tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/indian-dalits-17835/articlesIndian Dalits – The Conversation2024-03-25T21:15:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246032024-03-25T21:15:49Z2024-03-25T21:15:49ZHow caste discrimination impacts communities in Canada<p>Many perceive caste to be a phenomenon that only exists in India. Yet, it is a part of Canadian society, and an issue that many in South Asian diasporas are contending with. </p>
<p>The late British Columbia-based poet and activist <a href="https://youtu.be/nDn-JBR0YMI">Mohan Lal Karimpuri</a> described caste as a system of high and low, a form of “social, economic, political, religious inequality” that takes away the power of the many and puts it in the hands of the few. It is the hierarchical ranking of people in accordance with an ascriptive identity, associated with family, lineage and hereditary occupation. </p>
<p>Those who are Dalit, like Karimpuri, are among the most marginalized by dominant castes, and historically systematically excluded in social, economic and cultural terms. Dalits are most vulnerable in India where violence and exclusion remain pervasive. In 2022, Amnesty International stated that “<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/india/report-india/">hate crimes including violence against Dalits and Adivasis [Indigenous Peoples] were committed with impunity</a>.” </p>
<p>But caste does not only exist in South Asia. In recent years, it has been formally recognized as a potential grounds for discrimination in the United States and Canada in diverse contexts in places like <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158687243/seattle-becomes-the-first-u-s-city-to-ban-caste-discrimination">Seattle, Wash.</a> and <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/burnaby-council-votes-unanimously-to-include-caste-as-a-protected-category">Burnaby, B.C.</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2180604995628">Toronto District School Board</a>, the <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/ohrc%E2%80%99s-policy-position-caste-based-discrimination#:%7E:text=The%20OHRC%20takes%20the%20position,other%20grounds%2C%20under%20Ontario's%20Code">Ontario Human Rights Commission</a>, <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/10/13/caste-union-contract-activism/">Harvard University</a> and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-asia-education-california-discrimination-82963d9c6acdc6862173ab2959fd2a97">University of California, Davis</a> have recognized casteism as a form of discrimination. </p>
<p>In 2023, California lawmakers passed a bill that would explicitly ban caste discrimination in the state. However, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/09/us/california-caste-discrimination-bill-veto/index.html">it was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom</a> who said it was “unnecessary,” arguing that caste discrimination was already banned under existing laws.</p>
<p>To truly understand what caste means and its impact, the stories of those who experience caste discrimination must be heard. All too often, the experiences of those marginalized within the caste system are treated as an addendum or aside to dominant caste narratives, and casteist perspectives persist in the public domain and remain unquestioned. </p>
<h2>Lack of visibility</h2>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Caste in Canada project interview with Rashpal Bharwaj.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In 2020, we initiated the <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/">Caste in Canada project</a> in partnership with Dalit civil society leaders in B.C. The project documented the lives of Canadians of Dalit ancestry through in-depth oral history interviews. We interviewed 19 people from an array of backgrounds impacted by caste. Fourteen of these interviews are now available on the project website.</p>
<p>One recurrent theme in the interviews was the issue of visibility. University student Vipasna Nangal, for example, expressed concern about how many Dalits mask their caste identity in Canada as a way of avoiding stigma. </p>
<p>As she notes, “<a href="https://youtu.be/0agL2hwZyCQ">in order to resist something you have to acknowledge it… and so you can’t have resistance without having visibility</a>.” Caste, therefore, is something that needs to be talked about and not hidden. The limitations of masking caste identity are eloquently addressed in the interview with journalist Meera Estrada. She poignantly describes the pain involved in pretending not to be Dalit and her own personal journey towards <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNzahJ90Uw">publicly acknowledging her identity</a>. </p>
<p>Participants in the project voiced this as a common concern: that only by making the stories of Dalits more visible and accessible can we create domains for the recognition, and then obliteration, of caste and casteism, and the possibility of moving past caste divisions, for all. </p>
<h2>Challenging the social acceptability of casteism</h2>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Caste in Canada project interview with Vipasna Nangal.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Another important theme was the need to challenge the social acceptability of casteist discourse. Several participants emphasized the pervasiveness of casteist discourses in popular contexts, such as in music, where dominant caste perspectives are celebrated. </p>
<p>Participant Rashpal Singh Bhardwaj, founder of the Ambedkar International Social Reform Organization (AISRO), <a href="https://youtu.be/jd6ZnFMoaLw">described the organization’s work with local radio stations</a> to discourage playing music that celebrates dominant caste identities on the radio. </p>
<p>Caste discrimination is a part of the life experiences of many in Canada, both as a result of experiences in India, but also here in Canada. Participants <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/gurpreet-singh/">Gurpreet Singh</a> and <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/kamaljit/">Kamaljit</a> described how people of South Asian heritage in Canada try to discover each other’s caste backgrounds — and the exclusion this entails.</p>
<p>It is, in short, a part of Canadian society, working on multiple levels and complicating our understanding of diversity in the Canadian context. </p>
<h2>Tackling caste</h2>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Caste in Canada project interview with Mohan Lal Karimpuri.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Given that caste is a continuing problem both in India and abroad, it is no surprise that Dalit Canadians have organized extensively to address discrimination. In B.C. there are several organizations, such as our project partner, the <a href="https://www.chetna.ca/">Chetna (“Awareness”) Association of Canada</a>, represented in our interviews by its executive director, <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/jai-birdi/">Jai Birdi</a> — who played a key role in the project, and speaks in his interview about how to respond to caste discrimination with <a href="https://youtu.be/0tmGGiok3_8">power and resilience</a> — and <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/surjit-manjit-bains/">Manjit and Surjit Bains</a>, Ambedkarite Buddhist activists.</p>
<p>Other important organizations include AISRO and its members <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/rashpal-bhardwaj/">Rashpal Singh Bhardwaj</a>, <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/jogender-banger/">Jogender Banger</a>, and <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/kamlesh-ahir/">Kamlesh Ahir</a> whom we interviewed for the project. There is also the <a href="https://www.aicscanada.ca/">Ambedkarite International Co-ordination Society</a>, represented in the project by <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/annemurphy/research/caste-in-canada/param-kainth/">Param Kainth</a>, who also speaks eloquently about the importance of the teachings of the Buddha for Dalits. </p>
<p>As the titles of these organizations make clear, they are inspired by India’s towering leader and architect of the Indian constitution, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhimrao-Ramji-Ambedkar">B.R. Ambedkar</a>, who campaigned for the rights of South Asia’s diverse Dalit communities. His life and activism provide the model for millions of Dalits around the world as they seek to remake the world without caste. With the Caste in Canada project, we work with our Dalit colleagues to do the same in Canada.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Murphy and Suraj Yengde received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, with additional support from an anonymous donor to the Department of History at the University of British Columbia, in support of the "Caste in Canada" project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>.</span></em></p>Casteism is commonly seen as a form of discrimination limited to South Asia. However, diaspora communities in Canada are also grappling with issues of caste.Anne Murphy, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of British ColumbiaSuraj Yengde, Postdoc, Harvard Kennedy School | Associate, Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223402024-02-08T16:28:07Z2024-02-08T16:28:07ZOrigin: this outstanding portrayal of India’s caste system is hugely important to Dalit people like me<p>Origin, the latest film from acclaimed director <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ava-duvernay">Ava DuVernay</a> (Selma, When They See Us), depicts marginalisation as a thread that connects race, class, caste and gender. It is inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book, <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321303/caste-by-wilkerson-isabel/9780141995465">Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents</a>.</p>
<p>In the film, Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) sets out on a global journey to explore the concept of “caste” as she writes her book and grapples with personal loss. She visits three countries as part of her research.</p>
<p>First, she explores the elements that give rise to discrimination in her home country, America. Next she goes to Germany, where she connects the racial segregation of people during the Nazi era to America. Finally, she travels to India, where she connects the plight of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dalit">Dalit people</a> in a caste-based, divided society to that of black people in America and Jewish people in Germany. What she creates is a book that fundamentally exposes the insidious and global nature of caste systems. </p>
<p>Caste is a system of classifying society in a hierarchical order in which some people are kept inferior and others superior. In India, Dalit people have been placed at the lowest rung on this social ladder, in America, black people and in Germany, Jewish people.</p>
<p>It’s the way DuVernay weaves these stories together that makes the film so outstanding. In doing so, she highlights how inhuman, unethical and unjust discriminatory practices happen irrespective of geographical location, local cultures and social norms.</p>
<h2>Dalit stories in Hollywood</h2>
<p>I come from a Dalit background and I research Dalit representation in film. So I know first hand Origin’s importance to people like me. </p>
<p>In the film, Wilkerson visits the Dr Ambedkar National Memorial in Delhi to learn about the lawyer and social activist’s life and work. This is the first time that <a href="https://main.sci.gov.in/AMB/">Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s</a> fight for the rights of India’s Dalits and other deprived classes has been portrayed in a Hollywood film. Origin traces the journey of Ambedkar (played by Gaurav J. Pathania) from his childhood to writing the Indian constitution. </p>
<p>Ambedkar, revered as <em>Babasaheb</em> (Respected Father), was born in India in 1891. At that time, people were treated differently depending on their heritage. Imagine a big ladder, with some people at the top getting all the entitlements, and others stuck at the bottom, never getting a chance to climb up. Ambedkar was a Dalit born at the very bottom of this ladder, in a group called the “<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/indias-untouchables-face-violence-discrimination">untouchables</a>”. </p>
<p>Despite facing many obstacles in school – such as having to study sitting on a mat outside the classroom and eat his food separately – Ambedkar was determined to pursue education. He was intelligent and studied hard, eventually going to college in the <a href="https://globalcenters.columbia.edu/content/mumbai-bhimrao-ramji-ambedkar">US</a> and <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/south-asia-centre/Collaborations/ambedkar-research-scholars#:%7E:text=Dr%20B%20R%20Ambedkar%20is%20one,Son%2C%20Ltd%2C%201923">England</a>. </p>
<p>He became an expert on laws and rights, and when India gained independence, he was chosen to write the <a href="https://main.sci.gov.in/AMB/Speech.php">constitution</a>. Ambedkar made sure that it included rules for treating everyone fairly and equally, no matter where they stood in the social hierarchy.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for Origin.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Origin and caste</h2>
<p>Using extreme close-ups, DuVernay shows Wilkerson’s inner turmoil as she learns more about India’s caste system. At times, the film has an almost documentary style, which gives it a feel of authenticity as Wilkerson interviews people, discussing and debating the issue of caste while highlighting the complexity of the subject. </p>
<p>Origin doesn’t shy away from topics like untouchability. For thousands of years, Daalit people have been excluded from all forms of amenities and educational opportunities, and denied the right to read and write.</p>
<p>In one scene, the film depicts the practice of manual scavenging, the work many Dalit people undertake to make a living. In the past five years, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/339-died-cleaning-sewers-septic-tanks-last-5-years-centre-8859409/">339 people</a> have lost their lives doing this kind of work, cleaning sewers and septic tanks. </p>
<p>The scavenging is shown with brutal honesty and empathy, avoiding unnecessary sensationalism or dramatisation. It compels viewers to confront the shocking reality that this inhumane practice persists in our supposedly modern world. The character of Wilkerson acts as a powerful catalyst, opening the eyes of audiences around the world to this hidden and often unbelievable cruelty. </p>
