India accused of discrimination against Dalits
Wednesday, 14 February 2007, 18:30 IST
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New York: A 2005 government report states that a crime is committed against a Dalit every 20 minutes. Though staggering, these figures represent only a fraction of actual incidents since many Dalits do not register cases for fear of retaliation by the police and upper-caste individuals. A report issued by the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) stated that despite laws and policies against caste discrimination, more than 165 million Dalits in India are condemned to a lifetime of abuse simply because of their caste India has systematically failed to uphold its international legal obligations to ensure the fundamental human rights of Dalits, a New York-based human rights watch group has alleged. The 113-page report by New York-based human rights watch group has alleged, between 2001 and 2002, close to 58,000 cases were registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act - a legislation that criminalises particularly egregious abuses against Dalits and tribal community members. The report- "Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India's 'Untouchables'", was produced as a "shadow report" ahead of a scheduled review of New Delhi's record by a UN committee in Geneva Feb 23 and 26. It was described as a response to India's submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The report said on Dec 27, 2006 Manmohan Singh became the first sitting Indian prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel between the practice of "untouchability" and the crime of apartheid. Singh described "untouchability" as a "blot on humanity", adding, "even after 60 years of constitutional and legal protection and state support, there is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our country". Indian government reports reveal that between 1999 and 2001, as many as 89 percent of trials involving offences against Dalits resulted in acquittals, the report said. The report cited a resolution passed by the European Parliament Feb 1, 2007 finding India's efforts to enforce laws protecting Dalits to be "grossly inadequate," and saying that "atrocities, untouchability, illiteracy, (and) inequality of opportunity, continue to blight the lives of India's Dalits". The resolution called on the Indian government to engage with CERD in its efforts to end caste-based discrimination. Dalit leaders welcomed the resolution, but Indian officials dismissed it as lacking in "balance and perspective".
Source: IANS
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