anti-caste

SEGREGATED AND HUMILIATED IN THE CLASSROOM

School makes kids CRY (DNA)

"It was an event that brought to the fore the problems of the state's poor children. At a forum in the city, many were incredulous that the children could articulate their problems with such clarity.

"The children at the public hearing were brought to Bangalore from across the state. They were at the hearing organized by the NGO, Child Rights and You (CRY) on Friday.

"Most of the children were dropouts from school, who wished to continue studying. Rekha, 14, from Hassan district said, 'I have studied till class 9. My teacher used to compare me with students from the upper castes, and ask me not to come to school at all. Not just that, the school had no toilet or drinking water, and roof was the sort that might just cave in. I would like to study, but not at that school, not with that teacher.'

"Lakshmi, 15, from Bijapur said, 'I am physically challenged. It was difficult for me even to reach school. I was regular in my attendance, however, but my teachers told me that I am a 'dalit and handicapped', and that I need not come to school. I studied till class 7. I would like to continue studying further. But I would like to go to a school where I'm not treated any differently.'

"Kavya, 12, came to Bangalore from Ramanagar. 'There is one anganawadi [government-sponsored daycare center] in my village. The teachers there do not allow us, dalits, to sit with the other children. My brother was going to that anganawadi, but my parents stopped sending him there because they would not let him mix with the other children. My brother was told not to touch upper caste children.'

HOW CAN THE CASTE SYSTEM FORCE PEOPLE TO DO WORK THEY DON'T WANT TO DO? THIS IS HOW

An untouchable caste in Madhya Pradesh that mainly does agricultural labor has also traditionally been made to clear away the rotting carcasses of animals. This summer in the city of Gadarwara in Madhya Pradesh and surrounding villages they decided to stop doing this work, which is not only disagreeable but is considered to be unclean and degrading.

The response of the dominant castes is described in Social Boycott of Dalits in Madhya Pradesh—Uncivil Society, Apathetic Administration, a fact-finding report by Nagrik Adhikar Manch and Yuva Samvad who visited four villages in the area:

"Since the issue of removing carcasses of dead animals has been raised they have declared a virtual blockade of the community. Taking advantage of the confused laying of public road No. 128, the dominant castes have created such a situation that the Ahirwars [untouchables] are not able to come out of their houses. The community has been ‘imprisoned’ in its own native village. [...]

"1. There is ban on them on making any purchases from the only provision shop in the village.

"2. They are not allowed to get water from a public tap.

"3. Ban on travel by public transport

"4. Stopping vegetable and food vendors, newspaper boys including dhobis (washermen), nais (barbers) from entering Dalit localities

"5. Stopping access to flour mills for grinding corn

"6. Ban on entering the Village Panchayat Bhavan"

With even greater consequence for the well-being of this economically dependent community of landless sharecroppers, they have been denied any share of the harvest from the crops they raised on land leased from the uppercaste landlords, reducing them to near-starvation.

In another village nearby, members of the dominant caste dumped dead animals in the center of the segregated untouchable living area and threatened to "cut down the hands of anybody who dared to touch" them. So the carcasses putrified there, making everyone sick and causing breathing problems among the elderly.

In the same village the community was banned from the fields and paths surrounding their homes, which is all owned by uppercaste people. They are not even allowed to set foot on the land they use to relieve themselves.

NO TURKEYS SLAUGHTERED IN NEPAL THIS WEEK

Indians throng Nepal's Gadhimai fair for animal sacrifice (Times of India)

photo by rpb1001

"Thousands of Indians from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states bordering Nepal swarmed to the Himalayan republic’s southern plains Tuesday to attend a notorious Hindu fair there and sacrifice animals and birds in the hope their wishes would be fulfilled.

"While a debate began to grow in Nepal about the Gadhimai Fair in Bara district and the wanton cruelty it inflicted on animals, the festival drew its strength from zealous Indian attendees who have been flocking to it every five years in a bid to circumvent the ban imposed on animal sacrifices in their own states. [...]

"Ram Mahato, 37, who also came from Sitamarhi, planned to watch the execution of the animals, visit the circus and drink his fill of local liquor that has also been doing brisk sale underground despite an official ban on it. He had not heard of Maneka Gandhi, let alone her plea to the Nepal government to ban the quinquennial slaughter at Gadhimai. Neither had he heard that six people, including one from Motihari, had died after consuming adulterated hooch.

"'Gandhi?' he asked, scratching his head. 'Is she related to Indira Gandhi? But then, they have everything, unlike us. They can afford not to seek the blessings of the goddess.'"

anti-caste: Also prominent in the campaign against the Gadhimai festival has been Brigitte Bardot. South Asian peasants are as likely to take account of her sensibilities in religious matters as she, quite rightly, was of theirs in her career as an international sex symbol.

The ceremony, which takes place over the course of two weeks every five years, attracts up to a million devotees who dispatch more than 200,000 animals—the equivalent of a slow week at Cargill, especially around this time of year.

It is said to be especially popular among untouchables, who are typically barred from Hindu temples and so have little access to ritual services.

It is the local untouchables of the chamar (tanner) caste who traditionally skin and carry away the carcasses, preserving the meat for their own consumption and processing the hides for sale as leather. At the last festival some of the chamars were organized by a non-governmental organization to boycott this work as demeaning. This year, according to the Kathmandu Post, "[a]lthough the festival organisers had hired a contractor to clear out the carcasses, people from the Chamar community chased the contractor and took away the remains themselves." These contradictory responses display the cruel paradox of the untouchable condition—the very activity on which they depend for their livelihood is "unclean" and degrading.

Neither Brigitte Bardot, Maneka Gandhi, nor any of the activists concerned for the lives of several hundred thousand water buffaloes, goats, pigs, chickens, pigeons, and rats seem to have anything to say about the oppression of this community, nor about the insecurity and want that drive so many in this region and around the world to seek solace in religious superstition.

photo by rpb1001 (from a remarkable set on Flickr)

PRESSED TO GIVE UP HIS LIVELIHOOD, HE DARED TO REFUSE

Dalit beaten up in Tiruvarur (Express)

"The 57-year-old man was tied to a tree and beaten up with weapons and slippers, when he refused to sell his land to M Thangadurai (45), who belongs to the Thevar community.

"The incident is reported to have happened on November 17. Mahalingam owns a 30-cent piece of land adjoining Thangadurai’s land in Thelikottai village. It is alleged that Thangadurai had been pressing Mahalingam to sell the land to him. 'As he has four sons, my father refused to pay heed to Thangadurai demands,' said M Ramesh, third son of Mahalingam.

"Mahalingam told Express that along with seven other men, Thangadurai dragged him out of the house, tied him to a tree and thrashed him. 'They claimed that my goats had entered their fields. They humiliated me and used abusive language,' he said.

"There are only 30 Dalit families in the village. Others have left out of fear of retaliation from the powerful Thevar community, Ramesh claimed. 'Dalits are dependent on them for their livelihood,' he added."

THE CAPITALIST STATE CANNOT PREVENT ATROCITIES AGAINST UNTOUCHABLES

Victims always: The S.C. and S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has failed to make Dalits any safer (Frontline cover story)

"The aggressive pursuit of neoliberal economic policies by governments at the Centre and in many States over the past decade has also resulted in an increase in atrocities against the S.Cs and the S.Ts. Ironically, even the Uttar Pradesh government [headed by dalit chief minister Mayawati] is not free from such ventures. The government’s ambitious 1,047-kilometre-long Ganga Expressway project, connecting Greater Noida near Delhi and Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh, was expected to acquire 64,000 hectares of land, 70 per cent of which is agricultural land. A number of observers and social analysts pointed out that this acquisition would militate against the basic livelihood of a large section of Dalits who were into share-cropping with upper-caste, land-owning farmers.

"According to NCRB data since 2005, Uttar Pradesh ranks the highest in the number of cases of caste atrocities, followed closely by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. 'Acts like these empower and help organise Dalits. With greater awareness about the Act, we have seen a rise in caste atrocities every year,' said Sirivella Prasad of the NDMJ.

"The trend clearly shows that caste atrocities have increased with greater social and economic mobility of the S.Cs and the S.Ts which disrupts the exploitative status quo of a feudal society.

"Many activists note that atrocity cases happen when Dalits try to avail themselves of legal resources; assert their right over land, water, and livelihood; assert their right to choose their occupation; attempt to participate in the cultural life of the community; assert their right to vote; and are victimised to satisfy the superstitions of dominant castes (witchcraft, human sacrifice). With respect to the S.Ts, activists say most of the atrocities happen when they try to organise themselves politically against the combined exploitation of government officials and industrial goons in the hinterland."

