Here's a story:
Young Dalit woman abused in Mumbai
Originally published as “Dalit girl paraded naked in Mumbai”, Times of Inda, July 10, 2010.
MUMBAI: Cases of attacks on dalit women aren’t confined to rural India. Last month, a young dalit girl was stripped and paraded in a southern Mumbai locality. The local police has arrested 10 women and two men and slapped them with cases of atrocities. However, Sharada Yadav, the main accused, is out on bail.
Said senior police inspector Rajan Bhogale: “All the suspects named by the victim, including Sharada Yadav, were arrested in the case. We charged them under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. But Sharda Yadav was granted bail by the court.” The 22-year-old dalit girl Mita Kamble (name changed), who was stripped and dragged out of her house at Darukhana, Reay Road, by a mob of mostly women, said: “They all shouted that dalits like me should not live in this area. They kept hurling abuses on me.”
What led to the incident was Mita’s brother allegedly abused a five year old girl.
Who are the Dalits?
The "untouchables."
The Dalits, also known as the “untouchables” and “outcastes,” make up nearly one quarter of India’s 1.2 billion society, with population estimates of 250 million people. The Dalits are history’s longest standing oppressed people group.
By all research and reports, the Dalits also constitute the largest number of people categorized as victims of human trafficking and human enslavement in any single nation on earth. On November 15, 2008, in New Delhi, at a UN Delivery of Justice Colloquium, the Honorable Dr. Justice Arijit Pasayat of the Supreme Court of India stated that “there was no bigger problem in India today than human trafficking. In May 2009, India’s Home Secretary, Madhukar Gupta, remarked that by his estimates “at least 100 million people were involved in human trafficking in India.”
The term “Dalit” means “those who have been broken and ground down by those above them in the social hierarchy in a deliberate and active way.” Because of traditional social structures in India, the Dalits are at risk of discrimination, dehumanization, degradation, and violence every day.
On December 27, 2006, Prime Minister Singh became the first leader of his nation to compare the condition of Dalits with that of black South Africans under apartheid: “Even after 60 years of constitutional and legal protection and support, there is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our country. Dalits have faced a unique discrimination in our society that is fundamentally different from the problems of minority groups in general. The only parallel to the practice of untouchability was apartheid.” Dr. Singh continued that it was “modern India’s failure that millions of Dalits were still fighting prejudice.”
That apartheid is still in evidence today. In 70% of India’s villages, for example, non-Dalits will not eat or drink with Dalits. Traditionally, when Dalits enter a tea shop and request a cup of tea, they are served in a clay cup rather than a glass or metal cup that others receive. After drinking their tea, they are expected to crush the cup on the ground so that no other person risks being polluted by the cup the Dalit touched.
What is the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN)?
The Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) is a human rights, non-government organization that partners with the Dalit people in India. We represent a vast network of justice-minded, modern-day abolitionists committed to bringing freedom to history’s longest standing oppressed people group. We believe that we can end Dalit injustices, such as human trafficking and child labor, and make slavery history in India. Our major partners are Operation Mercy India Foundation (OMIF) and the All-India Confederation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Organizations (SC-ST Confederation).
Our four-pillared model of community transformation
EDUCATION
DFN began in 2002 in response to the plea of Dalit leaders: "Educate our children!" Today a freedom movement is advancing all over India through Dalit Education Centers, where Dalit children learn English and are taught the values of freedom, equality and human dignity.ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
In debt to landlords, moneylenders, grocers, and more, most Dalits work hand-to-mouth, ground down in horrific poverty. This economic disempowerment forces many into bonded labor and prostitution. Our Vocational Training, Self-Help Groups, and Fair-Rate Loans enable Dalit adults to learn marketable skills and support their families.HEALTHCARE
Most Dalits cannot afford healthcare. Simple fractures go untreated and result in crippling malformations. More than 40% of India's youngest children are malnourished. Dalits also suffer from diseases unseen in developed nations, like polio and leprosy. DFN's comprehensive community-based healthcare program meets immediate needs and is paving the way for sustainability.SOCIAL JUSTICE
DFN is the leading voice of justice for the Dalits in many nations' capitals. Focusing on the big-picture of ending the trafficking of Dalits, our education campaigns, legislative work, and continuous advocacy promote justice for the Dalits. Our work with Dalit children and women in India builds hope and enpowerment.What can you do to help the Dalits?
1. DONATE: With a donation, you can do some really cool things, like FREE a Dalit child, sponsor a Dalit teacher, provide healthcare for the Dalits, help a Dalit start a small business, give Dalits vaccinations, help a Dalit woman attend a women's empowerment conference, support advocacy for the Dalits in Washington D.C., and much more.
2. Sign this PETITION: Every day 1.3 million people in India (of which more than 80% are Dalit women) are forced to clean human excrement with their bare hands for little to no wages, a practice called manual scavenging. On June 17, 2011, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India referred to manual scavenging as "one of the darkest blots on [India's] development process" and asked all state Ministers in his country to pledge to eliminate this scourge from every corner of India in the next six months, by the end of 2011. By signing this petition, you can stand in solidarity with Prime Minister Singh's mandate to end the heinous and inhumane practice of manual scavenging.
3. Read BOOKS and NEWS articles about the Dalits to find out about how you can PRAY for them.
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