Her revolting words were music to my ears.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

‘Even if you hang me on a lamp-post for not cleaning your ‘shit’, I am ready for it but I will never do this. Never do this, never do this’, said Champa Devi when I interviewed her first in the late 1990s when I started going to Mohammdabad, a small town of district Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh where the families of those engaged in manual scavenging work became my extended family. I always wanted to hear the words from those who are victims of our racist caste system that assigned the work of cleaning human excreta to a particular community of untouchables, known in this region of eastern Uttar Pradesh, as Rawat. Champa Devi always believed in ‘sukhi roti khayenge lekin jhadu nahi lagayenge, malmutra nahi dhoyenge’ (We would rather eat simple dry bread yet won’t touch broom to clean human excreta of others). These words were music to my ears as I felt that the biggest roadblock in our war against manual scavenging is the mental slavery, which has been imposed on the community for centuries. There is no denial of factor that the brahmanical system enslaved people mentally and compelled them to do the work but ultimately the liberation need our own convictions to fight it back. It is therefore important to acknowledge many of those who may not have been celebrity but lived life on their own conditions despite prevailing socio-cultural environment of gender and caste prejudices.

Champa Devi was working in the Mohammdabad Municipality as Safai Karmchari i.e. sanitation worker, when I met her for the first time around 1997. I was visiting Mohammdabad and trying to understand various issues that Rawat community was facing here in their engagement with the sanitation work, which is a sophisticated acronym for manual scavenging. Many of the young girls were interested in studying further but most of them had left their school due to financial constraints as their parents were unable to support their education.  As I roamed around, spoke to many who were engaged in the manual scavenging work, the quick-fix reply was, ‘What do we do? Where is the alternative? Who will feed us?’.  And if you compel them to speak they would say,’ If you want us to leave then we will leave it.” It was a way to suggest that we need economic alternative to do that. I would often question them as what do they get out of it and the answer would be ‘economic security’ but the fact is that it is not economic security but ‘security of life’. What is the ‘economics’ when somebody clean the human excreta of the other human being without getting anything in return? The only thing the ‘bade-log’ i.e. dominant caste people whose toilets are cleaned would provide ‘leftover food’ in the afternoon. Is not that a humiliation of the people who strive hard to live their life? And in the year end, during some festivities, they get 20 kilogram of rice or wheat and some left over cloths. Champa Devi had always despised this in her typical style,’ What do you get after working day in and out. The filthy leftover food and you don’t feel humiliated in begging for it. What cant you do other work which other community people do. None of the other community people do this work if they don’t get the work”, she would retort.

Mohammdabad is dominated by the Muslim Ansaris and rural areas by Bhumihar Hindus, who are powerful landlords and both have deep faith in the caste hierarchy. In the city area, it is the Ansaris that calls the shot politically but in the villages both the Muslims and Hindu upper castes run the show. For the Rawat community here untouchability exists both the side however its forms may be different in the town and the village. Just last year when some of our friends started a sewing centre for young girls in a village called Ranipur the upper caste Muslims refused to come to the house of the Rawat community people, as they remain untouchables.

Champadevi lived life according to her own convictions. She was married in childhood but never really able to live with her so-called in laws and revolted. She could not confine herself to domesticated village life engaged in manual scavenging hence left the village to life her life independently. She moved out and found the job of a Safai Karmchari in Mohammadabad. It was her conviction that she decided not to marry again and live the life the way she wanted. Her job with the Nagarpalika made her independent and she started supporting the families of brothers and sisters apart from encouraging young girls to study and men to leave manual scavenging.

Every time, I met her, she would appreciate the work that we have been doing in the community. ‘These young girls must grow. They must study and become independent. It is important for girls to learn sewing, computer and other related things’, she would say. It was always good to hear her putting her viewpoint strongly. She was ready to fight and die for the cause of society.

