wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: The violence of manual scavenging in India

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World Council of Churches - Feature

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For immediate release - 15/10/2009 16:51:17

>THE VIOLENCE OF MANUAL SCAVENGING IN INDIA

>by Karen Burke (*)
>Photos available, see below

On a dimly lit balcony in Delhi, the mosquitoes begin to close
in.

I am talking to the man who Outlookmagazine – one of the
top-selling English news magazines in India – named among the 25
most influential Indians without wealth or official power last
year, and so it is perhaps unsurprising that he is not distracted
by a few mosquitoes.

As the national convenor of Safai Karmachari Andolan – a
movement for the elimination of manual scavenging – Bezwada
Wilson is leading a campaign that he hopes will result in the
liberation of 1.3 million Indians by 31 December 2010, and it is
his spirit that is helping to mobilize the victims of the caste
system.

“Manual scavenging was prohibited in 1993,” Wilson explains to
me on the balcony of the home of Paul Divakar, General Secretary
of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), who is
hosting a fellowship dinner for a “Living Letters (
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/iepc/living-letters-visits.html
)” team of ecumenical representatives from the World Council of
Churches (WCC).

“But there were no prosecutions against people exploiting manual
scavengers until this year. Twenty one prosecutions were
commenced, but they all got bail the next day,” Wilson informs
me.

Safai Karmachari Andolan has waited long enough for the
authorities. If the law is not being implemented to free people
from the inhumanity of manual scavenging in all of India’s
districts, then Safai Karmachari Andolan feels there is no other
option but to encourage people to free themselves.

“We have a plan to eradicate manual scavenging in India within
36 months starting from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010,”
Wilson says.

“The community should just stop work. No human being should have
to clean other people’s excrement."

Despite the fact that the caste system was abolished under
India’s constitution in 1950, “untouchability” is still
practised, particularly in rural areas. Communities allocate work
they consider the most menial to outcast Dalits. In some rural
schools, Dalit children are made to clean the school toilets and
sit at the back of the class in case they “pollute” children from
higher castes. About 80 percent of manual scavengers are women.

In September, the Central Committee of the WCC released a strong
statement (
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/browse/2/article/1634/caste-based-discriminatio.html
)on caste-based discrimination, declaring that it contradicts the
Christian teaching that all are created equal in the image of
God, and calling on member churches to "recognize that the
continued discrimination and exclusion of millions of people on
the basis of caste" is a "serious challenge to the credibility of
their witness to their faith in God".

The psychological battle and international visibility

"Living Letters" are small international ecumenical teams
travelling to locations around the world where Christians strive
to overcome violence. Their goal is to express the solidarity of
the ecumenical family and learn how people are dealing with the
challenges that face them. 

As part of the visit to India, the Living Letters team met with
activists from the Dalit liberation movement and from Safai
Karmachari Andolan.

Divakar and Wilson met the eight team members at the NCDHR
Centre for Inclusion and Equity in Delhi.

“It is difficult for the country of Gandhi, the country of
peace, to say that it has this problem with Dalits, so
internationalizing the issue has really helped,” said Divakar.

Much of the struggle involves liberating Dalits from the
psychological burden of the caste system that places Hindu
Brahmins at the top of the social hierarchy. 

Divakar explained: “A Dalit needs to realize, ‘There is no
Brahmin on my head. I have the Brahmin in my mind and I have
internalized that.’”

When Wilson saw how deeply the caste system had beaten its way
inside his brother’s mind, he resolved to dedicate his energies
to fighting it.

“I remember going into the Employment Exchange to register for
employment after I had finished my education,” Wilson recalled.
“I was given a card with a code on it and this code identified
my occupation. Despite my qualifications, I had been allocated
the job of manual scavenging because that is what my parents had
done.

“My brother gave up everything so that I could get an education
and I was so surprised when I showed him the card and he said,
‘OK, no problem. This is the way it works in this country.’
The Brahmin was in the mind of my brother.”

Since then, Wilson has been lobbying local authorities and
courts as well as raising consciousness among manual scavengers
that cleaning human excrement with their bare hands is an
inhumane occupation.

“My Christian faith has taught me from childhood that we are all
equal. That is the one thing that showed me that manual
scavenging can’t be accepted.”

>[778 words]

(*) Karen Burkeis a journalist and the media officer for the
Methodist Church in Britain.

"Despite women-friendly laws, discrimination and violence
remain, Indian activists say":
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/despite-women-friendly-la.html

"Indian Christian leaders call for an end to caste-based
discrimination, also within churches":
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/indian-christian-leaders.html

Living Letters visit to India:

http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/peace-convocation/living-letters-visits/india.html

Photo gallery:

http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/news-and-events/photos/visit-to-india.html

WCC programme on solidarity with Dalits for justice and
dignity:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3249

WCC member churches in India:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/india.html

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect
WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
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