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Feudal attitudes persist
Untouchability has no room in a clean India
Justice Nirmal Singh (retd)
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old proverb says, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” In practice it is interpreted in a different way, and made to mean that godliness can dispense with cleanliness. More important than the cleanliness of the body is the cleanliness of mind. On October 2, the Prime Minister picked up the broom in New Delhi's Valmiki Basti. Though merely a symbolic act, it is appreciable.India's Constitution abolished “untouchability,” meaning that the dominant castes could no longer legally force Dalits to perform any “polluting” occupation. Yet sweeping, scavenging and leather work are still being forced on the Scheduled Castes, whose members are threatened with physical abuse and social boycotts for refusing to perform demeaning tasks. Migration and anonymity of an urban environment have in some cases resulted in upward occupational mobility among the Dalits, but the majority continues to perform their traditional functions. Lack of training and education as well as discrimination in seeking other forms of employment has kept these traditions and their hereditary nature alive. The inhumane and illegal practice of untouchability is still commonplace in contemporary India. A survey on the practices of untouchability undertaken in 565 villages in 11 major states of India by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights reveals a very gloomy picture with regard to the condition of untouchables. In as many as 38% of government schools, Dalit children are made to sit separately while eating. In 20% schools, Dalit children are not even permitted to drink water from the same source. As many as 33% of public health workers refused to visit Dalit homes, and 23.5% of Dalits still do not get letters delivered in their homes. Segregated seating for Dalits was found in 30.8% of self-help groups and cooperatives, and 29.6% of panchayat offices. In 14.4% of villages, Dalits were not permitted even to enter the panchayat building. In 12% of villages surveyed, Dalits were denied access to polling booths, or forced to form a separate line. In 48.4% of surveyed villages, Dalits were denied access to common water sources. In 35.8%, Dalits were denied entry into village shops. They had to wait at some distance from the shop, shopkeepers kept the goods they bought on the ground, and accepted their money similarly without a direct contact. In teashops, again in about one-third of the villages, Dalits were denied seating and had to use separate cups. In as many as 73% of the villages, Dalits were not permitted to enter non-Dalit homes, and in 70% of villages non-Dalits would not eat together with Dalits. In more than 47% villages, bans operated on wedding processions on public (arrogated as upper-caste) roads. In 10 to 20% of villages, Dalits were not allowed even to wear clean, bright or fashionable clothes or sunglasses. They could not ride their bicycles, unfurl their umbrellas, wear sandals on public roads, smoke or even stand without their head bowed. Restrictions on temple entry by Dalits average as high as 64%, ranging from 47 % in UP to 94% in Karnataka. In 48.9% of the surveyed villages, Dalits were barred from access to cremation grounds. Caste-based discrimination, or “untouchability”, was banned in India, but centuries-old feudal attitudes persist in many parts of the country and Dalits still face prejudice in every sector from education to employment. Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a member of the Musahar community, visited a Hindu temple in Bihar's Madhubani district. The shrine was "purified" after his visit. Last month, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said hundreds of thousands of poor low-caste Indians were being forced to clean human excrement from dry toilets and open drains, despite a ban on the discriminatory and undignified practice. The judiciary is no exception to this practice. A few years ago in UP, under the jurisdiction of the Allahabad High Court, on the transfer of a Dalit additional Sessions Judge, his upper caste successor brought Ganga jal to purify his court room. The incident was highlighted by the Press. Instead of taking penal against that officer, the HC took action against the Dalit officer on the pretext that the news was published at his instance. Mahatma Gandhi was a staunch supporter of the Varna system and the caste system. Both are enemies of humanity, equality, liberty and fraternity. Gandhi said the caste system must be preserved, whereas Dr Ambedkar not only said we must annihilate the caste system from the face of this earth, he dedicated his whole life to just accomplish it, though he only succeeded marginally. The untouchables (Dalits) of India were/are the victims of the caste system, the Varna system and untouchability. The caste system was the fountainhead of untouchability. Now the “non-violent” Gandhi did nothing to stop this evil caste system that plagued India. In fact, he vociferously argued for perpetuating it. Though Mahatma Gandhi kept a number of fasts for the country, he did not keep any fast to abolish the caste system and untouchability. Had he done this, the present situation could have been entirely different. The idea of untouchability was taken to the extreme by the so-called idea of cleanliness among the higher castes. The idea of hygiene became a psychological problem. The higher castes were more educated and practised greater cleanliness than lower ones. Later on it became a grossly abused custom. Brahmans or other higher castes thought themselves to be purer just by being of a higher