Manual scavengers from across India gathered at a mass rally in New Delhi Monday 1 November and demanded immediate government action to end manual scavenging once and for all, rehabilitate former manual scavengers and apologise for decades of suffering imposed on this group.
Caste discrimination, or casteism, was designated a sin and a “crime against humanity” at the Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits held in New Delhi on 22-24 October.
This month's IDSN newsletter features information on Dalit issues from several caste-affected countries, including India, Bangladesh and Nigeria, as well as numerous stories with an international perspective.
IDSN urges President Barack Obama to raise the issue of caste discrimination on his upcoming visit to India
A march – or ‘yatra’ - for the eradication of manual scavenging in India was launched on 29 September. During the next few weeks, buses will carry campaigners from five different corners of India to the capital.
Two human rights groups, NCDHR and HLRN, have called for the prosecution of officials who illegally diverted funds from Dalit social welfare programmes to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
IDSN condemns the arrest of five human rights defenders in Tamil Nadu, India. A number of organisations, including Amnesty International, have addressed this case, which also involves a close associate of IDSN.
Two new reports on child labour in the Indian seed industry have prompted a Dutch member of the European Parliament to ask questions about the EU’s relations with India - including the issue of Dalits.
According to a new way of measuring poverty, 66 percent of India’s Dalits are poor – a proportion that is significantly higher than the poverty level of the average population.
A teenage girl and her Dalit boyfriend have been brutally murdered in a suspected ‘honour killing’ in Delhi. Such crimes are relatively rare in the Indian capital.
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