ATROCITIES IN MAHARASHTRA

Growing Unease by Lyla Bavadam (Frontline cover story)

"A 15-year-old S.C. girl [of Rajnai village in Beed district on August 23] was kidnapped and gangraped by three men, one of whom is believed to be a Hindu priest. She was left at a bus stand by her assailants. Her family filed an FIR but the police initially refused to register a case under the S.C./S.T. Act, though they did it later, under pressure from a non-governmental organisation (NGO). The main accused has not yet been arrested and the family is under pressure to withdraw the case. 'They are landless people and depend on the upper castes for their income. This is being used to put pressure on them,' said a representative of the NGO.

"If they did own some land and decide to grow something on it, they could meet the fate of Madhukar Ghatge of Kulakjai village in Satara district. When he retired from his job in the Railways in Mumbai in 2007, he only had one aim – cultivate his land in the village. One of the first things he did was to dig a well after acquiring the permission from the panchayat. It was, tragically, his last action. Ghatge’s upper-caste neighbours were enraged at his 'audacity.' On April 26, 2007, he was attacked with rods and axes and he died on the way to hospital. Fourteen people were identified as the assailants and 12 were arrested and charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the S.C./S.T. Act. A charge sheet was filed and they were released on bail. They are now believed to be absconding. [...]

"If Dalits raised their voice, they were silenced brutally, as a young mother (name withheld) was at Telgaon village in Solapur district in March 2006. She knew she was taking a bold step when she complained against the liquor barons in her village but had no idea that they would use her caste against her. The mother of a child was stripped, beaten, paraded and then kept on 'display' for a few hours. Her child was with her through this humiliation. After media intervention an FIR was filed under the S.C./S.T. Act, but the young woman’s social, emotional and economic support systems had been destroyed. Social pressures forced her husband to abandon her. She has no land and others are unwilling to employ her. Under the Act she is eligible for rehabilitation, but the district administration refused this. Instead, she was told that she could live in a government institution for abandoned women. Her child lives in another such institution. Her case is in the sessions court at Solapur at present."

CASTEISM AMONG SOUTH ASIANS LIVING IN BRITAIN

Asian caste discrimination rife in UK, says report (The Guardian (UK))

"The study, co-ordinated by the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA), suggests that the caste system is still widespread and affects tens of thousands of people in the workplace, the classroom and even the doctor's surgery.

"Fifty-eight percent of the 300 people surveyed said they had been discriminated against because of their caste, while 79% said they did not think the police would understand if they tried to report a caste-related 'hate crime.' [...]

"One woman said she had been demoted from her job at a radio station after her manager discovered her caste background, while one bus company decided to reorganise shifts so that a 'higher caste' inspector would not have to work alongside a 'lower caste' bus driver. [...]

"A number of respondents also reported being asked – directly or indirectly – about their caste background by their family doctor, nurse or a community nurse. One elderly woman felt her care worker had discriminated against her on caste grounds, while a physiotherapist was also alleged to have refused to treat someone of low caste."

See also:

Caste and Caste Discrimination in the UK: A Scoping Study by ACDA (PDF)

anti-caste: As important as the information in this report is, the ACDA's aim is to promote “hate-crime” legislation that would enhance the repressive powers of the racist, capitalist state. Victims and opponents of caste oppression should have no illusions that such laws would protect them.

UNTOUCHABLE SCHOOLCHILDREN ASSAULTED IN TAMIL NADU

Dalit children beaten up for going to school (Express News Service)

"Twelve Dalit children aged between eight and 13 have been hospitalised here after they were allegedly beaten up by some youth belonging to an upper caste Hindu community.

"The attackers, who were allegedly not happy about the children receiving a formal education, wanted to send a message across to all the parents in the Dalit community, about the repercussions if they decided to send their children to school.

"When the children, most of them girls, were returning from school on Friday, they were stopped on their way and beaten up by a group of caste Hindu youth. They also reportedly hurled verbal abuses at the children by referring to their caste, before beating them up.

"While attacking the children, one youngster reportedly said, 'It is only because you people are getting educated that you rush to the police station all the time. This is to teach your parents not to send you to school.'"

INDIAN GOVT COMMITTEE: "LARGE LANDOWNERS INVARIABLY BELONG TO THE UPPER CASTES" WHILE TATA AND ESSAR STAGE "THE BIGGEST GRAB OF TRIBAL LANDS SINCE COLUMBUS"

Experts seek land ceiling like Bengal (The Telegraph (Calcutta))

"The Centre has been asked to impose the Bengal model of land distribution across the country by a panel it appointed to suggest land reforms.

"The non-binding advice, which recommends rural land ceilings more stringent than those in Bengal, comes at a time the [CPM-led] Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has tried to raise those limits to promote industry but seen its efforts stalled. [...]

"In Bengal, the ceiling in non-irrigated areas is 17 acres and in irrigated areas, 12 acres. Left-ruled Bengal, Kerala and Tripura are the only states with rural land ceilings, the limit for irrigated land in Kerala being 15 acres. Some other states have tried and failed to enact land ceilings.

"So, although the report on 'State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Task in Land Reforms' was handed in last January, the Centre has been unwilling to reveal its contents given their controversial nature."

anti-caste: The report of the government-appointed panel mentioned above, which is available online here in full, makes interesting reading, with frank and well supported analyses of the near-total failure of capitalist India to solve the land question. And it's only getting dramatically worse, with the current drive to separate poor and middle peasants, landless laborers (who are overwhelmingly untouchable), and tribals from what meager resources they had claim to on behalf of native and foreign-based capital. That shouldn't be news to the government that commissioned the report, since, as documented there, it's the one facilitating it. Liberal reformers regret the state taking on this role; Marxists know it's only doing its job. It's a dirty job, too: just look at Operation Green Hunt.

Excerpts below from the report's fourth chapter, Alienation of Tribal and Dalits Lands (with emphasis added by us throughout):

"Land and Social Hierarchy - Dalits and Adivasis in India

"Land is not merely an important economic asset, its ownership is also socially valued, sought and denied. In rural societies, ownership of land was and to a large extent is still coterminus with social status. Hence, its unequal distribution reflects both prevailing social stratification and also helps maintain the hierarchical structure of the society. In contrast, fair distribution of land strikes directly at the roots of an unequal social order and skewed power relations, and frees the marginalized from the clutches of perpetual bondage, for want of a sustainable livelihood. The landless, whose only remaining asset is their labour, are effectively separated from the other means of production, namely land, and remain dependent on large land holders for their survival. Powerful landlords have always opposed land reforms, fearing not only loss of control of assets, but also their dominant position in society, which straddles the economic and the political realms. The denial of access to land, thereby, functions both as a means of exclusion as also a mechanism of bondage. [...]

"The pattern of land distribution in India, therefore, reflects the existing socioeconomic hierarchy. While large landowners invariably belong to the upper castes, the cultivators belong to the middle castes, and the agricultural workers are largely dalits and tribals. [...T]he data of absolute landless families proves that the feudal society is firmly anchored in large parts of India, notwithstanding claims to the contrary.

"Tribal India – Land and People

"The tribal people, referred to in the law and constitution, considered the descendents of the original inhabitants, are largely located in the hilly tracts of Central and North Eastern India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. [...] Earlier the temples of modern India reduced millions of tribal people to ecological refugees, now the minerals seen as the building blocks of modern India put the tribal people at risk of losing their land through acquisition and further disruption of their societies and economies. [...] Left without an alternative, either in the government or non government organizations, and left to a harsh fate of unmitigated exploitation, the tribal people initially gave the Naxalites succor and now have become their base. Most tribal areas in Central India are the abode to the naxalites, whose presence is a response both to past and future land alienation, the failure of the government to live up to its constitutional mandate and the withdrawal of the state from its responsibility to protect the tribal realm. [...]

"The data gathered from the village studies and from the records of the various governments all point out to the inescapable conclusion that alienation of tribal land continues unabated and alienation of land has actually accelerated in areas where irrigation and modernization of agriculture are making rapid strides and roadways, industrialization and urbanization is enveloping larger areas in the towns and cities. Four apparent forms of tribal land alienation are listed below. [...]