Once, I asked her opinion on what many people think about the issue of manual scavenging will become irrelevant if we increase the money given for the work and pat came her answer,’ You pay me Rs 10 or 20 for cleaning your shit, I am ready to give you triple the amount please do come to my home and clean my latrine’, she would challenge those who place such arguments.  I am ready to be hanged she often said to me than cleaning the human excreta of anyone else. It is inhuman and against our self-respect. I want to ask my community people to come out of this mindset, educate your daughter, chose respectful occupations and live a dignified life.’

Champa Devi was not a theoretician or a politician but a simple woman who faced untouchability and left the life of indignity and disrespect so her feelings and expressions are focused more on the community and not on the government. The fact is while we all ask the government to invest more money and give more resources; it is also important that we listen to the voices of the likes of Champa Devi and introspect. We do not absolve government from its duties towards elimination of manual scavenging but a change is also needed from within and a bigger social awareness campaign inside the communities as the government and its upper caste officials may wait for next hundred years to ‘eradicate’ untouchability and manual scavenging but the community should not even wait for a day to leave this inhuman and undignified work.

Those of us who devote our time with the community it is essential to acknowledge the spirit of the community elders like Champa Devi which may not look very ‘glamorous’ and ‘mentionable’ to the feudal elitist mindset which define people in the name of ‘this or that’ ideology and not what they fight daily because of birth based discrimination due their caste identities. Champa Devi lived a full life and remains independent till end.  Whatever she may be, but Champa Devi’s words rejecting the culture of manual scavenging on her own and choosing a life of self respect and dignity would always sound like rhythmic music in my ears forever.

Death of Ethics

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

There has been no news from the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Art regarding the deaths of three sanitation workers who died in the campus on July 14^th while cleaning the sewage line near to AC plant. The families of deceased have not heard anything from the company which has Rajesh as supervisor. The National Human Rights Commission and other government bodies need to act on it as one of the prime witnesses of the issue is Chhotu, 30 who was part of the team and survived. In an interaction, Chhotu and his mother provided horrific details of the incidents and how they have been treated at the hospital.

It was early morning at 7.30 am on that day when Chhotu along with his friends Rajesh and others started from Trilokpuri for the ‘work’. He was not told the nature of the work. He was informed that he would have to clean water tank, he said. At 8.30 am they reached Indira Gandhi National Centre for Art and the watchman at the gate took them to the AC plant side to carry out the work.

Chhotu was perhaps the youngest and hence was worked more than his elderly colleagues.  There was no big deal in cleaning the five pits as they did not have gas but just ‘water’. They had cleared five pits. Bahadur, the watchman of the Centre  helped them. They had pump also but that was not used fully. Bahadur left after the five ‘holes’ were cleared. It was five in the evening. A couple who too was working had gone out to have tea.

Chhottu felt that it was time to finish the last one too and go. As he entered the sixth pit, there was gas inside it. He could not face it and fell unconscious. His friends from the above were watching. So, they pulled him up but the person who tried to save him actually died.  He was Satish. Each one of them was trying to save but actually died. Satish, Ashok and Rajesh died trying to save each other facing the terrible gas. There was no staff of IGNCA. The couple who had gone out for tea had returned. There was commotion as they called police at 100 number. It came fast and took all the victims to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where Satish, Ashok and Rajesh were declared dead while Chhotu was admitted. He was responding to the treatment.

The death of medical ethics

Chhotu’s parents at Trilokpuri were informed late in the night and both of them rushed to hospital. His wife was pregnant and got worried. His mother was in a very disturbed condition. At the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, they found them unwelcomed. The doctors were not interested in them. The mother rushed here and there but finally found the boy in the ward. He was unrecognizable as the body was completely oil and absolute black. None in the staff could think of cleaning him or washing his dirt. In the early morning when Chhotu came to senses, he saw his mother and asked her about his children. ‘They are all fine’, said the mother. He then inquired about Rajesh and others and his mother said that they too were fine. His mother was worried about his condition and hence felt that it was good not to inform him. Suddenly, he got up and went outside the ward. He was feeling unease and uncomfortable. It was very unfortunate and shocking that when he, returned to his bed after 10 minutes, the doctor and the nurse did not allow him. They were asked to leave. The doctors did not even give them the papers of their treatment and what he needs. His mother begged but the doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital did not bother to address.

