Amnesty supports Dalit demand to equate casteism with racism
A damning Amnesty International report on racism around the world has attacked India for its “hidden apartheid” against 160 million Dalits, who belong to the socially underprivileged classes. “Despite the abolition of untouchability, Dalits continue to be discriminated on the basis of their descent”, Amnesty said in its report.
Durban conference: “They are marginalised, particularly in rural areas”, the report said. “Among the violations persistently reported are torture including rape, arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial executions”. Amnesty said Dalits also suffer violence in the community. Abuses against Dalits frequently go unpunished, with local police frequently refusing to record complaints by Dalits, Amnesty said. Much evidence points towards a connivance between powerful caste groups and the police in violent attacks against Dalits.
India’s Untouchables campaign got a big boost after Amnesty International on July 25 released a report on caste abuse in India equating it with racism.
Amnesty fully supported the campaign and its representatives at the Durban conference would press for treating casteism as a form of racial discrimination.
“We believe that racism as defined in the international Covenant for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination covers discrimination based on caste and this should be mentioned in the final declaration of the conference”, said Ms. Julia Deponte.
Graveyard of human rights: The Amnesty, in its report on Racism and the Administration of Justice, recalled that two years ago hundreds of human rights groups gave a petition, signed by 2.5 million people to the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, demanding an end to caste prejudices and urging the UN to take seriously the issue of “caste-based abuse and discrimination®. It referred approvingly to the move by the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights to highlight it as a case of hidden apartheid.
The Indian Government, however, has consistently refused to concede the caste-based discrimination should be discussed with him the context of racial discrimination, the report said.
It named India among the countries accused of human rights violations. There was a lack of political will in India to implement the laws designed to protect Dalits with the result that despite well-meaning legislation, caste “abuse” was widely prevalent. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act had failed to provide relief to the victims of caste discrimination and there was “disinclination” among officials to acknowledge the existence of social injustice, it said alleging widespread caste bias in the criminal justice system.
International network: The report, released by Ms. Kate Gilmore, a senior Amnesty executive, alleged that lower caste members were victims of torture, rape, arbitrary arrests and other forms of harassment. It catalogued instances of caste abuse and harassment highlighted at the National Public Hearing on Dalit Human Rights in Madras last year. Dalits from all over. 4 India recounted their experiences, and some of the more harrowing tales came from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.
The evidence collected at the hearing was seen to reflect the Indian Government’s failure to protect the rights of its Dalit population and Amnesty supported the view that the UN should respond to the issue. An Amnesty officials said several human rights groups had come together under the banner of International Dalits Solidarity Network to step up the campaign to pressure the UN into recognising caste discrimination as racism.
