INDIA: The government must do more to help 163 Dalit households affected by a social boycott

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a Dalit community has been living under a complete economic and social boycott levied against them by their village since May 1, 2009. Dalits from 163 households in an Ahmedabad village cannot find employment, or sell or purchase anything in the village, ever since three Dalits refused to give money to a temple that they were not allowed to enter. Though the boycott is ongoing, the state government will only officially recognize it and provide aid for one month and the Dalits fear that they will be forced to leave their homes once this support ends. The government needs to strengthen laws criminalising social boycotts and stop playing down the issue, which in itself is a form of discrimination. 

CASE DETAILS: (According to information gathered by, Navsarjan, a local NGO) 

The incidents leading to the social boycott of the Dalits in Vanthal village began with the renovations on the Ramji Mandir temple, reports Navsarjan, a human rights NGO based in Gujarat. The temple is in a public area, and after the renovations the Dalit community gathered about Rs 11,000 (about US$ 227) for the temple in exchange for prasad (a holy offering). 

At 10am on April 30 the complainant, Ramabhai Sankarbhai Sarola, and two other Dalits from the village, went to the temple to offer the donation they had collected. Sarola asked that they be allowed to enter, contrary to custom, so that they could see the renovations and join the special programs. When they were refused by upper (Bharvad) caste members on the temple committee, they decided not to give the money they’d collected. The men were sent away, followed by caste-based insults. Worried about further insult, the Dalit community collectively decided not to take the prasad. 

The next morning Dalit women tried to buy milk in town but were told that a decree had gone out: anyone who sold or gave milk to a Dalit would be fined Rs 1100 (US$22) by the Bharvads. Many were also fired from their jobs that day. Land ownership and social power in Vanthal village is concentrated in the Bharvad community. Eighty percent of the Dalit men and women in Vanthal earn their living in Bharvad fields. 

By June 6 the Social Welfare Department officially recognised that the Dalit community had been collectively unemployed for a month and gave it Rs 200,000 (US$4,138), while under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA) members of the community were given 100 days of work for Rs100 a day, beginning on June 4. However both of these solutions are short-term and there is no end in sight to the social boycott. The community is worried that after the monsoon season the NREGA term will expire and they will be forced to migrate to find field work. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

On 3 May Ramabhai Shakrabhai Senwa registered a complaint against members of the Ramji Mandir Committee in the Viramgam Police Station, 17km away from Vanthal. The police at first refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) and Ramabhai was forced to wait three hours in the police station. He contacted someone in Navsarjan who in turn contacted the District Superintendent of Police (DSP). At the order of the DSP the officer lodged the FIR, the accused were arrested and then released on bail. 

Yet though this case is currently pending in court, the charges do not address the social boycott issue. 
The provisions used in this case were: 

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 Sections 3 (1)( x): …intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Schedules Tribe in any place within public view… and 3(1) (xiv): …denies a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Schedules Tribe any customary right of passage to a place of public resort or obstructs such member so as to prevent him from using or having access to a public place of public resort to which other members of public…have a right to use or access to. 

Sections (3) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955: …punishment for enforcing religious disabilities… and (6): …punishment for refusing to sell goods or render services. 

Section 114 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860: …abettor present when offence is committed. 

But the crimes defined in the former act just deal with social boycotts indirectly and are rarely used by the trial courts. Due to this the Act has become less effective in protecting Dalits from these boycotts, and they have become a popular, legally immune form of crime and discrimination. 

As for the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, though it prescribes punishment for levying a boycott under Sections 6 and 7, it has its own shortcomings. For instance, this law is framed to address the practice of ‘untouchability’ not instances of social boycott or other forms of ostracism. Being a criminal prosecution, the law tends to be narrowly interpreted, which often results in discharges or acquittals. Even upon conviction the punishment is very minor considering the seriousness of the crime: imprisonment up to a maximum period of 6 months and a maximum fine of 500 Rupees. Being a criminal law, it does not deal with compensations. 

Social boycotts may be series of small offenses committed over a period of time against a targeted community but the impact–moral, psychological and economic–is long lasting and often reverberates through generations. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 

By ostracising Dalit communities and preventing their access to the law, particularly when they try to assert their rights, social boycotts have become a powerful tool of oppression. Public awareness of them has been minimal yet they wear down morale and community cohesion and keep Dalits firmly on the fringes of society. Families sometimes go for months without income and must depend on charity, or are forced to travel long distances daily for bare necessities or low wage labour. Women bear much of the burden and have to cope with constant threats to themselves and their family in their neighbourhoods. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please send letters to the authorities below expressing your concern in this case. The AHRC is also sending a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance calling for an intervention in this case. 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER