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DSN UK

All of these articles by DSN UK SPECIAL THANKS TO DSN UK
especially to Mr.Balram Sampla (Vice-Chair of DSN.) for letting me publish the articles/matter!

The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit Women
PRESS RELEASE Copenhagen, 24 November 2006
“WE WANT TO TRANSFORM OUR PAIN TO POWER”
International Conference seeks urgent actionon discrimination and violence against Dalit Women
DALIT SOLIDARITY NETWORK UK and Minority Rights Group International
THE AMBEDKAR PRINCIPLES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
Gerard Oonk, India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN)

GOVERNMENT OF ORISSA (INDIA) PROMOTES VIOLENCE

A joint statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission - Hong Kong (AHRC) the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights - India (NCDHR) and the International Dalit Solidarity Network - Denmark (IDSN)

The ongoing violence in Orissa , India , reflects the current status of the rule of law in that state. The violent incidents that devastated the thin line of communal harmony in the state are the result of an intentional state policy of promoting vested religious interests. This ulterior motive to attain short-term political gains through unconstitutional and non-democratic means is also augmented by poor policing. The brunt of the resultant violence is borne by the Dalit, Christian and Tribal minorities.

The uncontrollable violence demonstrates that the state is not willing to combat anti-democratic forces operating in the state. It also exposes the connivance of state administration with these forces operating in India to destabilize the fragile social fabric.

The recent incidents that resulted in the loss of life and property in Orissa appear not to be as sporadic as portrayed. Some sources cite letters and other official correspondence received by the state administration warning them about the possibility of large-scale violence that could erupt at any time. These communications, while requesting protection for life and property, also informed the administration of the fear that violence will focus on minority communities in the state. Most of these communications were addressed to the state government representatives responsible for the administration and maintenance of law and order in the state.

These concerns have proved to be true from the incidents reported in Orissa during the past 24 days. It took about five to seven days for the state administration to even begin to start responding to the calamity once it began. During this time and even after, fundamentalist Hindu political parties terrorised the minority Dalit, Tribal and Christian communities living in semi-urban and remote villages in the Kandhamal district of the state.

The massive scale of violence resulted in at least 22 deaths and property loss worth millions of rupees, beginning in the Kandhamal district and soon spreading to neighbouring districts. It showed a well-planned pattern of violence that was orchestrated with precision. Such an assault, targeting communities spreading across an entire region, requires good planning and preparation.

There are allegations that the criminals had even prepared name lists of persons and their properties to be targeted during the violence. The commonly believed cause for the violence, the murder of five Vishwa Hindu Parisad (VHP) cadres, appears to have been an excuse to commence the carnage.

The media, by and large biased and communalized, has willfully hyped and misguided the general public into believing that the murder of the VHP cadres was the reason for the latest bloodshed. Contrary to these reports that were widely published in the national and international media, the violence in Orissa was not merely a communal fight between the Hindus and the Christians.

A deeper insight is gained into the violence if the following are noted; the preparations that were made before the incident; the pattern in which the violence spread; the evident reluctance of the state administration to react sensibly before and after the violence. This leads to the conclusion that the state administration is also a willing partner in the execution of the larger Hindutva agenda in the state.

For the minority communities, particularly the Dalits and the Tribals, it means the continuation of oppression and the curtailment of all opportunities for liberation. In this context it is not a surprise that similar incidents are reported from other states of India like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

It appears that the Orissa state police and other agencies responsible for preventing violence and crime were aware of the preparations the criminals operating in the state were making. It is also certain that the police were aware which communities would be targeted by the criminals.

Similar violence of varying intensity has affected the state in the past decade. After each incident, the state police was accused of failure to investigate, prosecute and punish the criminals who orchestrated the violence. This is a key factor for a recurrence of the violence to further spread out affecting almost the entire state as on this occasion.

The role of the law enforcement agencies in a democratic setup is not just investigating crimes once they are committed. Proper investigation and prosecution of crime has it's deterrent value. In addition to the investigation of crimes, law enforcement agencies have the duty to instil confidence in ordinary people, especially those who are most vulnerable. In this way, the rule of law is maintained in the state    and any breach of law and order will not go undetected and unpunished. In this context the state administration and the police force it commands cannot be absolved from the responsibility for the perpetuation of violence in Orissa.

The Central Government which is mandated to issue directions to the State Government under Articles 256 and 257 of the Constitution is also equally responsible for its failure in protecting the people and arresting the perpetrators.

To make matters worse, the state administration prevented political leaders, media and human rights organisations from visiting trouble-hit parts of the state, while allowing the VHP leaders free mobility with state protection. For example, the entire Kandhamal district was put under curfew and was completely cut-off from the rest of the world for days. The people lived in fear for their lives and property. A large number of them sought protection by hiding in nearby forests at the time their properties were burned, looted and ransacked. Almost all of these people were Dalit and Tribal Christians.

It is reported that those who took refuge in government shelter camps were those who had no other option for survival. As of now those who took shelter in relief camps are reluctant to leave the relative security of the camps. Most of them continue to fear that once they leave the camps they would be forced to 'reconvert' to Hinduism against their will. It is reported that some persons who were not in the camp were 'reconverted' by force, a process in which many were blinded. It is reported that the 'reconversion' is viewed as a purification process by the VHP.

Even after three weeks of violence, the state administration continues to prevent the media and human rights organisations from accessing the victims. The state administration has enforced a regulatory policy of prior permission for the media and human rights group to travel into trouble-hit areas or relief camps. In spite of this, the administration insists that the situation has returned to normal.

The state administration, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, has stated that it has taken into custody 421 persons whom the government accuses of being behind the violence. At the same time, credible sources report that the persons cited as accused in these cases are not actually those involved in criminal acts. It is suspected that this is an attempt to save the actual culprits from being identified and prosecuted.

In addition to this, the general public and some of the victims were chased away by the police when they approached the police stations to file complaints. It is also reported that many complaints that identify criminals were not registered by the police. Such incidents show the complacency of the local police in promoting violence in the state. There is also information provided by noted human rights activists that many non-Hindu institutions and other organisations were denied any form of police protection when they requested it.

It is suspected that many witnesses will fail to turn-up in court, fearing repercussions. This is a genuine fear since India lacks any form of witness protection mechanisms. In any case, it would be difficult for an ordinary person to believe that the police who failed to prevent the violence would protect them on any future occasion.

The violence in Orissa has destroyed the social fabric in the state to such an extent that it will take years of conscious effort by the administration and society to re-establish it. The primary requirement for this is that the state administration impartially investigate the crimes committed during the violence. They must ensure that the accused, if proven guilty, are sentenced to the punishment prescribed by the law for such acts.

The state administration must also ensure that the entire incident and the circumstances that led to such massive violence are properly documented, by the state as well as by the civil society and the media.


Meena Varma (Director) Dalit Solidarity Network UK
Thomas Clarkson House, The Stableyard, Broomgrove Road, London SW9 9TL
Regd Charity No. 1107022, Tel: +44 (0) 207 501 8323 www.dsnuk.org
By Mr. Balram Sampla (Posted on www.ambedkartimes.com September 21, 2008 )

The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity
of Dalit Women


The Hague, 21 November 2006

WE, the participants of the Hague Conference on Dalit Women â™s Rights, held in The Hague on 20 and 21 November 2006, after deliberating upon the issues of Discrimination, violence and impunity against Dalit women, adopt this Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit Women.

In South Asia “that is, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka “Dalits have endured discrimination based on work and descent for centuries, and this discrimination continues today. The Dalits “known as untouchables or outcastes “number around two hundred and sixty million people in South Asia . On account of their caste, they experience discrimination, social exclusion and violence on a daily basis. Although economic growth in the region has been strong over the past decade, caste disparities remain and are in fact increasing. The situation of Dalit women in these countries needs urgent and special attention. They constitute one of the largest socially segregated groups anywhere in the world and face systemic and structural discrimination thrice over: as Dalits, as women, and as poor.

Systemic Discrimination, Violence and Impunity

The caste system declares Dalit women to be intrinsically impure and untouchable, therefore socially excluded. In class terms, the vast majority of Dalit women are poor; many are landless daily wage labourers who are systematically denied access to resources. As women, they are subjugated by patriarchal structures. Due to this intersectional discrimination, Dalit women are specifically targeted for daily, egregious acts of violence, in particular for sexual violence, including the Devadasi system of forced and ritualised prostitution. On account of their ☠impure ♠caste and poverty, Dalit women comprise the majority of manual scavengers, that is, labourers who clean human excrement from dry toilets. When they assert fundamental rights, Dalit women are targeted for punitive violence by dominant castes. Due to patriarchal notions of community honor residing in women, dominant caste violence against Dalit women functions to punish the entire Dalit community and teach Dalits a lesson of obedience to caste norms. Moreover, Dalit women are discriminated against not only by dominant castes on account of their caste, class and gender, but also by their own communities on account of their gender. Dalit women have less power within the Dalit community in general.

When considering discrimination and violence against Dalit women, one can state that impunity is the key problem Dalit women face today â“ not only while seeking legal and judicial redress for violence, but also while attempting to access and enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms. Perpetrators enjoy virtual immunity from prosecution for violence against Dalit women, as the police, who themselves often harbor caste prejudices, willfully neglect to enforce the law. Not only the police, but perpetrators and their communities use their political, social and economic power to silence Dalit women, thereby denying them access to justice. The nature of collusion between state and dominant.

The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit Women

Caste actors are such that the modern rule of law has no place in the hierarchical order of socioeconomic and political power relationships, as caste-based power supersedes state-derived executive authority.

Assertion by Dalit women

Dalit women today are not simply passive victims; the current mood is not one of mere acceptance, but one of determination to ☠transform their pain into power â™. In fact, they have been active throughout history, though often this has not been recognised and recorded. They have been actively involved in the anti-caste and anti-Untouchability movements. Today they are the strongholds of the Dalit movements in thousands of South Asian villages, and are often at the forefront of struggles for basic human rights. They continue to play a critical role in the movements for land and livelihood rights and against Untouchability, pointing to the potential for their self-emancipation, given adequate support.

They are making their mark as independent thinkers and writers in the literary world by critiquing dominant caste ideologies. They participate today as visionary leaders in the local governance institution by asserting their rights. While they continue to struggle against structural discrimination and exclusion, violence and impunity are systematically unleashed by dominant castes to keep them in their place.

While recognising the gendered nature of caste discrimination for Dalit women, these women have turned their â suffering â™ into one of ☠resistance â™, actively participating shoulder to shoulder with men in their communities in the anti-caste and anti-Untouchability movements. They have simultaneously contributed to the welfare of their families, sustained their communities given their labour for producing food and wealth for their countries. In this regard, Dalit women build their identities on a culture of resistance against the hegemonic culture of the caste system, expressing their defiance and revolt
Against the caste, class and gender discrimination that oppresses them. This assertion of distinct identity and simultaneous forging of a collective identity in multiple struggles marks the Dalit women s movement in various ways.

