anti-caste

DEADLY ECONOMIC ISOLATION OF DEPENDENT UNTOUCHABLE LABOR IN VILLAGE SHOWS MATERIAL ROOTS OF CASTE OPPRESSION

Socially boycotted dalits file case (Express News Service)

“Upper-caste people have allegedly socially boycotted these [thirty-two] families [in Nayakanur village] under the pretext that they refused to sweep cow dung at the house of an upper-caste family. Though the controversy has been there it came to light now since one of the dalit families lodged a complaint at Navalgund police station alleging their social boycott.

“According to police sources Basappa Madar, 64, was working as servant with Andanigouda Patil. Basappa and his wife recently refused to continue working for Patil family. Then, Patil allegedly asked the other families in the village not to give Basappa and his wife any employment. When dalit families questioned this, Patil asked his fellow villagers not to give work to any of the dalit families and even to boycott them socially.”

See also:

Dalits ostracised in Navalgund (Deccan Chronicle, August 18, 2011):

“The landlord instructed shop owners in the village, not to provide any foodgrains and tea to the dalits. They were prevented from fetching water from the tank, and threatened with hefty fine and other punishment for disobeying him. This prompted all dalits to desert the village, and evoked strong criticism from religious heads and the public.

“‘We don’t have any agricultural land, and earn our livelihood by working under the landlords, as bonded labourers. All dalit men are working as farm labourers, in the lands of landlords, and women are employed as maids in their houses. Our children are also employed in the houses of landlords. They get food grains instead of wages in return. We have been living under fear, and the harassment has been going on for many years,’ said forty-two year old Dalit Basappa Madar.”

CASTE-BASED SLAVERY IS COMMONPLACE, NOT TREATED AS A CRIME

Cops ignore dalits in bondage (Express News Service)

“Police have failed to book perpetrators under the SC/ST atrocities law in the case of a Dalit family that was allegedly harassed and publicly beaten by caste Hindus in K Thattumal Village, Kumbakonam. In fact police helped the main accused get an anticipatory bail.

“K Rajamanikkam (39) and his wife Radha had worked as bonded labourers at a brick kiln owned by Thalaiparamasivam of Devanachery. Thalaiparamasivam had promised the couple Rs 15,000 for one year’s work. But, after a year, he refused to let them leave. Instead he claimed they owed him money [...], Rajamanikkam’s sister 44-year-old Vijaya said. [...He] demanded Rs 10,000 rupees to free them from his control.

“‘We borrowed Rs 10,000 and paid him. But in five days, he and his associates Murugan and Loganathan, came and beat us with logs. My brother sustained a head injury and my hand was broken,’ she said.

“‘When they approached the Swamimalai police station, the police recorded Vijaya’s statement, but obtained her signature without even reading out the statement to her,’ said A Kathir, Executive Director of Evidence, an NGO that works for Dalit rights. When the Evidence team examined the case, they found the police had invoked neither the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the aggressors nor booked them under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.

“According to Kathir, most Dalits and other people from the subaltern community worked as bonded labourers in the brick kilns owned by caste Hindus in Kumbakonam, but action had not been initiated by the police or district administration.

“Worse, Rajamanikkam moved from Thalaiparamasivam’s brick kiln only to end up a bonded labourer in another brick kiln.”

CASTE-BASED FORCED LABOR: REFUSAL IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH

Caste killing exposes India’s secret shame (The Australian)

“A mere 100km from the shiny malls and housing estates of New Delhi, three upper-caste men murdered a Dalit labourer this week for refusing to obey an ancient feudal law demanding he toil their land for free.

“The body of 42-year-old Karam Chand was then paraded on a bicycle through the village of Nirgajani, in Uttar Pradesh, as a macabre warning to other ‘untouchables’ that the writ of a modern state did not extend into the heart of rural India.

“The system of begari–in which low-caste Indians were obliged to provide unpaid labour to landed classes–was officially outlawed by the Indian government in 1976.

“According to reports this week, Chand was attacked after refusing the demands of three brothers–former employers–to help harvest a wheat crop.

“Chand’s son Monu, who was working alongside his father on their own land when the attack occurred, said: ‘My father refused them because they didn't pay him anything for earlier work. They had declared that we would have to follow their order or leave the village.’

“When he refused, the trio attacked, chasing Chand into a temple, where he was shot. ‘They hauled his dead body on to a bicycle and took out a procession. They were shouting that anyone who defied their order would be killed,’ said Monu.

“While local police spokesman Jawahar Singh confirmed the son's account, he insisted ‘such incidents are far and few between.’

“But he conceded the village was predominantly a stronghold of the Jat caste, a group which continues to defend the caste Panchayat system of local governance, which doles out summary justice, such as honour killings, for alleged caste crimes.”

UNTOUCHABLES UNMENTIONABLE IN JAPAN

letter to the London Review of Books:

“Peter McGill mentions those Japanese outcasts, the burakumin (LRB, 31 March). One of the ‘unclean’ occupations they were assigned was undertaking, a point delicately made in the Oscar-winning Japanese movie Departures. A newly married young man finds himself unemployed and applies for a job without knowing it involves ritually preparing the dead for burial. Although he soon overcomes over his disgust at coming into such close contact with corpses, it takes his young wife considerably longer. To avoid offending its Japanese audience no mention is made of burakumin, and so subtle was the film’s handling of the theme, it eluded most Western viewers. I no longer raise the subject with Japanese friends as I have found that, when I do, they pretend not to hear me.”

Garth Clarke
Sydney

NEPAL: IMPOVERISHED LOW-CASTE WOMEN THROWN INTO TRADITIONAL CASTE-BASED SERVITUDE

Dalit women into Balighare profession (The Himalayan)

“An increasing number of Dalit women in Banke district are attracted towardsan annual labour contract called Balighare Partha locally under which so-called high caste people give food in return to their hard work and service.

“Until recently the age-old Balighare occupation was dominated by Dalit men. Prem Kala BK of Chisapani-9 is an example of increasing number of women taking up this profession mainly by women from Bishwokarma community among other Dalit castes.

“Lately she has started working in her forge, where only her husband used to work till some time ago. She melts metal in the forage and crafts kitchen utensils and sickles, knives, hoes and other traditional weapons of neighbours. In return, she gets rice, maize or millets (as per her choice) for her whole year’s works from them.

“Sewing clothes as well making hand drums and other musical instruments are also part of Balighare system in existence in the district from ages taken up by Dalit people as their one of the major sources of livelihood.”

anti-caste: In the balighare partha system, one of several traditional forms of caste-based labor extraction in Nepal, members of (low-ranking) artisan castes provide services to upper-caste landholders in exchange for one meager allotment (perhaps ten, fifteen, or twenty-five kilograms) of inferior food grain annually at harvest time.

