Discrimination Rises: Dalit Students Beaten, Rusticated For Drinking From Same Utensil as Upper Caste Teacher

NEW DELHI: Two Dalit children were brutally beaten and rusticated from a primary school in Rajasthan for drinking water from a matka (earthen pot) used by an upper caste teacher. The teacher Mangal Singh rusticated eleven Dalit children for this “crime”, half of the strength of the 25 students school in Meghwalo ki Dhani in Tant village of Bikaner district in Rajasthan.

The incident took place over two weeks ago but went unreported until the courts asked the police to register a case against the teacher based on a complaint filed by the parents of some of the children. The incident again highlights the continuing discrimination against Dalit children in the country with government surveys confirming that their plight has worsened in recent years. The police of course told the local reporters that it was difficult to confirm that the children had been beaten for drinking from the same utensil as used by the teacher but were compelled to arrest him because of the intervention by the courts.

According to data released by the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR), a total of 3,198 cases related to atrocities on dalits have been registered between 2004 and 2013 as against 1,305 from 1994 to 2003.

Most incidents do not come to light and are buried because of threats and fear. However the few that do find a place in the media suggest blatant discrimination where the Dalits are still made to live on the outskirts of the villages, draw water from separate wills, pray in separate temples, and not participate in activities “reserved” for the upper castes.

In Gugal Kota village in Alwar, Rajasthan in June this year a young bridegroom was attacked because he was riding a horse to his wedding. The Rajputs in the village allegedly did not like the celebrations as these were seen as being beyond the Dalits “status”, and the boy was pulled down from the horse and the guests attacked and beaten. Several instances of such attacks have been reported from different parts of north India where Dalits are not easily allowed to step up the level of their celebrations to what is seen as ‘competition’ by the upper castes in the villages.

Dalits who provide much of the land labour for the upper caste farmers in the feudal system that still prevails, do not have the freedom to refuse even today, 68 years after independence through which all successive governments claim to have undertaken radical reforms to transform the Dalits present and future. The police force has been largely anti-Dalit in its attitude, refusing to register cases, and indulging in “biased” investigations.

Just a few weeks ago a Dalit youth was allegedly set ablaze by three brothers for reportedly refusing to work for them in Atbei village of Chirgaon in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh. The police initially insisted that the young boy was an alcoholic and had set himself on fire following a dispute with the three brothers. Pawan succumbed to his injuries while his brother who tried to save him is battling for his life with 60 per cent burns. The local authorities have still to take cognisance of the gruesome incident.

In Koliwad village in the Hubli district of Karnataka haircutting salons shut down because local Dalits wanted to have their hair cut as well. The problem arose because a few Dalit youths wanted to have a haircut but fearing reprisal from the upper caste communities, the barbers refused to do so and shut down their shops a month ago. The district authorities have done little to ensure that the barbers are able to return to their livelihood.

Scavenging despite being declared illegal is still prevalent with Dalits in villages cleaning human excreta from the toilets of upper caste families. Ninety nine percent of them are women. Because of the ban the government has virtually stopped keeping statistics of the number of persons still doing this humiliating and filthy job with the budgetary allocations for their rehabilitation being reduced now to 20 crore rupees, that is intended more for surveys than for the Dalits who are still employed and beaten into working as manual scavengers. The 2011 census, before the law banning this job, recorded 750,000 persons working as manual scavengers in states like Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The job has become almost hereditary passed down from family to family in the absence of reforms and rehabilitation schemes.

Sulabh international vividly describes manual scavening: “A caste based and hereditary profession, which is handed down, as a legacy from one generation to the next; “manual scavenging” has been an age-old routine for this community, which is untouched by technological advancement in sanitary practices. Not only does the prevalence of this culture seem antediluvian, but what is worse is the fact that those born in this community are considered agents of pollution due to their background of social hierarchy, based on birth. They are the most oppressed and suppressed class of Indian society - hated, ostracized, vilified and avoided by all other castes and classes. The appalling hardship, humiliation and exploitation they face, have no parallel in human history. The practice started in the Pauranic period continued in the Buddhist, Mauryan, Mughal and British periods.” And those from these families receive the worst of abuse and discrimination, beaten and abused if they even dare to brush against anyone from the more privileged castes.

The National Human Rights Commission Report on the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes has put together some statistics that however make little difference to the Dalits on the ground: “every 18 minutes a crime is committed against a Dalit. Every day 3 Dalit women are raped, 2 Dalits are murdered and 2 Dalits Houses are burnt in India, 11 Dalits are beaten. Every week: 13 Dalits are murdered, 5 Dalits home or possessions are burnt, 6 Dalits are kidnapped or abducted.

Social and Economic condition of Dalits: 37 percent of Dalits living below poverty in India. More than half (54%) of their children are undernourished in India. 83 per 1000 children born in Dalit community are probability of dying before the first birthday. 45 percent of Dalits do not know read and write in India. Dalits women burden double discrimination (gender and caste) in India. Only 27 percent of Dalits women give institutional deliveries in India. About one third of Dalit households do not have basic facilities. Public health workers refuse to visit Dalit homes in 33% of villages. Dalits are prevented from entering police station in 27.6% of villages. Dalit children had to sit separately while eating in 37.8% of Govt. schools. Dalits do not get mail delivered to their homes in 23.5% of villages. Dalits are denied access to water sources in 48.4% of villages because of segregation & untouchability practices. Half of India’s Dalit children are undernourished, 21% are severely underweight & 12% die before their 5th birthday. Literacy rates for Dalit women are as low as 37.8% In Rural India.”

The Commission notes that “Under-reporting of Atrocities Act cases is a very common phenomenon and therefore the decline in the number of registered cases does not provide a true picture of the incidence of atrocities.”

“A large number of cases which deserve to be registered under Protection of Civil Rights Act or the SCs & STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are not actually registered under these Acts, either due to ignorance of law or under pressure from the interested parties. Investigations in even those limited number of cases is often earned out in a slipshod manner and with considerable delay.”