India's Untouchables

What if people told you that you were so worthless, you weren't even human?

That is what life is like for millions of people in India, known as the Untouchables.

Watch a video about Dalit children in India.
(Approximately 20 minutes).

This group is considered so unworthy that they are not even in the caste system. This is where the word "outcast" comes from. Today, Untouchables choose to call themselves Dalits, which means crushed or broken. Gandhi called them harijan, or "Children of God."

Many of India's Hindus believe that Dalits are less than human and are spiritually unclean. Dalits were once forced to drink from clay cups that would be destroyed after each use. They had to walk with brooms tied behind them, to sweep away their "unclean" footprints.

For centuries, Dalits have done the dirtiest, most awful jobs in society. They must clean human waste and sewers by hand, butcher animals, and do leather work.

Because they are considered unclean, Dalits are ostracized in Indian society and most live in separate villages or urban slums. Many upper caste people believe even a Dalit's shadow is unclean. They will not share a well with Dalits.

Discrimination against Dalits is illegal in modern India. But it continues in social practice even today.

Many Dalit people have defied social traditions and gone on to achieve great success in society, becoming doctors, writers, and political leaders. India has even had a Dalit president: KR Narayanan was elected the tenth president of India in 1997 and served until 2002. But they are still considered "outcasts" by many upper caste people. Some upper caste Hindus even look down upon these successful Dalits because they believe the Dalits are not accepting the low status bestowed on them by their gods.

Illiteracy has trapped generations of Dalits and other low-caste Indians in this cycle of bondage.

Because many Dalits cannot read and write, they are unaware of their rights. They don't know that their government's constitution promises them equality with all other Indians. Dalits are raised from birth to believe they are unworthy. They don't know that it's wrong for an upper caste person to treat them badly or take advantage of them.

In fact, many upper caste Indians believe their gods want Dalits and other low-caste people to stay illiterate. They tell low-caste Indians it will only anger the gods more if they try to learn how to read and write.

That's why when illiterate, low-caste women like Meenaben are given the chance to read and write...they are also given hope!

Many women are told their whole lives that they are so worthless that even their gods don't want them to read. Now, for the first time, they have someone telling them they have value.