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Even in flood, India's 'untouchables' last rescued
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-02 12:44
Ravindra Prasad Singh, a state government official coordinating rescue work in Triveniganj, about 875 miles (1,400 kilometers) east of New Delhi, the capital, denied that Dalits were being ignored.
"It's ridiculous. They are lying," he said, but he could not explain why only a single boat of Dalits had come in during all of Sunday afternoon even though they make up more than half the region's people. On Monday, other government officials acknowledged there was a serious problem with Dalits being ignored, but said they were working to fix it. "We are aware of these complaints," said Prataya Amrit, a top disaster management official in Bihar state, the scene of the flooding. Amrit said greater resources were being sent to Dalit majority areas like Triveniganj and army and navy officers were now handling rescues to ensure less abuses. The military "presence will instill a lot of confidence," he said. "In an operation of this magnitude you can't distinguish between rich and poor." India's treatment of Dalits is a long and bitter history of good intentions and little progress. Caste discrimination has been outlawed for more than a half century, and a quota system was established with the aim of giving Dalits a fair share of government jobs and places in schools. But their plight remains dire. Most Dalits, like Parwan, live in destitute villages of rickety mud and thatch huts with no electricity or running water, kept down by ancient prejudice and caste-based politics. In much of rural India, people from lower castes are barred from using upper-caste drinking wells, kept out of temples and denied spots in village. Ignoring the prohibitions is often met with violence. In times of calamity, their situation is no better. "Caste hierarchy is a source of deep emotions in India. In the face of these emotions it is difficult for the law or the army to do anything," said Chandrabhan Prasad, a New Delhi-based caste expert. "The rescuers have their caste loyalty and will try rescue their own first." Faced with indifference and even hostility from many officials, one group of Dalits gave up waiting for help and waded into the neck-deep water in search of their kin. "What can we do?" Parwan said, after being angrily shooed away by Singh for again asking to be given a boat to help his village. "I'm just a Harijan," Parwan added, using a euphemism for Dalits coined by Indian pacifist icon Mohandas K. Gandhi. It means "child of God." |
