Author – Kaveeya Tamizh

Gangraped, thrust with an iron rod in private parts, intestines ripped apart and DEAD.

Gangraped, strangled, tongue mutilated, spine crushed and DEAD. 

These are just two of the millions of atrocities that happen to women in India. These crimes are so gruesome that death seems like a blessing to some. It inflicts pain to just think about it and it gets worse when I realize that it could have been ME. 

I could have stepped out to get some fresh air, taken an isolated street to avoid the noise and walked peacefully pondering about a romantic movie I had just watched and I could have been RAPED. Just like that – no reason whatsoever! 

Looking deeper into these horrifying crimes in India, there seem to be certain distinctions. This difference is not about the intensity of torture these women went through or to say a certain type of women are more prone to being raped than the rest, NO. That’s absurd. The difference seems to be the motive behind the rape and mainly, the difference in justice. 

The term “difference in Justice” is so paradoxical yet, factual. Just think of the type of attention Nirbhaya received from the media when she was assaulted. She was taken to Singapore for treatment, at the request of the Government. There were heated debates, protests, Nirbhaya Fund was introduced, everyone wanted justice for her; that’s great! But why is Manisha Valmiki not getting the same attention? Is she not worthy of justice? 

Yes, crimes against women are all done by inhuman people who should be severely punished by law. Still, the reality is that not all rape victims are treated the same in this country. While Nirbhaya’s body was received by the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a gold plated coffin with a protective escort of the police, Manisha’s parents were not allowed to see their child’s dead body. Her body was cremated against the wish of her parents by the Uttar Pradesh police, who formed a human barricade to stop them from performing her last rites. Her parents were threatened to take the case back, to falsely say that their daughter was not raped. 

How can we even say it is the same? There is no doubt that these rapes should not have happened but to treat it all unequally, what is that? This is the type of caste discrimination that happens today. To say that caste is a thing of the past is nothing but pure negligence. For a Dalit, there is still no justice, not even in death. Saying you and I walk on the same streets or breathe the same air does not mean we are equal; even that is a luxury for most. 

I am very much aware that lamenting about it will not change a thing. Praying for Manisha is not going to do much either. She is gone. FOREVER. But we can and in fact should fight for justice for her! The past has taught us that the death sentence is not the solution. Posting about it on social media will not bring her justice either. We should first analyse the root cause of these crimes in our country. 

Violence against women is a global problem. There is no denying that. Women are sexually assaulted in India, China, the United Kingdom and in the United States as everywhere else in the world. But only in India, and I stress only – a woman is raped because she is a Dalit. 

Priyanka Bhotmange from Khairlanji village, Maharashtra, was physically tortured, assaulted and gang-raped not just because she was a woman. No. Her brothers were also assaulted, their private parts were mutilated after they denied to have sex with their sister, and they were forced to run naked in the village! All for what? Solely because they were Dalits. They were abused and massacred by caste Hindus (including women) who till date believe that Dalits do not deserve to live a respectable life with basic rights. 

According to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India recorded 88 rape cases every day in 2019. Out of the total 32,033 reported rape cases in the year, 11 per cent were from the Dalit community, as per NCRB’s annual report titled “Crimes in India -2019“.  

TEN DALIT WOMEN ARE RAPED EVERY DAY! Also, this data is only from the reported cases, most Dalit women do not report such occurrences because the police do not take them seriously even if they dare to file a First Information Report (FIR). Only the rare incidents such as Manisha’s death reaches the media whereas the other assaults and allegations against it go unnoticed. 

What should one do to stop or at least reduce such sickening events from happening? 

We should remember this quote of Ambedkar before we take any decisions,

“Turn in any direction you like, caste is the monster that crosses your path. You cannot have political reform; you cannot have economic reform, unless you kill this monster.”

Now, let us speak more about the ‘Path to Salvation’ on which the future of this country depends on. The natives of this land were not ‘Hindus’. That is a myth we are made to believe. The largest conversion that took place in the Indian sub-continent is when the indigenous people were forced into Hinduism and were enslaved as ‘Shudras’. To straighten this injustice, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar came up with an action plan and that was – RELIGIOUS CONVERSION. He firmly believed that only by reviving Buddhism in India, can real freedom be achieved. 

When he said ‘religious conversion’ he did not insist on Muslims, Christians or Sikhs to convert to Buddhism; he only wanted the Hindus to leave the cult that feeds inequality like mother’s milk. It’s a cruel religion that is built with discrimination as its base.

Be it any issue in this country, it will all have its roots in caste. Only annihilation of caste can free the Indian society. The feeling of liberty, equality and fraternity must be inculcated in every individual and that can be done only by walking away from Hinduism. 

Dr. Ambedkar rightly points out why this type of oppression happens only to Dalits. It is not merely because they are a minority, neither is it a matter of injustice against one man. It is a ‘class struggle’ – injustice done by one class against the other. Hence, he constantly stresses the strength of unity among all the depressed classes and religious conversion by this mass. Dr. Ambedkar’s exact words were as follows,

“It is not that you alone are in a minority. The Muslims are equally small in number. Like Mahar-Mangs, they too have few houses in the village. But no one dares to trouble the Muslims, while you are always a victim of tyranny. Why is this so? Though there are two houses of Muslims in the village, nobody dares to harm them, while the whole village practises tyranny against you though you have about ten houses. Why does this happen? This is a very pertinent question, and you will have to find a suitable answer for this.

In my opinion, there is only one answer to this question. The Hindus realise that the strength of the whole of the Muslim population in India stands behind those two houses of Muslims living in the village; and therefore they do not dare to touch them. These two houses also enjoy a free and fearless life because they are aware that if any Hindu commits aggression against them, the whole Muslim community from Punjab to Madras will rush down to protect them at any cost.”

Nowhere in the history of mankind can we see inequality more intense than Untouchability. Dalits are treated worse than animals, mere sight and touch become pollution; so unworthy that even gods refuse to hear their prayers. 

How will this stop crimes against women? This question should not even be asked. Crimes against women occur at large in this country, be it love affairs, domestic violence or merely for pleasure. But a Dalit woman, considered the lowest of the lowest, is assaulted because she is a Dalit first and only then a woman. Raping or abusing Dalit women is considered as a right by caste Hindus. Hence it is not the same; it is absurd to generalise crimes against women from other communities in India and the attacks on Dalit women. 

The purpose of this article is not to abet that only Hindu-Dalit women are raped but to show the plight of Dalit women and also to emphasize on the fact that being a Hindu will bring no justice in life or in death to Dalits. 

Had Manisha or Priyanka been a caste Hindu, their families could have fought for justice! Had they been Christians, the European Union would have raised their voice for their justice or had they been Muslims, Princess Hend Al Qassimi would have stepped in and fought for them. But for poor Manisha, being a Hindu and a Dalit, her parents are threatened by the District Magistrate, Praveen Laxxar to change their statement.

The choice is yours. You can either discuss solutions or argue over the problems while being a part of the problem itself. 

“Everybody will have to admit that conversion is as necessary to the Untouchables as self-government is to India. The ultimate object of both is the same. There is not the slightest difference in their ultimate goal. This ultimate aim is to attain freedom.”

–Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, at the conference held at Dadar, Bombay in 1936