Human rights of Dalit women

The countries where caste discrimination persists are party to most of the relevant human rights instruments: the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). These treaties provide equal rights for men and women. As these countries are also party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), governments have a specific obligation to make sure that women can realise their human rights. It is generally accepted in international legal standards that governments have to do more than just pass laws to protect human rights. Governments have an obligation to take all measures, including policy and budgetary measures, to make sure that women can fulfill and enjoy their fundamental rights. Equally importantly, governments must implement these laws, policy measures and programmes to fully discharge their obligations under international law. This includes an obligation to exercise due diligence in punishing those who engage in caste-based discrimination and violence.

Millennium Development Goals and Dalit women

In 2000, one hundred and eighty-nine countries accepted the Millennium Declaration and agreed to take the necessary action in order to attain eight specific goals: the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1. The realisation of human rights of Dalit women will have a substantial positive effect on the realisation of the MDGs. This is because Dalit women are extremely poor, and make up two percent of the world â™s population. In India, for example, 60 million children do not attend primary school; a disproportionate number of these children are Dalit girls.

1 The MDGs are: 1) reduction of extreme poverty and hunger by half; 2) primary education for all boys and girls; 3) gender equality and empowerment of women; 4) reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; 5) reduction of maternal mortality by three quarters; 6) combat HIV/aids, malaria and other diseases; 7) clean drinking water and 100 million slum dwellers above the poverty line; 8) more aid, fair trade, less debt.

The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit Women

International Conference on Dalit Women â™s Rights

Over the years Dalit women â™s organisations and movements have increasingly voiced their specific concerns and asserted their separate identity, calling for solidarity from the International Community.

The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 saw for the first time international recognition given to the discrimination faced by Dalit women. Dalit women also played a crucial role in the World Conference against Racism in South Africa in 2001, where Dalit issues were brought to the fore of the international attention. Following the National Conference on Violence against Dalit Women in Delhi on 7 and 8 March 2006, Justitia et Pax Netherlands, Cordaid, and CMC as members of the Dalit Network Netherlands (DNN), in collaboration with the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR, India), the National Federation of Dalit Women (India), the ALL India Dalit Women’s Rights Forum (India), Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO, Nepal), the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) and other Dalit and Women â™s rights organizations, responded to the request of Dalit women and organised the International Conference on the Human Rights of Dalit Women on 20 and 21 November 2006 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Focus of international conference

Caste, class and gender discrimination prevents Dalit women from enjoying their basic human rights, particularly to dignity, equality and development. Atrocities and violence against Dalit women are both a means of sustaining systemic discrimination, as well as a reaction when particularly Untouchability practices and caste norms are challenged or not adhered to. Impunity for this discrimination and violence is then used as a means to preserve the existing caste and gender disparities. Before Dalit women can enjoy their human rights, and before the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved,

Discrimination, violence and impunity must stop.

Therefore we, the participants of The Hague Conference on Dalit Women â™s Rights, call upon the respective governments in Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to take seriously the voices of Dalit women as they explain their specific situation, to support them in asserting their rights and to ensure Dalit women and girls are brought on par with the general population in terms of overall development (e.g. poverty reduction) within a period of five years. We call upon the international community to undertake and support every possible measure to fight the widespread discrimination, violence and impunity committed against Dalit women.

Recommendations

Recommendations to the respective governments of Nepal , India , Pakistan , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka:

⢠Disaggregate all criminal, economic, social and political data on the grounds of gender and caste.

⢠Evolve and implement a comprehensive strategy to address impunity and ensure criminal justice for Dalit women.

⢠Grant powers to make legally binding recommendations to relevant National Human Rights Institutions to establish an independent complaints and monitoring mechanism to address the discrimination and violence against Dalit women.

⢠Enact domestic violence (prevention and protection) laws that acknowledge the unique
Vulnerability of Dalit women, allocate adequate resources and ensure a comprehensive
monitoring mechanism with representation of Dalit women for effective implementation of these laws.
⢠Provide support to establish informal organisations for Dalit women to freely discuss the social, domestic and development issues in their own community and to strengthen leadership within local governance structures.
⢠Mandate proportional representation of Dalit women elected into parliaments, legislatures and local governance systems, including equal distribution of other minority groups, such as Joginis/Badis (India/Nepal) irrespective of their faith, and provide adequate budget allocations in this regard.

The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit Women

⢠Restore lands earmarked by governments for Dalits and register them in the name of Dalit women or jointly with men, and also acquire and distribute surplus lands by implementing and Reform Acts and distribute lands to Dalits in proportion to their populations in each country.

⢠Issue legal title to lands possessed and enjoyed by Dalit women and men, in the name of Dalit women or jointly with men; grant each Dalit family five acres of land registered in the name of Dalit women; allocate and distribute sufficient budget for the purchase of land and distribute to Dalit women; ensure payment of equal and living wage to Dalit women without discrimination;

⢠Ensure Dalit women enjoy equal access to and share of common property resources, in particular water resources, and provide budgetary support to create common property for their own.

⢠Enact appropriate legislation to prevent displacement of Dalits and alienation of their lands in the name of development projects and schemes in the context of economic globalisation.

⢠Eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and the jogini system and enforce rehabilitation policies and programmes for their alternative livelihood and sustenance.

