Karnataka : The so-called upper castes have banned the movement of the Dalit community in public places due to a Dalit family demanding justice for their daughter in a village in Yadgir district of Karnataka. The case was that a 23-year-old boy belonging to the "upper caste" had sex with a 15-year-old minor girl and made her pregnant. When the girl's family talked to the boy about marriage, he refused as the girl belonged to a Dalit family. After this, the girl's family lodged a complaint against the boy in the police station under the POCSO Act. The boy's family members and some other so-called upper caste people pressured the girl's parents to compromise but the girl's family was adamant on taking action under the POCSO Act. The so-called upper caste families considered this as their downfall and announced a public boycott of the Dalit community.
The second incident took place in Bagalkot district of Karnataka where a Dalit boy named Arjun was racially abused with sticks because he prayed at the Dayamava temple. Arjun filed an FIR in which 18 people were held guilty for caste-related crimes. After the incident, the so-called upper caste people asked the Dalits to boycott. Another such incident happened with a 55-year-old woman named Govindamma from the Dalit community in Kalakunta village of Kurnool district. She was beaten with a tree because her son had married outside the caste. The girl's family committed such an act out of revenge. Similarly, a 48-year-old Dalit man from Kasganj district of UP hanged himself while sitting on a chair at a local (Salempur) Ramlila event. Police officers Bahadur and Vikram Chaudhary beat him up and hurled caste-related abuses at him for being a Dalit, forcing the victim to commit suicide.
Though these incidents differ in location, all these incidents throw light on the caste leprosy that prevails in Indian society even in the twenty-first century. Caste leprosy has not been eradicated from India even after 77 years of Independence. Even today, caste discrimination is the bitter truth of the so-called Indian democracy. Equal status for people of all castes/religions in the country is limited only to papers. Even today, there are places in the so-called Vishwaguru India where Dalits are murdered for taking out wedding processions on horses, Dalits are barred from entering many temples, etc. Incidents of discrimination against Dalits are also heard in educational institutions, workplaces, etc. The advent of the capitalist system has hurt untouchability, caste-based occupational division, etc. to a great extent, but due to the inability to establish capitalist relations in a revolutionary manner, such primitive-feudal, rotten values remained.
Instead of abolishing the caste system, whatever state system came into existence based on loot, they used it as an important tool to strengthen their state system. Even after 1947, the ruling capitalist political parties did not make efforts to abolish caste discrimination. History is witness that only revolutionary movements have caused great damage to casteism as seen in Telangana-Tebhaga rebellion etc. Ruling parties have used it as a weapon to divide people. Currently, the BJP-led central government is doing this even more. BJP is increasingly ignoring crimes against Dalits/religious minorities, demolishing their houses and closing down businesses etc. BJP-RSS considers Manusmriti as its ideal, in which the status of women and Dalits is described as second class. Caste-based prejudices are also deeply ingrained in the minds of the common people, which need to be eradicated by anti-caste cultural campaigns, but ultimately, caste-based discrimination can be stopped only by establishing a socialist system and inhumane metaphysical incidents can be stopped.