News / India

Low caste members protest in India, 7 killed

Tuesday, 03 April 2018 5:44 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 03 April 2018 6:24 AM ]

Police try to stop people belonging to the Dalit community as they take part in a protest during a nationwide strike called by Dalit organizations, in Chandigarh, India, on April 2, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

At least seven people have been killed in India during protests staged by members of the underprivileged Dalit caste against a court ruling that they believe makes them further susceptible to social abuse.

Tens of thousands of people from the Dalit community took to the streets in several areas across India on Monday in protest against a Supreme Court ruling that they say diluted a law designed to protect lower castes.

Senior police officials said that six people were killed in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where police imposed a curfew.

One person was also killed in the northern state of Rajasthan, according to police.

The circumstances of the deaths were not clear, but they may have occurred as a result of police action.

The protests affected train services and blocked some main roads in several states.

Violence was reported in the northern state of Punjab, where all educational institutions, banks, and offices have been shut.

Police officers patrol a street after people belonging to the Dalit community burned tires and hoardings during a nationwide strike called by Dalit organizations, in Ahmedabad, India, on April 2, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

Protesters also clashed with police in parts of the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar.

Roads were also blocked in the capital, New Delhi.

The federal government has asked the court to review the March 20 ruling that banned the immediate arrest of people accused of discriminating against the Dalit community. The court had said in its judgment that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, popularly known as the SC/ST Act, had been “misused” in the past.

Dalit leaders said the court’s decision made them feel “vulnerable.”

“The SC/ST Act ensured the protection of Dalits in India by making any discrimination against our community a punishable offence. With this new Supreme Court order, these legal obligations have ended. We’re all sad and shocked,” KP Choudhary, the general secretary of an association for lower castes, said.

Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste system; and despite the SC/ST Act in its original form, they face widespread discrimination in India. According to official statistics, over 40,000 crimes against lower castes were reported in 2016 alone.

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