Introduction:

The caste system is at the root of the deprivation of the Dalit in Bangladesh The root cause of Dalit deprivation is deep-rooted caste-based discrimination and injustice in society. Addressing this issue for Dalit in Bangladesh requires a sustained effort to end casteism and promote greater social and economic inclusion of Dalits. It also requires changes in cultural and social attitudes that challenge discrimination and segregation.

One of the bases of social hierarchy is the “caste system”. In different parts of the world, some elements like the caste system have been noticed at different times, but the system of caste system has not been permanently institutionalized there. In those countries like India, caste religion has not developed in the structure of society and culture. For example, ‘Bhumidas’ of the English, Negroes of the Americans, Jews of the Germans, slaves of the Romans, etc. On the other hand, the social structure in India is based on the caste system. According to the system of caste discrimination based on religion, some professionals in different regions of Bengal including ancient India were termed as low-class people. They are Chamar, Blacksmith, Potter, Fisherman, Byadh, Zola, Dom, Cobbler etc. Their place in society is the fifth level beyond the four varnas i.e Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.

Not only in Bangladesh, but in various countries of Asia and Africa, caste system and caste discrimination still exists. The basis of caste discrimination continues through the ages, and flows from religion, caste, heredity, and occupational causes, especially the so-called low-status occupations. In this way different groups have emerged in the society. In India and Bangladesh, these communities are specialized as ‘Dalit’, ‘Harijon’ or ‘Antyaj’ or some other name.

It is estimated that there are about 5500,000 (fifty lakh) Dalit people living in Bangladesh. Dalit means oppressed, those who are oppressed. So they are exploited, oppressed and isolated for generations. The term Dalit refers to a larger group of people including regional and local ethnic minorities, who are Hindu-Muslim-Buddhist or Christian in religion. Dalit, Harijan or Antyaj by whatever name they are called in one case conveys the same meaning that they are untouchable, abominable and forbidden to mingle with other sections of the society. That is, social discrimination has been created against these people. To tell the truth, they have been rejected as human beings.

A class of society cannot be added to the social structure at all. But even if it is not for them, the society does not like this kind of conflicting attitude exists in the society. Due to this most disastrous, hateful and immoral caste system created by man since ancient times, Dalit people are plagued with hunger, poverty, despair, deprivation hatred even in this civilized and scientific society.

Article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh and Article 7 of the United Nations Charter on Human Rights mention the equality of people, but the Dalit-Harijan community is deprived of their rights due to various reasons. Again, these communities themselves could not raise a collective voice to claim their rightful rights from the government due to not being aware of the constitution, law and the UN human rights charter and not organizing themselves. Although various donor organizations including various United Nations agencies have spent billions of dollars for the development of this country, they have not taken any initiative to establish and develop the rights of the Dalit community. In post-independence Bangladesh, the Dalit community has always been excluded from all plans of national development.

Major Problems of Dalit in Bangladesh:

Fair identifies the problems of the Dalit community in three main ways. Namely (1) through mass research. (2) Through 6 animators from the Harijan community who held long discussions among themselves in small groups (8 to 12). (3) FAIR observes the implementation of various projects in these communities over a long period.

The problems of Dalit in Bangladesh are discussed below:

Untouchability and dignity:

They are not allowed to enter hotels, salons, even if they are allowed to enter, they are assigned low-quality plates, marked or have to carry their own cups. There is no entry into the temple. Separate meals are provided for Harijan and Dalits on social occasions. They do not even have the right to live scattered among all the society. They are forced to stay in a certain place. Because they are looked down upon. Its implications apply to all Dalit people, be it rural or urban. Muchipara, Rishipara, Ravidas Para, Methorpatti, Sweeper Colony, Kalupara are named for this reason.

Poverty:

They are not untouchables because they are poverty-stricken, but because they are untouchables they are impoverished. The foundation of this untouchability is religion and politics, which have limited the pace of human survival. It has undermined the human dignity of people. Created social hatred against people. Historically, Dalit lived apart from the society, but their jobs and occupations were guaranteed. An occupation may not exist today (such as palanquin-carrying), or if it does, the work is not guaranteed at present but social untouchability has persisted as a result of isolation.

Barriers to learning:

Dalits are constantly discriminated against in education. Dalit children drop out of education due to the school environment even if they get school admission. Because students from other communities do not want to sit next to Dalit students, they are often looked down upon by teachers and are subjected to various forms of disrespectful and vulgar language by classmates, Harijan children are made to clean the bathroom, sit on the back bench, etc. Dalit and Harijan children are traumatized by these disrespectful behaviors and do not want to go to school.

Dalit women on the journey of oppression:

Dalit women are oppressed from both sides, Dalits on one side and Dalit women on the other. Due to the prevalence of child marriage among Dalits since historical times, the mortality rate of women and children is very high. In addition, they are victims of domestic violence. Dalit girls, on the other hand, are sexually abused within the family and by other communities. The education rate of women is almost zero. Due to which they do not have much idea about women’s health. A large proportion of Dalit women go outside in search of work and are at greater risk of sexual harassment and receive lower wages than men.

Inhuman life of Dalit children:

Dalit children live an inhumane life compared to other children due to poor living conditions and poverty. Family discord and poverty on the one hand, and the discriminatory school environment on the other hand create major obstacles in the normal growth of Dalit children due to which many Dalit children drop out of education before passing primary education. Dalit children grow up with lack of health awareness and unhealthy environment. Dalit children especially female Dalit children are victims of child marriage. He has to bear health risks throughout his life. Many children are seen dying at a young age. The rate of child labor is highly noticeable among them.