"Conclusion - The Biggest Grab of Tribal Lands after Columbus

"A civil war like situation has gripped the southern districts of Bastar, Dantewara and Bijapur in Chhattishgarh. The contestants are the armed squads of tribal men and women of the erstwhile Peoples War Group now known as the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the one side and the armed tribal fighters of the Salva Judum created and encouraged by the government and supported with the firepower and organization of the central police forces. This open declared war will go down as the biggest land grab ever, if it plays out as per the script. The drama being scripted by Tata Steel and Essar Steel who wanted 7 villages or thereabouts, each to mine the richest lode of iron ore available in India.

"There was initial resistance to land acquisition and displacement from the tribals. The state withdrew its plans under fierce resistance. An argument put forward was ‘you don’t play foul with the Murias [a tribal group]’, it’s a matter of life and death and Murias don’t fear death. A new approach was necessary if the rich lodes of iron ore are to be mined.

"The new approach came about with the Salva Judum, euphemistically meaning peace hunt. Ironically the Salva Judum was led by Mahendra Karma, elected on a Congress ticket and the Leader of the Opposition and supported wholeheartedly by the BJP-led government. The Salva Judum was headed and peopled by the Murias, some of them erstwhile cadre and local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Behind them are the traders, contractors and miners waiting for a successful result of their strategy. The first financiers of the Salva Judum were Tata and the Essar in the quest for ‘peace’. The first onslaught of the Salva Judum was on Muria villagers who still owed allegiance to the Communist Party of India (Maoist). It turned out to be an open war between brothers. 640 villages as per official statistics were laid bare, burnt to the ground and emptied with the force of the gun and the blessings of the state. 350,000 tribals, half the total population of Dantewada district are displaced, their womenfolk raped, their daughters killed, and their youth maimed. Those who could not escape into the jungle were herded together into refugee camps run and managed by the Salva Judum. Others continue to hide in the forest or have migrated to the nearby tribal tracts in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

"640 villages are empty. Villages sitting on tons of iron ore are effectively de-peopled and available for the highest bidder. The latest information that is being circulated is that both Essar Steel and Tata Steel are willing to take over the empty landscape and manage the mines."

See also:

‘The biggest land grab after Columbus’ (Hindustan Times, December 4, 2009):

"It seems no coincidence that India’s mining heartland is also the Maoist heartland.

"'If you map the forest wealth, the mineral and the poverty of India, it’s a complete match,' said Sunita Narain, head of the Centre of Science and Environment."

And see anti-caste: OPERATION GREEN HUNT: INDIA’S DIRTY WAR ON TRIBALS AND LEFTISTS.

AFTER ONE SMALL ACT OF SELF-ASSERTION, UNTOUCHABLE FAMILIES FORCED TO FLEE IN FEAR OF THEIR LIVES

Home out of bounds to 37 Dalit families (Express Buzz)

"The day before the Dalits left their homes, casteist tensions had run high at T Veppankulam [village, in Tamil Nadu] when some Dalits waiting in queue with their families to get photographed for the state government’s medical insurance scheme objected to some caste Hindus jumping the queue.

"The verbal exchange led to violence, when five Dalit men, including V Muniyandi, a daily wage labourer, were badly beaten. 'As usual, they made casteist remarks against us and began to thrash us,' Muniyandi told Express.

"The terror did not stop there. Fearing that the Dalits would file an FIR against them, the caste Hindus surrounded their houses and refused to let them out. Those who had got into state transport buses were also forcibly made to step down.

"Sources said Mukkulam sub-inspector Ramaiah, who came to the village to enquire about the incident, also had to bear the brunt of upper caste fury. The man in khaki was reportedly let off only after he told them that he belonged to their caste. He was transferred the same night, the sources added.

"Muniyandi was again beaten up by a 40-member group with slippers and sticks when he tried to meet his wife Pappa at a nearby house. Around 6 pm, he managed to escape to Kariapatti, 20 km away, when his wife wrapped him in her sari and smuggled him into a bus.

"On October 4, some 37 Dalit families similarly made their way to Kariapatti, where they enjoy some protection from some Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) activists, in small groups with just the clothes on their back. They now stay in a makeshift shelter. 'We have been reduced to begging for rice, pulses and vegetables and it is about 20 days since our children went to school,' they said.

"VCK councillor Iniyavan said the district administration and the police were not taking any steps for the rehabilitation of the families. 'As is the practice, the police filed the first FIR against the Dalits and then filed one against the caste Hindus,' he added.

"The Dalit villagers said none of the district officials had bothered to visit them and enquire about their plight. The police too had not taken any action on the FIR filed against the caste Hindus.

"'As the upper caste people have served an ultimatum on us, it is impossible for us to return to our village,' they added."

CASTE OPPRESSION OF CHRISTIANS, BY FELLOW CHRISTIANS

Dalit Christians to walk out of Eraiyur village (Express Buzz)

"Eraiyur was under media spotlight last year when the Dalits of the parish were on a fast-unto-death in March. They alleged that Vanniyars [an upper-caste Christian community] were not allowing Dalits to use the pathway to the cemetry and not sharing with them the cemetry and the hearse. Vanniyars had their separate burial ground and own hearse to cart the dead there.

"Besides, they had raised their voice against the sacred car with the idol of Our Lady of Rosary, taken out through the village streets during the main festival in May, not visiting Dalit colonies and the around 1,000 Dalit congregation not being allowed to contribute money for the conduct of the festival.

"When the protest in March last year led to a police firing, killing two persons, a peace meeting was called and the archdiocese of Puducherry and Cuddalore gave an assurance to put an end to the discrimination.

"But other than the common pathway issue, nothing else has been sorted out. A new hearse provided to the parish has not been touched by the Vanniyars, who have made one exclusively for themselves."

See also:

A house divided: Caste violence at Eraiyur in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district brings to the fore the issue of discrimination against Dalit Christians (Frontline, April 12-25, 2008):

"Dalit Christians of the village have been on a fast since March 7 demanding that the Archbishop recognise the Sagaya Matha Chapel they had built for a new Dalit parish in the village. Their complaint was that they were not treated as equals by the Vanniar Christians within the Church of Our Lady of Rosary, the present Eraiyur parish church, located in the centre of Eraiyur. Archbishop Anthony Aanandarayar was firm that there could not be two churches for the same order in one village.

"On the third day of the fast, on March 9, angry Vanniar Christians carrying sticks, poles, iron rods, stones and other weapons stormed the Dalit colony in the village. Over 30 Dalits were injured and about 80 of their houses were damaged."

And see anti-caste: CHRISTIANS IN TAMIL NADU VILLAGE TREATING OTHER CHRISTIANS AS UNTOUCHABLE (June 12, 2009)

MEDIEVAL BIGOTRY IN TAMIL NADU CITY

Madurai's wall of shame still stands (NDTV)

"Six months ago, the state government chose to open a separate ration shop for Dalits than acting tough against the dominant Pillai community. There's also a school and a road meant strictly for Dalits only.

"'When we go to the shop, even if our dress touches them they'd take a shower because we are untouchables,' said a woman."

TABOO AGAINST SHARING DRINKING VESSELS IN A TAMIL NADU VILLAGE

Double-tumbler system alive and kicking (Express News Service)

"Express witnessed the discrimination at a teashop there. While Dalits were offered tea in disposable tumblers, caste Hindus got their hot beverage in steel tumblers. The Dalits didn’t muster courage to seek equal treatment.

"Azhagupandi, a Dalit from the village, told Express that though no one talks about the double-tumbler system existing here, the reality was it still exists, but remains subtle. 'One has to live with us to experience the discrimination we are subjected to,' he said."

Oklahoma City, 1939: "colored"-only water cooler
(Amistad Digital Resource)

NEITHER EDUCATION NOR CLASS POSITION ERASES CASTE STATUS

Doctors work together, but eat by caste (NDTV)

"By day, they work together, consulting with each other to help their patients.

"But at lunch, the 150 doctors at this medical college in Muzaffarpur [Bihar] head to seven separate rooms.

"The menu in each cafeteria is the same. Daal, rice, sabzi. But 'the kitchens are separate for Harijans, Thakurs and Brahmins,' says Shatrughan Rai, who works as a cook in the Yadav kitchen, one he describes as a kitchen for a backward class.

"The doctors say this is a tradition. 'Our seniors followed it. Now we do,' declares Dr. Aditya, who refuses to reveal his caste.

"The kitchen and dining rooms were separated at the height of the caste movement in Bihar in the 60s and 70s.

"The call for change is not deafening, even though the majority of the doctors today are from lower castes. They say they have to proceed with caution. 'It has been happening for a long, long time. It's not our choice, but a tradition. The government should intervene and stop it,' says Dr. Raman, President, and Junior Doctors' Association.