caste. Thus, the cleanliness of the body, place, etc can’t achieve much until there is a cleanliness of mind and soul. So long as the practices of untouchability and caste discrimination exist in our society, a clean India is a distant dream. Corporate cleanliness can only be ensured if there is a corporate conscience and a corporate insistence on cleanliness in public places. The programme of cleanliness should also be carried in the slum areas. Untouchability has a great deal to answer for the insanitation of our streets and our latrines, whether private or public. There could be no room in a clean India for the curse of untouchability. The state of cleanliness which we maintain during the observance of the National Cleanliness Day should be made a regular feature of our way of life. It should not be just a routine observance but a wake-up call for all of us to maintain high standards of cleanliness in our homes, work places, roads, streets and public places. — The writer is the MLA from Bassi
Pathana, Punjab
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MIDDLE |
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My first and last visit to US
Sukhdarshan Likhi
 At
the age of 82 when past revisits frequently and future beckons with blurred hopes, planning to travel abroad as a first timer, also an ardent admirer of ancient India, a non-internet , non-mobile person, it was natural to have many a misgiving and even some unexplained fears. The last call from my son and daughter-in-law scheduled to return to India a month later on the plea of lifetime's opportunity not to be missed could not have been better timed as I had just finished reading Philip Godberg's book “American Veda”. It was exhilarating to know the importance of Vedant Yoga, propagated and taught by enlightened gurus and spiritual seekers starting with Swami Vivekanand to the present-day East-West philosopher Deepak Chopra. According to the author, now yoga, karma, meditation and enlightenment are household names in America. Additionally Americans have expanded their database of psychology, medicine, neurology and even theoretical physics. Sadhna is regarded as a stress and strain buster. Yoga and medicines have become critical components of Complimentary Alternative Medicine (CAM) used by 35-45% persons.With an overwhelming sense of pride in India's contribution to America's mental and physical culture, I started planning seriously for my trip to the US. Soon things started falling in line. Without outsourcing the visa application to any outside agency, my grandson filed an application online. He mentioned non-immigrant tourist as the purpose of the visit. Pat came the call for an interview and verification of documents in Delhi. This put me off completely. However, on the advice of a competent official source, the visa category was changed to tourist medical, backed with a written invitation from the daughter-in-law to stay with them during the proposed visit to the US. Thereafter, the local agency office in Chandigarh issued the visa three days before the scheduled date of the flight. At Delhi's IG Airport I was shepherded like a person under some kind of loose detention from one checking counter to another till I reached the terminal entry into the plane. However, I was soon comfortably lodged in my window seat in the plane. At Vienna airport my mobile with an international roaming facility failed to work. A young Sardarji heading for Amesterdom helped to send an SMS to my son in Washington D.C. that I had arrived safely and would soon be getting the next connecting flight. At Dulles International Airport, the idea of getting into a waiting train to get to the exit lounge of the airport intrigued me quite a bit. Having no contact with my son on mobile or otherwise, I was nervous about my reception being in an alien land. Unlike in India those coming to receive their guests are not allowed to enter the reception lounge. They have to wait outside to receive their guests. I was mighty relieved as I came out to see my son's face beaming with a smile all over waiving frantically to welcome me. Thus ended my over 20-hour long leg-squeezing and leg-stretching journey. I enjoyed my over two weeks' stay in the cool summer climate, visiting museums and monuments, seeing and sensing the might of the U.S.A. where the civil and police administration works to perfect precision and the environments have a picture post card quality. It was a different experience altogether. However, I returned to India with a reinforced sense of pride for my own country on recalling what historian Arnold Toynbee had written about it in 1969, “It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to be an Indian ending if it is not to end in self-destruction of human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in human race the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way”.
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OPED
— Environment |
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Green rules: Old debates, new dialogue
Meghna Krishnadas & Divya Karnad
To
back up its strong electoral promises of vikas, the Modi government had promised to ease bureaucratic hurdles for development projects. Getting environmental clearances is one such hurdle that was allegedly slowing down the country's economic growth. In his first few months at office, Prakash Javadekar, current Minister for Forests, Environment, and Climate change, acknowledged the legitimacy of environmental concerns, but underscored the need to support big-ticket growth projects in industry and infrastructure, and “fast-track” clearances, without elaborating its operational implications. The developments of the last few months perhaps hold an indication.
