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INDIA: Mixed-caste couple hanged by own families

August 8, 2001

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

9 August 2001

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UA-28-2001 - Mixed-caste couple hanged by own families

INDIA: Caste based discrimination - a distinct form of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent; right to life & marriage
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The latest RESPONSE for this appeal is available at:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2001/179/
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2001/145/

In a stark reminder that caste discrimination is still rife in India, a pair of mixed-caste lovers were hanged in public last Monday by their own family members in Alipur village, Muzaffarnagar district, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the Muzzaffarnagar district police chief, a 20-year-old man Vishal (a high caste Brahmin) and an 18-year-old woman Sonu (from the lower caste Jat community) were hanged to death because they belonged to different castes and were in love with each other. The families of both the boy and girl brought them to the roof of a village house and hanged them one after the other in front of hundreds of villagers supporting the murder.

Seven people have been arrested by the police, but this is not the first time there have been such murders in the district of Muzzaffarnagar. In 1993, a pair of mixed-caste lovers were set upon by their local community and killed, while another couple were hacked to death in a rickshaw in March this year.

BACKGROUND

This tragic incident should open the eyes of the world to the reality of caste discrimination in South Asia. In fact the problem goes much deeper than preventing inter-caste marriages. For a Dalit ('low-caste untouchable') to drink from the upper caste well, enter an upper caste home, sit with upper caste students, worship in an upper caste temple, or do work outside of their caste-designated jobs, is still considered such an extreme crime in parts of India that it can be punishable by rape, economic boycott, stripping and public parading or murder. These atrocities happen every week in India and Nepal, and often go unreported, uninvestigated, or ignored by police.

There are similar caste discrimination problems all through South Asia, and also in Japan, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and amongst the Indian diaspora. The total number of victims of caste discrimination is over 250 million worldwide, meaning one in every 25 people are affected. The vast majority of these - around 190 millions Dalits - are in India

You may be aware that the Indian government is aggressively opposing the inclusion of caste discrimination in the World Conference Against Racism being held in South Africa later this month. Many other governments have decided it is easier to not upset India than to stand up for an end to caste discrimination. The Indian government says caste does not belong in the conference because it is not about biologically different races. But the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimation has found that caste is a distinct form of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent.

The Indian government also says that it has a good constitution, set of laws, and policies designed to counter caste discrimination, which is true. But the measures have rarely been implemented, and so we still see Dalits collecting human faeces for work; being told not to bother studying by their teachers; being forced into 'temple prostitution' and being violently punished for breaking caste rules. This latest incident shows that caste is still rampant in India, and that without international attention and pressure, there is no way the caste system will ever be resolved, as those holding the reins of power are the ones gaining from the caste system.

SUGGESTED ACTION

As the police have acted unusually swiftly to arrest seven persons responsible for the murders, we are not requesting any action on that specific incident at this stage. We will continue to monitor the situation. However, you can encourage the UN to address caste discrimination at the World Conferece against Racism. The final documents and agendas are being decided now in Geneva, and it seems likely that caste will not even be mentioned once! Please write to Mary Robinson, the General Secretary for the Conference, to let her know you are deeply concerned about the caste system and believe that the WCAR will be a failure unless it addresses caste oppression as a form of racial discrimination on the basis of work and descent.

Please also write a note to your own head of state, urging them to support the inclusion of caste in the agenda, despite the intransigence and pressure from the Indian government on the issue.

SAMPLE LETTER (use this or write your own short message)

Ms. Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Secretary General to the World Conference against Racism
c/- Mr. Frej Fenniche
Senior Human Rights Officer, WCAR Secretariat

Dear Ms. Robinson

RE: CASTE IS STILL KILLING - PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE IT IN WCAR!

It is hard to believe that the caste system in India can still be so entrenched that a young couple were publicly hanged to death by their families on Monday because they were in love and from different castes. The whole village of Alipur in Uttar Pradesh and both sets of parents were supportive of the murders of the two, aged 20 and 18.

I understand that the problem goes much deeper than preventing inter-caste marriages. For a Dalit to drink from the upper caste well, enter an upper caste home, sit with upper caste students, worship in an upper caste temple, or do work outside of their caste-designated jobs, is to be guilty of a social crime punishable by rape, economic boycott, stripping and public parading, or murder. These atrocities happen every week in India, and often go unreported, uninvestigated, or ignored by police. Further, I am aware that this is in fact a global problem, with caste abuse prevalent all through South Asia as well as in Japan and West Africa.

So it has come as a shock to me that this enormous problem may not even be discussed at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance beginning this month. Hundreds of millions of people around the world will wonder what the conference was for if it does not try to understand and respond to the discrimination they face every day because of the family they were born into. I urge you to use your good offices as Secretary General to the conference to ensure that another opportunity for the international community to address the caste system does not pass by. After 3,000 years of caste violence, the Dalits and other low caste people deserve this much.

Yours sincerely

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SEND FAXES AND EMAILS TO:

Ms. Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Secretary General to the World Conference against Racism
c/- Mr. Frej Fenniche
Senior Human Rights Officer, WCAR Secretariat
Fax. (41-22) 917-9056
E-mail:

Please also send your letter to the general email for UNHCHR at:
Email:
PLEASE MARK: FOR THE ATTENTION OF MS. MARY ROBINSON






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Asian Human Rights Commission
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Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-28-2001
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.