The term Dalit means crushed oppressed, massacred. And so is the live of people who were born in this lowest caste. From birth they belong to the poorest in India. The result is the fact that since generations they still have to do the most dirty and smelly work for the dominant castes. The following generations are automatically born into the same caste, in the same social position and in the same workspace. Only because of their professional activity, the Dalits are even described as the unclean, the untouchable, as an environmentally harmful.
This still leads to the fact that they have to live their live physically and socially completely isolated from the rest of society. Every day they have to deal with discrimination, racism and with other forms of the “hidden apartheid” in India, which is almost unknown for the rest of the world.
An “untouchable” must accept to spend a joyless, miserable life in the society of India. There are currently nearly 140 types of bans and discriminations created by the ruling castes against the Dalits such as:
- The prohibition of sitting or eating at the table of other castes
- It is forbidden to marry members of another caste
- On official occasions such as festivals or tea rooms there are a special seating and special dishes for Dalits
- Wearing sandals or holding the umbrellas from other members of another caste is prohibited for the Dalit
- The entry into private homes of members of the members of a higher caste is prohibited for the Dalit
- To walk on the normal road of a village is prohibited for the Dalit
- The use of public facilities such as wells, ponds and temples is prohibited for the Dalit
- The burial place of the public cemetery prohibited for the Dalit
These prohibitions and much more injustice can be inferred from further informations of the NCDHR. It’s time that the world will find a word of power and that the union of all nations will ensure that this inhuman action against the Dalit must end!