Untouchability

Untouchability is a form of social

institution that legitimises and enforces
practices that are discriminatory,
humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative
against people belonging to certain social
groups. Although comparable forms of
discrimination are found all over the world,
untouchability involving the caste system
is largely unique to South Asia.[1][2][3]
The term is most commonly associated
with treatment of the Dalit communities in
the Indian subcontinent who were
considered "polluting". The term has also
been used to refer to other groups,
including the Burakumin of Japan, the
Baekjeong of Korea, and the Ragyabpa of
Tibet, as well as the Romani people and
Cagot in Europe, and the Al-Akhdam in
Yemen.[4][5] Traditionally, the groups
characterized as untouchable were those
whose occupations and habits of life
involved ritually "polluting" activities, such
as pursuing a career based on killing (e.g.
fishermen) or engaging in common
contact with others' feces or sweat (e.g.
manual scavengers, sweepers and
washermen).[6]

According to the religious Hindu text,

untouchables were not considered a part
of the varna system. Therefore, they were
not treated like the savarnas (Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras).[7]

Due to many caste-based discriminations

in Nepal, the government of Nepal legally
abolished the caste-system and
criminalized any caste-based
discrimination, including "untouchability" in
1963.[8]
Untouchability has been outlawed in India,
Nepal and Pakistan. However,
"untouchability" has not been legally
defined. The origin of untouchability and
its historicity are still debated. A recent
study of a sample of households in India
concludes that "Notwithstanding the
likelihood of under-reporting of the
practice of untouchability, 70 percent of
the population reported not indulging in
this practice. This is an encouraging
sign."[9]

Origin
 B. R. Ambedkar with the leaders and
activists of the All India Untouchable
Women Conference held at Nagpur in
1942

B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian social reformer

and politician who came from a social
group that was considered untouchable,
theorized that untouchability originated
because of the deliberate policy of the
upper-caste Brahmanas. According to him,
the Brahmanas despised the people who
gave up the Brahmanism in favour of
Buddhism. Later scholars such as
Vivekanand Jha have refuted this
theory.[10]
Nripendra Kumar Dutt, a professor of
history, theorized that the concept of
untouchability originated from the "pariah"-
like treatment accorded to the indigenous
people of India by the early Dravidians, and
that the concept was borrowed by the
Indo-Aryans from the Dravidians. Scholars
such as R. S. Sharma have rejected this
theory, arguing that there is no evidence
that Dravidians practised untouchability
before coming into contact with the Indo-
Aryans.[10]

Austrian ethnologist Christoph von Fürer-

Haimendorf theorized that untouchability
originated as class stratification in urban
areas of the Indus Valley civilisation.
According to this theory, the poorer
workers involved in 'unclean' occupations
such as sweeping or leather work were
historically segregated and banished
outside the city limits. Over time, personal
cleanliness came to be identified with
"purity", and the concept of untouchability
eventually spread to rural areas as well.
After the decline of the Indus Valley towns,
these untouchables probably spread to
other parts of India.[11] Scholars such as
Suvira Jaiswal reject this theory, arguing
that it lacks evidence, and does not explain
why the concept of untouchability is more
pronounced in rural areas.[12]
American scholar George L. Hart, based
on his interpretation of Old Tamil texts
such as Purananuru, traced the origin of
untouchability to ancient Tamil society.
According to him, in this society, certain
occupational groups were thought to be
involved in controlling the malevolent
supernatural forces; as an example, Hart
mentions the Paraiyars, who played the
drums during battles and solemn events
such as births and deaths. People from
these occupational groups came to be
avoided by others, who believed that they
were "dangerous and had the power to
pollute the others".[13] Jaiswal dismisses
the evidence produced by Hart as
"extremely weak" and contradictory.
Jaiswal points out that the authors of the
ancient Tamil texts included several
Brahmanas (a fact accepted by Hart); thus,
the society described in these texts was
already under Brahmanical influence, and
could have borrowed the concept of
untouchability from them.[14]

British anthropologist John Henry Hutton

traced the origin of untouchability to the
taboo on accepting food cooked by a
person from a different caste. This taboo
presumably originated because of
cleanliness concerns, and ultimately, led to
other prejudices such as the taboo on
marrying outside one's caste. Jaiswal
argues that this theory cannot explain how
various social groups were isolated as
untouchable or accorded a social rank.[15]
Jaiswal also notes that several passages
from the ancient Vedic texts indicate that
there was no taboo against accepting
food from people belonging to a different
varna or tribe. For example, some Shrauta
Sutras mandate that a performer of the
Vishvajit sacrifice must live with the
Nishadas (a tribe regarded as untouchable
in later period) for three days, in their
village, and eat their food.[16]
Scholars such as Suvira Jaiswal, R. S.
Sharma, and Vivekanand Jha characterize
untouchability as a relatively later
development after the establishment of
the varna and caste system.[17] Jha notes
that the earliest Vedic text Rigveda makes
no mention of untouchability, and even the
later Vedic texts, which revile certain
groups such as the Chandalas, do not
suggest that untouchability existed in the
contemporary society. According to Jha, in
the later period, several groups began to
be characterized as untouchable, a
development which reached its peak
during 600–1200 AD. Sharma theorizes
that institution of untouchability arose
when the aboriginal tribes with "low
material culture" and "uncertain means of
livelihood" came to be regarded as impure
by the privileged classes who despised
manual labour, and regarded associated
impurity with "certain material objects".[18]
According to Jaiswal, when the members
of aboriginal groups were assimilated into
the Brahmanical society, the privileged
among them may have tried to assert their
higher status by disassociating
themselves from their lower-status
counterparts, who were gradually branded
as untouchables.[19]
According to the Dharmashastras which
are ancient legal codes from various
kingdoms in ancient India, certain peoples
grouped either by ethnicity or profession
were not considered a part of the varna
based society. Therefore, they were not
treated like the savarnas (Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras).[7]

Characteristics
 People regarded as "untouchables" in Malabar, Kerala (1906
A.D.)

