Between Human and Humane

செல்ஃபோனிலுள்ள கேமராவை ஆன் செய்தவன்… அவளின் ஆடையில்லா உடலை படம் பிடிக்க ஆரம்பிக்கிறான். அவள் அதிர்ச்சியாகி…. “”ஏய் என்ன பண்ற நீ?” என்கிறாள்.

””சும்மாதான்… நீ இல்லாம தனிமையில இருக்கும்போது பார்த்து ரசிக்கத்தான்.”’’

””ப்ளீஸ் வேணாம்…” என்று முகத்தை மூடிக்கொண்டு கெஞ்சுகிறாள் அந்த பெண். “”இர்ரு…. இர்ரு”’ என்றபடி தனது கடமையில் குறியாய் இருக்கிறான் அவன்.

””ஏய்… என்ன நினைச்ச நீ?”’’

””நாங்கள்லாம் சிவகாசி பரம்பரைடி…”’’

””அய்யோ என்னை படுத்துறியே” -இப்படி’’ அவளுடைய கெஞ்சல்கள் அந்த வக்கிரனின் காதுகளில் விழவில்லை. தொடர்ந்து தனது சில்மிஷங்களை அரங்கேற்றிய படி… அதை கேமராவால் விழுங்கிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறான். அவளும்.

This is not a porn a artical from nakkheeran. 

http://nakkheeran.in/Users/frmNews.aspx?N=76386

Greetings to everyone!

I am extremely happy to meet you all, and am grateful to SWALLOWS, Lund University and SASNET organisations for providing me with this unique opportunity to talk to you.

The Dalit community comprises 240 million or one-fifth of the Indian population. I am privileged to speaking to you as a representative of this community. At this very moment, a Dalit could be murdered somewhere; a Dalit woman subjected to sexual violence; chased from temples after being denied entry. Such atrocities have been continuing for nearly 2000 years.

Martin Luther King said “injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.” 
Atrocities arising out of caste injustice have being debated by civil society at the international level for the past 15 years. We must all raise our voice loud and clear to root out this evil. I have no doubt that the Swedish people, students, academics and social activists will understand the horror of ‘untouchability’ and pressurise the international community to eradicate this inhuman social evil.

It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. My community has been denied justice for 2000 years. However, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, with the journey towards equality having started. We are certain that the substantive equality to which we aspire will become a reality before long, with sustained efforts towards combatting caste based discrimination, exclusion and violence.

Many of my foreign friends ask one question. They point out that every Indians looks the same; how then can others identify you as a Dalit? They also pose some other questions like, are all Dalits dark-skinned? Will they have thick lips? Is racism the same as caste discrimination? From where did untouchability based discrimination arise? There are answers for all these questions, but the only question that defies answer is how to eradicate untouchability.

When I was 20 years old, I felt that when a Dalit is assaulted I should retaliate by attacking the dominant caste attacker. But in my 30th year my attitude has changed because by attacking one dominant caste, the caste system cannot be eradicated.The caste system stands in the way of the eradication of untouchability and the promotion of equality of opportunity and outcomes. It results in the failure of enforcement of laws aimed at eradicating such discrimination, leading to infringement of the constitutional guarantees of fundamental rights. We work to see this scenario change, and to hold the Indian state accountable for protecting and fulfilling Dalit rights. I am now 38 years old and I am convinced that caste discrimination cannot be abolished by killing the person or even punishing the person. Changes are to be brought out in the mind-set of the people.

If the dominant castes and the dalits work together the change is certainly possible.

As a person affected by caste discrimination, I am advocating a change of attitude. I am fighting for the abolition of the caste system. However, those who follow the caste system are not concerned about this problem; they are indifferent to this social evil. I would like to stress one fact here. It is not only the Dalits who are fighting against discrimination. But there are also progressive non-Dalits who are condemning these forms of inhumanity and seeking the liberation of Dalits.

