Eradication of Caste Discrimination

Education and development-

The most important measure to be taken to eradicate caste discrimination from society is educating the society. Even though it is not an immediate solution, it helps in the slow withering away of the social evil. Lack of education makes people conservative and superstitious and thus they resist any forms of social reforms. Education widens the mental horizon of the upper castes as also boosts the self-esteem and mental spirits of the Dalits. Care should be taken to include lessons teaching the equality of men, the hollowness of the practice of untouchability and negative sides of the caste system in the school text books. This will ensure that the future citizens of India are against any baseless discrimination on the grounds of caste.

Moreover, education brings about development and urbanization which helps the Dalits to cease depending on upper caste landlords for livelihood. Many move to urban areas where they find a far better scenario than the rural localities both in terms of social and economic aspects. The caste origins are less obvious and less important in urban areas. The influence of education and development can be understood when one comes to know the human development indexes of Kerala and Bihar with literacy rates of 93.91% and 63.82% respectively. The 2011 census shows Kerala's HDI is 0.920, which is higher than that of most developed countries while that of Bihar is 0.467 which stands at par with the African nation such as Uganda and Senegal.

Government policies 

One of the main policies of the government to boost the upliftment of dalits is the reservation system. Although reservation had helped a lot in improving the living standards of dalits, the system should be revived to make it more effective. Currently, the benefits are enjoyed only by the members of the lower caste who had already attained an elite position in the society while the rightly eligible people are unable to exploit the opportunities, primarily due to ignorance. Moreover, the basis of classification of castes as forward and backward had always been criticized, as the caste hierarchy differed from one region to another. This was another reason for the partial failure of reservation system as the classification did not ensure that the benefits are enjoyed by the right people and right community. Thus the best solution is to consider class as a basis for granting reservation rather than caste. Upliftment of more Dalits can be achieved only by ensuring that it is the poor who is benifited from reservation system.

More strict laws should be formulated to counter caste discrimination in India. The strict enforcement of such law will result in considerable decrease in violence against Dalits.

Encouragement of inter caste marriages will also help in eradicating caste discrimination slowly from the society. Also, more land reforms should be implemented so as to allot land to the landless Dalits. The peasants should be given more economic supports such as subsidies and loans with low interest rate. Free higher education for the backward castes will also help in their upliftment. Expansion of employment opportunities will also help in this direction.

Mass communication 

All the organs of mass communication should be pressed to service to eradicate caste discrimination. In this era, when people seem to be glued to televisions and cinemas, these media should be aptly exploited in fighting against the social evil. Television serials and cinemas depicting the toils of the backward caste members and stressing on equality of men could be made. Channels can broadcast interviews with eminent scholars and social reformers. The channels and newspapers can bring into light more atrocities against Dalits and ensure that the guilty are amply punished. More books and articles should be written against discrimination and all these will ensure that the caste system is slowly annihilated, as these mass media have a huge cultural impact on the society.

Political empowerment

It’s always the powerless who are exploited in the society. When a community does not have political power, their interests are seldom served. The Dalits had always been subjugated and ruled which hampered their development. But recently, the reservation of some constituencies had ensured that they are also adequately represented. But, a Dalit candidate being blackmailed to back off from elections and murder of elected candidates are daily news during election period. This should be however countered and dealt with iron hands and the scheduled castes must be more and more encouraged to participate in local, state and national level politics. Gladly, improvement in scenario had been noticed, as in the case of Utter Pradesh. The leader of Bahujan Samajwadi Party, Mayawati (who is a Dalit), was successful in capturing power in UP and became the first Dalit chief minister of UP. Since then she brought in lots of development policies for the Dalits which resulted in the improvement of living conditions of the Dalits. Even more significantly, she shocked the world when she succeeded in uniting Brahmins, the uppermost caste and the Dalits under a single umbrella of her political party. For the scholars, social reformers and every Indian citizen who stand against caste discrimination, it was heartening to see Brahmins and Dalits campaigning and working together for their party. Thus, to sum up, the Dalits should be taught about their political rights and more participation from them must be ensured by reservation and dissemination of information about their rights and opportunities.

Improvement of judiciary and police 

The judiciary and police force of India were unsuccessful in preventing caste discrimination. Human Rights Watch reported that in 1995, 90 to 95 percent of all cases of discrimination against scheduled castes resulted in non-punishment. In 1992, Indian Supreme Court Justice Ramaswamy declared that more than 75 percent of the cases brought to court over the Prevention of Atrocities Act ended in acquittal. These statistics calls for an immediate revival of the judiciary. Measures should be taken to ensure that judges are not conservative or biased. Reservation in judiciary for lower castes will help a lot in this direction. The judges should be enlightened about the previous caste based cases so that they can efficiently deal with caste based issues.

