Pakistani Dalits Seek Rights In Islamic Nation

The oppression of Dalits has been going on for over 3000 years in South Asia. They are considered to be lower rank human beings by the caste people of both saffron and green colors.
In India alone, close to 260 million so-called "untouchables" or Dalits (known in legal parlance as scheduled castes in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) are routinely discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused, even killed mainly in India, at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection.
Most Dalits continue to live in extreme poverty, without land or opportunities for better employment or education. While the menace is rampant in India, but the caste-based abuse is also prevalent in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. This makes the Dalits to be one of the common, key and collective issues for SAARC since South Asias or mainly Indias hidden apartheid directly affects 1/5th population of the SAARC countries. The perpetual caste prejudice and discrimination on the basis of descent and work could not be ignored by the SAARC if it really dreams to transform into a viable regional cooperation initiative.
Many Indian Dalits have found emancipation from cruel Caste system of Hinduism through converting to more liberal religions. Since 1947 onward, millions of Dalits had held several mass conversions to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity to flee the atrocities of Manu Smiritis Verna system where human status is determined by the birth of a child. He (Manu) declared that Dalits or Shudras will have to bear the burnt of Hinduisms nefarious caste system for another seven lives before being elevated to improved status among Hindus. Thus illiterate and oppressed Dalits of united India had no hope but to undergo the miseries for "their past lifes crimes". The colonial rulers too had their own agenda where human dignity and human equality had no place. The Muslim rulers of Mughal dynasty also befriended the caste Hindus to consolidate their grip over power. They refrained from applying Islams human equality motto, to Dalits also, for the fear that it could create more retaliation from caste Hindus and conspiracy-specialist Brahmins. Thus Dalits were deprived of sweet fruits of human equality of Islam due to political despondency by many Muslim rulers though many educated Dalit youths consider Islam as Savior of Dalits of South Asia because it brought with it the concept of human equality, which was unbelievable before its advent in the South Asia and emancipated millions of Dalits by converting them to Islam.
In Pakistan, the Dalits face different issues. Unlike in India, here no massacre of Dalits is reported till today on the basis of caste. Since they are part of a tiny minority that is 5 per cent of countrys total population, and due to also lack of education and literacy, they continue to stick to different forms of Hinduism whatever their half-literate Gurus impart them. Caste Hindus continue their domination only in southern part of Pakistan, especially former Mirpurkhas division, where more than one million Dalits dwell as landless peasants and laborers. The Caste Hindus, though small in numbers, dominate the minority politics through support of their convert relatives and government functionaries.
In Pakistan, the common Dalits know nothing about Hinduism except Manus words that they are born to serve the caste people to improve their status in next life. They are just lot of confused people who dont know as to why they are Hindus and why they are still attached to "vulture-culture" Hinduism. Interestingly, there is no move to convert them into Islam and probably the Caste Hindu converts dont want them to be equal to them in case they come into Islamic fold. Barring sporadic instances of non-spiritual conversions of peasants in the rural areas into Islam, no Buddhist, Christian or any other religion has taken any initiative to pull them out from the vicious circle of casteism.
The incidents of atrocities and caste-based discriminations on Dalits are increasing day by day in Tharparker --a district where 35 per cent people belong to different Dalit communities among a million people-- because of growing awareness and assertiveness of the Dalits. One of their youth political activist Engineer Gianchand contested general elections against caste people on a provincial assembly seat on October 12, 2002. This enraged caste people sitting at the helm of affairs on the key chairs of the administration. Several hundred Dalit employees of Dalit communities were transferred to far-flung areas under different obnoxious pretexts. Cases were initiated against the Dalit political activists. Their rural folks were threatened and even disallowed to graze their livestock on government lands called Gau-char.
Dalits also suffer in many instances from de facto disenfranchisement. During elections 2002, those unpursuaded by typical electioneering were routinely threatened and beaten by a pro-government political party strongmen in order to compel them to vote for certain candidates. Already under the thumb of local landlords and police officials, Dalit villagers who do not comply had been victimized, beaten, and harassed.
In Tharparker, violence against Dalits is normally treated as a very minor and marginal issue, even by the law-enforcement machinery, whether be it police, the prosecution, or the medico-legal fraternity or often even the judiciary. Non-registration of crimes against Dalits is one of the main problem in Tharparker. Political influence over the police, and caste, class, religion and gender biases are rampant. It is extremely difficult for helpless Dalits to file complaints, particularly against the powerful individuals and or perpetrators.
In Babrario village, a Dalit boy Sadhu Meghwar was done to death and thrown into a village well by caste Hindus. The poor relatives of deceased were threatened and frightened to keep away from the case, which was dubbed as a suicide by police under influence and closed down. Another boy who defended his sister from being raped on gun point by a scion of a caste political family was severely tortured and forced to keep silence in Diplo Tehsil. Another Dalit teacher Nanak who helped the Jamaat-e-Islami relief distribution following recent heavy rains was severely injured by local caste people in Kaloi, Tharparker after abuses of racial hatred. The theft of livestock of Dalits in Tharparker is rampant as police never registers any such case. Though these incidents will look small when compared to the atrocities being committed against Dalits in India but in a society whose overwhelming majority is followers human equality such incidents based on caste prejudice should not have been ignored. These are very few examples as to how Dalits are dealt with if they display an act to show equality. Hundreds of the incidents of caste discrimination go unreported.
Dalits face casteism in Pakistan at places where there are caste Hindus or their shadows. Common Muslims have great sympathies towards them.
The Legal Framework Order 2002 enacted by President Musharraf failed to ensure true representation of Dalits in the Assemblies as per their population ratio among Dalits. Since, Elections 2002 were not direct elections for choosing minority members, hence political parties nominated mostly the moneyed caste Hindus in place of Dalits who form 70 per cent of total Hindu population of Pakistan.
In nutshell, one can conclude that the roots of all the discrimination against Dalits in Pakistan emanate from Hinduistic Caste System, which is still haunting them through its shadows as many leading Caste Hindu converts have changed names but not minds.
Scheduled Castes Federation of Pakistan (SCFP) is struggling to create awareness among the Pakistani society about the Dalits and writes petitions and letters to the Government of Pakistan, political parties and opinion makers to ask them that Dalits under Muslim rule should be more dignified and prosperous enjoying equal rights as human beings in Pakistan than Brahmin-ruled India. However, it appears Pakistani government has little audience to hear the voice of Pakistani Dalits. The enlightened, patriotic Pakistanis and friends and well-wishers of Dalits around the globe are requested to sign this petition if they fully agree with its content for following demands to Government of Pakistan.


