Archive | India

Human Rights Day: Speak up! Stop Caste Discrimination

In the run up to human rights day 2010 Dalit activists have been mobilising through marches and awareness raising activities from activism in Nepal, a march in India, and human chains in Bangladesh to an exhibition in the UK to highlight the plight of Dalits. These are great initiatives, but the battle for securing human rights for more that 260 million Dalits, discriminated against on the basis of their caste, is fought every day in the communities by Dalit men, women and children who speak up to stop discrimination against them despite the risk of violence, rape, public humiliation, destruction of property and other acts of reprisal.

December 10th, 2010|Bangladesh, India, Nepal, UK|

Manual scavengers: The government has 60 days to act

Manual scavengers from across India gathered at a mass rally in New Delhi Monday 1 November and demanded immediate government action to end manual scavenging once and for all, rehabilitate former manual scavengers and apologise for decades of suffering imposed on this group.

November 2nd, 2010|India, Manual Scavenging|

Indian churches: ‘zero tolerance’ for caste discrimination

Caste discrimination, or casteism, was designated a sin and a “crime against humanity” at the Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits held in New Delhi on 22-24 October.

November 1st, 2010|India|

Get updated with IDSN’s October newsletter

This month's IDSN newsletter features information on Dalit issues from several caste-affected countries, including India, Bangladesh and Nigeria, as well as numerous stories with an international perspective.

October 28th, 2010|Africa, Bangladesh, European Union, India|

Open letter to Barack Obama ahead of his visit to India

IDSN urges President Barack Obama to raise the issue of caste discrimination on his upcoming visit to India

October 18th, 2010|India, South Asia, United Nations|

Bus ‘march’ against manual scavenging

A march – or ‘yatra’ - for the eradication of manual scavenging in India was launched on 29 September. During the next few weeks, buses will carry campaigners from five different corners of India to the capital.

October 1st, 2010|Caste-based slavery, India, Manual Scavenging|

India admits diversion of Dalit funds

Two human rights groups, NCDHR and HLRN, have called for the prosecution of officials who illegally diverted funds from Dalit social welfare programmes to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

September 2nd, 2010|India|

False charges against Dalit activists

IDSN condemns the arrest of five human rights defenders in Tamil Nadu, India. A number of organisations, including Amnesty International, have addressed this case, which also involves a close associate of IDSN.

August 25th, 2010|India|

Child labour: EU’s India policy under scrutiny

Two new reports on child labour in the Indian seed industry have prompted a Dutch member of the European Parliament to ask questions about the EU’s relations with India - including the issue of Dalits.

July 22nd, 2010|Caste-based slavery, Dalit Children, European Union, India|

Two thirds of India’s Dalits are poor

According to a new way of measuring poverty, 66 percent of India’s Dalits are poor – a proportion that is significantly higher than the poverty level of the average population.

July 16th, 2010|India|