Bangalore: Dalits -the Black Untouchables of India have to learn a lot from US Blacks and how they are challenging their racist rulers. At Durban, they might have suffered defeat in their demand for compensation for the slavery they suffered at the hands of White Western racists. But did not lose heart.
New York: Citing the persisting legacy of slavery, a Manhattan woman on March 26 filed what appears to be the first class-action lawsuit that seeks compensation from US companies for allegedly profiting from the slave trade. The suit was filed in the US District Court in Brooklyn on behalf of all living descendants of slaves in US. It seeks unspecified damages from Fleet Boston Financial Corp., Aetna Inc, and the CSX Corp., stating that they or their predecessor companies profited from slave labour. Lawyers said the suit would be followed in the coming weeks by similar ones against a number of other corporations in courts around the country, including one in New Jersey. (The Hindu, March 28, 2002).
Dalits too will have to fight for reparations from Hindus for over 3,000 years of slavery inflicted upon them.