"The principal of the college insists that doctors eat together. A few hours later, we witness them filing into their separate cafeterias."

See also:

Caste-based food served at Muzaffarpur medical college (Times of India, September 14, 2009)

SOCIAL DISTANCE ENFORCED WITH HORRIFYING BIGOTED ASSAULT

Dalit tonsured, paraded for dialling wrong number (Times of India)

"A Dalit youth was beaten, tonsured and paraded through the streets in a Haryana village — for dialling a wrong number. Narrating his ordeal to the police on Wednesday, Suresh, a resident of Dani Ramjas in Bhiwani district, said, 'I was trying the telephone number of one of my acquaintances on Monday when I inadvertently dialled the number of Dharam Singh (another villager). The moment I realized my mistake, I apologized immediately and disconnected the phone.'

"The apology, however, did not help. 'On Tuesday, Dharam and his friends, numbering six, humiliated me publicly when I was on my way to Siwani town. They tonsured me after lifting and carrying me away bodily. That done, they tied me to a motorcycle and paraded me through the streets, thrashing me intermittently,' Suresh said."

"Not stopping at that, his tormentors threatened him with dire consequences if he reported the matter to police, he said. The police are yet to register a case though the Dalits have demanded action against the perpetrators."

COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT FOR BOY'S LETTER IN A SEGREGATED VILLAGE

In Anekal, a love letter isolates a community (DNA)

"'The 15-year-old [dalit] boy's letter to the eight standard [upper-caste] girl enraged the girl's relatives. They came to our kheri and picked up a fight and bashed up at least eight members of our community,' a girl from the Dalit kheri told DNA.

"The Dalits thought it was over but the next day, when some women from their community went to fetch water from the farm, they were told to leave. 'They said they won't give water to people from the Dalit community. They abused us, and asked us how a boy from our community could dare to write a love letter,' the girl added.

"It got worse. The Dalits were shooed away from tea shops in the village. They were told to stay away from Gowda farms, from where they were drawing water. Nobody in the Dalit kheri wants to talk about the incident."

UNTOUCHABLE SCHOOLCHILDREN MADE TO DO DEGRADING CASTE-BASED WORK

Dalit students protest against manual scavenging (Times of India)

"Bharatkumar Chandubhai, 13, who lives in Aslali village said, 'I study in a government school in my village. Even I faced the wroth of being a Dalit. I am told to clean up urinals in my school once a week.'"

See also:

Dalit children treated as manual scavengers in Gujarat (CNN-IBN, August 18, 2009):

"'We have to drag away dead animals like cats and dogs. We are paid Rs 20 or Rs 25,' said another Dalit boy Jagdish Harijan."

DIRTY WORK FOR "UNCLEAN" WORKERS IN DELHI

Most sanitation workers unaware of their rights: survey (Press Trust of India)

"The study, conducted by a team of city-based think tank Indian Social Institute, found that 97 per cent of the 'safai karamcharies' in Delhi do not know about the 1993 Act that prohibits employment of manual scavengers.

"It also revealed that though nearly all of the over 50,000 sanitation workers belong to the Dalit community, 88 per cent of them were unaware of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which was enacted way back in 1989."

UNTOUCHABLE WOMEN ATTACKED BY LANDLORD FOR REFUSING WORK

Car runs over Dalit women (The Statesman (Kolkata))

"Just days after a woman was stripped in public, an influential upper caste landlord ran a car over seven Dalit women for refusing to work in his farmland. The shocking incident took place in Sheikhpura district of Bihar last evening.

"Police said a local landlord Sonu Singh asked a group of female labourers to work in his field at low wages which the latter refused. Sources said, when the Dalit women were returning home in the evening after work, the accused drove his Ambassador car over them, injuring all the seven women. The injured have been admitted to the local government hospital in Sheikhpura.

[...]

"This is the third major incident of atrocities on women in the last one week. On Saturday, a Dalit woman was stripped and beaten up after her goat strayed into the field of a landlord in Sitamarhi district."

SURVEY CONDUCTED ACROSS RURAL INDIA FINDS NAKED UNTOUCHABILITY

Untouchability alive in rural areas: Study (Times of India)

"Dalit participation in social activities has improved, with 591 invited for wedding feasts. But the improvement stops there. Around 29% said they wait for others to finish eating before they can eat while 20% non-SCs said they expected SCs to wash their plates after eating.

"The primitive manifestations of untouchability still exist, even if they are on the wane. In the survey, 7% respondents said they were barred from entering main streets of villages while 7% said they could not wear sandals and walk in front of a dominant caste member. In fact, 9% revealed they had to talk with folded hands and 29% said they had to stand up in respect.

"A sore point of old caste segregation was bar on entry of SCs in non-Dalit houses. While 82% revealed they were allowed in, around 18% were still not.

"A big section of non-SCs said they would not allow SCs into their houses while an equal number refused to comment, showing the sensitivity was not easy to overcome. SC women work as maids in other caste homes but a majority said they were not allowed inside. Many in Karnataka, MP and Rajasthan named Brahmins and Konkani castes as barring their entry while in Bengal, 34 different OBCs were identified.

"As many as 20% said they were not served food and water in non-Dalit homes while 24% claimed being served in separate vessels. At least 25% non-SCs concurred with the claim.

"Dalit children are still growing with the stigma of being from inferior class. While seating arrangements are common in schools, SC kids in many cases are asked to take the back benches. Also, many are served midday meals separately from other children.

"The bias showed when over 40% non-SC respondents agreed there were no SC teachers in their village schools.

"Vestiges of mediaeval society became apparent when upper castes and OBCs, if only a handful, revealed they served SCs in towels or their upper garments; while some poured water directly into the cupped Dalit hands for drinking instead of giving a tumbler. A few cases showed that barbers used separate instruments for haircut of Dalits.

"The survey was carried out in six states and 24 villages, a mix of those with highest and lowest crimes under PCR Act. [...]

"For all the empowerment, Dalits in the countryside are still forced into services seen as 'menial' — 154 of 553 Dalits performed drumbeating, 42 grave digging while 97 were into making chappals [leather sandals]. As many as 78 said they were asked to carry out animal sacrifice and 57 said they were sweepers."

And see:

Drink your own water, dead dog or no (Times of India, July 31, 2009):

"Citing one instance, the study says a dog had fallen into this well and died. The dalits were left with no option, but to consume the toxic water after removing the carcass. 'Even in such inhuman conditions, dalits are not allowed to enter the main part of the village and fetch water from the tubewells situated inside the village, where the upper castes live,' the study says."

UPPER-CASTE PARENTS WON'T SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL WHERE UNTOUCHABLE WOMAN COOKS LUNCHES

Low school attendance as Thakurs and Dalits at loggerheads (Times of India)

"On Monday, the team TOI found that out of the total 62 students barely 26, mostly Dalit and Muslim were eating the meal. The remaining 36 students were found to be absent from their respective classes, in order to avoid eating the meal being prepared by a Dalit.

"The situation has worsened to such an extent that now both the Dalit and Thakur communities of the village are at loggerheads over the issue.

"'We have now learnt that parents of Dalit students have even further threatened to withdraw their wards, if any attempt to remove the Dalit cook will be made by the authorities,' said a school teacher on condition of anonymity.

[...]

"Meanwhile, the upper caste people of the village said that there is no question of sending children to school, where a woman belonging to scheduled caste has been appointed by the school authorities to cook food for their children.

"'Us school mein apne bacchon ko bhejkar hame apna hukka-paani nahi band karwana hai,' said a villager, Ram Pal Singh adding that we will not allow our children to even touch the food."

See also yet another instance of this form of bigotry:

UP school sacks dalit cook after students refuse to eat (DNA, August 27, 2009)

And see anti-caste: MAYAWATI'S GOVERNMENT UPHOLDS FIRING OF UNTOUCHABLE OVER CASTE-BASED TABOO (February 27, 2008)

150 YEARS AGO TODAY, LOW-CASTE NADAR WOMEN IN KERALA WON THE RIGHT TO COVER THEIR BREASTS

A struggle for decent dress by R. Ayyappan (Express Buzz)

"The victory of the Channar Lahala or the Upper Cloth Mutiny (Maaru Marakkal Samaram), after half-a-century of violent struggle, is widely seen as the transformative event that triggered a wave of renaissance movements that shaped modern Kerala.

