Introduction:

A nine-year-old boy from the lower caste Dalit community died after being beaten by his teacher
for drinking water from a pot meant for upper caste teachers. The death occurred on the eve of
the 75th anniversary of India’s independence from British colonial rule. Countless stories like
these paint a grim picture of social reality that exist in India. The Varna or caste system that exist
in India is an age old practice that originated from the Vedas and was practiced by early Aryans
and Dravidians. According to code of Manu (Hindu legal text) the four Varna’s was born out of
Brahma, the creator of world. Brahmins were born out of his mouth, Kshatriya of his arms,
Vaishya of his thighs and lastly Shudras of his feet. This hierarchy indicates the status and
profession of caste members. A person can be born into one of the four castes based on karma
and purity- on basis of his past acts. Generally people born in the Brahminical community are
priest and teachers; Kshatriyas are believed to be rulers and warriors; Vaishyas are merchants
and traders, while shudras are to serve the other three varnas. However there exist exceptions
between the systems, a Brahmin can be a ruler or a Kshatriya can practice trade. Just within these
four caste come thousands of sub caste, defined by profession, dialect, region and many other
factors

Untouchability is the physical act of discrimination and bias which is a result of psychological
level of belief. This belief developed and propagated by the Brahmins is based on the notion of
pollution and purity according to which some castes are impure because of their profession, of
which the most important were (1) taking life for a living, a category that included, for example,
fishermen, (2) killing or disposing of dead cattle or working with their hides for a living, (3)
pursuing activities that brought the participant into contact with emissions of the human body,
such as feces, urine, sweat, and spittle, a category that included such occupational groups as
sweepers and laundry workers, and (4) eating the flesh of cattle or of domestic pigs and chickens,
a category into which most of the indigenous tribes of India fell. These notions were legitimized
by incorporating them into religious texts of which the most important was manusmriti.
Ambedkar had famously burned Manu smriti in the mahad convention on December 25, 1927,
the day which is now famously celebrated by anti-caste activist as ‘Women Liberation Day’.

The practice of "untouchability," which imposes social limitations on people due to their birth
into a particular caste, remains pervasive in rural India even after it was constitutionally
outlawed in 1950. Dalits, who make up 160 million people or more than one-sixth of India's
population, experience almost total social rejection. "Untouchables" are not allowed to cross the
boundary separating their section of the village from that of higher castes. They might not go to
the same temples, use the same wells, or use the same cups at tea shops. Children from Dalits are
frequently required to sit in the back of the classroom. Many Indian states continue to have
entirely caste-segregated villages, a practice that has been dubbed "hidden apartheid" in India.

Critical Analysis
1. Bhatuprsad Sharma shastri:

An orthodox Hindu priest at Tulsi manas temple. It can be seen from the documentary
that he has rigid views regarding religious notions. He is a fierce supporter of caste
system and tries to justify the system through irrelevant precedents. He said that dalits do
not have right to get educated because there has been no Dalit topper since independence.
He is also the secretary of scholar association, Varanasi, which is problematic as his
biasness clearly makes him incapable of the position. He is of the belief that one should
not question god and follow the fundamentalist notions blindly as it was written in
religious texts thousands of years ago. This shows concerning situation of India, as
casteism has permeated to the roots of society and untouchability is seen as a usual social
feature.
2. Doctor Yadulal and Kusum Yadulal :

He is a consultant orthopadeic at safdurjang hospital. He is a low caste Dalit, despite of

his position he is discriminated at workplace. He mentions lack of psychological
recognition by his seniors as well as juniors. He gives this phenomenon the name of Hi-
tech discrimination which is different from the type of discrimination happening at
village level as the latter is more visible and apparent while the former is much more
obscure. He said that this kind of biasness is even experienced by people holding high
positions like technocrats or bureaucrat. The society is of the belief that a Dalit can never
be intelligent or educated as they are meant to be laborers from their birth. Kusum
 yadulal, wife of Doctor Yadulal is a lecturer at Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit vidyapeeth.
Despite of being highly educated her faced discrimination in college. She also mentioned
that her situation is even more concerning as primarily, she is a dalit and secondly she is a
woman. So she while chuckingly even mentioned that his makes her a Double Dalit.
3. Dalit student doing M.Phil.( subject- Dalit feminism in Maharashtra ) from Jawaharlal
Nehru University:

She mentions instances of discrimination inside JNU, this shows that even an institution
of higher education like JNU is prone to casteism. She stated that, once one of her female
friend was in love with a Brahmin boy and the moment the boy found out about his
girlfriend’s dalit caste, he broke the marriage offer. In another instance a hostel room
inside JNU was portioned as the upper caste roommate did not wanted to see the face of a
dalit after waking up. Furthermore she mentioned that these stories are not known to the
outer world and the dalit students of JNU are afraid to state their castes, this shows
administrative incompetency of an institution like JNU. During her interview the student
was a little conscious of her surroundings this shows that she is afraid to share her
experiences.
4. Dalit womens who got physically abused because of their caste-
The women was accused of witchcraft and causing death of an upper caste boy. She was
beaten and even raped by the upper caste Rajput. The pain in her voice and agony in her
call for revenge can easily be detected during the interview; Another women who was
interviewed was accused of witchcraft and was burnt just because she refused to work for
an upper caste family; Yet another women who was interviewed during the documentary
had water from village pond flowing through her yard, her family was threatened by a
upper caste landlord that water should not spoil his land, Her husband was killed by the
landlord because of this trivial dispute. The pain was evident as she wept during
reconstructing the death of her husband. Accusations like witchery even after 50 years of
independence shows the primitive mentality of India. These occurrence shows the level
of atrocities which incessantly are being committed against poor and helpless lower caste
people.
5. A sewer, Ruthben of Wanker caste:
 She is a sewer and all upper caste people get their clothes stitched at her place. She
informs Stalin (interviewer) that after taking stitched clothes from her, the upper caste
sprinkle water on their clothes. This depicts the notion of pollution prevalent in rural
India and some parts of urban India.

