TOUCH UNTOUCHABLES/ documentary photo project
Untouchables
Untouchables are also called Dalits - it's colloquial term for the lowest social caste in India including people existing outside the caste.
Caste Discrimination can be described as ‘discrimination based on work and descent’, meaning that because of the occupation or the family a person is born into, they are socially excluded, economically deprived and subject to violence and abuse. This is a socially constructed system, but unlike class discrimination where there is some potential for mobility, this is fixed by birth and perpetuated through many generations.
Commonly in caste systems, those who have more power are at the top and those who have none are at the bottom. The caste system assigns individuals a certain hierarchical status according to Hindu beliefs. Traditionally there are four principal castes (divided into thousands of sub-categories) and a fifth category of people who fall outside of the caste system; the Dalits (Untouchables). In India alone, there are about 200 million in this group.
Until the adoption of the constitution of independent India, the untouchables were subjected to various types of harassment, the severity of which increased depending on the region as you moved from north to south of the country. For example, the untouchables were allowed to live only in separate places (city suburbs), they were forbidden to enter temples, schools and use wells used by members of higher castes. Touching them was considered impure and therefore required a cleansing ritual. An Untouchable can not ascend to a higher caste within his lifetime; Untouchables have to marry fellow Untouchables and can not eat in the same room or drink from the same well as a higher caste member.
Despite the fact that discrimination based on caste was outlawed by India’s constitution in 1950, the practice of ‘untouchability’ still dictates the social order of modern life for millions living in India. Even in the 21 century, Dalits face discrimination at almost every level, from access to education and medical facilities to restrictions on where they can live and what jobs they can have. For examples Indian schools are legally obliged to include children from all castes, but because of the prevailing prejudice, most schools for Dalits are either abandoned or barely functioning. Some mainstream schools allow Dalit children to attend, but treat them with cruelty and neglect. They are often made to sit at the back of the class and not allowed to touch or interact with children from higher castes. Naturally in these conditions, many Dalit children either cannot attend school or drop out from at an early age, perpetuating a cycle of illiteracy, poverty and exclusion. That is why the education of children from the Untouchables is so important. This is the only way to improve their future.