CHAPTER-II

THE EXPLOITATION OF DALITS - THE MAGNITUDE

OF THE PROBLEM

2.1 Introduction

Dalit is not a caste but a realization and is related to the experiences, humiliation,
deprivation, sorrow and joys. It matters with a sociological point of view and is related to
the principles of negativity, rebellion and loyalty to science. By identifying themselves as
Dalits due to the class characteristics, the Scheduled Caste community population in the
country embraced an identity that is bom in a historic straggle. Caste is the main cause of
inequality in Indian society. The practice of untouchability which began 4000 years ago
continues even today in many forms in hierarchy, today the western side of every village
in Indian houses the untouchables who cannot be purified.

India is one of the World’s largest democracy, the second fastest growing
economy and the second most populated country. India has managed to convince the
World’s diplomatic community of its status and has become one of the leading voices in
the United Nations, which was reflected in the UN Human Rights Councils Elections. For
Centuries Dalits have been victims of gross human rights violations. In fact, Dalits have
been considered the most degraded, downtrodden, exploited and the least educated in
Indian society for various reasons. They are considered to be ‘untouchable’ because their
touch to upper caste people is considered polluted and unclean. The caste hierarchy has
excluded these people from the caste system and therefore they are branded as
‘outcaste’.1 2

The word ‘Dalit’ comes from the Marathi language, and it means ‘ground’,
‘suppressed’, ‘crashed’, or ‘broken to pieces’. There are nearly 156 million dalits in India
who constitute larger population compared to other communities in the country. It was
first used by Jyotirao Phule in the 19th Century, in the context of the oppression faced by

1 The Journal of Political and Economic Weekly, Vol.8,2009, p.15.

2 N. Jayapalan,, Human Rights, New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2000, pl43.
 14

•>

the erstwhile ‘untouchable’ castes of the twice-born Hindus. According to Victor

Premasagar, the term Dalit, expresses their weakness, poverty and humiliation at the
hands of the upper castes in the Indian society. Mohandas Gandhi coined the word
Harijan, translated roughly as ‘children of God’, to identify the former untouchables. The
terms ‘Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the official terms used in Indian
government documents to identify former ‘untouchables” and tribes. Adi Dravida, Adi
Karnataka and Adi Andhra, are words used in the State of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh, respectively, to identify people of former untouchable castes in official
documents. The word ‘Adi’, denote the aboriginal inhabitants of the land.34

In the context of traditional Hindu society, Dalit status has often been historically
associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure, such as any involving
leatherwork, butchering, or removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, and waste. The Dalits
community work as manual labourers cleaning streets, latrines, and sewers. Engaging in
these activities was considered to be polluting to the individual, and this pollution was
considered contagious. As a result, Dalits were commonly segregated, and banned from
full participation in Hindu social life. The various forms of discrimination against Dalits
still exists in rural areas in the private sphere, in everyday matters such as access to eating
places, schools, temples, and water sources. For centuries the dalits were subject to
various sorts of disabilities, social segregation and exploitation.5

Some Dalits have successfully integrated into urban Indian society, where Caste
origins are less obvious and less important in public life. In rural India, however, Caste
origins are more readily apparent and Dalits often remain excluded from local religious
life, though some qualitative evidence suggests that its severity is fast diminishing. For
decades and until today, they have been barred from sharing water, food and shelter and
are forced to live in ghettos, and hence are referred as ‘segregated’. They have been
socially, culturally and politically subjugated and marginalized through three thousand

3 Mamta Rajawat, Social Justice and Dalits, New Delhi; Anmol Publication Pvt Ltd., 2005, p 5
4 Supra note no 1
5 The Journal of ‘Third Concept New Delhi; Central News Agency PvtJLtd, 2008, p 13.
 15

years of India’s history. What is still surprising is that the Dalits experience the agony of
untouchability very deeply in all walks of life, social, economical and political spheres.