⢠Implement laws that prohibit bonded or forced labour.
⢠Allocate sufficient budget for full primary and secondary level education of all Dalit girls,
including funds for staff in schools and infrastructure, and vocational institutions

⢠Ensure reduction of pre-natal mortality, infant mortality and maternal mortality among Dalit women on a time-bound basis.
⢠Provide assistance to launch a national campaign of caste sensitisation and elimination of caste, class and gender discrimination.
Recommendations to the International Community, to the United Nations and the European
Union:
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Having regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and all other relevant UN Conventions;
Having regard to General Recommendation XXIX of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in particular to paragraphs 11-13;
Having regarded to and reinforcing the urgency of the ongoing UN study on a Discrimination based on Work and Descent and the development of Principles and Guidelines for the effective elimination of this form of discrimination, we call upon:
The international community to ensure that the large gap is closed, at the latest by 2015, by achieving targets of the Millennium Development Goals for the population in general and Dalit women and girls in particular, through providing additional measures for Dalit women and girls to realise their right to development on par with others.
The United Nations Human Rights bodies and mechanisms, the United Nations organizations, intergovernmental institutions and organizations, the European Union, bilateral aid agencies and international non-governmental organizations to give full recognition and effect to the content and the recommendations of The Hague Conference on the Rights of Dalit Women;
The international community to express its outrage against the caste-induced, systematic practice of Untouchability and atrocities against Dalits in South Asia in general and against Dalit women in particular.
These institutions and bodies to raise the issues and concerns of Dalit women at all levels and to involve and introduce all necessary measures, and to support and secure the implementation of the recommendations of this Declaration with a sense of great urgency.

The Human Rights Council to address the issue of Untouchability and violence against Dalit women and men and the impunity related to caste practices and discrimination.
The ILO in its annual Global Reports on fundamental labour rights (no child and no forced labour, non-discrimination in employment and the right to association and collective bargaining) to highlight and propose measures to fight the systematic violation of these fundamental rights as far as Dalit women and girls are concerned.

ARUN KHOTE
National Media Secretary
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS (NCDHR)
Add: 8/1, South Patel Nagar, NEW DELHI- 110008 (INDIA)
Mobile: 91# 9350183802 Ph & Fax- 91#11-25842249, 91#11-25842250
E Mail: arun@ncdhr.org ncdhr@vsnl.net Website: www.dalits.org www.ncdhr.org

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“WE WANT TO TRANSFORM OUR PAIN TO POWER”
International Conference seeks urgent action
on discrimination and violence against Dalit Women

PRESS RELEASE
Copenhagen, 24 November 2006

Dalit women from South Asia are determined to “transform their pain into power”. That was the main message of the two day international conference held in The Hague on the 20th and 21st of November 2006. It was the first international conference to discuss the issues of discrimination and violence against more than 100 million Dalit women. In “The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit women” the participants urged the governments of Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well as the international community to support their struggle.

In South Asia, Dalits “known as “untouchables” and “outcastes” - have endured caste discrimination for centuries. The situation of Dalit women, one of the largest socially segregated groups in the world, is shocking. Dalit women are among the poorest; they face â˜triple discrimination™, as Dalits, as women and as poor. The caste system declares them intrinsically impure and âœuntouchable❠and generally they are subjugated by men. Dalit women comprise the majority of manual scavengers, labourers who clean human excrements from dry toilets. Dalit women are targets of extreme violence, including sexual assault and forced prostitution.

Violence and impunity

In the City Hall of The Hague Dalit women presented shocking and heart-breaking testimonials about the violence perpetrated against them and the impunity which followed. Authors of the study “Dalit women Speak Out - Violence against Dalit women in India” presented their findings of a three-year comprehensive study on forms, magnitude and the systematic pattern of violence which is accompanied by equally systematic patterns of impunity. The study revealed that only one percent of perpetrators are convicted in courts.

Physical and sexual violence against Dalit women is not only systemic, but also affects the majority of Dalit women. The study documents how rape, murder, physical assault and humiliation of Dalit women are intentionally used to maintain the oppression of the Dalit community by the dominant castes. Impunity is the key problem that Dalit women face today when they try to seek justice after violence is perpetrated against them. As stated in the Hague Declaration: “Perpetrators enjoy virtual immunity from prosecution as the police, who often harbour caste prejudices, willfully neglect to enforce the law”.

Often, Dalit women have protested and resisted although that has not been recognised and recorded. However, defiance is increasing. “Dalit women today are not merely passive victims; the current mood seems to be not one of mere acceptance, but determined to transform their pain into power”, the Hague Declaration empathically states.

The Hague Declaration

In the Declaration the participants of the Hague conference call upon the governments of Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to support the women in asserting their rights. The governments are called upon to address the failure of the justice system to protect Dalit women and to implement measures to close the vast socio-economic gap between Dalit women and the rest of the population. The recommendations include: implementing an independent complaint mechanism to address the atrocities against Dalit women; establishing organisations to discuss social, domestic and development issues in their community; taking strong measures to give land to Dalits, which is to be registered in the name of Dalit women (or jointly with men); eradicating practices of manual scavenging and the Devadasi system of ritualised prostitution; allocating sufficient budget to full primary and secondary education of all Dalit girls and ensuring the reduction of pre-natal mortality, infant mortality and maternal mortality among Dalit women. The participants also urge the governments in South Asia to launch national campaigns for the elimination of caste.

International community should act

The participants in the Hague Conference also call upon the international community, including the UN human rights bodies, the UN organisations, the EU, bilateral aid agencies and NGOs to act upon the recommendations of the Hague Declaration. In particular they are asked to express their outrage at the caste-induced systematic practices of untouchability and atrocities against Dalit women. It also calls upon the international community to ensure that, at the latest in 2015, the large â˜development gapâ™ (e.g. in terms of poverty) is closed between Dalit women and girls and the â˜general population â™. Finally, the ILO is asked propose measures against the systematic violation of the four fundamental labour rights where Dalit women and girls are concerned.

