Racism blindness, cricket, and the Untouchables

By Joseph D’souza

On January 8, 2008, CNN/IBN’s ‘Face the Nation’ broadcast focused on racism within India. It was not surprising that, during a call-in survey, 83% of their audience agreed that India has its own racism. The caste system is at the core of this social illness.

Reporters interviewed black students from Africa in the famous Jawaharlal Nehru University who prefer to stay inside the campus rather than venture out onto the streets of New Delhi to face racist comments and taunts. The broadcast was triggered by the huge controversy around allegedly racist comments by one of India’s cricket players to an Australian player in the ongoing cricket series between the countries. The match referee banned the Indian player for three matches. The Indian team has appealed.

While it appears the Indian player is not guilty, it is baffling to see how some Indians are trying to take a higher moral ground on the whole issue of racism. The argument is that India raised its voice against Apartheid. We are the ones who condemned racism in America. We are the pluralistic society that will not stand for racism.

Yet, while this is true, one of the CNN/IBN panel members expressed the unsaid truth. He stated that Indians are hard-core racists due to the caste system and our obsession with being fair and white in skin color. Nowhere in the world is there such an obsession with becoming fair-skinned. Cosmetic companies blatantly run ads which are racist in character. There are numerous quacks who offer creams and treatments that are harmful, but promise to make your face ‘fair’ in a couple of weeks.

Professor Kancha Ilaiah, a political scientist who was on the show, pointed out that Indian life is replete with terms that are racist. When the lower castes are called ‘Chamars’ or ‘Bhangis’ or ‘Chandalas’ or ‘Kalia’ and similar names, it degrades and insults people who were born into this category, occupation, and place in the caste system.

A few Australian papers indirectly pointed out that all is not well in India on the racism front. But the editors did not go on to directly point out what I commonly hear during my travels around the world. In the wake of globalization, the world is very aware of India’s caste or racism problem.

Increasingly, very few people are buying the argument that the caste system is not racism. From genetic discoveries to binding United Nations’ judgments, the truth is becoming obvious.

In fact, not only is caste a form of racism, it is a greater evil. Educational achievements or economic successes sometimes eliminate the barriers of most racism. But my beloved country is full of examples of Dalits who returned home after great accomplishments only to be scorned by the upper castes. In 2001, Dalit leaders said with one voice at the UN conference at Durban that caste is worse than racism because there is no way out of the caste system. Once a Dalit, always a Dalit.

What’s the solution? Non-governmental groups, like ours, can continue to empower Dalits through primary education, microeconomic projects, and more. The national and state governments should enforce the good laws which are already on the books. But transformation of our racism-laden society will only happen when corporate responsibility is practiced. Corporations wield power and respect. Companies, whether Indian or multi-national, must address racism in their operations. And, more important, they must invest in schools, colleges, and continuing education which teach the equal potential for every human being. Knowledge of the truth sets people free.

Posted on: January 20, 2008

 


State of Terror

Original article from The Asian Age.

By Seema Mustafa

It was a near midnight telephone call from colleague and trusted friend John Dayal. The panic in his voice carried over the telephone lines: “Do something, we cannot get through to anyone, the people are surrounded in Orissa, they are going to do another Gujarat.” He had slammed down the receiver before one could respond. Do what John? Call whom? Who is going to listen? No one cares. Oh yes, after the violence is over they will all emerge, clucking their tongues, announcing compensation, denouncing violence, but that will all be after the event. Images of Ahsan Jafri, the veteran Congress leader, calling everyone from Gujarat to Delhi for help as the mobs gathered outside his house, flashed by. He was brutally butchered.

The Congress disappeared from Gujarat then, as it has disappeared from Orissa today. Violence has become a state subject, with state governments being given full freedom to terrorise and kill Indian citizens at will. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik had little to say about the violence that targeted the Christians in the state, so little that he actually appeared to endorse it. The report of the National Minorities Commission has come like a gust of fresh air as it has confirmed that the violence was premeditated. And what was worse, the state government had full knowledge of it but did nothing to protect the traumatised people who went through hours of sheer terror as mobs vandalised, burnt and attacked them and their places of worship.