See also:

Dalits continue to be exploited in Nepal (Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle, October 24, 2010):

“Dal Man Bishwokarma, a resident of Rautaha village in Udayapur, not only manufactures domestic weapons and equipments used in farming but also repairs them. He provides his service to 21 Bishta families. However, he gets only 10 pathis [about 50 kilograms] of maize once a year from each of them.

“During festivals like Dashain and Tihar, Bishta families provide Dal Man with a mana (one mana is roughly equal to half a kilogram) of rice and Rs 20 each. His family has to survive on this meager income for the whole year. ‘With this income, I find it difficult to make ends meet even for six months,’ he said. ‘For the rest of the year, I have to go somewhere else to work as a laborer.’

“The tradition, which exploits Dalits’ labor, is still in fashion mainly in Bhutar, Nametar, Bhalayodada, Panchawoti, Dumre, Barre, Iname, Jante, Thanagau and Laphagau villages. Harka Bahadur Pariyar, a resident of Jaate village where 24 Dalit families are stuck in this tradition, said, ‘We have been surviving like this for generations.’”

UNTOUCHABLE COMMUNITY DENIED LIVELIHOOD AND BASIC SUPPLIES OUT OF BIGOTED CONCERN OVER RITUAL PURITY OF VILLAGE’S DRINKING WATER

‘Caste’ Hindus boycott Dalits in Hosapura (The Hindu)

“The scourge of untouchability has raised its ugly head in Hosapura village of Malavalli taluk, Mandya district, where a group of ‘caste' Hindus allegedly created ruckus over the appointment of a Dalit as a valve-man.

“The incident took place early last week and threatened to split the community on caste lines. Police have arrested three persons in this connection but this served only to escalate the tension as ‘caste' Hindus questioned the ‘temerity’ of the Dalits to lodge a police complaint against them.

“Sources said the genesis of the tension could be traced to the decision of the Gram Panchayat Secretary Siddaraju, who appointed Venkatesh, a Dalit, as the valve-man to release water to the village. When a group of persons saw Venkatesh releasing water, they raised a hue and cry on the ‘propriety’ of using the water released by a ‘Dalit valve-man,’ said sources.

“As a result, tension built up in the village and a section of the aggrieved community lodged a police complaint, following which three persons, identified as Shivu, Basavaraj and Prakash were arrested and later released on bail. Irked by the ‘audacity’ of the Dalit community, they have been allegedly boycotted by people from other communities, sources said.

“However, Shivaramu, Social Welfare Officer of Mandya told The Hindu that he had visited the village and inquired into the incident which presented a different picture.

“He said the village community had strong political affiliations and was split along party lines. ‘It transpired that the appointment of a Dalit was not the issue. The warring groups wanted one of their confidantes to be given the job of the valve-man. However, a few outside elements gave a caste twist to the appointment of Mr. Venkatesh, which led to tension following which three persons were arrested and later released on bail,’ Mr. Shivaramu said.

“‘I visited the village twice after the incident was reported and the allegations of Dalits being denied work in agricultural farms was false. Landlords and landless labourers are mutually dependent and one could not do without the other,’ he added. Mr. Shivaramu said the situation was now under control and the district administration has ensured supply of groceries and other essential commodities to the Dalit colony.”

CHILDREN AND CASTE-BASED BONDED LABOR IN NEPAL

Most of Jajarkot Dalit children deprived of education (The Himalayan Times (Kathmandu))

“Based on the findings of a three-month study that it conducted in the district from December-end, the NGO Dalit Women Empowerment Forum states that roughly 60 per cent of the district’s Dalit children — 8,000 of 13,300 — are deprived of education.

“Children from poor Dalit families make the most of the illiterate children.

“According to Gita Sunar, the forum chairperson, most of these children are from landless families. They have been working as khaliya and haliya (farm labourers) to make a living. The report states that 468 Dalit families of the district have been working as haliya and 126 families have been working as khaliya.”

See also:

NEPAL: The Haliya bonded labour slavery system must be abolished without further delay (Asian Legal Resource Centre, August 26, 2010):

“The Haliyas (literally, ‘one who tills land’) are enslaved within a system of bonded labour, and are forced by a landlord or ‘master’ to execute various hard labour duties (usually agricultural) for many years, often for an entire lifetime. Other than the agricultural work, Haliyas fulfil a range of duties, including making tools (such as spades, knives, and sickles) out of iron, grazing animals, sewing clothes, making utensils and pots, and so forth. The labourers are not paid a wage for their extensive work; often they are only provided with a small amount of food. Extreme poverty and debt in the western and far western regions of Nepal has relegated many members of the lower castes, known as Dalits, to Haliya status.

“Haliyas are forced to till a small patch of land in order to repay a debt, and are often held captive with their entire families. The enslaved Haliyas typically have no direct association with any debts; in the overwhelming majority of cases, the laborers are held because of debts accumulated by their ancestors over many generations. Such debts are often so excessive that a Haliya’s work over an entire lifetime will not generate sufficient revenue to even marginally reduce the interest incurred on the debts. [...]

“Despite being malnourished, Haliyas are expected to perform extraordinarily demanding labor duties. According to a custom known as Doli, they must carry exorbitantly heavy wooden carriages on their shoulders for hours at a time. Another custom (Khali) dictates that Haliyas are entitled to no fresh food at all–only leftover goods from the harvest. Despite working excessively long hours to fulfill grueling tasks, Haliyas typically receive only a bowl of white rice per day for their labor. [...]

“The overwhelming majority of Haliyas are Dalits. In fact, Nepal’s system of caste discrimination remains a direct factor leading to both the origins and continuation of the Haliya system.”

And see:

Policy spoke in Haliya rehab wheel: Ad hoc approach exacerbating their woes by Kamal Raj Sigdel (Kathmandu Post, April 25, 2010):

“Although the government outlawed Haliya practice on September 6, 2008, unsurprisingly most of them are still working for their landlords.

“‘When the Kamaiya system [of bonded labor in the Tarai region] was outlawed in 2000, it actually liberated the landlords, not the bonded labourers,’ says Laxman Kumar Hamal, member secretary of the Freed Kamaiya Rehabilitation Execution Committee at the Ministry of Land Reform (MoLR). ‘The same mistake has been repeated in the case of Haliyas.’

“For instance, the form that is being used to collect data on Haliyas does not require landlords to express commitment to help rehabilitate the tillers, which officials say is a serious oversight that will create problems in rehabilitation.”

REPORT: CASTE STILL REFLECTS, REINFORCES AGRARIAN RELATIONS

Deprivation among Dalits remains high (The Hindu)

“A series of papers presented at the national seminar on ‘Dalit households in village economies’ painted a grim picture of deprivation among Dalits in rural India. These papers, based on a series of village studies since 2004, pointed to Dalits’ relatively poor access to official sources of credit, their lack of command over assets and amenities, and lower levels of employment and income.

