wfn.org | WSF: Is the Dalit Issue a Local or International Concern?

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

WSF: Is the Dalit Issue a Local or International Concern?
Human Rights Networks Pressurize Governments, United Nations to Address
Caste-based Discrimination

MUMBAI, India/GENEVA, 27 January 2004 (LWI)  When a Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) representative at the Fourth World Social Forum (WSF)
explained the LWFs efforts to deal with violence against women worldwide, a
young Indian man wondered whether sexual violence against Dalit women was not
just a local issue. 

Indias caste system socially justifies the rape of a Dalit woman by an
upper-caste man. How can this then be seen as an international issue? asked
Mr David Rajkumar Lawrence from Chennai, alluding to numerous reports about
the rape of Dalit women by upper-caste men.

Ms Priscilla Singh, LWF executive secretary for Women in Church and Society
(WICAS) explained that the LWF working document Churches Say No to
Violence against Women is an acknowledgement by the LWF and its member
churches including Indian churches that violence against women is a reality
in society and church worldwide. This does not exclude sexual violence
against Dalit women, she said. 

In India, caste is the factor that excludes and marginalizes one fifth of the
total population by virtue of their work and descent. Dalits are at the
bottom of the social hierarchy, excluded by the 'non-Dalits' in social and
economic life. Caste imposes enormous obstacles to the universal enjoyment of
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, which are guaranteed
in the Indian Constitution. Dalits are deprived of education, employment
opportunities, access to land, temples, hotels and shops. They are not
allowed to drink from the same cups in tea stalls. Dalits have to do work
which is considered polluting, and are themselves regarded as impure. They
are forced to undertake demeaning work such as manual scavenging (the
collection and removal of human faeces from dry latrines by hand). Many
Dalits are bonded laborers in rural communities, finding themselves under the
vicious cycle of debt bondage.

International Organizations Lobby at UN Commission on Human Rights but That
Is Not Enough

The Dalit issue featured prominently at the WSF particularly at one
well-attended seminar From Frying Pan to Fire: The Future of Dalits and
Descent-based Communities, organized by the International Dalit Solidarity
Network (IDSN). One of the panelists, Mr Peter Prove, LWF Assistant to the
General Secretary for International Affairs and Human Rights explained
efforts by various international organizations and networks including the
LWF, to internationalize the Dalit issue particularly in the United Nations
human rights system. He noted that the 2001 World Conference against Racism
in Durban, South Africa failed to address discrimination based on work and
descent, an expression referring to caste-based and similar forms of
discrimination. 

The UN Commission on Human Rights, said Prove, has appointed a Special
Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance, but we are saying that is not enough. The Commission and the
international community must urge governments, including the government of
India, to acknowledge and address the continuing prevalence of discrimination
based on caste and to fully implement existing laws in order to make the
right to equality and freedom a reality for people suffering from this form
of entrenched exclusion.

In an interview with Lutheran World Information Mr Vincent Manoharan, one of
two Dalit members of the WSF India Organizing Committee and convenor of the
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), explained that the Indian
Constitution prohibits the practice of 'untouchability'. Parliament enacted
the Protection of Civil Rights Act only in 1955, with nominal punishment for
violations. After considering the Acts inadequacy, the legislature enacted
the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 1989
but promulgated its rules only in 1995. There are special courts established
under the new Act, but the conviction rate is still less than one percent of
the cases registered. Despite formal protection in law, discriminatory
treatment remains endemic and impunity continues to be enjoyed by most of
those committing crimes against Dalits, said Manoharan. He noted however that
there are 117 Dalit Members of Parliament in the 544-member legislative body.

For Indias estimated 200 million Dalits, the WSF remains a crucial forum to
raise issues that the NCDHR and its international partners are advocating,
according to Manoharan. Economic liberalization, globalizations main drive,
is like a double-barreled gun for Dalit people: the caste system and
untouchability touch on our human status, while globalization and capitalism
touch on our livelihood, marginalizing us further, he said.

Formed in 2000, the IDSN is a network of national solidarity networks from
affected countries and international organizations concerned about caste
discrimination and similar forms of discrimination based on work and descent.
It campaigns against caste-based discrimination, as experienced by the Dalits
of South Asia, Buraku people of Japan, Sab (low caste) groups of Somalia, the
occupational caste people in West Africa, and others. Internationalizing the
Dalit issue includes the establishment of national Dalit Solidarity Networks
(DSNs) currently present in Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden,
the United Kingdom and United States of America. The aim is to give global
visibility to the caste issue; enlist more like-minded groups; lobby with
governments and at the UN level; and build DSNs in other countries.

Certainly, another world is possible for the estimated 260 million people
worldwide affected by discrimination based on work and descent, noted
Manoharan, referring to the theme of WSF 2004.

The NCDHR convenor is a member of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church and
has studied liberation theology at the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary. (911
words)

[The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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