{"id":4141,"date":"2018-07-25T14:30:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T13:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/india-dalit-activism-the-god-of-small-things-and-endemic-discrimination\/"},"modified":"2018-07-25T14:30:26","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T13:30:26","slug":"india-dalit-activism-the-god-of-small-things-and-endemic-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/india-dalit-activism-the-god-of-small-things-and-endemic-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"India: Dalit activism: the "God of Small Things" and endemic discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

God of Small Things<\/b><\/p>\n

Arundhati Roy\u2019s 1996 novel drew international attention to the plight of India\u2019s Dalit community, Formerly known as \u201cuntouchables,\u201d Dalits suffer endemic discrimination and are systematically denied access to public spaces and resources. Over a decade after the book\u2019s publication this situation has worsened, as has that of Dalit human rights defenders (HRDs.)<\/p>\n

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, has said that \u201cIndian authorities have proven themselves unwilling to protect minority religious communities and other vulnerable groups from frequent attack.\u201d According to the National Crimes Records Bureau, crimes against Dalits occurred every 15 minutes on average in 2016, an increase over 2015 figures. Tallies by NGOs and news organisations suggest that the upward trend has intensified throughout 2017 and 2018. Dalit women are particularly vulnerable to abuses. Conviction rates for crimes against Dalits are extremely low in certain regions; the state of Maharashtra, for example, stands at less than 5%. Photojournalist Sudharak Olwe\u2019s ongoing case study of crimes against Dalits in this state found that in most incidents, \u201cthe victim was involved in either emancipatory work for his community or struggling to make his life better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spike in abuses may in fact be a response to Dalits\u2019 increasing assertion of their rights, according to Dalit HRD Asif Shaikh. In March of this year, a Supreme Court judgement claimed that a law which offers significant legal recourse for Dalits was used \u201cas an instrument to blackmail or to wreak personal vengeance\u201d. Nationwide protests, referred to by Al Jazeera as a Dalit Spring, followed. Though they began peacefully, demonstrations were met with violence; 11 people were killed.<\/p>\n

In May, Sachin Walia was shot dead. His brother Kamal is a leader in the Bhim Army, an organization that works for Dalit emancipation through education. A month after Sachin\u2019s killing, five Dalit HRDs were arrested and may face life in prison for allegedly inciting caste violence. Urgent action appeals have been issued for dozens of other violations of Dalit HRDs\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Violence against Dalits is often framed as nothing new, which may actually be fuelling the increase in abuses. It is more important than ever to support the empowerment of this community, remembering Dalit leader BR Ambedker\u2019s words: \u201c rights are protected not by law but by social and moral conscience of the society. If social conscience is such that it is prepared to recognise the rights which law proposes to enact, rights will be safe and secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources<\/b><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/countries\/asia-and-the-pacific\/india\/report-india\/<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2018\/06\/24\/india-dalit-rights-activists-detained<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/world-report\/2018\/country-chapters\/india<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ncdhr.org.in\/latestinterventions\/Report%20UN%20SR%20HRD.doc<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/ncrb.gov.in\/StatPublications\/CII\/CII2016\/pdfs\/NEWPDFs\/Crime%20in%20India%20-%202016%20Complete%20PDF%20291117.pdf<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theweek.in\/news\/india\/2018\/04\/07\/bhim-army-bharat-bandh-dalit-mass-arrest-april-18.html<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/thewire.in\/politics\/bhim-army-leaders-brother-shot-and-killed-in-saharanpur-tension-prevails<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.ucanews.com\/news\/life-worsens-for-indias-dalits-as-vigilantism-resurfaces\/82568<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God of Small Things Arundhati Roy\u2019s 1996 novel drew international attention to the plight of India\u2019s Dalit community, Formerly known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrdmemorial.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}