Following the National Conference on Violence Against Dalit Women in Delhi on 7 and 8th March 2006, Justitia et Pax Netherlands, Cordaid and CMC in collaboration with the Dalit Network Netherlands (DNN), the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (India), the National Federation of Dalit women, the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) and other Dalit and Women â™s rights organizations responded to the request of Dalit women and organized the International Conference on the Human Rights of Dalit women on 20 and 21 of November 2006 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

For further information please contact:
Stephanie Joubert, Dalit Network Netherlands: +31 610753170
Paul Divakar, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights: +91 9910046813
Rikke Nöhrlind, IDSN: + 45 29700630

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DALIT SOLIDARITY NETWORK UK and Minority
Rights Group International
NEPALESE DALIT WOMEN SPEAK OF VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION

On Tuesday 28 November at an historic meeting in the House of Commons, London , Nepalese Dalit Manju Badi, from an ☠untouchable ♠caste branded as prostitutes, gave first hand testimony on the extent and depth of the violence and discrimination Dalit women face in everyday Nepalese life. Dalits are considered the lowest of the low in the brutal caste system that rigidly divides South East Asian society. There are approximately 1.2 million Dalit women in Nepal - around 12.3 percent of the female population.

Manju Badi was abandoned after 12 years by the father of her three children. He never told his family she existed and the couple lived apart. The same thing happened to Manju â™s mother before Manju was born. Now Manju â™s children face a life in poverty and without citizenship rights because their higher caste father will not admit they are his.

Nepalese Dalit filmmaker Anita Pariyar screened her documentary on the lives of Dalit women in Nepal. Nibha Singh, Nepali human rights activist, presented further evidence, on how Dalit women are forced into child marriage, are blamed for bad luck, have been forced to eat human faeces and that they suffer exploitation and violence from â ˜higher caste â™ men outside their communities as well as domestic violence in their own homes. Dalit children are consistently excluded from school and the community has little or no recourse to social justice. As Manju â™s experience shows, they are affected generation after generation.

Durga Sob, President of the Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) of Nepal urged the British government and international community to support the full participation of Dalit women in the political change sweeping Nepal at this time and to ensure their representation and strong voice in the new Constituent Assembly and political structures. She stressed the need to ensure that Dalits without citizenship are able to freely register as Nepali citizens in order to fully participate in the upcoming election and cast their vote. Independent monitoring by the EU or International community of the participation of Dalits in the election is essential.

Most importantly the Dalit Women highlighted the action that all Nepalese Dalit women are taking daily to change their own and the lives of their communities, to secure a life free of discrimination in Nepal. They call upon the Nepalese government to end caste and gender discrimination in all spheres of public and private life and to ensure that comprehensive laws to protect their rights are fully implemented and impunity against violence and discrimination is stopped â“ now.

For further information please contact:
Gina Borbas â“Coordinator
Mob: 07710 146788
DALIT SOLIDARITY NETWORK UK
Tel: 020 7501 8323 Email: dalitsnuk@yahoo.co.uk
Registered Charity Number 1107022

Dalit Solidarity Network -UK
Thomas Clarkson House, the Stableyard
Broomgrove Road, London SW9 9TL.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7501 8323 Fax: +44 (0)20 7738 4110



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LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD
Caste Discrimination and the Ambedkar Principles.
Seminar Report on Social Responsibility of Foreign Investors in
South Asia

DALIT SOLIDARITY NETWORK UK
Statement from Amicus

The systematic discrimination of Dalits is a severe human rights violation. The continued caste injustice suffered by millions both in India and the uk remains an unacceptable reality in the lives of people considered “untouchables”. We are proud to support the Dalit Solidarity Network UK in their campaign to end caste discrimination.

It is with pride that Amicus has sponsored the seminar to launch the Ambedkar Principles. Not only is it important that there is increased awareness of the problems faced by the Dalit community, companies must also address their responsibilities in preventing caste discrimination.

David Fleming, Amicus National Officer
Statement from Lloyds TSB

Dalit solidarity network UK is seeking to fight caste discrimination via the adoption of the Ambedkar Principles and I offer congratulations with respect to all the efforts they have made to further the opportunities of those who are deprived and discriminated against.

Richard Stockdale, CEO Lloyds TSB, India

OUR SPECIAL THANKS TO AMICUS AND LLOYDS TSB FOR SPONSORING

THE SEMINAR

CONTENTS

Title/ Authors
Pages

(1) Introduction
Rodney Bickerstaffe, former General Secretary of Unison and Trustee of DSN-UK 4-6

(2)TheAmbedkarPrinciples and their Development 7-8
General Oonk, Dalit Network Netherlands

(3)TheContextfortheSeminar 9-12
Tara Brace-John, Dalit Solidarity Network UK

(4)HumanRightsandtheResponsibilityof Companies 13-16
Marie Busck, Danish Institute for Human Rights

(5) Affirmative Action in German Business Enterprises in India
17-19
Walter Hahn, Dalit Solidarity in Germany

(6)A Business Perspective: Viewsofa Western CEOR aised in India 20-23
Richard Stockdale, CEO Lloyds TSB India

(7) A Parliamentary Perspective: Work on Caste Discrimination in the UK House of commons 2005/6 Rob Marris MP, Wolver Hampton South West and Member of Parliamentary Trade and Industry Select Committee

(8) Addressing Caste Discrimination in an International Context
Baroness Royall, Spokesperson for the Department for International Development in
the House of Lords 26-28

(9)Conclusion: The Way Forward 29-30
David Haslam, Chair of Trustees, Dalit Solidarity Network UK

(10)ListofSeminarParticipants 31

(11)PublicationsofInterest 32

OUR SPECIAL THANKS GO TO PROFESSOR JOHN HARRIS AND CHRIS LEE FOR HELPING US ORGANISE THE SEMINAR AT THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

The views and opinions expressed in this report are the authors’ own and may not reflect the vies and opinions of DSN-UK

INTRODUCTION

Rodney Bickerstaffe, former General Secretary of UNISON and
Trustee of Dalit Solidarity Network-UK
The Dalit Solidarity Network (DSN-UK)

The DSN-UK has been highly active in relation with government, companies, INGOs, trade unions and churches since it was set up in 1998 by a number of concerned individuals and organisations. It has grown in strength and is now well known for its advocacy on behalf of Dalit people in India and the other countries of South Asia who suffer from ‘untouchability’ & caste discrimination, and those discriminated against by work and descent in other countries.

