How would you feel if you lived in a World where you and your family were forced by virtue of birth, to work in a certain job and deliberately deprived of basic facilities and rights?

For Radha Bathran, that was the world she was born into and is now campaigning against in India. Radha is a Dalit, according to the caste system in India, Dalits represent the lowest caste in the Hindu caste system, the word Dalit literally means ‘the oppressed’.

When I caught up with Radha Bathran, at Manchester University while she on tour, organised by Amnesty international, of UK Universities , this fiery 23 year old student of Journalism and Mass Communication from Bharatiyar University, she told listeners of the bitter disappointments and discrimination her 240 million strong community endures every day in India. From a family of four, her father used to carry bags, while her Mother sold fruits on the streets to pay for their children’s education. Radha never forgot her Mother’s warning ‘ never tell your friends, you are a Dalit’ a point brought home to her when she started actively campaigning.

‘Dalits are not allowed to enter villages, they are left in the slums outside the village, in most areas we are not allowed to share tea cups with upper caste people’.

"Consider if caste is not an international issue (and all the cruelty associated with it), then what about poverty or illiteracy or are they internal issues to?" Radha told the Asian Leader.

The United Nations conference on racism, was the centre of another controversy for the Dalit Community when it refused to condemn the caste system.

Despite the passage of numerous laws against oppression of lower caste people, as well as the establishing a quota of 22% in all government sectors, deliberate discrimination and grinding poverty have kept the Dalit Community deprived of their rights. The scale was illustrated by one example, when in the recent Gujrati earth quakes in India, relief funds were confiscated by upper caste villages, who refused to allow Dalits to claim any share.

‘I am often asked, if I am against Hinduism? I am not. My people are the target of countless tortures and endless human rights violations. How can I observe my religion, when I have been deprived from entering a temple?’

Radha also stated: ‘this tour is an opportunity to alert young people, we need them to show solidarity with us, helping us show that Dalit rights, are human rights’

In 1991 alone 61,000 attacks against Dalits were reported.



Dalits are not allowed to wear shoes; if they wear them, Dalits will have to take off their shoes at times they meet a higher caste person. In the rural areas, Dalits are not allowed to cycle through the village streets in which the higher caste people live. Despite over 22% Quota’s, Dalits represent only have 8% representation in Indian Embassies and 5.76% representation in Public Sector jobs.

Mahatama Gandhi in an attempt to help the Dalits, used to call them Harijans 'Children of God'

One of the more confusing mysteries of India is her caste system. The caste system, which has existed already for more than 3000 years, has been developed by the Brahmins (priests) in order to maintain their superiority. Eventually, the caste system became formalised into 4 distinct classes (Varnas).

At the top are the Brahmins, the priests and arbiters of what is right and wrong in matters of religion and society. Next come the Kshatriyas, who are soldiers and administrators. The Vaisyas are the artisan and commercial class, and finally, the Sudras are the farmers and the peasant class. These four castes are said to have come from Brahma's mouth (Brahmin), arms (Kshatriyas), thighs (Vaisyas) and feet (Sudras).

Beneath the four main castes is a fifth group, the Scheduled Caste. They literally have no caste: these are the dalits.