According to Sarah Pinto, an

anthropologist, modern untouchability in
India applies to people whose work relates
to "meat, and bodily fluids".[20] Based on
the punishments prescribed in The
Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 the
following practices could be understood to
have been associated with Untouchability
in India:
Prohibition from eating with other
members

Provision of separate cups in village tea

stalls

Separate seating arrangements and

utensils in restaurants

Segregation in seating and food

arrangements at village functions and
festivals

Prohibition from entering places of

public worship

Prohibition from wearing sandals or

holding umbrellas in front of higher
caste members
 Prohibition from entering other caste
homes

Prohibition from using common village

paths

Separate burial/cremation grounds

Prohibition from accessing

common/public properties and
resources (wells, ponds, temples, etc.)

Segregation (separate seating area) of

children in schools

Bonded labour

Social boycotts by other castes for

refusing to perform their "duties"[21]

Government action in India

India is home to over 200 million Dalits.[22]
At the time of Indian independence, Dalit
activists began calling for separate
electorates for untouchables in India to
allow fair representation. Officially labeled
the Minorities Act, it would guarantee
representation for Sikhs, Muslims,
Christians, and Untouchables in the newly
formed Indian government. The Act was
supported by British representatives such
as Ramsay MacDonald. According to the
textbook Religions in the Modern World, B.
R. Ambedkar, who was also a supporter of
the Act, was considered to be the
“untouchable leader” who made great
efforts to eliminate caste system
privileges that included participation in
public festivals, access to temples, and
wedding rituals. In 1932, Ambedkar
proposed that the untouchables create a
separate electorate that ultimately led
Gandhi to fast until it was rejected.[23]

A separation within Hindu society was

opposed by national leaders at the time
such as Gandhi, although he took no
exception to the demands of the other
minorities. He began a hunger strike, citing
that such a separation would create an
unhealthy divide within the religion. At the
Round Table Conferences, he provided this
explanation for his reasoning:
I don't mind untouchables if
they so desire, being converted
to Islam or Christianity. I should
tolerate that, but I cannot
possibly tolerate what is in store
for Hinduism if there are two
divisions set forth in the
villages. Those who speak of the
political rights of the
untouchables don't know their
India, don't know how Indian
society is today constituted and
therefore I want to say with all
the emphasis that I can
 command that if I was the only
person to resist this thing that I
would resist it with my life.[24]

Gandhi achieved some success through

his hunger strike however Dalit activists
faced pressure from the Hindu population
at large to end his protest at the risk of his
ailing health. The two sides eventually
came to a compromise where the number
of guaranteed seats for Untouchables
would be increased at both central and
provincial levels, but there would be a
common electorate.
The 1950 national constitution of India
legally abolished the practice of
untouchability and provided measures for
affirmative action in both educational
institutions and public services for Dalits
and other social groups who lie within the
caste system. These are supplemented by
official bodies such as the National
Commission for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes.

Despite this, instances of prejudice against

Dalits still occur in some rural areas, as
evidenced by events such as the Kherlanji
massacre.
Elsewhere
China: Tanka people

Europe: Romani people

France: Cagots were historically

untouchable groups of France.[25]

India: Dalit

Japan: Burakumin

Korea: Baekjeong in Korea were an

"untouchable" group of Korea who
traditionally performed jobs of
executioner and butcher.[26]

Nigeria: Ohuhu and Osu

Somalia: lower class Somali clans

 Tibet: Ragyabpa

Yemen: Al-Akhdam

See also
Affirmative action

Discrimination

Caste system in India

Homo sacer

Outcast (person)

Prejudice

Slavery

Shudra

Underclass

Varna (Hinduism)
Social reformers of Kerala

Ayya Vaikundar

Ayyankali

Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi

Padmanabhan Palpu

Kumaranasan

Mithavaadi Krishnan

Moorkoth Kumaran

V.T. Bhattathiripad

Pandit Karuppan

Ayyathan Gopalan

Narayana Guru

Vagbhatananda
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9_K) . archive.org. Retrieved 2018-10-03.

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11. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, p. 219.

12. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, pp. 219–220.

13. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, p. 220.

14. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, pp. 221–222.

15. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, p. 223.

16. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, p. 224.

17. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, pp. 225–227.

18. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, p. 226.

19. Suvira Jaiswal 1978, p. 227.

20. Pinto, Sarah (2013). Where There Is No
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24. Kumar, Ravinder. "Gandhi, Ambedkar and
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Indian historiography." History Compass
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Retrieved from
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