DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

LUCKNOW
2016-2017

LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING FINAL DRAFT

SOCIO LEGAL RESEARCH ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUE OF IMPLEMENTATION
OF DALIT RIGHTS AND THEIR VICTIMISATION

SUBMITTED TO:
MRS. SHAKUNTALA SANGAM
ASSISSTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF LAW, DR. RMLNLU, LUCKNOW
SUBMITTED BY:
NIDA FATIMA
ROLL NO. 78
SEMESTER VII, B.A.LL.B.(HONS.)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I owe my deepest gratitude to Mrs. Shakuntala for giving me this golden opportunity to propose
the project on this topic which has helped me in doing lot of research and understanding the
variable aspects of the topic.
I would also like to thank my family members and friends for their kind support and
encouragement. I would like to express my special thanks to those original thinkers I have taken
to privilege to quote.
Much of the data deployed here has been taken from the Dr. Madhu Limaye Library, Dr. Ram
Manohar Lohiya National Law University.
It would be wrong on my part if I dont mention the grace of Almighty for enlightening me
from time to time. Though a lot of care has been taken there may be scope for improvement. All
criticism and suggestions are kindly invited.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction.
2. Cases of atrocities on Dalits in the recent past.
3. National and International legal Perspectives of Dalit Rights..
i.
International Perspectives.
ii.
National Perspectives.
4. Contemporary issues of implementation of Dalit Rights and their victimization.
i.
Dalit Rights in India...........
ii.
Victimization of Dalits...
5. Suggestion and Conclusion
6. Bibliography..

1. INTRODUCTION

In Gujarat, Gau Rakshaks attacked seven Dalit youths with rods and knives on July 11, where
they were stripped and beaten for almost two hours. The father of the youth intervened and he
was beaten up, too . Further, they were tied to an SUV vehicle and paraded. Their crime they
were skinning a cow.1
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports a 44 per cent increase in violence against
Dalits, up from 32,712 in 2010 to 47,064 crimes in 2014 2. The heinous nature of these crimes is
beyond imagination a Dalit women was brutally raped and murdered in Kerala in April,
another was raped and murdered, and dumped in a water tank in Rajasthan in March, two
children were burnt to death in Faridabad in 2015 and two girls were raped, murdered and hung
up on a tree in Badaun in 2014.3
Atrocities against Dalits havent stopped even after the July 11 incident, despite the ongoing
protests. The violence continues in July a 14-year-old minor girl visiting her grandparents was
raped and mutilated in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. On July 17, a college-going Dalit girl was
gangraped again by the same men who were arrested for the crime in 2013.4
In this paper the author attempts to discuss the various laws and Rights to protect the Dalits
in social, economical and educational in the global perspectives.

2. CASES OF ATROCITIES ON DALITS IN THE RECENT PAST

1 Annie Namala. "Violence against Dalits: There Is a Discernible Pattern to This Madness." Indian Express. N.p., 23
July 2016. Web. 7 Oct. 2016. <http://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/dalit-violence-gujarat-gau-rakshaks2930876/>.

22. India. Ministry of Home Affairs. GOI. Crime in India 2014 Compendium. By L. C. Goyal and
Aradhna

Ramchandran.

NCRB,

July

2015.

Web.

Oct.

2016.

<http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2014/Compendium%202014.pdf>.
3 TelTumbde, Anand. "Enough Is Enough." The Hindu. N.p., 1 June 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/enough-is-enough/article6070582.ece>.
4 Ibid

The attack on Dalits for allegedly killing a cow in Gujarat has triggered large scale protests
across the state.
The Centre has also flagged the "anomaly and sudden increase" in crimes against people
belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh and sought details from the
local administration.
Gujarat and Chhattigarah have reported the highest crime rate of 163.30% (6,655 cases) and
91.90% (3,008 cases) against members of SC community during the last year.5
Cases Of Atrocities 6
- May 14, 2016: A caste Hindu hacked to death a Dalit woman after her brother married and
eloped with his daughter, in Tirunelveli.
- May 2, 2016: A 30-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped and brutally murdered in
Thiruvananthapuram.
- March 13, 2016: A 22-yr-old Dalit boy was killed in Tirupur (TN) allegedly for marrying a
woman from the politically and socially dominant Thevar community, Kausalya.
- November 2015: Around 100 children left a school in Kolar in Karnataka, refusing to eat the
food dished out by a Dalit cook.
- October 21, 2015: Dalit house in Haryana Ballabhgarh set afire, 2 kids burnt to death.
- March 2015: 17-year-old Dalit girl in Rajasthans Bikaner district was raped and murdered by
her PT teacher in college.

3. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVES OF DALIT

RIGHTS

5 Ibid
6 News18.com. "Cases of Atrocities On Dalits in the Recent Past." News18.com. N.p., 21 July
2016. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. <http://www.news18.com/news/india/cases-of-atrocities-on-dalits-inthe-recent-past-1272294.html>.

International Perspectives :
Universally accepted Rights of the human and India has accepted and party of the (UDHR 1945) 7
Universal Declaration of Human Rights is guarantee equal human Rights to the entire human in
the universal. Many articles exhibit the Rights to marginalized and excluded peoples.
Article 1 and 2 explains the humans are born free and no discrimination of sex, religion, colour,
religion and right to life and liberty and security of individual. Article 3 reveals that humans are
free from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, mainly against untouchability. Article 5
explains the equal before law, Article 7 right to remedy for the fundamental Rights violation.
Article 8 right to public hearings and fair justice, Article 10 and 12 exhibits the arbitrary arrest,
privacy, damage honor and reputation of the person. In this context India has failed to protect the
dalit from the various discrimination and atrocities in under the UDHR.
India has also accepted and agreed with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR 1979)8, but India will not satisfied and failed to implement this covenant. This covenant
is against the discrimination of social origin, against torture, equality, protection and equality
before law. Article 2 explains the respect, dignity and ensures effect to the Human Rights.
Dalits Rights in India based up on the ICCPR 9. It also fail and violated in our country, still Dalits
faced various social discrimination and caste violence. Final one is CERD 10 India also signed the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(1968). This international
7 Anti-Slavery International. 2001. The Enslavement of Dalit and Indigenous Communities in
India,

Nepal

and

Pakistan

through

Debt

Bondage.

Available

Online:

http://idsn.org/uploads/media/ASIBondedLabour.pdf.
8 http://nhrc.nic.in/documents/india_ratification_status.pdf , accessed on 2nd October, 2016
9 Gaiha, Raghav, Ganesh Thapa, Katsushi Imai, and Vani S. Kulkarni. 2008. "Has Anything
Changed? Deprivation, Disparity, and Discrimination in Rural India." Brown Journal of World
Affairs 14 (2):113-125.
10 Ibid 6

convention deals to eliminate the all forms of racial discrimination for the socially excluded
people and any persons, CERD committee found still in India allowed discrimination in the all
the forms of Dalits.
International Labour Organization Convention (ILO, 1958) deals with the equal pay for work
equal value. Finally Conventions of the Rights of the Child (CRC,1989), explains that children
protection from the bonded labor, dalit children forced bonded labor, prostitution of Dalits
(Devadashi) system, may India obligated to prevent the bonded labour of dalit and Devadashi
system.11
Though both National and International agreements and covenants are still violated in India,
across nation shown that many atrocities and Human Rights violations against the Dalits in India
is common in nature and unpreventable one.
National Perspectives:
India is the largest democracy and globally developing nation in the world. India accepted and
agrees the many international covenant and treaty in globally. India voluntary involved and took
part in many conventions against atrocities and human Rights violations globally. Many more
times India rise the voice against the war crimes, genocide, race discriminations, child
protection, women protection and many human Rights related issues. India has the worth and
value of Constitution law. With its Constitution, India focused all level of people without any
discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, sex, language and so on.
The term Dalits normally generated in the scheduled caste refers to the underprivileged castes
and it was originally recognized in 1935 by the British government. According to India
Constitution (1950) Article 17 explains the Untouchability is banned and equal to crime.
Before the independence untouchability was not separately focused. Afterwards only it got
included in Indian Constitutions. Untouchability is one of the heinous crime and act against the
Dalits, this article is against the discrimination and avoid mistreatment by the upper caste people
and law enforcement and judicial department. Article 14 guarantees that the state gives equal
11 Ninian, Alex. 2008. "Indias Untouchables: The Dalits." Contemporary Review 1689: 186192.