Both mother sun due remained at the hospital only. Now, Chhotu had realized that his three other colleagues were dead as the families of them were already in the hospital. He was in deep shock but fortunately he could tolerate all this. Despite in terrible mental and physical condition, he helped the families of the deceased and was there with them till they had got the bodies of the three victims.

If we see the pattern of treatment meted out to all these victims including Chhotu, then one thing is clear that the doctors in India suffer from prejudices and perhaps not ready to touch those who clean the human excreta and other garbage in our cities as well as go deep into these sewage lines, the modern day night-soil. All of them were acknowledged as ‘unknown’ and their concerns were not addressed. Their families got the dead bodies at 12 pm next day. One can understand the amount of seriousness that the doctors showed. They were not given any report and when they asked for Post Mortem Report, they were asked to come after 40 days. Why are the doctors denying the patient the post mortem report?  Shockingly, the cause of death is not mentioned in the certificate issued so far.

  

Some More Fact

After speaking to Chhotu, who is the witness to the event following facts emerged and must be inquired.

The entire work was being supervised by Rajesh who is no more. He took them and promised Rs 300/- each for cleaning. They were promised that there was no sewage pipe but water pits at the Centre.

The other fact is coming to the notice is that Rajesh was employed at the IGNCA by a private company who has so far not approached the family after death. It needs to be seen as why IGNCA has not spoken on the issue. Who is responsible for the deaths of these people? Why has the police not filed an FIR and if yes, why the copies of FIR not provided to the family. It needs to be seen whether the FIR contain any case of negligence against civic authorities or IGNCA. What are the rehabilitation measures done so far? After the privatization process, contractors have given it to subcontractors and hence no social security for those who enter. Most of the time, it is the younger member or older one, who are not employed or are wage labour enter into the pit just for earning a few rupees. Despite High Court’s order in the past, why were these people not informed about the last pit which was not really of ‘water’ but contained ‘oil’ which was really dangerous and contained gas. Chhotu informed us that till the five pits were covered, the watchman Bahadur was with them but when they opened the last pit, very suspiciously Bahadur left that time. The question is whether Bahadur had known what contained in that pit and if yes then why did he not inform them. They were clearly told that unless they clear each of these pits, no payment would be made to them.

Defied death

Chhot defied death. He is a daily wage worker. He parents are sweepers at different places. His mother works in a local hospital and is too concerned about him as he is the only son. Fortunately, they have their own house unlike other colleagues who died. Chhotu’s mother clearly does not want him to do this work.  ‘I would have died if anything had happened to him’. She is more than happy. Just next day after Chhotu came back from this danger zone, his wife delivered a baby girl and now his mother says,’ the daughter has brought her father back, so she is a special child. He is now father of four children and one shudder to think the event which happened in his life.  His daughter was born one day after this horrific incident had happened. So for mother, this daughter has brought her father back. 

Chhotu’s story is of deprivation, denial and rejection. It is a social violence brutally legalized by the state apparatus which has failed to provide protection to Dalits all over the country. The state which claims to work on the secular principles of its constitution has not been able to construct a secular bureaucracy which treats all of its citizens without any preconceived notions.

