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"Nepalese Dalit issue is always hidden in
national and international level. We want equal society to live
as human beings (not 'men'). So we want your solidarity to
eliminate caste (Untouchability) from society."
Durga Sob, FEDO
People gathered at Chater Garden in Central Hong Kong with
badges, placards and a large banner and walked through the
oppressive humidity towards the Indian Consulate-General’s
office on the 16th floor of a shopping complex and office
building.
The vocal crowd surprised pedestrians, train-travellers,
workmen and bus-drivers, weaving their way through the concrete
jungle chanting ‘Justice for Dalits’, ‘No More
Caste’ and ‘Untouchability is a Crime Against
Humanity’. The biggest surprise was awaiting the shoppers
and mall security guards, who tried to redirect the protesters
out of the mall. Probably they had never seen a banner so large
coming up their escalators along with loud angry people from so
many different countries – Hong Kong, India, Philippines,
USA, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Sri Lanka, Australia and Kenya. They
called for reinforcements and around 8 security guards eventually
escorted us to the consulate. The Consul came outside, and a
representative of the protesters read out the letter demanding
that India reverse its stance and enable the intolerable
treatment of the vast, global population of Dalits, Burakumin and
other so-called ‘low caste’ people to be discussed at
the World Conference Against Racism. The Consul admitted that we
were right to protest this action, but obviously did not
subscribe to our point of view. He hinted that the reservations
system was in fact unfair. But nobody bought his argument. The
protesters gave the Consul a complimentary badge and poster to
help him remember the Dalit cause.
"This is not an anti-Indian action. We simply
believe that human rights are universal - that where the most
basic human rights are flaunted on a massive scale, people around
the world have a right to be angry about it. India cannot excuse
itself from this, and the international community will not ignore
it any longer."
Basil Fernando, AHRC
Speaking about the Global Day of Action, Basil Fernando,
Executive Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission said,
"The Government of India would have us believe that
Untouchability is not continually practiced, that atrocities
against Dalits don’t happen every week, that Dalit children
are not prevented from getting a basic education. They would even
have the world to believe that in 2001 Dalits are not still
collecting human faeces by hand because they were born into a
particular family.
"But these realities still exist right now, and we
believe that it is time the international community joined the
Dalits’ actions to gain a life of dignity and equality for
themselves. The WCAR was designed to address issues like this,
and unless it does so, the conference will be a complete farce
for a quarter of a billion people throughout South Asia, Japan
and Africa who suffer from caste-based discrimination."
Posted on 2001-07-18
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