Caste Discrimination in India
The Indian, acclaimed writer Munshi Premchand’s story, ‘Thakur’s Well’, read by all of us during our middle school days, has left a deep scar in our hearts narrating about the feudal customs of caste hierarchies, inhuman landlords and heartless moneylenders. Gangi and Jokhu the protagonists of the story could never assuage their thirst as the ‘Well’ is still prohibited for them. Gangi, whose heart cried out against the restraints and the bars of the customs, still prevalent in Indian society and nothing much has changed for her, she wanted to ask why she was so low and those others so high? And her question is still unanswered. We talk of developments, social equality and economic independence but that seems to be so illusive when a Dalit girl in her teens is brutally raped, murdered and cremated without her family’s consent.
This heinous crime not just reveals
the grim status of women in Indian society but also the mindset of such so
called upper caste societies that imbibe the roots of such shameful practices
in their generations that women’s bodies and their existence are the most
favoured sites for inflicting punishment and shame on their communities. For
them this brutality is the weapon for inflicting shame and ignominy which will
keep haunting the families of these communities for years and they will never
think of resist such acts.
The incident in Jammu tells another
saga of an 8-year-old girl who was raped, drugged, held captive and murdered
with an intention of teaching a lesson to her Gujjar parents who belong to a
minority nomadic tribe and are frequently accused of encroaching land in the
areas. Is this a lesson? Is this what we call a nation, a civilization? Where
are we heading towards with such intentions and lessons?
Our Constitution has promised the
Right to Equality to everyone irrespective of caste, class and gender but the
reality is far away which has been experienced by the young Dalit girl in
Hathras in life and in death. Neither the police treated her sympathetically
nor did the administration provide her proper medical care rather she was
silenced by the system, the politics and the influential class of the town.
Even her death couldn’t earn any respect and the last rites when she was
cremated forcefully at midnight without any of her family members as if having
been born in a Dalit family is a curse. The sufferings of these people are endless;
the poor parents can’t educate their girls because travelling to distant schools
is not safe. Literacy rate of SC women is 64% compared to 81% among General
Women. Due to lack of safety and distance from schools they are denied
education and without education they are deprived of their dreams to get rid of
generational poverty and persecution.
According to
the National Crime Bureau’s records 2012, every 16 minutes, a non-dalit commits
a crime on a Dalit and every day 4 Dalit women are raped by non-Dalits. From
the year 2009 to 2018, 3.91 lakh atrocities were reported and the records
flagged the rise in sexual violence, witch branding and dishonouring against
Dalit and Tribal women.
Beyond
punishing all the culprits, there is an urgent need to make sure that police
and judiciary treat all citizens equally. There must be greater accountability
as a means to curb against caste and gender based oppressions. In 1998, Indian
government committed to develop policies aimed at the social and economic
advancement of the Dalit population. The Independent Downtrodden and Oppressed
Community Council was formed with the objective of planning and coordinating
policies for their socio-economic development in the areas of education,
health, training and skill enhancement. But no reform or policy could change
the living conditions for them as the iniquitous caste system of our country
doesn’t allow the discrimination to come to an end.
As said by
John F Kennedy, “If we cannot end our differences at least we can help make the
world safe for diversity.” Can we mull over these words and think of a
harmonious coexistence between all the groups of our society.
Yes
ReplyDeleteVery true. Still we are living in the world of discrimination, even after many decades of independence.
Even after years of struggling.. The situation is the same.
DeleteThanks a lot for sharing your thoughts.
True....looking at the present scenario, equality in terms of caste still seems to be far fetched
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true.
DeleteThank you so much for your words.
Very appropriate time to write upon the burning issue of discrimination on the basis of caste and social staus,(I would rather refrain from using words as dalit or lower caste or reserve caste)
ReplyDeleteAtrocities of heinous nature, inhumane treatment and lack of opportunity to grow and face extreme exploitation in all fields are very nerve chilling, painful and shameful for mainstream society.
Role of our political leaders, media and judiciary is also not very encouraging to look at the issues.
The solution is not going to be in sight as lack of awareness about rights and previllages and education makes thing more complex.
Looks like no remedy for serious crime of specially rape as our stubborn corrupt systems is deeply rooted in india.
If the Serpent of Casteism keeps spreading its venom we will never be able to grow as a society and a nation. It's very important to bring a change.
DeleteThank you so much for your views.
Excellent blog! Very very true. Being from a dalit family for a girl is not less than a curse today and instead of getting justice to these families n victims the system is just doing the opposite of what they are suppose to do. This is just because of the political pressure that the family is not getting justice in the right way.
ReplyDeleteHope, We can make our world more safe by changing our mindset towards the women n teaching our sons to respect each n every women who is walking alone on the street irrespective of any caste.
A strong parenting is very much needed to curb such criminal mindset. Thanks for your valuable points.
DeleteA poignant article that leaves the readers heavy hearted.The miscreants and anti socials go on doing such heinous actions as they are confident of finding loopholes in the law and justice .
ReplyDeleteWe people get disheartened to raise our voice as if there is no panacea for this.Teachers and parents should impart confidence to girl children to raise their voice against all injustice and discrimination wreaked upon them
Very true. The loopholes in system provide easy escape to such perpetrators.
DeleteThank you so much dear Reader for your words.
Again another influencing blog by a great teacher and a writer.. these issues have been prevailing since many years,though people raise their voice but justice is still an illusion ....the democratic country was formed but as the years rolled by its essence and true practice is still on a waiting list... hope this time and in the coming years people who get interacted with the blog, news and most importantly the sense of humanity and equality think a billion times before committing crime either for the sake of their cast,religion or for self but evil motives...
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Beautifully expressed Mehak.. We really hope that the evil motives can be overpowered by the thoughts of humanity and equality.
DeleteThank you for sharing your views.
Very true relevant for the present scenario
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Rashmi for your words.
DeleteRelevant blog in current scenario. Keep blogging.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot.
DeleteThank you so much Muskan for your lovely words. Your words mean a lot... I miss you too...love you loads
ReplyDeleteThis is prevaling from ages in our country.. Very beautifully expressed. Another piece of great writing from you. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThank You so much Kanupriya. Your words are precious.
Delete