06 Jul '10 10:00>2 edits
BROKEN PEOPLE
Caste Violence Against India’s “Untouchables”
With little land of their own to cultivate, Dalit men, women, and children numbering in the tens of millions work as agricultural laborers for a few kilograms of rice or Rs. 15 to Rs. 35 (US$0.38 to $0.88) a day. Most live on the brink of destitution, barely able to feed their families and unable to send their children to school or break away from cycles of debt bondage that are passed on from generation to generation. At the end of day they return to a hut in their Dalit colony with no electricity, kilometers away from the nearest water source, and segregated from all non-Dalits, known as caste Hindus. They are forbidden by caste Hindus to enter places of worship, to draw water from public wells, or to wear shoes in caste Hindu presence. They are made to dig the village graves, dispose of dead animals, clean human waste with their bare hands, and to wash and use separate tea tumblers at neighborhood tea stalls, all because—due to their caste status—they are deemed polluting and therefore “untouchable.” Any attempt to defy the social order is met with violence or economic retaliation.
source: human rights watch - India
It has been asserted that this has nothing to do with the religion, that the caste system, is a cultural phenomena. However this is not entirely the case, for there is a direct link to Hindu belief and to Hindu text, which forms the rigid stratification of society. What is perhaps more disturbing is that such a religious system not only tolerates such injustice, but perpetuates it as well. If you have a mind dear reader, read the entire report, but beware it is not for those with a weak constitution, prepare your mind!
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/
Caste Violence Against India’s “Untouchables”
With little land of their own to cultivate, Dalit men, women, and children numbering in the tens of millions work as agricultural laborers for a few kilograms of rice or Rs. 15 to Rs. 35 (US$0.38 to $0.88) a day. Most live on the brink of destitution, barely able to feed their families and unable to send their children to school or break away from cycles of debt bondage that are passed on from generation to generation. At the end of day they return to a hut in their Dalit colony with no electricity, kilometers away from the nearest water source, and segregated from all non-Dalits, known as caste Hindus. They are forbidden by caste Hindus to enter places of worship, to draw water from public wells, or to wear shoes in caste Hindu presence. They are made to dig the village graves, dispose of dead animals, clean human waste with their bare hands, and to wash and use separate tea tumblers at neighborhood tea stalls, all because—due to their caste status—they are deemed polluting and therefore “untouchable.” Any attempt to defy the social order is met with violence or economic retaliation.
source: human rights watch - India
It has been asserted that this has nothing to do with the religion, that the caste system, is a cultural phenomena. However this is not entirely the case, for there is a direct link to Hindu belief and to Hindu text, which forms the rigid stratification of society. What is perhaps more disturbing is that such a religious system not only tolerates such injustice, but perpetuates it as well. If you have a mind dear reader, read the entire report, but beware it is not for those with a weak constitution, prepare your mind!
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/