<p>Another incident shows a father in the US who, in a bid to escape the trauma and humiliation of the caste system, named his firstborn daughter “Miss”. He sees this as a loophole in the social system, hoping that by giving her this title, he can indirectly grant her the respect denied to their ancestors. </p>
<p>This echoes other stories from the real world. In India, names indicate a person’s position in the social hierarchy. Generally, Dalit names are derogatory. In a <a href="https://fiftytwo.in/story/knife-in-the-back/">tragic incident</a> in 2022, a father in Rajasthan named his daughter “Baisa” (which means “Miss” and is used to convey respect, power and authority to the daughter of the upper-caste Rajput community), a choice that upper-caste people strongly disapproved of. As a result, he was beaten to death.</p>
<p>Despite the darkness of its subject matter, Origin doesn’t only expose the problem of marginalisation, it also offers a glimpse of hope and possibility. By showcasing acts of resistance, resilience and solidarity, the film encourages viewers to become active participants in dismantling systems of oppression and building a more equitable, caste-free future – one based on equality, fraternity and liberty.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neeraj Bunkar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I come from a Dalit background and I research Dalit representation in film. So I know first hand Origin’s importance to Dalit people.Neeraj Bunkar, PhD Candidate, English, Linguistics and Philosophy, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952012022-12-28T21:09:57Z2022-12-28T21:09:57ZIndia’s ‘untouchable’ women face discrimination even in schemes meant to help them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501242/original/file-20221215-25-4lk7i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C994%2C4407%2C2164&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rafiq Maqbool/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seema and her husband did quite well when they first opened a samosa stall in the local market of a town in Bihar state, northeastern India.</p>
<p>But then other vendors found out who Seema was. </p>
<p>They yelled at her customers for buying her samosas. They threatened her husband for “polluting” the market by selling food prepared by her. She put up with it for months before giving up.</p>
<p>What had Seema done wrong? She had been born a Dalit, a member of the “untouchables”, the lowest group in India’s ancient and now officially obsolete caste system. </p>
<p>Seema didn’t look, talk or behave any differently. But someone had found out her family name, which indicated she was descended from pig farmers, a job only done by Dalits. That was enough.</p>
<h2>A rigid occupational hierarchy</h2>
<p>While there is some debate about <a href="https://thewire.in/caste/caste-history-postcolonial-studies">British colonialism</a> amplifying it, the origins of India’s caste system go back thousands of years, and are deeply entwined in Hinduism, the religion followed <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616">by about 80% of India’s population</a>.</p>
<p>Caste is essentially the stratification of people into a rigid occupational hierarchy.</p>
<p>According to the Manusmriti, considered one of Hinduism’s most important books of law, people are born into one of four castes, depending on their conduct in past lives. </p>
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<img alt="Diagram of India's caste system" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502095/original/file-20221220-14-deh2o0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>The most virtuous come back as Brahmins, the caste of priests and scholars. Next are the Kshatriyas, who are ascribed to be rulers and warriors. Third are the Vaishya, the artists and traders. Fourth are the Shudras, only good enough to do manual labour. </p>
<p>Below all of them are the Dalits, the “untouchables”, excluded from all jobs except the worst-paid and most degrading – on the pretext of maintaining the spiritual purity of those in higher castes. </p>
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<img alt="Dalit women continue to do much of India's worst work, such as picking over garbage dumps for scraps to recycle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502092/original/file-20221220-20-7gmsqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Dalit women continue to do much of India’s worst work, such as picking over garbage dumps for scraps to recycle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>India officially outlawed caste-based discrimination <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616">in 1950</a>. But it continues to be a fact of life for the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49889815">estimated 200 million</a> of India’s 1.4 billion population who are Dalits.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-twitter-got-blindsided-by-indias-still-toxic-caste-system-107792">How Twitter got blindsided by India’s still-toxic caste system</a>
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<p>They are even discriminated against when applying for programs established to help them.</p>
<h2>The plight of Dalit women</h2>
<p>I met Seema in the summer of 2019, through a non-government organisation that provides vocational training to women. </p>
<p>It was about two years since she’d given up her stall. Now she was completing a cooking course. From the course she would gain a certificate she hoped would improve her chances of getting a microloan from a government bank, backed by the Reserve Bank of India and offered to people who lack the collateral that institutional lenders usually require.</p>
<p>A microloan might be enough to buy a sewing machine to start a clothes-mending business, or to buy cows to sell milk and cheese. Seema’s plan was to relocate to a bigger city and start a restaurant. </p>
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<img alt="Seema Ghasi wanted a microloan to set up a somosa stall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502093/original/file-20221220-20-tnhz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seema Ghasi wanted a microloan to set up a somosa stall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She had already applied for a microloan 18 months before, with no success. </p>
<p>When she enquired about her application’s status, she said, staff at the bank brushed her off with comments such as “we have to be extra careful with some applicants”, “I can tell just by looking at your name here on the first page that doing business will be tricky for you” and “I don’t think it’s in your blood”.</p>
<p>My research suggests this is a common experience for Dalit women.</p>
<h2>The problem with microloans</h2>
<p>Since being pioneered by economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in the 1970s, microloan programs have been embraced as a poverty-reduction policy in many developing nations, including India. </p>
<p>Microloans are offered by for-profit, not-for-profit and government-owned banks. The Reserve Bank of India regulates the sector and acts as a guarantor of microloans given by banks under national government-sponsored poverty alleviation schemes. </p>
<p>For Dalit women, the Reserve Bank of India underwrites incentives including interest rates about half that <a href="https://www.paisabazaar.com/business-loan/five-leading-business-loan-options-for-women-entrepreneurs/#:%7E:text=Interest%20Rate%3A%207.90%25%20p.a.%20%E2%80%93%208.25%25%20p.a.&text=Nature%20of%20Loan%3A%20Term%20Loan,100%20lakhs">offered to other women</a>.</p>
<p>But there are increasing concerns about the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258513422_Why_does_microfinance_fail_in_rural_south-India">poor implementation of microfinance programs</a>. My research involves the lack of outcomes for Dalit women entrepreneurs in India.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/small-loans-microcredit-means-more-people-can-borrow-money-but-more-scrutiny-is-also-needed-195457">Small loans: microcredit means more people can borrow money – but more scrutiny is also needed</a>
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<p>In Bihar I interviewed almost 30 Dalit women completing vocational courses to improve their prospects for a microloan. I asked them the same question: why had they not succeeded? </p>
<p>The typical response was an uncomfortable silence, then tears, and then a story of being humiliated when applying for a microloan – of help being refused when filling in a form, of being told not to sit on the same chairs as other bank customers, and of their application being rejected for no good reason. </p>
<p>Research by myself and associates, analysing the microloan-lending decisions of 43 branches of a major bank with more than 2 million microloan customers, found <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JSM-09-2021-0362/full/html">66% of rejected applications</a> were from Dalit women. </p>
<p>All these rejections contravened the Reserve Bank of India’s guidance that Dalit application be decided at a higher level – presumably to avoid the discrimination at the branch level.</p>
<h2>Caste certificates</h2>
<p>Dalit women face a catch-22. To qualify for a program to assist Dalits, they had to prove they’re a Dalit by supplying a government-issued caste certificate. </p>
<p>But this certificate then became the means for them be identified as Dalits and discriminated against.</p>
<p>The women I interviewed told me how much attitudes changed when bank staff saw their caste certificates. They were called “freeloaders” and “privileged”. </p>
<p>Dalit women, being at the bottom end of the social and patriarchal hierarchy, will seldom request a reassessment. They have already been hit with a double whammy of caste and gender discrimination, and the instruments put in place to help them have become bureaucratic weapons to perpetuate this exploitation and ostracism. </p>
<p>There are no simple solutions, but the first step is to understand the extent of the problem. A full audit by the the Reserve Bank of India of microfinance programs and their treatment of Dalit women is the obvious place to start.</p>
<p>India’s history has its fair share of nice ideas failing in practice. The work to end discrimination against Dalits will take decades. Seema may never live to see the day when revealing her family name doesn’t risk disgust. </p>
<p>But there’s still a chance for Seema’s two young children to live in such a world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195201/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kanika Meshram does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>India’s microlending programs, meant to help poor women get out of poverty, have become another point of caste discriminationKanika Meshram, Lecturer in Marketing, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1546232021-03-04T17:02:35Z2021-03-04T17:02:35ZGang rape exposes caste violence in India and the limits of Me Too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387598/original/file-20210303-20-1wgn1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=279%2C148%2C5211%2C3252&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People protesting the gang rape and killing of a woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, hold onto each other as policemen try to detain them in New Delhi, India, in September 2020. The gang rape of the woman from the lowest rung of India's caste system sparked outrage across the country.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After details of a violent gang rape in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, were released to the public last year, protests broke out all over India. <a href="https://thewire.in/women/hathras-gang-rape-and-murder-case-a-timeline">The story of four upper-caste men brutalizing a 19-year old Dalit woman, and her subsequent death from injuries</a> sent shock waves throughout the country. It set off new conversations about violence against marginalized women in India, challenging both traditional spaces and the urban middle- to upper-class Me Too movement. </p>
<p>The Hathras case follows a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-51969961">2012 Delhi gang rape</a> that galvanized a national debate on the treatment of women. The Hathras story is a reminder of the ongoing violence Dalit women in India experience. </p>
<p>Although India’s caste system was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616">officially outlawed in 1950</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/@Bahujan_Power/the-dalit-bahujan-guide-to-understanding-caste-in-hindu-scripture-417db027fce6">caste-based discrimination</a> is still very much in practice. It positions Dalit women at the bottom of the social hierarchy and normalizes rape and sexual violence by upper-caste men. The Dalit community makes up about 25 per cent of India’s population. Indigenous communities (Advasis) have also been marginalized. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman carries a placard that reads 'Stop violence against women'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C61%2C4067%2C2666&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384892/original/file-20210217-23-127fk6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester holds a placard during a demonstration against the gang rape of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh, India, on Oct. 10, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Anupam Nath)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the awareness, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/India994-11.htm">the levels of violence against marginalized women in India continue to rise</a>. According to the <a href="http://cdn.ipsnews.net/Library/2020/11/PDF-FILE-1-NCRB-LATEST-CRIME-DATA.pdf">National Crime Records Bureau</a> 26 per cent of reported violent cases against women are instances of men raping Dalit women. The government data reveal that at least <a href="https://www.equalitynow.org/india_caste_system_preventing_justice_nov2020">10 Dalit women and girls</a> are raped daily in India, although the figure is likely much higher as many do not report these incidents out of shame, stigma and fear of violence from the perpetrators. </p>
<h2>Systemic caste violence</h2>
<p>Even after police departments all over the country faced both international and local pressure to deal with the issue, problems with policing continue. Apart from the stigmatization and shame associated with rape, there is limited legal or social support available to women for redressing the violence. </p>
