“India Untouched: Research Documentary” – A Review

Introduction

The Indian caste system has defined the social fabric of the Indian society from time
immemorial. The division of the society into the four varnas viz., Brahmins, Khastriyas,
Vaishyas and Sudras has been the basis of social stratification. While on one hand the varna
system has ensured social order, it has also been the source of simmering discontent and
tension on the other hand. One of the main features of the said caste system has been the evil
of “Untouchability” which broadly means the practice of segregating a certain section of
society, i.e., the Dalits or lower castes or minorities, from the mainstream through social
custom, and forcing them to carry out menial jobs and subjecting them to discrimination,
ostracism, subjugation and marginalization.

In 1950, the Indian constitution legally abolished the practice of untouchability. Article 17 of
the Indian Constitution deals with abolition of Untouchability. In terms of the said article,
"Untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of
any disability arising out of "Untouchability" is an offence punishable in accordance with
law. With the legal provision in place, it would have been safe to assume that the evil of
“Untouchability” had finally been buried. However, the presumption is far from reality.

India Untouched

In this backdrop, one comes across an award-winning documentary of 2007 namely “India
Untouched” by Stalin K which brings us face-to-face with a dark reality of the Indian society.
The documentary has an innovative style of story-telling in which the existence of the evil of
“Untouchability” in India is established through a web of interviews of the oppressor as well
as the oppressed. It goes on to show that the issue is very deep rooted with the oppressor
convinced that it is his right to oppress and drawing the same from religious manuscripts. On
the other hand, the oppressed having internalized his oppression as a fait accompli and his
psyche having been deeply impacted to accept his situation.

The documentary takes us through 8 states viz., Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab and Bihar capturing the ground reality. It goes on to
show that the existence of “Untouchability” in India is not restricted to any particular region
however, it is a pan-Indian phenomenon.

The documentary starts its journey from the villages of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, moves on
talking to people in other states and the renowned Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The
side of the oppressor is mainly presented through the interview of Shri Batuprasad Sharma
Shastri, a scholar from Banaras who proudly announces that he believes in caste and
untouchability and is convinced that Dalits have no right to education and decent living. He
says that Shastras (Vedas, etc.) are always right and there is no space for logic and that every
caste has to follow the rules set for them.

The story draws heavily from various interviews and brings to light innumerable instances of
existence of untouchability in India and tries to understand the reason and rationale for the
same. In a village in Gujarat, children feel they will get polluted by meeting Lilaben, a
Harijan. In Kochi, the lower castes have to remove their slippers while crossing the locality
of upper castes. In the municipal corporation in Patiala, Punjab all sweeping work is done by
Valmikis (Dalits). In Jhajha, Bihar, it’s only the Dalits who have to do the menial job of
disposing-off dead corpses. In a village in Gujarat, Dalit girls like Hetal Chandubhai Solanki,
Ramila Kanubhai Wankar and Meena Ishwabhai Solanki are given the responsibility to clean
the school ground and toilets. In other places, children don’t have lunch together with Dalit
children and teachers like Shri Mahesh Prasad Rawat force the Dalit children to sit at the
back of the class. Children are brainwashed to believe in the caste system from an early age.
When charged however, Shri Rawat denies that untouchability exists and that the children are
telling lies. In Jallandhar, Punjab, leather processing is done only by Dalits. In Kheda,
Gujarat, Patels think they will get polluted if they buy milk from Dalits. In Ahmedabad,
Gujarat, Dalits cannot come to the well and draw water. In Trichy, Tamil Nadu, Dalits are
served tea in glass cups whereas upper castes are served in steel cups. At many places in
Tamil Nadu, etc. Dalits are not allowed to visit temples. They can only pray and give
offerings from a distance. Dalits have to sit on the floor, cannot touch an upper caste, cannot
take their names, cannot sit and eat with upper castes. In Bihar, a Dalit had food with a
Bhumihar and as a result of which, he was beaten, spat on his face and fined.

It is a common feeling that untouchability exists only because of illiteracy. However, in a

state like Kerala where literacy rate is very high, untouchability can still be observed and is
deeply engrained. All the ground work in Students Federation of India is done by Dalits.

The documentary also shows that the evil is not restricted to the uneducated and rural society.
Through interviews of Dr. Yadulal, a Doctor in a reputed hospital at Delhi and his wife
Kusum Yadula, a teacher, Stalin K shows, that the evil is also engrained amongst educated
people and medical profession as well as teachers. Dr. Yadulal says that he has 20 doctors
working under him and he is the second in hierarchy, however, whenever his Director is
going on leave, the charge is given to his junior because Dr Yadulal is a Dalit. On the other
hand, Kusum Yadulal says she is denied all opportunities just because she is a Dalit.

The interview of a girl studying in the Jawaharlal Nehru University is an eye opener. It is
shocking to know that the evil of “Untouchability” can also be experienced in one of the
premier universities of the country. These accounts go on to prove that so-called liberal urban
culture is actually no better that a rural set-up and that caste-based discriminations is an
integral part of the urban environment as well.

Stalin K further goes on to show that “Untouchability” is not an evil specific to the Hindu
religion. However, it has spread its tentacles across other religions like Sikhism, Christianity
and Islam.

“Untouchability” is widespread in Sikhism with lower castes having to face various

discriminations. About 70% of Sikhs are Dalits and caste-wise Gurudwaras exist in a few
villages in Punjab.

People from low castes converted to Christianity and hence the concept of untouchability also
came there. Sunny feels that untouchability exists in Christianity as well. In Christianity,
Dalits are either given separate places to sit in Churches or have their separate Churches and
even separate cemeteries. You are born a Dalit, you live a Dalit, you die a Dalit and are
buried a Dalit.

Untouchability exists even among Muslims which has about a dozen castes. Md. Kalam Azad
says, lower castes are not allowed to sit with upper castes like Syeds. There is however, no
discrimination inside mosques. In many places lower castes have separate mosques and
cemeteries. Dr. Noor Hasan Azad and Mumtaz Alam also give evidence of untouchability in
Islam. The main reason for untouchability in Islam is that 85% of Muslims are converted
Hindu Dalits.

The documentary is a comprehensive statement on the existence of "Untouchability" in India.

No amount of legislative support has been able to control the evil that separates human
beings according to their birth. Those considered untouchable are subjected to isolation, they
are forced to fulfill menial tasks, drink from separate containers, remove their shoes on the
street as a sign of respect and perform or exhibit many other outward signs of their perceived
inferiority. Failure to compliance or any attempt to protest is viewed very seriously and can
lead to physical harm, beaten, fines imposed, houses burnt, etc.

d
Recent incidents

Going through the documentary was quite disturbing and emotionally draining. I was quite
happy to note that the documentary was shot in 2007 and was confident that the situation
must have improved drastically in the last 13 years. After having gained awareness to the
evil, I started observing societal behavior more closely as well as talked to people in the
villages and did some google search. It was shocking to observe and understand that the
malaise of “Untouchability” is still present in our society.

While searching over google, I came across a number of recent incidents of differential
societal behavior towards Dalits. On 17 June, 2018, Prashant Solanki, a Dalit man in his late
20s, was on his way to his wedding riding a colorfully decorated horse, as is common
practice, when he was ambushed by a group of upper-caste villagers. They insisted that riding
a horse was an upper-caste privilege and threatened to attack him and his family. Fearing for
his life, he had the police accompany him to his bride’s home and also to his wedding.

In another incident, 2 Dalit men in Tamil Nadu were killed by upper-caste Hindus after a
Dalit man sat cross-legged in front of them during a temple ritual. The upper-caste Hindus
saw it as a dishonorable and insulting gesture. About 15 of them went to the Dalits'
neighborhood and mounted an ambush. In addition to the two men killed, six others were
injured and houses were damaged.

Further, 3 Dalit boys were stripped, beaten and paraded naked by villagers in Maharashtra
some time back for swimming in a well that belonged to an upper-caste family. In a video
that was posted online, two of the boys are seen covering themselves with leaves as a man
hits them with a stick and a belt.

In yet another incident, Mahesh Rathod, a 13-year-old Dalit boy was attacked in Gujarat for
wearing a pair of "mojris" - leather shoes traditionally seen as royal footwear and worn by
upper-caste members in some parts of India. Some men asked him which caste he belonged
to and when he said he was a Dalit, they abused him for posing as an upper-caste member by
wearing jeans, mojris and a gold chain and beat him.

In another incident, Dalit and upper-caste men attacked each other in a town in Gujarat after
22-year-old Maulik Jadav decided to add a suffix “sinh” to his first name on his Facebook
profile. The suffix "sinh" is traditionally used by an upper-caste community in the state. For
this he received death threats over Facebook and even over the phone. The threats turned into
violence when a group of men attacked him at his home the following day, leading to Dalit
residents retaliating by storming the house of an upper-caste Hindu man.

On further introspection, I can recall a number stories I had heard as a child or observed
through personal experiences. I remember having been told how Dalits were not allowed
inside the houses in villages or were served food on paper plates so that they need not be
brought inside the house. I also remember how during a visit to a village many years ago, a
small kid refused to enter a temple and preferred to stay outside. When I asked my Uncle the
reason of such a behavior, he said I would not understand then. I also remember, how only a
designated family had the responsibility of cleaning toilets and that they were allowed to
enter only from the back door and not touch any other household thing. I also remember that
Dalit children were not allowed to attend school or study or participate in pujas or visit
temples. I also remember having seen food being served to them separately from others and
that too on disposable plates and invariably on the floor and outside the house. I can also
recall an instance when there was lot of tension and commotion in the village when some
family had tried to enter the village temple to participate in a puja. Even in an urban setting, I
remember in some houses, water is served to servants and maids in glass cups while the rest
of the family uses steel utensils. In one instance, the maid was asked to bring her own plate
and glass and not use the family’s utensils for her personal use. Besides, servants, maids,
laborer’s, etc. are not supposed to sit on chairs or sofas along with the masters and are only
allowed to sit on the floor. The documentary has made me aware of this social evil and now I
am in a much better position to observe such discriminatory behavior and empathize with
them. I am sure the Dalits must be finding it extremely difficult to understand and rationalize
as to why they were/ are being treated differently and discriminated against based on
something which they have not got out of choice but has been given to them by God.

Conclusion

“India Untouched” is a documentary with a difference, for it made me realize that how much
backward and narrow minded our society still is. The level of oppression being faced by the
backward classes of the society even today is shocking. The film maker Stalin has made
people realize the plight of the Dalits. Living in an urban surrounding and having to go to the
best schools and colleges of the city, it is difficult to be aware of such ills in the society
though the urban Dalit population too has its own share of urban discrimination.
The film is said to be dedicated to all the activists who continue their struggle to annihilate
the rule of caste and establish that of the constitution. The documentary is an eye opener as I
was never aware of the existence of any such evil in our society and had never been witness
to any such incident. The documentary has come as a shock and has forced me to look deeper
into the malaise and resolve to do whatever is possible to bring an end to the same. However,
this would be easier said than done. The deep-rooted nature of the problem which is a pan-
India phenomenon, which can be seen in both rural and urban areas, within both educated and
uneducated populace, in medical profession, in premier educational institutions, and in
practically all religions, makes the issue look like a hydra-headed demon which will require
action from multiple levels and directions. It is quite clear that people who are in positions of
power are majorly responsible for the oppression of Dalits. This is because people in the
position of power are generally from the community of the oppressor and they want to hold
on to that position of power and privilege. They fear that the emancipation of the oppressed
would lead to loss of their position of power and privilege. The documentary however, shows
a ray of hope. It showcases action being taken by the youth to eradicate the problem and also
how a young Dalit girl holds her head high after pulling water from her village well for the
first time in her life. Time has changed and the boundaries are becoming weak. The day is not
far off when “Untouchability” will be a thing of the past and there will be no discrimination
on the basis of caste, creed, color, religion, etc. and Article 17 of the Indian constitution
would not merely be an eyewash but a reality.