India is the
world’s largest liberal democracy. After its independence from the British colonial
rule in 1947 India adopted the path of social and economic development and
modernisation. The growth process led to increased levels of literacy,
education, wealth, and social mobilization. Decades after the economic reforms
in 1990 India achieved the economic status which is often portrayed as among
the success stories of the developing world. This national progress was not
without its pitfalls. Almost after more than 60 years of independence, a large
section of Indian population still complain for not availing the benefits of
development. The most marginalised sections of Indian society mainly the tribals,
minority communities especially the Muslims and lower castes also known as
Untouchables still live in stark poverty and without any civil and political
rights.
India may be
known as one of the world’s oldest living civilisations with a vibrant culture
and diversity of its people and languages. Paradoxically, this enormous Indian
diversity also hides a darker side in the shadows of its culture known as the
caste system. Embedded in Indian culture for the past many centuries, the Hindu
caste system is considered as one of the world's longest surviving forms of
social stratification. It divides society into social classes or castes and
this graded inequality has the sanction of classical Indian religious
scriptures.
In India the
caste hierarchy dictates the lives of its citizens even today. The tribals,
Muslims and the lower caste or untouchable communities face discrimination and
oppression due to their social status. As a result they have been further
marginalised in the society and denied their basic rights. The People’s
Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Varanasi took up the challenging and
exemplary task to raise voice against the social, political, cultural and
economic discrimination being practiced against the “Untouchable” communities
mainly the Mushahars and the human rights violations of the minority Muslims in
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.[i]
Mushahar
means “mouse-eaters”. They are considered “Untouchable” – people tainted by
their birth into a caste system that deems them impure, less than human.
Mushahar are relegated to the lowest jobs and live in constant fear of being
publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by
upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through
an upper-caste neighbourhood is a life-threatening offence. The main business
for them, even today, is to kill rats.
Despite the
fact that untouchability was officially banned when India adopted its
constitution in 1950, discrimination against lower castes and Musahar has
remained so pervasive. In order to
prevent discrimination based on caste and religion, the government passed
legislation in 1989 known as The Prevention of Atrocities Act. The act
specifically made it illegal to parade people naked through the streets, force
them to eat faeces, take away their land, foul their water, interfere with
their right to vote, and burn down their homes. Many of the youngest in the
community do not found entry in the schools since the upper castes do not want
their children to study along with the Musahar children. Since then, the
violence has escalated largely as a result of the emergence of a grassroots
human rights movement among Musahar to demand their rights and resist the
dictates of untouchability. After the sustained efforts and various community
capacity building programme in Mushahar localities by People’s Vigilance
Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), the community has gradually undergone many
changes as they have gained confidence to resist caste based atrocities and now
they are gradually opting for alternative sources of food by changing their
diet. Many of them can now afford to eat pork, chicken and fish.
In December
2013 PVCHR successfully completed the project on “Reducing police Torture
against Muslims at Grass Roots Level by Engaging and Strengthening Human Rights
Institutions in India” with the support of European Union. The project was
implemented in the four districts of Uttar Pradesh namely; Aligarh, Meerut,
Moradabad and Varanasi. The experiences of the project revealed that in India
the poorest members of the religious minorities have been the targets of all
kinds of discriminations, torture, cruel and degrading treatment. Muslim
minority has been no exception as far as social prejudices are concerned. In a
caste driven social and economic structure of Indian society there is a deep
rooted perceptions about Muslim community as being inferior category in the
given caste hierarchy. They are viewed below the status of the most deprived
lower castes or untouchables. This perception has helped in justifying the acts
of torture and other degrading treatment with greater acceptance to the use of
torture against the Muslim community. Discrimination has taken institutional
form and its manifestation can be seen in the working of crucial constitutional
institutions of public importance like police and judiciary. Religious bias
against Muslims has been found all pervasive in legal institutions and
governing structure. An analysis of total 806 cases after the completion of fact
finding exercises from January 2011 to April 2013, it has been observed and
testified by the survivors that many of them were subjected to torture just
because they belonged to the minority Muslim community.