<p>In Hathras, police not only delayed registering the <a href="https://thewire.in/women/hathras-gang-rape-and-murder-case-a-timeline">first information report</a>, but also provided little support to the victim’s family. The failure and apathy to hold perpetrators accountable contributes to systemic impunity for upper-caste men who enable violence.</p>
<p>Explaining the caste system in India, social reformer <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/ambedkar/2015.71655.Annihilation-Of-Caste-With-A-Reply-To-Mhatma-Gandhi.pdf">B.R. Ambedkar</a> noted that Brahmins, or the upper caste, maintained the hierarchy by systematically excluding lower-caste Dalits. The Dalits, once called “the untouchables,” help to preserve the notion of <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/retrospectives/issues/volume4/retrospectives_iv_2015_-_sarah_gandee.pdf">upper-caste “purity” and rank</a>. </p>
<p>Ambedkar said the <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/retrospectives/issues/volume4/retrospectives_iv_2015_-_sarah_gandee.pdf">systematic internalization</a> of the caste hierarchy prevents lower-caste people from challenging the system. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.36251/josi.103">The patriarchal view</a> of upper- and lower-caste women are vastly different. Upper-caste female bodies have historically been constructed as desirable, racially pure and protected, so as to maintain caste-purity. On the other hand, lower-caste and Dalit women’s bodies are constructed as readily available and without any subjectivity. Religious customs and social norms have allowed upper-caste men to have easy access to Dalit women’s bodies. Caste-supremacy is <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20201125013415-sqvxe/">maintained through Dalit women’s bodies</a>.</p>
<h2>Seeking intersectional feminist solidarity</h2>
<p>The Me Too movement has enabled many Indian women to forge bonds over shared experiences of sexual vulnerabilities allowing them to <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/decisn/v46y2019i2d10.1007_s40622-019-00212-x.html">hold their abusers accountable</a>. The movement has contributed towards a sense of public acknowledgement of the pervasiveness of sexual violence in India and an abuse of power in the workplace dominated by upper-caste men. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5682%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman carries a placard which reads: punish rapists and murderers without delay." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5682%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382381/original/file-20210204-20-57952m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester carries a placard in front of the Indian parliament in New Delhi in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Oinam Anand)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, feminist solidarity in India will take a huge blow if women’s movements don’t acknowledge the role of caste in the perpetration of sexual violence against women. Many upper-caste women remain complicit in caste-hierarchy as it benefits them and affords them social mobility and access to <a href="https://feminisminindia.com/2020/08/05/me-too-movement-rural-india-margins/">economic benefit</a>.</p>
<p>Feminist writer and researcher <a href="https://asiatimes.com/author/sanjana-pegu/">Sanjana Pegu</a> argues that feminist activists need to move beyond the individualist narratives of sexual harassment in the workplace and at home to develop inclusive documentation of women’s experiences of sexual violence. </p>
<p>Marginalized “working class” women without access to social media have limited access to the Me Too movement, which is limited to urban women with a fair amount of social mobility. </p>
<p>Many upper-caste women have spoken about their personal experiences of violence without acknowledging how their lives have benefited from keeping Dalit women in the margins. Feminist movements in India need to collaborate on and advance the demands for justice over sexualized crimes. To do so, organizations need to develop an intersectional approach, allowing Dalit women to take the lead. Doing this work could help challenge caste bias in the legal and institutional systems. </p>
<p>Indians need to acknowledge the plight of Dalit women. The Indian government needs to start calling it what it is — caste-based gendercide — and take action now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deeplina Banerjee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Because of its extreme violence, the Hathras rape sent shock waves throughout India: it is a disturbing reminder of the normalization of rape culture there and should be seen as a call to action.Deeplina Banerjee, PhD Student, Gender, Sexuality and Women Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1395502020-06-02T12:14:28Z2020-06-02T12:14:28ZIndia’s coronavirus pandemic shines a light on the curse of caste<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338891/original/file-20200601-95065-bh5mpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C7%2C4824%2C3030&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Migrant workers leaving New Delhi to go back to their villages amid the coronavirus lockdown</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-India/641feef1e52e400ea28bebee4004fa49/55/0">AP Photo/Manish Swarup</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Long before the outbreak of COVID-19, a more pernicious form of <a href="https://feminisminindia.com/2020/04/30/covid-19-casteist-pandemic/">social distancing was widespread</a> across India: the Hindu caste system. In one form or another, this system – which has existed in the region for over a millennium – has long ensured social segregation <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/caste-society-and-politics-in-india-from-the-eighteenth-century-to-the-modern-age/097D56E007498073B691A17EC3441FEB">based on one’s place</a> in the hierarchy.</p>
<p>Outside of the four main groups that make up the caste system – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras – stand the Dalits, the so-called “untouchables” that number <a href="https://idsn.org/india-official-dalit-population-exceeds-200-million/">some 200 million</a>. Members of that group, shunned for centuries as the lowest in society, are now at the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic – seemingly more at risk of infection due to their social status, and increasingly discriminated against for the perceived threat of contagion they pose.</p>
<h2>Downtrodden and discriminated against</h2>
<p>India’s caste system can be <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/globalcaste/caste0801-03.htm">traced back over 2,000 years</a>, but under British colonial rule, the system was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2928654?seq=1">reinforced and the categories became more rigid</a>.</p>
<p>After India gained its independence from Britain, in 1947, its <a href="https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/constitution-india-full-text">new constitution</a> formally banned the practice of untouchability based on caste. But 70 years on, the system still permeates everyday life. It is especially evident in the realm of marriage. Hardly a day passes in India without a news report highlighting <a href="https://womensenews.org/2011/10/inter-caste-marriage-tears-indian-family-apart/">troubles associated with an inter-caste marriage</a>.</p>
<p>Given the tenacity and pervasiveness of the caste system, it is hardly surprising that some of the worst sufferers of the COVID-19 pandemic are India’s “untouchables,” the Dalits. As a group they remain among the most downtrodden in India, with a disproportionate number of Dalits <a href="https://www.kalpazpublications.com/index.php?p=sr&Uc=9788178350332&l=0">confined to mostly menial and low-paying jobs</a> like construction work, or as janitors or tanners. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://polisci.indiana.edu/about/faculty/ganguly-sumit.html">scholar of contemporary Indian politics</a> who has written extensively about ethnic and sectarian conflict in the country, I have taken a keen interest in how the pandemic has hit India along caste lines.</p>
<p>Dalits have proved to be <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/india/india-coronavirus-social-distancing-intl-hnk/index.html">especially vulnerable to the disease</a> for a range of reasons, chief among them poverty. The vast majority of Dalits are poor despite a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46806089">vast affirmative action</a> program that India put in place <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26336">shortly after independence</a>. </p>
<p>Consequently, even under the best of circumstances they have <a href="https://asiatimes.com/2018/06/indias-dalit-women-lack-access-to-healthcare-and-die-young/">limited access to health care</a> and any <a href="https://www.thedailystar.net/city/the-marginalised-deprived-adequate-benefits-1384165">other form of social protection</a>. During the pandemic their plight has only worsened.</p>
<p>Dalits are in large part casual laborers, often working in disparate parts of India far away from their homes. As a result, many found themselves <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dalitality-the-caste-factor-in-social-distancing-coronavirus-6347623">stranded away from their families</a> when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown on March 23 – giving <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52081396">only four hours’ warning</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338935/original/file-20200601-95028-10oyr12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Migrant workers arriving from Mumbai waiting to board a local passenger train to Danapur station.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/migrants-arrived-from-mumbai-walk-to-board-a-local-news-photo/1216637234?adppopup=true">Photo by Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Indian press has carried <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dalitality-the-caste-factor-in-social-distancing-coronavirus-6347623/">heartbreaking accounts</a> of their struggles to return home. One photo, of a <a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-just-wanted-to-see-his-dying-son-story-behind-photograph-of-crying-man-that-shook-india/352899">migrant worker crying by the roadside</a> in Delhi as he tries to visit his dying son during the lockdown, has become a lasting image of the crisis.</p>
<p>Being a migrant worker in India, regardless of caste background, is a tough existence. Working <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/the-pandemic-exposes-indias-two-worlds/609838/">conditions are harsh</a>, the work often hazardous and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/6/indias-untouchables-face-violence-discrimination/">pay mostly a pittance</a>. Most migrants live in slum-like conditions, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/02/12/hidden-apartheid/caste-discrimination-against-indias-untouchables">at the mercy of callous landlords</a>. Even so, many send a large proportion of their earnings home to their families.</p>
<p>As a result, migrant workers rarely, if ever, have any meaningful savings that could enable them to tide over unexpected financial woes like the total economic shutdown of the coronavirus pandemic. This has meant scarce resources to pay for <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/31/822642382/coronavirus-lockdown-sends-migrant-workers-on-a-long-and-risky-trip-home">transportation home</a>. Even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/04/coronavirus-destitute-migrant-workers-india-forced-pay-train-fares-home">money to recharge phones is hard to come by</a>, cutting off communication between migrant workers and loved ones during the crisis.</p>
<h2>Shunned by community</h2>
<p>Dalit migrant workers face an additional burden during the pandemic: social ostracism by higher caste members, even those in the same occupation as themselves. </p>
<p>The shunning of Dalits has not abated during this crisis. If anything, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/15/asia/india-coronavirus-lower-castes-hnk-intl/index.html">it has worsened</a>, with some high-ranking members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party openly blaming the Dalits for spreading the coronavirus. </p>
<p>On May 25, the chief minister of populous Uttar Pradesh state, Yogi Adityanath, who is also a Hindu priest, suggested that migrant workers returning to his state were carriers of COVID-19, adding that the bulk of them were Dalits.</p>
<p>Opposition leaders were swift to condemn Adityanath’s remarks, but Modi and his national government have maintained a <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/yogi-adityanaths-remark-on-covid-19-infected-migrants-anti-dalit-congress-2235393">deafening silence</a> on the subject.</p>
<p>As a result of such rhetoric, Dalit migrants trekking home – often on foot – can expect <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-coronavirus-lockdown-migrant-workers-and-their-long-march-to-uncertainty/article31251952.ece">little by way of comfort or assistance</a> from others because of their caste status and fears that they may be infected with the coronavirus.</p>
<p>I fear that in the immediate future, Dalits can expect little relief. To date they have received only <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1927520/narendra-modi-and-the-tragedy-of-indias-poor">minimal assistance from the government</a>.</p>
<p>Five years ago, when Modi first swept into power, many Dalits believed his promises to uplift the country’s poor and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36921348">duly voted for him</a>. However, after the divisive leadership of his first term in office and their experience in the lockdown, many Dalits are now <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-india-elections-caste-dalits-20190517-story.html">disillusioned with him and his Bharatiya Janata Party</a>.</p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has underscored that India’s caste system is still very much in existence. In the eyes of many Indians, Dalits remain “untouchable” in a way that extends beyond current hygiene practices.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sumit Ganguly receives funding from the US Department of State and the Smith Richardson Foundation.