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| We have to consider alternatives to growth-at-all-costs paradigm and safeguard forests, rivers and mineral wealth. |
Forest clearances norms have been diluted. The new National Board for Wildlife has inadequate representation of experts and independent scientists — adhering to the letter of the law to make up the numbers, and completely missing its spirit of diversity, expertise, and dialogue. The National Green Tribunal, India's pioneering and primary entity for dealing with environmental cases, is being reconsidered, jeopardising a crucial legal avenue for environmental grievances. Perhaps most worryingly, the government is now reviewing existing conservation laws to rewrite them for “current requirements”. Again, with no operational specification, the motivation and goals of this move remain unclear.
A file photo of a woman protesting against the demolition of her betel vineyard for the proposed Posco steel project in a village near Paradip. PTI |
These are worrying trends for a time when India should be planning for long-term sustainability in the growth agenda, improve transparency in environmental governance, and increase protection for wildlife and biodiversity. Instead, we are dismantling existing frameworks of conservation. Outlining the real problem Our economic growth imperative needs resources to fuel the development juggernaut. In this context, the Environment Ministry's push to clear a large number of development projects seems necessary. Growth gurus have said that it is anathema not to maximise use of a country's resources for economic development, and efficiency is key. One of the hallmarks of efficient resource extraction is minimal social and environmental impacts. We are a nation of a 1.25 billion people, with many still living in abysmal poverty. Many of our poorest people, and much of the agricultural sector (60 per cent of the workforce) still depend on natural resources like monsoon rains, rivers, soil, and forests for their livelihoods — which are likely to be compromised if we do not accommodate the downsides of the push for coal, minerals, hydropower, and heavy industry. As we are learning from developed nations, issues of water security, food, and climate will remain focal concerns, that won't be solved merely with improved spending power.
Environmental
governance
 Contrary to thinking that conservation is hamstringing development, over 95 per cent of all project applications have been unconditionally cleared in the past decade.
Centre for Science and Environment's data (2013) shows that over 700,000 hectares of forest have been cleared for coal and minerals in the last decade alone. These statistics are often glossed over by development pundits who cry foul over the need for forest and environmental clearances.
India can set a new growth model that emphasises greater reliance on conserving watersheds and rivers, implementing clean technology.
We can create efficient systems of resource use and transmission that promote local self-reliance in energy and water, and provide for maximum conservation of biodiversity. |
Today's growth models can no longer be like the past. There are two reasons for this. One, India's economic expansion comes at a time when the world is already facing an environmental crisis, and issues of global proportions like climate change will indubitably affect us. We are looking at melting glaciers, rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns, failing agriculture, drought, floods, and soil erosion. Some say that this burden of history should not disadvantage us when we have our shot at glory. But, we stand to lose much more in the long run by entrenching ourselves in a here-and-now mentality that neglects future costs.We have to consider alternatives to the classic growth-at-all-costs paradigm that pushes all environmental accounting for a far-away tomorrow. Secondly, in many nations including India, fossil fuels and minerals like iron, manganese, and aluminium, lie under some of the last wilderness areas. These areas that are vital watersheds, carbon sinks, and home to other creatures that we share the planet with. Forests with majestic trees that are more than 500 years old, where tigers and elephants roam, which hold a plethora of ourbiodiversity. From butterflies to bears, frogs to falcons, lichens to leopards, these forests cradle over 400 million years of evolutionary history, but comprise little over 4 per cent of India's land. Ignoring these contemporary facts leads to opting a myopic, blinkered view of development, without accounting for long-term costs and consequences of environmental degradation, habitat loss, and species extinctions. Environmental legislations, and bodies like the Forest Advisory Committee, National Board for Wildlife, National Green Tribunal are necessary for attempting this balance and providing room for debate. Critics of environmental laws often hark about a return to the license-permit raj with clearance requirements. Ramaswamy Iyer provided a great counter-argument to that stance, arguing that many clearances are stuck because applicants didn't observe due process. Errors include failure to provide required documentation, giving inaccurate information, and non-compliance with legal requirements. Contrary to thinking that conservation is hamstringing development, over 95 per cent of all project applications have been unconditionally cleared in the past decade. Centre for Science and Environment's data (2013) shows that over 700,000 hectares of forest have been cleared for coal and minerals in the last decade alone. These statistics are often glossed over by development pundits who cry foul over the need for forest and environmental clearances. As environmental laws are sidestepped with shocking disdain, one is forced to reckon with questions of the long-term needs of a larger populace that relies on water, soil, and climate services