The police force, ineffective particularly at local levels, had been a prime reason for the survival of caste system. Most of the complaints received from lower castes are ignored and sufficient actions are never taken. Cases in which police themselves commit the atrocities against scheduled castes are also not uncommon. Therefore, measures should be taken to make the department corruption free and unbiased so that enforcement of the laws against discrimination is ensured. 

NGOs  

The NGOs has a big role to play in eradicating caste discrimination. They must put more pressure on the government for programmes such as land reforms, primary education, the fight for equal opportunities and uniform legislation, and the removal of manual scavenging. Furthermore, they should try to bring the problems and violence against Dalits into light which the media fail to address. They can also raise funds, provide employment and promote the importance of education among the Dalits.

References :

http://docs.law.gwu.edu/stdg/gwilr/PDFs/41-3/41-3-SARKIN-KOENIG.pdf

Item Citation

Caste and Economic Discrimination: Causes, Consequences and Remedies

Sukhadeo Thorat and Katherine S. Newman

Economic and Political Weekly , Vol. 42, No. 41 (Oct. 13 - 19, 2007), pp. 4121-4124

Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40276545

Item Citation

Caste Discrimination in the Indian Urban Labour Market: Evidence from the National Sample Survey

S. Madheswaran and Paul Attewell

Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 41 (Oct. 13 - 19, 2007), pp. 4146-4153

Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40276549

 

Dharmapuri: A Case Study

The Dharmapuri violence is one of the worst caste based violence that happened in India.The incident took place on 7^th November 2012 at Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri district of western Tamil Nadu .Three colonies of Dalits of the Adi-Dravida community suffered the fury unleashed by a rampaging mob of Vanniyakula Kshatriya caste community when as many as 268 dwellings – huts, tiled-roof and one or two-room concrete houses – were torched by the mob. Even though there was no casualty reported as occupants of the houses escaped and took shelter in another village, systemic destruction of valuables, vehicles and other properties of victims took place. The prime target of the attack was Natham Colony while the adjoining Anna Nagar Colony and Kondampatti Old and New Colonies also suffered the fury of the caste Hindus.

Reason for the attack

An inter caste marriage between a Dalit boy and a Vanniyar girl was the immediate reason for the violent caste conflict. Ilavarasan and Divya were in love for two years and got married a month before the conflict despite threats from the local caste Hindus.This impelled the Vanniyar community to call a Panchayat meeting on 3^rd November which portended some extreme reactions from the upper caste Hindus. Some people gave an ultimatum to the Dalits that they should return the girl to her house within two days failing to which they would have to face dire consequences. Dalits fearing some ugly occurrences requested police protection, which was granted by posting some 20 policemen at the village on 5^th November. 

On 7^th November, Divya’s father Nagaraj commited suicide when he was told that his daughter decided to stay with llavarasan. Some people seized this situation to mobilize the Vanniyar community using the dead body of Nagaraj. Nearly two thousand people carrying the body of the girl’s father blocked the Dhamapuri-Timpattur road. Simultaneously another group set ablaze the houses in the three Dalit colonies. All 268 houses were looted and then set on fire and the rampage continued for almost two hours. Valuable assets such as television sets, motorbikes, cycles, refrigerators, almirahs, all were damaged and burnt. All of the residents of the colony were reduced to destitution as all their savings were either looted or burnt.

Deeper look into the issue

A detailed analysis of the incident exposed a more brutal picture of the rampage. Everyone who is conversant with the facts about the incident, including police, are convinced that the incident was pre-planned. The Panchayat meeting of 3rd November, wherein an ultimatum was issued by some Vanniyar people, was just a precursor. The suicide of Nagaraj gave an impression that the rampage was a result of spontaneous reaction, but it was not. The mobilization of thousands of Vanniyar men   within a few minutes, the police forewarning Dalits in the three colonies, keeping of police at bay by felling trees, the pattern of attack in which the inmates of colonies were not harmed physically but their properties destroyed and looted, all pointed to the fact that the attack was pre-planned. Moreover, the attacking mobs did not have people from the neighbouring hamlet. People from villages 20 to 30 km away from the area had already come well prepared in advance to take part in the attack with 150 litres of petrol and 200 litres of kerosene in mini trucks to torch the houses. Many of the Dalit victims were quoted saying that they could not recognize people in the mob, which meant that the people from distant villages participated in the attack. Even the time of the year for the attack was well chosen – months when only women , children and the elderly remained in the colonies as the men went to nearby towns and cities for jobs.