It is said that if a Dalit touches a caste Hindu it is an offence – an act of sin, because the former are seen as impure: What a horror in a modern civilised society? I have addressed many public meetings with the statement, “Touch me if you dare”. This is not a challenge, but to create awareness of the challenges Dalits continue to face today. In tea shops, there are separate tumblers for the caste Hindus and Dalits; Dalits are not allowed to enter into some dominant caste streets; Dalits face discrimination in schools, hospitals and in political participation. The caste system has as its roots the notion of inequality, not equality.

Racial discrimination and caste discrimination are more or less the same. While in the case of racial discrimination the colour of one’s skin is evident so that American president Obama need not say that he is an African-American, as far as Dalits like me are concerned, we have to openly declare that we are Dalits, because Indian society sees one community as pure and another community as impure… and impure Dalits should not intermingle with others. This mentality has given the dominant castes the boldness to commit brutal atrocities against Dalits.

An atrocity can be seen openly. But deep rooted beliefs that Dalits are untouchables, that they should not be allowed to participate in social life – such hidden thinking is hard to identify. Such caste discrimination is absorbed into the blood and mind in every caste individual. It is very hard to understand. Sometimes they shake hands, dine with us and touch us, but somewhere they mentally exclude us. Hence untouchability implies that there are many who discriminate not only physically and socially, but also in terms of attitudes. 

Therefore the eradication of untouchability is not only to eradicate overt discrimination, but also to wipe out the mentality of impurity and subordination. In Tamil Nadu, for example, recently in Uthapuram village in Madurai district the caste system manifested itself in the form of a wall known as wall of untouchability or the caste wall. It separated residential areas of Dalits from that of dominant castes. For the past 20 years Dalits had protested and tried to break this wall, and only very recently the government finally responded to their petitions. This wall can be removed easily. But how can we remove the wall of untouchability in the minds of dominant castes. To break steel we have some instrument. For breaking the minds of untouchability, however, there is no weapon. We should have deep understanding in this matter, and start with children to break these beliefs that develop when young.

Each Dalit experiences psychological confusion whether their identity will be known outside and if so, whether they will be marginalized or oppressed.
It is a tragedy that Dalits often try to conceal their identity to prevent indignities and ostracization. Therefore, our foremost struggle is to create mental strength among Dalits for them to declare openly their identity as Dalits, which will help them to come out of their internalised sense of inferiority. We are sowing the seeds among children and youth that they are not lesser human beings, but are subjected to discrimination and oppression, and to impress upon them they are children of justice. We are confident that this seed will sprout and become a forest in the not too distant future. It is to create such an egalitarian democratic society that Evidence was created. 
I had the opportunity to participate in the World Conference against Racism in 2001 convened by United Nations conference. I learnt that in order prove caste discrimination, spotlight the cruelty of untouchability and generate solidarity we need strong evidences, facts and documents. That is why we gather evidence through detailed field research to be presented to Indian society and the state.

One of our aims is to create confidence among Dalits despite subjection to caste discrimination. We have conducted 650 fact-findings, intervened in 450 cases before courts and convened 17 public hearings. With these initiatives, Evidence has emerged as an organisation in the forefront of securing Dalits rights in our state. Dalit children, women and youth have become the part of a family called Evidence, our relationship built with trust and confidence in our ability to take action on their behalf. I believe that the one who had borne the brunt of these DISCRIMINATION and atrocities can involve in the activism with more passion. I would wish to share two field experiences

1. In 1982, I went to a village called Ulundhurpettai to meet a friend of mine during the Diwali festival. The grandfather of my friend, a Dalit who worked as a forced menial sanitary worker, brought a basket of sweets from a dominant caste. Dalits who do these forced labours would not be paid in cash but with grains and food as per their wishes. When my friend picked up one sweet from the basket, one of his aunts shoved the sweet away with a bamboo pole. She said it was alright getting grains from work, but getting cooked food amounted to alms and added, ‘you are an educated child don’t eat it’. I learnt what dignity is at that point .

