Equality and Justice for 200 Million Victims of the Caste System
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INDIA’S UNFINISHED AGENDA: EQUALITY AND JUSTICE FOR 200 MILLION VICTIMS OF THE CASTE SYSTEM HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 6, 2005 Serial No. 109–102 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 23–825PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 13:35 Jan 18, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\AGI\100605\23825.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, HOWARD L. BERMAN, California Vice Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio PETER T. KING, New York BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ROBERT WEXLER, Florida THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York RON PAUL, Texas WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts DARRELL ISSA, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York JEFF FLAKE, Arizona BARBARA LEE, California JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York MARK GREEN, Wisconsin EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon JERRY WELLER, Illinois SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada MIKE PENCE, Indiana GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan ADAM B. SCHIFF, California KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida DIANE E. WATSON, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina ADAM SMITH, Washington JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky CONNIE MACK, Florida DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas TED POE, Texas THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey JEFF FLAKE, Arizona BARBARA LEE, California MARK GREEN, Wisconsin BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BRAD SHERMAN, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, DIANE E. WATSON, California Vice Chairman MARY M. NOONAN, Subcommittee Staff Director GREG SIMPKINS, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member NOELLE LUSANE, Democratic Professional Staff Member SHERI A. RICKERT, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member and Counsel LINDSEY M. PLUMLEY, Staff Associate (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 13:35 Jan 18, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\100605\23825.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Udit Raj, Ph.D., Chairman, All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes Organizations ......................................................................... 10 Mr. Kancha Ilaiah, Professor of Political Science, Osmania University, India .. 14 Ms. Indira Singh Athwale, All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes Organizations ......................................................................... 18 Joseph D’Souza, Ph.D., President, Dalit Freedom Network ................................ 23 Mr. T. Kumar, Advocacy Director, Asia and Pacific, Amnesty International ..... 28 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations: Prepared statement ................ 5 Udit Raj, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ..................................................................... 11 Mr. Kancha Ilaiah: Prepared statement ................................................................ 16 Ms. Indira Singh Athwale: Prepared statement ................................................... 20 Joseph D’Souza, Ph.D.: Prepared statement and material submitted for the record .................................................................................................................... 25 Mr. T. Kumar: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 31 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 13:35 Jan 18, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\100605\23825.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL VerDate Mar 21 2002 13:35 Jan 18, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGI\100605\23825.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL INDIA’S UNFINISHED AGENDA: EQUALITY AND JUSTICE FOR 200 MILLION VICTIMS OF THE CASTE SYSTEM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2005 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SMITH. Good afternoon. Today’s hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations will study the terrible situation facing India’s Dalits and tribal peoples. Taken together, the Dalits and tribal peoples constitute as many as 250 million people. The Dalits, whose name means ‘‘the oppressed,’’ are much better known as ‘‘untouchables,’’ although this demean- ing name is not the one they choose for themselves. They are also often referred to in official documents as ‘‘Sched- uled Castes,’’ and occasionally as ‘‘Harijans’’ or ‘‘Children of God,’’ a name given to them by Ghandi. The tribal peoples are often re- ferred to as ‘‘Scheduled Tribes’’ or ‘‘Adivasis,’’ which means indige- nous or aboriginal inhabitants. The Dalits and tribal peoples are treated as virtual non-humans and suffer pervasive discrimination and violation of their human rights. This topic has taken on special relevance. India’s reformist gov- ernment has made great strides to open its economy to improve the lot of all of its citizens. It has also played a leading role in the Community of Democracies, the UN’s Democracy Caucus, and the UN Democracy Fund. In June and July of this year, the United States and India announced a series of agreements that represent a quantum leap in cooperation between the world’s two most popu- lous democracies after decades of estrangement during the Cold War. On July 18, United States and Indian leaders issued a joint statement resolving to establish a global partnership between the two nations through increased cooperation on a wide range of issues. We heartily welcome these actions. However, there is still a long road to travel. Most observers have focused on the nuclear proliferation implications of our announced agreements as potential stumbling blocks to a true strategic part- nership between the United States and India. But as we seek to develop a strategic partnership, we must not lose sight of India’s (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 13:35 Jan 18, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\100605\23825.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL 2 most serious human rights problems. These problems are amply documented in the three current State Department reports: The 2004 Human Rights Report on India, the 2005 Report on Traf- ficking in Persons, and the 2004 Report on Religious Freedom. All three are massive catalogs of human rights violations, which the Government of India condones, ignores, and in some instances, has even promoted. To quote the 2004 Human Rights Report on India: ‘‘Security force officials who committed human rights abuses generally enjoyed de facto legal impunity . .’’ and it goes on. Without objection, I would include that, as well as the Trafficking in Persons Report language in the record at this point. [The information referred to follows:] Passage from the 2004 Human Rights Report on India: ‘‘Security force officials who committed human rights abuses generally enjoyed de facto legal impunity . violations included: torture and rape by police and other government agents; . harassment and arrest of human rights monitors; . forced prostitution; child prostitution and female infanticide; trafficking in women and children; . serious discrimination and violence against indigenous people and scheduled castes and tribes; widespread intercaste and communal violence; reli- giously motivated violence against Muslims and Christians; and widespread exploi- tation of indentured, bonded, and child labor.’’ Passage from the 2005 Report on Trafficking in Persons: ‘‘India is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation . Internal trafficking . for . sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, bonded labor, and indentured servitude is widespread. the vast majority of females in the Indian commercial sex industry are currently victims of sexual servitude or were originally trafficked into the sex trade. India is also home to millions of victims of forced or bonded labor.’’ ‘‘The Government of India does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.’’