What has changed in these 75 years since independence? Different people will have different answers. Savarnas have changed their methods of oppressing Dalits, and Dalits have changed their strategies of dissent. But discrimination, untouchability, harassment, exploitation, and violence against Dalits are very much a ground reality even today. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, there were 25 crimes/atrocities – registered under the Scheduled Castes-Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – against Scheduled Castes (SC) for every 100,000 of their population in the year 2020. According to the Home Ministry, 53,886 cases were registered under the SC-ST (PoA) Act in 2020, up from 49,608 in the previous year. The rate of crimes against Dalits is in all probability much higher, as the SC-ST (PoA) Act is often not invoked while registering an FIR due to caste prejudices of the police administration.
Related Articles
Citizens, not media houses, are the fourth pillar of democracy
When the press is designated the fourth pillar, it is with reference to its role as a watchdog. But there is a basic difference...
Jantar Mantar is an institution for collective freedom of expression
The State has been consistently trying to make the echoes of the right to freedom of expression inaudible to Parliament. It has been using...
Why and how I wrote the novel ‘Harappa: God’s City of Civilisation’
Neither Ayodhya named in the Ramayana nor Dwaraka named in the Mahabharata have proven excavational evidence of having been ancient cities. My novel, on...
Obituary: Rupi Soren and the long wait for Shibu’s homecoming
Rupi Soren used to run her household with the help of her mother-in-law, Sonamani, and the wife of Shibu’s elder brother, Rajaram. Whether it...
Savitribai Phule: The Mother of Indian English
By celebrating Indian English Day every 5 October alongside a beautiful portrait of Savitribai Phule, PACPET wants to immortalize her heroic declaration in 1854...