Caste-based discrimination

On 22 November, we issued an appeal about a Dalit woman who was paraded half-naked to humiliate her into giving up on a land claim (see at http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/377/). We have received evidence of yet another atrocity on Dalits in India over a separate land dispute ¡© this time it was a raid on a whole Dalit village in Karnataka by the dominant caste community.

According to reliable sources, a Dalit woman in Kishanganj in the India state of Bihar was tormented and paraded half-naked by a group of people who wanted to teach a lesson to her family for not giving away their claim over a piece of land.

INDIA: Caste based discrimination; A clear case of discrimination on the basis of work and descent, fear of life, inhuman and degrading treatment ———————————————————– Sankan, son of (s/o) Sri Periasamy, is residing at the Kavundampatti, Pallapatti (via), Nilkottai Taluk, Dindigul District of Tamilnadu State in South India with his wife, sons and daughters. His eldest […]

About 3,000 Dalit (low-caste Untouchables) women and men, along with Dalit and other human rights organisations, organised a two-day padayatra (a peaceful march) on Sept. 20 and 21, 2002, to protest against the social and economic boycott of the Bairwas (a Dalit community) since December 2001 in the Indian village of Chakwara in the town of Phagi Tehsil in Jaipur District by the upper caste Jat, Gujjar and Brahmin communities. The Dalits are demanding the right to access the ghats (a platform with steps) meant for bathing in the public pond in the village.

A case of gang rape and sexual exploitation against Dalit minor girl INDIA: Caste based discrimination – a distinct case of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent; right to life & fair trial and justice; abduction, gang-rape and sexual exploitation against Dalit minor girl ———————————————————– We are shocked to learn that a […]

Dear Friends  Further to the appeal we made for you to write to Ms. Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights (regarding her failure to raise the discrimination and atrocities faced by dalits and other low caste people during the ‘South Asians for Human Rights’ meeting in Delhi in November), we have been forwarded the […]

We have learned that a meeting addressed by the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, with the theme ‘Including the Excluded in South Asia’, has completely ignored the issue of caste discrimination, which affects an estimated 200 million South Asians born into the lowest castes, subject to extreme violence, deprived of the most fundamental rights and considered untouchable. 

According to reliable sources in India, a Dalit (meaning “oppressed” – the name now used for those formerly called “Untouchables” in India) woman belonging to the Dasara community of Bellari in the Indian state of Karnataka was paraded naked in public by the upper caste people because of an allegation that she assisted Maramma, a 15-year-old upper caste girl who belonged to the Valmiki community in Bellari, to elope with her fianc? 

Shri Kishan Motwani State Minister for Devasthan (Temple worship) c/- Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Secretariat E-mail : rajassem@raj.nic.in <mailto:rajassem@raj.nic.in>   PRESIDENT K.R. NARAYAN Office of the President Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi 110 001 Email: pressecy@alpha.nic.in <mailto:pressecy@alpha.nic.in>   Mr. Justice J.S. Verma Chairperson National Human Rights Commission Dear sirs   I have been reading about the unconsciencable […]

Following is a report of the eminent fact-finding team who investigated one of the atrocities committed against a Dalit (meaning ‘oppressed’ – the name now used for those foremerly called ‘untouchable out-castes’ in India) in the State of Rajasthan in June. The incident is of a 65-year old Dalit named Ghasi Regar, who was beaten to death with an iron bar by an upper caste man for daring to pray at the temple of the village deity. 

Dear Ms. Robinson RE: CASTE IS STILL KILLING – PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE IT IN WCAR! It is hard to believe that the caste system in India can still be so entrenched that a young couple were publicly hanged to death by their families on Monday because they were in love and from different castes. […]

In a stark reminder that caste discrimination is still rife in India, a pair of mixed-caste lovers were hanged in public last Monday by their own family members in Alipur village, Muzaffarnagar district, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. 

Dear Friends Take a minute today or tomorrow to appeal for an end to caste discrimination! We are forwarding the following urgent appeal from the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (India). We have been working with the NCDHR and other groups for the past year to have the caste issue included in the agenda […]

  Today, March 21, is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. To mark this day, Asian Human Rights Commission is calling for your urgent action, and also sends a solidarity greeting to all persons engaged in the struggle against all forms of racism, especially remembering those who have faced suffering and death […]

We received the following Appeal from the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. Dalits (meaning ‘oppressed’) are the group of some 160 million people in India formerly known as ‘Untouchables’, who STILL suffer extreme discrimination, exploitation and violence simply because they were born into an ‘outcaste’ family. The UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discriminatino, […]

The UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) is to be held in South Africa in 2001. It is vital that this conference addresses the entrenched discriminatory practices in Asia such as the oppression of low caste people in India. 

MARCH 8: We have received some very disturbing information from the Indonesian Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights organisation (Perserikatan Solidaritas Perempuan) regarding an Indonesian domestic worker named Kartini, who has been sentenced to death by stoning in the United Arab Emirates, where she had been working legally in the city of Fujairah.  In 1999, Kartini […]

MARCH 16: We have just received information that the six Burmese who were being detained in association with the incident involving Max Ediger have been s free! They have been ‘deported’ to the Burmese side of the Thai border.  At this stage it is still uncertain whether or not Max Ediger will be charged. There […]

260 million Dalits are determined to cast out caste in the new millenium. The Dalits Human Rights Charter is produced by Dalit groups in India. They have lauched a signature campaign in India – the collected signatures with Dalits Human Rights Charter will be presented to the Indian government on 1oth December 1998, International Human […]

A Jesuit priest, Fr. Anchanikal T. Thomas, 46, was murdered in the Hazaribagh District of the Indian state of Bihar. He was working with the “untouchables” or dalits in the villages for their land rights. A press statement released in Rome by the headquarters of Society of Jesus confirms that Father Thomas was kidnapped in […]