More than 55 percent of undertrials across India are either Muslims, Dalits or tribals, according to new prison figures from the country’s National Crime Records Bureau for 2015.
The Gujarat police swooped down on Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani at the Ahmedabad airport on the evening of 16 September on his return from Delhi, just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landing for his 66th birthday, falling on the next day. Mevani was picked up for apparently no reason and released later in the dead of the night, at around 3am.
LUDHIANA: Just three months ahead of the assembly polls in Punjab, PM Modi, addressing a public gathering in Ludhiana on Tuesday, said his head hangs in shame every time an atrocity is committed against Dalits. He added that he has called for more focused efforts against "social anomalies."
On the outskirts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home city, the stench from cow carcasses littering the roadside is overpowering as India’s lowest social caste keeps up protests against deep-rooted discrimination.
Gujarat's top Dalit rights organization, Navsarjan Trust, has taken strong exception to a senior Gujarat minister, Atmaram Parmar, in charge of social and justice empowerment department, seeking to “inquire into” the use of funds under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) norms, wondering whether the matter comes under him.
The demands placed during the rally included strict implementation of the Atrocity Act, hearing of Atrocity cases in special courts, capital punishment to Kopardi accused and reservation for Muslims
Dalits say caste atrocities are taking place with impunity even with the atrocity Act in place as the police is reluctant to implement the law.
On 7 June, the Asia Policy Director of Human Rights Watch, John Sifton, testified before a human rights hearing on India in the United States Congress. The hearing coincided with the arrival in the US of Indian Prime Minister Modi. Sifton made numerous references to caste discrimination and called on Members of Congress to include the issue in their dialogues with the Indian authorities. “The United States government should also encourage US companies investing in India to ensure that their hiring and management practices do not further entrench caste or other discrimination,” he added.
In a victory for the Dalit movement in India and for all committed to justice and equality, a historic act amending the ‘Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) legislation has been passed by the upper house of parliament December 21st 2015, after the lower house passed it in August, 2015. The National Coalition on Strengthening PoA Act (NCSPA) have struggled for six years to ensure amendments to this act strengthening the rights of the victims and witnesses, improving access to justice and introducing preventative measures.
Violence and atrocities against Dalits are rising in India and there is an urgent need to step up efforts to ensure justice for victims, finds a new report on access to justice released by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), supported by Christian Aid and the European Union.
Three Dalit human rights defenders spoke at the UN Forum on Minority Issues. Durga Sob, from Nepal, and Manjula Pradeep and Ramesh Nathan from India, delivered strong statements on the dismal state of access to justice for Dalits and the mistreatment of Dalits in the criminal justice system.
In Haryana, as in the rest of the country, caste-related violence is on a steady rise. The government, however, chooses to look the other way.