</span></em></p>Dalits have long been ostracized as the ‘untouchables’ in Indian society. Discrimination and the impact of the coronavirus have only reinforced their status.Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1077922018-12-04T18:51:35Z2018-12-04T18:51:35ZHow Twitter got blindsided by India’s still-toxic caste system<p>Twitter chief Jack Dorsey’s first visit to India had been going so well. He got to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi (an avid Tweeter with 44.5 million followers), “King of Bollywood” Shah Rukh Khan (36.8 million followers), and the Dalai Lama (18.8 million followers). </p>
<p>Then a single tweet had him being accused of hate mongering. There was talk of an Indian boycott of Twitter, and even of developing a rival Indian platform like China’s Weibo. A senior parliamentary official saw a case to prosecute Dorsey for attempting “to destabilise the nation”. A court in the northern state of Rajasthan ordered a police investigation.</p>
<p>Dorsey’s offence: holding a poster that proclaimed “<a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-gets-flak-for-holding-sign-that-says-smash-brahminical-patriarchy-2687247">Smash Brahminical Patriarchy</a>”. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248094/original/file-20181130-170226-10xau8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Twitter’s Jack Dorsey with the ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’ poster that has him accused of hate-mongering.</span>
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<p>The poster was given to Dorsey by Sanghapali Aruna, an activist for the rights of Dalits, the bottom most group in the Indian caste system. The controversy resulting demonstrates just how potent caste remains, and how blind to it are the multinational corporations eyeing off the Indian market.</p>
<h2>A short guide to caste …</h2>
<p>To understand what the fuss is about, we need to understand the age-old caste system in the Indian subcontinent, and its complexities.</p>
<p>Caste is similar to a social class, but mobility is impossible and discrimination can occur among those of the same economic class. It is similar to the idea of race, but can be perpetuated by those within the same ethnic group. It originated in Hinduism, but has been absorbed by Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racial-and-caste-oppression-have-many-similarities-37710">Racial and caste oppression have many similarities</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616">The system</a> can be traced to the <em>Manusmriti</em> code of Hindu laws, which suggests Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, created four categories of people from his own body: Brahmins from his head, Kshatriyas from his arms, Vysyas from his thighs, and Shudras from his feet. </p>
<p>This origin ordained an occupational hierarchy. You inherited your caste from your father, and that determined your future. The Brahmins were the priests and advisers – and primary enforcers of the caste system. The Kshatriyas were warriors and soldiers. Then Vysyas farmers and traders. The Shudras workers and tradespeople. </p>
<p>Beneath the Shudras were the Dalits – the “untouchables” – tasked with all menial jobs, including cleaning and disposing of the dead. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248660/original/file-20181204-126671-fg1ejn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Lower caste jobs include ‘manual scavenging’ – emptying certain types of dry toilet by hand. Though the practice was formally prohibited in India in 1993, it continues to occur.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Donald Yip / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>The system imposed codes of conduct and rules for interaction between castes. Mixed marriages, for example, were forbidden. So too was physical contact with all Dalits, who <a href="https://rdcu.be/45Y4">were condemned to live away from the village</a> and had no right to public places, such as temples.</p>
<p>Although discrimination against Dalits was outlawed by India’s constitution in 1950, caste-based prejudices live on, and are even inflamed <a href="https://thewire.in/caste/in-photos-documenting-atrocities-against-dalits-in-gujarat">by Dalits asserting the right to equality</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-few-dalit-entrepreneurs-the-problem-of-indias-casted-capitalism-52402">Why are there so few Dalit entrepreneurs? The problem of India's casted capitalism</a>
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<p>The constitution also enshrined affirmative-action programs for Dalits and other marginalised groups in the public sector, but across the Indian economy they continue to occupy the lowest rungs. Centuries of caste-based discrimination has enabled <a href="https://rdcu.be/45Y4">deep economic inequalities</a> that still influence the opportunities and rewards given to individuals. </p>
<h2>… and to patriarchy</h2>
<p>Dalit women have the worst of it. They face discrimination from other castes, as well as from men within their own caste. They are more likely to be trafficked and subjected to contemporary slavery. They are still forced into temple prostitution known as <a href="http://www.wluml.org/news/joginidevadasi-temple-slave-girls-women-lower-caste-sexual-exploitation-illegal-not-enforced">Devdasi or Jogini systems</a>. </p>
<p>Traditional ideas about gender roles still affect what is considered appropriate for women to do, what they can wear and who they can interact with. Women resisting such patriarchal notions can face <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/27/india-abuse-women-human-rights-rape-girls">reprisal, from abuse to violence, rape, and even murder</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-caste-system-extends-to-uneven-access-to-cooking-fuel-and-electricity-78309">India's caste system extends to uneven access to cooking fuel and electricity</a>
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<p>The interrelationship between caste hierarchy and gender hierarchy in traditional Indian culture is known as the “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/19397883/Conceptualising_Brahmanical_Patriarchy_in_Early_India_Gender_Caste_Class_and_State">Brahmanical social order</a>”. </p>
<p>That Aruna’s poster referred to “Brahminical patriarchy” has offended some as a more <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/smash-brahminical-patriarchy-is-decidedly-targeting-brahmins-calling-a-select-few-women-to-meet-dorsey-is-certainly-brahmanical-5602731.html">direct attack on Brahmins</a>, not just the caste system. This may be reading too much into it. Others have reacted to the poster as an attack on Hinduism. Yet others have been offended by a foreigner seemingly lecturing Indians on something he knows little about. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248652/original/file-20181204-126674-4ag5cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Women sort through piles of rubbish in Calcutta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JeremyRichards / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Twitter’s ecosystem challenge</h2>
<p>It is into this landscape that Twitter’s chief lumbered. </p>
<p>India is Twitter’s most important developing market. Its population will soon overtake that of China, where the government blocks Twitter. Though the eight million Indians who actively use Twitter is still less than a quarter of the Americans who do, US user numbers have plateaued while the Indian market is growing at five times the global average. </p>
<p>Twitter is also arguably important to India. It has given Dalit women and other marginalised people a platform to voice their concerns. But it has also facilitated trolling and abuse. In mid-November Shehla Rashid, a student leader with more than 500,000 followers, quit the platform as an “SOS call to Twitter”. Describing the platform as an ecosystem of “<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/twitter-has-become-extremely-polarised-shehla-rashid-on-deactivating-account/articleshow/66595543.cms">toxicity and negativity</a>”, she said: “It is not freedom of expression but an attack on freedom of expression.”</p>
<h2>Listening, not hearing</h2>
<p>This is the reason Dorsey met with Aruna and other women at the end of his India trip: to hear firsthand their concerns about the way Twitter <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/books/how-democratic-a-space-is-the-internet-in-the-age-of-online-trolls/article22471563.ece">facilitates abuse and threats</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dalits-of-india-are-finding-new-ways-to-fight-the-caste-system-63894">The Dalits of India are finding new ways to fight the caste system</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The company’s reaction to the aftermath would not have persuaded the women they had been heard. Twitter quickly declared Dorsey was merely holding the poster because he had been given it as a gift, and that the poster’s sentiments were not Twitter’s official position. Twitter’s chief legal advisor, Indian-born Vijaya Gadde, apologised for failing to be “<a href="https://twitter.com/vijaya/status/1064586313863618560">an impartial platform for all</a>”. </p>
<p>Such a response was “<a href="https://thewire.in/media/dear-twitter-the-poster-is-not-the-problem-your-apology-is">hypocritical</a>”, declared journalist Sidharth Bhatia, because Twitter “apologised to those very people whom the poster was calling out, only because they are noisier and better organised”. </p>
<h2>Multinational blind spots</h2>
<p>How could Twitter be blindsided by caste? </p>
<p>One reason may be a problem shared by most multinational companies operating in India. They might promote gender and ethnic diversity in their home countries, but caste is less obvious to them. Unconsciously they might even be perpetuating the caste system. </p>
<p>When multinationals hire, they prefer people with a certain type of family background and cosmopolitan profile. Those from upper castes – beneficiaries of accumulated advantage over centuries – tend to fit that bill. As a result they are more likely to get hired and <a href="https://www.fortuneindia.com/ideas/caste-why-its-still-an-issue-for-india-inc-/100264">promoted to positions of power</a>. Thus, the caste system is unconsciously replicated.</p>
<p>Multinationals – and indeed all companies in India interested in its future prosperity – need to think about the ways in which <a href="https://rdcu.be/45Y4">caste inequalities operate</a>. They must work to improve caste diversity in their ranks, such as through including caste in audits and educating their workforce.</p>
<p>Twitter has an additional challenge. It needs to ensure its platform is not a tool of caste and other forms of discrimination. Taking responsibility and cleaning up trolling, bullying and harassment on its platform would be a major public service to Indian society – and to democratic conversations everywhere.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A poster proclaiming “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy” has landed Twitter’s head Jack Dorsey in trouble in India. It shows just how invisible caste is to outsiders.Hari Bapuji, Professor, The University of MelbourneSnehanjali Chrispal, PhD Candidate, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/671992016-10-27T08:15:36Z2016-10-27T08:15:36ZIndia’s slow-brewing political storm is steadily gathering strength<p>When Narendra Modi was elected as head of India’s BJP government in May 2014, he was expected to usher in a period of stability and development. But midway into his term, he and his party are lurching from one crisis to another – and the atmosphere is getting worse.</p>
<p>When the government recently announced that it had <a href="https://theconversation.com/kashmir-flare-up-puts-india-under-new-pressure-to-deal-with-pakistan-65741">attacked terrorists based in Pakistan</a> to avenge the murder of Indian soldiers in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, it set off the latest in a series of unpleasant political rows. While functionaries of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) gloated, several opposition politicians not only <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/amid-protests-criticism-kejriwal-defends-demand-for-proof-of-surgical-strikes/story-LpFsrwCor8971mjt5A2cbM.html">questioned the truth of the government’s claims</a> but also accused it of stirring up “<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/mayawati-attacks-pm-narendra-modi-govt-over-natakbazi-on-surgical-strikes-army-pakistan-loc/">war hysteria</a>” ahead of 2017’s elections in key states.</p>
<p>The government’s attitude is belligerent, and the BJP is increasingly dependent on electoral manoeuvring. The casualty in all this is India’s increasingly beleaguered democracy, which is at risk of cracking under the pressure. </p>
