When did lives stop mattering?
Siya Girisaballa brings to you an opinionated editorial on the scheduled castes in India.
“Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.” Article 15, in the constitution of India, 1949
India is a country that claims its ‘Unity in Diversity’. Out civics textbooks have taught us the same throughout our primary education. We’ve been taught that our country is one where all are equal, discrimination happens rarely and all is well. We are not taught about the rural areas that till date face gross discrimination on the basis of their caste. We are not taught about the numerous lives that have been declared insignificant because of the family they were born into. We are not taught about the rape, physical assault and mental trauma inflicted on girls because of their creed.
Diversity in India sparks pride in the eyes of those who are either unoppressed or significantly less oppressed. For those in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and so many more states, it sparks years of brutality, bigotry and agony. We claim to be a democracy where the right to equality is considered the most important fundamental right. The fact remains that our differences in the past have continued to taint our future. The numerous “traditions” we claimed were sexist, oppressive, discriminatory and more still affect countless lives till date. Lamentably, we find it more important to publicize a minor drug case and an alleged murder than acute blows at the very pillars of democracy.
Youngsters in India found it “cooler” to post a #BLM on their social media accounts, but I have only seen one #DalitLivesMatter or #DLM on my friends’ accounts. So what matters more to us is our social presence online and not the future of our account. My friend told me that he received comments on his #DLM post stating things like “Why are you discriminating, it isn’t DLM it’s ALM or All Lives Matter”. He then proceeded to tell me that all lives will matter as soon as the exploited have received justice. Until there is equality established all lives don’t matter. Dalits were given quota, or seats to better futures as an apology for the pain they endured in the past. What is sad is that they’re still enduring the pain because they are still referred to as Dalits.
The history behind the caste system is a lengthy albeit interesting one. Centuries ago, castes came up as a way of labelling occupations. On top of the caste hierarchy were the Brahmins, the learned ones. Then came the Kshatriyas, who were the kings and soldiers. After the Kshatriyas came the Vaishyas who were traders and finally right at the bottom were the Shudras, or Dalits, who were menial workers. The system functioned well because people could switch their castes based on their occupation. A Shudra could become a Brahmin if he learnt the scriptures. A Kshatriya could become a Vaishya if he learnt the laws of the trade and so on. Soon, the traditions were adjusted to convenience. Shifts in castes became infrequent and soon were abolished. It was impossible for there to be a shift in castes. Soon, discrimination towards the Shudras began and it went to such an extreme that they were referred to as ‘untouchables’. This led to years of oppression and bigotry which finally ended in 1947, when India attained independence.
The #DLM began with the outrage in Hathras, Bihar recently. A Dalit girl was raped and left to die by four upper caste men. Many argued that apart from female injustice, this was a matter of caste inequality. This started a movement with a lot of references to the Article 15 of the Indian constitution which also has a movie based on it. Article 15 was the basic right to equality which stated that no man or woman could discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, color, gender or place of birth.
Many solutions have been provided to this problem, but the only one that will work is unraveling the system. Break the system, and begin building it back piece by piece. Our country is in such a turmoil that unless the system changes, the mentality won’t and until the mentality changes there is no scope for improvement.
Every little piece of this country is linked in some way or the other. Politics to discrimination to the law to the security to media coverage, all of this is a web of mistakes and wrongdoings. People have been wronged and they deserve justice. No amount of quota will be able to undo the damage done to the Dalits and their ancestors. In a world where people earn their place, who are we to decide where someone belongs? The situation of our country is destitute and we are in dire need of a makeover. It’s more than just one case of injustice now, it’s a case of repeated mistakes that are not being corrected and it is up to us to do something about it.
#DalitLivesMatter to ensure that #AllLivesMatter.