“Commenting on the papers, Abhijit Sen, member, Planning Commission, pointed out that the value of these village studies — conducted by the Foundation of Agrarian Studies (FAS) and other researchers — was enhanced by the fact that they were not aimed at finding out how Dalits were faring exclusively in socio-economic terms. Instead, the extent and nature of deprivation among Dalits was being demonstrated as a part of a study of agrarian relations in the country, in which caste played an important role.

“Drawing on data from all the village surveys conducted by the FAS, Vikas Rawal, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, pointed out that ownership of land accounted for an overwhelming proportion of the value of assets among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. There is ‘a huge disparity’ in the levels of landholdings between the two social groups, he observed.

“[...] V.K. Ramachandran, Professor at the Sociological Research Unit, ISI, Kolkata, said, ‘Caste not only matters, but is right up there as a major explanation for inequality.’”

See also:

‘Agrarian question linked to Dalit discrimination’ (The Hindu, January 8, 2011)

DEPENDENT UNTOUCHABLE COMMUNITY FACES COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT FOR ONE MAN’S BASIC ACT OF SOCIAL ASSERTION

The ‘upper caste' renders Dalits of Saligrama jobless (The Hindu)

“As many as 500 Dalit families belonging to Saligrama village in K.R. Nagar taluk have been in dire straits following social ostracism by members of an ‘upper caste’ community for the last two weeks. [...]

“The immediate cause for the social boycott of the Holayas was a petty incident. Some cattle belonging to the ‘upper caste’ community was found grazing on the land belonging to one Govindaraju, a Dalit. Govindaraju took objection to the cattle being on his land as he was entirely dependent on the land for his livelihood.

“Govindaraju had an altercation with members of the ‘upper caste’ community on the matter, which led to him being assaulted. Govindaraju immediately filed a police complaint seeking protection. The ‘upper caste’ members feeling that he had ‘exceeded his limits’ by daring to file a police complaint, decided to boycott the Dalits from September 26.

“The incident came into the public domain after a fact-finding committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), led by State secretariat member Maruti Manpade, visited Saligrama on Monday and shared their findings with the media.

“The team visited the village and discovered that all Dalits had been dismissed from their jobs while those who employ their women folk as housemaids were asked to pay Rs. 2,000 for not abiding by the diktat of the ‘upper caste’. ‘What is worse is that those who brought this “violation” to the notice of the “leaders” were rewarded with Rs. 500,’ according to Varalakshmi, who was part of the CPI(M) team. The CPI(M) members said the Dalits in Saligrama were being denied work in farms while those who were working as lorry drivers, auto drivers and electricians had lost their jobs.”

DESPERATE PROTEST BY CASTE OF “MANUAL SCAVENGERS”

The Stink of Savanur by Anand Teltumbde (Countercurrents)

“On 20 July 2010, some manual scavengers of Savanur, a small town in Haveri district of north Karnataka performed a novel act in protest against their helplessness. They smeared themselves with human excreta in public before the municipal council office. [...]

“The issue was simple, so at least the people in Municipal Council of Savanur thought and ignored it. But it spelt virtual death to Dalits. They were suddenly asked by the Municipal Council to evict the land they lived on for generations just to construct a commercial complex there. The orders in terms of law were illegal but who would contest the authorities. The Dalits kept on pleading but their plea fell on deaf years.On the contrary, to pressure them the Municipal authorities cut off their water connection. Poor Dalits who belonged to the Bhangi sub-caste, would be forbidden to take water from any other source because of their untouchability. Buying it was out of question as they barely subsided on a pittance thrown to them for cleaning dry latrines. What may appear simple to others was thus a death knell for them, which drove them to the desperate act of daubing themselves with human excreta.The sensational act attracted media and thereby swarms of politicians. The ministers came, held meetings, issued orders and at least temporarily saved the Bhangis from devastation. As it happens, the action taken may prove to be mere wash up as suspected by the PUCL (Karnataka) fact finding (preliminary) report on the incident.”

See also:

Savanur and Manual Scavengers: Another loud cry for social justice (PUCL report, August 3, 2010 )

And see:

anti-caste posts on manual scavenging

DOCUMENTARY ON CASTE-BASED TRADITION OF FORCED PROSTITUTION

Prostitutes of god (The Independent (UK))

Former Independent journalist Sarah Harris has made a documentary about India's temple prostitutes – Devadasi are young girls who are dedicated to a Hindu deity at a young age and support their families as sex workers.

The first instalment of the four-part exclusively online documentary “Prostitutes of God” goes live today on VBS.tv.

Harris talked to The Independent Online about making the film:

“I first went to India after I left The Independent three years ago. I wanted to run away and do something really different, so I went to volunteer with a charity in southern India which rescues victims of sex trafficking.

“On my very first day there I stumbled into a meeting of Devadasi prostitutes. I was told that they were temple prostitutes, but didn’t have any understanding of what that meant. [...]

“The only thing that has changed since the Devadasi practise was made illegal in 1988 is that the ceremonies have been driven underground. It’s still very common in some parts of India. A Westerner wouldn’t know to look at the girls that they are Devadasi, but Indians know on sight who they are and what they do. Really it comes down to caste. [...]

“Girls from the Madiga caste, otherwise known as the ‘untouchable caste,’ have really limited prospects. They can be agricultural labourers, sewage collectors or prostitutes, essentially. As prostitution is the most lucrative, a lot of Madiga women get into sex work.”

BARBER, LAUNDRYMAN FORCED OUT OF VILLAGE BY DOMINANT CASTE FOR SERVING UNTOUCHABLES

Bad hair days after caste bar (The Telegraph (Calcutta))

“Price of caste arrogance: an unkempt look with crumpled clothes and overgrown beards and hair.

“All because the majority Thevars of Irunjirai, located 80km from Madurai, had warned the village’s lone dhobi not to press Dalits’ clothes.

“The dhobi has shut shop and fled the village of 130 families and so has the barber, fearing the same diktat from the Thevars.

“‘Now we have no choice but to travel by bus to the nearest town to get a haircut or shave. Almost no one here bothers to get his clothes ironed any more,’ rued K. Paandi, a Thevar.

“A. Periasamy, the dhobi, said: ‘The Thevars had asked me not to iron Dalits’ clothes or else they would boycott my shop.’

“When he still went ahead and ironed a Dalit farmer’s shirt, the matter was dragged to the village panchayat which issued Periasamy a warning last January ‘to respect the majority sentiment.’

That scared barber Maarimuthu too into turning away his Dalit customers.

“‘Since the Thevars outnumber all other communities put together in the village, I could not afford to antagonise them,’ Maarimuthu said. [...]

“Village headman V. Murugesan, a Thevar, blamed the Dalits for ‘blowing the issue up’ and complaining to the district administration.

“‘The panchayat was ready to resolve the issue amicably but once the district authorities started arm-twisting our barber and dhobi, they moved out. And our villagers refused to support outsiders plying their trades here.’”

