The last couple of days I've been going to the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) office to learn more about their campaign and see if I could do anything useful for them and if it would be something I would like to be involved with for the duration of my stay in India.
I was connected to NCDHR through one of my contacts at the Indian Formation Research Society who I met at the Study Circle I went to in Assam. They are working for the rights of Dalits, members of the lowest caste, who are also referred to as the "untouchable" caste, in India. Dalits make up about 17% of the population of India which equates to almost 200 million people! Dalits are discriminated against and suffer huge violations of their basic human rights by upper castes and government systems/policies simply because of their birth into the Dalit caste. As a result, they often live in slums, are refused education, especially post-secondary education, are not given the privilege to choose their work and are confined to labour that is both ill-paying and considered to be demeaning by most of Indian society (street cleaners, devadasis (temple prostitutes), cobblers, leather workers, etc).
Dalits, especially women and children are also very vulnerable to violence from upper castes. Because the idea of caste is so deeply ingrained into many members of Indian society, when Dalits try to speak out against violations to their rights or injustice, they will often suffer more violence at the hands of the authorities or retribution from aggressors they complain about for not "accepting their fate as a Dalit", which they think is necessarily equated with discrimination and atrocities.
The NCDHR is trying to make practical changes to this horrific historic problem with a number of campaigns they are working on. Due to a seeming "lack of interest" and a visible lack of action (or rather, invisible action?) in addressing the problem from many national agencies, the NCDHR has been forced to take the issue to an International level.
Yesterday, as part of a training process at NCDHR (a number of students are interning here for a few weeks and I happened to come during their orientation), we took a field trip to Baljeet Nagar, just 10 minutes by cycle-rickshaw from the NCDHR office in Delhi. The settlement in Baljeet Nagar is located behind a large sports ground, Ramjas Park, and residential area. It was created 25 to 30 years ago when immigrants, primarily from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, moved to Delhi in search of better opportunities. Since that time the number of jhuggis (shanties) erected has reached around 4000 and it is estimated that approximately 80% of the people living in Baljeet Nagar are Dalits. Although the settlement is technically illegal, the residents have been paying bribes for many years in order to stay on the land.
On March 23rd and 24th 2011, without doing any of the mandatory surveys and without any prior notice given to the residents as per the supreme court guidelines, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) arrived with 5 bulldozers at Baljeet Nagar and proceeded to illegally bulldoze around 600 jhuggis. 8 residents were informally arrested and detained for several hours. The residents had no opportunity to remove or salvage their belongings and many official documents, ration cards, voter ID cards and other belongings of the residents were stolen or lost in the rubble. The government has not yet offered any remuneration for the people who have lost their houses nor has any plan for the relocation of these residents been presented as yet.
From a publication at NCDHR:
We talked to the residents of Baljeet Nagar for about two hours about their experiences with the demolition and also the struggles that they face in their daily lives. Many people in Baljeet Nagar have to fight every day for things that so many people take for granted; a home, food, water, access to education, safety, and medicine. Yet, they are happy to talk to us, to share their stories. They have been through such injustice and cruelty in their lives and yet they are still fighting. They are passionate about their rights, they are not giving up. Children are running around smiling, playing and laughing; excited to see foreigners in their settlement and just being children. People are cooking, preparing food, washing clothes, talking, taking care of babies, living.
The residents offer us all samosas and soft drinks before we go as a sign of hospitality and appreciation for coming and hearing their stories.
I was connected to NCDHR through one of my contacts at the Indian Formation Research Society who I met at the Study Circle I went to in Assam. They are working for the rights of Dalits, members of the lowest caste, who are also referred to as the "untouchable" caste, in India. Dalits make up about 17% of the population of India which equates to almost 200 million people! Dalits are discriminated against and suffer huge violations of their basic human rights by upper castes and government systems/policies simply because of their birth into the Dalit caste. As a result, they often live in slums, are refused education, especially post-secondary education, are not given the privilege to choose their work and are confined to labour that is both ill-paying and considered to be demeaning by most of Indian society (street cleaners, devadasis (temple prostitutes), cobblers, leather workers, etc).
Dalits, especially women and children are also very vulnerable to violence from upper castes. Because the idea of caste is so deeply ingrained into many members of Indian society, when Dalits try to speak out against violations to their rights or injustice, they will often suffer more violence at the hands of the authorities or retribution from aggressors they complain about for not "accepting their fate as a Dalit", which they think is necessarily equated with discrimination and atrocities.
The NCDHR is trying to make practical changes to this horrific historic problem with a number of campaigns they are working on. Due to a seeming "lack of interest" and a visible lack of action (or rather, invisible action?) in addressing the problem from many national agencies, the NCDHR has been forced to take the issue to an International level.
Yesterday, as part of a training process at NCDHR (a number of students are interning here for a few weeks and I happened to come during their orientation), we took a field trip to Baljeet Nagar, just 10 minutes by cycle-rickshaw from the NCDHR office in Delhi. The settlement in Baljeet Nagar is located behind a large sports ground, Ramjas Park, and residential area. It was created 25 to 30 years ago when immigrants, primarily from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, moved to Delhi in search of better opportunities. Since that time the number of jhuggis (shanties) erected has reached around 4000 and it is estimated that approximately 80% of the people living in Baljeet Nagar are Dalits. Although the settlement is technically illegal, the residents have been paying bribes for many years in order to stay on the land.
On March 23rd and 24th 2011, without doing any of the mandatory surveys and without any prior notice given to the residents as per the supreme court guidelines, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) arrived with 5 bulldozers at Baljeet Nagar and proceeded to illegally bulldoze around 600 jhuggis. 8 residents were informally arrested and detained for several hours. The residents had no opportunity to remove or salvage their belongings and many official documents, ration cards, voter ID cards and other belongings of the residents were stolen or lost in the rubble. The government has not yet offered any remuneration for the people who have lost their houses nor has any plan for the relocation of these residents been presented as yet.
From a publication at NCDHR:
Though the demolition received formal sanction from the Delhi Government and was scheduled by local authorities, just the day before the bulldozers razed their homes, residents of Baljeet Nagar were allegedly forced to pay huge amounts of money to the DDA and Delhi Police officials.Since the demolition, the NCDHR has been involved in stopping further demolition of the Baljeet Nagar settlement and has thus far warded off further destruction. The situation is still not good though. People living in Baljeet Nagar have no water or toilet facilities, they are gravely under served in terms of health facilities. Women venturing into the nearby wooded area for their bathroom needs are in danger of sexual assault and violence.
We talked to the residents of Baljeet Nagar for about two hours about their experiences with the demolition and also the struggles that they face in their daily lives. Many people in Baljeet Nagar have to fight every day for things that so many people take for granted; a home, food, water, access to education, safety, and medicine. Yet, they are happy to talk to us, to share their stories. They have been through such injustice and cruelty in their lives and yet they are still fighting. They are passionate about their rights, they are not giving up. Children are running around smiling, playing and laughing; excited to see foreigners in their settlement and just being children. People are cooking, preparing food, washing clothes, talking, taking care of babies, living.
The residents offer us all samosas and soft drinks before we go as a sign of hospitality and appreciation for coming and hearing their stories.
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