2.2 Recognition of Dalits as Exploited Class

The Hindu society has governed by four- fold Varna system of Brahamana,
Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra. The vast proportion of people known as ‘panchamas’ or
‘exterioir antayajas’ were fell outside the purview of Varna system. They have been
called as untouchables for a long period in the history of India.6 The Hindu social

organization was traditionally divided into two substrata, known respectively as ‘Dwija’
and ‘Ekaja’. The Dwija comprise three higher vamas- the Brahman, the Kshatriya and the
Vaishya but, the Ekaja or Sudhra were consist of the lower castes that are meant to serve
the Dwijas and are thus placed lower in the social order. The whole system was known as
chaturvama vyavastha or four- fold division of society in which a large chunk of people
belonging to a number of other castes do not find their place within this schematic
structure. They are therefore, called as Panchama or Chandala, Avama, Antyaja etc.7 8

Caste gives its directions for recognition, acceptance, consecration, and

sacramental dedication and vice versa, of a human being on his appearance in this world.
It has its laws for social and religious rights, privileges, and occupation, for instructing,
Q
training and educating, for obligation, duty, and practice, for divine recognition etc.

The caste system is based on a sound economic principle- the division of labour,
which ensures efficiency of production. The institution of caste itself acutely originated
to increase specialization and make for a smooth economic life. A person from birth
knew what profession he was to follow later on. So from the start he devoted all his
energy to the one profession of his forefathers .The caste system has also been
responsible for preserving the purity of blood among the various groups of Hindus even
up to this day. Each caste made rigid rules for marriages. Inter caste marriages are

6 M.R.Gangadhar, Scheduled Caste Population, New Delhi: Mohit Publications, 2005, p. 25

7 Dr. R.P.Mohanty, Dalits Development and Change An Empirical Study, New Delhi: Discovery
Publishing House, 2003, p.l
8 Prof. Ramesh Chandra, Identity and Genesis of Caste System in India, Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2005,
p..30.
 16

particularly forbidden and in this way India has been able to preserve racial purity to a
large extent. But the chief curse of the caste system is ‘untouchability’. The upper castes
do not regard the lower caste Sudras as even human beings. They are treated with
contempt. Their shadow defiles the upper castes. Their touch is unbearable. They cannot
touch the utensils, cloths and water of the upper castes. They cannot worship in the
temples of the upper castes. They are not treated as men but as chattels.9

During the medieval period, these people were not free from almost the same
disabilities. In Manusmriti, the practice of caste system was religious institution created
by God. The Sudras has to serve the other three upper caste groups. The marriages had to
be within the castes only. The Kautilya’s Arthashastra, also reveals that the people will
get heaven and everlasting happiness by following the principle of‘Svadharma’.10

The existence of occupational groups shows that the economic structure of the
society was based upon the agriculture, arts, crafts, and labour etc. Dharmasutras also
tells us numerous information regarding the slaves who were employed for the family
works. During the Mauryan period the position of these depressed classes of people was
very critical one. The people of these sections were earned their livelihood by doing their
menial labour work and had no tools and means for agricultural works like seeds and
bulls etc. These slaves were meant to do hard labour work for upper caste people without
proper wages.*11 During the regime of British Governance, the liberal education policy

and individual liberty with the principle of ‘equality before law’, had changed the concept
of caste system in certain extent by enacting certain legislations. The Caste Disabilities
Removal Act of 1850 was enacted by the British regime was the first efforts made by the
Government to eradicate the social evil of caste system in India. In this context the term
Dalit is inclusive of all the oppressed and exploited sections of society, such as
downtrodden, disadvantaged, underprivileged, dispossessed, deprived, abused, humble,
prostrate etc. Though the British were not in favor of the practice of untouchability in

9 J.K.Chopra, Indian History, New Delhi :Unique Publishers,2003, p.82

10 The “Orient Journal of Law And Social Sciences”, IV, Issue 9, August 2010, R,K.Printing Press and
Publications Centre. A.P. India, p.55
11 Dr. Raj Kumar, Essays on Dalits, New Delhi :Discovery Publishing House,2003, p.10
 17

India, they did not want to bum their fingers by getting too deeply into the customs based
on religion of the Indian people. So, the British, infact did not abolish the practice of
untouchability.12

The word, Caste’ comes from the Portuguese word, ‘casta’, signifying breed, race,
or kind’. The Portuguese of the eleventh century applied the term indiscriminately to the
various social and occupational groups found in the subcontinent and it has since
continued.13 On the one hand the term is used to describe in the broadest sense the total

system of stratification of society in India. Scheduled Castes are the ex-untouchables who
continue to follow the Hindu faith. The term, Scheduled Castes was first incorporated
into the Government of India Act of 1935.The purpose of classifications of castes as
Scheduled Castes is to safeguard the interests of those who suffer from caste
discrimination and to provide for them special concessions to help them to catch up with
the rest of the population in the process of development.14

The expression ‘Scheduled Castes” was first coined by the Simon Commission
and incorporated in the Government of India Act of 1935. Until then they were known as
untouchables, depressed classes or exterior castes. There are 101 Scheduled Castes and
52 Scheduled Tribes as per 1981 Census. The persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes
comprise about 16.23% of the country’s population as per 2001 census. 15These depressed

groups were known as in a different name as follows, which is shown in below.

