The problem of India's 'untouchables'

It is a great paradox that India, one of the world's oldest democracies, is still unable to eliminate a deep-rooted social problem: the widespread violence and discrimination against the Dalits, a name that means literally "broken" peo ple. The Dalits, or "untouchables," are a segment of Indian society, numbering more than 160 million people, that is ranked at the very bottom of the Hindu caste system. Their plight is receiving renewed attention with the recent release of a Human Rights Watch report titled "Broken People: Caste Violence Against India's Untouchables," written by Smita Narula.

Although "untouchability" was officially eliminated under India's constitution in 1950, according to the report there remains a persistent pattern of segregation by caste. Because of that segregation, untouchables may not enter the higher-caste section of villages, wear shoes in the presence of the upper castes, use the same water wells or claim land that is legally theirs. Upper-caste employers frequently exploit Dalit workers, who are relegated to the most menial tasks, such as cleaning latrines and disposing of dead animals with their bare hands. Millions of people, many among them children, work in slavelike conditions for modest pay (less than $1 a day) or for small amounts of rice. It is estimated that in India 40 million people, among them 15 million children, work in slavelike conditions to pay off debts they are forced to incur to ensure their survival.

The report states that abuse of Dalit women is blatant. Particularly in India's southern states , thousands of Dalit women are forcibly turned to prostitution, many of them before reaching puberty. Dalit women are frequently sexually abused by landlords and the police as a punishment for dissent within the community. Many are also tortured while in custody to punish husbands or other male relatives who are hiding from the police because of their activities of organized protest against the abuses they are subject to. Whenever Dalits try to break free from this situation they are brutally repressed.