Chapter 8

Confronting Marginalisation

 Invoking Fundamental Rights

 When the marginalised are concerned, they draw their constitutional
rights in the following two ways:
 By insisting on their Fundamental Rights, they have forced the
government to recognize the injustice done to them.
 They insist that the government enforce these laws. Struggles of
the marginalised have influenced the government to frame new
laws, keeping up with the spirit of the Fundamental Rights.
 Article 17 of the Constitution states that untouchability has been abolished.
 Article 15 of the Constitution states that the citizens of India shall not be
discriminated against on the basis of religion, caste, sex, race or place of
birth. This has been used by Dalits to seek equality where it has been
denied to them.
 Dalits can invoke a Fundamental Right in situations where they feel that
they have been poorly treated by some individuals, communities or by the
government.
 In case of cultural and educational rights in the Fundamental Rights,
cultural and religious groups such as those of Muslims and Parsis have the
right to be the guardians of the content of their culture.

 Laws for the Marginalised

 Promoting social justice
 State and Central governments create specific schemes for
implementation in tribal areas or in areas with high dalit
population.
 The government also operates through laws for ensuring that
concrete steps are taken to end inequity in the system.
 Laws have been made for reserving seats in government jobs and
education for Dalits and Adivasis.
 The Government of India has the list of scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes and backward castes. Students applying to educational
institutions and those applying for government jobs are asked to
produce certificates of their caste and tribe.

 Protecting the Rights of Dalits and Adivasis

  The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989
 The act was framed in 1989 in response to demands made by Dalits
that the government must take the humiliation and discriminations
faced by the Dalits seriously. They demanded for laws that could
prevent their grievances.
 Throughout 1970s and 1980s, the Adivasis successfully organized
themselves and demanded equal rights and that their land and
resources to be returned to them.
 The Act distinguishes many levels of crimes. Firstly, it lists modes of
humiliation that are both physically horrific and morally
reprehensible and seeks to punish the wrong doers.
 Secondly, it lists actions that dispossess Dalits and Adivasis of their
meager resources or which force them into performing slave
labour.
 At another level, the Act recognises that crimes against Dalits and
tribal women are of a specific kind and seeks to penalize those who
assault any women belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled
Tribe with intention to dishonour them.

 Adivasi Demands and the 1989 Act

 Adivasi activists refer to the 1989 Act to defend their right to occupy land
that was traditionally theirs.
 Activists say that those who have forcibly encroached upon tribal lands
should be punished under this law.
 C.K. Janu, an Adivasi activist, says that the government must draw up plans
and policies for the Adivasis who have been displaced from their land
permanently. These policies should allow them to live and work
elsewhere.