The NCM took suo moto cognisance of the violence following media reports. It was not asked to take note by the Central government, read the home ministry that does not react to such violence in any part of the country. Home minister Shivraj Patil has decided that communal violence should be ignored, and the government must not react to the attacks on the minorities in any part of the country. He has reduced his ministry to a cipher, where it does nothing to prevent violence, to ensure action against the perpetrators of violence, and the dispensation of justice. Everything for this ministry is a state subject — although it does not hesitate to hold meetings on the Naxalite issue, sponsor and support questionable tactics such as Salwa Judum in the states, and yet maintain a grim silence when PUCL activists are arrested and hounded by the state police as being pro-Naxalite with little or no evidence at hand. Mr Patil has established himself as the most incompetent minister in the Cabinet, and strangely enough, that is the reason why he has survived every Cabinet reshuffle. Inefficiency pays, overzealousness attracts unwarranted attention and jealousies, and such ministers are either dropped or left with little more than panchayati raj.

The NCM found that the violence against the Christian community was “organised and preplanned.” It also found alarming that despite the fact that the “Christian community had given prior information to the government and the administration that it was apprehending trouble, sufficient steps were not taken to prevent the violence.” What has gone wrong with our politicians, with those elected to power to protect all citizens of India regardless? What is wrong with these people who support and condone the worst kind of violence, and even participate in it? What is this sickness that has taken hold of their minds, where they see the people of India through the prism of caste and communal hatred?

True, hatred and divisiveness are the stated ideology of one group, one parivar that revels in inciting death and destruction. That creates stereotypes and spreads anger and hatred. That cashes in on frustration to motivate anger and subsequent violence. But what about all the others who are in power, and watch helplessly, and often, as in the case of the Orissa government, with a level of connivance and even delight. How is it that those who preside over pogroms are feted, wined and dined by supposedly respectable leaders of India? How is it that no one holds them accountable for the violence that has left hundreds and thousands dead? What is happening to secular, democratic India that gained independence with the pledge to treat all equally, to wipe the tears from every eye, to bring liberty and justice to its people?

Our policies create monsters, and then in tackling these we beat the poor and the oppressed mercilessly. Terrorism was converted by our governments here into communalism, and used to beat innocent Muslims all over the country — in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Not a single terrorist has been caught, but hundreds have been imprisoned, beaten and tortured as the police and administration have been given the latitude to do what they will. The same is happening in the name of tackling the Naxalite problem. Salwa Judum, where the poor were made to attack and kill the poor by cynical and unscrupulous governments, has fortunately been exposed as a terrible policy. But that has not stopped the administrations of the affected states from attacking the poor and arresting the civil rights activists who are trying to highlight the plight of the poorest of the poor. Naxalites are not these hydra-headed monsters, they are the poor of India who do not get even one meal a day, and have been convinced, wrongly of course, that violence is now the only way to get justice. The problem has two dimensions: one of social equity and justice, and the second, of law and order. Our home minister, unfortunately, does not understand the first as social justice does not seem to be part of his vocabulary.

There is a certain silence in Delhi about the role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its mentors in Orissa. There is complete silence about the role of chief minister Naveen Patnaik who has added insult to injury with a compensation package that basically confirms his support for those who sought to take justice into their own hands. The NCM has done a good job, but its jurisdiction is limited. It has little strength except as a moral force, and morality and conscience are certainly not the weight that politicians carry these days. Terrorism is happily recognised by all as violence. There are no two views on this, even though in the name of terrorism state governments take actions that are unjust and highly questionable. Why is communal and caste violence no longer given the same status in India? Why does it not, at least, earn pious homilies from those entrusted with India’s national security, as it actually corrodes and destroys the innards of Indian polity?

Surely, even the politicians seeking to lead the country, at the Centre and the states, today realise this basic fact. Of course, there is one group that is wedded to the polity of hate and injustice. But what about the others? The silence is now ominous, as it is indicative of a certain apathy and perhaps even a lurking sympathy for those seeking to destroy India through the politics of hate. And what is worse, as has been the case in several states in recent years, use the administration and the police to wreak state terror more effectively, and with far more dangerous consequences than the governments today are prepared to admit. When a terrorist attacks, the people turn to their government for help? When they become the victims of terror unleashed by the state, who do they turn to for help? If this question is understood and the answers are placed in the correct perspective, then perhaps, the government can even today come up with a policy that is genuinely pro-people and pro-India.

