List two Fundamental Rights in the Constitution that Dalits can draw upon to insist that they be treated with dignity and as equals. Re-read the Fundamental Rights listed.
Those two fundamentals rights are:
(a) Right to Equality: It ensures equal rights for all the citizens and prohibits inequality on the basis of caste, religion, place of birth, race, or gender. It also ensures equality of opportunity in matters of public employment and prevents the State from discriminating against anyone in matters of employment on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of them.
(b) Right to Freedom: The rights provided by the right to freedom are freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly without arms, freedom of movement throughout the territory of our country, freedom of association, freedom to practice any profession, freedom to reside in any part of the country. However, these rights have their own restrictions.
Re-read the story on Rathnam as well as the provisions of the 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Now list one reason why you think he used this law to file a complaint.
He used this law to file a complain to sought the support of law. He used this as it was framed in response to demands made by Dalits and others so that the government may take seriously.
Why do Adivasi activities including C. K. Janu, believe that Adivasis can also use this 1989 Act to fight against dispossessions? Is there anything specific in the provisions of the Act that allows her to believe this?
The Adivasi activist C. K. Janu believe that Adiviasi can also use this 1989 Act to fight against dispossesion because this acts guarantees the tribals not to be dispossessed from the land resources forcibly. Thus, they can use this Act since it seems to punish anyone who wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned by or allotted to a member of a scheduled castes or a scheduled tribe or gets the land allotted to him transferred.
They poems and the song in this Unit allow you to see the range of ways in which individuals and communities express their opinions, their anger and their sorrow. Do the following two exercises:
(a) Bring to class a poem that discusses a social issue. Share this with your classmates. Work in small groups with two or more poems to discuss their meaning as well as what the poet is trying to communicate.
(b) Identify a marginalized community in your locality. Write a poem, or song, or draw a poster etc., to express you feeling as a member of this community.
Example for the above question:
Poem by Soyrabai: She herself belongs to the Mahar caste. From her esteemed poem, she questions about the idea or the criterion behind being called a pure person.
In this poem she argues that every person takes birth in the same way and is equal. She is unable to understand that what makes one body less or more pure than the other. According to her, pollution is a basic idea of caste that should not be used as the tool for discrimination or for separating or denying access to spaces. According to her, it does not occur through nature of work but through one’s clear ethnicity and beliefs.
State one reason why you think reservations play an important role in providing social justice to Dalits and Adivasis?
Most important reason for reserving the dalits and adivasis is that dalits and adivasis in our society always treated as untouchable. Also, if there is no reservation then the children of adivasis will not be able to study as they cannot pass the entrance exam of any school.
In your opinion does the force put on Rathnam to perform this ritual violate his Fundamental Rights?
Yes, according to me the force put on Rathnam to perform the ritual of washing the feet of priest who had come from other village violate his fundamental rights as he and his family were not allowed to go to the temples where people belong to upper caste visit.
Why do you think that Dalit families were afraid of angering the powerful castes?
In my opinion, the Dalit families afraid of angering the powerful castes as most of them worked in the field of powerful castes and the dalits belongs to the socio-economically poor section of the society and were of meager resources also.
Can you list two different provisions in the 1989 Act?
Two different provisions in the 1989 Act are as follows:
(a) This law was introduced to prevent atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
(b) This law is formed to free Indian society from blind and irrational adherence to traditional beliefs and to establish a bias-free society.
Look up the glossary and write in your own words what you understand by the term ‘morally reprehensible’.
‘Moral reprehensible’ relates to an act which violates the societal beliefs regarding to all the norms of decency and dignity. It generally relates itself to a hideous and repugnant act which always violates the values that are accepted by the society.
What do you understand by manual scavenging?
Manual scavenging is a caste-based occupation involving the removal of untreated human excreta from bucket toilets or pit latrines, that has been officially abolished by law in India as a dehumanizing practice. It involves moving the excreta, using brooms and tin plates, into baskets, which the workers carry to disposal locations sometimes several kilometers away.
Re-read the list of Fundamental Rights provided on page 14 and list two rights that this practice violates?
Two rights that this practice violates are as follows:
(a) Right to Equality.
(b) Right to freedom of religion.
Why did the Safai Karamchari Andolan file a PIL in 2003?
Safai Karamchari Andolan filed a PIL in 2003 because they wanted the manual scavenging to get banned.
What did they complain about in their petition?
They complained in their petition that the manual scavenging which is known as inhuman job is still in existence. As per them it violates the fundamental rights against exploitation.
What did the Supreme Court do on hearing their case in 2005?
Supreme Court noticed that the numbers of manual scavengers are rising at an alarming rate. Hence, he ordered every department/ministry of union and state government to file an affidavit to a senior officer who would take personal responsibility for verifying the things mentioned in the affidavit within six months.