Dalit, also previously known as untouchable, is a name for people belonging to the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Dalits now profess various religious beliefs, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam and various other belief systems. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits as per the Constitution of India.
Human rights in India is an issue complicated by the country's large size and population as well as its diverse culture, despite its status as the world's largest sovereign, secular, democratic republic. The Constitution of India provides for Fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for freedom of speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country and abroad. The country also has an independent judiciary as well as bodies to look into issues of human rights.
N. Paul Divakar is a Dalit activist and former General Secretary of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, based in Delhi. He was formerly the General Secretary of the Dalit Bahujan Shramik Union, a Dalit-Bahujan rights organisation in Andhra Pradesh.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state of Tamil Nadu. The party also has a strong emphasis on Tamil nationalism. Its chairman is Thol. Thirumavalavan, a lawyer from Chennai and its general secretary is the writer Ravikumar.
The Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy (FFDA) is an Indian human rights monitoring organization founded in 1995 that fights to promote and protect human rights in India by working with the victims of human rights violations and their organizations. It educates the victims and their communities, and facilitates and builds the capacity of organizations of victims to take collective action on their own. It addresses the issues of displacement and forced eviction, violence against women and children, exploitation, torture, abuse and discrimination against Dalits, and attacks on minorities and indigenous communities.
Ruth Manorama is a Dalit social activist from Bangalore, India who fights for Dalit women's rights, the rights of domestic workers and those in the unorganized labour sector, as well as urban slum dwellers. In 2006, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Act, 1989 was enacted by the Parliament of India to prevent atrocities and hate crimes against the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Act is popularly known as the SC/ST Act, PoA, or simply the 'Atrocities Act'.
Martin Macwan is a Dalit human rights activist in Gujarat, India.
Persecution and discrimination against Dalits has been observed in the countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the UK, and the US.
The People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights is an Indian non-governmental organisation and membership-based movement which work to ensure basic rights for marginalised groups in Indian society, e.g. children, women, Dalits and tribes to establish rule of law through participatory activism against extrajudicial killing, police torture, hunger, bonded labour and injustice by hegemonic masculinity of the caste system and patriarchy. PVCHR ideology is inspired by the father of the Dalit movement and modern nation state, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, and father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, who struggled against patriarchy & the hierarchical caste system. PVCHR and its founders nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to combat masculinity driven militarist traditions, for their contribution to bettering conditions for peace in world and for acting as driving force in efforts to prevent the use of masculinity driven militarist traditions as a weapon of war and conflict.
Vincent Manoharan is an Indian human rights activist, he is known mostly for creating the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), and organization that focuses on stemming the discrimination still present within India's caste system.
Joseph D'souza is an Indian bishop, missionary, and Christian and Dalit rights activist. As of 2018, he was International President of the Dignity Freedom Network (DFN), President of the All India Christian Council (AICC), and CEO of Operation Mobilisation - India with is not affiliated with Operation Mobilisation, International. On 30 August 2014, he was consecrated as Archbishop of the Good Shepherd Church of India, and associated ministries.
Ashif Shaikh is a social activist from India who has worked for ending sexual violence against women and children, eradication of manual scavenging, forced labour practices and human trafficking in India. He is the founder of Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan and the non profit organisation, Jan Sahas.
The Bhopal Conference was held at Bhopal in the Hindi Belt state of Madhya Pradesh, India, on 12-13 January 2002. Its purpose was to address issues relating to improvement in the circumstances of the economically- and socially-deprived Dalit and Tribal communities of the state. The immediate outcome was the Bhopal Declaration which included a Dalit Agenda that has been described by Sudha Pai as "... a new effort to address the problems faced by Dalits and Tribals in keeping with liberalisation and the emergence of a competitive market economy." The results significantly influenced the policies of the then Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, and caused the state to experience a markedly different style of Dalit politics to that which was typical in the neighbouring Belt areas, such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Marimuthu Bharathan is a Dalit human rights defender from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was awarded the 2012 Human Rights Tulip by the Dutch government, but was refused a passport to leave India to receive the award in person, due to a pending murder charge that he strongly denies.
All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) is a platform for women from the Dalit community to raise their voices for justice. This platform has raised several struggles and movements for self-respect and dignity. AIDMAM is a movement which was initiated by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). The aim of the movement is to recognize how the class, caste, and gender identity of a dalit woman overlap and place them at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. They work to empower dalit women to challenge these caste, class, and gender hierarchies and move forward in their struggle for justice. They do so through networking, enhancing skills and leadership at the state and district level.
Asha Kowtal is an activist and expert in the field of Dalit women’s rights. She is currently the General Secretary of the Dalit Women’s Rights movement in India, called the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM), which is part of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. She is also a convenor and part of the steering committee of WinG-India, a network advancing leadership of women from the north-eastern part of India, and involving Dalit and tribal communities in governance at all levels with the aim of challenging exploitative structures and enabling a society with gender equality.
Manjula Pradeep is an Indian human rights activist and a lawyer. She is the former Executive Director of Navsarjan Trust, one of the largest Dalit rights organizations in India, addressing the issues of caste discrimination and gender based discrimination.
Dalit feminism is a feminist perspective that includes questioning caste and gender roles among the Dalit population and within feminism and the larger women's movement. Dalit women primarily live in South Asia, mainly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Dalit women face different challenges than women in oppressor castes in these countries. They are more likely to be poor, uneducated and socially marginalized. Dalit feminists advocate and have advocated for equal rights for Dalit women based on gender, caste and other issues. They have addressed conferences, created organizations and helped elect other Dalit women into political office.
The 2004 Kalapatti violence refers to the violence against Dalits by dominant-caste villagers in the village of Kalapatti, Tamil Nadu on 16 May 2004. About 100 Dalit houses have been burned down by a mob of 200 villagers and Dalits who attempted to escape were attacked, including the reports of sexual assaults against Dalit women. The attacks lasted for 2 hours and 14 people were seriously injured in the violence including a man's arm reportedly hacked off.
