History and plight of over 201m Dalits in India

LAHORE: The atrocities committed against over 201 million Dalits in India, the world’s largest democracy, have somehow failed to catch the attention of the world for unknown reasons and there is nobody to ask the country’s key political parties-the Indian National Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, the Aam Admi Party and the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-as to why they have only been using these low-caste humans as a vote bank without giving them any share in decision-making.
During the last Indian elections, the BJP had got 24 per cent of the national Dalit vote share (doubled from 12 percent in 2009), the Congress had got 19 per cent Dalit vote, the Bahujan Samaj Party had managed to bag 14 per cent and the Aam Admi Party had pocketed 21 per cent of Dalit vote in Punjab. In Delhi, the Aam Admi Party was supported by over 40 per cent Dalits.
Research carried out by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” shows that Dalits are not just Hindus. They even exist among the Christian, Sikh and Buddhist communities. The Sanskrit word Dalit means “ground,” “suppressed,” “crushed” or “broken to pieces.”
Though the name Dalit has been in existence since the nineteenth century, it was the architect of Indian Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar (1891-1956), who had actually popularised this term.
Research shows Ambedkar was a Dalit.
Other prominent Dalits include former Indian President K. R. Narayanan, former Indian Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishanan and the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. By the way, renowned Indian Cricketer Vinod Kambli also happens to be a Dalit.
History reveals that Mahatma Gandhi had adopted the word “Harijan,” which is roughly as “Children of God”, to identify the untouchables.
Between 1933 and 1948, Gandhi had published three weekly journals by the name of “Hairjan,” in English, “Harijan Bandu” in Gujarati and “Harijan Sevak” in Hindi.
But earlier in 1932, when the ruling British Empire in India had recommended separate electorates to select leaders for Dalits in the Communal Award, Gandhi had opposed it.
However, in 2010, an Indian parliamentary committee on Social Justice and Empowerment had asked the government to ensure that this word was not used again.
The August 19, 2010 edition of the “Times of India” states: “A parliamentary committee took serious note of the widespread use of the word ‘Harijan’ across the country and asked the government to strictly ensure its non-use, underlining that it was depreciating the status of the under-privileged sections of society.”
The Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment had noted: “As such, there is widespread use of the word ‘Harijan’ across the country, depreciating the status of the under-privileged sections of the society.”
However, Dalits should not be confused with the Shudras—-the lowest cast in the hierarchy of the Hindu Chaturvarna Caste system.
The Chaturvarna system places Brahmins, Kashtriyas and Vaishyas far above the Shudras, who were not really “untouchables” as the poor Dalits are, meaning thereby that the Dalits are the most inferior to all!
The history of the persecution of Dalits in India shows innumerable incidents where Dalits were subjected to the most inhuman treatment by the affluent cadres of the society.
For example, in 1968, some 42 Dalits were killed in Tamil Nadu, and then an upper caste Hindu landlord militia called “Ranvir Sena” had also featured in the killings of Dalits in 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1996 in the states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
However, after the July 11, 1996 Bihar massacre of 21 Dalits, the Patna High Court had shockingly acquitted 23 men convicted of the murders.
On December 1, 1997, Ranvir Sena had again gunned down 58 Dalits in the state of Bihar. Charges were framed against 46 Ranvir Sena men on December 23, 2008 and on April 7, 2010, the court had sentenced 16 convicted persons to death. The judge had sentenced to life imprisonment 10 more convicts and imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on each.
The trend of violence against Dalits was seen in Punjab during 1999, in Kerala during 2003 and in Maharashtra during 2006.
In the state of Rajasthan, some 50 Dalits were killed between 1999 and 2002.
And more recently, during December 2012, as many as 268 Dalit dwellings including huts, were set ablaze in Tamil Nadu by upper caste Hindus. Four Dalits had lost lives in thus incident.
Just a few months ago on May 14, 2015, clashes between Jats and Dalits in Dangawas village of Rajasthan’s Nagaur district had left 4 Dalits dead.
It should be noted that in order to prevent harassment, assault, discrimination and other criminal acts on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Indian government had enacted the Prevention of Atrocity Act on March 31, 1995.
This is what the Times of India had stated in its May 2, 2013 edition about the demographic make-up of the Indian Dalits: “Four states account for nearly half of the country’s Dalit population, reveals the 2011 census. Uttar Pradesh stands first with 20.5% of the total scheduled caste (SC) population, followed by West Bengal with 10.7%, says the data released by the Union census directorate on Tuesday. Bihar with 8.2% and Tamil Nadu with 7.2 % come third and fourth. Dalits form around 16.6% of India’s population.”
The newspaper had added: “The 2011 census recorded nearly 20.14 crore people belonging to various scheduled castes in the country. As per the 2001 census, the number was 16.66 crore. The Dalit population showed a decadal growth of 20.8%, whereas India’s population grew 17.7% during the same period. Though there is an increase in the population of Dalits in the country, many states with a considerable number of Dalits don’t have any legislation to protect the interests of the community.”
Quoting subject experts, the Times of India had gone on to write: “Many scheduled caste families don’t own land or any other property. Many Dalits are landless and efforts to empower them by giving free land have not been successful in Tamil Nadu. Unlike Punjab, which has a considerable number of Dalits as industrialists, here there is hardly any industrialist from our community, There are around 9.79 crore women among the total Scheduled Caste population, and the sex ratio works out to 946 females per 1,000 males. Nagaland, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar islands have no scheduled castes among their population. Though UP has the largest chunk of the total SC population, Punjab has the largest share of Dalits in its population at 31.9%. Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal follow Punjab with 25.2% and 23.5%. In Tamil Nadu, Dalits account for about 18% of the population.”