Dalits Reform Movement: The Dalit Movement

Since the 1990s, the Dalits’ reform movements have grown more influential year by year. In 2002, an NGO called Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan which spread-out through thirteen Indian states, campaigned against manual scavenging and encouraged the scavengers to willingly abandon the profession. Thanks to the campaign over 15,000 women voluntarily quit manual scavenging. (Human Rights Watch. (August, 2014)). In 2007, the most renowned Dalit party, Bhujan Samaj Party, was very successful in acquiring seats in the Uttar Pradish state assembly. It is interesting to note that this was not just an important victory for the party but for all Dalits.

The revival of the Dalits’ reform movement started during the 1990s, in response to the government’s failure

(Subbiah, M. Malathi, B. (June, 2013). The most important concept is the Scheduled Caste System, because it is the main reason for class violence in India which in turn could influence the democratic system negatively. According to Hinduism, there are five main castes; the “Brahmins”, who are assigned the highest status in the society, they must depend on lower castes in order to obtain food; cloth and protection. They are the teachers; the priests and the preachers of the society. (Milner, M. (May, 1993)). Then there is the “Kshatriyas” caste, they are the warriors and the rulers, their main job is to protect the nation; the caste lower than the latter is the “Vaishyas”, its main occupation is agriculture. Then there is the “Sudras”, the only occupation of the people who belong to this caste is to serve all the precious castes. Finally there is the “Untouchables” or the “Dalit” caste, the people who belong to this caste have failed to follow the rules of their castes, for example the laws regarding marriage in castes. Eventually those people and their children are expelled from their own castes and they are considered outcasts from the whole Hindu society. They are considered to be highly polluted and impure, even some believe that the mere touch or sight of them will cause misfortune especially for “Brahmins”. It should be noted that the “Dalit” caste are the most vulnerable to discrimination and violent attacks by other castes and the police forces. (Milner, M. (May, 1993)). It is interesting to note that the upper castes has more access to political and economic powers, while the lower castes are marginalized. According to the Hindu principle of samsara, social mobility is not allowed between castes; the caste system is inalienable to the individual from birth to death. Inter-marriage is not allowed between the castes. The only way to move to a different caste is through