The name Dalit, drawn from the Marathi[1] language, literally means ‘crushed’ or ‘broken’, but more generally means ‘oppressed people’. It was a name that the Untouchables in India took for themselves after rejecting the name Harijan and was greatly popularised by the Dalit leader Jyotirao Phule and the Dalit Panther Movement in Maharashtra, India.

DSN-UK uses the name Dalit in an inclusive manner to address all those who suffer from social exclusion based on caste, caste like practices and discrimination based on work and descent. This includes both the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes who are India’s most oppressed communities.

The scheduled castes are the outcastes and are not part of the caste system. They are assigned to occupations deemed too defiling for other castes such as manual scavenging (cleaning dry toilets), sweeping, disposing of corpses, skinning and tanning of animal hides, making footwear, digging graves etc. They are thought of as polluted and polluting and therefore left out of mainstream society[2].

The scheduled tribes or indigenous people are ethnically different from the scheduled castes and also suffer from untouchability. They are known as Adivasis and are discriminated against on the basis of work and descent and not because of caste as the scheduled castes are.

Dalits find upward mobility impossible due to systematic discrimination at all levels[3].
Our colleagues particularly in India, but also from other South Asian countries, now send us a constant stream of information, via the internet, which details the ongoing harassment, discrimination and violence against Dalits. This rather makes a mockery of the fact that India received the highest number of votes in the election to the new UN Human Rights Council earlier this year.

India has been negotiating for a seat on the UN Security Council for sometime now. With the continued blatant abuse of Dalit human rights, we would argue that India does not deserve a seat on the UN Security Council until it combats caste discrimination more actively.

Since DSN-UK has brought caste to wider attention, most government ministers and civil servants dealing with India in DFID, the Foreign Office and the Department for Trade and Industry are now aware of caste discrimination. We are pleased that Baroness Royall presented DFID’s views at the seminar. Also, the recent report of the Parliamentary Committee for Trade and Industry recommends that the Government refers companies investing in India to the Ambedkar Principles. This follows the example of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs in an advice booklet published in October 2005.

The International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)

The IDSN was formed in London in 1990 and has grown in strength and influence. It is currently based in Copenhagen, with two full-time staff and one intern. It has been extremely active in relation to the relevant UN bodies and agencies, the EU and other appropriate institutions.

IDSN remains active and effective due to the support and involvement of the Solidarity Networks in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as well as the UK. Largely through IDSN’s campaigning, the UN Commission for Human Rights initiated a three-year study on caste-based discrimination. IDSN will continue campaigning to ensure that this study be completed under the auspices of the new Human Rights Council.


Our Private Sector Focus

There is an existing ‘reservation policy’ in India, which was introduced in 1947. This is confined to the State and State-supported sectors that provide employment to only about 10% of the working population. Since 90% of the jobs are in the private sector, there has been a demand for a similar reservation policy for the private sector too. Liberalisation has made the private sector a more dynamic source of employment and growth while at the same time large numbers of Dalits are in danger of becoming unemployed[4].

The debate on reservation in the private sector which entails a quota system is presently raging in India. It is quite plausible that in the near future there will be legislation in place to support this. This legislation might or might not directly address foreign companies in India, but it will surely have an overall effect on the business community one way or the other.
The discourse of merit versus social justice seems to have lost its bite with companies recruiting by normal procedures not being so thrilled with the merit of their non-Dalit candidates[5]. Dalits are beginning to assert that they are as capable to participate in the private sector if only they are given opportunities to demonstrate their abilities. DSN-UK along with IDSN felt that our work should focus on motivating foreign investors to become conscious of caste discrimination and expand the scope of their recruitment to consciously include Dalits.

What DSN-UK is proposing is a policy of positive or affirmative action which is voluntary and which is both economically and socially a healthier option. We feel that it would be prudent for companies not to procrastinate and instead kick-start the transition to more inclusive policies.

Our proposal is not based on a quota system which business feels will hurt meritocracy but on a system of conscious inclusion. The Ambedkar Principles suggest numerous ways in which the Dalit work force can be strengthened to enable them to compete among equals.

Our work focuses on encouraging the private sector to become conscious of caste discrimination. We have been in dialogue with a number of British and other European companies investing in India. After the first UK Seminar on the private sector in the autumn of 2004, DSN-UK developed the Ambedkar Principles, drawing on race equality principles developed in the UK and USA, international business and human rights initiatives such as the Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines, internationally agreed labour rights of the ILO and the Sullivan Principles which were drawn up during apartheid in South Africa. Comments were sought from the Dalit communities, the private sector, unions and NGO’s in order to develop a set of Principles that would not ask of companies more than they could offer, but which would be true to the grim reality of the caste system.

They are named after Dr Ambedkar the Dalit leader who despite being from a very poor background, obtained doctorates in law and economics from Columbia University in the United States and the London School of Economics (LSE). It is for this reason that the LSE graciously accepted to host the seminar.

We hope the launching of the Ambedkar Principles will pave the way for more companies to use them as a guideline in formulating affirmative actions that will address the challenging issue of caste discrimination in a vigorous and effective manner. We also hope that this report will become an important reference for those working against caste discrimination in the private sector.