CASTE AND CAPITALISM ARE QUITE COMPATIBLE

The business of caste in India (livemint.com/Wall Street Journal)

“[A]s the country debates the idea of a caste-based census and policymakers grapple with the possible political ramifications of such data-gathering, the relevance of caste as an economic entity remains intact, says Tirthankar Roy, professor at the London School of Economics and the author of Company of Kinsmen, a book that examines how enterprise and entrepreneurial communities adapted to globalization.”

“Claiming that economic cooperation was the basis of defining caste, Roy says that ‘these (caste-based) groups are protecting access of outsiders to assets—be it skills, people, capital... sometimes successfully, sometimes not. They are guilds, rooted in blood, rather than rules. The ties run so deep that if anyone breaks a business rule, they can be excommunicated from the community.’”

REPORT DOCUMENTS OPPRESSION OF MUSLIMS, TRIBALS, LOW CASTES, AND UNTOUCHABLES

Tribals, Dalits still at the bottom in most indicators (The Hindu)

“Indigenous groups and Dalits continue to be at the bottom in most indicators of well-being, the Muslims and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) occupy the middle rung, while forward caste Hindus and other minority religions are at the top. The ‘Human Development in India: Challenges for a Society in Transition’ survey has found this.

[...]

“[M]ore than three out of 10 forward caste and minority religion men have salaried jobs, compared with about two out of 10 Muslim, OBC and Dalit men, and even fewer Adivasi men.

“Dalits and Adivasis are further disadvantaged as they either do not own land, or mainly low-productivity land. Not surprisingly, these income differences translate into differences in other indicators of human development.

[...]

“Dalits have long laboured at the margins of a society that depends on that labour, but that has often excluded them. Although some Adivasis in the northeast fared better, other Adivasis living in extremely remote locations have been left out of the recent economic progress or forced to migrate, only to work as low paid labourers. In some cases, such as for the OBCs and the Muslims, historical disadvantages have been exacerbated by structural shifts. A decline in artisan incomes has affected the Muslims disproportionately, while agricultural stagnation has affected the OBCs.”

BLOCKED BY CASTE: ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN MODERN INDIA, Edited by Sukhadeo Thorat and Katherine S. Newman

review: Caste & the labour market (The Hindu)

“There is a body of research on discrimination in rural areas and on the continuation of caste barriers to economic and social mobility in village India. There is a myth, however, that caste does not matter in the urban milieu and that, with the anonymity of the big city and with education and associated job and occupational mobility (assisted by affirmative action), traditional caste-based discriminatory practices disappear. This book explodes that myth in a set of chapters that focus on the formal labour market. These chapters use methodologies developed in the United States to study racial discrimination, and are written in collaboration with scholars from the U.S. [...]

“In another chapter, Jodhka and Newman report on detailed interviews with human resource managers of 25 large firms in New Delhi. All the managers insisted that hiring was solely on the basis of ‘merit,’ and old practices such as hiring kin or members of the same community did not exist.

“At the same time, every hiring manager said ‘family background’ (including the educational level of parents) was critical in evaluating a potential employee. This is clearly discriminatory, for Dalit applicants may not have the same social and educational background as those from the upper castes. As the authors note, ‘one must take the profession of deep belief in meritocracy with a heavy dose of salt.’”

BLOCKED BY CASTE: ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN MODERN INDIA, edited by Sukhadeo Thorat and Katherine S. Newman, Oxford University Press

A BATTLE WON?

In an article titled "A battle won" (November 7-20, 2009), Frontline magazine reported that after a month of agitation filled with "unprecedented violence" by caste Hindus, the untouchables of Chettipulam village in Tamil Nadu had been allowed to enter the local Hindu shrine "under tight police protection" on October 27.

Today The Hindu reports:

Dalits not being hired for work

"Two months after the Dalits of Chettipulam were ushered into the Ekambareshwarar temple by the district administration, they are not finding work.

"The village has placed a Samudaya Kattupadu, or unwritten social control, against engaging Dalit labour, said a police source. Dalits do not find jobs in all seven Kadus (administrative divisions) of Chettipulam.

"There were attempts to pressurise people from nearby villages to exclude Dalits from labour.

"'A Dalit man, who was de-weeding a field, was asked to leave after a Caste Hindu refused to work on the same field,' says Pushpavalli, a Dalit woman, who was relieved as domestic help.

"According to a Revenue Department official, the tacit agreement among Caste Hindus is real, though it would never be acknowledged.

"Dalits have not entered the Ekambareshwarar Temple after October 27, when they were led in by the district administration as the State watched."

NO ACCESS TO FOOD OR DRINKING WATER FOR UNTOUCHABLES WHO RESIST CASTE-BASED EXPLOITATION

Ten dalit families face social ostracisation in Ganjam (The Hindu)

"The Thuruburei village is inhabited by around 500 families. Out of them 20 families are ‘washermen’ or ‘Dhobi’ by caste. Pradeep Sethi, an aggrieved dalit of the village said the upper castes have targeted 10 ‘Dhobi’ families who refused to bow down to the diktat of upper castes.

"It is alleged that the upper castes have barred them from using the village well, tubewell, grocery shop etc.

"They are not being allowed to harvest the crop in their field.

"As per Mr. Sethi, the tussle between the dalits and upper castes of the village had started more than a year ago.

"The ‘Dhobi’ families had demanded hike in the yearly payment made by the upper caste families.

"Each upper caste family was paying Rs. 20 [44 cents] per year to the designated washerman families to wash clothes throughout the year.

"Ten ‘Dhobi’ families had demanded the allowance to be hiked to Rs. 50 [$1.09] per year."

HOW CAN THE CASTE SYSTEM FORCE PEOPLE TO DO WORK THEY DON'T WANT TO DO? THIS IS HOW

An untouchable caste in Madhya Pradesh that mainly does agricultural labor has also traditionally been made to clear away the rotting carcasses of animals. This summer in the city of Gadarwara in Madhya Pradesh and surrounding villages they decided to stop doing this work, which is not only disagreeable but is considered to be unclean and degrading.

The response of the dominant castes is described in Social Boycott of Dalits in Madhya Pradesh—Uncivil Society, Apathetic Administration, a fact-finding report by Nagrik Adhikar Manch and Yuva Samvad who visited four villages in the area:

"Since the issue of removing carcasses of dead animals has been raised they have declared a virtual blockade of the community. Taking advantage of the confused laying of public road No. 128, the dominant castes have created such a situation that the Ahirwars [untouchables] are not able to come out of their houses. The community has been ‘imprisoned’ in its own native village. [...]

"1. There is ban on them on making any purchases from the only provision shop in the village.

"2. They are not allowed to get water from a public tap.

