Dalit support in US Congress

Just before Mayawati took hold of the reins in Uttar Pradesh, an American Congressman introduced a resolution in the US Congress urging the US government
to protest the mistreatment of Dalits in India. The ball was set rolling in February this year, when the EU passed a resolution on untouchability that called on the Indian government to drastically improve its response to the human rights violations caused by caste and untouchability.

By Yatish Yadav

It is likely that Mayawati has never heard of Trent Franks. Sometime before she sworn as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, US Congressman Franks, from Arizona, introduced an historic resolution on Dalits and untouchability in the US House of Representatives on May 1, 2007.

“I introduced a resolution calling for the United States to address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India,” said Rep Franks in the House. “Last December, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged the similarities between untouchability in his country and apartheid in South Africa. It is now time for this Congress to speak out about this ancient and particularly repulsive form of harassment and isolation—even if it is occurring in a country considered to be one
of America’s closest allies. This Congress must urge an end to the social discrimination and injustice faced by the nearly 250 million people known as Dalits and tribals in India.” Franks was referring to the very words that Prime Minister Mankohan Singh had uttered on December 27, 2006, equating “untouchability” and “apartheid”.

When passed, the resolution will be the US Congress’ first official declaration that untouchability is an unacceptable practice in any modern democracy, and that the US Congress should do everything within its power to ensure that American business and the US administration do not consciously discriminate against Dalits in their programmes, their hiring, and the disbursement of funding.

A pressure group known as the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN), which works for the Dalit cause around the world, has been actively involved in the raising the issue of harassment of the Dalit community and lobbying for lawmakers and human rights activists in the US, the UK and Canada to build a better, safer and more harmonious society for marginalised peoples. The DFN began its movement with a conference and regular meetings in Washington DC; it also held an extensive debate on the Dalit issue in the British Parliament on November 22, 2005.

The resolution was introduced shortly after a briefing of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus titled Untouchables: The Plight of Dalit Women. Testimony was presented by DFN president Nanci Ricks; Joseph D’souza, international president of the DFN; Kumar Swamy, South India director of the All India Christian Council; Smita Narula, executive director of the Center for Global Human Rights and Global Justice at the New York University School of Law; and T Kumar, advocacy director, Asia and Pacific, Amnesty International.

The testimonies were both moving and informative. Nanci Ricks highlighted the dehumanisation that Dalit women confront right from birth to their adult lives; D’souza spoke of sex trafficking in Dalit girls and gave recent examples of violence against Dalit girls; and Swamy spoke of his experience as a Dalit in India and the violence he had personally witnessed perpetrated on Dalit women.
“We are in the midst of a worldwide movement,” said D’souza following the briefing. “The world
is just now awakening to the oldest and largest human rights atrocity. Now is the time for action, and we call on others to join with leaders like Congressman Franks in calling for movement by the United States government and other world governments.”

The speakers unanimously called for “a swift response” from the US government. Each speaker, in particular, called on the US Congress to pass Rep Franks’ resolution. They also called on American businesses to allocate jobs and training specifically to Dalits—especially Dalit women— and to ensure that Dalits and low-caste people do not face discrimination in the workplace or in hiring practices. The panelists also highlighted the need to educate Dalit girls all over India.

The resolution and briefing arrive following a flurry of action in the UK and the European Union (EU) on the issue of untouchability. Last month, both the UK House of Lords and the House of Commons had a public debate on the issue, and the Conservative Human Rights Commission held a hearing on untouchability, an act of groundbreaking concern. In February this year, the EU had passed a resolution on untouchability that had called on the Indian government to drastically improve its response to the human rights violations caused by caste and untouchability.

Not surprisingly, the call went unheard in India. Political parties here that bank on the Dalit vote do not see it in their interest to minimise the inequity that Dalits routinely face. For the same reason, they choose not to respond to international condemnation. The so-called “consolidation of Dalit votes” is a matter of corralling franchise and has little to do with Dalit uplift.

A week after the resolution was introduced in the US, Dalit chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, took oath—and the first thing she did was fire three administrative officials for not taking adequate care of Ambedkar Park when she was out of power. This insincerity of purpose is what Dalits have to contend with in India.