SI. No Classification on the basis of Caste

1 Adi Andra
2 Adi Dravida
3 Adi Karnataka
4 Adiya
5 Ajila

12 Vikalpa the “Journal of Decision Makers”, Vol.35, No.2, Ahmadabad: Publishers Indian Institute of
Management, 2010, p.67.
13 Ibid
14 Victor Sunderaj, Scheduled Castes of Rural India, Problems and Prospective, New Delhi: A.P.H.
Publishing Corporation, 2000, p.38
15 Prem. K. Shindhe, Dalits and Human Rights, Vol.2, Delhi: ISHA Publishers,2005, p 127
 18

6 Anamuk
7 Arya Mala
9 Baira
9 Bakuda
10 Balagai
11 Bandi
12 Banjara or Lambani
13 Beda or Jangam
14 Be;;ara
15 Bhovi
16 Bindla
17 Cja;avado
18 Chaamara
19 Chambhar
20 Chandala
21 Holeya
22 Jambuvalu
23 Koracha
24 Kudumban
25 Machala
26 Madiga
27 Mahar
28 Mochi
29 Nayadi
30 Nalkadaya
31 Byagara
32 Panchama
33 Kuravan
34 Mang
35 Pallan
36 Paraya
37 Samagara
38 Thoti
39 Valluvan
40 Sudugadu Siddha
41 Mochi
42 Mehtar
43 Murki
44 Pale
45 Hadi etc/

Source: http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/scorderkamataka.pdf visited on 20th July 2008

 19

The criteria to bring these depressed castes under the purview of Scheduled Castes is;

(i) They occupy a low position in Hindu social structure.

(ii) They were backward in education
(iii) They have inadequate representation in Government service.
(iv) They suffer from social and physical isolation from the rest of the
population.

In rural India the Scheduled Castes constitute distinct Caste groups with specific
cultural, occupational and religious characteristics. About 90% of the Scheduled Castes
population lives in rural areas, and they constitute 15% of the population of India. These
people were backward in all respects due to their preponderantly rural nature, illiteracy,
dependence on agricultural labour, or other occupations with low earnings and due to
injustice, exploitation and oppression they have been suffering from others for
centuries.16 These depressed sections of society have been suffering from the social

disabilities which led to their exploitation from the upper caste masses, like the
untouchability, atrocity, and bonded labour system. The genesis of atrocities against the
Scheduled Caste lies in the traditional theory of Vama system and in their low economic
status. One of the reasons for Dalits atrocities is that, their claim to rights to ownership of
land or cultivating it on their own. The lack of basic facilities essential to dalits livelihood
areas is another form of atrocity the dalits will suffer.

The untouchable castes make up about 1/7 of the population of India. In rural
area, the untouchables live in separate hamlets, spatially segregated from the higher
castes. Ritually they are still in most of the places denied access to the village priests and
village temples, but occupationally, they perform the most’ onerous’ tasks in the village
economic system.17

The practice of bonded labour consists of a situation in which a Scheduled Castes

person mortgages his or her services and probably those of his or her entire family for a

16 Victor Sunderaj, Scheduled Castes of Rural India: Problems and Prospects, New Delhi: A.P.H
Publishing Corporation, 200, p 40
17 Bhupen Chaudhary, Indian Caste System, Essence and Reality, New Delhi: Global Vision Publishing
House, 2006, p.29.
 20

specified or unspecified time, in order to borrow some money. The main features of
bondage are, denial of wage or payment of wage less than the minimum specified by
Government, denial of freedom of movement to any other part of the territory of India,
denial of choices of alternative avenues of employment and forfeiture of the right to earn
a reasonable price for one’s labour or for the product of such labour. Another form of
exploitation of Dalits in rural India is ,the practice of agricultural labour. An agricultural
labour means a labour who works in another person’s land for wages in cash, or kind or
share etc. More than 48% of Indian Dalits are landless agricultural labourers, among
them 81% own less than 1.5 acres of land each. When Scheduled Castes seek the
payment of the statutory minimum wages for agricultural labour, they are terrorized by
the upper caste people. More than 80% of women’s from these depressed sections of
society were involved in agricultural activities were subjected to cruelty, exploitation by
the landlords and their fellow beings.

