan

village near Pali, newcomers are interrogated and if they are scheduled castes,

entry is tough. They also cannot pass upper caste houses wearing footwear or

headgear, says poet and writer Vinod Vithall.

Segregation is also

blighting the next generation. In Rajpur tehsil, 60 km from Kanpur, Thakurs

withdrew their children from a primary school after a Dalit cook was employed to

prepare mid-day meals.

D Shyam Babu, senior fellow, Rajiv Gandhi

Foundation, says authorities often turn a blind eye to caste atrocities. Acts

which protect the lower castes aren’t implemented either. The National

Commission for Scheduled Castes in Chandigarh admitted that it receives 3-4

complaints daily. Ajmer district police reportedly has recorded 360 cases

pertaining to SCs/STs over the last 18 months. In UP, over two dozen such cases

were filed in the last six months.

 

But Dalits have now started

asserting themselves. ‘‘In Tamil Nadu, upper castes are now at the

receiving end after two decades of virulent clashes. In Punjab, thanks to the

Green Revolution and prosperity, most Dalits have a good

lifestyle,’’ says Balwinder Singh Sidhu, a government official,

though there are pockets of discrimination.

Individuals have made a

difference too. Tamil Nadu inspector general Pratheep V Philip has started a

social justice tea party where the police provides tea to villagers and counsels

them against discriminating Dalits. Two months back in Alwar, a Brahmin invited

Dalits to his daughters wedding. In rural Bengal, says social scientist Amal

Mukhopadhyay, inter-caste marriages too are taking place.

So will B

R Ambedkar’s dream of an India where untouchables are not a sub-division

of Hindus, but a separate and distinct element in the national life fructify?

 

Thanks & Regards,Sudhir SrinivasanB.Arch, Dip.ID, Dip.CAD, Dip.PM, AIIA, IIID, ARIAI| Architect |