By Sana Sarwar
The term Dalit means ‘oppressed’, ‘broken’ or ‘crushed’ to the extent of losing original identity. There are currently some 166.6 million Dalits in India. The roots of Dalit oppression go back to the origins of the caste system in Hindu religion. The philosophy of caste is contained in the Manusmriti, a sacred Hindu text dating from the second century BCE. ‘Untouchable’ outcast communities were forbidden to join in the religious and social life of the community and were confined to menial tasks that were viewed as polluting, such as animal slaughter and leatherworking. After independence, the Indian Constitution abolished ‘untouchability’ in law. However, the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955/1976 and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, both derived from the Constitution, remain largely ineffective in their implementation.

Dalit women have been particularly badly affected in recent times. They are discriminated against not only because of their sex but also because of religious, social and cultural structures which have given them the lowest position in the social hierarchy. The stigma of ‘untouchability’ exposes them to an even higher risk of abuse and exploitation. For instance, while sexual violence is a problem faced by women across India, encouraged in part by the frequent failure of the judicial system to secure justice for its victims, the situation is especially challenging for Dalit girls and women due to the added discrimination they face: the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) reports that less than 2 per cent of rape cases against Dalit women result in convictions, compared to around 25 per cent against women in India generally.

India's caste system is perhaps the world's longest surviving social hierarchy. Traditional scholarship has described this more than 2,000-year-old system within the context of the four principal varnas, or large caste categories. In order of precedence these are the Brahmins (priests and teachers), the Ksyatriyas (rulers and soldiers), the Vaisyas (merchants and traders), and the Shudras (laborers and artisans). A fifth category falls outside the varna system and consists of those known as "untouchables" or Dalits; they are often assigned tasks too ritually polluting to merit inclusion within the traditional varna system.

Representing over one-sixth of India's population-or some 160 million people-Dalits endure near complete social ostracization. Untouchables" may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes. They may not use the same wells, visit the same temples, or drink from the same cups in tea stalls. Dalit children are frequently made to sit at the back of classrooms. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid," entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste.
Untouchability" is reinforced by state allocation of resources and facilities; separate facilities are provided for separate caste-based neighborhoods. Dalits often receive the poorer of the two, if they receive any at all. In many villages, the state administration installs electricity, sanitation facilities, and water pumps in the upper-caste section, but neglects to do the same in the neighboring, segregated Dalit area. Basic amenities such as water taps and wells are also segregated, and medical facilities and the better, thatched-roof houses exist exclusively in the upper-caste colony:

• Discrimination in monetary funding and food supplies
• Social interactions and marriage on caste basis
• Allocation of labor on caste base
• Debt bondage and slavery (low-caste employment often force families of lower castes or caste-like groups into bondage. An estimated forty million people in India, among them some fifteen million children, are working in slave-like conditions in order to pay off debts as bonded laborers)
• Economic and educational disparities persist between lower and higher-caste
  Political Representation and Political Rights (caste based quota by central government)
• Physical and economic retaliation

Any attempt to alter village customs, defy the social order, or to demand land, increased wages, or political rights leads to violence and economic retaliation on the part of those most threatened by changes in the status quo. Dalit communities as a whole are summarily punished for individual transgressions; Dalits are cut off from community land and employment during social boycotts, Dalit women bear the brunt of physical attacks, and the law is rarely enforced.

Case study 2021: Kalahandi, India – On 3 September 2021 Ranjita Majhi, a 33-year-old Kui speaking Khond woman in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, gave birth to a baby boy. She was elated as she had taken a 30,000 rupees ($400) loan for the delivery. Since she was severely anaemic, her health complications prevented a normal delivery. As a result, Majhi had to travel 60km (37 miles) to a government hospital in Bhawanipatna district, where she had a caesarean section.
All was well in the Majhi household for four days. But then the child died. “I don’t know how to repay my loans, now the child for whom I took the loan is also not with me. They said they do not even know how he died,” she told Al Jazeera, wiping her tears. Bhawanipatna’s district hospital doctors claim they also do not know how the child died.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of three controversial farm laws, calling its order “extraordinary” and a “victory for fair play”. The laws are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act. The court formed a four-member committee of experts “to listen to the grievances of the farmers on the farm laws and the views of the government and make recommendations”.

Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY). Under this special scheme (PMGKAY), around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA, namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Householders (PHH), will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) at a scale of 5 Kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA. Government of India will bear full expenditure of over Rs 26,000 Crore on account of cost of food grains, intrastate transportation etc. as part of Central assistance to States/UTs.

As opportunities for education increase and aspirations rise, Dalits could become a strong and positive force for change in India in the coming decades, especially if they are able to organize themselves across barriers of language and religion.