iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Contrary to popular belief, India is that is steeped in racial prejudice. While ‘race’ may not be the actual issue in the country, India is highly subdivided by caste and has been for thousands of years.
Casteism is as old as the country itself, and it is imbibed in every cell of its social structure. As that may be, the fight for equal representation, especially for the lower rungs of the society, has also been an age-old battle that has been a part of every generation in the country.
The Dalits, who are socially condemned to the lowest rung of the rigidly hierarchical Hindu society, have been facing untold horrors for time immemorial. Lately, there has been an increase in hostility and rejection from the government and its agencies, including the criminal justice system, the district, state, and federal administration, and even the lawmakers.
In fact, millions of Dalits are suffering widespread persecution with governments not only failing to protect them but actively collaborating in their persecution and exploitation.
In order to take a stand against this oppressed group, a leading civil rights group has expressed its concerns at the Congressional Briefing that was held in Washington DC on October 22.
Jebaroja Singh, the President of Dalit Solidarity Forum calls the Indian caste system as the world’s “most irrational practice of social hierarchy.”
She said, “Dalits have always been marginalized, treated as the different ‘other,’ who deserve no opportunities, no privileges, no place in society, and [no] basic human rights. That train of thought continues today…. The more Dalits are speaking up and fighting for their rights, the more the backlash [at them] today.”
Among the speakers in the Briefing, the General Secretary of the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, Abirami Jotheeswaran, had also participated, giving her valuable opinions.
She highlighted the rate of violence against Dalit women remains alarmingly high. “When we speak about Dalit women, it is not just patriarchy [they face], it is Brahminical patriarchy,” Jotheeswaran said. “The manifestation of the patriarchy is based on caste. Every day, more than nine Dalit women are raped.”
The average conviction rate for all offenses from 2014 to 2020 — including rape, kidnapping, assault, and attempt to rape — was less than 29 percent, she added.
Bezwada Wilson, co-founder of the National Convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), an Indian human rights organization that campaigns against manual scavenging, pointed out the reluctance of general Indian society to discuss or even accept the reality of ongoing casteism.
“It is so sad to say that we live together, and we say that [India] is fraternity, liberty, freedom – such big words in our constitution,” he said. “But when it comes to our life… the treatment that we [Dalits] receive is so cruel.”
Despite the high rates of violence against Dalit communities, receiving justice remains difficult due to structural inequalities within the judicial system.
“In the higher judiciary, the benches are mostly represented by upper-caste judges,” stated Neil Modi, Assistant Professor at the O.P. Jindal Global University and an affiliate faculty at the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession.
“The representation of Dalits in legal professions and higher judiciary is dismal,” said Anurag Bhashkar, a lawyer & SJD Candidate at Georgetown University Law Center, USA.
Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director of Hindus for Human Rights, pointed out that Dalit Muslims and Christians are “still barred from accessing affirmative action benefits” that are available to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists.
“The United States wants to see a thriving India. But India cannot thrive unless Dalits are thriving,” she said.
This story first appeared on indicanews.com