<p>Nothing better illustrates this than the proliferation of “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-34634892">cow protection vigilantes</a>” across the north and west of the country. Various people accused of slaughtering bovines or eating beef have been harassed, humiliated, beaten and even killed since 2015. Most of the victims were from Muslim or Dalit communities, both of which depend on cows for their <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-34513185">livelihood</a> and sometimes <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/gujarat-dalit-protests-una-gau-rakshaks-mohammad-akhlaq-modi-govt-2954324/">food</a>. </p>
<p>The latest atrocity came to light in July 2016, when seven Dalit labourers who were carrying cattle carcasses in the village of Una were <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/20/protests-rock-gujarat-after-hindu-vigilantes-brutally-beat-low-c/">rounded up by cow protection vigilantes</a>, stripped, dragged through the streets and thrashed with iron rods. In a telling measure of the impunity they enjoy, some of the vigilantes filmed the entire episode and uploaded it on social media as a warning to all those who slaughter cows and eat their meat. </p>
<p>As the chilling video went viral, Dalits across the state of Gujarat responded with unprecedented protests, <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/at-una-rally-attended-by-kanhaiya-dalits-warn-of-fresh-protests/story-TibFTTXAvgHKC3Lod3wZbM.html">culminating</a> in an assembly of over 20,000 people in Una on India’s 69th Independence Day. Gujarat’s chief minister was ultimately forced to resign.</p>
<h2>Boiling point</h2>
<p>The cow protection vigilantes have once again inflamed India’s ancient caste hatreds, pitting the self-styled “high castes” against those stigmatised as “low caste” and “untouchable”. Complementing such vigilantism are Hindutva-affiliated student organisations, such as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (<a href="http://www.abvp.org/">ABVP</a>), who are taking the battle to India’s university campuses. </p>
<p>In 2015, high caste ABVP students at the University of Hyderabad complained about a Dalit student at the university, Rohith Vemula, who regularly organised readings and seminars on social justice and human rights. He was involved in a campus beef festival and funeral prayers for a terrorist convicted of the Bombay blasts of 1993. His activities got him suspended from the university along with three other Dalit students, and he eventually killed himself in January 2016. </p>
<p>In response, 14 student unions <a href="http://scroll.in/article/804834/six-weeks-after-rohith-vemulas-death-hyderabad-university-students-maintain-a-precarious-unity">launched joint protests</a> against the university administration and the ABVP, and soon, India was convulsed with student protests the like of which it has not seen since the so-called <a href="http://scroll.in/article/804673/this-time-its-different-recalling-the-anti-reservation-mandal-protests-of-1990">Mandal protests</a> of 1990. </p>
<p>Along with pursuing the cow protection agenda and campaigning to safeguard caste privilege, Hindutva ideologues have made no secret of their <a href="http://www.rss.org/Encyc/2015/4/7/334_03_46_30_Bunch_of_Thoughts.pdf">disdain for affirmative action</a>. To keep the issue from coming to a head, Modi’s government has successfully stalled demands to release data on India’s caste census. </p>
<p>It’s widely assumed that if those data were published, they would confirm what most Indians already believe: that the best jobs, assets and other productive resources are controlled by a tiny fraction of the population, namely members of the self-styled “high castes”. </p>
<p>Exposing the reality of the situation is a crucial prerequisite for truly inclusive growth. But if it made such data public, the BJP government would almost certainly infuriate its core constituency of “high caste” middle-class urban Hindus – and that puts the party in a dangerous electoral bind.</p>
<h2>From bad to worse</h2>
<p>The perception that the BJP is committed to preserving “high caste” privilege bears down on the party’s prospects in three crucial states that will go to polls in 2017: Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Taken together, Dalits and Muslims make up a significant share of the population in all three states, and the violence directed at both communities is driving them towards a new alliance – ending two decades of social hostility <a href="http://thewire.in/59011/dalit-asmita-yatra-unites-dalits-muslims/">carefully nurtured by the BJP</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/its-mayawati-versus-modi-in-up/article9022511.ece">Ms Mayawati</a>, three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and one of the country’s most recognisable Dalit leaders, has advised Dalits to form joint fronts with Muslims so as to <a href="http://www.dailyo.in/politics/mayawati-up-polls-dalit-muslim-samajwadi-party-bjp-akhilesh-yadav/story/1/11714.html">contain the Hindu nationalist parties</a>. Dalit organisers of the Gujarat protests consciously sought to reach out to and include Muslims, while joint Dalit-Muslim-Sikh efforts recently thwarted attempts by Hindutva activists to <a href="http://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/NewsDetail/index/2/8302/Sikhs-Dalits-Muslims-Unite-Against-Shiv-Sainiks-in-Phagwara">assault a mosque</a> in a sleepy Punjab town. </p>
<p>As these minorities join forces, and with a general electorate angry at <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/business/where-are-the-jobs-mr-modi-2731002.html">slow job growth</a> and the rising prices of <a href="http://factchecker.in/arhar-modi-prices-up-200-in-5-years-farm-problems-older/">key</a> <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/tomato-prices-skyrocket-but-data-shows-glut-in-production-1420129">staples</a>, the BJP may well be facing some galling electoral losses in these three crucial states. </p>
<p>Modi’s increasingly hawkish position on Pakistan is a bid to drum up war hysteria on the eve of crucial provincial elections. As protests against the BJP regime <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/02/indian-workers-strike-in-fight-for-higher-wages">mount</a>, and as opposition parties find some semblance of organisation independent of the leadership of the moribund Congress Party, Modi hopes to bolster his party’s prospects by taking recourse to nationalism, jingoism and warmongering. It all adds up to a stifling atmosphere of mutual antagonism, with government ministers and sympathetic journalists regularly accusing their opponents of sedition.</p>
<p>Four decades ago, another Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was faced with similar political opposition to her once-popular regime. She responded by declaring a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/specials/in-depth/the-emergency-imposed-by-indira-gandhi-government/article7357305.ece">state of emergency</a> that effectively suspended democracy. The war hysteria Modi and his government are drumming up are all too reminiscent of that era; the consequences could be catastrophic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Indrajit Roy receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK and International Growth Centre. </span></em></p>Narendra Modi’s government is drumming up war hysteria on the eve of crucial state elections. The gathering storm threatens India’s increasingly beleaguered democracy.Indrajit Roy, ESRC Research Fellow, Department of International Development, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/638942016-08-17T10:13:44Z2016-08-17T10:13:44ZThe Dalits of India are finding new ways to fight the caste system<p>To mark India’s 70th year of independence on August 15 2016, the prime minister <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/independence-day-2016-live-updates-pm-modi-address-nation-red-fort-where-watch-live-updates-689906#UFVxjUVpbgKeIPhd.97">addressed the nation from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort</a>. Amid much pomp, his upbeat speech on the state of the nation was beamed across the country. </p>
<p>But it was the far less stately setting of a small coastal town in the Indian state of Gujarat which grabbed global attention. Tens of thousands of Dalits, the people at the bottom of India’s caste hierarchy, <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-huge-dalit-rally-in-una-caste-tension-seethes-19-injured-1444670?pfrom=home-lateststories">had gathered at Una</a>. It was the culmination of a remarkable <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-36936857">ten-day protest march</a> against their brutalisation at the hands of gau-rakshaks, the self-styled cattle vigilantes.</p>
<p>In July 2016 four Dalit men were <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/4-Dalits-stripped-beaten-up-for-skinning-dead-cow/articleshow/53184266.cms">flogged by cow vigilantes</a> in Una for skinning a dead cow, and falsely incriminated for killing it. The lynching incident was not an isolated development, and recent months have seen intensive mobilisation on the part of right-wing groups to polarise politics around the figure of the sacred cow, with what some consider the <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/dalits-vs-the-cow-bjp-caught-in-curious-man-animal-conflict-2927068.html">tacit consent</a> of the ruling <a href="http://www.bjp.org/">Bharatiya Janata Party</a> (BJP). </p>
<p>The cow emerged as a highly-charged object in the first year of BJP rule in 2014-15 when <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-34729894">people</a> were were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/opinion/sunday/manil-suri-a-ban-on-beef-in-india-is-not-the-answer.html?_r=0">subjected to violence for eating beef</a>. It is not surprising therefore that among those who joined Dalit protestors in Una were members of the Muslim community. </p>
<p>In creating the cow as the prime fetish object, the Hindu right may have originally targeted Muslims, but ended up by comprehensively alienating the Dalit communities. As a party striving for a unified Hindu community, the BJP’s “casteism” has only affirmed the position of the famous Dalit politician <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/b-r-ambedkar-indian-social-reformer-and-politician-honoured-with-a-google-doodle-10174529.html">Bhimrao Ambedkar</a>, 80 years ago. </p>
<p>A social reformer and architect of India’s independent constitution, he argued that due to the divisive principle of caste, the basic requirements of unity and cohesiveness in a society or nation were out of reach for the Hindus. </p>
<p>Caste is unsurprisingly then, the BJP’s Achille’s heel. But Dalits have felt completely alienated from most other political parties because of the fundamentally upper-caste dominance within them. Caste as an issue seems to be ignored and the upper-caste appear to be in denial about its impact. To many, it as if caste is just a rumour.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134333/original/image-20160816-13020-130im7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">wikimedia commons</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bspindia.org/">Bahujan Samaj Party</a> is the only Dalit mainstream political party that has an all-India presence. But the crowds have not gathered around its leader, preferring instead the simple unifying rallying cry of “Jai Bhim”, which means “Victory to Bhim”. It refers again to that heroic Dalit figure of Ambedkar and his bold and uncompromising views on the continuing place of Dalits categorically outside Hindu society. And it is these views which have provided different Dalit communities across India with strength and solidarity. </p>
<p>Equally, it has made Dalits even more wary of electoral politics. </p>
<p>Ambedkar tried to settle the social question of ritual hierarchy and inequality through legal enforcement and constitutional guarantees of compensatory positive discrimination. <a href="http://scroll.in/article/814003/jignesh-mevani-an-introduction-to-the-brilliant-face-of-the-gujarat-dalit-agitation">Jignesh Mevani</a>, the lawyer turned leader of the Una march is reluctant to call the agitation political, instead referring to it as a social movement. It is here you can see the Ambedkar imprint at its strongest. For him, political freedom was only one of three freedoms necessary in the pursuit of complete sovereignty, the other two being social and economic. </p>
<h2>A stronger voice</h2>
<p>Dalit assertion has grown in strength and scale in recent years. And it is remarkable in both its primary interest in the recognition of the violence Dalits face on the basis of their ritual status, and the Ambedkarite belief that no real change can take place within the framework of Hindu society itself. It is therefore crucial to move away from it. </p>
<p>At the UN-led World <a href="http://www.un.org/WCAR/durban.pdf">Conference Against Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban in 2001</a>, Dalits sought recognition of their plight and solidarity with those of anti-racism groups.</p>
