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India is a country that's changing fast even though it's still known for
its rigid caste system. Members of India's lowest class were
traditionally called "untouchables." They are now known as Dalits.
But despite the name change, and laws to protect them, Dalits say
they still suffer widespread discrimination. Now, a group of
volunteers throughout India is gathering video evidence of that
discrimination in an effort to end it. The videos show a man who
complains that a local barber refuses to cut his hair; a group of
children who are forced to eat lunch separately from their
classmates; women who walk for hours to fetch water because they
are not allowed to use the public tap in the village None of the
footage on its own is particularly dramatic. But it documents a
persistent form of social discrimination – untouchability. Amit is a
Dalit, who lives in the northern state of Haryana. He's one of 65
video volunteers currently documenting examples of untouchability
for a campaign called Article 17. It's named after the constitutional
provision that banned caste-based discrimination in 1950. But for
Amit, and millions of other Dalits, very little has changed. "This Dalit
stamp is always with us," Amit said. "When we apply for jobs, or try
to get into college we have to show which community we belong to.
That's when the discrimination starts. Here in Haryana, Dalits are still
being tied to trees and beaten by the upper-caste people. No one
stands up for us." Amit takes me to visit his friend, another Dalit
named Vimal. Most Dalits never get out of poverty, so Vimal's house
is not what I expect. It's new and spacious – testament to the fact
that some Dalits have benefited from India's economic growth. But
Vimal tells me right after his family arrived, a mob of upper-caste
neighbours attacked the house. And as more Dalits moved in, upper-
class neighbours moved out. "They can't handle us having money or
education, “said Vimal. India's caste system is deeply rooted in
Hinduism. Across India, especially in rural areas, people are still born
into their caste and occupations. Even if a Dalit scavenger could
afford to open a grocery store — an upper-caste customer probably
wouldn't touch the produce or even shop there. But untouchability is
rarely covered in the media and gets little attention from India's
urban middle class. Amit is the one who shot the video. It's from his
village. I ask him to show me the temple, which is a public place.
Amit and his friend get on the bike; and we follow in a car. But
instead of stopping at the temple, we park in an alleyway behind it.
Amit leads me to a friend's house, where everyone looks nervous.
Finally, they explain what's going on. There are some upper cast
people there, Amit and his friends tell me; they are too scared to
enter the temple.
Now, my second example is related to Earthquake in Gujarat where
caste discrimination had been occurred.
Often, rigid social norms of purity and pollution are socially enforced
through strict prohibitions on marriage or other social interaction
between castes. While economic and social indicators other than
caste have gained in significance, allowing intermarriage among
upper castes, in many countries strong social barriers remain in place
against marriage between lower and higher castes. In India the
condemnation can be quite severe, ranging from social ostracism to
punitive violence. On August 6, 2001, in the north Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh, an upper-caste Brahmin boy and a lower-caste Jat girl
were dragged to the roof of a house and publicly hanged by
members of their own families as hundreds of spectators looked on.
The public lynching was punishment for refusing to end an inter-
caste relationship.