Humanise India
20 January, 2013
Countercurrents.org
A campaign against Untouchability, Caste discrimination and Communalism
India’s modern constitution came into being on January 26th, 1950 which gave equal rights to all its citizens irrespective of their caste, gender and religion. All human being were equal accordingly yet even after 62 years in operation, Indian society is still fragmented in different identities of caste and religion. The problem would have solved if all the equal castes had joined against all other one who were exploiting them. Baba SahebAmbedkar knew this when he described the Indian social order as based on ‘graded inequality’ where each caste is actually sitting on the head of others and ‘revere them in the ascending order and look down upon in deep contempt in the descending order.
Baba SahebAmbedkar, the father of Indian constitution had warned that though politically we have achieved equality but if there will be no equality in our social life then the very edifice of democracy would be endangered. And it is in this context that we have to realize how a great constitution is being failed by the forces which are status quoists.
Our villages have not changed. Everywhere the caste panchayats are playing dominant role. They deny the very existence of individual and therefore absolutely deny them right to choice and select their own partners. In the name of culture they impose the old caste prejudices and legitimize violence against Dalits and women which cannot be tolerated in any modern democracy. But unfortunately, organized voices have not happened. The voices of dissent must come in from the communities themselves.
Despite different laws in the country, untouchability persists in different forms. In schools, the dalit boys and girls are still forced to sit at the end. The discrimination in the mid-day Meal is a known fact. One of the major sources of untouchability in India is the issue of manual scavenging. There is no other country in the world where such a crime against humanity is committed and that too without any socio economic condition. It is worse than racial apartheid faced by the native Africans. There are still about seven lakh seventy thousands manual scavengers in the country according to Ministry of Social Justice and Welfare. Though this figure is not accepted by social activist yet whatever is the number, it reflects the failure of India as a state which has signed all the major international treaties on human rights and against racial discrimination.
Untouchability is a direct outcome of caste system or Varna Vyavastha and is a worst form of discrimination which is divinely sanctified in the religious text. Yet, the crude fact is that while Islam may not philosophically speak on caste system yet there are castes among Muslims too. Dalit Christians too face discrimination at all level including inside the churches. In many parts of India, the Dalit or backward community Muslims do not have the right to bury their dead ones along with the upper caste Muslims.
The violence against Dalits or Untouchables intertwines with the superstitions prevalent in society – in fact a lot of the killings in the name of witchcraft are actually caste based violence targeting a Dalit victim in the name of witchcraft. It is also being used to deny women their right in inheritance and time has come to expose these miracles to misguide our people.
As you know Untouchability and caste discrimination violate Article 16 of Indian constitution which talks of equality as well as Article 17 which abolished untouchability formally in the constitution. Various International Covenant too talks about Equality of human being. UN Declaration on Human Rights also talks of ‘all human being born equal irrespective of their caste, religion, race and nationality. If despite of these provisions, untouchability and caste discrimination is being practiced in different forms then, it is time to speak up and stand against such practices.
It is important to understand that the issue of caste discrimination and untouchabilitycan not be confined to Dalits only and need a humanist response engaging people from all walks of life who believe in equality of human being. Uttar Pradesh is the land of great Sufi saints, revolutionary writers and political empowerment of Dalits.
Those of us who have been working against caste system, untouchability and human rights feel that time has come for India to launch a full-fledged battle against such undignified customs of our society.
A few of us have decided to start a campaign against the same, to mobilize people’s opinion and highlight the issue further so that we all can fight against this menace of untouchability and discrimination based on caste. And hence what could we name it except to call it Humanise India Campaign. It is a campaign against hatred, discrimination and untouchability. India need to prove that it is a civilized society and it will have to come out unambiguously against all forms of discriminations based on caste, gender, ethnicities, religion or region.
We know the parochial forces of communalism are churning their own thesis to deviate from these issues of utmost national importance and propagate communal agenda to wipe out the ‘internal’ contradictions with in their own societies. The problem of caste discrimination does not confine to so-called Hindus alone, Dalits and backward classes among Muslims and Christians too suffer from these discriminations and therefore their issues need to be raised. That apart, the feudal social order has always oppressed women’s voices. It is important that we speak on these issues boldly, openly and candidly.
Therefore our People’s Initiative to Humanise India, start from Maghar, a historical place where Kabir went to die against all the advice of Brahmins who warned him of going to hell if he chose to die there. Kabir spoke against caste system and equality of human being. Hence to mark the importance of anti-caste struggle we begin our renewed struggle from Magahar. The Yatra will be touching Kushinagar, Chaurichaura, Deoria, Mau, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Sarnath, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Faizabad, Ayodhya and culminate at Lucknow.
Our Aim :
It is not that we are doing this for the first time. But unfortunately in India, we have never seen a people’s initiative against Untouchability and All forms of discrimination. Our focus has majorly been on the governance and law frame work but that is an easy escape route too. It is important to take this battle with the communities who are victims as well as who consider themselves to be superior. Our aim is to start this journey to make people believe that they are not alone and that this heinous crime against humanity must not have any space in the society.
The aim is to strengthen and renew people’s initiatives against untouchability and caste system. It will help the local people understand their rights and fight it vigorously. Hopefully, it will put pressure on the so called powerful people too. We wish to clarify that Uttar-Pradesh has been the land of many revolutionaries and hence we are beginning it from the places which are significant to anti caste movement in the country. But this will not culminate in 15 days only. We will take this battle further in other parts of the country and we hope to carry the torch in the entire country too in the future..
Time Period : The journey start on January 26th, 2013from Kabirchaura, Magaharand will culminate around February 08th 2013 at Ganga Prasad Memorial, Aminabad,Lucknow
Our Team: The team will consist of about 20-30 regular activists. The team is being led by activist writer VidyaBhushanRawat.
Activities: Interaction with people, public meetings, street Play, short films, documentary shows, puppet shows and miracle exposure programmes.
The Major Stop-overs of the Initiative during the current phase
1. Maghar : Historical place where Kabir died.January 26th, 2013
2. Maharajganj
3. Gorakhpur
4. Kushinagar : Historical place where Buddha worked for over 20 years and died.
5. Chauri-Chaura : Another historical place of Indian Freedom struggle
6. Azamgarh : Birth place of Rahul Sankrityayan January 30th.
7. Mohamdabad( Ghazipur) January 30th evening and full day 31st.
8. Sarnath January 1st full day in Varanasi including night stay
9. Ravidas Temple in Varanasi
10. Allahabad February 2nd and February 3rd
11. Chitrakoot
12. Fatehpur February 5th
13. Pratapgarh
14. Ayodhya February 6th evening-February 7th morning
15. Faizabad
16. Barabanki
17. Lucknow February 8th, 2013 in Lucknow
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