INDIA: Burning Dalits with an iron rod and force-feeding human excreta

INDIA: Human dignity is denied; Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment against Dalits

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We reproduce this report about an incident that has enraged Dalits in India. The horrible nature of caste oppression and the Indian government’s unwillingness to deal decisively with this issue is brought home shapely by this story. We urge everyone to write to the newly appointed president of India to take action on this matter, to punish the perpetrators and to examine the State’s responsibilities to Dalits.
DALITS, “EAT THE HUMAN EXCRETA NOW!”

Among the various reports of terrorism, extremism, catastrophe, carnage, assaults, attacks and violations around the globe, the atrocity unleashed on the Dalits of the village of Tinnium near Tiruchirappalli in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu is beyond one’s imagination and belief. Heinous, inhuman caste atrocities are still alive. Perhaps these atrocities are not an episodic, one-time event but rather represent a resounding state of affairs in India.

Karupiah, 38, of Tinniyum had paid 2,000 rupees (US$41) to the former village panchayat president, Rajalakshmi Subramanian, for providing a group house to his sister Banumathy. However, Karupiah’s sister was never allowed to occupy the house and despite repeated requests for the past two years, neither the house nor the money has been refunded. Thus, Karupiah resorted to beating the tom-tom to ventilate his grievance. Murugesan and Ramasami, Dalits as well, accompanied Karupiah while he beat the drum.

That very same evening all three people were summoned by Kamraj, the present village panchayat president, and Subramani, a retired teacher who is the husband of Rajalakshmi. Subramani, enraged by Karupiah’s act of beating the drum, demanded an apology and slapped him with slippers and kicked him hard. Next was Murugesan, 37, and Ramasami, who were also subjected to beatings and were branded on various parts of their body with a red-hot iron rod. Murugesan and Ramasami had to beat the drum again, saying that the earlier incident by Karupiah was false. All of these cruel acts took place in the presence of the family members of these three Dalits.

Even after all of this torture and humiliation, the ire of these barbarous dominant caste fanatics did not subside. Subramani then ordered Ramasami and Murugesan to feed each other human excreta. This egregious act was forced on the Dalits after repeatedly being branded with a hot iron.

All of these dominant caste brutes involved in this dehumanising act absconded when the district collector paid a visit to the village. Efforts had been initiated by human rights defenders for suitable criminal action against the culprits. Reports say a sum of 6,650 rupees (US$137) was given by the government to the victims, in addition to rice and kerosene, as a usual rehabilitative measure. Various protests and actions have been launched by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to expedite actions against the perpetrators.

This incident received widespread publicity in the newspapers but has been eventually forgotten. Multifarious actors that are profoundly glorified by the State to safeguard the interests of Dalits have yet to uphold justice as they are caught in the clutches of caste hegemony. Nevertheless, all such assaults and crimes are done in broad daylight. Though it appears to attract the State¡¯s attention, no substantial penal action or remedial measures seem to have been attempted whatsoever. Yet again, all of this inaction reiterates the deliberate underpinning of the state machinery that is visibly anti-Dalit, which protects the interests of the perpetrators. Legislation and rules are never sufficiently enforced but rather are administered superficially. After all, the law itself is at the dispense of these brutal violators.

The dominant caste ideology and atrocities strike the Dalits like a mammoth cannibal that seeks to swallows them. This inhuman episode in Tinnium is yet another addition to the unending list of socially sanctified acts of ostracism. These daily occurrences inevitably damage the fabric of human dignity and the rights of equality, liberty and justice. In a distance is heard, “Hail United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights, viva Indian constitutional fundamental rights, Durban praises too.” But who is the redeemer of the sagging spirits of the Dalits? Who will wipe their woes, restore their human dignity and cut the edge that is hard to blunt?

One of the most remarkable lives of the 20th century, Nelson Mandela, in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, calls at the freedom fighters by saying, “AT A CERTAIN POINT, ONE CAN ONLY FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE.”

Monica Vincent

Advocate, Madras

Commissioner, Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

World Council of Churches
SUGGESTED ACTION

Please write to the president of India and express your outrage at this attack on the human dignity of marginalised people in India. Please also call for the arrest of the perpetrators and compensation for the victims in this case. Lastly, ask the president to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. A sample letter is provided below. You may write similar letters to the prime minister and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India as well.
 

 

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