But first, get Mr Patil out of the home ministry and find someone who understands and is sensitive to the real politics of India. One can suggest at least two names even amongst the present lot, but such is the paranoia of the Congress in power, that the suggestion from these columns will effectively place the two individuals in the dog house. After all, the reason why Shivraj Patil continues to head the most important ministry of India is because no one likes him, and he is answerable only to the powers that be. The country be damned.

Posted on: January 20, 2008

 


India's Burning Issue

Original source from Christianity Today Magazine by Joseph D’Souza.

On Christmas Eve, violence broke out against Christians in the Kandhamal district of the eastern Indian state of Orissa, which has become well known for poor governance and class tensions. Hindu fundamentalist groups led by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP, the World Hindu Council) have attacked Christians and their institutions at will in rural areas. Over 90 churches and Christian institutions have been burned and vandalized, over 700 Christian homes destroyed, and the number of pastors and Christians killed is yet to be known, according to a report by my colleagues in the All India Christian Council. A pastor in Chennai told me that 11 pastors have been killed and thousands of Dalit (formerly known as untouchable) Christians displaced. Compass Direct reports that the death count is at 9. Many people are missing, and others have vanished in the nearby forests.

Human Rights Watch and others have decried the present carnage in Orissa and have recognized that freedom of religious choice — especially in a democracy like India’s — must be respected. The Prime Minister promised immediate action to restore peace in the state. But the affected areas are still reporting sporadic violence over two weeks since the attacks against Dalit Christians began.

Despite reports that Christians retaliated in some places, so far Dalit Freedom Network investigations and statements by the Orissa government indicate that Maoist rebels — called Naxalites — were behind the revenge attacks that left dozens of Hindu families homeless. Most Naxalites are armed Dalits, and their involvement gives evidence of the root problem: ancient caste divisions.

My colleagues and I have condemned all forms of extremism and violence, whether Hindu or Christian. However, the underlying story is not about violence, but instead about the caste discrimination and impoverishment that infect India.

Time magazine was quick to state that Hindu caste discrimination is one major factor in the present persecution of Dalit Christians in Orissa. In the Kandhamal area, there are about 100,000 Christians, mostly Dalits, and 500,000 non-Christian Tribals. IBN Live reports that the Dalit Christians have “done well after converting to Christianity.” Their social, educational, and developmental conditions have conspicuously improved.

A transformed Christian community becomes a powerful motivator and attractor of all those who are still treated as subhumans by the caste system in Orissa. The inhuman and fraudulent social structure of the caste system is fully exposed.

The caste-ridden Hindu fundamentalist groups find this difficult to stomach and have produced threats and false propaganda against Christian missionaries and humanitarian workers in recent years. Hindu fundamentalist ideologues have publicly raised the issue of conversions again, telling NDTV that conversions motivated the violence.

In Orissa eight years ago, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children were burned to death when Hindu radicals lit fire to their car. This New Year’s Day, his widow Gladys Staines, sent a letter to India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and Orissa’s chief minister, Naveen Patnaik expressing grief over the violence and urging forgiveness.

Conversion is the way of revolt taught to the Dalits by their champion and liberator, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a lawyer educated in the U.S., who turned to Buddhism himself. His writings are well known all over India among the Dalits. Amdedkar clearly called for the Dalits to convert in order to escape caste-based humiliation and discrimination. In response, some Dalits probably convert due to a motivation to simply protest, but the Christian faith demands that the church receive all — including Dalits — who want to follow Christ.

Violence against Dalit Christians in Orissa and state-sponsored anti-conversion laws will not stop conversions to other faiths. Nor will it take care of the decay within the caste-based Hindu social system.

Sadly, the Orissa state government is not implementing national hate crimes laws that call for severe punishment for crimes against Dalits and tribal Indians. (In most cases, only Sikh, Buddhist, and Hindu Dalits find it possible to get a government-issued Dalit-identity document.)

I pray that my beloved country will back away from the ledge of discrimination and limitations to religious freedom. Only then will India achieve its potential as a superpower in the 21st century.

Joseph D’Souza is international president of the Dalit Freedom Network.

Posted on: January 10, 2008