protection of law to every person without any discrimination within the territorial jurisdiction.
Article 15 directly focuses on the non discrimination of caste, religion, race, gender and place of
birth. Then the article enacted special provision of scheduled caste for their protection, against
the denied to access public places and accessories. Article 16 grantees that employment in the
government sector and related promotions. Then its important in education sector. Admitting
Dalits in schools and colleges and universities is also in the political participation in the
legislative assemblies and parliament. Article 29 exhibits to provide the upliftment of socially
excluded people and its prohibit to deny the admission in any aided educational institution.
Article 46 promote the special attention to the educational upliftment of scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes. Article 330 and 332 promotes and special reservation seats of Sc/St to
participate in elections.

4. . CONTEMPORARY ISSUE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF DALIT RIGHTS AND

THEIR VICTIMISATION
Dalit Rights in India:
India has value and strong Constitution to maintain the Democracy in our country but since past
five decades the democracy has not truly come into effect. Lot of atrocities, discriminations
traced back to dalits and other scheduled caste people by the upper caste people.
They are excluded from their own people in India. Even though India has agreed and is a party
with many International Convents, treaty and conventions, still the violations and discriminations
are implemented against the marginalized people especially Dalits in India. Based upon this
Context, India enacts many Acts of Dalits to protect them from the discrimination and atrocities
socially and educationally in India. Untouchability is the concept previously known as offences
in the act Untouchablity (offences) Act, 1955. Later it was amended as Protection of Civil
Rights Act 1976. It is evident to protect Dalits from the atrocities at grass route level but lack of
awareness its not reached at the bottom level of Dalits and state do not make much effort.
Protection of Sc/St is again a difficult task to the state, 1989 after the 40 years of Independence
still atrocities is pointed in high level of incidents of the Dalits. After that state enacts the
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention and Atrocities) Act 1989 particularly protect
Dalits and first time focused the tribes also included. Lot of issues after this act aroused in India,

main myth is Dalits are misusing the act and mishandling this projected by the so called upper
caste Hindu society people. Another crime against Dalits by the upper caste people is not register
under this act and lack of awareness of Dalits about this act and its provision they dont know its
crime.
Lack of awareness of law enforcement officials to register the cases and avoiding nature
to register cases under this Act. This act suggests special court and prosecutors for this case
process. After so many domestic laws enacted to protect from discrimination in the various social
aspects in India, due to the socioeconomic status of Dalits, an instance of the employing in
manual scavengers to clean dry latrines and remove human waste. Manual scavenging is world
lowest job in the world early noted.
Based upon this to protect dignity and health care state enact Employment of Manual Scavengers
and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act 199312, but still this degrade things occurring
across the nations. Lot of issues to implement this act due to lack of interest by the State not
providing the infrastructures and equipments this degrade things also continues in our country.
Victimization of Dalits:
Generally Dalits subjected to various forms of caste orient discrimination most of villages in
India still practiced the untouchability, A study find out that near27.6 percentage Dalits sit
separately in governments schools, 25.7% of Dalits were prevented police stations and attend to
cases and registered. 33% of the villages not permitted to enter ration shops, 48% of the denied
to access water, 35% of the paid lower wages, 64% Dalits are not entered Hindu temples and also
50% prevented to cremation grounds, most of 73% of the Dalits were not permitted to non dalit
dwellings13

12 Available on http://labour.nic.in/sites/default/files/TheEmploymentAct1993.pdf, accessed on

10th October, 2016
13 Thorat, Sukhadeo, and Katherine S. Newman, eds. 2010. Blocked by Caste: Economic
Discrimination in Modern India. New Delhi: Oxford University press

Dalits always faced Victimizations by the caste Hindus in India various forms. According
National Crime Records Bureau statistics analysis of crime against Dalits over the period of
2001- 2005 finds every day 27 Dalits are faced the atrocities, every week 13 Dalits murdered all
over India, every week five Dalits home are posses to arson, 6 Dalits were kidnapped every week
for subjected to slavery and bonded labours, heinous to 3 Dalits women were raped every 24
hours, every day 11 Dalits were beaten and overall every 18 minutes a Dalit in subjected to
various forms of victimizations14, State also form commissions in both National and State levels
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and State Human Rights Commission (SHRC)
and also State has special commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe in India to deal
with Dalit issues and problems in India.

5. SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION

The state is simultaneously the child of law and society as well as the mediating link between the
two. Because of its idealistic orientation, the Constitution mother of all laws is external to
society and has a largely exhortatory relationship to it. The state depends on the Constitution for
its legitimacy, but the Constitution also depends on the state for the actualisation of its ideals.
Since it is regulated by politics which in turn is rooted in society, and since its personnel are
themselves members of society who embody the prevalent social prejudices, the state is strongly
influenced by society. But because it is institutionally bound to obey the Constitution, the state
cannot always be guided by the dominant social prejudices of the day; rather, it must at least
occasionally rise above these prejudices to perform its constitutional duty. In sum, the caste-state
relationship is necessarily ambiguous because the state is itself a differentiated and plural (rather
than homogenous or monolithic) entity, capable of acting in a wide variety of ways with respect
to caste.
Returning now to the demands for restraining or removing the PoAA, we can begin to decipher
what is happening. Both in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, the two States where it has been
voiced, the demand is coming from political parties representing regionally dominant castes.
Both States have seen the emergence (or re-emergence) of Dalit assertion following some
14 National Crime Records Bureau, available on http://ncrb.nic.in/RFD/MAIN%20RFD
%202014-15.pdf

upward mobility. This has enraged the dominant castes, leading them to argue that the PoAA is
being misused. The misuse argument is so popular that it can be called a syndrome, or a
characteristic combination of opinions, emotions or behaviour. It has been used against every
special scheme or law intended to empower vulnerable groups, including reservations, laws
against dowry, sexual harassment and rape, and even theMahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In each case, it is alleged that the genuinely
deserving never benefit and that the vast majority of cases are fake.
Since any law can be misused, it is not the potential for misuse but its actual occurrence and
frequency that matter, and this needs to be established through credible evidence. No such
evidence-based claims have been made as yet. On the contrary, reports from activist groups show
that it is hard for ordinary Dalits to get cases registered, and extremely difficult to get them
placed under the PoAA.
While there is no reason to doubt that Dalits, like any other caste group, could become efficient
oppressors if given the chance, the obvious question is if they are in fact getting the chance.
Going by the nationwide evidence on the frequency of atrocities on Dalits, the shoe still seems to
be firmly on the other foot.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Legislations, Conventions and Books
1. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1968) CERD
2. Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act
(1993)
3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1979) ICCPR

4. International Dalit Solidarity Network (2006) Denmark.

5. National Crime Records Bureau report, 2014
6. Protection of Civil Rights Act (1976) PCR
7. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention and Atrocities Act) (1989)
8. The Indian Constitution (1950)
9. Thorat, Sukhadeo, and Katherine S. Newman, eds. 2010. Blocked by Caste: Economic
Discrimination in Modern India. New Delhi: Oxford University press
Secondary Sources
Websites
1. http://idsn.org/countries/india
2. http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
3. http://idsn.org/uploads/media/ASIBondedLabour.pdf.
Articles and Journals
1. Gaiha, Raghav, Ganesh Thapa, Katsushi Imai, and Vani S. Kulkarni. 2008. "Has Anything
Changed? Deprivation, Disparity, and Discrimination in Rural India." Brown Journal of
World Affairs
2. Ninian, Alex. 2008. "Indias Untouchables: The Dalits." Contemporary Review 1689:
186-192.
Newspaper articles
1. Annie Namala. "Violence against Dalits: There Is a Discernible Pattern to This Madness.
Indian Express.
2. TelTumbde, Anand. "Enough Is Enough. The Hindu.
3. News18.com. "Cases of Atrocities On Dalits in the Recent Past."