"'Cries for equality began to rise not just from various parts of Kerala, but from the whole of South India after the Channar Mutiny. The agitation to end ‘oozhiyam vela’ or work without pay, the agitation to secure entry into temples, the agitation to secure the right to walk on public roads, all these struggles that went on to change the face of Kerala were inspired by the success of the Upper Cloth Mutiny,' writes historian Joy Balan Vlaathangara in his book ‘Vaikuntaswamiyum Samoohika Navothanavum’. [...]

"It was western influence and the work of Christian missionaries like Charles Meed and Malt during the early part of the 19th century that revealed to the Nadars the indignity of their existence.

"There are historical accounts of labourers who had migrated to Sri Lanka to work in colonial tea plantations returning with enough money to lead European lifestyles. Converted Nadars, too, started wearing upper clothes and saw it as a sign of social progress.

"The upper castes, including the royalty, did not take kindly to these progressive thoughts. An account says that a lower caste lady who went to the palace of the Attingal Rani wearing an upper cloth had her breasts chopped off by royal decree. Out on the streets, the upper castes unleashed violence on Christian Nadar women who had their breasts covered."

July 26, 1859: declaration by ruler of the princely state of Travancore (modern Kerala)

HANDLING THE DEAD IS STILL CASTE DUTY OF UNTOUCHABLES

Bringing Out the Dead (Tehelka)

"Across Tamil Nadu, mortuary work seems to be set aside exclusively for dalits. The only members in post-mortem rooms from other castes, are doctors. Due to an acute shortage of mortuary staff, hospitals engage casual workers to do autopsies and to remove unclaimed bodies, in addition to using the services of the in-house sanitary workers. Casual workers too are mostly relatives of dalits working in the hospitals. Their only source of income is the occasional ‘tip’ from relatives of the deceased who come to collect the bodies after post-mortem. [...]

"Among permanent hospital workers, few non-dalits volunteer for mortuary duty. “Only dalits are assigned work in mortuaries. Others refuse to work there. For them, it is taboo to even touch dead bodies,” says Viduthalai Veeran, a dalit activist. Veeran is a senior leader of Adhi Thamizhar Peravai, an outfit that works among Arunthathiyars, a dalit sub-sect in Tamil Nadu.

"Many Arunthathiyars are employed as sweepers and scavengers in municipal corporations and other local bodies. They also work in government hospitals doing the same work. Many take up the work after futile hunts for ‘respectable’ jobs."

PEOPLE WITH LOW STATUS ARE EASY PREY TO MONEYLENDERS

1,337 Dalit families deprived of houses (Express Buzz)

"Gowri, of Dharmapuri pan chayat, had borrowed Rs 2,000 from one Pavun Thevar and repaid Rs 1,500. The moneylender had calculated an interest of Rs 12,000 as the balance amount and seized her land and house.

"In most cases, backward class and low-income groups, mainly the Arundhathiyars [an untouchable caste], fell prey to these usurious moneylenders, who get their thumbprint on plain bond paper. This is later filled in with whatever they want.

"Hapless victims pledge documents such as ration cards, bonds of LIC and Provident Fund, bank passbooks and even ATM cards.

"Most of these usurers belong to caste Hindus and are either from the locality or neighbouring districts like Madurai. There have been instances of moneylenders compelling women debtors for sex, AMMI activists said.

"On many occasions, husbands who borrowed the money flee the village leaving the women to bear the brunt. An adolescent girl near Bodi attempted suicide after being sexually assaulted by a lender.

"There have been cases of suicides near Periyakulam and Muthurengapuram of Andipatti region because of torture from moneylenders."

REPORT ON CASTE-BASED DISCRIMINATION IN SCHOOLS

Dalit kids cannot use school loo but have to clean them (Times of India)

"The report says physical access to schools is the biggest problem for Dalit children. In Bihar, UP and Rajasthan, most of the schools are situated in the dominant caste localities and Dalit children have to travel on an average half-an-hour to reach school. In the case of middle and high schools, Dalit children have to travel almost 3-4 kilometres in all the states. It is only in Maharashtra that Dalit children do not have to travel that far. But here too, the schools are located in dominant caste areas.

"Asked why they came late to school, Dalit children gave various reasons including household chores, school distance, inability to keep track of school time and also the fact that they had to wait for other friends to go in a group due to fear from dominant caste children. In the school, it was found that participation of Dalit children was minimal. The morning assembly was invariably always conducted by upper caste children. In the class, Dalit children were made to sit at the back and in some schools of Bihar on the barren floor while mats were given to upper caste children. Even the notebooks and homework of the Dalit children were not checked by teachers.

"As per the report, Dalit children in UP were also assigned menial caste-based tasks like cleaning the yard, filling up water buckets and cleaning the toilets. This led to other children treating them badly and considering them inferior. And what was shocking was that Dalit girl children were seldom allowed to use toilets. Dalit children are kept out of even functions like Independence Day."

See also:

Kerala: Dalits discriminated against in schools: study (The Hindu, August 3, 2009)

CHRISTIANS IN TAMIL NADU VILLAGE TREATING OTHER CHRISTIANS AS UNTOUCHABLE

Bigotry alive for Christian Dalits (BBC)

"The dominant Vanniyar [Christian]s created rules which restricted the movement of the Dalit [Christian]s.

"When they visited the parish church they were not allowed to walk on the main street leading to the building. Instead they had to use a side street that led to the church gate.

"When Dalits died they were not allowed to be buried in the cemetery. Their burial ground is beyond the village and can only be accessed through a broken path.

"In addition, the funeral cart parked inside the church building can be used only by Vanniyars.

"'We were told not to touch any upper caste person, not to get too close to them, not to talk to them,'" says Mrs Peraiyamaka, 60, a farm labourer who has been visiting the parish church since childhood.

"'It is no different now.'"

ARMED GROUP OF SIKH FUNDAMENTALISTS ATTACK UNTOUCHABLE SECT IN VIENNA

Is caste behind the killing in Vienna and riots in Punjab? (Reuters)

"'Via Vienna, Sikh caste war returns, sets Punjab aflame' ran the headline of the Hindustan Times.

"The preacher, Guru Sant Rama Nand, 57, was killed in a gurdwara in the Austrian capital in an attack by six men armed with knives and a gun.

"He was from the Dera Sach Khand, a religious sect separate from mainstream Sikhism that has a large support base of Indian Dalits, or “untouchables”, and other lower castes.

"The leader of Dera Sach Khand, Guru Sant Niranjan Das, 68, was wounded in the attack.

"The thousands who went on the rampage in Punjab on Monday were mainly Dalits. Authorities have imposed a curfew in parts of the state, in which three protesters died on Monday in clashes with security forces.

"The Dera Sach Khand sect was inspired by the 15th century spiritual leader Ravidas, himself from a lower caste. It differs from mainstream Sikhism, for example, in that it reveres living gurus such as Sant Niranjan Das. Some pious Sikhs find this concept offensive.

"Sikhism does not recognise caste, but 'the clash in a Vienna gurdwara and the mob fury are yet another manifestation of simmering discontent that Dalits in Punjab feel due to increasing social inequality and oppression in a society that was supposed to be free of it,' writes the Times of India."

See also:

Making Sense of the Ravi Dasis by Surinder S. Jodhka (Kafila):

"The recent attack on the head of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in one of their gurudwaras in Vienna and the ensuing shoot-out between Dalit and non-Dalit Sikhs, spilling over in India into angry street demonstrations in Jalandhar by followers of Dera Sachkhand and other Dalit bodies, forces us to confront the question of caste in contemporary Punjab. We asked SURINDER S. JODHKA, sociologist and Director, Institute of Dalit Studies, who works in this area, to give us a background note."

SEGREGATION OF UNTOUCHABLES STILL REINFORCED WITH BRICKS IN TAMIL NADU VILLAGE

Everybody’s walled up against Dalits here (DNA)

"Uthapuram has the most humble of demands. The 3,000 Dalits who live in this sun-burnt village off the Madurai-Theni highway seek the shade of a neem tree that stands in the courtyard of the Mutharamman temple. The administration, however, is reluctant to demolish the long wall that was built by upper caste men to keep Dalits away from the temple and their colony.

"'We had decided not to vote. Then the district collector called us for talks and assured us that everything will be taken care of once the elections are over,' says Sundara Pandi, whose father died in a caste clash in 1989. Six Dalits were killed — either by the upper caste Pillais or the police — when they tried to build a bus shelter at the only opening to their hamlet.

