(Jan 9, 2013)
Passport refused to receive Dutch Human Rights AwardThe struggle of Marimuthu Bharathan against oppression of Dalits in India
It is the second year in a row that the Human Rights Tulip – awarded by an independent jury - cannot be given to the winner in person. Last year this person was the Chinese activist Ni Yulan who was in custody awaiting trial for her work on behalf of citizens of Beijing whose houses were confiscated and demolished in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. This year it is Marimuthu Bharathan, an activist and Dalit himself who works for the rights of Dalits, formerly known as ‘untouchables’’ or ‘outcastes’. The reason for the refusal to renew his passport seems to be a – according to Indian human rights organizations – false accusation of murder. On the 9th of January a ceremony will take place in his absence where the jury will motivate her choice and Minister Timmermans will give his views on the issue. Bharathan was arrested in May 2009 because he was supposed to be involved in the murder of a man called Madhan who himself was being accused of murdering a large number of Dalits. The police subsequently arrested more than 20 Dalits from surrounding villages. Bharathan came to support them in order to help them to tell their side of the story. According to the Indian organization Human Rights Defenders’ Alert – India a forced written statement was obtained from another accused who was already in jail. The result was a false accusation against Mr. Bharathan as the 25th accused allegedly being involved in the murder of Madhan. He was locked up for a few weeks and later released on bail. In the meantime the court case against the 25 accused, including Bharathan, is already pending for years.
UN Rapporteur: ‘Deeply disturbed’ Bharathan’s work as a 51-year old Dalit activist in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in addition shows a sample view of the problems that Dalit’s in India are facing. He is supporting the cause of the Dalit sub-caste of Arundhathiyar who are condemned as manual scavengers to clean cleaning dry latrines bare-handed. In the whole of India this is affecting around a million people, especially women. Bharathan is fighting for the eradication of this illegal practice, just thousands of others who are now on a footmarch – the Maila Mukti Yatra - through 18 Indian states to ban the practice. He also campaigns for reforms in the police system and against custodial torture. The appallingly ineffective and corrupt functioning of the police shows from the fact that perpetrators of crimes against Dalits are hardly ever convicted. According to the report ‘Torture and Impunity in India’ (People’s Watch, 2008) financed by the EU annually around 1.8 million people are tortured in police offices and prisons. The victims are mostly Dalits and Adivasi (tribals), who are together a quarter of the population. A law against torture - there is a draft - is already being postponed for years by the government by not placing it before the Parliament. This way the ‘biggest democracy on earth’ is guilty of systematic grave violations of human rights.
Inpunity of violence against women Bharathan also fights for compensation and rehabilitation of Dalits who have become victims of human rights violations. These include among many others coarse insults and humiliation, no access to the village water tap or temple, bonded labour, robbery of land up to rape and assault. Also at present Bharathan is being harassed by the dominant caste people and police trying to do his disrupt work. Recently again a few cases were filed against him, including in July 2012 for staging a roadblock to demand a burial ground for Dalits who are denied access to existing graveyards. The police prohibits every demonstration that Bharathan organizes or in which he participates.
Dalits higher on EU agenda
Gerard Oonk |
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