India does not deserve any nuclear concessions from America

[NNN0LHI]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0602_030602_untouchables.html


India's "Untouchables" Face Violence, Discrimination

Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News

June 2, 2003
More than 160 million people in India are considered "Untouchable"—people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them impure, less than human.

Human rights abuses against these people, known as Dalits, are legion. A random sampling of headlines in mainstream Indian newspapers tells their story: "Dalit boy beaten to death for plucking flowers"; "Dalit tortured by cops for three days"; "Dalit 'witch' paraded naked in Bihar"; "Dalit killed in lock-up at Kurnool"; "7 Dalits burnt alive in caste clash"; "5 Dalits lynched in Haryana"; "Dalit woman gang-raped, paraded naked"; "Police egged on mob to lynch Dalits". snip

Statistics compiled by India's National Crime Records Bureau indicate that in the year 2000, the last year for which figures are available, 25,455 crimes were committed against Dalits. Every hour two Dalits are assaulted; every day three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered, and two Dalit homes are torched.

No one believes these numbers are anywhere close to the reality of crimes committed against Dalits. Because the police, village councils, and government officials often support the caste system, which is based on the religious teachings of Hinduism, many crimes go unreported due to fear of reprisal, intimidation by police, inability to pay bribes demanded by police, or simply the knowledge that the police will do nothing.

"There have been large-scale abuses by the police, acting in collusion with upper castes, including raids, beatings in custody, failure to charge offenders or investigate reported crimes," said Narula.

That same year, 68,160 complaints were filed against the police for activities ranging from murder, torture, and collusion in acts of atrocity, to refusal to file a complaint. Sixty two percent of the cases were dismissed as unsubstantiated; 26 police officers were convicted in court.

[RethugAssKicker]

1. Do you have anymore "history" on the untouchables of India?

Is it a color thing? (I am aware that most if not all of the untouchables are dark skinned Indians). How did this begin?.. What is the official response from the Government?

[NNN0LHI]

2. Its a class thing. Here is a link that leads to about a million more links

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ned=tus&q=Dalits+&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web

National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR)
Information about campaigns for human rights across the country.
www.dalits.org/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

India's "Untouchables" Face Violence, Discrimination
Human rights abuses against these people, known as Dalits, are legion. ...
"Dalits are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same temples, ...
news.nationalgeographic.com/ news/2003/06/0602_030602_untouchables.html - 40k - Cached - Similar pages

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Dalits' political awakening
India's Dalits, once known as "untouchables", suffer from every conceivable form
of discrimination, but on the political front, times are changing.
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/ world/south_asia/newsid_459000/459591.stm - 34k - Cached - Similar pages

Worldwide Dalits
Worldwide Dalits. - International Dalit Human Rights Conference, London 16-17
Sept 2000 - Birth Anniversary at India House-UK - First World Dalit Convention ...
www.ambedkar.org/p9.htm - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

Crime Against Dalits
These are JUST SOME of the Crimes committed on Dalits from April 2000 to December
2002 ... Atrocities against Dalits surface in village near Bhopal (26 Apr) ...
www.ambedkar.org/crime.htm - 50k - Cached - Similar pages

Dalit (outcaste) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Many Dalits consider Harijan condescending and prefer the term Dalit (Hindi: ...
In rural India, caste origins are more readily apparent, and Dalits remain ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit_(outcaste) - 31k - Cached - Similar pages

Dalit (outcaste) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Other terms have been used to refer to Dalits in recent times. ... Many Dalits
consider Harijan condescending and prefer the term Dalit (Hindi: दलित), ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalits - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

society - dalits
International aid and Dalits, by Hira Vishwakarma (kp 05/05/2004), Efforts to
Raise Dalit’s ... Non-resident Dalits tell successful stories (rn 29/01/2004) ...
www.nepalresearch.org/society/dalits.htm - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

GENOCIDE OF DALITS. Documentation on the Extermination of Dalits ...
Documents relating to the Mass Extermination of Dalits in South Asia.
www.dalitstan.org/journal/genocide/dalits/dalits.html - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

Dalits in Society : India Together
India Together website - news and articles regarding Dalits.
www.indiatogether.org/society/caste.htm - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

[Krist]

4. ridiculous anti-Indian tripe

How are the two issues related ? US is not promising Nuclear weaponry, mere transfer of technology and fuel for some of ailing reactors. And US is not alone.

France has signed a similar deal two weeks ago.

IAEA, UK, France and Australia have all supported the Indo-US deal afterall.

If India had a law PREVENTING people from lower castes to run for office, your argument could've sustained some credibility. Reality is far removed from it.

---> Untouchability has been outlawed as soon as the constitution was drafted.

---> The Indian constitution itself was drafted by a person hailing from the "untouchable" caste.

---> Lower castes are granted affirmative action in all educational institutions and employment services to the tune of 50-70% all across the country. India is the only country in the world that has such a stringent affirmative action policy toward people who were persecuted in an earlier era.
Afterall, we dont find Germans giving affirmative actions to JEWS or Hispanic Latinos giving sweeping affirmative action to indigenous tribals in south america, do we ?

---> India has had 3 or 4 PRESIDENTs belonging to lower castes and 2 prime ministers. The current president is a MUSLIM and the prime minister as well as chief of army staff are both SIKHs. India is currently the only country in the world thats entirely run by its minority communities.


Caste based discrimination exists... just like Racism exists in US and the entire western hemisphere wherever Caucasians are present.. doesnt mean all non-whites should stop doing business with them.

[slipslidingaway]

3. Thanks for posting, K&R!

[Solly Mack]

5. Doesn't deserve it because of human right's violations?

Like America is somehow not in the business of violating human rights itself?... and that America should somehow not deal with countries who do because what? America is "better" than those countries?


America ain't exactly a role model for human rights. America has no high ground - NONE. America has no moral authority.

Sure, I agree that any country (that actually does support and promote human rights) should avoid doing business with countries that abuse human rights.

But America ain't that country. It would be pure hypocrisy on the part of America to claim they won't do business with such and such country because of human right abuses.

America is a war crime nation.