Comparative Contexts of Discrimination: Caste and Untouchability in South Asia

Excerpts from the paper by Surinder S. Jodhka & Ghanshyam Shah, Working Paper Series, Volume IV, Number 05, 2010
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi

Read the full paper here
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Breaking ranks with the Government of India, the foreign minister of Nepal, Jeet Bahadur Darjee Gautam during a meeting of the United Nations in September 2009, welcomed the inclusion of caste based discrimination against Dalits as a case of human rights violation, to be treated at par with the racial discrimination. This move of the Nepalese government opened-up way for implementing the proposal mooted by the UNHRC to involve “regional and international mechanism, the UN and its organs” to complement national efforts to combat caste based discrimination.
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While caste indeed has a religious dimension and it finds legitimacy in religious texts of the Hindus, it is also a socio-economic system[1] which shaped local economies, social and cultural entitlements and political regimes. In other words caste was much more than an ideological system. The idea of caste and associated social and economic structures persisted with varied religious tradition of the South Asian region.
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Similarly, the Sinhala Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka seem to defy the theological position of their faith. Even when no one is “unclean” in the sacred meaning of the term, social anthropologists have documented the presence of caste like hierarchies, identification of occupations with social groups and even “outside untouchables” (Banks 1960; Leach 1960; Ryan 1993).
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However, it is the colonial constructs and theoretical models of caste that continue to dominate not only the popular but also academic imagining of caste. Even the leaders of nationalist movements in the subcontinent accepted this colonial common-sense on caste quite uncritically. Thus when the new states were formed, of India, Pakistan and even Sri Lanka, it was only India which had Hindu majority, recognised the need to deal with caste and untouchability and made provisions for the uplift of those who had been kept out of the system, the untouchable whom the colonial rulers had designated as Scheduled Castes.
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Though caste continues to be an important category of kinship and community classifications in Pakistan, Dalit question is a little more complicated there. Given that the term Scheduled Caste is still officially used for the “untouchable” communities of its small Hindu minority and that almost the entire Christian population of the country are converts from Dalit Chuhras of Punjab, caste question gets closely entangled with the minority question in Pakistan. However, quite like Bangladesh, caste and untouchability also exists among the Muslims of Pakistan. Though the mainstream Islamic ideology completely denies any place to caste in Pakistan, its presence, in the form of social intercourse, birth based occupation, segregation in residence and taboo in social relationship is very widely recognised and plays an important role in structuring kinship and political economy of the country (see Alavi 1972; Gazdar 2007). Popular categories with which Dalits of Pakistan are identified are not completely alien to Indians. For example Mochi (cobblers), Pather (brick maker), and Bhangi (sweeper) are mostly Muslims and considered “lower” castes on the basis of their family occupation, regardless of their religion. There are other titles, such as Musalman Sheikhs, Mussalis (both used for Muslim Dalits) and Masihi (Christians) universally refer to specific groups of people, also identified with specific occupation and used to segregate them from the rest as “untouchable” groups. It is not only the Dalits who are identified through caste names. Others too have caste names and maintain caste boundaries…