<p>The mass gathering at Una is just one sign that a new era of Dalit politics is increasingly being recognised on its own terms in a thriving Dalit public sphere, on both real and virtual platforms. Organisations such as <a href="http://www.dalitcamera.com/">Dalit Camera</a> have played a crucial role in documenting the atrocities committed against the community. Publishers such as <a href="http://navayana.org/">Navayana</a> bring out literature “on caste from an anti-caste perspective”. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/suicide-of-dalit-student-sparks-rage-over-caste-discrimination-in-indian-universities-53653">Rohit Vemula</a>, a Dalit doctoral student whose suicide after relentless victimisation provoked widespread protests often used the hashtag #CasteIsNotARumour. Social media is now filled with hundreds of posts using this hashtag every day. It is an assertion which is only set to grow – and redefine India’s political society as it does so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kriti Kapila does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tens of thousands of Dalits protested against a lack of freedom – on India’s Independence Day.Kriti Kapila, Lecturer in Social Anthroplogy and Law , King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/536532016-01-28T11:12:56Z2016-01-28T11:12:56ZSuicide of Dalit student sparks rage over caste discrimination in Indian universities<p>The <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dalit-student-suicide-full-text-of-suicide-letter-hyderabad/">suicide</a> of a Dalit PhD student at Hyderabad Central University in mid January has shone a nasty spotlight on the social and economic exclusion still produced by India’s caste system. </p>
<p>Rohith Vemula killed himself after being expelled from the university following <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/respond-to-vip-complaint-smriti-iranis-ministry-told-hyderabad-university-1267496">a complaint</a> made by one of the leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Jananta Party (BJP). Along with four other Dalit students, Vemula was protesting against the capital sentence given to a suspected terrorist, which angered the BJP. </p>
<p>The Ambedkar Student Association he belonged to got into an altercation with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad student wing of the BJP. Vemula and the other four students were suspended by university authorities in August 2015. </p>
<p>Vemula and his friends continued their protest, but their fellowships were discontinued and they were subjected to social ostracism. </p>
<p>His suicide <a href="http://www.dailyo.in/politics/rohith-vemula-dalit-hyderabad-university-smriti-irani-bandaru-dattatreya-appa-rao/story/1/8664.html">sparked protests</a> from student unions against the treatment of Dalit students at Indian universities. The galvanising force has been a statement in Vemula’s suicide note – “My birth is my fatal accident” – drawing attention to the status of many other rural Dalit students. </p>
<p>The university administration has changed its stance since Vemula’s death and has <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/university-of-hyderabad-revokes-suspension-of-4-dalit-students/story-0taTxESbykwtk9c1uOplZO.html">admitted</a> the four other students back into the university. </p>
<h2>A life of exclusion</h2>
<p>Dalits <a href="http://idsn.org/india-official-dalit-population-exceeds-200-million/">form a quarter</a> of India’s population, belonging to various religious communities and sub caste groups. They occupy the lowest social status in Indian society due to their birth as “untouchables” and are considered to be socially and religiously polluting. They are outside the rigid caste system that <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-few-dalit-entrepreneurs-the-problem-of-indias-casted-capitalism-52402">strictly orders</a> and governs Indian society.</p>
<p>Higher education and successful employment among Dalit populations remain a distant dream in India. High levels of school dropout, compounded by a lack of accessibility and the denial of opportunities, means that students from Dalit backgrounds have to depend on the benefits offered by the state, such as the <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/06/affirmative-action">reservation policy</a>, which provides ring-fenced opportunities to individuals from socially excluded communities.</p>
<p>Yet students who come through the reservation system are seen as less intelligent by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AntiReservationIndia/">upper caste students</a> who object to the meddling with the <a href="http://www.thequint.com/india/2016/01/18/dalit-students-and-the-hostile-indian-higher-education-sector">“meritocracy” of</a> higher educational institutions. The opponents of reservation policy are worried that by accommodating Dalit students, academic standards will be compromised. </p>
<p>Vemula’s death has once again exposed the deep-seated caste discrimination in higher education institutions – both among students and <a href="http://thewire.in/2015/09/08/higher-education-is-still-a-bar-too-high-for-muslims-dalits-10214/">teachers</a>. In similar higher education institutions in India, <a href="http://www.catchnews.com/national-news/blood-on-books-rohith-vemula-s-is-the-23rd-dalit-student-suicide-in-under-a-decade-bandaru-dattatreya-abvp-bjp-rahul-gandhi-thorat-committee-caste-1453210563.html">there have been 23 deaths</a> of students from Dalit backgrounds. Educational institutions that are supposed to be centres of excellence and social transformation instead <a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/insight300411.htm">perpetuate</a> social segregation and caste-based discrimination. </p>
<p>Vemula’s death is not an isolated incident. The lives of Dalits <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-35349979">are defined</a> by economic poverty and social exclusion. Often students from a Dalit background who secure university places come through the national reservation system and end up living a stigmatised life. Writer Meena Kandasamy has <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/rohith-vemula-left-us-with-only-his-words-writes-meena-kandasamy/article8120922.ece">noted</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Education has now become a disciplining enterprise working against Dalit students: they are constantly under threat of rustication, expulsion, defamation, discontinuation. In a society where students have waged massive struggles to ensure their right to access higher educational institutions through the protective, enabling concept of the reservation policy, no one has dared to shed light on how many of these students are allowed to leave these institutions with degrees, how many become dropouts, become permanent victims of depression, how many end up dead. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Politicising Dalit suffering</h2>
<p>The fallout of Vemula’s death has lead to political parties <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/Rahul-Politicising-Rohit%E2%80%99s-Death-Says-Kamineni/2016/01/21/article3237347.ece">pointing fingers</a> to blame each other for their anti-Dalit activities. </p>
<p>Once Vemula’s death caught the national attention and students began mobilising, the politicians were quick to extend their support and politicise the entire episode. This is a very familiar pattern of response from the politicians to the daily occurrence of Dalit discrimination. </p>
<p>What this politicking exposes is the vulnerable state of Dalits who are aspiring to change their lives. The <a href="https://josi.journals.griffith.edu.au/index.php/inclusion/article/view/192">reservation policy has had little effect</a> on the empowerment of Dalits through the national educational system due to prevailing discriminatory caste practises. The higher educational institutions are still a preserve of upper caste communities. </p>
<p>It is very unfortunate that certain sections of Indian society tried to <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/rohit-vemulas-suicide-it-is-irrational-to-blame-an-mp-for-a-death-in-which-he-played-no-part-2590628.html">underplay the significance of Vemula’s suicide</a> on social media, revealing the dark side of caste prejudice.</p>
<p>The right-wing politicians now in charge of India have failed to deliver the <a href="http://cdn.narendramodi.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Manifesto2014highlights.pdf">promises of Dalit upliftment</a> made during their election campaign and continue to perpetuate a <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/RSS-Wants-No-Bar-for-Castes/2015/05/24/article2829668.ece">casteist worldview</a> and push for a homogenised Hindu society.</p>
<p>When aspirational students from Dalit communities do strive to break into the competitive educational system, they are squeezed out through violent caste discrimination. What we are seeing on display across India is a grotesque mutation of caste prejudice, that is pushing some of the most exploited to take their own lives. But the tenacity and resilience of Dalit communities cannot be underestimated. There couldn’t be a more opportune time to realise the <a href="https://dalitandtribe.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/dr-b-r-ambedkar%E2%80%99s-commandments-educate-agitate-organize/">message</a> of visionary Dalit leader Ambedkar, who called upon Dalits to <em>educate, agitate</em> and <em>organise</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53653/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anderson Jeremiah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Discrimination is rife – and at the very highest levels.Anderson Jeremiah, Lecturer in the department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/524022016-01-18T13:16:10Z2016-01-18T13:16:10ZWhy are there so few Dalit entrepreneurs? The problem of India’s casted capitalism<p>In July last year I was in Gandhinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Gujarat, at the monthly meeting of a credit cooperative. It has 1,300 members, all drawn from Dalit families at the bottom of <a href="http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/how-does-indias-caste-system-work">India’s caste hierarchy</a>. It’s the kind of organisation where you might expect to see a host of entrepreneurs and business people in charge, but of the nine board members sitting around the table, just one was a businessperson. </p>
<p>Most are serving or retired civil servants, and the pooled resources of the credit society are used principally for loans for marriage, housing, and higher education. When I asked why there were so few active entrepreneurs, there was an uncomfortable silence, before a torrent of comments revealed the widespread discrimination Dalits face in being able to access credit from both public and private banks. This is casted capitalism at work, or rather, failing to work.</p>
<h2>Caste of thousands</h2>
<p>The credit cooperative in Gandhinagar is part of a broader Dalit cooperative movement, but it hasn’t solved problems of access to capital, and the realities of business life for Dalits are still harsh. While all sectors are difficult for Dalits to enter into, some are almost completely closed to them, such as owning a restaurant in a non-Dalit area or opening a dairy business, where according to numerous Dalit sources in Gujarat, the dominant caste Patels are preferred. </p>
<p>This discrimination extends into other areas as well, such as medicine, with openly Dalit doctors receiving fewer upper-caste patients. The lone businessman in the group said he did not face problems as a share broker, but it quickly emerged that he dealt with the stigma by adopting the surname Mehta, linked to the well-respected and highly educated professional <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Jains-steal-the-show-with-7-Padmas/articleshow/46856659.cms">community in India</a>, the Jains. That way, he explained, clients are automatically more at ease.</p>
<p>In fact, it appears that the price of business success often hinges on staying firmly inside the “Dalit closet”. The sole woman in the group had also encouraged her son to change his surname. If you have a <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080506/jsp/nation/story_9231504.jsp">Dalit surname such as Rani</a>, this is not an uncommon scenario.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107773/original/image-20160111-6996-19m8nx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hiding from view. Dalits choose pragmatism over pride.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevilzaveri/2351490865/in/photolist-3hSXZ6-4zN1iX-Qt6Cb-mgy9bv-4CcvSt-68LAwE-bxK9dc-nxMt1M-8XS3ss-MhMB5-AVCpx-yxU62G-xMezD-7spDG1-6wGvRv-8D8p81-6As899-7dDSZj-dufGjv-cVkdj7">nevil zaveri</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other side of the fence</h2>
