Caste discrimination – a thing of the past? Reality says otherwise.

To those who say that caste no longer matters and that casteism is a thing of the past, the following news scoops should really be of particular significance:

The study team, which had taken up 370 cases registered under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989, last year alone, 106 figured on physical assaults and clash against the Dalits in different parts of Tamil Nadu. This apart, crimes grievous in nature and heinous ones accounted for 28 cases. Torching of dwellings stood at 36, executive director A. Kathir said.

Of course it is not just Tamil Nadu but other states also where caste is still very much an important part of everyday life. From making small school children of so called lower castes to not only sit away from the rest of the class (as shown in this documentary called India Untouched) but also clean toilets, to repressing and humiliating the dalits and OBCs in every way possible is part of the means of exploitation by the upper castes.

Often we hear the notorious and much dreaded upper castes gangs or militia like Ranvir Sena making brutal attacks on Dalits and their villages – hacking them, raping the women and setting their houses on fire. It is a sure shot way of propagating the intimidation. As without fear, there is no subordination, and without that, there will be protest against exploitation.

The police and other wings of the state machinery are, not surprisingly, in cahoots with these unscrupulous elements. Not only that, they actually play an active role in exploiting the lower castes.

And yet, we see such massive protests against reservations and quotas, by those who claim that “merit” will not be given priority. Perhaps they should think that for this “merit” they required certain material conditions which most of the dalits and OBCs have never had the privilege of enjoying.

Here are some recent incidents of violence and fear mongering tactics employed by the upper caste hooligans:

From Dalit woman’s family alleges foul play

Discontent is rife in Mandai village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, where a dalit woman activist from the Mushahar caste, the most impoverished among dalits, was found ‘murdered.’ She was a member of the Janwadi Mahila Samiti. The victim’s family and village women, who bathed her body, claim that she was gang-raped, going by the injuries on her body.

And another:

After attack, Dalits here still get threats

“The group was led by Mulayam Yadav and Satyendra Singh. They came with rifles and started abusing us, saying ‘How dare you do the Holika dahan before us?’ A few youngsters had done it what could we do. We tried to flee and they started attacking the women. Some of them caught hold of Ramni Devi and threw her to the ground. They set fire to Lalo Devi’s hair,” said Chitranjan Ram, who runs a Public Distribution System.

“The next day, we went to the police station but they sent us back saying this was the village’s internal matter and refused to register an FIR. The next day we met the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Chatarpur, 20 km away. He said he would ask the station officer to take action but nothing happened. The men in Barbaag still come and threaten us,” Chitranjan Ram said.