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Copyright © March 1999 by Human Rights Watch.
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ISBN 1-56432-228-9
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 99-61749

Some 160 million people in India live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society becauseof their rank as "untouchables" or Dalits—literally meaning "broken" people—at the bottom ofIndia's caste system. Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work indegrading conditions, and routinely abused, even killed, at the hands of the police and ofhigher-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection. Dalit women are frequent victims of sexualabuse. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid," entire villages in many Indian statesremain completely segregated by caste. National legislation and constitutional protections serveonly to mask the social realities of discrimination and violence. Caste clashes, particularly in thestates of Bihar and Tamil Nadu, but also in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat, reflect patterns which are common to many parts of the country: a loss of faith in thestate machinery and increasing intolerance of their abusive treatment have led many Dalitcommunities into movements to claim their rights. In response, state and private actors haveengaged in a pattern of repression to preserve the status quo. The report also documents thegovernment's attempts to criminalize peaceful social activism through the arbitrary arrest anddetention of Dalit activists, and its failure to abolish exploitative labor practices and implementrelevant legislation.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

GLOSSARY

I. SUMMARY

II. RECOMMENDATIONS

III. THE CONTEXT OF CASTE VIOLENCE

IV. THE PATTERN OF ABUSE: RURAL VIOLENCE IN BIHAR AND THE STATE’S RESPONSE

V. THE PATTERN OF ABUSE: SOUTHERN DISTRICT CLASHES IN TAMIL NADU AND THE STATE’S RESPONSE

VI. THE RAMABAI KILLINGS

VII. DISCRIMINATION AND EXPLOITATIVE FORMS OF LABOR

VIII. THE CRIMINALIZATION OF SOCIAL ACTIVISM

IX. ATTACKS ON DALIT WOMEN: A PATTERN OF IMPUNITY

X. FAILURE TO MEET DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL OBLIGATIONS TO PROTECT DALITS

XI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX A: Selected Articles of the Indian Constitution

APPENDIX B: The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

APPENDIX C: The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995

APPENDIX D: The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993

APPENDIX E: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Concluding Observations on Caste

APPENDIX F: Human Rights Committee Concluding Observations on Caste

APPENDIX G: Relevant United Nations Forms and Addresses