Untouchability in India is intimately and organically associated with the

institution of Caste. It led to the notion of pollution sanctified by religion and codified by
the Brahmanical discriminative laws. Ultimately it resulted in the institutionalization of
“Caste hierarchy and untouchability” giving it socio-religious and legal approval.
Untouchables were not allowed to enter the houses of the higher castes. However, they
were allowed to work as laborers during construction, repair or storing the grains etc.
These untouchable castes were systematically listed in the 1931 census of India. They
were officially defined as depressed castes in 1932.This term was later replaced by the
1 Q

term’ Scheduled castes” based on the classification of the Government.

2.3 Genesis of Dalit Exploitation

Fundamentally, the genesis of dalit exploitation took birth in the rural setup of the
country’s social environment. The rural dalit have grown up in a social order that was and
is extremely cruel and inhuman. The discrimination of dalits in rural areas can be seen in
the following areas, namely;-

18 M.R.Gangadhar, Scheduled Caste Population, New Delhi; Mohit Publications, 2005, p.26.
 21

(i) Village Panchayats, Co-operative Schools and Temples.

(ii) Saloons, Laundry, Shopping unit and public places like hotels etc.
(iii) Dining, private places like house entry.
(iv) Relationship between master and servant.

The dalits children at schools in rural areas could not participate in any function
along with upper caste students. In many parts of Karnataka the dalits children were
prohibited to enter the temples. The using of common wells are another area where the
Scheduled Caste and the Hindus confront each others.19 According to the 1991 census

ther were 138 million persons belonging to Scheduled caste constituting 15.8% of the
total population of the country. They are agricultural laborers, share croppers or self
cultivators. Nearly 13% of the scheduled caste households are landless. And among those
who own land, a vast majority nearly 86% are small and marginal farmers.20 Among

bonded labourers over 20 lakhs of them were scheduled caste. They are bonded against
the debt incurred for marriage and or for day to day expenses. Some of these bonded
labourers work for the same master for several years or even for life.

The Dalit over the years, have been subjected to several forms of social
disabilities. Till today, untouchability continued unabated so long as the idea of purity
and impurity continued to work in the minds of the caste Hindus. It is argued that all men
are bom equal; the social reality is that not all men are bom equal. The practice of
casteism, untouchability and discrimination continues to infect as well as inflict upon the
social order and human collectivity.21

The dichotomy of purity and pollution continues to cast its baleful shadow on the
Dalits and deprive them of their dignified human existence. At different points of history,
such impure castes have been designated as untouchables; harijans, depressed classes,
Scheduled Castes and dalit. Hence the practice of caste system violated their human right,
dehumanized their existence, discriminated them, segregated their location, deprived of

19 Udaiveer & Bharat Singh, Encyclopeadia ofDalits, Vol.l, New Delhi, Reference Publications, 2004, p.3.
20Rajkumar, Essays on Dalits, New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House,2003, p 115
21 Dr.R.M.Sarkar, Dalits in India: Past and Present, New Delhi: Serials Publishers, 2006, p. 43
 22

their dignity, robbed them of their basic conditions of human existence and trammeled
their freedom of progress.

2.4 Discriminated Communities

The populations of Scheduled castes comprise about 16.23% as per the 2001
census, but their proportion among those living in poverty is much larger. Most of them
were illiterate; they also suffer from exploitation and social discrimination as a result of
their economic backwardness.22 The dalit constitute 49% of landless agricultural laborers,

25% are cultivators mostly in the category of small and marginal farmers. Almost all
primary leather workers and most of the weavers in the western parts of India belong to
the scheduled castes population. The common features seen in caste and analogous
systems of discrimination across India include the following:23

1) Physical segregation
2) Social segregation, including prohibition of inter caste marriages
3) Assignment of traditional occupations, often being occupations associated
with death or filth, coupled with restrictions on occupational mobility.
4) Pervasive debt bondage due to poor remuneration for lower caste
occupations.
5) High levels of illiteracy, poverty and landlessness as compared to so called
higher castes.
6) Impunity for perpetrator of crime against low caste communities
7) Use of degrading language to describe low caste communities, based on
notions of purity and pollution, exploitation of women on the basis of sex,
class and caste.