"The 20-year-old 'theendamai chevaru' (untouchability wall) was built by the Pillais to cut off Dalits from the rest of the village. It reduces their access to the road to one muddy opening. The Dalits wanted a bus shelter to protect themselves from the sun. But they were denied that. Just before CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat’s visit here in October 2008, the local administration forced open a small passage through the wall at another spot.

"'We don’t use that path unless we move in a group,' says Mari Muthu, who expects more trouble any time. The community marks time by the many clashes — in 1962, 1989, 1991 and 2008, when the police chased away all men and took into custody all women and children in the Dalit quarters."

See anti-caste: TAMIL NADU VILLAGE DIVIDED ON CASTE LINES (May 4, 2008)

REPORT: UNTOUCHABILITY IS COMMONPLACE IN MADYA PRADESH SCHOOLS

Apartheid funded by the Indian tax-payer (Hindustani Times)

"According to a survey on social discrimination conducted by Jansahas, an NGO, and Unicef, in 24 villages across four districts – Ujjain, Sheopur, Katni and Jhabua – in Madhya Pradesh, more than 63 per cent of Dalit children are subjected to caste discrimination while being served mid-day meals in government schools.

"They are forced to sit in separate rows, bring utensils from home or given food in plates marked boldly with permanent ink to distinguish them from the rest.

“'As many as 40 per cent of Dalit students facing discrimination were given mid-day meals in plates specially set aside for them,' Jansahas activist Ashif Sheikh told Hindustan Times.

"While some were asked to bring utensils from home, most were served their mid-day meals on leaf plates. Non-Dalits, however, were served on metal plates.

"The survey found that most teachers were insensitive to the discrimination against Dalits because of caste-based traditions being followed in rural areas, he said.

"In a majority of the schools surveyed, Dalit students were not allowed to sit in the front row. As many as 78 per cent of school-going Dalit students were backbenchers or forced away from the front row and subjected to casteist abuses.

"And 79 per cent of such students were compelled to clean the schools. In some schools, this chore was given only to Dalit girls."

MANY UNTOUCHABLES DENIED VOTING RIGHTS IN NATIONAL ELECTIONS

Dalits in India face attacks and intimidation in polls, fear more violence to come (Minority Rights Group International)

"In the last two phases of voting NCDHR’s National Dalit Election Watch (NDEW) has recorded 263 incidents of election violence against Dalits, formerly known as ‘untouchables’ in India. The violence manifests in several forms with Dalits being threatened, abused and prevented from voting and also violently attacked after the polls.

"According to NDEW the largest number of incidents was recorded in Bihar, which so far has been one of the areas worst affected by post election violence. In one horrific incident on 23 April, 74 houses in Musahar (Dalit) Tola in Ranti Panchayat (Madhubani District of Bihar), housing over 300 people, were burnt down. Another 70 houses were looted.

"In Andhra Pradesh in Guntur district on the same day a ‘social boycott’ was imposed on a village barring Dalits from shopping or accessing any village services.

"Before elections Dalit communities are threatened and ordered not to vote or vote for candidates against their choice. On some occasions they have found their names deleted from voting lists and/or their proof of identity has not been accepted at the polling station preventing them from voting.

"In Orissa, which saw a spate of attacks against Dalit Christians throughout 2008, politicians ‘threatened to cut off people’s hands, burn houses, and chase them out of the village, if they did not vote as instructed,’ NDEW reports."

See also:

Dalits harassed, stopped from casting vote (Hindustan Times, June 27, 2009):

"A just-released report has claimed that 499 Dalits from 264 constituencies across 13 states were not allowed to cast their votes during the recently concluded 15th Lok Sabha polls."

TALKING ABOUT CASTE IN INDIA

From the personal blog of a young Indian-American woman working in Gujarat with an NGO that does social work among untouchables:

The Other Side of the Conversation (Living, Learning, and Serving)

"On the journey to the village, we began discussing some of the challenges the staff members faced in their work. Again and again, they said the most difficult thing for them was to stand directly in front of non-Dalits speaking of their work and the reality of the injustices they saw. Though certainly not all, they said that many non-Dalits are still quick to deny the practice of untouchability.

"During the train ride on the way home that day, I saw exactly what the staff members meant. In our train compartment, some of the men began asking the Navsarjan fieldworker I was with who he was and what work he did. He was careful in his response -- initially only painting a broader picture of working on 'human rights.' After the other men pressed him further, 'What kinds of human rights?', he finally respond and said, 'We work on issues for whomever needs them, women, kids, or Dalits--'

"At that point, the rest of the men started retaliating, denying the practice of untouchability and claiming that the fieldworker's work was meaningless. It was an intense argument - 1 against 7! - where they accused the fieldworker of working with criminals and saying that his work was unto no purpose!

"In my seven months in Ahmedabad, I have so clearly seen the impact of untouchability practices and a number of caste-based atrocities on Dalits throughout India. I simply can't deny that these practices continue unabated. Hearing the men's perspectives on the train was certainly hard to swallow -- Is there any room for dialogue and reconciliation when denial is so rampant?"

INSTITUTIONALIZED UNTOUCHABILITY IN TAMIL NADU RESTAURANTS

‘Double tumbler’ system still in vogue here (The Hindu)

"B. Veerabadran, a Dalit youth from Mavanatti village, told The Hindu that owners of eateries kept plastic tumblers near bins outside their shops. Mr. Veerabadran said Dalits were served tea or coffee in these tumblers. After drinking tea they had to wash the tumblers themselves and keep them at the designated place – near the bin. The tea would be poured to the tumblers by the hoteliers [hotel=restaurant in Indian English] who would take care not to touch them.

"Many times the food joints do not give Dalits tea or coffee even if the shops have enough milk, sugar and tea or coffee powder.

"Young members of the community find it hard to bear this. 'Why do we have to face this humiliation? We want the state government to totally eradicate untouchability in society. We want to sit with others in hotels,' they said. They alleged that when they complained to the police about this practice and atrocities against them the police intimidated them and foisted false cases on them."

IN AFTERMATH OF POGROMS, THREATS BY HINDU RIGHT KEEP UNTOUCHABLE CHRISTIANS FROM THEIR HOMES

Over 3,000 still in Orissa camps (The Hindu)

"More than seven months after Orissa’s tribal-dominated Kandhamal district experienced widespread anti-Christian violence, 3,100 people belonging to the minority community are still living in relief camps being run by the administration.

"About 25,000 people took shelter in 19 relief camps when communal violence was at its peak in the district in the aftermath of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four others on August 23 last.

"The number of people living in the camps has decreased slowly but the 3,100 people in six camps are not willing to leave as they are being told by the communal forces that they can return to their homes only as Hindus."

NEW BOOK ON THE HINDU RIGHT'S POGROMS AGAINST UNTOUCHABLE CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA

quoted in VIOLENT GODS: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present – Narratives from Orissa by Angana P. Chatterji (Three Essays Collective, 2009):

“We did not convert because we are poor. If I am poor but accepted by my community, there is no [social] terror in that poverty.... We did not convert for money. We converted because of the society that saw us as lesser, not worthy. We were ‘lower caste’, ‘untouchable’, ‘lowly’. Now we are Christian. Our god wants us. We can walk into his temple. We are worthy. You understand?” [Spoken by a Dalit convert in Orissa.]

from the publisher:

"This pioneering research was conducted between 2002-2008 in urban and rural settings in the eastern state of Orissa, a primary arena for the onslaught of organized Hindu majoritarianism. Through situated reflection, storytelling, and ethnographic accounts, this genealogical excavation examines Hindutva/Hindu supremacist proliferations in manufacturing imaginative and identitarian agency for violent nationalism."

See also:

interview with Agana Chatterji on Violent Gods (ZNet)

And see anti-caste: ORISSA: HINDU-RIGHT ATROCITIES.

REPORT ON ANTI-UNTOUCHABLE, ANTI-CHRISTIAN ATTACKS BY HINDU RIGHT IN ORISSA AND KARNATAKA

From Kandhamal to Karavali: The Ugly Face of Sangh Parivar (Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, Human Rights Forum, Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights, Peoples Democratic Forum, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Karnataka State Unit, Federation for Peoples Rights, Committee for Protection of Civil Liberties, Peoples Union for Human Rights, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights)

"This is a report prepared jointly by a number of Rights Organisations and individuals on the large scale violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka during August-September 2008. The violence was committed by Sangh Parivar organisations, mainly the Bajrang Dal. Their political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) happens to be in power in both the States, and that has ensured that the police watched benignly as the arson and murder took place in public. The ideology and the organization of their mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), pervades the media in both the States to such an extent that with a few honorable exceptions, the Press has reported the violence in a manner that puts the onus on the victims: they were at fault and had it coming."

