The 20th February will be observed as World
Day of Social Justice. In a country like
ours, a meaningful observation of this day will be to identify the forms of
injustice that are marginalizing people and making them lesser human. Belonging to a Dalit community I have always
thought that ‘untouchability’ is one form of injustice being experienced by
millions of my fellow Dalits. Despite
the fact that the caste system has been abolished under India
To ensure that the fundamental rights are properly
protected and for its enforcement, the Constitution has conferred on the
Supreme Court and High Courts of India the power to grant most effective
remedies whenever such rights are violated. The Protection of Civil Rights Act,
1955 is one of the major legislation to establish a democratic and egalitarian
society and absence of all kinds of disabilities particularly the rights of
Dalit''s community. The very purpose of the Act is to curb the various kind of
disability while (religious & social) preaching and practice of
untouchability the law provide punishment. The Act provides enough measures
which may necessary for ensuring that the rights from the abolition of
untouchability or made available to, and are availed of by the persons subject
to any disability arising out of "Untouchability." The State
governments are empowered to take all necessary action in pursuance of aims and
object of the Act. It also incorporates
provisions that every offence under this Act shall be treated as a cognizable
offence and tried summarily by a Judicial Magistrate of the first class or
Metropolitan Magistrate as the case may be.
To make things more stringent, the Parliament
stepped in and made The Schedule Castes and The Schedule Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act 1989 with the object to prevent the commission of offences of
atrocities against the members of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes to
provide for special courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief
and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences and related matters. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and
Construction of Dry Latrine (Prohibition) Act, 1993 resolute for the
prohibition of employment of manual scavengers as well as construction or
continuance of dry latrines and maintenance of water-seal latrines and matter
connected therewith. The government has also passed the Protection of Human
Rights Act, 1993 and engaged constantly to the issue of identification and
rehabilitation of manual scavengers since its inception.
This is high time we as a church realized that manual
scavenging is intensely offensive to health and human dignity. Without debating
we must act and urge all concerned authorities, civil societies, and the state
Governments to work with greater commitment and determination to implement the available
Acts so as to ensure that the dehumanizing practice could be effectively
stopped. Church has to be more
result-oriented to pool their resources together to ensure that practice of
manual scavenging, a disgusting reality, is eradicated once for all. Many movements and networks expressing their
solidarity with the Dalits have been working hard to pressurize governments to
abolish manual scavenging by 2010. Let
us be part of this movement and celebrate World Day of Social Justice!
Kasta Dip