"3. Ban on travel by public transport

"4. Stopping vegetable and food vendors, newspaper boys including dhobis (washermen), nais (barbers) from entering Dalit localities

"5. Stopping access to flour mills for grinding corn

"6. Ban on entering the Village Panchayat Bhavan"

With even greater consequence for the well-being of this economically dependent community of landless sharecroppers, they have been denied any share of the harvest from the crops they raised on land leased from the uppercaste landlords, reducing them to near-starvation.

In another village nearby, members of the dominant caste dumped dead animals in the center of the segregated untouchable living area and threatened to "cut down the hands of anybody who dared to touch" them. So the carcasses putrified there, making everyone sick and causing breathing problems among the elderly.

In the same village the community was banned from the fields and paths surrounding their homes, which is all owned by uppercaste people. They are not even allowed to set foot on the land they use to relieve themselves.

NO TURKEYS SLAUGHTERED IN NEPAL THIS WEEK

Indians throng Nepal's Gadhimai fair for animal sacrifice (Times of India)

photo by rpb1001

"Thousands of Indians from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states bordering Nepal swarmed to the Himalayan republic’s southern plains Tuesday to attend a notorious Hindu fair there and sacrifice animals and birds in the hope their wishes would be fulfilled.

"While a debate began to grow in Nepal about the Gadhimai Fair in Bara district and the wanton cruelty it inflicted on animals, the festival drew its strength from zealous Indian attendees who have been flocking to it every five years in a bid to circumvent the ban imposed on animal sacrifices in their own states. [...]

"Ram Mahato, 37, who also came from Sitamarhi, planned to watch the execution of the animals, visit the circus and drink his fill of local liquor that has also been doing brisk sale underground despite an official ban on it. He had not heard of Maneka Gandhi, let alone her plea to the Nepal government to ban the quinquennial slaughter at Gadhimai. Neither had he heard that six people, including one from Motihari, had died after consuming adulterated hooch.

"'Gandhi?' he asked, scratching his head. 'Is she related to Indira Gandhi? But then, they have everything, unlike us. They can afford not to seek the blessings of the goddess.'"

anti-caste: Also prominent in the campaign against the Gadhimai festival has been Brigitte Bardot. South Asian peasants are as likely to take account of her sensibilities in religious matters as she, quite rightly, was of theirs in her career as an international sex symbol.

The ceremony, which takes place over the course of two weeks every five years, attracts up to a million devotees who dispatch more than 200,000 animals—the equivalent of a slow week at Cargill, especially around this time of year.

It is said to be especially popular among untouchables, who are typically barred from Hindu temples and so have little access to ritual services.

It is the local untouchables of the chamar (tanner) caste who traditionally skin and carry away the carcasses, preserving the meat for their own consumption and processing the hides for sale as leather. At the last festival some of the chamars were organized by a non-governmental organization to boycott this work as demeaning. This year, according to the Kathmandu Post, "[a]lthough the festival organisers had hired a contractor to clear out the carcasses, people from the Chamar community chased the contractor and took away the remains themselves." These contradictory responses display the cruel paradox of the untouchable condition—the very activity on which they depend for their livelihood is "unclean" and degrading.

Neither Brigitte Bardot, Maneka Gandhi, nor any of the activists concerned for the lives of several hundred thousand water buffaloes, goats, pigs, chickens, pigeons, and rats seem to have anything to say about the oppression of this community, nor about the insecurity and want that drive so many in this region and around the world to seek solace in religious superstition.

photo by rpb1001 (from a remarkable set on Flickr)

UNTOUCHABLE SCHOOLCHILDREN MADE TO DO DEGRADING CASTE-BASED WORK

Dalit students protest against manual scavenging (Times of India)

"Bharatkumar Chandubhai, 13, who lives in Aslali village said, 'I study in a government school in my village. Even I faced the wroth of being a Dalit. I am told to clean up urinals in my school once a week.'"

See also:

Dalit children treated as manual scavengers in Gujarat (CNN-IBN, August 18, 2009):

"'We have to drag away dead animals like cats and dogs. We are paid Rs 20 or Rs 25,' said another Dalit boy Jagdish Harijan."

DIRTY WORK FOR "UNCLEAN" WORKERS IN DELHI

Most sanitation workers unaware of their rights: survey (Press Trust of India)

"The study, conducted by a team of city-based think tank Indian Social Institute, found that 97 per cent of the 'safai karamcharies' in Delhi do not know about the 1993 Act that prohibits employment of manual scavengers.

"It also revealed that though nearly all of the over 50,000 sanitation workers belong to the Dalit community, 88 per cent of them were unaware of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which was enacted way back in 1989."

UNTOUCHABLE WOMEN ATTACKED BY LANDLORD FOR REFUSING WORK

Car runs over Dalit women (The Statesman (Kolkata))

"Just days after a woman was stripped in public, an influential upper caste landlord ran a car over seven Dalit women for refusing to work in his farmland. The shocking incident took place in Sheikhpura district of Bihar last evening.

"Police said a local landlord Sonu Singh asked a group of female labourers to work in his field at low wages which the latter refused. Sources said, when the Dalit women were returning home in the evening after work, the accused drove his Ambassador car over them, injuring all the seven women. The injured have been admitted to the local government hospital in Sheikhpura.

[...]

"This is the third major incident of atrocities on women in the last one week. On Saturday, a Dalit woman was stripped and beaten up after her goat strayed into the field of a landlord in Sitamarhi district."

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."

HANDLING THE DEAD IS STILL CASTE DUTY OF UNTOUCHABLES

Bringing Out the Dead (Tehelka)

"Across Tamil Nadu, mortuary work seems to be set aside exclusively for dalits. The only members in post-mortem rooms from other castes, are doctors. Due to an acute shortage of mortuary staff, hospitals engage casual workers to do autopsies and to remove unclaimed bodies, in addition to using the services of the in-house sanitary workers. Casual workers too are mostly relatives of dalits working in the hospitals. Their only source of income is the occasional ‘tip’ from relatives of the deceased who come to collect the bodies after post-mortem. [...]

"Among permanent hospital workers, few non-dalits volunteer for mortuary duty. “Only dalits are assigned work in mortuaries. Others refuse to work there. For them, it is taboo to even touch dead bodies,” says Viduthalai Veeran, a dalit activist. Veeran is a senior leader of Adhi Thamizhar Peravai, an outfit that works among Arunthathiyars, a dalit sub-sect in Tamil Nadu.

"Many Arunthathiyars are employed as sweepers and scavengers in municipal corporations and other local bodies. They also work in government hospitals doing the same work. Many take up the work after futile hunts for ‘respectable’ jobs."

RAILWAY, ARMY, CITIES, AND MANY BUSINESSES BREAK THE LAW BY HIRING PEOPLE TO HANDLE SHIT

Scavenging dignity by Harsh Mander (The Hindu)

"The Ministry of Railways told the court that until they install washable aprons at stations and totally sealed toilet systems, 'manual scavenging cannot be totally eradicated', but offered no time frame. Many defence establishments flatly denied any dry latrines. Municipalities possibly threatened municipal employees to retract from their earlier affidavits and claim that were employed for other tasks.

