anti-caste

SURVEY OF 1,655 VILLAGES IN GUJARAT FINDS NOT A SINGLE ONE WHERE UNTOUCHABILITY IS NOT PRACTICED

No temple entry for dalits in Gujarat (Times of India)

"In a first-of-its-kind study on a large scale, representing 98,000 Dalits across 1,655 villages in Gujarat, it comes out that 97% respondents feel they have ‘no entry’ at certain places in their own villages, including a temple or where a religious ceremony is taking place. [...]

"'This is the first study on such a large sample size and we covered 99 forms of untouchability that are still practised in villages. There are 12,500 villages in Gujarat where Dalits live. We have covered 1,655 of these villages and around 11 per cent of the total Dalit population,' says Manjula Pradeep, director of Navsarjan Trust.

"During the study, the researchers did not find a single village where no form of untouchability is practised, giving an unnerving idea about the extent of the problem in a state which is home to Mahatma Gandhi."

See also:

Vibrant Gujarat? 98% Dalits have to drink tea in separate cups (Times of India, December 8, 2009):

Bhikhabhai Solanki, 50, a native of Lodariyal village, has never shaken hands with non-Dalits in his life. Bhikhabhai, an agricultural labourer, is Valmiki by caste—the lowest of the socially downtrodden. 'We are untouchables and nobody touches us here,' he says.

"The farmer he works for keeps a tea-cup outside his house. Whenever Bhikhabhai arrived for work in the morning or leaves after finishing in the evening, tea is poured into the cup. Strangely, this form of untouchability goes in the name of religion. These cups are called ‘Ram patra'. [...]

"In Lodariyal, Dalit women can't touch vegetables at the shop just to sample them. Only once they pay up, and the money is kept on the side and not handed over, the vegetables are flung into the hollow of their saree. The tea stall owner gives tea to Dalits only in disposable plastic cups. Others get it in ceramic cups."

And see:

Dalit kids shamed at mid-day meals (Times of India, December 9, 2009):

"As per the 'Census on Untouchability', a study representing 98,000 Dalits across 1,655 villages in Gujarat, 53.78% Dalit children studying in primary schools are discriminated against in mid-day meals.

"'We are made to sit separately during the lunch hour,' says Vijay Sitapara, 9, who belongs to the Valmiki caste, the lowest of the socially downtrodden. Vijay, who studies in class IV at the government primary school in Modhvana, says schoolmates from other castes avoid having food with them.

"While other backward class children would still have food, though seated separately from the Dalits, higher caste pupils stay away altogether from mid-day meals at this school because the food is cooked by a Dalit. 'I come from a Dalit family. Naturally, higher caste members will not eat what I cook,' says Gauri Vankar.

"Even as the syllabus teaches equality, students learn lessons in untouchability in practice. All Dalit students are forbidden from participating in cultural events. Valmikis have to also clean up school toilets. Dharmendra Sitapara cleaned up the toilets since he was in class IV. Now, he is in high school which has a sweeper."

Read the full report:

Understanding Untouchability: A Comprehensive Study of Practices and Conditions in 1589 Villages (Navsarjan Trust and The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights)

SEGREGATED AND HUMILIATED IN THE CLASSROOM

School makes kids CRY (DNA)

"It was an event that brought to the fore the problems of the state's poor children. At a forum in the city, many were incredulous that the children could articulate their problems with such clarity.

"The children at the public hearing were brought to Bangalore from across the state. They were at the hearing organized by the NGO, Child Rights and You (CRY) on Friday.

"Most of the children were dropouts from school, who wished to continue studying. Rekha, 14, from Hassan district said, 'I have studied till class 9. My teacher used to compare me with students from the upper castes, and ask me not to come to school at all. Not just that, the school had no toilet or drinking water, and roof was the sort that might just cave in. I would like to study, but not at that school, not with that teacher.'

"Lakshmi, 15, from Bijapur said, 'I am physically challenged. It was difficult for me even to reach school. I was regular in my attendance, however, but my teachers told me that I am a 'dalit and handicapped', and that I need not come to school. I studied till class 7. I would like to continue studying further. But I would like to go to a school where I'm not treated any differently.'

