About India
India’s traditional social structure is composed of three institutions-the joint-family, the caste-system and the village community. Impact a villager…impact a family….impact the world.
More than 160 million people in India are considered “Untouchable”—people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them impure, less than human. Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News June 2, 2003″Dalits are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same temples, wear shoes in the presence of an upper caste, or drink from the same cups in tea stalls,” said Smita Narula, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, and author of Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s “Untouchables.”
India’s Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs. Nearly 90 percent of all the poor Indians and 95 percent of all the illiterate Indians are Dalits, according to figures presented at the International Dalit Conference that took place May 16 to 18 in Vancouver, Canada.
Hindus believe a person is born into one of four castes based on karma and “purity”—how he or she lived their past lives. Those born as Brahmans are priests and teachers; Kshatriyas are rulers and soldiers; Vaisyas are merchants and traders; and Sudras are laborers. Within the four castes, there are thousands of sub-castes, defined by profession, region, dialect, and other factors.
Untouchables, known as Dalits, are literally outcasts; a fifth group that is so unworthy it doesn’t fall within the caste system.
Although based on religious principles practiced for some 1,500 years, the system persists today for economic as much as religious reasons.
Because they are considered impure from birth, Untouchables perform jobs that are traditionally considered “unclean” or exceedingly menial, and for very little pay. One million Dalits work as manual scavengers, cleaning latrines and sewers by hand and clearing away dead animals. Millions more are agricultural workers trapped in an inescapable cycle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and oppression.
