[Reader-list] "It is commandable that the Netherlands reward the struggle for a better deal for the 'untouchables' (in India)

[Patrice Riemens]

"It is commandable that The Netherlands reward the struggle for a better
deal for the 'untouchables' (in India)"
(Editorial, Trouw daily, Friday January 11, 2013)

In awarding the Human Rights Tulip Prize to the Indian activist Marimuthu
Bharathan the Dutch government actually raises the alarm about the fate of
the Dalits ('untouchables') in his country. This is very appropriate, as
the way the members of this lowest case in India are treated is baneful.

Deeply ingrained customs determine their place in society - or more often
than not, outside society. Even while the law prohibits discriminatory
treatment based on caste, members of the higher castes - including those
in employ of and acting for the government - know very well how to put
Dalits back 'to their proper place'.

It is telling that Mr Bharathan is not able to receive the Dutch
distinction in person. His passport has been impounded because the
authorities accuse him of being accessory to murder; an accusation solely
based on the fact that he was assisting a score of illiterate Dalits after
they were arrested on suspicion of the same.

Mr Bharathan is the director of an organisation that strives to empower
Dalits, and is campaigning, among other issues, to enable them to purchase
land for a burial place of their own. The fact that he is making enemies
out of such efforts, is already appalling by itself.

That the awarding of the prize happens at the same time as the commotion
around the rape and death of a 23 year old female student in New Delhi is
a coincidence. Yet, as far as the treatment of women in India is
concerned, there are for sure parallels with the fate that is meted to
Dalits. In both cases we see a shocking inequality, associated with
exclusion, open discrimination, and, not seldom, raw violence. Massive
protests appear to have stirred the Indian government into action to
better the position and the security of women. The same kind of measures
regarding Dalits are definitely just as mandatory.

Mr Bharathan now intends to use the prize-money (1 lakh Euros -TR) to
establish a training center for Dalits to learn skills on how to defend
their rights in a 'lawful and peaceful' manner. A most propitious
endeavour.

translated by yrs truly
Amsterdam January 12, 2013

(I skipped a paragraph on domestic political aspects of foreign affairs
after the change of governemnt form a far right to a centrist coalition)