"Kavya, 12, came to Bangalore from Ramanagar. 'There is one anganawadi [government-sponsored daycare center] in my village. The teachers there do not allow us, dalits, to sit with the other children. My brother was going to that anganawadi, but my parents stopped sending him there because they would not let him mix with the other children. My brother was told not to touch upper caste children.'

UNTOUCHABLE SCHOOLCHILDREN ASSAULTED IN TAMIL NADU

Dalit children beaten up for going to school (Express News Service)

"Twelve Dalit children aged between eight and 13 have been hospitalised here after they were allegedly beaten up by some youth belonging to an upper caste Hindu community.

"The attackers, who were allegedly not happy about the children receiving a formal education, wanted to send a message across to all the parents in the Dalit community, about the repercussions if they decided to send their children to school.

"When the children, most of them girls, were returning from school on Friday, they were stopped on their way and beaten up by a group of caste Hindu youth. They also reportedly hurled verbal abuses at the children by referring to their caste, before beating them up.

"While attacking the children, one youngster reportedly said, 'It is only because you people are getting educated that you rush to the police station all the time. This is to teach your parents not to send you to school.'"

SURVEY CONDUCTED ACROSS RURAL INDIA FINDS NAKED UNTOUCHABILITY

Untouchability alive in rural areas: Study (Times of India)

"Dalit participation in social activities has improved, with 591 invited for wedding feasts. But the improvement stops there. Around 29% said they wait for others to finish eating before they can eat while 20% non-SCs said they expected SCs to wash their plates after eating.

"The primitive manifestations of untouchability still exist, even if they are on the wane. In the survey, 7% respondents said they were barred from entering main streets of villages while 7% said they could not wear sandals and walk in front of a dominant caste member. In fact, 9% revealed they had to talk with folded hands and 29% said they had to stand up in respect.

"A sore point of old caste segregation was bar on entry of SCs in non-Dalit houses. While 82% revealed they were allowed in, around 18% were still not.

"A big section of non-SCs said they would not allow SCs into their houses while an equal number refused to comment, showing the sensitivity was not easy to overcome. SC women work as maids in other caste homes but a majority said they were not allowed inside. Many in Karnataka, MP and Rajasthan named Brahmins and Konkani castes as barring their entry while in Bengal, 34 different OBCs were identified.

"As many as 20% said they were not served food and water in non-Dalit homes while 24% claimed being served in separate vessels. At least 25% non-SCs concurred with the claim.

"Dalit children are still growing with the stigma of being from inferior class. While seating arrangements are common in schools, SC kids in many cases are asked to take the back benches. Also, many are served midday meals separately from other children.

"The bias showed when over 40% non-SC respondents agreed there were no SC teachers in their village schools.

"Vestiges of mediaeval society became apparent when upper castes and OBCs, if only a handful, revealed they served SCs in towels or their upper garments; while some poured water directly into the cupped Dalit hands for drinking instead of giving a tumbler. A few cases showed that barbers used separate instruments for haircut of Dalits.

"The survey was carried out in six states and 24 villages, a mix of those with highest and lowest crimes under PCR Act. [...]

"For all the empowerment, Dalits in the countryside are still forced into services seen as 'menial' — 154 of 553 Dalits performed drumbeating, 42 grave digging while 97 were into making chappals [leather sandals]. As many as 78 said they were asked to carry out animal sacrifice and 57 said they were sweepers."

And see:

Drink your own water, dead dog or no (Times of India, July 31, 2009):

"Citing one instance, the study says a dog had fallen into this well and died. The dalits were left with no option, but to consume the toxic water after removing the carcass. 'Even in such inhuman conditions, dalits are not allowed to enter the main part of the village and fetch water from the tubewells situated inside the village, where the upper castes live,' the study says."

UPPER-CASTE PARENTS WON'T SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL WHERE UNTOUCHABLE WOMAN COOKS LUNCHES

Low school attendance as Thakurs and Dalits at loggerheads (Times of India)

"On Monday, the team TOI found that out of the total 62 students barely 26, mostly Dalit and Muslim were eating the meal. The remaining 36 students were found to be absent from their respective classes, in order to avoid eating the meal being prepared by a Dalit.

