During this distressing time, more than 20 Ambedkarite organizations who work outside India are seething with rage, pain and sadness at the brutal caste hate crime against a 19 year old Dalit woman in Hathras who was raped and murdered by upper-caste Hindu men.
The Ambedkarite organizations from USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Nederland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Belgium, Hungary, Australia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Malaysia demanded immediate prosecution of the culprits under the SC/ST Atrocities Act.
“Our sister lost her life on September 29th, 2020, in a Delhi hospital, after she succumbed to the injuries because of the hate crime where she was raped, her tongue was slashed, spinal cord broken and she was left to die by some men from the caste Hindu Thakur community. In an alleged attempt to destroy the evidence, her body was forcefully cremated by the UP police, which literally caused her second death. This happened against the wishes of the family, who were begging in front of the authorities to see their daughter one last time and who were then heckled and locked up,” a joint statement reads.
The statement referred an India Spend Analysis of the National Crime Records Bureau statistics and said the crimes against Dalits rose by 746% from 2006 to 2016 in India.
The Ambedkarite organizations further said: “The Dalits have increased vulnerability to such crimes due to the casteist mindset of Caste Hindus, who have a predominant presence in the police force and administration. There have been malicious attempts at obstructing justice, in the form of refusal of the police to file FIR’s, refusal to use the POA Act, 1989, threatening of the victim’s families by the perpetrators and preventing the victim from seeking justice (For instance, the 17 year old Unnao Dalit rape victim was burnt on her way to the court hearing. The convict is a member of the ruling dispensation). Thus, the obstruction of justice often happens with the complicity of the administration and government.”
They claimed that the conviction rate for the men accused of raping dalit women is almost nil.
The organizations accused India’s Supreme Court of diluting the only legal safeguard against the heinous caste crimes and atrocities against the Dalits i.e.The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
They said: “The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, needs not just to be brought back in its original form but also given more teeth to tackle the rising caste hate crimes against Dalits and offer protection to the Dalit women and child victims.”
“The difference between rape, murders and other from of atrocities against the Dalits and similar crimes against other people, is that the crimes against dalits are caste hate crimes arising out of casteist mindset of Caste Hindus. Such crimes are a reflection of jealousy, hate toward and intolerance of the little progress the Dalits have been achieving,” reads the statement.
List of endorsed organization :-
– Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA)
– Ambedkar Buddhist Association of Texas ,USA (ABAT)
– Ambedkar International Mission-USA (AIM)
– Ambedkar International Mission, Japan (Japan)
– Ambedkar International Center-USA (AIC)
– Ambedkar King Study Circle -USA (AKSC)
– Ambedkar Times ,USA
– Ambedkar International Coordination Society(AICS),Canada
– Ambedkar Mission Toronto, Canada
– Ambedkar International Mission Society, Canada
– Begumpura cultural society of New York USA
– Boston Study Group, (BSG), USA
– Coalition of Seattle Indian-American
– International commission of Dalit rights (ICDR),USA
– Indian Civil Watch (ICW)
– Jaibhim Atlanta, USA
– Periyar Ambedkarite Study Circle (PASC) ,USA
– Periyar International ,USA
– Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha of New York, USA
– Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha of Bay Area, USA
– Samaj Weekly of United Kingdom
– Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist, United Kingdom
– Anti Caste Discrimination alliance (ACDA),UK
– Dr Ambedkar Mission Society, Europe (Germany)
– Ambedkar Buddhist Society of Spain
– The Asian Independent of United Kingdom
– Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Association for Education, Japan