<p>A short distance north of Gandhinagar, in the city of Ahmedabad, I witnessed a similar scene, but this time among the dominant caste Patels. They were meeting, not in a credit cooperative but, in one of their village or “gam” associations. The Patels are dominant politically and economically in Gujarat. Traditionally peasant farmers, they have <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-who-are-patels-why-are-they-demanding-downward-mobility-gujarat-1517365">experienced great social and economic mobility</a>, and are now associated with business sectors such as textiles and diamonds. While the gams predominantly function as sub-caste marriage circles, they also serve as informal business networking associations.</p>
<p>The Kadva Patel gam members stress their internal solidarity and ethos of mutual self-help. Here, young men entering business for the first time can turn to fellow gam members for low interest loans, as well as mentorship and contacts. While a Dalit surname is a potential obstacle in establishing oneself as an entrepreneur, a Patel surname opens doors and indeed is a mark of pride for those who bear it. </p>
<p>There have been success stories for Dalits, and prominent ones at that. Soon after the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, articles began appearing in the Indian and foreign press describing rags to riches stories of Dalits, who against all odds had transformed themselves into wealthy businessmen (and sometimes businesswomen), <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-05-06/news/49661411_1_dalit-indian-chamber-board-exams-dalit-businessmen">from very humble beginnings</a>. The tone <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18186908">is often triumphant</a>, alluding to how the free market is liberating Dalits from centuries of oppression, accomplishing in a short period of time what the Indian government <a href="http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa776.pdf">failed to achieve</a> through quota systems in the public sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107791/original/image-20160111-6961-s0y4fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the balance. India’s free market isn’t working for everyone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/x_ray_vision/15089688381/in/photolist-nqsJWs-NdLyf-oZqAD4-5qbe5L-ryjeKz-rA5jsQ-rSw8mA-ryjdTz-rAbHx4-qVDcVU-rA3Y9U-rSD2mD-rA5h6f-rSD1H4-rQm4GY-rSymQK-rB9Bpj-qWWvv2-rBhmg8-rBhsbK-9NKVq9-6BxAua-9kFZh4-9SqrXX-4UeheE-7yjeST-e6hQDa-7ts2FN-fPRFqG-9Nv8dj-9m4arX-7dT73q-7dT7Ym-dMFaJu-cS1rYs-7dPpGz-9SqETr-ztsqi1-7dPdNr-7dPd7n-9Stqjf-9StFyw-9StnXS-9Sqsxn-9SqwRM-9StCRd-9Styhw-6eeta-549Emo-f1PSHr">Ashish</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This assumption of an inherent meritocracy and “caste blindless” in the free market led some Dalit leaders to argue that capitalism will <a href="http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2103056,00.html">sound the death knell for the caste system</a>. Some <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/world/asia/indias-boom-creates-openings-for-untouchables.html?_r=0">also assert</a> that Dalit entrepreneurship will lead to greater social acceptance as they start to ascend the economic ladder. </p>
<p>This is comforting, but entirely false. The opening of the Indian economy has enabled a small number of Dalit entrepreneurs to make it to the top, but the majority continue to encounter institutional and social discrimination that translates into a share of business ownership that is not <a href="http://www.dalitstudies.org.in/wp/1002.pdf">proportionate to their population</a>. The 2005 Economic Census shows that Dalits in India own just 9.8% of enterprises despite constituting 16.4% of the population. And the vast majority of these are <a href="http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/12-028_0e6e69ba-da4d-4abc-b66a-9611dc07c53b.pdf">small single-person businesses</a>. </p>
<h2>Free and fair markets</h2>
<p>Speaking with dominant business people in Gujarat, it becomes clear that Dalits are seen as untrustworthy, synonymous with government benefits, rather than seen as serious business partners. While it is common in business for caste groups to mistrust each other, Dalits will often not even be considered as potential business partners. </p>
<p>Free financial markets are presumed by some to be great levellers, where ambition and hard work clear away obstacles, but just like all other areas of social life in India, capitalism is profoundly casted. Young Dalit men I spoke with said that many Dalit youth do not even aspire to being an entrepreneur due to a lack of role models in their communities. </p>
<p>Relatively new Dalit organisations, such as the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Dicci.official/">Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry</a>, need to be strengthened so that there are more active branches across the country. Ultimately, building the social and economic capital of Dalits across India is a long-term process that needs dedicated government support and deeper grass-roots initiatives that provide networking opportunities and financial support. </p>
<p>Promoting Dalit pride is another important long-term strategy, so that a new generation can visualise a future in which setting up a business does not mean turning their backs on their communities. The idea that the free market will act as an antidote to the caste system is wildly optimistic; it is time to recognise that the market economy’s dominance by upper and locally dominant castes makes business a terrain in which the majority of Dalits struggle to gain a foothold.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52402/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Lum has received funding from the European Union (DevCo). </span></em></p>India’s former ‘untouchables’ are struggling to make a mark in business – despite some high-profile successes.Kathryn Lum, Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/516882015-12-07T04:23:59Z2015-12-07T04:23:59ZPope Francis in Africa: he came, he saw, now what?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104414/original/image-20151204-29711-1slj78y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crowds cheer as Pope Francis arrives at Kololo airstrip in Kampala, Uganda.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Giuseppe Cacace</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis was hailed around the world as a <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-i-went-to-africa-with-message-of-hope">“messenger of hope”</a> during his historic visit to Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic. The visit to the three African countries was replete with gestures of reconciliation and peace. </p>
<p>He pushed all the right buttons on religious liberty, climate change and reforms to the annulment process of divorced Catholics. The visit came soon after he recently met Fidel Castro in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/20/pope-francis-meets-with-fidel-castro-cuba-visit">Cuba</a> and his visit to the US, where he <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34376771">celebrated mass</a>. </p>
<p>Pope Francis took a stand against poaching in Africa as well as corruption. He even visited a mosque in Central Africa. This had particular significance given the ongoing inter-religious conflict and violence in the region. </p>
<p>The pope’s visit has been profiled as a “message to the world”. The <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/">explosive growth</a> of the Catholic population in Africa despite religious, ethnic and political conflicts is a hint of the growing significance of Africa for the Catholic Church. </p>
<p>According to the Pew Research Centre, the Catholic population in sub-Saharan Africa grew from 1% in 1910 to 16% in 2010. Globally, <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/?utm_content=buffer13107&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">31.5%</a> of people are Christians.</p>
<p>Given the phenomenal growth of Catholicism on the continent those of us who live in Africa need to be asking some important questions. These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>What does Pope’s visit mean for Africa? Is it merely a goodwill visit or will it have any fundamental impact?</p></li>
<li><p>Will the Catholic Church lead us through a path of a greater socialistic view of society in Africa? </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>The Catholic church and socialism</h2>
<p>Jesus of Nazareth could easily have been construed as a socialist in his approach to society.</p>
<p>But the church that became so powerful in the aftermath of the conversion of <a href="http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/constantine-index.html">Emperor Constantine</a> in 312AD has not only been at the helm of holy wars – in the postindustrial revolution it became an ally of capitalism.</p>
<p>In more recent times, the modern church – including the Catholic denomination – has also been at the forefront of liberation movements in Latin America, notably Columbia and Peru. </p>
<p>In South Africa the Catholic Church participated along with other Christian denominations in the struggle against apartheid. In India, the Catholic Church has been at the forefront of the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/6761571/Dalit_liberation_struggles">Dalit struggles</a> against the caste system.</p>
<p>Given the current pope’s particular historical roots in Latin America, specifically Argentina, it is not surprising that his speeches are leaning toward social and political transformation with key words such as “solidarity” and “justice”.</p>
<p>Since 1961, with the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/23050547">papal encyclical</a> (Mater et Magistra of Pope John Paul XXIII), which is a formal pronouncement from the pope’s office, the social teaching of the Catholic Church has become increasingly significant.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church’s gradual move towards socialistic thinking really began in 1849 with <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/24457478">Pope Pius IX</a>. But whether socialism is contrary to Catholic doctrine is an interesting question and has particular reference to the conflict- and poverty-ridden continent of Africa. </p>
<p>Scholars have pointed out that what the Catholic Church was against was not so much socialism, but Marxism as embedded in the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/24457478">critique</a> of Pope Leo XIII.</p>
<p>In the context of South African politics and the need for social reform and the tendency of some South African politicians to emphasise a form of socialism, it must be remembered that what Leo XIII in the late 18th century rejected was <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/24457478">“a theory of collective poverty”</a> and “class struggle”. </p>
<p>While the former eliminates “economic stimuli”, the latter “assumes that the different classes of society are natural enemies”, with, for example, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/24457478">labour pitted against capital</a>.</p>
<p>We now need to ask if Pope Francis has a clear socialist message for Africa that he can send to the West and to the rest of the continent. If the recent papal visit is hailed as a “message to the world”, we need to figure out what the content of that message really is and what structures can facilitate it to become a reality.</p>
<h2>What Africa needs from the church</h2>
<p>The pope spent a great deal of time visiting conflict and poverty stricken regions. This is obviously in line with his socialist leanings. </p>
<p>But socialism is not only about economic issues. It is also about fundamental equality in society in religious and cultural realms. </p>
<p>Given the conservative stand of the Catholic church on gay and lesbian communities, Pope Francis had a wonderful opportunity to extend his message of tolerance not just to the religious realm, but to the social realm as well. This would have meant addressing issues of persecution and intimidation of homosexual people in conservative societies of Africa. </p>
<p>Homosexuality is <a href="http://www.loc.gov/law/help/criminal-laws-on-homosexuality/homosexuality-laws-in-african-nations.pdf">criminalised</a> in the three countries he visited. While the issue of divorce featured in his comments, the issue of homosexuality was glaringly absent. </p>
<p>Obviously one cannot expect the leader of the Catholic Church to make radical departures from the past traditions at one go. But the pope could have at least hinted at some possibilities for reform within the Church in this area. </p>
<h2>Talking truth to power</h2>
<p>On a broader level, Pope Francis rightly sits squarely in the middle of an evolving socialist message of the Catholic Church. But it would remain a mirage if the Catholic Church does not engage governments – in Africa and in the West – to bring about urgently needed political and economic changes. </p>