Landlessness and Housing:

Housing is our third basic need. A family needs to have its own house for development just as an individual needs to have his own house or a certain part of the house for his development. Rights are associated with any wealth. Unclaimed wealth we never consider or can own. As a result, Harijans are severely hampered in their social, economic and political development as they do not have their own land or houses.

Most of these people are landless. While other Dalits have their headquarters, the Harijan (cleaner) community has no land or house of its own. Most of the Harijan population lives in city corporations or municipal colonies. According to various sources, accommodation was one of the facilities that the British government provided to the Harijan community when they brought them to this country. One house is reserved for each family in Kushtia. About 500 people live in 50 houses built for 150 people 80/90 years ago in Kushtia Chaitanyapalli. In each house of 96 square feet, 7/8 people of the family including parents, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren live together. They cannot enjoy sexual rights freely. Which is extremely inhumane. If the lime is removed from the drink, the municipality faces threats. Many houses are locked from time to time. Threatened with expulsion from the colony. A similar picture is found in every Harijan colony. Article 11 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states that “the Republic shall be a democracy, where basic human rights and freedoms shall be guaranteed, and respect for the dignity and value of human beings shall be guaranteed”.

Inadequate Health Care, Safe Water and Sanitation System:

This community is also deprived of health services. Mothers and children do not receive government health care. Each ward has a health worker who goes door to door to educate mothers about family planning, health and nutrition and distribute birth control materials. But health workers do not go to Harijan colonies. Due to this they are deprived of their right to health care. Due to the prevalence of child marriage among Harijans, girls become mothers at a young age and the population increases as the maternal and child mortality rates increase. Besides, Harijon community shows less interest in going to hospitals or clinics for health care. Due to neglect, abuse and discrimination by healthcare workers or doctors. As a result, the population increases due to a lack of reproductive education and the reproductive health of Dalit women is threatened due to a lack of awareness. Dalit-Harijan colonies are populated by many people, resulting in a squalid environment and the entire colony/neighborhood facing health threats due to inadequate provision of clean drinking water and sanitation.

Discrimination in Employment and Wage:

Dalit in Bangladesh also face discrimination in terms of occupation and wages. Dalit community has limited job opportunities due to lack of skills and knowledge and being linked to the same profession through generations. Harijan community is not seen in occupations other than cleaners/sweepers. They have very little commercial skills. Due to Dalits’ lack of knowledge and skills in modern technology and increasing use of plastic materials, Dalit community occupations, especially those involved in bamboo cane and mortuary arts, are facing threats today. They do not get agricultural work due to inefficiency in agricultural work. They are mainly engaged in cleaning, carrying goods (mutegiri), animal husbandry, leather processing, driving rickshaws or vans, shoe polishing, bamboo cane work and making home furnishings.

Dalit women workers involved in agriculture also suffer wage discrimination. A Dalit woman is paid two-thirds of the wages of a male worker for the same amount of time or half in some cases.

The main and only occupation of the Harijan community is to keep the cities clean. But today the Harijan community is not able to stay in their profession. A study by ‘FAIR’ shows that 25% of the total Jhardars in Kushtia municipality are Harijans and 75% are Muslims and others. This kind of image is all over Bangladesh. Municipalities are created primarily to provide various services to the citizens of the city. One of which is to keep the city clean. And for this work Harijans were brought from different provinces of India and engaged in this profession. But this Harijan community is losing their caste and profession.

Justice and Insecurity:

Dalits in Bangladesh are deprived of their right to justice and security. Women of this population are subjected to sexual harassment in various ways. Even rape victims do not get any justice. Dalit women suffer from extreme insecurity due to being outsiders for career and livelihood. They have no participation in local arbitration and even have to call other Matabbars to settle their own problems. Standing for elections is blocked and ‘Muchi Thekao’ alliances are formed and most Dalits cannot vote for anyone of their choice. There is an external pressure on them during the polls. In many cases Dalit neighborhoods are blocked before polling. Before or after the election, they are subjected to various kinds of torture and torture. They are almost non-existent in the leadership of political parties. As a result, their representation in the local government system including parliament is zero. Even they have no representation in the committees of various developmental social institutions including schools, colleges and villages.

Access to the Safety Net program is low:

Access of Dalits to various government services including Union Parishad and all government offices and courts is very low. Dalit-Harijans are constantly being deprived of VGD, VGF, old age allowance, disability allowance, widow allowance, maternity allowance, kabita, kabikha, employment etc. despite the priority of helping the backward classes in the policies of all these programmes.

In Conclusion

Our society takes important service from a section of people but unfortunately, it does not recognize them in its structure- this sort of contradictory attitude prevails in the society. This neglected, hated and isolated phase of society is still riddled with hunger, poverty, frustration, deprivation and hatred even in this civilized and technology-orientated society due to this immoral, abominable and disastrous social infrastructure. This experience of untouchability has its roots in religion and politics.

It has narrowed the area of human living. It has violated human dignity. This has also created social hatred against men. Historically the Dalit in Bangladesh had their profession defined and specific even though they were segregated from the society. Maybe, some professions of the Dalit in Bangladesh have died out in course of time such as (carrying palanquin). Even if they exist, these professions are no more certain but the social untouchable about them has remained ever strong because of segregation and seclusion.

Writer: Dewan Akhtaruzzaman, Director, FAIR