Rodney Bickerstaffe - Former General Secretary of UNISON and Trustee of Dalit Solidarity Network UK, chairing the seminar as Baroness Royall - DFID representative in the Lords, presents the governments initiatives regarding caste discrimination

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THE AMBEDKAR PRINCIPLES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
Gerard Oonk, India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN)

THE AMBEDKAR PRINCIPLES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
Gerard Oonk, India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN)

As caste discrimination in South Asia is permeating all aspects of life, foreign investors often play a role in reinforcing caste discrimination, even if not consciously. Their employment policies might be biased against Dalits or might have a negative impact on livelihoods of Dalits.
The Principles
It was with this in mind that in 2003, DSN-UK began to discuss the idea of providing the private sector with a system by which they could address caste discrimination. They took advice from NGO’s, private sector representatives and trades unions and developed the set of Principles which were named after Dr Ambedkar.
In September 2004 the draft Principles were discussed at a seminar with representatives of unions, employers and investors in London. This first version of the Ambedkar Principles dealt with employment related issues, aimed at an active non-discrimination policy and affirmative action to tackle the big gap between Dalits and non-Dalit Indians.
Based on the Ambedkar Principles, the Dalit Solidarity Networks in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands initiated the first discussions with companies operating in South Asia, to persuade them to seriously examine their own relation to the caste issue. The process was to include making an assessment of their corporate impact on Dalits as well as formulating a policy and implementing practices that would be beneficial rather than detrimental to them.
During the International Consultation on Caste-Based Discrimination in Kathmandu from November 29-1 December 2004, the role of the private sector and the Ambedkar Principles were discussed by a broad range of stakeholders, including caste affected groups, international agencies like the ILO, academics and NGOs. Based on this input, an amended version was then sent around for comments to a range of organizations. Between 18 and 19 October 2005 the new draft was discussed again at an international meeting of IDSN member organizations in the Hague, Netherlands.
Important new input came from Professor Sukhadeo Thorat from the Indian Institute of Dalit studies (IIDS) and the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), India. They argued that the impact of companies on Dalits was not limited to employment practices, but also related to land, capital, consumer goods and product markets as well as supply contracts. The misappropriation and exploitation of land and local resources to the detriment of socially excluded local communities was highlighted as something that companies should not in any way be involved in. Measures like Dalit-inclusive charitable support to community programmes and support for the teaching of English to Dalits were also recommended. It was decided in the Hague to introduce additional principles into the Ambedkar Principles to address economic and social exclusion.
By the end of 2005 when the last comments were in, the ‘The Ambedkar Principles: Employment and Additional Principles on Economic and Social Exclusion Formulated to Assist All Foreign Investors in South Asia to address caste discrimination’ were finalised and launched formally at a seminar organised by the DSN-UK in London on July 20, 2006. The Dutch government now recommends Dutch companies operative in India to sign up to the Ambedkar Principles as an integral part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The Ambedkar Principles were used as an important basis for the Dalit Discrimination Check (DDC), a self-assessment tool for companies, regarding their impact on Dalits. The DDC was developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the International Dalit Solidarity Network.
While the Ambedkar Principles are voluntary, there is at the moment a big debate in India about the need for compulsory reservation of jobs in the private sector. Most corporate houses and organizations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are against mandatory quotas, but Dalit organizations are strongly in favour. The government is still considering its options.
However everybody agrees that Dalits should be getting more opportunities in the labour market of the ‘organized sector’ of the economy. The Ambedkar Principles are meant to achieve this and more. Forced by law or not, foreign companies operating in India – if they want to be considered as socially responsible - cannot afford to behave in a way that is detrimental to Dalits and other economically and socially excluded or exploited groups. They cannot continue to deny them the opportunities that many other people in India increasingly have.