"The situation has worsened to such an extent that now both the Dalit and Thakur communities of the village are at loggerheads over the issue.

"'We have now learnt that parents of Dalit students have even further threatened to withdraw their wards, if any attempt to remove the Dalit cook will be made by the authorities,' said a school teacher on condition of anonymity.

[...]

"Meanwhile, the upper caste people of the village said that there is no question of sending children to school, where a woman belonging to scheduled caste has been appointed by the school authorities to cook food for their children.

"'Us school mein apne bacchon ko bhejkar hame apna hukka-paani nahi band karwana hai,' said a villager, Ram Pal Singh adding that we will not allow our children to even touch the food."

See also yet another instance of this form of bigotry:

UP school sacks dalit cook after students refuse to eat (DNA, August 27, 2009)

And see anti-caste: MAYAWATI'S GOVERNMENT UPHOLDS FIRING OF UNTOUCHABLE OVER CASTE-BASED TABOO (February 27, 2008)

REPORT ON CASTE-BASED DISCRIMINATION IN SCHOOLS

Dalit kids cannot use school loo but have to clean them (Times of India)

"The report says physical access to schools is the biggest problem for Dalit children. In Bihar, UP and Rajasthan, most of the schools are situated in the dominant caste localities and Dalit children have to travel on an average half-an-hour to reach school. In the case of middle and high schools, Dalit children have to travel almost 3-4 kilometres in all the states. It is only in Maharashtra that Dalit children do not have to travel that far. But here too, the schools are located in dominant caste areas.

"Asked why they came late to school, Dalit children gave various reasons including household chores, school distance, inability to keep track of school time and also the fact that they had to wait for other friends to go in a group due to fear from dominant caste children. In the school, it was found that participation of Dalit children was minimal. The morning assembly was invariably always conducted by upper caste children. In the class, Dalit children were made to sit at the back and in some schools of Bihar on the barren floor while mats were given to upper caste children. Even the notebooks and homework of the Dalit children were not checked by teachers.

"As per the report, Dalit children in UP were also assigned menial caste-based tasks like cleaning the yard, filling up water buckets and cleaning the toilets. This led to other children treating them badly and considering them inferior. And what was shocking was that Dalit girl children were seldom allowed to use toilets. Dalit children are kept out of even functions like Independence Day."

See also:

Kerala: Dalits discriminated against in schools: study (The Hindu, August 3, 2009)

REPORT: UNTOUCHABILITY IS COMMONPLACE IN MADYA PRADESH SCHOOLS

Apartheid funded by the Indian tax-payer (Hindustani Times)

"According to a survey on social discrimination conducted by Jansahas, an NGO, and Unicef, in 24 villages across four districts – Ujjain, Sheopur, Katni and Jhabua – in Madhya Pradesh, more than 63 per cent of Dalit children are subjected to caste discrimination while being served mid-day meals in government schools.

"They are forced to sit in separate rows, bring utensils from home or given food in plates marked boldly with permanent ink to distinguish them from the rest.

“'As many as 40 per cent of Dalit students facing discrimination were given mid-day meals in plates specially set aside for them,' Jansahas activist Ashif Sheikh told Hindustan Times.

"While some were asked to bring utensils from home, most were served their mid-day meals on leaf plates. Non-Dalits, however, were served on metal plates.

"The survey found that most teachers were insensitive to the discrimination against Dalits because of caste-based traditions being followed in rural areas, he said.

"In a majority of the schools surveyed, Dalit students were not allowed to sit in the front row. As many as 78 per cent of school-going Dalit students were backbenchers or forced away from the front row and subjected to casteist abuses.

"And 79 per cent of such students were compelled to clean the schools. In some schools, this chore was given only to Dalit girls."

CHINESE WORKERS' STATE, DESPITE ISOLATION AND POLITICAL DEFORMATION, IS PROGRESSIVE VS. CAPITALIST INDIA

As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists (New York Times)

"Small, sick, listless children have long been India’s scourge — 'a national shame,' in the words of its prime minister, Manmohan Singh. But even after a decade of galloping economic growth, child malnutrition rates are worse here than in many sub-Saharan African countries, and they stand out as a paradox in a proud democracy.

