Sir

After 70 years of independence, the right to equality is still missing in our society. Social discrimination is prevalent in the society and is taking a bad turn. The ugly face of casteism is growing fast with the plight of humanity.

Dalits form the most disadvantaged section of the urban and rural society. The daily insults and humiliations to dalits has become a matter of routine and following this routine on Sunday a Dalit youth, Jitendra Das died after he was allegedly beaten up by a group of men from an upper-caste community in Tehri district of Uttarakhand.

The 23-year-old was assaulted on April 26, purportedly for sitting on a chair and eating in front of the upper-caste group at a wedding reception. He succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at hospital and he died.

According to his sister “My brother made the mistake that he took food from the same counter from where upper-caste people were eating,” she said. “He then sat on a chair next to them. They said that this lower-caste cannot sit and eat along with us.” She added that the accused were threatening the family to withdraw the case.

Caste system has been criticized immensely by people over the years but it still has a strong hold on the social system of the country. All the talks on equality and unbiased society seem to be just words after hearing this kind of news.

The National Commission of Human Rights has decided to take up the case to get justice for the dalit boy. The preamble of our constitution starts with “We the people of India”; our constitution gave us rights to live with dignity and equality and here is a reality where a person is killed just because he is of lower cast.     

  casteism, Dalits, Lynching