2.5 Religious exploitation

In India various duties of the village hierarchy which were imposed on the
Mahars continued even during colonial rule. In the Bombay Presidency Town of the

22 Prem.K.Shindhe, Dalits and Human Rights, Vol.3, New Delhi: Isha Publications,2005, p. 61.
23 Shyamlal, K. S.Saxena, Ambedkar and Nation Building, Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 1998, p 249.
 23

British India, the Mahars had to perform a number of duties as inferior hereditary officers
to the various government departments, irrigation, revenue, education, police and local
self government. The Mahars were to be called upon to render their services at any time
of day and night. In return to their services they had two sources of livelihood like, a
piece of main land and the Baluta (grains from the peasants). That is why Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar described the watan system as an atrocious and barbarous system.24

The untouchables were not admitted to the public places such as watering places,
wells and Dharamshalas. It is widened from the resolution passed in the Bombay
Legislative Council, it was mentioned that in the year 1927 in the city of Bombay, the
depressed class children were given separate pots for drinking water. The doors of the
Hindu temples were closed to the untouchables was a widely known fact. The famous
temple entry agitations which were led under the leadership of untouchables at Nasik,
Amravati and Poona in Maharashtra, and also under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi at
Guruvayur in Kerala are the sufficient examples to suggest that the untouchables had to
suffer from such disability.

In the year 1929, Dr.Ambedkar had given an account of the socio- economic
disabilities of the untouchables of the times, that, the untouchables could not enter the
police, the Army and the Navy as their touch was causing pollution. The professions like
trade and industry were closed to them, they were not free to dress and live , they might
not wear better cloths than the high caste Hindus. And they could not take the bridegroom
on a horse in procession through the main street of the villages. An untouchable was a
victim of the majority tyranny of the upper caste people in the society.

2.6. Economic Deprivation

In the State of Maharastra, the Shudras can have no right to own property. He was
not permitted to acquire wealth. Kautilya mentioned regarding the means of livelihood of
Shudras, they had two sources of livelihood, like service of twice bom castes and their

24 See M.C.Raj Jyothi, Dalitocracy, The Theory and Praxis ofDalit Politics, Tumkur: Ambedkar Resource
Center, Karnataka, 2007, p.3.
 24

own professions like artisans, dancers and actors etc. Shudras were always associated
with the removal of dead animals, street sweeping and cremation of corpses. They were
employed as agricultural labourers and slaves. Hence, it is clear that the shudras
economic life was degraded to the lowest position.25

2.7 Dalits - A Victim of Land Grabbing

The recent massacre of four Dalit at Dhonde ka pura village in Dholpur district of
Rajasthan was carried out in an old pervading atmosphere of terror unleashed by the
forward caste men to grab the land and houses of Jatav and Koli communities. The brutal
murders were the result of an intense caste rivalry rampant in the dacoit-infested district.
A fact finding team of the Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) which visited the village over
the week end was found that, the families of the victims in a state of shock and an
absolute lack of remorse among the dominant Gujjars. Eight members of the Gujjar
community accompanied by three Rajputs allegedly committed the murders. The 11
murderers two of whom have been arrested while others are absconding allegedly
mutilated the bodies of victims after gunning them down.26

According to eye witness accounts recorded by the team, the killers beheaded the
bodies and chopped of their arms and legs. Then they went to a nearby temple shouting
slogans and firing in the air. The CDR (Centre for Dalit Rights) Chairperson
P.L.Mimroth, who led the 10 member team, told reporters in Jaipur that the Gujjars and
Rajputs killed the four members of Jatav Community on the pretext of taking revenge for
the alleged murder of one Rajbahadur Thakur of Revai village on two years ago.
Thakur’s body was dumped in the farm of Ratanlal Jatav to implicate him in the crime.
Mr.Mimroth said that the majority of Jatavs and Kolis had fled from Dhonde Ka Pura
village over the past few years and their immovable properties grabbed by dominant
Gujjars. Ratanlal’s family was among the 3 Jatav households still surviving in the village
and the murderers wanted to drive them out. The fact finding team found the role of

25 Ibid.
26 The "Journal Legal News and Views ”, VoI..22, N 9, September 2008, p.29.
 25

police suspicious as they hurriedly conducted autopsy on the bodies of the deceased on
the spot and forced the next of their kin to cremate them together.

The above incidence shows that, the exploitation of Dalits in rural India is still a
continuous process despite the enactment of various protective legislations for Dalits.

