In a mass protest 15,000 Hindus, the majority of them Dalits, marched through the streets of Karachi to push for the provincial Government of Sindh in Pakistan to meet their demands for provisions to stop escalating discrimination against Hindus in the region.
Urgent and sustainable relief is needed for Dalits residing in the Thar desert who are repeatedly struck by drought. Over 100 children have died in this last drought and the Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network have issued a press release calling for action to address the cause of these humanitarian catastrophes in Thar and find sustainable solutions to protect Dalits from droughts in future.
Caste systems are present in four out of five countries ranked the worst slavery offenders, in the 2013 Global Slavery Index. India alone accounts for half of the people on the planet regarded as ’modern slaves’.
Next month, the European Parliament will express serious concern about caste discrimination and urge the EU to take action on this important human rights issue.
Nine Dalit women activists from South Asia attended the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week. Members of the group spoke at a side event on Dalit women on 4 June, and they appealed to UN member states to address their situation.
Participants in a consultation on Dalit political representation have adopted a resolution urging political parties in Pakistan to nominate members of ‘scheduled castes’ for seats in the country’s elected assemblies.
A new report documents the situation of Pakistan's Dalit women; one of the most socially excluded and impoverished sections of the population. The shadow report for a UN CEDAW review of Pakistan in February calls on the Government to focus on education, access to basic services, and laws and special programmes to protect the rights of Dalit women.
When Pakistan was reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism on 30 October, many states expressed concern about the human rights situation of religious minorities, including scheduled castes.
Press Release (23 October 2012). The Government of Pakistan has failed to honour the commitments it made at the UN review of its human rights record four years ago. International NGOs are urging states to recommend it to ensure full protection of minorities, including Dalits and other marginalised groups.
The recent wave of kidnappings and forced marriages of Dalit girls has spread fear in Pakistan’s Dalit community, which is already extremely marginalised.
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