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Untouchable?
Veerasamy takes in washing for his living. He lives in a small village in southern India where all the inhabitants are Dalits - outcasts or 'Untouchables' as they're known in India. But even among the dalits, there are divisions, and Veerasamy belongs to the lowest scale of the hierarchy. The only payment he receives for back-breaking work, washing and steaming and drying the laundry of the village's 19 families, is the left-overs from their meals to feed his small family.
Discrimination based on caste membership has been, theoretically, illegal since India first gained independence in 1947. But, as this Life programme clearly shows, it's actually an accepted part of everyday life across the continent: the Dalits are stigmatised from the day they are born.
Veerasamy explains: "We have to do it because we belong to this caste. People say we will be reborn and that is the reason why we must do it." People say that he will go to heaven for doing this job - does he believe that? Veerasamy has kept his sense of humour: "One would have to die to find out!"
But some Dalits are even worse off. Many have left their fingerprints on contracts which make them indebted for the rest of their lives to people from higher castes. Mr Kumar and his family are bonded labourers. They owe money to the owner of the quarry where they work. He explains: "I can't go anywhere else because we have been paid in advance. . . If we just knew how to make some money we could choose to do something else. We have to work like slaves to earn our daily bread."
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Assam is 12, the son of outcasts. He's one of 100 million child labourers in India. He's been working on handlooms since he was eight. He works 10 hours a day, seven days a week - his only days off are religious holidays. Assam's reward for this life of unbroken toil is only the equivalent of five US dollars per month. With this he has to pay off his family's debt to the loom owner. His mother says: "I can't send them to school or give them a happy life or give them enough food. . . If I can't be happy together with my children in this life how can I then dream about a 'next life'?"
But Prabakaran, a Brahmin priest, sees things differently. "Each caste has its own particular kind of work.. Take me, I am a priest. I couldn't carry out the work of a carpenter or bricklayer." What is more, Hinduism makes a distinction between clean and unclean people - and the Dalits are unclean, which is why they are known as 'Untouchables'. When Prabakaran travels by bus, he must purify himself before he enters his house. He complains that the Dalits do not understand or accept this: "They say they are cleaner than us." And now, instead of standing out of the way and showing respect to Brahmins, they rub shoulders with them and hold out their hands for the temple offerings.
The Indian establishment does not look kindly on the Dalits' attempts to better themselves. In 1999 thousands of Dalit labourers from tea plantations in the state of Tamil Nadu mounted a demonstration for higher wages, but the authorities repressed it with some brutality and even censored a film of the demonstration.
Veerasamy the washerman feels militant but knows he can do nothing. "If somebody supported me we could fight for our rights. But there is only me. If you want to achieve something you have to be either rich or be in a group of many people. I am neither."
Mr Kumar's family does have some hope for the future. With help from a local organization the children are able to attend school for a couple of hours every weekday. By learning to read, write and do arithmetic they will be able to take their first steps towards changing their destiny.
Human rights organisations are now, finally, taking up the Dalits' cause, and they are supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who reminds the world that India was in the forefront of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, and urges international solidarity in tackling the "scourge" of untouchability wherever it exists in India and the other countries of South Asia.
TRANSCRIPT
Read the full transcript of Untouchable?
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