"These official falsehoods have been nailed by moving, detailed affidavits, often with stomach-churning photographs, by countrywide activists of the Andolan. Many of these should be compulsory reading. From Ahra, Bihar, unlettered Dinesh Ram, now 15 years old, has been doing this work since he was nine. He tells the Court, 'I hate this work. I do not feel like doing it. But my problem is that I do not know any other work'. Ramrakhi, who has worked since she was 10, says, 'The gas emitted by the shit has spoilt my eyes, and my hands and feet also swell. It sticks to my hands and makes me nauseous'. Chinta Devi, like many others, says she hates this work, but has to pursue it to raise her children.

"Kokilaben, a sanitation worker in Kadi municipality in Mehsana, Gujarat, testifies in an affidavit to the Court, 'The human excreta discharged by people on the road is collected by me in a large bowl with the help of a broom and tin plate and stored in a trolley. When the trolley is full, I drag (this with the help of) my daughter and my husband… I carry the human excreta stored in plastic bucket on my head and while doing so the dirt falls on my body…I fall sick frequently… If I refuse to remove waste, I get suspended from duty by the Nagarpalika'."

UNTOUCHABLE SCAVENGERS IN DEHLI MOSTLY WOMEN

Manual scavenging still rampant in North East Delhi, says report (The Hindu)

"Dr. Singla said the profession can be completely abolished only when the authorities convert 'dry' latrines to 'wet' latrines with simultaneous programmes for their rehabilitation.

“'As long as there is a demand for their services, scavengers will continue to exist,' she concluded."

UNTOUCHABLES PUNISHED FOR RESISTING FORCED LABOR

Two separate stories of atrocities committed after untouchables refused to work for upper caste landowners:

May 3, Uttar Pradesh

Seven Dalits injured as Jats fire on them (Press Trust of India):

"The trouble started when some Dalit labourers were asked by a group of Jats in Mandoda village to cut wheat crop in their fields and they refused. Infuriated by their refusal, the Jats allegedly attacked their homes and fired at their women and children, injuring seven."

May 13, Bihar

Dalit tortured for refusing to work in fields (India eNews):

"A Dalit was allegedly held captive and thrashed for six days in Nalanda - the home district of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar - after he refused to work in the fields of an upper caste man.

"Not only were his wife and minor daughter forced to work in his place during that time but the family was also turned away by the local police when it tried to lodge a complaint, he has alleged.

[...]

"'My only crime was that I refused to work in their fields as they were giving just one kilogram of food grain in return for 10 to 12 hours of toil,' an official at a special police station for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Biharsharif near here, quoted Manjhi as saying.

[...]

"'The helpless and poor like me are not free people. We have to live under the shadow of fear and at the mercy of people like Abhay Singh, who tortured me to teach a lesson to me and others so that we don't raise our voice,' Manjhi told police."

STUDY FINDS UNTOUCHABILITY IN 47 OUT OF 47 TAMIL NADU VILLAGES VISITED

Untouchability unlimited (Frontline)

"These apart, the study found some quirky restrictions on Dalits. They were, for instance, forbidden from keeping male dogs. In some villages, during the temple festival Dalits were supposed to stay hidden from caste Hindus. The two-tumbler system, under which Dalits and non-Dalits were served tea in different vessels, was still prevalent in teashops in many places and in some village eateries Dalits were compelled to sit on the floor.

MAYAWATI'S GOVERNMENT UPHOLDS FIRING OF UNTOUCHABLE OVER CASTE-BASED TABOO

Caste shadows over school cook row (BBC News)

"Says senior government official Sailesh Krishna, 'Phool Kumari was removed on the basis of her performance, caste was not an issue here.'

"At the Harijan Basti [segregated untouchable quarter], Phool Kumari and her neighbours are livid at the explanation.

"'To stay in power Mayawati is wooing the upper-castes. She doesn't care about us. She wants our vote, but she's not bothered about us,' says Phool Kumari.

"'But I'm going to carry on fighting. Even if they kill me, I won't give up,' she says."

See anti-caste: 300 SCHOOLCHILDREN BOYCOTT "UNCLEAN" LUNCHES (December 15, 2007)

And see anti-caste: MAYAWATI KUMARI, LEADER OF LOW-CASTE-BASED CAPITALIST PARTY, TO BE CHIEF MINISTER OF UTTAR PRADESH (May 12, 2007)

BANGLADESH: UNTOUCHABLE WORKERS NO LONGER EMPLOYED BY DHAKA CITY CORPORATION

Traditional sweepers face hard time as others take away jobs (The Daily Star)

"Their job includes sweeping the streets and offices, clearing clogs in the sewerage lines, cleaning up manholes, water reservoirs, hospital wastes and handling unidentified dead bodies. Many of them are employed in crematoriums.

"'This used to be my family's profession for the last 200 years since we were brought here from India [by the British]. Cleaning is the only work we have learnt to do,' said Shankar Das Pollati Apparo, president, Telegu Community Development Society.

"'Today we are being replaced by the mainstream population. Mostly Muslims especially those who can pay bribes are taking over our job although there are regulations that jaat (traditional) sweepers should be given priority,' he added."

See also:

Oppressed Dalits of Bangladesh fight for their future (The Independent (UK), December 20, 2008)

"The Dalits of Dhaka say their ancestors were brought to what is now Bangladesh from Hyderabad in southern India by the British Empire to perform manual work."

INSIDE DHARAVI, A SLUM IN BOMBAY AND POSSIBLY ASIA'S BIGGEST

Urban poverty in India: A flourishing slum (The Economist)

"Ramesh Kadam is at his desk in the Peela Bangla (Yellow Bungalow) tannery company. One of the oldest in Dharavi, it occupies the same factory, beside a stinking black creek, that Mr Kadam's grandfather founded in 1918. The site was chosen for its proximity to the main slaughterhouse of Bombay, as Mumbai was called. Handling meat and tanning leather are considered unclean in Hinduism, so the factory was built out of sight, on an island, with villagers of the lowly Koli fishing caste mending their nets on its shore.

[...]

"Mr Korde's parents, landless vagrants from central Maharashtra, trekked in around the same time. His father died recently of tuberculosis, after a career spent hefting sacks of lentils in a factory. His mother, Leelabaiy, a pugnacious 65-year-old jangling with green bangles, lives with Mr Korde and his wife and two children in a three-room slum-house. Unlike her husband, she had some schooling, and retains a slightly sophisticated air. Asked why she married down, she lifts up seven fingers—one for each of the elder sisters who had first to be found a husband and dowry.

