International Human Rights Day
The 10th December 2023 commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Marginalised peoples from across the globe demonstrated their rights to express grievances and explain to the world how discrimination still affects countless peoples' lives. In Theni District of Tamil Nadu a meeting was held to defend the rights of the arunththiyar (AR) people. The arunthathiyars are the lowest caste group in Tamil Nadu and are often referred to as the dalits of the dalits. The meeting was organised as a collaboration of the womens' self-help group federation TSPI, The Equal Citizen Forum and the Abolition of Untouchability Front with esteemed representatives from each. Twenty-three villages from the district were represented as they explained how the land traditionally used as a cremation and burial site has been encroached upon by upper caste groups in their village. The object of the meeting was to demand that the district level administrators take action to formally establish burial grounds for the AR community in their villages and remove the encroachments according to each case. The atmosphere was vibrant as speakers from the different organisations took turns to address the audience and speak with great passion about the human rights the AR community are entitled to. It was explained that the issue was first taken to the District Collector two years ago. They came and verified the various burial sites as rightfully belonging to the AR communities and yet no action has been taken to reprimand and penalise the encroachment by the upper castes. Impassioned speakers suggested that if no action is taken then they will protest by taking their dead bodies and leaving them in front of the District Collector's office. Such tactics are of course risky but at what point does civil disobedience become unreasonable after not being listened to after two years of campaigning?
The speakers argued that this is clear evidence of discrimination against the AR community. The ARs have been marginalised for thousands of years according to an archaic system simply not fit for the modern world. Since the International Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago many improvements have been made and many injustices have come to light and been addressed. However, there are still many examples of discrimination in the world today caste discrimination still requires much work. India is a rapidly modernising country and great strides and achievements have been made but our partners have documented countless cases of caste discrimination and atrocities. As C.J. Rajan, State President for Tamil Nadu branch of the Equal Citizens' Forum said, "It is incompatible to celebrate an independent national polity so long as we have citizens denied their independence." He said that it was a disgrace that village administrators were not there in person and he encouraged villagers to record their history and document their discrimination to take as evidence to the Collectors. As we all know by now, to resist discrimination you must be willing to organise and fight for your rights.
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