There are serious questions from this incident and I am sure it is not the last despite our wishes because neither the people nor the civic authorities have any civic sense here. They go scot free because the power elite have not taken these issues seriously. There are provisions for protection and punishment for violating yet shamelessly nothing moves. Can the NDMC, MCD, Delhi government or Ministry of Social Justice keep quiet on the issue since the entire sanitation work is now ‘privatised’. The problem is that things remain the same. The death occurs in the heart of Delhi and at the premium institution of India. It has shown the callousness of our police which did not show any concern of the people. We don’t even know what they are doing as far as this case was concern. The story of RML doctors is well known who did not even bother to give full treatment to Chhotu. He is still going to the doctor at the Lal Bahadur hospital in East Delhi. He is still not well and faint but the authorities have no botheration. One does not know whether they have any shame now even so many days of the death of three ‘murders’ which has been committed to keep our city safe. Where are the masks, gloves and machines meant for this work? We hear so much of mechanization process and yet we send people from a particular community to die in these gas chambers without proper protection measures or medical insurance.  Manual scavenging is prohibited legally and on papers and in the heart of our capital city, the community which has been compelled to do this work is dying daily without any dignified response to their issues including rehabilitation.

A challenge to human values and constitution

The deaths in sewage system and subsequent treatment given to those who died and those who continue to suffer doing this inhuman work need to be properly investigated. The role of each agency must be clearly mentioned. Doctors and other medical staff, Delhi Jal Board, New Delhi Municipal Corporation or Municipal Corporation of Delhi, private contractors should not be allowed to go unquestioned. Let there be heavy penalties on them. Let them answer for the deaths of all these people and maltreatment to them. Will the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Scheduled Caste wake up? They take up suo-motto actions which are published in newspapers but what happens to things which are not taken up by the media seriously? It is wakeup call and time for a decisive battle against all form of  manual scavenging has come which will not disappear just with mechanization process but will need a complete overhauling of our social value system as well as strict implementation of anti-discriminatory laws including SC-ST prevention of atrocities act. In the meantime, we wish the authorities to answer to the families of the victims as what is their planning for them. Who is responsible for these deaths and what is being done to the families of these people who languish in humiliation and uncertainty of life. Each death in the sewage line or toilets is an upfront to our constitution as it is the very negation of society based on equity, liberty and fraternity as envisaged by Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar.

Dignified Alternatives

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat


It is disgraceful that the Elimination of Manual Scavenging Practices Bill has not been able to see the light of the day. There has been no concern shown by any political party. India’s biggest apartheid is hidden and ignored by the political class cutting across the party lines and this ‘don’t care attitude’ is visible with those who claim to work for the rights of Dalits and marginalized. There are no discussions on the issue in any of these identity forums. That is a tragedy of how we treat the most important issue of our time in utter contempt and neglect.

Our media would not cover the incident, as the journalists have no courage to see the ugly reality of our caste system and criminal society, which feels that it is the job of these ‘women’ to clean it. Long ago, an international channel had to postpone the shooting of this hidden apartheid of India as they were denied visa by the government.

International news agencies have been eager to understand as what will happen when the Bill comes for discussion in Parliament. Unfortunately, not much was discussed in the Indian media except for a few news items when the Supreme Court took note of it and felt agonized as why the Parliament has not yet passed the bill. Is it because Balmikis or manual scavengers are not a powerful ‘vote-bank’ for any political party? Will the rights and wrongs always be decided on the basis of number of people and their ‘political’ strength or on the basis of our horrible human right records in that front?

Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise when a French TV channel showed interest to visit us and see some of the changes that we have been able to make in district Fatehpur. We were clear that merely showing the pathetic side won’t work all the time. If we claim to have been working for years on the issue then it is time to show what alternatives we have been able to build for people.

The Garima Kendra, run by Social Development Foundation in the heart of Fatehpur city is in activation for the past three years and given new hope to young girls of Balmiki community. Many of them are learning computers and sewing while others are learning Zari work. So, our aim was to give a glimpse of how manual scavenging practices are still happening and how does the society perceive this and what could be the alternatives. It is the failure of us as a civil society to provide alternative, as depending on the government at all times will not get us anywhere.