"With this history, Dharavi's population is diverse. Tamils, Andhras, Assamese, Biharis, Bengalis and local Maharatis; all India's peoples are here. Perhaps a little over half belong to India's poorest groups: dalits and Muslims. They tend to live semi-ghettoised, as in Shiva Shakti Nagar, within the same language group. Indeed, the poorer Dharavi's residents are, the more caste-sensitive they are likely to be. Mr Kadam is a dhor, of the dalit tanning caste. Yet as his business thrived, his family became middle class, a powerful identity. Last year Mr Kadam exported 25,000 leather belts to Wal-Mart in America. He has moved his family from Dharavi to a smart suburb of Mumbai. Laughing proudly, he says his teenage son refuses to visit the ancestral factory, which he considers dirty.

"The four children of Venkatesh Dhobi, all aged ten years and under, cannot shun their ancestral pool of filth. They work every day in this well of brown water, beside a litter-strewn railway line. They pass unwashed clothes into the pool, where 20 adult dhobis—of the dalit washer caste—soak and scrub them. With an explosive grunt to keep rhythmic time—a sound not unlike that emitted by Japanese Noh theatre actors—together they thwack the heavy sopping clothes onto smooth stones. The children then strew them between the railway tracks to dry.

"They are the fifth generation of Dhobis to work at this pool. The first, says Mr Dhobi, was his great-grandmother, who arrived from Mehaboob Nagar, in Andhra Pradesh, a century ago. /For 100 years, we have served this city,/ says Mr Dhobi, a short 35-year-old with the torso of an underpants model. And yet their rural roots have survived. All the dhobis in the pool—which is called Dhobi Ghat—are from Mehaboob Nagar. Aged 14, Mr Dhobi was married there to a local girl. The big changes of the past century, in his view, seem to be that Dhobi Ghat has got much dirtier and people send fewer clothes to be washed in it. India's swelling middle class—people like Mr Kadam—prefer washing-machines. Together, Mr Dhobi, his wife and four children earn less than 200 rupees a day."

See also:

dharavi.org, "a multimedia wiki website designed to gather information, images, and ideas on Dharavi in Mumbai"

ESTIMATED HALF MILLION BONDED LABORERS IN STATE OF PUNJAB

Beyond Green Revolution: Bonded labour alive and suffering in Punjab (merinews)

"According to a rough estimate, there are at least five lakh landless labourers in Punjab, who are working in the fields akin to bonded labour. Only once in a year on June 15, are they allowed to change masters but they must be slaves throughout their lives. [...]

"Talking to merinews, Jai Singh, who has been working for the rights of these landless workers since years, said 'Most of these men are in debt bondage, their fathers or forefathers took some minor loans and now they are caught in a debt trap,' adding that these labourers and their families work as bonded labour and even their families are in bondage.

"Caste plays an important role in this whole issue as the majority of these workers are from scheduled castes living on the peripheries of the society...."

NEPAL: UNTOUCHABLE LEATHERWORKER STARVES IN CAPITAL CITY

Life not shining for polishing shoes (Gorkhapatra)

"Kathmandu, Oct. 16: Krishna Bahadur Nepali arrives early in the morning at Damkal Chowk of Lalitpur from Dhapakhel and spreads his paraphernalia at the roadside. He spends the whole day by mending and brushing shoes.

[...]

"'Unlike in the past it is hard to earn two meals. Our traditional means of livelihood of sewing and mending shoes is ignored and the ever swelling market price has added the woes,' he said."

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."

LANDLORDS ABANDON PLANTATIONS, LEAVING WORKERS TO DIE

Workers starving due to closure of tea estates in North Bengal by Maureen Nandini Mitra (Down to Earth)

"More than 17,000 workers at these tea estates have been struggling; there are no other means of livelihood. An estimated 1,000 people—workers and family members—have died of malnutrition and related diseases since 2003 in the Dooars region.

[...]

"Most of the affected gardens are far from towns and villages, limiting employment options and healthcare services for the unskilled workers. Public transport to towns is infrequent and expensive—it costs Rs 60 for a 30-km bus trip to Jalpaiguri town from Raipur. The Plantation Labour Act of 1951 makes it the estate owners’ responsibility to provide the workers basic needs—food, education, healthcare. With the tea estates becoming unprofitable after the late 1990s, the owners abandoned their responsibility.

[...]

"Ethnicity of the workers has also been a crucial reason why this abysmal situation has been allowed to drag on for so long, human rights activists allege. More than 85 per cent of the workers are tribals—fourth generation immigrants of migrants brought in by the British from Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh or low-caste refugees from Bangladesh’s Jassore, Khulna and Barishal regions."

See also:

Hundreds of workers die as India's tea industry suffers crisis (Guardian (UK), June 11, 2007)

And see:

Study on Closed and Re-opened Tea Gardens in North Bengal by Anuradha Talwar, Debasish Chakraborty and Sarmishtha Biswas for Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity and International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, Plantation and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) (September 2005):

"In spite of the spate of re-openings that have taken place in the past one year, the 22 gardens seem to still be crisis ridden. Many may be on the verge of closing down once again. Huge amounts of money are owed to the workers. This is a criminal offence, but action has not been taken on this by the Government and/or union leaders against the rogue employers. At the same time there has been little long term planning by any of the stakeholders to ensure that these gardens become viable in the long run.

"Owners on the other hand in the closed gardens and in the industry in general are taking advantage of the closed gardens and the defensiveness of the workers and the unions to gradually cut down on the workers’ benefits."

And see also:

in Assam: A storied industry falls on hard times (Associated Press, September 29, 2007):

"The 'burra sahib'—the big boss—still lives in a cavernous house, overseeing nearly every aspect of life for thousands of employees, from housing to schools to medical care. Planters still gather from far-flung estates to drink at century-old clubs, and their wives still pass their days tending elaborate flower gardens.

"The laborers—tea plantations employ nearly 3 million, mostly women, in jobs often handed down through families for generations—are unionized these days, but most live just a few steps above the poverty line. In Assam, tea workers earn about $1.25 a day, plus free housing and subsidized food. According to union leaders, only about a third are literate."

tea worker in North Bengal (image via arnabchat)

REPORT ON CASUAL LABOR IN INDIA

“Most unorganised workers paid poorly” (The Hindu)

"An overwhelming 79 per cent of workers in the unorganised sector live with an income of less than Rs. 20 a day, according to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS).

"A report on 'Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in Unorganised Sector,' released by the Commission here on Thursday, says over 394.9 million workers (86 per cent of the working population) belong to the unorganised sector and work under 'utterly deplorable' conditions with 'extremely few livelihood options.'

"The report says that 88 per cent of the Scheduled Tribes [oppressed tribals] and the Scheduled Castes [untouchables], 80 per cent of the Other Backward Classes [other oppressed castes] and 85 per cent of Muslims belong to the category of 'poor and vulnerable,' who earn less than Rs. 20 a day.

Rs. 20 is less than fifty cents a day. In 2004 the National Commission of Rural Labour determined that the minimum subsistence wage was Rs. 66. The NCEUS report described above found that a total of 836 million people in India, or 77 per cent of the population, including wage-earners and non-wage-earners, were living on less than Rs. 20 a day.

