Freedom Socialist • Vol. 28, No. 5 • October-November 2007

Dalits in India protest “untouchable” status
Corporate globalization and the rise of fundamentalism deepen caste oppression

by Laura Mannen

International Women's Day 2000: Dalit and tribal village women rally and call for wages for everyone's work on their way to meet with officials in Bhopal and Delhi. Photo: www.globalwomenstrike.net

Dalits, once known as “untouchables” or “out” have faced brutal oppression on the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. They won some civil rights and affirmative action provisions in the struggle for Indian independence from Britain. But now, under the economic pressure of corporate globalization and a resulting rise in religious fundamentalism, they are under renewed attack.

The National Crime Records Bureau of India reports: “Every hour — two Dalits are assaulted; every day — three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered and two Dalit houses are burnt.” But an inspiring protest movement is fighting back and winning international support.

The ancient origin of Dalit suppression. Aryan tribes invaded the region of today’s India and its neighboring countries 3,500 years ago. The conquerors intermarried with dark-skinned local tribes. Social scientists disagree on whether racial or other social distinctions predominated in forming castes. But, over time, the result was a strict hereditary division of labor. Dalits had to perform the functions considered the most menial and “unclean.” Hinduism divides the social order into four castes, but Dalits are below the lowest caste.

Dalits make up about 20 percent of the populations of India, Pakistan, Nepal, and BanglaAncient as the origin of Dalit persecution is, it has adapted well to capitalism, which uses any excuse to super-oppress subgroups of workers. Just as with race and sex discrimination, caste divisions divide the working class and justify lower pay and worse conditions for those on the bottom.

Untouchability was officially banned by the 1950 Indian constitution, and there are education and public sector hiring quotas for Dalits and indigenous tribes. Still, the majority of Dalits continue to face severe discrimination, especially in rural areas. Dalits must live outside of towns in inferior dwellings, have no access to communal water sources, and are not allowed to own land. Most rural Dalits earn their living as agricultural laborers or as collectors of human waste to be used as fertilizer.

Atrocities committed with impunity. Upper-caste Hindus have traditionally utilized public humiliation of Dalits to keep them from challenging their oppressed status. Most of these crimes are not even reported because of police collusion with the perpetrators and fears of retaliation.

In 1989 the Indian government passed the “Prevention of Atrocities Act.” The act makes it illegal to parade people naked through the streets, force them to eat feces, take away their land, foul their water, interfere with their right to vote, or burn down their homes. Since its passage, however, violence has actually escalated, primarily as a backlash against increased grass-roots organizing by Dalit communities.

Landlord-sponsored militias are also active in some Indian states. Wealthy land owners hire poor youths from higher castes to massacre villagers where agricultural workers are agitating for better pay and land. These militias operate with impunity and so far none of their organizers have been arrested.

Dalit women — triply oppressed by caste, gender and poverty. The average rural Dalit woman clocks more agricultural field hours each year than either her male counterpart or the bullock she works alongside. She is not protected by labor laws and makes less than the minimum wage because she is a casual laborer.

As agribusiness takes over farming, casual workers are forced to migrate to urban areas. Many Dalit women are left behind and bear the responsibility of providing for their families. Those who move to the cities often end up in export processing zones where they are subjected to pregnancy tests in order to obtain jobs and then work 12-hour shifts standing inside barbed-wire enclosed factories. Dalit women are often targeted for government birth control schemes, including forced sterilization and guinea pig trials of invasive hormonal contraception methods.

Long-standing Hindu tradition compels many Dalit families to dedicate their daughters to goddesses. In practice, this means that the girl cannot marry and must make her living as a temple dancer, selling herself to higher-caste male visitors to the temple.

Meanwhile, globalization has pushed many more Dalit women and children into prostitution as their only means of survival. Asian governments have been encouraged by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to develop tourism and entertainment industries in order to make their loan payments. Growth of these industries in developing countries invariably involves the expansion of the sex industry.

As in much of the world, religious fundamentalism is on the rise in India. Proponents of Indian nationalism call for reclaiming India as a Hindu homeland, complete with reinforced ideas of both caste and gender superiority.

With subjugation comes defiance. The modern Dalit movement traces its roots to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was the first Dalit to receive a formal education and the prime architect of India’s constitution. However, the constitutional protections for Dalits have never been enforced by the Indian courts and legislatures, dominated by the highest castes.

At the fourth World Social Forum (WSF) held in Mumbai, India, in 2004, an estimated 30 percent of the 120,000 participants were Dalits. International activists learned of their terrible oppression and courageous defense of their rights. Their inspiring stance against patriarchy and ethnic and caste discrimination garnered new support, which in turn fueled the Dalit resurgence. The rising tide of activism also sparked the creation of a landless peoples’ movement in India.

Indian women’s organizations are also taking up the cause. Mahila Jagruthi, from the state of Karnataka, presented a wonderful paper called “Commodification of Women Due to Imperialist Globalisation” at Mumbai Resistance 2004, a counter-forum to the WSF organized by activists unhappy with the coninfluence of nongovernmental organizations and private foundations. It highthe plight of Dalit women and their exploitation in prostitution and sex trafficking, as well as the economic role of capitalist globalization. The All India Democratic Women’s Association operates in many states and has sponsored regional conventions in support of Dalit women’s rights.

Dalits in Nepal are agitating for proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly, and in Pakistan have demanded constitutional protections and affirmative action. Dalit journalists publish the Indian biweekly Dalit Voice (www.dalitvoice.org), and Nepal’s Jagaran Media Center has recently launched an e-bulletin on Dalit issues (www.jagaranmedia.org.np).

International solidarity and cross-border organizing promise more heroic resistance. But, as corporate globalization continues its voracious quest for higher profits no matter the human cost, the need to overturn the capitalist system, which feeds on the oppression of Dalits and all the wretched of the earth, will become ever more pressing. Lasting freedom will come when we kick out the greed-mongers and usher in a sane socialist system!

Laura Mannen is a mother of two, unionist, and teacher in Cornelius, Oregon. She can be reached at ljmannen@msn.com.