The TV crew arrived in the morning and we all were on the mission to capture a glimpse of the work in a village Korba in Tehsil Bindaki. The village has a population of about two thousand five hundred. Situated 23 kilometers away from the district headquarter; the village has Muslims as the dominant community with other Dalit communities living on margin.

Sunita has already been out for her daily ‘farming’. Here most of the families use the term ‘Kisani’ for the manual scavenging work. A mother of 5 children, Sunita has pain her eyes as none has ever given a thought of her issues. She too is a woman of independent India but how many of the ‘Indian’ women have ever thought of her as her counterpart. She has a lot of problems with the work. She feels anguished and down, yet, there is no ‘option’ for her. Who will feed her children, is the question? What will be the future of her children?



“I am living this life for 25 years. It is death at every moment.” This is the gift of her mother in law who wanted to preserve the family tradition. The Muslim occupants there are not in great shape, yet, they feel that it is the ‘duty’ of Sunita and others like her to do the work.

“Who will do this work, if she does not do it”, said a family woman defending her right to keep the toilet.“Let the government provide us money and we will make it”.

“But if the government does not give you money then what would you do?” we asked.

“We will continue to get this work done by these people?”

“But don’t you think, this is a bad work, an inhuman practice to clean the shit of others?”

“Yes, it is bad. Then why don’t you clean your latrine yourself?”

And the woman laughs sheepishly.

“How can we do it?” And then the arrogant answer is “we pay them money in lieu of the work. They are not doing it free of cost. If we do not pay them, they will die of hunger. It is a work for which they are being paid.”



And this is the story of so many other places. Unfortunately they have the same arguments and behavior when exposed in public. The crowd gathers everywhere. Young boys gather and pass comments on the crew. Of course, not very harmful but realizing that they would be in trouble, they question us as why are we doing it. “We want the government to make new toilets for you so that you live a better life”, I tell one of them. “Ok, please tell the government to do it fast.” So, people want better facilities for themselves but not for a moment they feel the pain of another person. That the particular work is meant for a particular community is the most gruesome reality of our time.

And in this humiliating practice of caste discrimination and untouchability, we have found Muslim localities are no less responsible than others. Here Muslim elite also behave like caste Hindus. The economic condition of these Muslim families is not very great, yet, the mind of a caste Hindu exists inside them when they treat the Balmiki women in utter contempt. There is no apology or anguish if you find a 15-year-old girl engaged in this inhuman practice. And many of them have been doing it for years. The government has not reached them. The civil society is the upper caste monster in India. India is in a crisis and need a bigger surgery.



Two diverse values, yet, when the issue of untouchability comes, Muslims too treat the Dalits as untouchables, though as a religion Islam does not sanctify any kind of discrimination based on caste and untouchability; yet it is frequent. In fact, manual scavenging is prevalent in the areas with larger Muslim population as their economic condition is difficult but social taboos force women to remain inside. With their inability to build up flushed latrines, they are compelled to get these lowly paid manual scavengers. The compensation for cleaning human excreta with hand is about Rs 20/- per month per family. In such a harrowing situation where keeping a ‘toilet’ has become ‘honor’ but keeping women who clean your shit is a proud position, how can we think that there could be any saner debate on the issue of manual scavenging?

People don’t even think that this work needs to be abolished and that these fateful women are doing a thing, which doesn’t exist anywhere in the civilized world. Government of India has failed to eradicate it as they do not know what alternative could be given to the people and most of the governments’ funds are embezzled in bureaucratic issues. The government actually can provide funds but that does not come from heart. It tackles the issue economically and not as a social concern.

Manual scavenging is an issue related to not only our divisive and discriminatory caste system but also violates the basic principles of human dignity and human rights. The problem is that the people from manual scavenging community face discrimination daily and cannot opt for any profession of their choice as caste based prejudices are very high. In many places, in the government schools, when the former manual scavengers who had left their ‘traditional’ occupation were given a job as cook, the students refused to eat food cooked by them. The caste Hindus withdrew their children from the school.

