A cruel bias India can do without

Three days ago, there was a shocking report coming from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, which said that an elderly Dalit man was forced to lick his own urine just because he could not control himself because of a respiratory ailment.

Again on Saturday, reports were circulating that upper castes had beaten a teenager Dalit to death during a birthday celebration in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida. And shockingly, the attack had happened allegedly on the night of his birthday.

And on Sunday, there were reports that a 35-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by his neighbours following a dispute in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district, prompting the authorities to deploy police. All because the victim had an ongoing dispute with a family in the neighbourhood.

There is nothing which hurts more than being discriminated against on the basis of caste, colour or religion. There have been instances of lower castes being told not to draw water from the village well. And of those who were made to eat humble pie and told to keep away from privileges enjoyed by the upper castes.

As for personal and marital ties, there have been in numerable cases of those who get entwined in such relationships being severely punished for no fault of theirs. We live in a secular, democratic society and so it hurt all the more as every citizen, whether young or old, is entitled to the same rights devoid of any discrimination.

Our Constitution clearly states that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. It also says that no citizen shall, on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place be subject to any disability, liability or restriction.

And yet caste bias continues almost in every state, whether it is in UP or in the southern state of Tamil Nadu with Dalits often forced to domenial task including cleaning toilets and sometimes even segregated at mealtime. There are laws and regulations which make any kind of discrimination punishable under the law and yet, such obnoxious practices, which have their roots in the ancient varna system, continue unabated.

In efforts to ensure that Dalits and others who have been discriminated against through the ages because of caste, receive a boost, they have been provided many benefits in the form of reservation in jobs and in educational opportunities, But the fact that the discrimination continues like ever points to the need for stronger measures on the part of the state to ensure that caste-based differences disappear once and forever from our social matrix.

The only way to steadily get rid of caste based biases is to inculcate them at a young age. Students should be taught that any bias of any kind is not allowed and will invite instant punishment. The hallowed concepts of justice, equality and liberty should be instilled in their minds as early as possible so that there is no room for them to adopt a biased path at a later age.

Such upbringing will help to build a generation which will be the pride of India and which inevitably looks down on anything which reeks of discrimination of any kind.