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Human Rights Watch charges India of failing to protect dalits

The Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, has urged international lending institutions to link the release of developmental funds to India with violence against dalits.

The institution charged India of failing to protect dalits from violence and discrimination. It has asked the World Bank and other lending institutions to build anti-discrimination measures for aid projects in areas with severe problems of caste violence and discrimination.

The organisation has also urged India's donors and trading partners to raise the problem of caste violence at international meetings, congressional or parliamentary hearings and in press conferences.

Its report Broken people: caste violence against India's untouchables, maintains: ''Untouchability was abolished in the country in 1950, yet entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste, in what has been called 'hidden apartheid.' "

The report further revealed that dalits were denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions and routinely abused at the hands of the police and higher caste groups which enjoyed the state's protection. Dalit children were frequently made to sit at the back of classrooms and dalit villagers had been victims of many brutal massacres.

The 291-page report also urges the Vajpayee government to establish special courts and atrocities units to prosecute crimes against dalits. Based on a research conducted from January to March and July to August 1998, the report coincides with the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar.

Documenting violence in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, it calls for an independent investigation into the killings, and stresses the need for disbanding militias like the Ranbir Sena.

Claiming that the plight of the dalits evoked sporadic attention within the country, the organisation urged the government to ensure effective implementation of laws formulated to protect their rights.

''Untouchability is not an ancient artifact, it is human rights abuse on a vast scale," said Smita Narula, researcher for the Asia division. ''The tools for change are in place, what is lacking is the political will for their implementation,'' maintains Narula.

Referring to South India, the report said thousands of dalit girls were forced into prostitution for upper caste patrons and village priests before attaining puberty. Landlords and the police used sexual abuse and other forms of violence against women to inflict political 'lessons' and crush dissent.

The report includes more than 40 specific recommendations to the central and state governments.

''The violence will only grow without these measures, it is a crisis that calls for national and international attention,'' added Narula.

UNI

EXTERNAL LINK:
Violence Against Untouchables Growing, Says Report

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