Facts about Dalits

• Dalits are commonly called "Untouchables." The word "Dalit" literally means "broken" or "crushed."
  
  
• Nearly 300 million Dalits live in India today. Caste discrimination also extends to Nepal, Sri Lanka and other countries where Hinduism is present.
  
  
• The Hindu caste system was created more than 3,000 years ago by invading Aryan tribes to prevent pollution of their race.
  
  The four main castes are:
  • Brahmins - priests and teachers
  • Kshatriyas - rulers and soldiers
  • Vaisyas - merchants and traders
  • Sudras - laborers and servants
  
  
• The Dalits fall beneath this structure and are considered less than human. Their position in Asian society is justified by ancient Hindu religious texts such as The Laws of Manu.
  
  
• Dalits are expected to perform menial, degrading tasks that include unclogging sewers, disposing of dead bodies and cleaning latrines.
  
  
• Dalits are forced to live in separate settlements, prohibited from worshipping in temples, barred from using the village wells, and their children often denied education or made to sit in the back of the classroom.
  
  
• The Indian constitution outlaws the caste system and reserves nearly 25 percent of government jobs and university spots for Dalits. However, more than a million of these posts remain unfilled, or filled by dishonest non-Dalits.
  
  
• Even simple Dalit assertions of their lawful rights and privileges have touched off hate crimes against them by members of the upper castes. These have included rape, harrassment, violence and murder.
  
  
• The average literacy rate among Dalits is approximately 37 percent. Among some Dalit communities it is a low as 10 percent.
  
  
• Every hour, two Dalits are assaulted, three Dalit women raped, two Dalits murdered and two Dalit houses burned, according to the Human Rights Education Movement of India, yet only one percent of those who commit crimes against Dalits are ever convicted.
  
  
• In India alone, the combined population of Dalits and other low-caste groups equals approximately 700 million people. While Brahmins comprise just 5 to 9 percent of India's 1 billion people, they control 78 percent of India's judicial posts, approximately half of the parliament and 89 percent of the nation's major media outlets.