The Dalits have suffered brutality for millennia—but in a perverse sense, this Maratha movement is proof that Dalits are sensing freedom from India’s dreadful caste order. All of a sudden, from being an object of pity, Dalits have turned into an object of envy. Over just the past five years (2010-14), nearly two Dalits have been lynched per day. According to National Crime Records Bureau figures, about 3,314 Dalits have fallen to the wrath of the caste order—an average of 663 Dalits murdered annually. Indeed, some people tell me during my village visits that—outrageous as it may appear—modern Dalits are inviting violence upon themselves.

Source: Mint October 23, 2016 17:03 UTC