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| Dalit rights: Casting "untouchables" into discourse of Apartheid |
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| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 | |
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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed an urgent need to end caste-based discrimination. In an interview with The Nation on 26 October 2009, Navi Pillay, a former judge in South Africa, mentioned the need to create a new international convention that includes the explicit recognition of caste-based discrimination as a human rights violation. "Slavery and apartheid could be removed, so now [caste] can be removed through an international expression of outrage", she said in the interview. Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), and the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) have all backed Pillay's position.Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), and the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) have all backed Pillay's position. Recently, Pillay was visited by a group of women who gave her a brick from a latrine where Dalits are forced to clean toilets with their bare hands. There are approximately 260 million "untouchables" or "Dalits" ("broken people") throughout the world today, many of whom continue to deal with discrimination. The issue of caste has been discussed for over one hundred years, and Pillay says action is well overdue. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the entire movement is that many laws do exist to criminalise caste-based discrimination in theory, protecting Dalits from violence and exploitation. Affirmative action programs exist to guarantee Dalits a presence in the government and access to education. However, strong discrimination continues to be practiced. This paradox is perhaps illustrated best in India, where the vast majority of Dalits live. Dalits have faced death from upper caste individuals for entering a Brahmin temple, or lynching for inter-caste marriage. In some parts of Northern India Dalits must vote in segregated polling stations. "India's ban on caste-based discrimination will not be effective unless the government makes it a priority to enforce it," said Paul Divakar, general secretary of the NCDHR in India. "Violence and other human rights abuses against Dalits are still committed with impunity. The government should work with the international community to address this problem". The concept of caste continues to centre a heated debate in international circles. For Pillay, caste issues have been distorted by governments such as India who have successfully argued in UN conferences that existing policies, conventions, and treaties against human rights abuses do not apply. In general, lower-caste individuals are confined to menial, low-income employment while deprived of land and credit. Many are doomed to indebtedness and labour bondage, which is a form of slavery that continues generation after generation. Dalit rights tend to fall under the purview of the UN's Guidelines for the Effective Elimination of Discrimination based on Work and Descent in various intergovernmental discussions on caste. Pillay advocates that the Human Rights Council adopt the 2009 Draft Principles for the Guidelines. The Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination does list descent as a form of racial discrimination. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted at the World Conference on Racism in 2001, also recognized descent-based discrimination. However, Durban made no explicit recognition of caste. Due to the obfuscation of governments and the interpretive flux of intergovernmental bodies, Pillay suggests creating a new international convention explicitly recognising caste-based discrimination as a human rights violation. Through such recognition, Pillay hopes to incite the type of international pressure used against apartheid. In a positive step, the government of Nepal, a predominantly Hindu nation and home to 4.5 million Dalits, has expressed support for the UN to adopt principles and guidelines on caste discrimination. Approximately 200 million victims of caste discrimination live in India. Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also have sizeable Dalit populations. --- Also related: International Dalit Solidaryty Network, 3 November UN Special Rapporteur urges States to "rally around" caste guidelines National Council of Dalit Christians, 18 November Rally demanding the Constitution scheduled caste order 1950 |
