Untouchability Another ‘Gujarat model’

Despite laws making it punishable, untouchability continues to exist in the country in a vicious manner. A study titled “Understanding Untouchability: A Comprehensive Study of Practices and Conditions in 1,589 villages”, conducted in Gujarat by the Navsarjan Trust, an organisation that promotes the rights of Dalits, in collaboration with the Robert E. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights, puts together staggering data on the obnoxious practice that gets neglected by both the State and Central governments. The survey was conducted from 2007 to 2010.

A sample of the findings indicates how deep the rot is. In 98.4 per cent of the villages surveyed, inter-caste marriage was prohibited, and inter-caste couples would be subjected to violence and would often have to leave the village. In 98.1 per cent of the villages, a Dalit could not rent a house in a non-Dalit locality. In 97.6 per cent of the villages, Dalits touching the water pots or utensils of non-Dalits was considered defilement. In 97.2 per cent of the villages, Dalit religious leaders would never be asked to perform a religious ceremony in a non-Dalit area. Read More

At a well in Natwargadh village in Gujarat during a drought, a file picture. In 29 per cent of the villages surveyed, Dalits were denied access to common wells or taps. In 71 per cent of the villages, there was no water tap in the Dalit localities.

Courtesy: www.frontline.in

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