Alternative model

Fatehpur has seen lot of caste violence in the past. The district is predominantly situated on the banks of Yamuna between Kanpur and Allahabad. The conditions remain difficult and hence when Dheeraj Kumar and his team started working for the rights of the Community, it changed the perception as the voices were from within the community. The young got motivated when Social Development Foundation started a Garima Kendra exclusively for women who left manual scavenging and their children. Of course, it also engaged the most impoverish Muslim women working on Zardosi. So the Zardosi women, working for their daily bread, sat with Dalit women giving rise to a new movement. There are initial hitch ups, as caste discrimination has not left Muslims too despite all claims of equality in Islam.



Muslim women, who knew Zari work, has started coming to our center and starting working. The Dalit women who left their manual scavenging work has also started coming and learning the Zari work. Many of them are learning sewing too. Some girls are learning computer skills also.

The impact is very high. The demand for learning sewing and zari work is growing in Fatehpur. The Garima Kendra i.e. ‘Dignity Centre’ has been supported by us. In the past three years, over 300 women have left manual scavenging work in 10 Gram Sabhas. Many of them have now linked themselves with dignity movement and learning sewing and Zari work.



Our attempt is to reach their villages so that they do not need to travel far away from their homes. More than 20 girls from the community have learnt computer in last one year. 10 women, who had left manual scavenging and have been coming from faraway places, have completely learnt sewing and can do their own work. Some of them are also getting work from the market. The women who are engaged in Zardosi work too are now gaining a new confidence. The process for formation of a union is on though it is difficult because of various religious circumstances, yet, daily 60 women come to learn and work at the center, which is remarkable. In the two shifts, Garima Kendra actually gave them the opportunity to look inwards and fight for their right. They are organizing and we are hopeful that a union of the Zardosi workers would be formed for their rights.



The Garima Kendra has given hope to both Muslim women, who are working for their livelihood and preserving our art of Zari, and the Dalit women who were engaged in manual scavenging and have left their work looking for dignified alternatives. Their only wish is that if such support remains continuous for at least five years, they would grow in a much better way. It is a great achievement. Many have designed Zari work. They may not be experts but they are designing cloths. My wish is to have an exhibition of the work being done by them at certain point of time.

There is lesson for all of us that positive work will pave the way. It does not mean that we should not fight for our rights from the government and authorities but we cannot totally depend on the government. Let us have our own initiatives so that the discriminatory practice of untouchability and caste becomes history. It may be a tall claim but then we cannot really struggle against anything which is impossible’. The battle for a better alternative human life has just begun.

The Hindu Must apologise for insensitive Remarks

The insensitivity of a sensitive paper



By Vidya Bhushan Rawat







The Hindu has been termed as one of the most sensitive dailies in India. Despite all provocations, its editors have tried to be non provocative. On many occasions when the Delhi’s dailies went berserk, the Hindu had a wisdom to control things. And such sanity on parts of the Hindu was highly appreciable particularly during the anti Mandal imbroglio in Delhi or the Ayodhya’s shameful demolition of Babari mosque or unearthing the Bofors scandal or reporting on Bombay riots and then the blasts that ripped the city last year.



Ofcourse, during this course, Hindus reporting on many areas was questionable particularly on Nandigram and Singur violence. It was shocking but those who are the students of media understand its compulsions.



A few years back your sister publication ‘Frontline’ brought out a cover story on the horrible and shameful traditions of manual scavenging. That was definitely a praise worthy thing but unfortunately again the clean chit given to West Bengal government on manual scavenging without ever caring to speak to thousands of the people belonging to scavenging community at the Belilius Park who were mercilessly displaced. Today, nothing happened to them. They were neither rehabilitated nor got any other place to live as most of them were the people from various scavenging communities like Balmikis, Helas, Rawats from different north Indian states. Most of them were employed as sweepers at Howarh Municipal Corporation where people were still doing manual scavenging long back.