2.8 Disabilities in Civil Life

The common wells are another area where the Scheduled castes and the caste
Hindus confront each other. In some villages the Scheduled Castes have their own wells.
But in summer season their wells get dry. Caste Hindus do not allow them to draw water
from any well located in their areas. A severe punishment is laid down to the shudras on
the violation of the rules of the shastras. If a shudras abused a Brahimin by using his
name he was punished by inserting in his mouth a red hot iron bar. For preaching a
Brahamin a shudra was punishable with pouring oil down his throat and ears.27

The Chairman of All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes organizations Mr. Udit Raj expressed at the 9th session of United Nations Human
Rights Council held at Geneva, September 9-17th 2008 that, ‘atrocities, untouchability,
wages, bonded labour, child labour, landlessness, illiteracy, inequality of opportunities,
manual scavenging are still the existing order of the day in the life of Dalits in India.
Indian National Bureau of Crime Report of 2006, said that, 27070 crimes has been
committed against dalits but many go unreported. The 13 dalits are murdered every week,
dalits home are burnt every minute, 6 dalits abducted, 3 dalits women raped every day, 11
dalits beaton daily, the crime committed against a dalit in every 18 minutes. Literacy rate
of dalits remain abysmal that ifs S4.69&. The enrolment of Dalits in graduate education is
8.37% as against 91.63 of other 37.8% children had to sit separately while eating in mid
JO

day meals sponsored by the government schools.

27 Udaiveer and Bhagat Singh, Encyclopedia ofDalits, Vol. 1, Nrew Delhi: Reference Press, p.l 19.
28 Rajashekar, “Journal Dalit Voice", Vol.27, Bangalore, 2008, pp 16-31
 26

2.9 Wages, Bondage and Atrocities

As mentioned earlier, the Dalits have been the providers of labour which created
the ancient Indian agricultural civilization that has been continued even to these days.
Members of these castes and tribes were denied the right of owning land to force the dalit
to remain permanently tied down as agricultural and other labour system. The practice of
caste system had been devised to destroy their morale and capacity to organize resistance.
Many of the cases of atrocities arises from agricultural wage issues. If the dalit
agricultural labourers demanding not the statutory minimum wages which are low by
objective standards but something between them and their prevalent wages then the
atrocities were committed against them.

Land plays an important role in rural economy; It is a source of political power.

But the dalits were denied by the upper caste Hindus the right to own property I the form
of land. This attitude of the upper caste Hindus was found in the laws of Manu.
According to Manu the shudras had only to drudge in service and must remain Adhana,
without any property. The sudras could not require, hold or possess any property. Manu
further says out of 7 ways, i.e., seva is recognized for the sudras. Some of the atrocities
against dalits are connected with bonded labour. A recent gruesome example is the brutal
killing in 1992, of 3 dalit persons of a particularly weak and helpless community known
as Bachda, in Mandasur district of Madhya Pradesh, on the ground that some young men
of this community refused to render bonded labour in agriculture and wanted to work for
somewhat higher wages than the market offered.

2.10 Violation of Dalit Women’s Rights

The exploitation of Dalits not only in economic form, but also in the form of
human exploitation such as committing crime against children, women, etc. Dalit women
in India constitute 80 million or 48 percent of the total dalit population, 16.3 percent of
the total female population in India. 81.5 percent of dalit women live in rural areas. These

29 Mamta Rajawat, Development ofDalits, New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd, 2005, p.67
 27

women face the threefold discrimination in the society due to their caste, poverty and
gender.30

Another matter which is of concern is that of illiteracy rates which is lower among
these women as compared to the national level. Dalit women in Indian society are triply
exploited on the basis of their caste, class, and gender. Dalit women are different from
other caste women on the basis of their structural location, occupations which they
perform and treatment meted out to them by society in general.31 In case of dalit women

there is no untouchablity. The upper caste person would to sleep with dalit women where
no question of untouchability is be counted. In most part of India, young dalits girls are
surrendered to landlords at very early age. This practice is simply continued as a matter
of right in rural areas.32

Moreover, dalit women are also raped as a form of retaliation. Land lords and the
police use sexual abuse and other forms of violence against dalit womens to inflict
political lessons and crush dissent within the community. One of the reasons that the dalit
women continue to be target of atrocities is that in rural areas, due to extreme poverty,
lack of minimum wages. A slight denial to their orders or daring to ask for a raise in
wages can result in humiliations, beating torture, rape, killing and jail. The dalit women
working in organized and unorganized sector constitute more than 10% of labour force in
urban areas.33 The dalit women are unable to join the organized sector because of lack of

educational qualifications and previous job experience.