The dalits at Dharmapuri were basically  workers in the agricultural fields of the Vanniyar community. But later on even though women still continued to work in fields, men started going outside the village to fend for their family. They started working in Bangalore and Coimbatore either as self-employed with such jobs like scrap dealing or in construction industries. This brought in huge developments in their standards of living. They became economically more secure as a result of which they began to acquire more land. They no longer had to depend or show respect to Vanniyars and began to pursue even higher education. Dalits even started to wield power and to rule the upper castes as some of the constituencies became reserved. All these caused resentments in the Vanniyar community.

As aforementioned, the suicide of Nagaraj was not the actual cause of attack. The economic prosperity of Dalits was both the cause and the target of attack. Many specifically targeted families had been able to acquire some land over the years through their toil. Care was taken not to harm anyone while ensuring that all properties and means of livelihood were either destroyed or looted. As the marauding mob entered the villages, the women, children and the elderly ran for their lives to the nearby hamlets. The mob stole away the money, jewellery and all other valuables before torching the houses. The vehicles were burnt. The mob also looted a local Dalit temple and 4.5 kilograms of gold were taken away. Many Dalits also lost their important documents like educational documents , land documents etc.

Another reason for the mobilization of mob was the caste based policies of PMK chairman Ramdoss and the public announcements of Kaduvetti Jayankondam Guru, the PMK MLA. About two months before the incident, he announced that inter-caste marriages of Vanniyar girls would not be accepted and the men who lure away Vanniyar girls should be dealt with death penalty. This is deemed to be another cause for the attack on colonies as the case of Ilavarasan and Divya was not the first inter-caste marriage in the locality.

The Dharmapuri incident proves that despite the efforts from government, the violence and discrimination against Dalits continue to occur. The silence of police force during the attack and forewarning of Dalits points to the fact that the police require an immediate revival at local level. The incident also calls for more strict legislations to prevent atrocities against Dalits and to annihilate caste system and the strict enforcement of the same.

Links

http://www.theworld.org/2012/06/caste-discrimination-india/

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/3-dalit-colonies-face-mob-fury-in-dharmapuri/article4076539.ece

http://sikhspectrum.com/2002/11/discrimination-and-toleration-an-examination-of-caste-discrimination-in-india/

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/dharmapuri-violence-why-dalits-are-unsafe-in-dravidian-tamil-nadu-522135.html

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/love-and-violence-in-dharmapuri/1035856/0

http://www.countercurrents.org/teltumbde061212.htm

http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/caste-wars-in-tamil-nadu-200-dalit-houses-burnt-in-dharmapuri-303431

Caste system: History

The genesis of caste system dates back to the advent of Aryans in India. But it was after the emergence of Hinduism around the third century that caste system became a rigid water-tight compartment.

The basic concept of caste system is that all men are created unequal. This system (for which the religious word is ‘varna’) stratifies the society into four main divisions:

            -      The Brahmins , who originated from the mouths of the primordial being, were the learnt                       and the priestly class.
     
               -    The Kshatriyas originated from the arms of the supreme being and were the soldiers
                     and rulers.

                    -    The Vaisyas who originated from thighs ,made up the traders and merchants community

                   
               -    The Sudras came from the feet and were the labourers.

 Below these groups comes Dalits or untouchables who are too impure to rank as worthy beings. These people are outcastes and the primodial being does not claim them.

In the caste system, an individual had to accept the occupation of his ancestors as his means of livelihood. Untouchables had to marry fellow untouchables. They were not allowed to eat from the same table or drink from the same well as that of caste Hindus. Manusmrithi , a Hindu religious book, legitimized the segregation and said that it was the sins in the past life that resulted in an individual being born as an outcaste. The result of this belief in doctrine of karma was a story of untold miseries to Dalits. They were shunned, prohibited from entering public places like temples and were banned from mingling with the upper caste Hindus.

However, the 20^th century witnessed a lot of improvements in the life conditions of Dalits. Mahatma Gandhi called them Harijans which means ‘Son of Gods’. He helped a lot in changing the attitude of society towards Dalits. In 1949, the Constitution of India prohibited the practice of untouchability and granted them reservations which ensured better political participation of Dalits. But the scenario had not improved much in villages as education is lesser and as the upper castes resist any forms of reforms. Discrimination against the Dalit minority had become an important human rights and political issue.

References :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Indian_caste_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit