Protests - Part 49

Caste Certificate Protest 
Raipur, India

The caste system in India and the discrimination based on it are still very much alive.  Based on the Hindu religion, the Brahmins (priests and teachers) are at the top, and the Dalits or untouchables are at the bottom.  Despite the theoretical abolition of untouchability by the government in 1950, in practice, Dalits are still segregated.  They can't use the same wells or visit the same temples as other Indians, and Dalit children often have to sit in the back of classrooms.

In an attempt to ameliorate the situation, the government enacted certain reverse-discrimination policies for SCs and STs – members of Scheduled Castes (untouchables) and Scheduled Tribes (certain rural tribes).  For example, a certain percentage of government jobs are reserved for people with a caste certificate proving that they are SC/ST.

In 2020, a scandal erupted when it was found that 267 people had gotten these reserved government jobs with fake caste certificates, pretending to be SC/ST when they weren't.  However, the government did not follow up, and for years, no action was taken against these fakers.

Hence the protest that we see in the video above.  On July 23, 2023, a group of Dalits protested the inaction against the caste certificate fakers who had taken jobs away from Dalits. They marched naked in Raipur, India.  That made the news and got people's attention.

The result?  Did the government promise to follow up on the issue?  Don't be silly.  The protesters were untouchables.  They were arrested by the police and thrown in jail.