2. My paternal uncle lives in a village called Kanoor. I went there in 1985. There was a kangaroo court in progress. A Dalit woman had been raped by a dominant caste. A dominant caste presided over this panchayat. The panchayat held that it was wrong to have molested the woman and that if this came to light the whole village would be ridiculed. Therefore the accused should offer the woman Rs.80, or about Euros. 1.25.

These two incidents affected me deeply. I realise now that only such events had ignited me the fire of passion with in me thus I standing before you as a Dalit activist.

1. More recently, I read a newspaper report about a Dalit who had died in a police station and whose family members had given a written request not to perform postmortem on the body. I went there with a fact finding team. When I arrived people were digging a grave for the body. We insisted that they should not bury the body without post-mortem but the villagers did not agree. I did not know what to do, so I jumped into the grave and said that the body should be subjected to post-mortem because the deceased had died in the police station and also insisted that the proceedings of the post mortem should be videoed according to government rules. Only then were the villagers convinced and the body taken to the hospital at midnight, where a post mortem was performed which proved that the death was not due to natural causes.

2. Similarly, 58 families had been kept as bonded labourers in a place called Pallipalayam. We lodged a complaint with the District Collector. When we went with officials to free the bonded labourers 400 owners of the mechanised looms surrounded us and I was beaten up. One of them tried to pour petrol on me. Police and officials rescued me. However, we were able to liberate those 58 families in the end.

Even though there are such hazards in undertaking human rights activities, they serve as lessons for us to strategise our interventions, without deterring us. Human rights cannot be saved from the United Nations building or UN declarations. When a person is in distress, the call to save her or him is paramount. Human rights can flow only from such activities.

At the same time, I am also convinced that human right declarations and organisations are important. Now political and civil rights alone are not important. Equally important are social and economic rights, which we have realised through experience. Our organisation has also started working towards social and economic rights, such as land rights for Dalits.

Dalits are given reservations or affirmative action in education, public sector employment opportunities and political seats, but in areas of resource distribution and production spheres, Dalits are being marginalised. We are extending our activities to achieve these rights as well, because we are convinced that these are the only instruments to eradicate discrimination.
Friends, one day our dreams will be realised. Dalits will start to declare their identity openly; they will be recognised as a person based on their abilities not based on their caste. At long last, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Even after our caste identity is known, our work and skill will definitely be recognized. Please extend your hands to achieve this equality. We request that you raise your voices loud and clear against injustice so that they will reverberate in the minds of the powers that be.

In the India Constitution, Article 17 says untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. In order to abolish untouchability and caste violence, The Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 were enacted. But these Acts have not been implemented effectively. The Indian government claims that it has provided reservations. Though in India there are powerful courts like Supreme Court and various human rights commissions, the Indian government has not brought out a status report on the abolition of untouchability or reservations for Dalits. 

Moreover, increasing focus is on the social responsibilities of multinational companies. The question is: How much of fund allocations by these multinational companies are for Dalits? How far are Dalits represented in multinational companies? Extensive research needs to be undertaken in this regard.

Our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had equated untouchability in India with Apartheid. Although the practice has been condemned by many Indian leaders including most recently by the Prime Minister, unless the government accepts responsibility to end widespread caste prejudice, crimes against Dalits will continue. Raise your voice against untouchability, says Manmohan Singh in various public meetings and parliament. But the Indian government refused to acknowledge that it is a racial discrimination and says that it will deal it with laws we have. Therefore we all will place our demands in one voice “caste discrimination is racial discrimination”, which requires local, national and international interventions to truly eradicate this social evil.

Thank you.

Friday, 11th May, at least 10 Palestinian inmates, out of whom 8 are administrative detainees, have been on hunger strike for more than 45 days, and are in life-threatening danger. The Israel Prison Service (IPS) still refuses to send them to a civilian hospital and continues to prevent visits by independent doctors.

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/prisoners/1621-serious-danger-to-the-lives-of-at-least-10-prisoners-on-hunger-strike