At present situation is only a continuation of the past where the dalit women
continue to bear the stigma of their disabilities. They still walk several miles away in
many Indian villages to get a pot of clean drinking water when being restricted from the
wells of the upper caste, conveniently situated at the centre of the village. In the State of
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly it has been pointed that, in 2005 there have been
approximately one thousand two hundred and seventeen cases of gang rapes ( Samuhik

30 Indian Socio- Legal Journal, Vol .XXXVII, Jaipur: Indian Institute of Comparative Law, p 107
31 The Journal Social Change, Vol. 39, March 2009, p.64.
32 S.Selvanathan, Status ofScheduled Castes, New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House,19879, p.196.
33 Mamta Rajwant, Dalit Women-Issues &Perspectives, New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd, 2005, p.2.
 28

Balatkar) of dalit women took place out of which 726 were against the dalit girls under
the age of 18 years. Another inhuman violence against the welfare society that was the
Khairlanji Massacro of Maharashtra on 26th September 2006 is also a case in point.

Dasi is a woman bonded labour who works in the rich upper caste homes round
the clock. She is forced to obey the caste lords every command including when he or his
guests need her to fulfill their sexual pleasures. Many women were crushed and buried in
the hands of the brutal lords created by the caste system. There are thousands of
Kalavanthulu (sex workers) being kept in separate colonies to satisfy the sexual desires of
the rich.

2.11 Violation of Dalit Children Rights

Children are often regarded as the symbol of love, innocence and peace. Men of
letters have expressed them, as the embodiment of god himself and love towards them is
regarded as a measure of gratitude to God. Since they are weak physically compared to
the adults, they form the weaker part of society leading to their exploitation in various
areas; like labour, sexual abuse etc. There are International Conventions to protect the
interests of children in every society. The Declaration on the Rights of the Child, 1959,
and Convention on the Rights of Child, 1996, gave due consideration to all the member
states to protect the children from exploitation. But this protection was not for the dalit
children.

According to National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes

there are an estimated 115 million children are working in slavery, amongst those
approximately 80-90% were dalits who work as bonded labour in order to pay off debt. In
slavery most of the children often come from poor families, are picked by a high caste
restaurant or shop owner and are forced to work 16-18 hours a day at wages of not more
than 2-3 dollars per year. According to Government statistics, an estimated 800-000 dalits
are manual scavengers who are involved in cleaning human faces from public and private
latrine and disposing of dead animals.34

34 Varhade.Y., Ambedkar Centre for Peace and Justice, Tunkhannock, pa, USA, Publisher Political
Weekly, 2009.
 29

Devadasis, literally meaning’ female servant of God,’ and they usually belong to
the Dalit community. Amazingly, this practice still exists in Indian states like Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Maharashtra. Once dedicated, the girl is unable to marry,
is forced to become a prostitute for upper caste community members, and is eventually
auctioned off to an urban brothel, where she may die due to many sexual diseases. Most
of the dalits children were exploited by the upper caste people were involved in beggary.
The child beggary is an accepted way of life to large section of orphans, destitute and
neglected children. These children often operate alone and in small groups soliciting
money or food. These children are often found in places where the movement of
population is high such as bus station, railway station, centers, and picnic or sight spots.
These children are usually from families where parents are poor. The main reason for
beggary is the economic deprivation and societal exploitation.

The other form of child exploitation is the practice of child labour in India. The
Child labour has been defined as a’ Segment of the child population which participate in
work either paid or unpaid”. In ancient India there is little evidence of employment of
children for wages; but because child slavery was existed. Child slaves could be
purchased or sold like commodities. While dealing with slavery, Kautilya in his
Arthashastra stated that, the purchase or sale of children as slaves was not forbidden
amongst the Shudras for they were backward .To some extent parents obligations were
very often involved in working for the landlord on such low wages that it created
conditions for the child to work on the farm for wages and often remained as bonded
labour in the landlords house along with the parents to repay or to minimize the debt.