<p>If the Catholic Church is growing faster in Africa than elsewhere in the world, it means that the people of Africa expect the Catholic Church to be with them in their struggle for daily existence. </p>
<p>The ongoing realities of African migration to the west forces the Catholic Church to deliver on its promise of economic and social liberation in the post liberation period.</p>
<p>Political liberation has done nothing more than change faces of political leadership in Africa. What needs to be achieved is for people to realise their simple dreams of a society where their children and women can be safe and fed. </p>
<p>The pope’s visit has perhaps unwittingly thrust the Church into solidarity with the people and committed itself to fight corruption and poverty as well as all forms of social inequality on the continent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51688/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>P. Pratap Kumar receives funding from National Research Foundation of SA.</span></em></p>Given the conservative stand of the Catholic Church on gays and lesbians, Pope Francis had a wonderful opportunity to extend his message of tolerance to both the religious and social realms.P. Pratap Kumar, Professor of Hinduism and Comparative Religion, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/377102015-06-19T10:18:03Z2015-06-19T10:18:03ZRacial and caste oppression have many similarities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84609/original/image-20150610-6817-1kav3a3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Systems of oppression have much in common.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfataustralianaid/10704037854/in/photolist-hiSZwN-pKU7xq-9Syz5f-6WQkvX-8rToTc-dtMFFE-7TXhS7-347557-juRZ2w-4VaYPb-4XGGLf-ifvfqv-evzE4p-8rE8pc-eiZwbu-9uKAQF-9PjRyc-4RZkK1-cmDTR3-2LgQTD-BR7W-8ENDrh-8AzDYr-6HHBGd-bzofcK-ap6JhZ-ofNdGA-fdMMYY-oryGSy-9xSTCc-o1CxxM-9uKAQR-9uNBSE-pzRTf6-9u6nW6-aPC766-ohh5gw-bGNiwK-rB2BGN-4AJGuE-bGNit2-4XAt5M-8rSDD4-9u9oLu-4Uqp7U-4xcMcF-5HHLcM-9uhk6g-9uhkex-9uhkrX">Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Comparisons can be risky, but not impossible.</p>
<p>Consider for a moment India’s Dalits, or “untouchables,” and African Americans. </p>
<p>Racial inequality in America has its parallel in caste inequality in India even though by definition, race and caste are not the same thing. The story of one struggle for social justice can illuminate the pitfalls and prospects of success of another.</p>
<p>As a researcher in applied ethics, human rights and global development studies, I am leading an ongoing research effort that will compare and contrast the nature of exclusion and marginalization faced by African Americans and Dalit Indians in their respective historical and contemporary contexts. </p>
<h2>The Dalit story</h2>
<p>Although the Indian constitution bans discrimination on the basis of caste, the social, religious and cultural practice of “untouchability” continues unabated. </p>
<p>Formerly known as “untouchables,” Dalits are excluded from social and public spaces, prevented from drawing water from public facilities and segregated in schools.</p>
<p>Since the caste system was formed over 2,000 years ago, a noticeable percentage of the <a href="http://idsn.org/india-official-dalit-population-exceeds-200-million/">200 million “Dalits”</a> have been thrust into the lowest occupations of society, such as scavengers and sanitation cleaners, with little upward mobility. </p>
<p>While there has been some progress since India’s independence from the British Empire, the pace of economic growth in mitigating social inequality has been <a href="http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Documents/SIG_WP13-1_InclGrowth.pdf">uneven</a>. </p>
<p>So, in an Indian nation that is rapidly modernizing and urbanizing, opportunities for the Dalits still remain limited. The degradation and the health risks of performing menial tasks are substantial. </p>
<p>Furthermore, with the <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/to-be-a-fundamentalist-hindu/">rise of Hindu fundamentalism </a>in national politics, the continuous expansion of liberty and equality of opportunity is by no means a foregone conclusion. </p>
<h2>Discrimination, exclusion, privilege</h2>
<p>One can draw parallels in different systems of oppression. </p>
<p>Despite 50 years having passed since the Civil Rights movement, the condition of the majority of poor, urban African Americans is <a href="https://www.aclu.org/infographic/school-prison-pipeline-infographic">dire</a>, and chances for survival are diminishing over time while the prison pipeline is increasing.</p>
<p>Let’s look at how both caste and racial discrimination perpetuate hierarchy, privilege, discrimination, marginalization and exclusion. </p>
<p>Data from the last few years show <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/fact-sheets/poverty/">27% of African Americans at the poverty line</a>, which is much higher than <a href="http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/poverty-rate-by-raceethnicity/">other groups</a>. In India, the <a href="http://newint.org/books/reference/world-development/case-studies/inequality-dalits-in-india/">condition of Dalits</a> has been extremely dire for centuries.</p>
<p>Several African American economists in the US have looked at structural and institutional forms of racial exclusion in terms of wealth and poverty. They have also opened a dialogue with economists in South Asia, where exclusion and inequality <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=U5LL8JVqu8QC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=Darity+racial+inequality+and+caste&source=bl&ots=9wueZ3x7yP&sig=aHI-c_ePKl6nBGOs1WZ2Wbx92Qo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBWoVChMI1pnt6syIxgIVhCisCh0DlADD#v=onepage&q=Darity%20racial%20inequality%20and%20caste&f=false">relate to caste</a>. </p>
<p>Although some progress was made in the 20th century that allowed greater inclusivity and equity – particularly in higher education – many issues remain despite constitutional bans on caste discrimination. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84612/original/image-20150610-6801-1b1tke8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dalits in India still struggle for their rights.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/82898203@N08/8650310763/in/photolist-ebp722-4XmxKf-ebuFuG-ebuJ3N-ebuJXG-ebp1ZZ-ebp3En-ebuFPU-ebuDrj-ebp1YD-ebp5fH-ebp33R-ebuKSj-ebp63r-ebuHaQ-ebp3kR-ebuGUE-ebuGbm-ebuKk9-ebuDwd-ebuDRd-ebuDtY-ebp6jK-ebp4Zr-ebp2DH-NU5F9-ebpBKB-qzo3gM-qRJbT5-6a77Xd-4BxFa3-kTFdcz-ebv9HY-ebpKvi-ebpAXV-ebvkfY-ebpCRc-ebv8EQ-ebpC3k-ebpAsz-ebveQ3-ebv9ru-ebvsuQ-ebpN2R-ebpDq6-ebpuHe-ebpMkM-ebvj3U-ebvhjw-ebvh2m">ActionAid India - Campaigns</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In America, cultural and political segregation of the public space continues to occur despite anti-segregation laws. </p>
<p>For example, there are concerns among some Supreme Court justices that redistricting of voting districts can lead to further <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/politics/supreme-court-rejects-alabama-redistricting/">racial inequality</a>. </p>
<p>In India, Dalits in rural villages are forbidden near Hindu temples or disallowed with their shoes on in higher-caste neighborhoods. Mob violence is committed against them with impunity, and a disproportionate number of rapes are committed against <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/rape-of-dalit-women-registers-500-increase-since-2001-rti-reveals/">Dalit women</a>. </p>
<p>In comparison, post-Civil War white mob violence against blacks has morphed into what one could describe as the state-condoned violence of homicides of African Americans by police today. As of June, out of 467 Americans nationwide who had been <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/where-police-have-killed-americans-in-2015/">killed</a> by cops since the beginning of 2015, 136 were African American. </p>
<h2>How race and caste work</h2>
<p>Looking at exclusion in America forces us to grapple with issues of violence against African Americans, racial inequality and racial injustice at a time that is often deemed “post-racial,” namely, five decades after the Civil Rights movement. </p>
<p>We see a similar pattern in India, wherein the Dalits are asked to believe that the Indian constitution bans discrimination, even though it does not abolish the caste system itself. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84613/original/image-20150610-6817-1qzwda1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Racial tensions continue in America.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenmelkisethian/16581479664/in/photolist-rgfqdq-snFD7z-rrw5LX-rgrTkZ-s6LcdL-rVEmX5-rVNoWv-sdfvwn-smHsf7-bJFHhV-sdfx2B-rTVoyc-rTVtmt-rTVtF6-so91VH-sd752s-rVEkZ3-rVEhN3-rTVu3Z-rgrWj4-rTVsoX-rVFm77-sdcD2K-sdfAYz-rgfpQS-rrjTch-s68Af9-rrweLk-s6JX1j-rrwjr2-rriQsG-s6Ad79-rrac2q-s6JL5v-soaxK6-rruYw4-s4R9zi-sogTox-soaTiW-skqY2W-s4oMUn-snyxnd-snyxDf-rqHH3u-s8dqDo-spXTZ6-snn2bg-sncyZd-s5MMCS-rqxYYX">Stephen Melkisethian</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>It is after the successes of the African American Civil Rights movement that we have witnessed the birth of the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/what-school-prison-pipeline">school-to-prison pipeline</a>, state violence against a disproportionate number of African American men in police killings, and the turning back of affirmative action at public universities in some states’ constitutional amendments, such as <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/22/justice/scotus-michigan-affirmative-action/">Michigan</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, with right wing conservative political power in India, caste discrimination is intensifying. </p>
<p>For example, Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are not eligible for reservations, or what we in the US would call affirmative action benefits at universities, because technically “untouchability” exists only in <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-not-in-favour-to-give-sc-reservation-to-christian-and-muslim-dalits-government-2042306">Hinduism</a>, when in social reality it occurs <a href="http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/indias-christian-and-muslim-dalits-say-they-are-more-untouchable-than-hindus-22756">across religions</a> in India. </p>
<p>Historically, both race and caste have been used to divide society in many ways to the unfair advantage of certain groups over others. Again, there are similarities in the construction of how people have been forced into these categories. </p>
<p>Here in America, people are born into a “race,” and America uses race as a defining demographic category in its census. Biological race by nature, for now, is inescapable, even though some would say that “race” is an artificial category that is socially constructed.</p>
<p>Dalits, too, are born into a caste, which is unalterable, as they are told, and it is due to the sins of a previous life that they are paying the price in their current life. Hinduism believes in the transmigration of the soul, in which the soul enters a new body after death. The caste that one enters into depends upon the actions of a previous life. </p>
<h2>The two democracies should learn from each other</h2>
<p>So how can the US and India learn from each other in order to solve some of the most pressing problems for the world’s two largest democracies, both of which consider themselves secular and free? </p>
<p>If nations can cooperate on trade and development, there is no reason that they cannot participate in a global dialogue on minority rights through the lens of their religious, cultural and social heritages. </p>
<p>They must learn to come to grips with the fact that the mere assertion of a democratic society does not necessarily translate in to a free and equal one.</p>
<p>Modern democratic superpowers with sizable national wealth, such as the US and India, also have a dark side, involving what some would consider gross human rights violations. </p>
<p>My work will set out to explore how different democracies can promote tolerance, inclusion and pluralism while combating various forms of discrimination and exclusion based on race and caste. </p>
<p>The question will be how to evaluate the claim that both societies make, as the two largest, most “peaceful and successful” democracies in the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rajesh Sampath does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Racial inequality in America has its parallel in caste inequality in India. What can the world’s two largest democracies learn from each other?Rajesh Sampath, Assistant Professor of the Philosophy of Justice, Rights, and Social Change , Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.