provided by forests, and the massive losses of habitat and biodiversity that comprises our natural heritage. Questions for the long-term The real issue is not that of environmental evaluations being an impediment, but of enhancing procedural clarity. The Supreme Court, identifying this problem via the Lafarge judgment, asked MoEF to streamline procedures. The goal was to set simpler, clearer guidelines for applicants, and establish independent authorities for objective assessment and monitoring to ensure compliance with environmental standards, and protect threatened wildlife and their habitats. It hasn't been done yet. Setting up a transparent system of environmental and forest assessment that incorporates relevant independent experts free from bureaucratic interference, conflicts of interest, and potential for corruption, will go a long way in clearing the murky muddle of environmental decision-making. Instead, we are playing tug of war between environment and economics. Perhaps because systemic change takes time, and economic growth is evaluated in short-term results. Or maybe national planning mirrors five-year election cycles. Anyway, the current developmental paradigm is treating natural resources as expendable — to be expropriated quickly and cheaply without accounting for social and environmental costs. It appears to be an ideological standpoint that views economic growth as a stand-alone objective, irrevocably entrenched in the here-and-now, without considering hidden costs of environmental degradation. But it doesn't have to be this way. Choosing to protect our environment We have the laws and constitutional mandate needed to protect India's environment and wildlife. We also have legal bodies and a responsive judiciary to oversee compliance, and an active civil society that engages with these issues. Environmental issues are gaining more traction in the media, with many journalists actively following these topics and writing critical pieces. There is also a growing body of scientists trained in multiple subfields of ecology and conservation, who can work with the government. But to translate these positive points into systemic change, environmental issues have to remain a priority policy, and we need central and state governments to be sensitive to these issues. The Supreme Court of India had stayed all clearances passed by the controversial NBWL, and asked the MoEF to reconstitute the body. The government was forced to adhere to the law. These developments underscore that frameworks for conservation exist in India. It is a question of implementation and improvement. But, the government has now circumvented legal requirements by filling the NBWL ranks with the required number, but a grossly inadequate geographic and disciplinary representation of experts. The Board is largely constituted of retired bureaucrats, with few experts who have a demonstrated track-record of academic or field excellence in conservation, and with a limited history of engagement with many of our pressing conservation issues, thus curtailing dissent. Civil society has responded strongly to these events, asking for an equal playing field for environmental issues in the country's policy sphere. Sadly, the government's response to this has been defensive and dismissive. There has been no attempt by the Modi government to engage these valid concerns, maintaining tightly closed doors, and hiding behind rhetoric while circumventing pro-environment action. Now, the proposal to amend the five major conservation laws signals changes to meet "current requirements". We have to wait and watch as to what the proposed amendments entail, and hope that this does not translate into compromised norms of environmental assessment, and an even smaller space for scientists and civil society to engage with the government. The real 'current requirement' The Modi wave surfed home to a thumping parliamentary majority, unprecedented in the last two decades of India's political history. There is an opportunity for strong positive decision making. But, also a possibility to override concerns that appear peripheral to the current government's stated priorities. The trends for environmental governance so far look worrisome. Issues of transparency and accountability, and pervasive problems like graft and corruption, are a concern for conservation too. We need an efficient and clear system that objectively evaluates conservation impacts of development projects. It should uphold laws, quicken and strengthen review, and allow legal recourse for grievances. We need a space for dialogue that includes forests and wildlife as a legitimate concern in modern India, not unplanned development that compromises the nation's long-term ecological security. Not, for sure, a dilution of existing laws and norms that were intended as constitutional safeguards against exploiting our natural heritage. We live in a world of improved knowledge, technology, and scientific expertise; a world that is aware of the damaging consequences of ignoring environmental concerns, and is actively searching for solutions. We can benefit from this. India can set a new growth model that emphasises greater reliance on conserving watersheds and rivers, implement clean technology, create efficient systems of resource use and transmission that promote local self-reliance in energy and water, and provide for maximum conservation of biodiversity. We submit that adequate water, clean air, good soils, and ecological diversity are values that are equally critical for a growing nation to incorporate. The time is ripe to plan for a more sustainable and long-term pattern of development. That is the real "current requirement". Both authors are conservation ecologists. Meghna Krishnadas is from School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University and Divya Karnad from the Department of Geography, Rutgers University.
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