India: The Untouchables

Produced by Exandas Productions

It is common knowledge that untouchables occupy the lowest place in the Hindu caste system. Today it is illegal in India to discriminate against Dalits, which literally means "the oppressed," the term now commonly used to refer to India's former untouchables. Despite the legal abolition of untouchability a half-century ago, they continue to be the target of systematic discrimination and comprise a highly disproportionate percentage of India's illiterate, landless and jobless population. Dalits number 260 million Hindus, making caste discrimination one of the world's biggest human rights issues.

The film describes several examples of caste discrimination. In a small town in India, a few Dalits swam in the part of the lake "reserved" for their upper caste neighbors who sued in protest. The Court ruled that the Dalits were within their rights. The upper caste people were furious with the decision and took revenge by throwing excrement in the well used by the Dalits. Professor V. Thorat argues that there are only two ways for Dalits to change their lives: to obtain an education or to move to a different area in India and convert to Islam because as a Muslim, they are treated as equals.

The film also discusses the landlord-sponsored militia, Ranbir Sena's Army, which is attacking agricultural laborers and their families, all of them Dalits.(The most recent attack occurred on June 30, 2007 in Bihar, considered the poorest state in India.) The Ranbir Sena says the Dalits will be targets unless they cease their agitation for better pay and land and repudiate the Naxhalites. These are Maoist armed-activists who have gained a following in parts of Bihar by assisting agricultural workers in organizing and defending themselves from landlord violence.

57 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $85

Film Festival of Greece, 2005