"China, that other Asian economic powerhouse, sharply reduced child malnutrition, and now just 7 percent of its children under 5 are underweight, a critical gauge of malnutrition. In India, by contrast, despite robust growth and good government intentions, the comparable number is 42.5 percent. Malnutrition makes children more prone to illness and stunts physical and intellectual growth for a lifetime."

See also:

anti-caste: MALNOURISHED CHILDREN: INDIA—46%, CHINA—8% (February 10, 2007)

AFTER PAKISTANI GOVT ACCEPTS TRUCE WITH THE TALIBAN...

Class Dismissed in Swat Valley: The Death of Female Education (video by Adam Ellick and Irfan Ashraf for the New York Times)

A short documentary profiling an 11-year-old Pakistani girl on the last day before the Taliban close down her school.

In the course of this moving video, a young girl, her face veiled to conceal her identity, bravely reads the following speech at a school rally:

"Swat Valley: the land of waterfalls. Lush green hills and other gifts bestowed upon it by the nature. But my dear friends, today Swat has in the past few years become a heartland for Pakistan Islamic militancy. Today, this idyllic valley of peace is burning. Why the peace of this valley is destroyed? Why our future is targeted? Schools are not places of learning but places of fear and violence. Our dreams are shattered. And let me say, we are destroyed."

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

But see also:

Who are the "Taliban" in Swat? by Humeira Iqtidar (Open Democracy, April 30, 2009)

"Much media attention has focused on the worsening plight of women in Swat, particularly after the video-taped public flogging of a 17 year-old girl. Unfortunately, the kinds of atrocities perpetrated by the TNSM against women also occur in the feudal holdings of many of the "secular" political elite of Pakistan. Yet these incidents do not make headlines in the same way. Few Pakistanis can ignore the fact that restricting women's mobility and reducing their educational opportunities (as the TNSM intend to do) along with gang rape, abduction, and honour killing have a long history in southern Punjab and Sind, areas where both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani have vast landholdings."

ROUTINE BRUTALITY CAUGHT ON VIDEOTAPE

UP Dalit girl was beaten over a false complaint of theft by police (Zee News)

"It now turns out that the six-year old Dalit girl Komal was brutally beaten up by the police, television images of which sent shockwaves across the country, on a false complaint of theft.

"The theft case against her with the Jaswantnagar police has been dropped and a case under CrPC 182 for registering a fake complaint has been lodged against Anju Katheria, police said.

"Katheria had alleged that Komal had stolen Rs.280 [about US$6] from her wallet at a market in Jaswantpur area."

See also:

Cop’s merciless “bravery” on six-year-old girl (Digital Journal, February 3, 2009):

"The video showed that a sub-inspector was beating the girl by pulling her ears and hair over and over again and once grabbed her hair and kept her hanging in the air, while the girl was crying in pain. One Inspector and six other policemen just looked on.

"However police initially tried to justify the incident.

"'A crime has been committed here. The offender is a minor. Cash worth Rs 280 has been stolen. The girls has confessed to the crime. She was handed over to the police by the person whose money was stolen. It's significant that the police have seized the cash. If the police resorted to unfair means in dealing with the girl, I will seek appropriate probe,' said Kripashankar Singh, special superintendent of police, Etawah."

And see:

Cops are villains who make our lives miserable: Street children (NDTV)

ATROCITY IN MADYA PRADESH

Indian girl beaten to death because mother took water from well without washing feet (Telegraph (UK))

"Saroj Lal, 25, was first turned away from the handpump in Adrouni village in Madhya Pradesh, when she approached wearing slippers. A higher caste villager told her Dalits were dirty and not allowed to draw water without first washing their hands and feet.

"He began abusing her over her low caste until she left to complain at the local police station along with her husband and daughter. According to police, the villager, known as Makhan, called six of his friends and headed them off en route. He attacked Saroj, grabbed her baby and threw her to the floor, killing her instantly."