We demand:

1. The Government of Pakistan should try to insert Treatment Towards Dalits in SAARC countries as one of the barometers to judge SAARC members commitment to human rights and its International Reputation as a nation.
2. The Government of Pakistan should allocate separate seats in the Parliament for Scheduled Castes as per their population ratio to ensure their voice is heard at the national level. Four seats in National Assembly, Four in Sindh Assembly, two in Punjab Assembly and one each in NWFP and Balochistan Assemblies exclusively for Scheduled Castes.
3. The Government of Pakistan should constitute a National Commission on Scheduled Castes to hear the complaints of caste and racial discrimination and take necessary and required action.
4. The Government of Pakistan should ensure justifiable representation of Dalits in national institutions and departments like PIAC, Banks, DFIs, Pakistan Steel, etc. and jobs in both Federal and Provincial governments.
5. The Government of Pakistan should allot land to landless Dalit peasants on priority basis and get vacated their ancestral lands fraudulently occupied by caste people in Tharparker district or where ever they have.
6. The Government of Pakistan should create a separate fund for helping the destitute, orphans, widows and poor individuals of Scheduled Castes under the Pakistan Baitul Mal as per their population ratio.
7. The Government of Pakistan should protect the Scheduled Castes from being threatened, exploited, victimized, and dislodged from their ancestral abodes by the caste people on any pretext, which is directly or indirectly connected to caste prejudice, by providing them easy access to legal remedies.



Sadhumal Surendar Valasai
Scheduled Castes Federation of Pakistan