One of the most striking features of South Asia is the association of Dalit communities with certain types of jobs. For example, the cleaning of streets and latrines, dealing with dead animals, casual and bonded labour on land are almost everywhere identified with Dalit communities. Not only are these low status jobs, invariably they are also low paid jobs. Another common feature of Dalit life in these four countries is their residential segregation. They seem to be either living in segregated settlements away from the main village, or in the urban slums where living conditions are generally poor. The experience of untouchability and discrimination was also a shared reality but its details varied.
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The pre-colonial Sri Lankan state was built around caste-based privileges of the ruling elite and hereditary and mandatory caste services of the bottom layers in society. Unlike the Hindu caste system founded on the basis of religious notions of purity and pollution, the caste systems in Sri Lanka have relied more on a kind of secular ranking upheld by the state, land ownership and tenure, religious organisations and rituals, and firmly-rooted notions of inherent superiority and
inferiority. The official requirement and support to the caste systems has indeed eroded over the years but the state has also turned a blind eye to the deprivations caused by caste discrimination. The militant Tamil movement led by LTTE also imposed a ban on the practice of caste for consolidating Tamil identity, which only turned it into a kind of underground reality, not to be confronted openly through politics and policy.
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Dalits in Bangladesh also face discrimination in political sphere as well as in civic life. Many of them reported that they were not treated well even by the doctors and nurses in hospitals and clinics. They were also not allowed entry into their houses. The Hindu Dalits faced much more discrimination in religious life. They were not allowed entry into temples and were discouraged from participating in religious/community functions. Though in past some sections of Muslim Dalit
communities such as Lalbegi, Abdal and Bediya, (popularly known as Arzal), engaged in occupations such as toilet cleaning and garbage collection were often not allowed entry into mosques, there seemed to be no such restriction in place any longer. However, otherwise, the condition of Muslim Dalits did not seem to be any better than those of the Hindu Dalits. The number of Muslim Dalits complaining about practice of untouchability against them in tea shops was much higher (around 40 per cent) than the Hindu Dalits (around 15 per cent). Same was the case with having access to hotel rooms. Access to water from public and private sources was also denied to both categories of Dalits.
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Caste and religion have always been interwoven in complex ways. While Hinduism has often been seen, and rightly so, to provide a theological justification to caste hierarchy, the Pakistani state uses Islamic identity and ideology to completely deny the presence of caste in the social and economic life of country even when caste-based identities and caste related discrimination are quite rampant in the country, including among the Muslims. Such official denial of caste also works to the double disadvantage of the Hindu and Christian Dalits of Pakistan. While being members of a small religious minority, they confront a hostile majoritarian state and civil society; being Dalits they also remain marginalised within their own religious communities.
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Caste divisions and differences have perhaps not been as strong in countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Pakistan as they have been in India, or in some of its regions. However, unlike India, there has been no recognition of their special situation as socially excluded and deprived. Since the states in these countries do not recognise caste, they also do not collect data on their numbers and around variables of their economic status. In contrast the state policies have played a critical role in producing Dalit elite, which has played an important role in articulating Dalit aspirations and identity. No such process is visible anywhere else in South Asia. In this context Gellner’s  observation made about Nepal is worth quoting. Writing in 1995, Gleener observed:

… Nepalese state has so far taken no measures of positive discrimination in favour of those disadvantaged by the caste system, as have long been in place in India. Thus, in spite of the changes… it remains true that traditions, practices and ideas which have long been rendered controversial in India are still in Nepal relatively uncontested parts of everyday life (Gellner 1995:2).
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Read the full paper here

Footnote [1] For example, some scholars stress that the origin of caste system lay in the nature of agrarian production and generous of surplus in early agrarian system (see Klass 1980; Yurlova 1989). Similarly, some others have pointed to primacy of the political in structuring caste hierarchies in India (see Raheja 1988; Quigley, D. 1993)

Caste discrimination in access to health care: A study of Dalit children

Namit Arora mentions here that ‘Dalit children routinely die due to discriminatory practices by ‘merit’ doctors’ and adds a reference to this paper [pdf] on ‘Access to Health Care and Patterns of Discrimination: A Study of Dalit Children in Selected Villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan’ by Sanghmitra S. Acharya from the Working Paper Series, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies and UNICEF, 2010. Excerpts follow…

From the foreword

…Employing a blend of public health and social exclusion approaches, this field-based study measured the degree of discrimination in health care for Dalit children in various spheres. The paper argues that the consequences of discriminatory practices severely limit Dalit children from accessing health services, and are attributable to the poor health and high level of mortality of Dalit children in the studied areas. The paper also reflects on discrimination differential between public and private sector health care. Highlighting inabilities of the present policy frameworks to deal
with caste and untouchability based discrimination in health care services, the study calls for developing safeguards and codes to check  discriminatory practices at all stages of service delivery.

