|
TNN 3 August 2009: 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?
(With inputs by Ashish Tripathi and Faiz Rehman Siddiqui,
Lucknow; Ramaninder K Bhatia, Chandigarh; Deepender
Deswal, Rohtak; Ajay Parmar and Kshitiz Gaur, Jaipur;
Sanjeev Kumar Verma, Patna; Falguni Banerjee and Ashish
Poddar in Kolkata; Prashanth G N, Bangalore and Radha
Venkatesan, Chennai)
|