Conflicts
arising out of religious differences and violations of human rights of the
marginalized sections especially Muslim minority have reached at a stage where
they pose an imminent threat to the survival of democratic values and
governance system. In an attempt to develop a communication framework so as to
bring together policy makers, legislators, social activists from Muslim
community and human rights defenders, an “Interface meeting was organized with
the Parliamentarian, policy makers and political parties on the issue of Muslim
minority in Uttar Pradesh” on 9th December, 2013 in Constitution Club in New
Delhi. The programme was jointly organized by People’s Vigilance Committee on
Human Rights (PVCHR), Varanasi and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), New Delhi
with the support from European Union and Dignity: Danish Institute Against
Torture. A comprehensive report, “Repression, Despair and Hope” - Mapping of
Police torture in four districts of Uttar Pradesh and Strengthening Human
Rights Institutions” was released on the occasion. PVCHR also screened a 36
minutes long documentary titled “Muslim & Police: A Perspective”. The
documentary was prepared on the basis of interactions for almost three months
at the grass root level with the members of Muslim community in various Muslim
dominated districts of Uttar Pradesh. The film chronicled in historical
perspective the role and status of the Indian Muslims and highlighted the views
of the members of Muslim community reflecting on their deprivation in the
fields of education, employment, business, socio economic development,
political representation and physical and psychological insecurities.
Lenin
Raghuvanshi is the Secretary General and Executive Director of PVCHR. He has
been working for the rights of bonded and child labourers and other marginalized
people in Varanasi and eastern part of Uttar Pradesh in India. In 1996, he and
his wife Shruti founded the PVCHR, a community-based organization; to break the
closed, feudal hierarchies prevail in conservative Indian villages and urban slums
by building up local institutions and supporting them with a high profile and
active human rights network. He has become the symbol of nonviolent resistance
among the Musahar communities fighting for dignity. Due to his commitment on
behalf of the marginalized, he has periodically suffered death threats.
Rightly Lenin Raghuvanshi says, “Change
the word "Race" by "caste", the word "Angola" by
"Kashmir", the word "Mozambique" by "North East
states”, the word "South Africa" by" dalit Ghetto" and the
word "African" by "Indian" in the song of Bob Marley, the renowned Jamaican singer-songwriter, then you can
have an Indian revolutionary song[ii]”
Until the philosophy which hold one
race superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited
and abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.
That until there no longer first class
and second class citizens of any nation.
Until the colour of a man's skin is of
no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.
That until the basic human rights are
equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race -
Dis a war.
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
to be pursued,
But never attained -
Now everywhere is war - war.
And until the ignoble and unhappy
regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in
Mozambique, South Africa
Sub-human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed -
Well, everywhere is war -
Me say war.
War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south -
War - war -
Rumours of war.
And until that day, the African
continent will not know peace,
We Africans will fight - we find it
necessary -
And we know we shall win as we are
confident in the victory
Of good over evil"[iii].
Lenin believes that "India's many
problems are interconnected. In order to understand and solve them, they must
not be divided. What is needed is a comprehensive multi-layer and
multi-dimensional approach that takes into account economic, cultural, political
and social factors.” Lenin Raghuvanshi and his organization PVCHR are actively
attempting to fill this opportunity space by courting constructive dialogue
with other of all stripes and ideological leanings. Focusing on the diversity
of caste experience, rather than counter-intuitive to movement goals of
creating Dalit self-esteem, represents a primary step toward creating lasting
structural change in the process of creating Dalit self-esteem. Dialogic
interaction among different castes is making this clear. For an independent
society, education is a primary requirement. Therefore PVCHR creates space for
free thoughts – folk school, schools and kindergartens teach basics from the
grassroots level. Model village process of the PVCHR is a unique way of the
non-violent peoples’ movement based on inculcating empowerment of hope, honour
and human dignity.[iv]
According to Lenin, unless Indian
society deals with the injustices of the caste system head-on, it will not
attack social conflict at its root. Translating these convictions into action,
Lenin has built local, national, and regional institutions that challenge
caste. His People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) is a large
membership organization that draws in people from different walks of life.
Among its fifty thousand members in five northern states, three thousand are
former torture victims whom the Committee has helped. Their solidarity
demonstrates how Lenin is creatively building an inclusive social movement.
Also participating are famous intellectuals whose integrity and credibility
raise the coalition's public image.