From Left: Richard Stockdale - CEO Lloyds India, C Gautam - General Secretary of Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (FABO), Singh Bahal - Backward and Minorities Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), Marc Willers - Barrister, Rob Marris MP - Member of Parliamentary Trade and Industry Select Committee and Trustee of DSN-UK
THE CONTEXT FOR THE SEMINAR
Tara Brace-John, Private Sector Project Officer, DSN-UK
Background
The Indian State has been constitutionally empowered[6] to “promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes[7] and the Scheduled Tribes[8], and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation”. The State has used a two-fold strategy to achieve this aim:
1. By providing legal and constitutional safeguards against discrimination[9]
Reservation policy[10] in the State and State-supported sectors
There has been a significant increase in the number of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) government employees since the inception of the reservation policy but this is for a population of over 250 million Dalits (167 million SC and 86 million ST in 2001) who form a quarter of India’s over one billion population.
Government employment under reservation
Year SC ST Others
1956 212,754 22,549 1184748
2003 540,220 211,345 2517780
National Commission for SC and ST and Annual report of Department of Personnel, India
Percentage share in government employment
Year SC ST Others
1956 14.98 1.59 83.43
2003 16.52 6.46 77.01
Thorat 2005, Working paper: “Persistent Poverty – Why SC and ST stay chronically poor”, Department for International Development (DFID), UK
Employment under reservation in public sector undertakings
Year SC ST Others
1970 40640 12309 494680
2003 296388 138504 1198106
Thorat 2005, Working paper: “Persistent Poverty – Why SC and ST stay chronically poor”, Department for International Development (DFID), UK
Percentage share in public sector undertakings
Year SC ST Others
1970 7.42 2.25 90.33
2003 18.15 8.48 73.37
Thorat 2005, Working paper: “Persistent Poverty – Why SC and ST stay chronically poor”, Department for International Development (DFID), UK
Percentage share of employees in public sector banks
Posts 1978 2000
SC ST Others SC ST Others
Officers 2.04 0.34 97.62 12.51 4.22 83.27
Clerks 10.32 1.82 87.86 14.88 4.76 80.36
Sub staff 16.25 2.09 8167 24.47 6.25 69.28
National Commission for SC and ST, India
Unfortunately the reservation policy does not extend to the private sector, which in relation to the State and State-supported sectors is a big player. According to a recent survey by the Indian Government, 76% of the workforce is engaged in the private sector and only 24% is employed in the State and State-supported sectors[11]. Set against this fact is the looming danger of the State and State-supported sectors shrinking while the private sector further expands.
Recognising the importance of the private sector job market, the Indian Government has set up a ‘Group of Ministers’ in 2005 to develop an Affirmative Action Policy[12] for the private sector. Be it in India or the UK, affirmative action is unlikely to take place voluntarily and legislation will be needed to support such a policy. Public awareness and civil society action need to ensure implementation of any affirmative action policy in the private sector. Key civil society actors should also be involved in the monitoring of this policy implementation. All these measures will have to happen both in India and in the companies’ countries of origin.
Foreign investment is high and on the increase in India as it is perceived to be a stable country with a high growth rate. Economically, India is a ’happening’ country. But it is important to point out that the country is socially so backward that every institution, modern and old, is entrenched in the caste system. India’s rigid examination system, systematic limitation of entry, various forms of discrimination linked to caste and limited educational opportunities, has limited the field of recruitment[13]. Even a company or institution which claims to be ‘non discriminatory’, inadvertently gets co-opted into the morass of caste and class that still forms the bulwark of Modern India.
DSN-UK’s Advocacy
DSN-UK believes that it is crucial to continue highlighting this danger internationally. We hope that in the future, institutions will become culturally sensitive to the ramifications of caste in peoples lives and adapt their policies to suit a plan of affirmative action that can successfully and efficiently deal with the issue of caste discrimination. In view of this, we organised a seminar for the purpose of:
a) Further raising the issue of caste discrimination among companies, banks, government departments, unions, NGO’s and academic institutions and
b) To launch and promote the Ambedkar Principles for employment, economic and social rights
Expected Outcomes of the Seminar
Increased awareness of caste discrimination among companies, banks, government departments, unions, NGO’s and academic institutions
The Ambedkar Principle will begin to be used by companies, banks, government departments, unions, NGO’s and academic institutions to develop affirmative action policies that will address the issue of caste discrimination
The Ambedkar Principles might contribute to future supportive legislation in the UK and in other countries
Seminar Proceedings
Participants at the seminar were from the business and NGO sectors, government, unions, community representatives, academics, and research scholars. All the presentations and discussions were lively and from a wide spectrum of thought and experience. The experience of viewing the film I am Dalit, How are you? which was produced by the International Dalit Solidarity Network, helped participants to understand the harsh realities of being a Dalit in India today.
The business perspective was presented by Richard Stockdale, CEO Lloyds TSB India, and stressed on the importance of education for Dalits as a way out of poverty and discrimination. He also proposed emotional intelligence as a part of the curriculum and championed the development of new educational plans along these lines.
The Government view which was presented by Baroness Royall, DFID spokesperson in the House of Lords, further reiterated the importance of education. She emphasised the UK Government’s commitment to this cause and drew our attention to the large amount of funds that the UK government had directed towards the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)[14] educational plan in India which is a bid by both governments to increase educational opportunities for Dalit children and to counter the economic reasons for the high drop-out rate among them.
In his presentation, Professor John Harriss, London School of Economics, felt that it was crucial to go beyond “just education”. He was basing this opinion on a very personal and first-hand experience of Dalit rural realities that spanned over 20 years. His example of a Dalit village which had a school earlier than another caste village, but still had very few educated Dalits, was a stark reminder to all of us that caste discrimination needs to be combated at various levels. Professor Harriss was of the strong opinion that educational interventions need to be supported by investment in non-agricultural rural activities which will bolster and simultaneously strengthen the local economy, thereby encouraging and enabling parents to send children to school instead of out to work.
David Haslam, Chair of Trustees DSN-UK, Walter Hahn from the German Dalit Solidarity Platform and Rob Marris MP, Wolverhampton South West and Trustee of DSN-UK all spoke of the importance of networking and the need for lobbying on Dalit issues in Europe and in the UK. They gave us an update of the achievements and developments in Parliament and the Solidarity Networks and the progress they had made in awareness raising on caste discrimination. David also briefly spoke about future plans and suggested numerous venues of cooperation between the private sector and NGOs.
Marie Busck, Danish Institute for Human Rights introduced the group to the Dalit Discrimination Check (DDC) that has been developed by her organisation and urged the companies which were represented to participate in testing it. The companies also had an opportunity to interact with her after the seminar in a specially organised meeting. Here they were able to further clarify their thoughts about the DDC and develop a better understanding of the required procedures.
Conclusion
The seminar is just a small step forward in the struggle against caste discrimination. Governments, companies, unions and institutions are becoming aware of the enormity of the manifestations of the caste system and this in itself is already progress. However, there is still a very long way to go in terms of policy.

The Ambedkar statue today is a symbol of Dalit political mobilization. It is very often one of the first outward symbols that will appear in a Dalit village which believes itself to be a political entity. It remains a symbol of Dalit Power. It is no wonder that it is also the first target in inter-caste discord and is very often desecrated with human excreta, cow dung or even a garland of old slippers! Therefore the necessity for Ambedkar to be under lock and key, almost 60 years after Indian independence! (Photo: James Smith)

 

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