July 2005 • Issue 380


Caste / ACTION

Action and worth reading

ACTION

INTERNATIONAL

Anti-Slavery International is the world’s oldest international human-rights organization and works to eliminate all forms of slavery, including that based on caste.
Thomas Clarkson House,
The Stableyard,
Broomgrove Road,
London SW9 9TL
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7501 8920
Email: info@antislavery.org
Web: www.antislavery.org

Human Rights Watch works with victims and activists to investigate human rights violations and challenges governments and those in power to respect international human rights law. It has a specific campaign on caste at: www.hrw.org/campaigns/caste

IMADR is devoted to forging international solidarity among discriminated minorities.
3-5-11,
Roppongi,
Minato-ku,
Tokyo, Japan.
Tel: +81-(0)3-3586-7447
Fax: +81-(0)3-3586-7462
Email: imadris@imadr.org
Web: www.imadr.org

International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) is a network of groups from affected countries and international organizations who campaign against caste discrimination around the world.
Nørregade 13,
DK-1165 København K,
Denmark.
Tel: +45 33 18 77 99
Email: rn@idsn.org
Web:www.idsn.org

BRITAIN

CasteWatch UK aims to monitor caste discrimination practices or policies in Britain, to raise awareness of caste discrimination occurring in the country and to work for legal, social and democratic remedies.
PO Box 3685,
Coventry, CV6 4WA
Email: info@castewatchuk.org
Web: www.castewatchuk.org

Dalit Solidarity Network (DSN) UK is a UK network of Dalit groups and supportive individuals/organizations, which raises awareness of and advocates against caste discrimination in South Asia to the UK government, private sector, civil society and general public.
Thomas Clarkson House,
The Stableyard,
Broomgrove Road,
London SW9 9TL
Tel: +44 (0)20 7501 8323
Fax: +44 20 7738 4110
Email:dalitsnuk@yahoo.co.uk

CANADA

CHETNA Association of Canada (CAC) researches underlying causes of socio-economic inequities and propose strategies for sustainable human, social, and economic development.
Tel: +1 604-992-7473
Email: infochetna@yahoo.ca orweb@chetna.net

INDIA

The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) works to ensure that India and the international community recognize that Dalit rights are human rights.
34/15, East Patel Nagar, First Floor,
New Delhi, 110 008
Tel: + 91 11 30966234
Email: info@dalits.org
Web: www.dalits.org

Also www.ambedkar.org has information not just on Dr Ambedkar but on Dalit issues in general.

Another website on Ambedkar is http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/ A must read for those who wish to study the complex political situation before Indian Independence. Ambedkar's writings were a brilliant and scathing indictment of Indian society and have continued relevance today.

The Village Service Trust supports local organizations in Tamil Nadu, South India. It works with poor, Dalit women who are striving to improve their social, economic and political position.
Bon Marche Centre,
241 Ferndale Road,
London SW9 8BJ
Tel: +44 (0)20 7326 5338
Web: www.villageservicetrust.org.uk

JAPAN

Buraku Liberation League is a movement demanding a national policy on Buraku problems.
Email: honbu@bll.gr.jp
Web: www.bll.gr.jp/eng.html

Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute (BLHRRI) aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination, particularly against the Buraku, in Japan.
1-6-12 Kuboyoshi,
Naniwaku,
Osaka City,
Japan 556-0028
Tel: +81-6-6568-0905
Fax : +81-6- 6568-07 14
Web: http://blhrri.org/index_e.htm

NEPAL

The Dalit Human Rights Organization (DHRO) campaigns on Dalit human rights in Nepal.
New Plaza,
Putalisadak, Kathmandu.
Tel: + 977 1 4445300
Email: dhro@wlink.com.np

The Dalit NGO Federation is an umbrella organization of Dalit NGOs which aims to eradicate caste-based discrimination through the process of empowerment, networking and alliance building of Dalit and pro-Dalit institutions.
Web: www.dnfnepal.org

PAKISTAN

Scheduled Castes Federation of Pakistan is a non-political organization which works to raise issues concerning the Scheduled Castes of Pakistan.
Email: pakdalits@yahoo.com
Web: www.pakdalits.tk

FURTHER READING

Caste, race and discrimination: discourses in international context, Rawat Publications in association with the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, 2004 ( www.dalitstudies.org ). A series of essays that emerged from the context of the World Conference Against Racism.

Caste out! The Liberation Struggle of the Dalits in India, David Haslam, CTBI, 1999. A searing overview of the situation of Dalits in India.

Endless Filth; the saga of the bhangis, Mari Marcel Thekaekara, Books for Change, 2002. A harrowing study of the situation of manual scavengers in India.

Slavery in Niger: Historical, legal and contemporary perspectives Anti-Slavery International and Association Timidria 2004.

FICTION / AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Kurukku, Bama, Oxford University Press, Delhi,1992. The story of her childhood memories by the first Dalit woman to appear in English translation (see article here).

Samskara: a Rite for a Dead Man, U R Ananthamurthy, Oxford University Press, 1978. A story of a decaying Brahmin colony in a South Indian village.

Untouchable, Mulk Raj Anand, Penguin Books, 1940. The classic story of the life of an ‘Untouchable’. Little seems to have changed since then.



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