From the Editor's Desk

T he month of May, 2018 was replete with several media reports of atrocities on Dalits in different parts of the country. The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of five such reported incidents during the month, which have been pegged in this edition of the Newsletter. These incidents give a indication that though we have sought to change the situation through the enabling laws and state policy but our mindsets remain a stumbling block. This needs to be taken seriously because the incidents not only indicate an element of continued malice of people towards each other on the basis of their socio, economic and cultural background but also a growing class conflict among them. This cannot be dismissed and brushed aside under the carpet just as a centuries old menace, which will take its own time to end given that enabling laws are there.
The fissiparous tendencies in our society in valuing people's existence in terms of their status viz-a-viz big and small, rich and poor, caste and class, rank and position, haves and haves not, rural and urban, perhaps, led the founding fathers of our Constitution to emphasize on the importance of right to equality before law and putting in place measures as instruments of state policy doing away with discrimination on the basis of caste, class and creed.
The Constitutional provisions and state policies were devised to guide our society in leading a life wherein we, in principle, did not differentiate and discriminate between people. It would be naïve to suggest that such constitutional provisions have not brought about any changes in the outlook of our society so far: But can we ignore the worrisome continued presence of discriminatory thoughts in our subconscious, which drives us, sometimes, to behave in a manner, which cannot be termed as civilized?
How else one would explain the case of a Dalit rag picker beaten to death in Gujarat or an attack on the pre-wedding procession of Dalits in Rajasthan because the groom rode a mare, presumed to be a symbol of upper caste pride, or still the stamping of castes on the bare chests of the aspiring constables from the Dalit communities in Madhya Pradesh? Another example of unchanged mindsets could be noticed in the alleged police brutality, illegal arrest and false implication of several Dalits and their incarceration in jails without bail after their protest, how so ever misguided it was, over the Supreme Court's ruling on the SC/ST Act.
May be in the urban space, the things are changing but the youth in rural and semi urban areas appear to remain entrenched in caste and class consciousness and related conflicts till date. Why is it still so? Whether our enabling laws and policies are taking us apart instead of bringing close? We need to study whether the dynamics of caste conflicts are changing and multiplying fast also into class conflicts in India, and if so, reasons thereof and remedies to redress it?
Acts, laws and policies are introduced as forceful instruments of seeking change when we tend to fail in our resolve to change ourselves within. However, no acts, laws and policies can change the mindsets unless one resolves to change. Why do we not resolve to change ourselves us that we will do away with the notions of discrimination, on any count, among the fellow citizens? The essence of social orders and positions is to serve better not to rule each other as superiors because as human beings we are born equals.
In this backdrop, the NHRC Chairperson, Mr Justice H.L Dattu's message gains critical importance that "the increasing reports of human rights violations indicate increased awareness as well as the lack of respect for our duties. If the rights protect our interests; our duties ensure protection of others' rights. Human rights encompass all rights, which will not stand violated, if we performed our duties better. In real sense, our nation will become progressive only if we, as citizens of it, allowed such thoughts and deeds stemming out of them, which are objective and balanced; that do not undermine constitutional liberties of others. The state, constitutional and statutory bodies are there only to guide us all on this path."