The father of independent India, Mohandas Gandhi, clad in his homespun loincloth, launched his nationalist movement to defy colonialism by encouraging Indians to stop wearing cheap British machine-made cloth in favor of Indian-made fabrics, partly as a gesture of self-reliance. The hand-loomed saris from Varanasi became a national symbol for India's independence.[v]
Varanasi Sari, a
six yard long piece of cloth, signifies the elegance, charm, grace and beauty
of Indian women, with almost eight hundred years old tradition, has an
important niche in the cultural contours of India. For centuries Varanasi was
the cradle of ancient Indian tradition in the tailoring of the Sari. Today
however, the lives of the weavers (or creators) of these wonderful saris are
not as beautiful as the creation itself. Majority of small artisans and their
families, though mostly on the brink of survival (on average they work 10 -12
hours a day to earn about 0.5 dollar), are dependent on this traditional craft
for a living. In the era of globalization, the traditional art of hand weaving
of the Baranasi sari is under serious threat by electrical looms and also by
new technologies coming from China. The life of the weavers, passing through a
time of crisis, is characterized by abject poverty, chronic malnutrition,
varied health hazards and even starvation death and suicides.[vi]
Lenin
Raghuvanshi said "This is the ugly, painful side of globalization. It's
a real crisis. If India is booming, you don't see it among weavers or farmers
or other rural laborers, which is to say most of the country,"
"Helping those left behind is India's greatest challenge."
Lenin,
despite his name, does not want to overthrown the capitalist system; he wants
to bring it in. He wants to eliminate feudalism but preserve the art of
weaving, using the Internet to market handcrafted silk. For this he needs to
unravel the free trade agreements made by the Indian government under the
WTO.
This is not a Ghandian type of thing, this is a democratic
capitalist thing: we want to create a weavers' trust, a joint company to cut
out the middlemen and sell our produce to the world direct. I want to eliminate
the feudal system but in the feudal system some things are good. No body wants
to destroy the Taj Mahal for instance! In the same way I think it is possible
to preserve our economic status, our social rights and our art.[vii]
Despite economic
growth, a majority of the Indian population still lives in extreme poverty and
disease. Behind India's new-found economic strength are 300 million poor people
that live on less than $1 per day. Government figures may indicate a reduction
in poverty. But the truth is, with increasing global food prices, poverty is
spreading everywhere like a swarm of locusts. These pictures are taken in rural
areas where conditions are worse than the cities and where close to 70% of
India's population reside today. Statistics show that 2.1 million children
under 5 years old die of malnutrition annually.
Advocacy at national and international fora
has succeeded in prioritizing hunger in Government expenditure policy. Active
mobilization of the poor Dalit, weavers and Muslim has forced political parties
to include the improvement of Dalit, weaver and Muslim with elimination of
hunger and malnutrition in their electoral manifesto. The liberation from
social inhibitions has resulted in creation of Martyrs' domes in village where
hunger deaths occurred and has created a pool of indigenous hunger activists
among the poor. As a result of PVCHRs' pressure the UP Panchayat Act was
amended to include a clause which directed each local self-Government of
village to hold a fund of Rupees one thousand to mitigate emergency hunger
situation.
Neo Dalit movement is a sign of hope,
honour and human dignity for most marginalized people facing discrimination
based on race, caste, religion and gender. Nelson Mandela legacy is path for
PVCHRs' Neo dalit movement to bring unity of different communities against
Caste system, feudalism, Communal-fascism and Neo- Liberalism in India through
reconciliation for justice.[viii]
With less financial resources, but rich
with confidence and conviction, Lenin in a short period of time has managed to
amplify the voice of the marginalized in national and international fora
through "Peoples SAARC", rehabilitation and resettlement of weavers
of Varanasi; Benaras Convention; Election Watch; prevention of torture; voice
against hunger and many such activities. Recognition by the international
community of Dr Lenin's work is indeed the recognition for the millions whose
hopes and aspirations rest on his slender shoulders.
“Introspect to realize what went wrong,
only then you find new approaches to engage with various problems of India.
To get in touch with the many problems,
still existing in Indian society, the work of Lenin,Shruti and PVCHR should be a symbol to feel and
don’t forget, what’s still worth to fight for-the beauty and variety of India
and its people. Don’t leave them behind!
You have a problem in hand. Own it to
solve it.”
24th January, 2014
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Saghir Inam Shastri
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