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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

9 August 2001

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UA-28-2001 - Mixed-caste couple hanged by own families

INDIA: Caste based discrimination - a distinct form of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent; right to life & marriage
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The latest RESPONSE for this appeal is available at:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2001/179/
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2001/145/

In a stark reminder that caste discrimination is still rife in India, a pair of mixed-caste lovers were hanged in public last Monday by their own family members in Alipur village, Muzaffarnagar district, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the Muzzaffarnagar district police chief, a 20-year-old man Vishal (a high caste Brahmin) and an 18-year-old woman Sonu (from the lower caste Jat community) were hanged to death because they belonged to different castes and were in love with each other. The families of both the boy and girl brought them to the roof of a village house and hanged them one after the other in front of hundreds of villagers supporting the murder.

Seven people have been arrested by the police, but this is not the first time there have been such murders in the district of Muzzaffarnagar. In 1993, a pair of mixed-caste lovers were set upon by their local community and killed, while another couple were hacked to death in a rickshaw in March this year.

BACKGROUND

This tragic incident should open the eyes of the world to the reality of caste discrimination in South Asia. In fact the problem goes much deeper than preventing inter-caste marriages. For a Dalit ('low-caste untouchable') to drink from the upper caste well, enter an upper caste home, sit with upper caste students, worship in an upper caste temple, or do work outside of their caste-designated jobs, is still considered such an extreme crime in parts of India that it can be punishable by rape, economic boycott, stripping and public parading or murder. These atrocities happen every week in India and Nepal, and often go unreported, uninvestigated, or ignored by police.

There are similar caste discrimination problems all through South Asia, and also in Japan, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and amongst the Indian diaspora. The total number of victims of caste discrimination is over 250 million worldwide, meaning one in every 25 people are affected. The vast majority of these - around 190 millions Dalits - are in India

You may be aware that the Indian government is aggressively opposing the inclusion of caste discrimination in the World Conference Against Racism being held in South Africa later this month. Many other governments have decided it is easier to not upset India than to stand up for an end to caste discrimination. The Indian government says caste does not belong in the conference because it is not about biologically different races. But the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimation has found that caste is a distinct form of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent.

The Indian government also says that it has a good constitution, set of laws, and policies designed to counter caste discrimination, which is true. But the measures have rarely been implemented, and so we still see Dalits collecting human faeces for work; being told not to bother studying by their teachers; being forced into 'temple prostitution' and being violently punished for breaking caste rules. This latest incident shows that caste is still rampant in India, and that without international attention and pressure, there is no way the caste system will ever be resolved, as those holding the reins of power are the ones gaining from the caste system.

SUGGESTED ACTION

As the police have acted unusually swiftly to arrest seven persons responsible for the murders, we are not requesting any action on that specific incident at this stage. We will continue to monitor the situation. However, you can encourage the UN to address caste discrimination at the World Conferece against Racism. The final documents and agendas are being decided now in Geneva, and it seems likely that caste will not even be mentioned once! Please write to Mary Robinson, the General Secretary for the Conference, to let her know you are deeply concerned about the caste system and believe that the WCAR will be a failure unless it addresses caste oppression as a form of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent.

Please also write a note to your own head of state, urging them to support the inclusion of caste in the agenda, despite the intransigence and pressure from the Indian government on the issue.

SAMPLE LETTER (use this or write your own short message)

Ms. Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Secretary General to the World Conference against Racism
c/- Mr. Frej Fenniche
Senior Human Rights Officer, WCAR Secretariat

Dear Ms. Robinson

RE: CASTE IS STILL KILLING - PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE IT IN WCAR!

It is hard to believe that the caste system in India can still be so entrenched that a young couple were publicly hanged to death by their families on Monday because they were in love and from different castes. The whole village of Alipur in Uttar Pradesh and both sets of parents were supportive of the murders of the two, aged 20 and 18.

I understand that the problem goes much deeper than preventing inter-caste marriages. For a Dalit to drink from the upper caste well, enter an upper caste home, sit with upper caste students, worship in an upper caste temple, or do work outside of their caste-designated jobs, is to be guilty of a social crime punishable by rape, economic boycott, stripping and public parading, or murder. These atrocities happen every week in India, and often go unreported, uninvestigated, or ignored by police. Further, I am aware that this is in fact a global problem, with caste abuse prevalent all through South Asia as well as in Japan and West Africa.

So it has come as a shock to me that this enormous problem may not even be discussed at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance beginning this month. Hundreds of millions of people around the world will wonder what the conference was for if it does not try to understand and respond to the discrimination they face every day because of the family they were born into. I urge you to use your good offices as Secretary General to the conference to ensure that another opportunity for the international community to address the caste system does not pass by. After 3,000 years of caste violence, the Dalits and other low caste people deserve this much.

Yours sincerely

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SEND FAXES AND EMAILS TO:

Ms. Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Secretary General to the World Conference against Racism
c/- Mr. Frej Fenniche
Senior Human Rights Officer, WCAR Secretariat
Fax. (41-22) 917-9056
E-mail:

Please also send your letter to the general email for UNHCHR at:
Email:
PLEASE MARK: FOR THE ATTENTION OF MS. MARY ROBINSON






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