FIFTEEN-YEAR OLD BEATEN AND THROWN UNDER A TRAIN

Teenager murdered for writing love letter to girl of higher caste (The Times (London))

"Manish died because he was a member of the Ravidas community, a Dalit sub-caste that has been confined historically to working with leather – a profession deemed unclean by Hindus, for whom cows are sacred.

"Another term by which the group is known, chamar, is considered a grave insult.

"Three months ago the boy sent a letter 'expressing his interest' in a girl from the Dhobi community, another Dalit sub-caste, which has traditionally washed clothes for a living – but is fractionally above the Ravidas in the Hindu hierarchy. The note was discovered by the girl’s parents."

CASTE BIGOTRY IN INDIAN SCHOOLS GOES UNPUNISHED

Lessons from Khairlanji by Meena Menon (The Hindu)

"A somewhat strange purification ritual took place in Surewada village near Bhandara last April. Students appearing for a geography examination in the local school were taken aback when a teacher sprinkled what was suspected to be cow urine on them as well as their answer sheets. The headmaster and assistant teacher of the school were arrested under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The ritual was supposedly performed 'to purify' the school after the transfer of a Scheduled Caste headmistress.

"The case went to trial and on July 15, 2008, a special judge in Bhandara ruled that the charges under the Atrocities Act were not tenable and the prosecution had failed to establish that the liquid which was sprinkled on the students was cow urine. [...] The verdict in this instance is more the rule than the exception for offences under the Atrocities Act. According to an official report, 'Crime in Maharashtra, 2007,' by the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) released this year, the conviction rate under the Atrocities Act for 2007 was a minuscule 1.9 and for offences against Scheduled Castes it was 2.2 per cent. In 2007, the CID report says the rate of crime against Scheduled Castes was the highest in Bhandara district."

YOUNG CHILDREN HUMILIATED BY CASTE-HINDU MOB IN RAJASTAN

2 Dalit boys paraded naked for killing birds (Times of India)

"The minors, identified as Vinod (12) and Sagar (10), belong to the Kanjar tribe.

"The two were caught by villagers while they were catching birds and, on rummaging through through their bags, were found with a few pigeons and partridges. Furious villagers then beat up the boys and stripped them naked in public, police said. The villagers then called a barber and got their heads tonsured before parading them naked in the village."

UNTOUCHABLE CHILD THROWN IN FIRE FOR CROSSING A ROAD

Girl in oven for road ‘crime’ (The Telegraph (Calcutta))

"An eight-year-old Dalit girl was set on fire in a Mathura village for crossing a road used by upper castes.

"Kamalesh, the daughter of Saudam Jatav, a landless Dalit, is fighting for her life in hospital.

"Deputy superintendent of police Bireswar Mishra said the child took the road while returning home last evening with cattle.

"Madan Singh alias Sunil, a Thakur [Bengali brahmin] through whose land the road passes, spotted Kamalesh and started screaming at her.

"'He came running and began yelling at her. He asked her to leave the road. ‘This road is not for you,’ he kept repeating,' the DSP said.

"When the girl refused to budge, Sunil dragged her to an oven meant to boil sugarcane juice and pushed her into it."

See also:

Police don't treat Kamlesh's case as caste violence (CNN-IBN, May 1, 2008):

"Incidentally, Kamlesh is from the same Jatav community as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

"The police have arrested one person in connection with the case, but they are not categorising the incident as caste violence, something that villagers in Tarauli are living with.

"Other villagers have said that though the police appear, they take money and hurl abuses at Dalits, taunting them.

"'They say we have the arrogance of Mayawati,' said a villager while another added, 'This is how we have spent our lives here.'

300 SCHOOLCHILDREN BOYCOTT "UNCLEAN" LUNCHES

Dalit cook? Students in UP school refuse to eat mid-day meal (Express India)

"On Friday, The Indian Express found barely a hundred students eating the meal — tehri — rice and vegetables cooked together. The rest ate food brought from home, a practice that started on December 10, the day the Dalit woman, Phool Kumari Rawat, started cooking.

"Senior students who are boycotting the food, say Phool Kumari's cooking is unhygienic. [...]

