Untouchables Essay Example for Free

strongs EssayIn the member unaccessible, Tom ONeil tells us what being an inviolable is all about. By interviewing those cross outed as untouchable, ONeil finds a way to truly express to us what its like to be an untouchable and the uncoiled underlying complications that the seeming unbreakable clan system has projected on its cultural members. What ar untouchables? Untouchables, or achutta, atomic number 18 the lowest ranking members in the set system or pecking order. ONeil states that untouchables are outcasts great deal considered too impure, too polluted, to rank as worthy beings, (ONeil, p. ).Interestingly, untouchables are non deformed or distinctively different from other Indians in any way. Their skin is the same color. They dont wear rags they are not covered with sores. They walk the same streets and attend the same schools. (ONeil, p. 2). Yet, ONeil goes on to tell us that they are shunned, insulted, banned from temples and higher set homes, made to eat and drink from separate utensils in reality places, and, in extreme but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched, and gunned ingest. (ONeil, p. 1).Untouchables cannot hide from their status if they were born an untouchable they will forever be an untouchable. Untouchables may as well wear a scarlet tattoo on their foreheads to advertise their status. (ONeil, p. 2). ONeil goes on to quote Sukhadeo Thorat, a faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru University and among the fewer Untouchables in India with a Ph. D. You cannot hide your caste, he says. You can try to disguise it, but there are so some a(prenominal) ways to slip up. A Hindu will not feel overconfident developing a relationship without knowing your background.Within a couple of months, your caste will be revealed. (ONeil, p. 2). ONeil tells us that Family name, village address, body language all deliver clues, but none so much as occupation. Untouchables perform societys unclean work work that involves phys ical give with blood, excrement, and other bodily defilements as defined by Hindu law. Untouchables cremate the dead, clean latrines, cut umbilical cord cords, remove dead animals from the roads, tan hides, sweep gutters. These jobs, and the status of Untouchability, are passed down for generations.Untouchables are trapped at the bottom of a system that cant function without unlikeness. (ONeil, p. 2). Stuck in a never-ending mankind of reject, untouchables are mistreated, disregarded, and held at an unremovable status throughout their life. Whats stopping this? Well, untouchability was abolished in Indias constitution in 1950 however, it is in time a factor today. Many people would point out that the crudest, most overt forms of discrimination have largely disappeared, the result of sporadic reform movements before and after Indias independence in 1947.Its true that at least in the public sphere, Untouchables have made progress since the days within living memory when they w ere beaten if their shadow touched a higher caste person, wore bells to monish of their approach, and carried buckets so their spit wouldnt contaminate the ground. Untouchables couldnt enter schools or sit on a bench near a higher caste person. (ONeil, p. 2). Yes, things have interpolated however, it isnt preferably changing drastically enough. why? Because Hinduism, a religion held by many of these Indians, supports the idea of untouchability and provokes more than societal authority than that of their constitution.ONeil puts it best when he states The ancient belief system that created the Untouchables overpowers modern law. While Indias constitution forbids caste discrimination and specifically abolishes Untouchability, Hinduism, the religion of 80 percent of Indias population, governs daily life with its hierarchies and rigid sociable codes. Under its strictures, and Untouchable parent gives birth to an Untouchable child, condemned as unclean from the first breath. (ONeil, p . 1). With such a large percentage of India dedicated to these Hindu beliefs, its easy to see why breaking down this caste system is such a struggle.Although, the 1950 constitution has made some progress. The 1950 constitution mandates a quota system that reserves seats in the federal legislature equal to the Untouchable share of the population 15 percent. Reserved spots extend to positions in state legislatures, village councils, civil service, and university classrooms. (ONeil, p. 2). Still, after 60 age since the constitution, only a subaltern amount of progress has been made. Unfortunately, much of Indias caste system is still undoubtedly present. for all the laws and regulations on the books, the hard heart of caste remains unmoved.There are one hundred sixty one million million million Untouchables in India a country that trumpets itself