This is part of a knowledge partnership between UNICEF and Indian Institute of Dalit Studies to unpack policy concerns of relevance to all children from the perspective of socially excluded communities.
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Surinder S. Jodhka
Director, IIDS

Access to Health Care and Patterns of Discrimination: A Study of Dalit Children in Selected Villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan
Sanghmitra S. Acharya*

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Understanding the Universe of the Dalit Child

During childhood, Dalit children may not be exposed to the labels like caste or untouchability. However, parents and adults are anxious that the child should not be hurt by transgressing the existing caste boundaries in innocence, hence the child is fed with many instructions of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’- don’t go there, don’t enter such house, don’t enter the temple, don’t play with so and so, don’t play in a specific place, don’t touch something/someone, don’t sit around such a place, don’t argue with so and so, don’t back answer so and so, don’t fight with so and so – a whole lot of protective and preventive instructions more specifically to the girls, like don’t dress like this, don’t sit like this, don’t come in notice of dominant caste etc. There are certain do’s like – bow before so and so, say Namaste, stand when so and so comes, do services when demanded, do physical labour when demanded, do menial work, agree when in conflict, say good things about so and so, praise so and so. There are thus clear instructions of physical distance and geographic boundaries a Dalit child is taught to maintain.

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Some Indicators for measurement of discrimination in various spheres

· Home visit- not entering the house, entering only the main entrance, not in the living quarters, not sitting in the house if entered, notconsuming any thing to eat when offered by the resident.
· Practice of Untouchability- giving the medicines in the hands without touching the hand or any other part of the body, keeping the medicine on floor or paper, on anything else but not directly on the hand.
· Information- no information, incomplete/incorrect information about health and immunization camps.
· Dispensing of medicine- in the hand, without delay; on the dispensing window sill, without delay; in the hand, after everyone else has been given; on the dispensing window sill, after everyone else has been given; not giving at all.
· Diagnosis- may be measured through the indicators such as time spend in asking about the problem; sympathetic tone of the providers; and use of derogatory words as identification markers, not touching the user while diagnosis.
· Laboratory test/x-ray- can be measured in terms of the time of the test/x-ray done, immediately as the turn comes or wait till everyone else’s tests/x-rays are done.
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Discrimination in access to health care service can thus, be understood through three basic forms-
· Complete exclusion or complete denial of health care services
· Partial denial or selected exclusion of health care services
· Unfavorable inclusion or forced inclusion for certain services.
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Two hundred dalit and 65 non-dalit children were interviewed from the 12 selected villages. In case of those aged below 12 years, their mothers were interviewed. About 6-10 In-depth interviews were held in each village. The respondents were mothers, children, Panchayat Raj Institution (PRI) members, non-government organization (NGO)/ government organization (GO)/ self help groups (SHG) workers; Anganwadi workers; auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) and health worker (HW). At least 2 Group Discussions and 1-2 Consultative Meetings were also held in each of the village. Life course analysis and Case Study of selected individuals were also done.
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Most children experienced caste-based discrimination in dispensing of medicine (91%) followed by the conduct of the pathological test (87%). Of 1298 times that the 200 dalit children were given any medicine, they experienced discrimination on 1181 occasions. Nearly 9 out of 10 times dalit children experienced discrimination while receiving or getting the medicine or a pathological test conducted. While seeking referral about 63% times dalit children were discriminated. Also, nearly 6 in every 10 times dalit children were discriminated during diagnosis and while seeking referral.
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It was observed that most of the discrimination was experienced by dalit children in the form of ‘touch’ 94% times, when they accessed health care. Duration of time spent between the provider and dalit children was the next most discriminating form. About 81% times dalit children were not given as much time by the providers as other children. The use of derogatory words and waiting at the place of care provisioning were the forms where less discrimination was experienced as compared to duration of interaction and touch. About 7 out of 10 times children were discriminated by doctors, lab technicians and RMPs vis-à-vis touch. This form was more vigorously practiced by pharmacists, ANMs and AWWs. They did not touch the dalit children for almost every time they interacted with them
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The Dalit children in both the states wished that the providers should speak to them gently without using derogatory and demeaning words. Time spent with the provider was ranked fifth in both the states as far as the desired behavior from the providers was concerned. Being touched gently, without being offended, appeared low in their ranking among the children in both the states largely because they may not be visualizing it as important element in care giving
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It is evident from the consultative meeting with the Panchayat members, teachers and other members of the village community that when there were elected members, officials, teachers and care providers from Dalit caste; and voluntary organisations sensitive to the issue of caste based discrimination in the area; more assertion among Dalits and less evidence of discrimination were noted. Villages where such sensitivity lacked, hooliganism, often backed by local political outfits was conspicuous. For instance a Dalit Doctor (lady) was forced to ‘go on leave’ due to alleged misconduct of a Dominant caste youth with claims of ‘political connections’ (Undkha). There were apprehensions about dalit providers which often led to unpleasant encounters. A PHC doctor from Dalit caste (Ranigaon) ‘satisfied’ Dalits, though the non-Dalits felt he was there because ‘the Sarpanch was also from Dalit caste’. His medicines were considered ‘not effective’, medicines are unavailable because ‘they sell’ them in the market. Acceptance of Dalit provider was also evident when the key villagers reflected sensitivity towards caste-based discrimination. Information about health camps were given adequately to dalit households. There were expectations that these important villagers would work towards bridging the gap between the Dalits and the non-Dalits.
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*Samghmitra S. Acharya is Associate Professor at Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health, JNU, New Delhi. She wishes to acknowledge and express gratitude to Prof. P.M. Kulkarni, Prof G. Shah and Prof S.K. Thorat for their valuable suggestions while conducting the study on which the paper is based.
The entire paper [pdf] is available for download.

The story of Govind Majhi

- Pravin Patel

Pravin Patel is a human rights activist and president of the Tribal Welfare Society. Read the full essay on  jharkhand.org.in

I would like to share the story of Govind Majhi, a tribal youth of 29 years, living in a remote tribal village known as Patua, amidst forests of Latikata Block of Sundergarh district in Orissa. During my over 12 years of working with tribals in many tribal areas of our country, I have met several youths many of whom have developed as good dedicated volunteers who work for the welfare of their community in and around their area, but Govind Majhi is one youth who is totally different from others, who has proved that poverty can not come in the way if there is a strong determination and confidence to address the poverty.
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I invited him and others to discuss about our organizational matters. Govind also called in few of his villagers to have talks with me. I learnt that almost all of them are very poor, making living as daily wage earners. They stated that for the first time in his life, they have met people who work for poor as their friends. Govind was anxious to say so many things in that short time. I also noticed tears in his eyes. I advised him that if he can come with me and stay with us for that night, we can discuss at great length. He promptly agreed. It was little over 9 PM when we reached Pantha Niwas at Rourkela where we were staying. I and Govind talked till about 3 in the morning which I share with you all in shape of a real story.

Patua is a small village with a population of about 3,000, almost all are poor tribals. No internal roads, no electricity, no high school, no college, no doctor in the primary Health Centre is the reality of development. Ganju Tola where Govind resides with his father, wife and 2 ½ year daughter is a part of the Patua, which is part of Bad Dalki Gram Panchayat in Latikata block of Sundergarh district of Orissa.

Govind Majhi, hero of our true story was born in the year 1981 to Kali Majhi (father) and late Raibara Majhi (Mother). He has a younger brother Laxman Majhi and two married and one unmarried sisters. They own, besides their small house, is one and half acre of non-irrigated land on which, except paddy, nothing is grown.

What is poverty was not known to Govind Majhi in his childhood days. The family used to take one meal a day which was considered as a routine as almost all the houses same was the practice. A private secondary school that had come up at Bad Dalki was also instrumental in bringing in change in the lives of the Majhi family, thanks to the efforts of Govind. At the age of 17, he studied up class IX and X in that secondary school. Here he came in contact with other students, some of whom became his friends. He used to visit them at their houses where for the first time in his life came to know that they not only take two meals a day but also enjoys breakfast and have other luxuries. He was in dilemma, not able to understand the realities of life.

He asked his father why they do not eat two meals a day as his friends do at Bad Dalki. Kali Majhi, his father tried to impress upon him that he is now grown up, it is time for him to understand hard realities, if he wants to survive, as they are poor, they can not afford the luxury of meals twice a day. Paddy grown in their one and half acre of land is not enough for one year, if they take meals twice a day. All the rice will be finished in five to six months. What they will eat for the rest of the year till new paddy arrives? What ever little money he earns working as a daily wage earner is not enough to meet other requirements. They will die of hunger, if they eat twice a day. Govind was upset by learning lessons of the realities of life. His father even advised him to keep away from visiting houses of his friends. Young brain of Govind was in puzzle as to why they are poor and his friends at Bada-dalki are rich. He decided to talk to his friends.