"Younger students are more direct, readily admitting that it was Phool Kumari's caste that was the problem. 'I will not eat anything cooked by that lady. I have heard my family members say that she is from some low caste. So I bring my own lunch box,' said Shivani Singh Chauhan, a student of Class IV. Ateet Kumar, student of Class V, said the school was in a Thakur [brahmin] area and they refuse to eat whatever she cooks. 'Only children from Phool Kumari's area are eating,' he said."

See, two days later:

Dalit cook in Bibipur school may be replaced (Express India, December 17, 2007):

"With a majority of students at the Bibipur Primary and Junior High School continuing to boycott mid-day meals cooked by Dalit woman Phool Kumari Rawat, the district administration has decided to sack her.

"Officials are now thinking of appointing another cook, using the boycotters’ argument that Phool Kumari’s cooking isn’t good and is also unhygienic. This, when most officials who have visited the school in the last five days, found nothing wrong with the meals."

And see, two months later:

anti-caste: GOVT UPHOLDS FIRING OF UNTOUCHABLE OVER CASTE-BASED TABOO (February 27, 2008)

For similar recent stories, see:

Bihar: Dalit woman stopped from cooking mid-day meals (India eNews, August 11, 2007)

Karnataka: Discrimination against cook continues (The Hindu, October 5, 2007): "The branding of Ms. Bhovi, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste, as HIV positive and the subsequent boycott by the villagers has taken a toll on her family too."

Uttar Pradesh: Mid-day meal row in Etawah (The Times of India, December 29, 2007)

CASTE-BASED BONDED CHILD LABOR IN SOUTH INDIA

India's cotton fields: Over 4 lakh child labourers (rediff)

"Nearly 4,16,000 children below 18 years, almost half of which are even younger than 14 years of age are working in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the report said, adding that compared to the 2003-2004 harvest season, the total number of such children has risen.

[...]

"The overwhelming majority of the children working in the cotton fields are either Dalits or tribals, it said.

"Around 13 big Indian companies and two multinational groups are involved in this 'modern form of child slavery,' the report revealed."

MALNOURISHED CHILDREN: INDIA—46%, CHINA—8%

Even Amid Its Wealth, India Finds, Half Its Small Children Are Malnourished (New York Times)

"In this young nation, where 40 percent of the people are under 18, figures released by the government on Friday offered an alarming portrait of child health: Among children under 3, nearly half are clinically underweight, the most reliable measure of malnutrition.

"Additionally troubling, the incidence of child malnutrition declined only one percentage point, to 46 percent, in seven years, according the latest National Family Health Survey. During that time, the economy grew at 6 to 8 percent; it is poised to swell by more than 9 percent in the current fiscal year, the government announced this week.

"India’s economic prospects pivot in part around what it calls its demographic dividend.

"But the child malnutrition rates put India roughly on a par with Burkina Faso and Bangladesh. Sudan posted better results, according to data compiled by the United Nations Children’s Fund, or Unicef. Malnutrition in China was about 8 percent, Unicef said."

50,000 HOMELESS CHILDREN ON THE STREETS OF DELHI

Braving every day (The Hindustan Times (Harsh Mander))

"Some of Ratul's friends also take up other seasonal occupations like working with caterers in the wedding season, reserving places in the trains during vacations, selling cinema tickets at higher rates, cleaning cars or taxis, buses or lorries, even trains, as vendors for tea and food stalls, apprentices in roadside automobile repair garages, carrying loads and shoe polishing. Contrary to common prejudice, only one in ten street children begs for a living, and most of these are very young."

HYPOCRISY OF NATIONWIDE CHILD LABOR "BAN"

Child labour poster girl still working (BBC)

"In the Unicef poster, in which she appears smilingly in a yellow flowery frock, Chunam appeals 'for no more child labour as this age is to read and keep growing.'

"But like her two brothers and six sisters, she has never been to school.

"The makeshift food stall where she helps her parents [for twelve hours a day] is almost next door to the offices of Bihar's ruling parties, the Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."