as a model for developing nations. During the wintertime I spend in India, hardly a day passed that I didnt hear or read of acid throw n in a boys face, or a wife raped in front of her husband, or some other act whose provocation was simply that an Untouchable didnt know his or her place. (ONeil, p. 2). With such little urge to break apart Hinduism and the foundation many Indians built their daily lives on, its difficult to imagine any drastic changes when considering the rights of Untouchables, not just legally, but similarly socially.The acceptance of all castes and the abolishment of the caste system as a whole seems quite sadly far from the future horizon. Those with kinder hearts have tried to speak up and voiced their come to for Untouchables. One many of us are familiar with was Mahatma Gandhi. Even though Gandhi urged Indians to cease discriminating against untouchables, many feel that he failed. Historians say that Gandhi deserves great credit for pushing the issue of Untouchability onto the national stage and for add his moral stature to the campaign to abolish it.Yet he never actually renounced the H indu caste system, and the concrete results of his actions were few. Many Untouchables, particularly the educated ones, would love to knock him off his pedestal. Even the Harijan chase (given to those in place of Untouchable) invokes pity rather than respect. (ONeil, p. 5). Not only did Gandhis lack of abandoning the Hindu caste system all together lead to few, if any, results his actions overly lead many Untouchables to believe his efforts failed even farther.Indias one true Untouchable hero is a man name Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and he came into play during Gandhis greatest perceived sin. (ONeil, p. 5). Gandhis greatest perceived sin, however, was to undermine a man named Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. Ambedkar pushed for a separate electorate. He feared that an assertive Untouchable could never win an election open to voters of all castes. He wanted Untouchable office-holders elected exclusively by Untouchables. Gandhi resisted Ambedkars position on religious principles, fearing that b lue solutions to caste problems would destroy Hinduism.And in September 1932, when it appeared that the British would side with Ambedkar, Gandhi protested by entering a stiff unto death. Ambedkar had little choice but to surrender after a few days as Gandhi weakened. Ambedkar win a guarantee of seats for Untoughables in the legislation, but Gandhis actions broke the momentum for radical change. (ONeil, p. 5). Since Ambedkars death there has been no Untouchable leader of the same comparison. There is only a littler group of grassroots organizers spread throughout India.These organizers are helping the cause with every effort, however small it may be. Not only is this helping, medical training is besides changing the lives of some Untouchables. Having health finagle for all members of the society is a huge help but whats really shattering the movement of the caste system are those health workers who are Untouchables themselves and are being accepted, opportunely or not, by those in a higher caste who need medical attention from whoever may be offering it. Salve and Sathe, two health workers, were members of the Untouchable caste.Building not only their confidence but also changing perceptions of those their helping is causing changes one step at a time. There was much prejudice against Untouchable women like her. Discrimination was the hardest for me, and the hardest to fight, states Salve. I gave people love and affection. Slowly casteism goes away. (Necessary Angels, p. 86). In her later year Sathe has also experience change. She had become the sarpanch, or leader of Jawalke the city she had spent years caring for.There has also been changes in villages that Sathe, Salve, and their group does not reach. More women are postponing marriage until 18, the use of contraception has reduced family size, and more girls are attending school. (Necessary Angels, p. 77). Every change, however relatively minor or moderately large, is a change in the right directi on. The suppression of those labeled Untouchable ONeil compares to as slaves. A societal offense one familiar with our U. S. class systems can better fathom.With our racism and prejudices are we any better at all? Babulal Bairwa, an Untouchable landowner in the village of Chakwara says I am clean. I dont smoke or drink or eat meat. I work hard. I do everything right. Why am I Untouchable? (ONeil, p. 7). ONeil responds Because he was born one. One hundred sixty million Indians serve this life sentence. (ONeil, p. 7). Yes, we have grown much since the abolishment of slavery but is racism not still here? Will the discrimination ever be lifted of those people scared with the label of Untouchable?