In medieval period a class of landless laborers came in to existence, often bonded

to the landowners. The child labour was found in the form of child slavery and rulers did
not endeavor to weed out this practice and hence the result was that child was always
exploited for selfish ends. The development and rise of industrialization in the 18th
century gave new turn to the history of mankind and brought a change in the overall
socio-economic order. The family based economy continued to be destroyed and large
number of people became wage earning labourers and as a result, the children were in a
 30

situation where they had to earn wages for themselves as well as for their families.
According to a study conducted by the All India Guild of Law Graduates, 6.7% of the
workforce consists of children below 14 years of age in the carpet industry, over two-
thirds of the workforce is under 14 years of age.35 The main reason for the child labour in

India is poverty, social neglect, economic inequality etc.

2.12 The Dalit Human Rights Situation

The existence of human beings is not like an animal existence. The human beings
required more protection than an animal in the society. For many centuries, the Indian
caste system was also to operate as a perfect instrument to keep the untouchable castes
and plain tribes under subjugation as providers of labour for agriculture and other
purposes.36 Over one sixth of India’s population, some 170 million people live in a

precarious existence shunned by much of Indian society because of their rank as

untouchable or Dalit like really means broken people at the bottom of India’s caste
system. Dalits are discriminated and denied access to land and basic resources, forced to
work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of police and dominant
caste groups that enjoy the states protection.

The protection of human rights of each and every individual is a global

phenomenon originated through the international conventions on human rights. Indian
history and culture too has an ugly and inhuman part so far as violation of human rights
are concerned. It has witnessing atrocities in the institutionalized form on the weaker
sections called the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, known as Dalits or Shudras,
backed by socio- religious sanctions. The main reason for these people to be degraded is
the religious dogma of Karma and Dharma. This was a convenient dogma for the upper
caste to keep the lower castes under control. The dogma emphasized that by observing
Dharma, they would get salvation and benefit in the next birth. This emphasis on

35 S.N.Jain, Child Labour in India.

36 Udaiveer and Bhagat Singh, Encyclopedia ofDalit, Vol.3, New Delhi: Reference Press, 2004, p 283.
 31

individual salvation led the shudras to be submissive, quiescent and passive. The only
Dharma of the shudras was to serve the upper castes.37

2.13 ILP.Tops in crime rate against Dalits

The states in India as a unit of welfare society endowed with the power to secure
justice in the society. The protection of the Dalits rights also wested with the State in
every sphere in our Democratic society. But the exploitation of Dalits can also found in
every state in India. Among these the Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states with the highest
number of cases of crimes against scheduled castes. With a staggering 4,960 cases of
crime committed against people from the Dalits, UP is top in list as according to ministry
of home affairs data of 2006.The state is closely followed by Madhya Pradesh with 4,214
cases being registered in the same year. In south Indian states the Andhra Pradesh has a
record of 3,891 cases of atrocity were registered in 2006. The total numbers of cases are
3,117 in AP were recorded in 2005.1n the year 2004 the highest numbers of cases were
recorded. Among the seven Union Territories, Delhi has recorded 21 such cases, which is
'JO

the highest number.

The above figures show that the exploitation of Dalits is a continuous process it
will never end in this human generation. The society is still degrading and denying the
equal treatment of Dalits in order to make them as slaves to serve the upper caste people
in the society. Broadly, human rights are grouped into four categories. Each category has
a special function in the societal structure.

Thus atrocities against Dalit community is a continued phenomenon. The removal

of untouchability through law is a myth. It has been appeared in the news paper Vijaya
Karnataka on 18th July 2009 that, Suresh Manighi a Dalit leader’s labourer was allegedly

held captive and thrashed for 6 days in Nalanda by an upper caste man, Abhay Singh
after he refused to work in their fields in Bihar. Hence the dalit have low socio-economic
status in the society. They do not have any right and privilege, but all the duties to be

37 L.D. Naikar, The Law Relating to Human Rights, Bangalore :PuIiani and Puliani, 2004, p. 584
38 According to the figures available the number of persons convicted for crimes against Scheduled Caste
under the Act, including Indian Penal Code crimes in 2005 was 12,468.
 32

performed for the benefit of upper caste. There is close relationship between the poverty
and exploitation. The poor people were dependent upon the upper caste for their
livelihood and survival. The area of exploitation is like agriculture, construction, tea
garden, factory, mines etc. It was measured in the State of Karnataka that, 4,299 cases of
atrocities has been registered but only 40 members were punished and the number of
cases were 1,276 in 2006 and 1,157 cases in 2007 and 1,426 cases in 2008 as well as 440
cases are registered in 2009.