The Washington Post (Nov. 30 1991) has published a front-page article on atrocities on our Dalit brothers and sisters in India.
Since the Washington Post is a premier newspaper in America, lot of my American friends and patients expressed great shock. It was an eye-opener for urbanite Indians in America
Until and unless the Dalit community retaliates against such crimes, the usurpers will continue to take advantage and continue to oppress our people.
Do not expect M.K. Gandhi-lovers or Hindutva-lovers coming to rescue US
They are searching ways to keep 17 our people as slaves. Will our educated class help these millions of poor, uneducated sisters and brothers? Let them get out of the warmth of the city comforts and go to villages, give evidence and counselling to our Dalit brothers.
Hellish path: The Washington Post reporter, Steve Coll, ought to be congratulated for his story, “Revolt by Untouchables augurs change in India”. His penetrating exposure of Hindu caste system and the Indian social structure was an eye-opener. Il was a story of human rights interest of the downtrodden who have been suffering like Parmar for centuries
The murder of Ramesh Parmar is not an isolated incident at the hands of a Hindu. There are thousands of Untouchables who are gutted down this hellish path to death. The report by the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Tribes has plenty of documentation of incidents like these. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
Press controlled by Hindus: Innumerable accounts like these go unreported because the press is controlled by the Hindus
What happens in India is no less cruel or appalling than the apartheid | in South Africa. Over the years, I have seen all these Hindu politicians shed their crocodile tears for a day or two, go to these afflicted villages and then they return to Now 1 Delhi with business as usual.
The new market policy of the Indian | govt. is good for the Hindus. Unless the govt. dedicates itself to a strong and firm affirmative action programme, the private sector is certain to pull down its shutters to I Untouchables.
Whatever progress the Untouchables have made have been in the public sectors. The Indian govt. has some of the best laws on the books, but their enforcement and implementation is the biggest problem. Since the police and judiciary are controlled by the Hindus, the Untouchables cannot get a fair hearing. No new laws are needed. What is needed, is the strong will. of the govt. at all levels to implement the existing programmes and policies.
Gandhi’s false promise: Steve Coll says: Today, 40 years after Independence leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi promised to build a casteless society through socialism, only about 5 percent of India’s Untouchables can boast of a secondary education. Many of these have jobs as govt. clerks and typists through affirmative-action programs, and a few have risen to high-status positions in the vast. upper-caste-dominated Indian bureaucracy.
But most Untouchables seeking a botter life have had to sweat it on their own, migrating from villages to city slums in search of factory jobs in India’s belching, state-owned industries.