ROUTINE BRUTALITY CAUGHT ON VIDEOTAPE

UP Dalit girl was beaten over a false complaint of theft by police (Zee News)

"It now turns out that the six-year old Dalit girl Komal was brutally beaten up by the police, television images of which sent shockwaves across the country, on a false complaint of theft.

"The theft case against her with the Jaswantnagar police has been dropped and a case under CrPC 182 for registering a fake complaint has been lodged against Anju Katheria, police said.

"Katheria had alleged that Komal had stolen Rs.280 [about US$6] from her wallet at a market in Jaswantpur area."

See also:

Cop’s merciless “bravery” on six-year-old girl (Digital Journal, February 3, 2009):

"The video showed that a sub-inspector was beating the girl by pulling her ears and hair over and over again and once grabbed her hair and kept her hanging in the air, while the girl was crying in pain. One Inspector and six other policemen just looked on.

"However police initially tried to justify the incident.

"'A crime has been committed here. The offender is a minor. Cash worth Rs 280 has been stolen. The girls has confessed to the crime. She was handed over to the police by the person whose money was stolen. It's significant that the police have seized the cash. If the police resorted to unfair means in dealing with the girl, I will seek appropriate probe,' said Kripashankar Singh, special superintendent of police, Etawah."

And see:

Cops are villains who make our lives miserable: Street children (NDTV)

ATROCITY IN MADYA PRADESH

Indian girl beaten to death because mother took water from well without washing feet (Telegraph (UK))

"Saroj Lal, 25, was first turned away from the handpump in Adrouni village in Madhya Pradesh, when she approached wearing slippers. A higher caste villager told her Dalits were dirty and not allowed to draw water without first washing their hands and feet.

"He began abusing her over her low caste until she left to complain at the local police station along with her husband and daughter. According to police, the villager, known as Makhan, called six of his friends and headed them off en route. He attacked Saroj, grabbed her baby and threw her to the floor, killing her instantly."

CONGRESS-LED GOVT'S NEW "ANTI-TERROR" LAWS THREATEN WORKERS, MUSLIMS, SIKHS, UNTOUCHABLES WITH STATE TERROR

New Anti-Terror Laws Draconian, Say Activists by Praful Bidawi (IPS)

"Parliament - meeting under the shadow of the November 26-29 attacks on India’s commercial hub resulting in close to 200 deaths - approved the legislations on Thursday with no considered debate and the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pushing them past amendments tabled by several parliamentarians.

"One law, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, seeks to establish a new police organisation to investigate acts of terrorism and other statutory offences.

"The other, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Act, radically changes procedures for trying those accused of terrorism, extends the periods of police custody and of detention without charges, denies bail to foreigners, and the reverses the burden of proof in many instances.

[...]

"'The UAPA Act is particularly vile, and will have the effect of turning India into a virtual police state,' says Colin Gonsalves, executive director of the Delhi-based Human Rights Law Network. 'It basically brings back a discredited law, the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2002 (POTA), except for admitting confessions made to a police officer as legal evidence.'

"POTA was an extremely unpopular law, which the UPA government abrogated upon coming to power in 2004 in response to innumerable complaints of its selective and discriminatory use against India's Muslim minority, and its cavalier and irresponsible application to offences not even remotely connected with terrorism.

[...]

"In its desperation to be seen to be taking a tough stand against terrorism, the Manmohan Singh government also tabled the NIA Bill earlier this week. The new agency will specifically investigate offences related to atomic energy, aviation and maritime transport, weapons of mass destruction, and Left-wing extremism, besides terrorism.

"Significantly, it excludes Right-wing terrorism, which has become a greater menace in India.

[...]

"POTA and its predecessor, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), were extensively abused. They typically targeted the religious minorities, specifically Muslims, and allowed for their harassment and persecution.

"The TADA story is especially horrifying. Some 67,000 people were arrested under it, but only 8,000 put on trial, and a mere 725 convicted.

"Official TADA Review Committees themselves found the law’s application untenable in all but 5,000 cases. In 1993, Gujarat witnessed no terrorism, but more than 19,000 people were still arrested under TADA.

"Religious minorities were selectively targeted under both Acts. For instance, in Rajasthan, of 115 TADA detainees, 112 were Muslims and three Sikhs.

"Gujarat had a worse pattern under POTA, when all but one of the 200-plus detainees were Muslims, the remaining one a Sikh.

"The passing of the two new laws is certain to increase the alienation of India's Muslims from the state. They have been the principal victims of India's anti-terrorism strategy and activities in recent years.

"Muslims are first to be arrested and interrogated after any terrorist incident, even when the victims are Muslims, and although strong evidence has recently emerged of a well-ramified pro-Hindu terrorist network, in which serving and retired army officers were found to be key players."

See also, on UAPA's predecessors:

Anti-terror laws: Tools of state terror (People's Union for Civil Liberties, March 2007):

"A survey of TADA cases reveals many instances of false arrests, police excesses, and extortion. People were imprisoned under the act for matters entirely unconnected with violent political acts. In 1987, six workers of Reliance Industries Limited in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, were arrested under TADA for legitimate trade union activity."

REGISTERED ATROCITIES AGAINST UNTOUCHABLES GOING UP

Atrocities on SC/ST (Government of India Press information Bureau)

"The number of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was 31,387 in the year 2005, 32,407 in the year 2006 and 35,352 in the year 2007."

FIFTEEN-YEAR OLD BEATEN AND THROWN UNDER A TRAIN

Teenager murdered for writing love letter to girl of higher caste (The Times (London))

"Manish died because he was a member of the Ravidas community, a Dalit sub-caste that has been confined historically to working with leather – a profession deemed unclean by Hindus, for whom cows are sacred.

"Another term by which the group is known, chamar, is considered a grave insult.

"Three months ago the boy sent a letter 'expressing his interest' in a girl from the Dhobi community, another Dalit sub-caste, which has traditionally washed clothes for a living – but is fractionally above the Ravidas in the Hindu hierarchy. The note was discovered by the girl’s parents."

UNTOUCHABILITY AND WATER RIGHTS

In most parts of India, where water for drinking and irrigation is scarce, control of water sources is an index of class dominance, which is linked in turn to caste status. And in the ritual scheme which legitimizes the caste system, water is a carrier of the pollution that lower castes and untouchables spread.

So water rights in the Indian countryside is a chronic site of caste oppression, which, when resisted—as it increasingly is—often leads to atrocities like the ones collected below, all from the past eleven months. In no way exceptional, these stories stand in for any number of others that might have been chosen, as well as for countless more that surely never made it into the press:

Uttar Pradesh, January 16: The upper castes are not allowing Dalits to draw water for irrigation from a government tubewell.

Rajastan, January 26: When Dalits won the right to use the village pond, caste Hindus turned it into a sewer.

Orissa, March 26: Upper caste residents allegedly denied a woman from drawing water from a tube well because she was a Dalit.

Bihar, May 6: A Dalit youth was tortured and beaten to death for allegedly stealing a water pump.

Himachal Pradesh, May 13: They are prevented to draw water from the village tube-wells and even to sit on verandas of the upper caste.

Bihar, May 30: In the scorching summer, Janpatia Devi's family doesn't have a drop to drink. That's because she is a Dalit, and the well in the village meant only for her community has gone dry.

Madya Pradesh, June 6: An elderly Dalit woman was burnt alive allegedly by three members of an upper caste community over a dispute on fetching water from a village hand pump.

Uttar Pradesh, June 9: 15-year-old Daya Shankar and three fellow villagers were arrested for allegedly trying to capture a tanker delivering drinking water to their village.

Gujarat, July 31: If there is water in a well, Dalits have to wait for other villagers as we can't touch their wells.

Karnataka, November 8: The “upper castes” in the village had stopped the supply of water from a tank located in the Dalit colony on the grounds that the water from the tank was not fit to be used to conduct puja [Hindu ritual worship].

Uttar Pradesh, November 12: An old Dalit woman was beaten up by upper caste people for using a hand pump installed in their locality to draw water.

UNTOUCHABLE STUDENTS ATTACKED ON CAMPUS

Caste clash rocks Law College (Indian Express)

"CHENNAI: Three students were seriously injured in a violent caste clash that broke out between two groups of students at Ambedkar Law College on Wednesday.

"The students waged a pitched battle, even as a posse of policemen waited outside the gates and news photographers clicked pictures.