Next day he asked his friend at the school, how many acres of land they own? He was surprised to know that they had no land at all. He got confused as how without land they manage to have so much rice that feeds them twice a day throughout the year. Another friend informed that they have eight acres of land that gives them enough paddy that is much more than what they require, as such they sell those surplus paddy to buy other necessities.

After a week or so, on a Sunday morning Govind reached his friend’s house that had no land at all. Here he understood that besides land, jobs in the state and public sector also helps to earn salaries with which they can buy all the rice and other food stuff as well as fulfill other social and economical requirements. He wanted to know, how his father can also get a job that can earn him salary. He understood that jobs are not easy, since required educational qualification is a must for getting any job, which is neither with him nor with his father. He understood that the circumstances in which they are living do not permit him to go for higher education as there is no money to buy even books. He realized that even he can not they can start working Govind learnt one more lesson to put at rest the question that haunted his mind.

Instead of getting disheartened, he decided to accept it as a challenge that he will not accept it as their fate but will do every thing that can bring in the change. He decided to discontinue studies after class X and work with his father as a daily wage earner to earn money that can help his younger brother Laxman to go to college at Rourkela. He discussed with Laxman who ultimately agreed to do what ever is best in the interest of the family. This was the turning point for the better for Kali Majhi family.

Govind after finishing class X at Bada- Dalki left the studies; joined his father to work full time on his farm and also working as a labourer to earn wages. His brother Laxman studied hard as was greatly inspired by the sacrifice of his elder brother. He went to Vedvyas and Rourkela where he not only graduated but also cleared his Diploma in Electrical engineering with good results. One out of many of his applications for jobs; finally he got a call from the Indian Railways with whom he now works in their electrical department, presently posted at MALDA in West Bengal.

Majhi family not only now enjoys food twice a day but also afford to spend money on other needs and comforts they need. Govind has one mobile phone through which, he is in regular contact with his brother and married sisters. Kali Majhi is now 65 years of age. He has stopped working as a neither labour nor works at his farm any more. Govind sighs to say that his mother died of cancer seven years back, was unlucky to see the change in our lives. He regrets that if the change would come few years earlier, she would have died happily. He gets disturbed to say that his mother never enjoyed the luxury of eating two meals a day.

Govind also proudly says that Laxman has made two Fixed Deposit of Rs.10, 000/- each i.e. Rs. 20,000/- in the name of his younger unmarried sister Jasumati so that with that money with interest, they will spend in her marriage. He intends to make one more fixed deposit of Rs. 10,000/- later in this year. He has also paid all the money that was spent for the marriage of one of his sister few years back. Besides, the same Laxman also paid medical bills of about Rs. 8,000/- that was spent in the illness of one of his sister and also of his father. Laxman’s college friends are also employed elsewhere. Three of them are in BSF, five are police constables, one is with HAL at Sonabeda and five are at Rourkela Steel Plant.

Now Govind aspires to bring a change in his village. He states that in the name of development what they have got in last sixty years is one Anganwadi, a primary school that has classes up to class VIII, few tube wells that often goes dry in summer. Rivulet which flows round the year is at a short distance of ½ kilometer but only Kudar Tola residents are given the facility of lift irrigation that irrigates their 20-25 acres of land. No internal roads or lanes in the village. During rainy days, it is extremely difficult to ride bicycle or even walk on those muddy and marshy lanes full of pits. No electricity though power lines are not far off. The post office is a one man show with postman performing duty from postman to postmaster.

Primary Health Care centre is a cement concrete structure with no medical staff, forget about doctors. He says, nobody has seen any doctor from the day that health centre has been constructed. No ambulance has ever come to their village. When some one falls seriously ill, they used to take the patient, lifting with cot to take to Latikata, walking all the way. Now they take patients to the main road, from where they take them to Latikata or Rourkela by bus or Auto Rickshaws that ply regularly.

He adds saying that just as they suffered, there are many families in Patua who are as poor as they were one day. They also manage with one meal a day to survive. He adds to say that when guests arrive at some ones house and they have no rice in the house, they manage by taking from some ones house to be returned later on. Govind wants that all the villagers should come out of their tragedies at the earliest, as they have managed to do so. Rs. One or Two per KG rice scheme has no doubt helped few families but neither all the families have cards nor the quantity they get in a month is sufficient for them. He says instead of giving us rice at Rs. One or Two per kg, give us water from the rivulet that flows round the year near to their village to produce rice that they need. He also lists elephant menace as one more area of problem.