INDIAN GOVERNMENT'S HYPOCRISY ON CHILD LABOR

WHO ARE WE KIDDING? (editorial, Hindustan Times)

"We will not quarrel with the Labour Ministry's notification banning employment of children below 14 years of age as domestic servants or helpers in eateries. We cannot but welcome such an important welfare measure. Having said that, it is difficult to avoid feeling that this is another case of government grandstanding on what is euphemistically an entrenched socio-economic problem. Child labour is a function of the endemic poverty in society and attempting to tackle it through a prohibition is not likely to go far. All that it is likely to do is provide a new avenue for the police - or whoever is to enforce the law - to make money.

"The government's record of monitoring and regulating laws already in force is far from exemplary. To begin with, there is the problem of classification of a 'child' - for Indian labour laws it is 14, for the Penal Code, 16, and for the Ministry of Women and Child Development, 18. Enforcement has been so poor that 20 years after the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act came into force, about 25-30 million children remain a part of the workforce, and an estimated 75 per cent of them are employed in hazardous occupations. Moreover, the Labour Ministry's rehabilitation scheme under the National Child Labour Project, although well-intentioned, only covers 250 child-labour endemic districts of the country.

"No one would deny that child labour is an unhealthy phenomenon - it robs a child of a 'childhood', exposes them to abuse and can have long-lasting psychological consequences. In an ideal world where all children went to school and got two square meals a day, it would be positively objectionable and undesirable. As it is, despite the government's avowed aim to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14, over 40 million children are out of school. But what is a child born to destitute parents, with no access to a school or any social security benefit, to do if he or she is denied even the right to earn a living? Until the government is able to provide the supporting infrastructure to ensure that no child needs to work to earn a living, child labour will, sadly, continue."

CHILD LABOR IN INDIA

Two stories: children working as household servants and stitching soccer balls. In both cases, as the articles note, the children are low-caste or Muslim.

Indian Child Labourers Show Ugly Side of the 'Beautiful Game' (Agence France-Presse, July 10, 2006)

Domestic child labour rampant in Delhi (NDTV.com, August 2, 2006)

CASTE AND WOMEN'S OPPRESSION

A Young Woman Says 'No' to Rural India's Child-Marriage Tradition (The Washington Post)

"Not only does Chaudhry accuse her would-be in-laws of demanding money in exchange for her freedom, but the leaders of her caste -- a powerful informal council known as a caste panchayat -- have also threatened Chaudhry and her family with the ultimate sanction of excommunication, or ejection from the caste. Such an outcome would rob the family of its social standing and damage the marriage prospects of Chaudhry's 18-year-old brother, among other things."

ATROCITY AGAINST UNTOUCHABLE CHILDREN IN HARYANA

Dalits made to drink urine: Upper-caste landlords abuse 3 youths over cricket dispute (The Indian Express)

Three boys "were dragged to the residence of the sarpanch, Gurdas Singh, where the landlords urinated in their juttis (shoes) and forced them to drink it at gunpoint."

ATROCITY AGAINST UNTOUCHABLE CHILDREN IN UTTAR PRADESH

Dalit youths in this UP village win a game of cricket but lose lives in the caste war (Outlook India)

"'The cricket team from Hasanpur, made up mostly of Rajputs, seems to have taken the defeats as an insult to their pride and honour. They considered themselves invincible and couldn't stomach being defeated by Dalits,' says Pushkar Raj of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)."

See also:

the PUCL report "Two dalit youth killed for winning cricket matches" (January 2004)

ATROCITY OVER DRINKING-WATER RIGHTS IN MAHARASHTRA

Dalit burnt to death in Maharashtra for using handpump

"Caste barriers run deep here and the Patils' writ dictates that it's their privilege to use handpumps first. On the day of the incident, the Patils reportedly tried to get fresh with Lata Shendge (17) for questioning their privilege. Her brother Dilip intervened only to be accosted by a group of belligerent Patils in the evening, who allegedly set him, his sister and his mother ablaze right outside their mud-walled hut. [...] "'Four years back, the only source of water was the Dudhna river, which was a 40-minute walk from here. We got the government to install these two pumps and now it's only a five-minute walk. These Dalits can't even give us the right to use it first,' says Damodar Patil (50), a land-owner."

See also:

Dalit boy killed for sister's 'folly' (NDTV.com, May 19, 2003)

The caste cauldron of Maharashtra (PUCL report, December 2003)