Untouchability: Hindrance to Nation's Development

Untouchability is not unique to India; it was practised in parts of Europe until a few centuries ago, and Japan still has a large number of 'untouchables', called the burakumin. But it is in the Indian sub-continent that this system survives, closely bound with culture, religion, history and contemporary politics. Today over 170 million men, women and children in the India are considered untouchable, and improvement in their lot has been slow despite legal safeguards and government programs.

The Indian Caste System

There are four castes in Hindu society and each caste has assigned duties, responsibilities and privileges. The Brahmins are the learned, the Kshatriyas, Vaishyas are the warriors, the are the traders, and the Sudras perform menial tasks and physical labour. Brahmins are on the highest rung of the social hierarchy, and Sudras are on the lowest. For thousands of years the relations amongst the castes and their sub-castes have been governed by religious and moral laws - the most influential of them is a compilation called Manu Dharma Sastra or the Manu Smriti, believed to have been written around the beginning of the Common Era.

The 'Untouchables'

If this is the lot of the Sudras, what is the treatment reserved for the 'untouchables' who are outside the caste system, and placed even lower than the Sudras in society? In the 1500s, during the rule of the Marathas and the Peshwas in today's Maharashtra state, 'untouchables' were not allowed within the gates of the capital city Poona between 3.00 pm and 9.00 am. The reason was that during this time their bodies were likely to cast long shadows, with the attendant danger that the shadow of an 'untouchable' might fall on a Brahmin and pollute him. An 'untouchable' had to carry an earthen pot around his neck so his spittle may not pollute the earth. In Maharashtra an 'untouchable' wore a black thread either in his neck or on his wrist for ready identification, while in Gujarat a horn had to be worn for identification.

The 'untouchables' constitute 15% of the total population of the sub-continent and have been referred to as Depressed Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Local names for the 'untouchable communities' vary in different parts of India: Bhangi, Pakhi, Chandala etc. Mahatma Gandhi called them Harijans or children of God. Now they are called Dalits, which means broken people.

Both upper castes and the lower castes need liberation from the oppressive religious ideology which is at the heart of this terrible situation. The Dalits themselves need economic self-sufficiency without which they will be unable to survive. Any long-term solution to this deeply entrenched problem will require a social, cultural and moral transformation of society.

The basis of everyone's rights lies not in their religious identity or affiliation but in their humanity. Dalits need education and training in Human Rights. As victims of superstition, they need exposure to rational thinking. The succour and superstition of another religion will do little to change the lot of the Dalits. 

The problem of untouchability is more than an issue of law and order - it is a deep rooted, millennia-old malady that afflicts society. Unless the Dalits have belief in themselves and are empowered to assert their own humanity, unless they themselves discover their inherent human dignity, they will continue to be where they are - on the extreme margins of society.  

But empowerment of the Dalits will can only happen when their fractured movement unites on the basis of democratic principles.