About NREGA, he says that till date no work has been done under NREGA at his village. The only work done is to construct a road from Deditola to Kendu Berli, which is five KM away from their village. They demanded work near to their village but no result. Even after the road work is over before one and half year, no payments has been made till now. Villagers have gone several times to Sarpanch and also to BDO but all in vain. Sarpanch says he has submitted all the required papers while BDO informs that the papers are incomplete and not sufficient.
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About the Griefs of the Mangs and Mahars

An essay written by Muktabai, 14 years old and student at the school founded by Savithribai and Jotirao Phule, in 1855.

Excerpted from Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present  ed. by Susie Tharu and Ke. Lalitha

Published by Feminist Press, 1991

Excerpt first published on the anti-caste blog

 

[From the introduction]

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We have little biographical information about Muktabai. We know only that she studied at the school in Pune founded by Savithribai and Jotiba Phule and when she wrote this essay in 1855 she was fourteen. Of what happened to her later, or indeed of any of her other writings, we have no record. Yet through her vivid and acerbic polemic we get an unmistakable impression of intelligence and self-confidence.
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This piece was originally published in 1855 in Dnyanodaya,  an Ahmednagar journal that was designed to disseminate information about such new scientific disciplines as physics and astronomy and also discussed religion and morality. The essay was reprinted in the Dnyanodaya Centenary Volumes, edited by B. P. Hivale, in 1942. It is probably the earliest surviving piece of writing by a mang woman, an “untouchable.”

 

MANG MAHARACHYA DUKHAVISAYI (About the Griefs of the Mangs and Mahars)

If one attempts to refute, on the basis of the Vedas, the argument of these brahmins, the great gluttons, who consider themselves to be superior to us and hate us, they counter that the Vedas are their own property. Now obviously, if the Vedas are only for the brahmins, they are absolutely not for us. Teach us, O Lord, thy true religion so that we all can lead our lives according to it. Let that religion, where only  one person is privileged and the rest are deprived, perish from the earth and let it never enter our minds to be proud of such a religion.

These people drove us, the poor mangs and mahars, away from our own lands, which they occupied to build large mansions. And that was not all. They regularly used to make the mangs and mahars drink oil mixed with red lead and then buried them in the foundations of their mansions, thus wiping out generation after generation of these poor people. Under Bajirao’s rule, if any mang or mahar happened to pass in front of the gymnasium, they cut off his head and used it to play “bat ball,” with their swords as bats and his head as a ball, on the grounds. If the victim managed to save his life and Bajirao came to know of it, he used to say, “How dare they save their lives? Do these untouchables expect the brahmins to hand over their duties as revenue officers to them and to start roaming with their shaving kits, all over the town, shaving the heads of widows?” With such remarks he used to punish them.

Second, were these brahmins satisfied with prohibiting the knowledge of writing to us? No. Not them. Bajirao went to Kashi and died a dusty death there. But the mahars here, no less untouchable than the mangs, have absorbed some of his qualities through their contact with him, and consider themselves to be superior to the mangs, so much so that they do not allow even the shadow of a mang to fall over them. Do the merciless hearts of these brahmins, who strut around in their so-called holy clothes, ever feel even a grain of pity for us when we suffer so much grief on account of being branded as untouchables? Nobody employs us because we are untouchables. We have to endure miseries because we do not have any money. O learned pandits, wind up the selfish prattle of your hollow wisdom and listen to what I have to say.

When our women give birth to babies, they do not have even a roof over their houses. How they suffer in the rain and the cold! Try to think about it from your own experience. Suppose the women suffered from some puerperal disease, from where could they have found money for the doctor or medicines? Was there ever any doctor among you who was human enough to treat people free of charge?

The mang and mahar children never dare lodge a complaint even if the brahmin children throw stones at them and injure them seriously. They suffer mutely because they say they have to go to the brahmins’ houses to beg for the leftover morsels of food.

Alas! O God! What agony this! I will burst into tears if I write more about this injustice….

Translated from Marathi original by Maya Pandit