I am shocked and outraged by the cruel fate of Manisha of Uttar Pradesh. Why are we unable to stem the rising tide of rapes in our country? Why has the fear of law vanished? Why have we failed to make the Dalits self-reliant even 70 years after Independence? Why are they not free even today? Why do they still carry the label “weaker section”?
Hathras horror: Casteism rages on unchecked
Manisha belonged to a caste that has been subcategorized as ‘Mahadalit’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party, that party that is in power at the Centre and at the state. The label ‘Mahadalit’ is not to ensure their development but to alienate it from the Jatavs and the Chamars and to keep them away from the influence of Ambedkarite thinking, writes Kanwal Bharti