"Unorganized" workers are those who do casual labor that does not pay regular wages and carries no legal protections. The term does not refer to workers not represented by a trade union, as it does in the U.S. and Britain: most workers in the "organized sector" are not unionized. Unorganized workers include piece workers, migrant workers, vendors, and unskilled laborers in quarries, kilns, and farms.

See also:

'Most Indians earn less than Rs 20/day in India' (Reuters)

LANDED CASTES HIGH AND LOW IN BIHAR RAISE ARMIES AGAINST LANDLESS UNTOUCHABLES

Formation of private armies by Sanjay Kumar (Hindustan Times)

"The Bhumi Sena is the private army of the Kurmis, whose main occupation is cattle raising. They make the Harijan landless peasants work at gun point without paying them the minimum wages."

ESTIMATED 1.3 MILLION MANUAL SCAVENGERS IN INDIA

Manual waste disposal occupies millions in India, despite ban (Agence France-Presse)

"Chandravati, who is over 70 and like many Indians uses a single name, takes home about 300 rupees (6.60 dollars) a month. When she is lucky, she also gets a slice of chapati bread from her employers. 'They throw the chapati at us from a distance. If this is not untouchability, then what is? We are not allowed into the house,' she says, flashing a toothless smile."

MANUAL SCAVENGING PERSISTS DESPITE GOVERNMENT DENIAL

India's Shame (Frontline)

"On a visit to Nand Nagri near Shahdara in the National Capital Region in order to verify, Frontline met Meena, who is a volunteer with the SKA and has been working as a manual scavenger since she was nine. "Says Meena, who is in her mid-twenties: 'I remember the first time I had to carry a basketful on my head. I slipped and fell into the gutter. No one would come to pick me up because the basket was so dirty and I was covered with filth. I sat there, howling, until another woman scavenger arrived. She hosed me down and took me home. But that day I felt like the most unfortunate child in the whole world.'"

See also:

Out in the open (on scavenging in Tamil Nadu) and Part of the system (Andhra Pradesh) in the same issue

But see:

this critique of the Frontline coverage by activist Vidya Bhushan Rawat: India’s Shame: Some Unanswered Questions from the Frontline Reports

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)

ESTIMATED 8 MILLION BONDED LABORERS IN PAKISTAN

Walking Out Of Slavery by Sarah Stuteville (The Indypendent)

"The Pakistani Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, which was officially adopted by parliament in 1992, outlaws bonded labor, cancels all existing bonded debts, forbids lawsuits for the recovery of debts and punishes using children as bonded labor with up to five years in prison and an $800 fine. Bonded laborers can petition for a writ of habeas corpus and free themselves legally. Despite these laws, the number of bonded laborers in Pakistan is estimated conservatively at several million, while human rights activists believe the total hovers closer to 8 million.

"The nature of bonded labor in Pakistan explains why these laws are ineffective. Many laborers are confined to brick kilns in Punjab and agricultural fields in Sindh, where they work seven days a week from sunrise to sunset. They are often born into bondage and never receive any kind of education, leaving them incapable of performing the basic math to calculate the debt that enslaved them or the wages they earn. They are easily tricked – if not terrorized – into laboring long after their real debts are paid.

"If they are not born into bondage, Pakistan’s poorest, most marginalized populations can find themselves there due to an expensive dowry, an illness or a drought in their native villages. Their financial difficulties drive them to factory bosses or landowners who offer them peshgi, or advance wages, and they and their entire families – including young children – are claimed as property.

"Even if offered freedom, some workers have no other economic options. But many do escape and are often hunted down by owners and forced back into bondage. Human rights groups have reported that landlords, particularly in rural Sindh, maintain private jails where errant laborers are kept. Local police and politicians often turn a blind eye to such practices due to strong ties with landowners."

UNTOUCHABLES BOUND BY HEREDITARY OCCUPATION

Dalit workers continue to face prejudice (NDTV.com)

"But even today, in India's biggest cities, the men and women who enter the sewers to clean the city's filth are dalits."

CASTE-BASED BONDED LABOR IN PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Free at Last, From Generations of Bonded Labour (Inter Press Service News Agency)

'''All my family members worked, including my mother and younger sister. My mother would say we have to work to pay off the loans taken by my grandfather from the landlords. However hard and long we all worked, the exorbitant interest on the loan my grandfather had taken was never paid.'''

See also:

In Pakistan, 'slavery' persists (The Christian Science Monitor, December 15, 2003)

BOOK ON MANUAL SCAVENGING

Exposing an abhorrent practice (Frontline)

review by S. Vishwanathan of India Stinking by Gita Ramaswamy:

"'In an age when mechanisation with harvesters and tractors has rendered thousands of manual labourers jobless," Gita notes, "it is a standing testimony to the lasting virulence of the caste system that public facility cleaning and sewage disposal are still handled by human beings.'"

See also:

Soiled tracks by Kancha Ilaiah (Outlook India, January 16, 2005)

RESISTANCE PROVOKES VIOLENCE

Orissa villagers protest against inhuman practice (The Hindu)

"Four women were beaten up and another was paraded naked allegedly by a group of 'upper caste' men in the village on September 19.

"'We are not sure when we will be able to return to our homes. We have lost everything,' Sabitri Barik, one of the victims, said here on Friday.

[...]

"The women were abused by large number of men, allegedly from the Khandayat community, because their husbands refused to wash the feet of the groom and guests during marriage ceremonies as per custom.

[...]

"'I am scared to go to my village because the Khandayats will surely attack me,' saidHadibandhu Barik. 'Our children are educated and they are not willing to do the customary job of washing the feet of upper caste men, clear the left-overs after the marriage feast and wash the utensils.'

[...]

"'The local legislators and other politicians do not come to the rescue of barbersfearing the loss of the `upper caste' votes,' said Baghambar Patnaik of the Odisha Gotimukti Andolan, an organisation fighting for the cause of barbers in Brahmagiri, Puri Sadar and Satyabadi blocks of Puri.

"'The district administration has been treating the problem as a conflict between two castes, ignoring the fact that the job assigned to the barbers amounts to bonded labour, and that they cannot be forced to do the work,' he said."

TSUNAMI CLEAN-UP A CASTE DUTY OF UNTOUCHABLES

India's 'untouchables' gather tsunami dead (Reuters)

'"It is our duty. If a dog is dead, or a person, we have to clean it up."'

See also:

The Smell of Dead Bodies: R. Thangarasu, 42, sanitary worker: Hero for his unflinching dignity of labour, doing a job nobody wanted to do (Outlook India)

"'We handled unrecognisable, rotting, orphaned bodies that nobody claimed. Bodies were prised free from sand, debris and palm thatch. We sometimes worked non-stop without food,' recalls Thangarasu."