Religion Wise Caste Analysis:

Sikhism:
O stupid fool, be not

Proud of your caste

(Jaat), by his pride many sins arise.

Everyone says there are

Four caste, but they are all created

From lord’s

Essence

-Guru Granth Sahib

Caste differences exist within each and every religion of contemporary times. Initially Sikhism
did not permitted caste differences. The gurus made conscious efforts to eradicate casteism.
Every person was allowed to pray and enter the temples. Guru Granth sahib was against any type
of bias on basis of caste. Although gradually the religion was corrupted by the notions of Varna
and untouchability. Multiple castes were created wherein the Jats (upper caste) dominate the
religion and controls the Akal Takht (the seat of Sikhism) while the Mazhabis are treated as
untouchables or sub-Sikhs. They have their own gurudwaras and cannot enter the gurudwaras
meant for Jats.
Christianity:

There is neither

Jew nor Greek

Slave nor free

Male nor female

For you are all

One in Christ Jesus

-Bible

The bible advices strictly against any differences based on social status of a person. During the
interview a person said that it is the people who got converted from different religion that
brought caste differences with them into Christianity. Patels (upper caste) dominate the religion
while vaniyars are lower caste. There exist separate churches and even cemeteries for different
communities.

Islam:

Hold fast all together by rope of Allah

And be not divided….He united your

Hearts in love so that

By his grace you become

As brethren

-Quran
As Hinduism there exist hundreds of caste within Islam whose dignity and profession depends on
their position in societal hierarchy. Sheikhs and sayads are upper caste Muslim communities
while Bhangi, Dhobi and Bat are lower castes. In Islam the clergy are propagators of casteism,
whose interpretation of Quran is more rigid and biased. In the documentary a man is heard
saying that there exist no difference inside masjids as it is a God’ place but as soon as someone
steps out the discrimination becomes apparent.

Case studies from Bihar:

1. The cases of untouchability instead of replenishing, constantly are increasing .In a state
like Bihar where level of development is low and society is primitive the instances of
caste based differences are usual and everyday occurrences. Political parties are in the
forefront of propagating caste based hatred. In a BJP-RSS annual meeting attended by
me. The speakers were preaching verses from manusmriti which were against dalits and
women. The organizers made conscious efforts to not invite the lower caste members of
BJP in the meeting. After the meeting the affluent were fed at a round table while the
poor were made to sit on the ground. This is a common occurrence in most of the party
meetings where the lower caste members sit at a distance from the upper caste, rich
members of the party.
2. In yet another gruesome incident Dika Kumari, a 15-year-old girl, was killed in Hajipur
at a government residential school that bears Ambedkar's name. Bihar's rural areas
experienced protests as the police failed to detain school officials. Her mother Kusuma
Devi visited her in school after receiving a distress call from her just one day before she
was killed. Even when Dika Kumari reported being sexually harassed, the employees
allegedly forbade Kusuma Devi from bringing her home. The autopsy report was silent
on the sexual aspect of the assault, despite the fact that her dismembered body, which
was discovered in a sewer near the school, had injury marks on her private parts and that
the term of rape in general criminal law has been expanded. Occurrences like these
exhibit the systematic oppression of dalits in which institutions like police, courts and
bureaucracy take part.

Conclusion:
The documentary introduces us to the phenomenon of Untouchability. It then tries to
explore the notion trough lenses of multiple people, religion and states. The precedent of
untouchability was born out of Varna/ caste system. Untouchability is a prejudiced
attitude on part of the society that relates to a deeper psychological process of thought
and belief, invisible to our naked eyes that takes the form of behavior patterns and social
actions. Dalits constitutes 17% of total population in India yet they face discrimination on
a regular basis. This discrimination is more apparent and visible in rural India, while in
the urban parts it occurs in a subconscious and intuitive manner. Dalits are pushed to
perform the most inhumane tasks like manual scavenging, sweeping or cleaning latrines.
Majority of workers in Municipal Corporation are dalits. The only way to fight this social
evil is to get rid of caste system itself. Until the society changes its attitudes and
prejudices no affirmative action or policy changes can bring an overall transformation.
Untouchability is never accepted, never denied, never explored and understood. It’s time
that we scrutinize ourselves as well as the society around us, education can be a powerful
tool at this. We need to take small and conscious steps only then we can make a
difference in lives of these unprivileged people who are suffering these oppressions since
time immemorial.