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.
Manoharan grew up in a Christian mission compound in India, being a member of the Dalit caste, he has witnessed the human rights discrimination first hand; " Being an Untouchable (Dalit) and a grass root activist for the last 30 years, I am familiar with the life experience – the pathos and sufferings, hopes and faith - of the discriminated and oppressed." [1] Through this experience he became motivated to participate in the Indian Human Rights struggle, he founded the NCDHR in 1998 with the hope of increasing exposure to the discrimination still present in India.
Manoharan founded the NCDHR in 1998 with several other human rights activists, with the goal of raising visibility on the issue of caste discrimination. [2] A total of 78 Dalit activists collaborated in forming NCDHR; they were upset that even after 50 years of independence of British rule, and a national constitution with statutes aimed at stopping caste discrimination, there was not a significant decrease in incidents relating to discrimination against Dalits across India and Asia. [3]
To combat these issues, the group decided on a three phase strategy. The first phase is to raise the visibility of specific events taking place in the region where Dalits have been discriminated against, mostly at the local, state and national levels. Phase 2 is to bring awareness of these Human Rights issues to the international stage. The third phase is to hold the Judiciary system accountable for enforcing the laws stipulated in the constitution. [3]
Recently the plight of the Dalit people has become more internationally known and confronted. In 2002, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination condemned caste discrimination. [4] In December 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that "‘untouchability’ is not just social discrimination. It is a blot on humanity.". [5] In 2009, a deceleration was made that discrimination against a group of people (Dalits) is a human rights violation was a huge success for Manoharan and the NCDHR. [6]
He also helped in the founding of the International Dalit Solidarity Network, [7] a group that fights caste discrimination on a global level.
In 2007 the Manoharan and the NCDHR won the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for their work in the field of Human Rights.
Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimination are found all over the world, untouchability involving the caste system is largely unique to South Asia.
Dalit, also some of them previously known as untouchables, is the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and the peasant class of the medieval European feudal system.
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), founded in 1998, now comprises four operational strands, each of which is working to eradicate caste-based discrimination against Dalits in India. It is based in Delhi and has chapters elsewhere in the country. It has stated its aims to be achieving greater visibility for Dalit issues and holding the state, in the form of its criminal justice system, accountable for its alleged failures.
The Mukkulathor people, who are also collectively known as Thevar, are a community or group of communities native to the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. They comprise the Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar communities that share a common myth of origin and claim to have once been members of various ancient South Indian dynasties.
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.
Martin Macwan is a Dalit human rights activist in Gujarat, India.
The caste system among South Asian Christians often reflects stratification by sect, location, and the caste of their predecessors. There exists evidence to show that Christian individuals have mobility within their respective castes. But, in some cases, social inertia caused by their old traditions and biases against other castes remain, causing caste system to persist among South Asian Christians, to some extent. Christian priests, nuns, Dalits and similar groups are found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Gail Omvedt was an American-born Indian sociologist and human rights activist. She was a prolific writer and published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India. Omvedt was involved in Dalit and anti-caste movements, environmental, farmers' and women's movements, especially with rural women.
Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz is an Indian Muslim activist organization based in Patna, Bihar. Founded in 1998, it represents the concerns of the "Pasmanda" Muslims, a new identity that integrates the Dalit Muslims (Arzals) and backward-caste Muslims (Ajlafs). The organization represents the union of several Dalit and backward-caste Muslim organisations under the leadership of Ali Anwar, who is himself a backward-caste Muslim of the Ansari (weaver) caste.
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. PVCHR was founded in 1996 by Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi and Shruti Nagvanshi in collaboration with Sarod Maestro Vikash Maharaj, historian Dr. Mahendra Pratap and poet Gyanendra Pati. JanMitra Nyas is legal holder of PVCHR which is Public Charitable Trust and has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. PVCHR was honored as a "Friend of German Parliament" during a significant dinner meeting with Vice President Claudia Roth at Lodhi Garden Restaurant on February 20, 2015. This recognition marked a crucial milestone in PVCHR's international advocacy for human rights. The event symbolized a deepening partnership between PVCHR and the German Parliament, emphasizing shared commitments to advancing global human rights.
Stalin K. is an Indian documentary filmmaker, media and human rights activist. His films, Lesser Humans and India Untouched, on the issue of caste and untouchability in contemporary India, have galvanized international attention to caste discrimination and won numerous film awards. He has done pioneering work on new models of community media to empower marginalized groups. His interview and clips from his film were featured in Episode 10: Dignity for All of Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate TV series on the issue of Untouchability.
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.
Karamchedu massacre refers to an incident that occurred in Karamchedu, Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh on 17 July 1985, where brutality by Kamma landlords against Madigas (Dalits) resulted in the killing of six Madigas and grievous injuries to many others. Three Madiga women were raped. Hundreds of Madigas in the village were displaced from their home after their houses were burnt and looted.
Marimuthu Bharathan is an Indian activist for the rights of Dalits. 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 denied.
The National Dalit Commission is an Nepali constitutional body established with a view to provide safeguards against the exploitation of Dalits to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution. About 20 per cent of Nepal's population are Dalit.
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.
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.
Caste discrimination in the United States is a form of discrimination based on the social hierarchy which is determined by a person's birth. Though the use of the term caste is more prevalent in South Asia and Bali, in the United States, Indian Americans also use the term caste.
Ambedkar International Center is a civil rights advocacy group that was formed in 2012 to fight against caste discrimination in the United States. The organization's mission is to strengthen unity among scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs) and other backward classes (OBCs) living in the United States of America. The organisation is named after the Indian social activist and caste reformer, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)