However, despite all this, it never felt that Hindu is offending the sentiments of the people though your claims that Gandhi fought for untouchable while completely ignoring the heroic struggle of Ambedkar is example how selective you can be. But, November 27th write up by Praveen Swamy on Mumbai’s horrific incidents under headline ‘ where style has trumped substance’ has unnecessarily compared the issue of scavengers with police men.



In his article Swamy shamelessly argues,’ ‘Working upwards of fourteen hours a day — not counting the typically three hours spent commuting — constable Kamble earns a basic pay of Rs. 5,200 a month. Sanitation workers employed by the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation are paid less — Rs. 4,440 a month — but end up taking home similar wages, because of overtime. Indeed, until the Sixth Pay Commission recently upgraded the categorisation of police work as semi-skilled from skilled, sanitation workers actually made more money. Little has been done to upgrade the police’s living standards and training.’



Swamy does not know that those who scavenge or are involved in sanitary work do not have any holidays. Even when they might get relatively better salary in Mumbai, yet there is no holidays for them and why is it that most of them come from one particular community. Swamy has forgotten about the racial nature of the sanitation work in India.It is worst then that as these workers may not get a home in a normal location, they do not drink tea at a common place and might get it in a dhaba when nobody know their identity.



Yes, today, people like Praveen Swamy might feel that the sweepers are getting over time and the policemen are getting it. Will Praveen Swamy ever visit to those untouchable women who clean shit and do not get paid up. Can you send your reporters to find out how many of the people from scavenging communities are getting two meals a day despite involved in this heinous occupation. Despite all claims and works done by not only Gandhi but various governments, manual scavenging is still prevalent and going high. In the villages it is faminised as most of the men go to the urban areas for work and women continue to do it. The reason the lowest salaries for them and mostly they are contract labors who never get their salaries on time. In Uttar-Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, there are thousands of people from scavenging communities who are working on contract yet have not got their salaries for past six months. And this is a regular features yet our newspapers have no time for the same. Even when government claim that manual scavenging has been eliminated from cities ( it is a false claim and we can still get the same in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai), yet if we see the unfortunate deaths of the people from the same community in sewage pipe lines. Who are the people dying in these sewage pipe lines without any protective gears? Have you ever asked how much money they get for dying for cleaning our wastes?





We have no complain against your supporting the cause of policemen who are lowly paid but to compare their work with that of sanitation workers is utterly disgraceful. It has shown the insensitivity of the author coming from upper caste background and thinking he and his community have sole property right over patriotism. Should we think that Hindu’s editors remain highly insensitive to the issue of untouchables in the country by publishing Praveen Swamy’s article without editing?




Even when policemen are dying for the ‘country’, most of the countrymen will never have sympathy with them as long as they think themselves above the law. We can understand the threat of terrorism but we must not ignore the fact that police system is created by the government where their Jawans are just hated not by the terrorists but Aadivasis and Dalits where they become state’s main torturing agency to extract money and rob them of their resources. On the contrary, whether it was British or Indians, the scavenging work is done by same community and all efforts by politicians and governments have been far below satisfaction. In such situation, if a seasoned writer compares the work of sanitation workers as ‘free lunch’, he must be made to apologize.



Untouchability is a blot on face of India. Despite all claims of our progress, it still remains. It is hidden apartheid. Much bigger then the issue of terrorism which grows out of victim mindset. As long as the caste Hindus refuse to accept this heinous crime done on humanity, they will have to live with the biggest shame of civilization. The biggest untouchability and racial prejudice is manual scavenging and Balmikis face is daily in their work. The indignity heaped on them can not be erased by paying them a few thousand rupees. Praveen Swamy deserve condemnation from civil society. The Hindu must apologize for its publication and desist publishing such insensitive pieces in future. Let it lead a campaign against untouchability and manual scavenging for erase its serious lap in the publication of such a sinister article.