Do you Know .............

• DALIT, literally means “broken” or “crushed under foot”
• They are also called UNTOUCHABLES -means can't be seen, touched or heard by other Hindus. Other names are Dasa, Dasysa, Raksasa, Asura, Avarna, Nisada, Panchama, Chandala, Harijan(name given by M K Gandhi),Chura(Punjab), Bhangi, Lal Beghi, Chamar(North India),Mahar,Matangi(Maharashtra),Mala, Madiga, Adi-Andhra(Andhra Pradesh), Paraiya(Tamilnadu),Pulayan(Kerala),Depressed Classes, Scheduled Castes(Scheduled Caste Act of India, 1935)
• Nearly 160 Million of India's 1 billion population are Dalits
• Untouchability is worse than slavery in every respect
• They are not part of four compartamentalized Hindu Chaturvarna system that consists of
  • BRAHMINS (the Priestly Class: said to be born from the face/mouth of the Hindu creater Brahma according to Hindu Scriptures)
  • KSHATRIYAS (the Warrior Class: born from shoulders/arms)
  • VAISYAS (the Trading Class:born from Belly/thieghs) and
  • SUDRAS (the Servants: born from feet of Brahma)
  But Dalits are called Ati-shudras or Panchamas (Fifth Varna) away from Chaturvarna system. Yet they are considered as Hindus for numerical strength
• In a land where even animals are worshipped, these fellow humans are treated worse than any animal in their own country even in 21 century
• They constitute 18%(140 Million) among 800 Million Hindus, 80%(20 Million) among 25 Million Christians, 11%(15.5 Million) among 140 Muslims, 75%(15 Million) among 20 Million Sikhs, 94%(7.5 Million) Buddhists and 75% (3 Million) among 4 Million Jains in India.
• The cruality of untouchability started some 2,000-3,000 years ago and still rampant all over India
• The Hindu code giver Manu was notorious for his criminal laws against Shudras, Dalits and Women
• Most of the Dalits live in villages in segregated settlements away from the main village or urban slums in pitiable conditions unfit for human habitation 
• According to 2000 India's National Crime Records Bureau, Every hour 2 dalits are attached; every day 3 dalit woman were raped, 2 dalits are murdered and 2 dalit houses are burned. source (National Geographic News)
  
• 50% of them live below poverty line when compared to 30% of others in 1994
• 86% of them are landless and 63% are daily wage labour households
• 49% of Dalit children dropout from schools
• In 1997 there were 504 cases of murder, 3452 of grievous hurt, 384 of arson, 1002 of rape and 12149 cases of other offences against them. It is very common to subjugate them to unimaginable atrocities 
• There are 5108 cases of Untouchability registered with police in 1976. The number was 3425 in 1977, 4729 in 1978, 4087 in 1982 etc
• As per 1991 census out of 40 million children, 15 Million of them are child laborers. Majority of then were dailts
• They have to use seperate plates and glasses in some village restaurants but pay the same or more price than others for the same service
• Their literacy rate is 29.7%(Male) and 18.5%(Female) as against India's avearge literacy rate of 63.8%(Male) and 39.4%(Female).
• Approximately 115 Million dalit children work
• A recent survey in Marathwada(Maharshtra) revealed that 50% of rural Dalits do not have access to drinking water facilities; in 85% of the villages entry was not allowed to Dalits into upper caste houses; 80 % prohibited Dalits from entering temples and in most villages Dalits were forced to act as scavengers.
• According to government statistics, an estimated 1 million Dalits are manual scavengers who clear human excreta from public and private latrines with bare hands and dispose of dead animals; unofficial estimates are much higher
• Enrollment among Dalit children in 1993 at the primary level was 16.2%, while among non-SCs it was 83.8%.
• 99% of Dalit students come from government schools which lack basic infrastructure, class rooms, teachers and teaching aids. Caste Hindu teachers often treat them with cruelty and humiliation.
• Almost 90% of Dalit women participate in some sort of productive labour outside their home
• According to the 2000-2001 reports of the National Informatics Center, the national dropout rate for Dalit children was almost 41% at the primary level, 54% for middle school, and 69% for secondary school mainly due to poverty and abusive treatment from teachers and other caste hindu children Educational statistics

  Supporting Links

  National Geographic Magazine on Untouchables
  Hindu social order and the human rights of dalits
  http://indianhope.free.fr/site_eng/dalit.php3
  Psychosocial Problems of Scheduled Caste Aged Persons in India
  A SURVEY OF INDIAN RELIGIONS
  Addressing Caste Issues in Curriculum
  BLACK PAPER ON THE STATUS OF DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS