(EOP)Dalits (untouchables) can't access water sources in 48.4% of Indian villages

A study was held recently in the Rural India entitled "Untouchability" which disclosed the plight of Dalits(Shudars) in India. The study, which covered 565 villages in 11 states of India reveals the following observations:

• Public health workers refused to visit Dalit homes in 33% of villages
• Dalits were prevented from entering the police station in 27.6% of villages
• Dalit children had to sit separately while eating in 37.8% of government schools
• Dalits did not get mail delivered to their homes in 23.5% of villages
• Dalits were denied access to water sources 48.4% of villages
• Half of India’s Dalit and Shudar children are undernourished and 21% are severely underweight
• Literacy rates for Dalit women are as low as 37.8% in rural India.

Dalits are the lowest members of Hindu caste system in India. They undertake occupations that the rest of Indian society found filthy and embarrassing and also receive ill-treatment from the members of the higher castes, particularly from Brahmins. For example Brahmins would have to bathe if a Dalit shadow fell on them, would not eat food prepared by Dalits, and would not drink from the same wells as Dalits.

They are not allowed to defy caste system and punished otherwise. Although article 17 of the Indian Constitution banned untouchability in 1950, Dalits still suffer widespread discrimination and mistreatment. Local law enforcement personnel often refuse to document, investigate and respond adequately to Dalits’ complaints. Upper caste members often threaten and assault Dalits who dare protest against their mistreatment. The traditional practices of segregation between upper castes and Dalits are continuing in India.

Although India is obligated under several International Instruments to uphold Dalit rights, there is little enforcement to ensure that India meets its obligations under International Law. First, as a UN member state, India is bound to the provisions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The articles I & II of UDHR state that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that the human rights protected in the UDHR belong to everyone “ without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. India is violating its obligations under the UDHR as it has failed to protect Dalits against discrimination, degradation and violence.
Second, India has also failed to meet its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which it ratified on 10 April 1979. Not only does the ICCPR protect against discrimination of “any kind” including discrimination based on “social origin” but it also protects against torture, degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest, detention, and promotes equality in the courts and equal protection of the law. In failing to respect and ensure Dalits rights, India is not complying with ICCPR.

Third, India has failed to protect Dalit workers in accordance with its obligations under the International Labour Organization Convention (No 107) which it ratified on 29 September 1958. Under convention 107, India is obligated to protect the “institutions, persons, property and labour” of members of tribal or semi tribal populations.

Dalits murdered by Hindu Terrorist Organization Shev Sina

Finally, Dalit children, who are forced into bonded labour, or the practice of Devdasi, are protected under the provisions in the Convention of Rights of the Child of 1989 (CRC), which it ratified on 11 December 1992. In Article 32, the CRC protects against “Economic exploitation” and performance of “any work that is likely to be hazardous… "or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development”. Both the practices of child-bonded labour and the practice of Devdasi violate India’s commitment under the CRC. A recent violation was seen in the CommonWealth games preparatory setup where dozens of Dalit children lost their lives while working for $3 per day lifting stones and building material for the construction of games infrastructure.

Although democracy itself is a rubbish system to say the least, where people are just counted and not weighed morally. India, however, doesn't even fulfill the requirements of Democracy! It has failed to implement the laws, which provide protection against such caste discriminations. The Indian government has done nothing to remove caste prejudice and to provide justice to poor and powerless. Ironically, the USZ President during his visit to India only talked about human rights violations in Myanmar and asked India to play its role in ending these violations.