"Knives, iron rods, wooden logs and tubelights were freely used by the clashing students. The police remained silent spectators, waiting for a call from the college principal for help."

The background of this unbelievable attack is as follows. A group of caste-Hindu students were putting up posters around campus for a celebration related to their own caste. On the posters the name of the college was given as "Government Law College," dropping the name "Dr. Ambedkar." B.R. Ambedkar was an untouchable leader who drafted the Indian constitution. Untouchable students confronted them about the omission, and a fight broke out. The caste-Hindu students threatened to prevent untouchable students from sitting for exams in two weeks' time to teach them a lesson. What happened on the day of the exam is captured in the picture above and even more graphically in the news video at this link: Blood bath in a law college.

See also:

Caste Violence in Ambedkar Law College, Chennai

Clashes at Law College: A Fact-Finding Report (November 24, 2008)

HINDU RIGHT LEADS FORCED CONVERSIONS OF UNTOUCHABLE CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA

Convert or we will kill you, Hindu lynch mobs tell fleeing Christians (Guardian (UK))

"The wave of forced conversions marks a dramatic escalation in a two-month orgy of sectarian violence which has left at least 59 people dead, 50,000 homeless and thousands of houses and churches burnt to the ground. As neighbour has turned on neighbour, thousands more Christians have sought sanctuary in refugee camps, unable to return to the wreckage of their homes unless they, too, agree to abandon their faith.

"Last week, in the worst-affected Kandhamal district, The Observer encountered compelling evidence of the scale of the violence employed in a conversion programme apparently sanctioned by members of one of the most powerful Hindu groups in India, the 6.8-million member Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) - the World Hindu Council."

See also anti-caste: ANOTHER MASS ATROCITY LED BY HINDU RIGHT AGAINST UNTOUCHABLE CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA

TEMPLE ENTRY: LANDOWNERS ENFORCE CASTE LAW AGAINST THE LANDLESS

Dalit killed for entering temple in Bihar (Times of India)

"In a shocking incident, one person was killed and two were injured when upper caste people allegedly shot at a person hailing from Dalit community who had gone to offer prasad to goddess Durga at Jiyar village of Bihar's Nalanda district."

See also:

Fear grips Bihar village after Dalit's killing (Calcutta News, October 13, 2008):

"Villagers said they were shocked and feared for their lives despite the deployment of security forces two days after the killing of Karu Paswan, a landless Dalit in Jiar-Pindpar village in Nalanda, about 100 km from here.

"'It is like living in water with crocodiles,' Sitwa Devi, a Dalit woman, said in Hindi.

KHAIRLANJI DEATH SENTENCES ARE NOTHING TO CELEBRATE

In this commentary S. Anand, publisher of Navayana books, sets the long-awaited verdict against those accused of taking part in the Khairlanji massacre (see anti-caste: KHAIRLANJI MASSACRE (September 29, 2006)) in perspective, and abhors the use of the death penalty—of which untouchables are disproportionate victims—even to punish a crime as inhuman as this one.

Understanding the Khairlanji Verdict by S. Anand (The Hindu, October 5, 2008)

"The Khairlanji Verdict, in which six persons were awarded the death penalty for the massacre of dalits, is anything but historic. In treating the massacre as a purely criminal act, it actually masks caste realities."

CASTE BIGOTRY IN INDIAN SCHOOLS GOES UNPUNISHED

Lessons from Khairlanji by Meena Menon (The Hindu)

"A somewhat strange purification ritual took place in Surewada village near Bhandara last April. Students appearing for a geography examination in the local school were taken aback when a teacher sprinkled what was suspected to be cow urine on them as well as their answer sheets. The headmaster and assistant teacher of the school were arrested under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The ritual was supposedly performed 'to purify' the school after the transfer of a Scheduled Caste headmistress.

"The case went to trial and on July 15, 2008, a special judge in Bhandara ruled that the charges under the Atrocities Act were not tenable and the prosecution had failed to establish that the liquid which was sprinkled on the students was cow urine. [...] The verdict in this instance is more the rule than the exception for offences under the Atrocities Act. According to an official report, 'Crime in Maharashtra, 2007,' by the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) released this year, the conviction rate under the Atrocities Act for 2007 was a minuscule 1.9 and for offences against Scheduled Castes it was 2.2 per cent. In 2007, the CID report says the rate of crime against Scheduled Castes was the highest in Bhandara district."

ANOTHER MASS ATROCITY LED BY HINDU RIGHT AGAINST UNTOUCHABLE CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA

Christians cower from Hindu backlash in India's east (Reuters)

"The mob poured kerosene on the thatched rooftops of the village homes, then threw matches. Church spires were hacked down.

"The Hindu part of the village was untouched. For four days Digal and his stricken Christian neighbors hid in the teak forests, before being herded to a government-run relief camp.

"The violence replicated itself in village after village, as the rural Kandhamal district of Orissa convulsed from some of the worst anti-Christian attacks in India.

"At least 16 people, mostly Christians were killed, churches destroyed and 10,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes as violence spread.

"Christians responded with some -- not proportionate -- violence. Almost all the villages Reuters visited bore evidence of attacks on Christians."

See anti-caste: HINDU RIGHT LEADS MASS ATROCITY AGAINST UNTOUCHABLE CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA (January 1, 2008)

See also:

Orissa: The sangh parivar’s reach for a Hindu state by Angana Chatterji (Communalism Combat)

Interim Report on Orissa: Concerned Citizens’ Independent Fact-Finding Mission, Sept 25, 2008

MUSLIM WOMEN DEFY DEGRADING CASTE-BASED DUTY

A change in an inhuman tradition (India Together)

"A prisoner of societal and familial pressure, Taslim was forced to continue being a manual scavenger. Her family threatened to throw her out of the house if she dared desist. 'If you do any other work you will have to work in the company of men. Women of our community carry night soil and stay at home. We shall leave you if you refuse. Don't play with our honour,' threatened her family members."

RAILWAY, ARMY, CITIES, AND MANY BUSINESSES BREAK THE LAW BY HIRING PEOPLE TO HANDLE SHIT

Scavenging dignity by Harsh Mander (The Hindu)

"The Ministry of Railways told the court that until they install washable aprons at stations and totally sealed toilet systems, 'manual scavenging cannot be totally eradicated', but offered no time frame. Many defence establishments flatly denied any dry latrines. Municipalities possibly threatened municipal employees to retract from their earlier affidavits and claim that were employed for other tasks.

"These official falsehoods have been nailed by moving, detailed affidavits, often with stomach-churning photographs, by countrywide activists of the Andolan. Many of these should be compulsory reading. From Ahra, Bihar, unlettered Dinesh Ram, now 15 years old, has been doing this work since he was nine. He tells the Court, 'I hate this work. I do not feel like doing it. But my problem is that I do not know any other work'. Ramrakhi, who has worked since she was 10, says, 'The gas emitted by the shit has spoilt my eyes, and my hands and feet also swell. It sticks to my hands and makes me nauseous'. Chinta Devi, like many others, says she hates this work, but has to pursue it to raise her children.

"Kokilaben, a sanitation worker in Kadi municipality in Mehsana, Gujarat, testifies in an affidavit to the Court, 'The human excreta discharged by people on the road is collected by me in a large bowl with the help of a broom and tin plate and stored in a trolley. When the trolley is full, I drag (this with the help of) my daughter and my husband… I carry the human excreta stored in plastic bucket on my head and while doing so the dirt falls on my body…I fall sick frequently… If I refuse to remove waste, I get suspended from duty by the Nagarpalika'."

PUNISHED FOR RESISTING RAPE

Dalit mother, daughter stripped in Ajmer [Rajastan] (NDTV)

"Their crime to deserve such treatment was that Phooli Bai resisted two Jat men, who wanted to forcibly take away her 16-year-old daughter, Ramkanya on Monday evening.

[...]

"Besides thrashing them, Phooli Bai said that they were stripped in full public view at Sihaar village in Ajmer.

"Phooli Bai said, 'They tore off my daughter's clothes and tried to drag her outside our home. When I tried to save her, they tore off my clothes also. They not only beat us badly but also shamed us in front of the whole village.'

"The tormentors even threw out the Dalit family from the village, threatening them with worse punishment if they told their plight to anyone.

"Since Tuesday the frightened Dalit family is sitting at the office of the Deputy Superintendent of police in Ajmer's Kekri town and they refuse to go back to their village for fear of losing their lives.

"Satya Narayan Kamad, Phooli Bai's husband said, 'As we have complained against them, our fear is that they will kill us. They won't spare us now.'"