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Sudhanshu Kaushik
Haryana Human Rights Commission
New Delhi & Haryana, India

As I look through what I have written on this blog post throughout the past summer, I realize, now in my time of reflection, that I have managed to stay incredibly cynical about my time working with the HHRC on societal issues that plague India. It is true: India has a lot to work on in the field of human rights as practitioners struggle to work through the bureaucracy and political hurdles.

I do think, however, that private and public organizations have made great strides on a personal and larger level in bringing considerable change to the status quo to the norms that harms society, albeit it might not be enough, but there has been change nonetheless. Analyzing my time spent, I have realized that, even though I chose to focus on the wrongs we (the organization) couldn’t solve, there had been so many instances that organizations, especially HHRC, was able to solve through other organizational means. I would like to share some of those with you:

Under the contemporary caste-system, there are several different castes who focus on agriculture–specifically farming. The lowest–often referred to as peasant farmers–are  migrants from less developed parts of India working on slave labour prices. They are typically from lower-castes, but are degraded further for their looks, origins, habits, etc. For decades, many suffered under the elites, but the Government, working with other private organizations, have started a policy to empower Dalits to give them free land, loans without interest for equipment and a fast-track policy for bureaucratic hurdles to cater to these people. Because of these policies, once who were slave-wage labors are being able to sustain their families from the assistance that the human right’s practitioners have worked simultaneously with the government to provide these opportunities.

Another example is the decision to launch an employment guarantee called National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for the lowest members of the society. This monumental policy would have zero effect on grassroots level individuals if it wasn’t for the work of the HHRC and other organizations who refer individuals that quality for employment and state their case for them. A little more reading on NREGA can be found here in relation to dalits.

I also noticed and met people who understand the negative effects of the caste-system who are working on their individual level to change. For example, Rambir, a farmer in Northern Haryana who belongs to an upper-caste land-owning community, provides fair wages, housing and free education for the children for everyone working on his lands and farms. Initiatives like these, through the community, are what India and human right’s organization desperately need to succeed in their mission of bringing equality no matter your gender, caste or creed.

Sudhanshu Kaushik
Haryana Human Rights Commission
New Delhi & Haryana, India

The Rio Olympics, which ended a few weeks ago, came with their fair share of controversy and scandals. One included exposing the plight of athletes who belong to lower castes in India. Working with the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC), I witnessed this firsthand, as the northern state of Haryana produces the majority of athletes who compete in sporting events like the Olympics.

I’ve heard a lot about India’s failure to win medals in the Olympics. India has a population of around 1.3 billion, compared to US’s 330 million, but India won a total of 2 medals this year, whereas the US had 121 medals. India has won 26 medals since the country first competed in 1900, compared to 2,400 won by the USA. I hear at times that it’s because India is a nation that obsessed with cricket, but there’s something that’s being ignored: the condition of its athletes.

I say these because, through my internship at HHRC, I discovered that caste, social class, and gender affects athletes’ conditions. Some would consider Haryana one of the most patriarchal and conservative places in India. The state also practices the caste system and is known for having the highest female abortion rates, a disappointing female-to-male sex ratio, and a plethora of honor killings due to caste.  I learned that some people who have faced hatred because of it are now trying to change that perception.

I met with Mahavir Singh Phogat, father and coach to the first Indian female wrestlers to compete in the Olympics. He was ostracized by his extended family, friends, and villagers for coaching his daughters. They told him that his daughters’ lower caste would not allow them to compete or become wrestlers, and that being women, the best they could do was get married and become someone’s wife.

It turns out that his daughters, Geeta and Babita, won medals at many international tournaments. This year, three Indian female wrestlers qualified for the Olympics, all of them coached by Phogat. For the past decade, Phogat, without the support of the government and with his own money, has operated the only wrestling gym in Haryana that trains women.

Sudhanshu Kaushik
People’s Union for Civil Liberties/Haryana Human Rights Commission
New Delhi & Haryana, India

How well do you have it? It’s a question that we should ask ourselves a lot. Throughout my experiences this summer, I’ve been learning about how well off I really am not only because of my material possessions, but also because of who I was born as. Does that sound a bit weird? That’s because it is.

India is a place where an individual’s place of birth can determine how worthy you are and how much respect you will have in society. The caste system and the state of Dalits in India is an abysmal condition that, as of now, has very limited solutions. As a Hindu male belonging to a Brahmin family, I’ve seen fully what my privilege is in India, but sadly I have also seen, through my internship, what it is like to be on the other side.

One of the most ignored groups are widowed Dalits. Through this internship, I’ve met many women who have been ignored and ostracized by society. For this post, I’d like to share one encounter with Shakuntala. As a widowed dalit, you are eligible for and entitled to rations by the Government of India and the various state governments at the highest degree. Shakuntala, whose husband died 15 years ago, is entitled to a small home, food for the rest of her life and even a small pension. But for the past two years, she’s received nothing from the government. Before I met her, local officials would tell her that her paperwork had been lost, and that she wouldn’t be able to receive anymore rations for food. It turns out that Shakuntala isn’t alone. In the past year, millions of people haven’t been able to receive their rations in the state of Haryana. With 250 million people, almost the population of the United States, earning less than $1.25 a day in India, it becomes the government’s duty to either raise their standard of living or provide food for them to live. The government is failing at both as of now. People like Shakuntala have been forgotten by the government and by fellow citizens as well.

If you at all find it pertinent to stand up for Shakuntala’s cause and the millions like her, but don’t know how to from the United States, you can submit a grievance form here: http://pgportal.gov.in/GrievanceNew.aspx. Select ‘public’ and ‘food and public distribution’ as the ministry, ‘scheme related’ on grievance category and then type in your name, address, select a state and in the description of the grievance ask:

The 250 million people who live below the poverty line are entitled to rations and subsidies by the central and state governments. There are millions of cases where food supplies are not reaching those who need it. What is the government doing to help allocate proper rations and supplies to those who are in dire need?

This won’t solve the problem at all, but hopefully it will raise questions and more concern for people like Shakuntala, who have been forgotten by the system.

Sudhanshu Kaushik
People’s Union for Civil Liberties/Haryana Human Rights Commission
New Delhi & Haryana, India

I like to be in control of what’s going on in life. Variables like where I’ll be, when I’ll go, how I’ll get there, and what I’ll do there are all things that I want to know and control. But at times it can be difficult to predict and plan what will happen. After receiving the Gallatin Global Human Rights Fellowship, I was certain that I wanted to focus on Dalit rights in India because I felt it was of utmost concern, and I was absolutely sure that the Naxal issue was the main one associated with Dalits.  But I soon realized that I was being way too narrow-minded.

Due to the series of Naxal attacks that have occurred over the last few months and in recent weeks in Chhattisgarh, my plans to work there were interrupted. I decided instead to focus on Dalit rights that are closer to home but more than often ignored: the rehabilitation of Dalits who have faced atrocities throughout their lives. This summer, I started working with the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) to do this. My goal is to learn as much as I can, show others around India and the world what Dalits go through, and hopefully work on legislation promoting a more progressive and inclusive state.

In the past few weeks during my work, I have encountered several disheartening stories, and what terrifies me is that this is just a start; I have yet to explore North India (states that I will cover during my internship are Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and UP). Here is one that stuck with me the first few days of working for the HHRC:

I was on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan documenting Dalit farmers’ plight. The land behind me was completely barren. It used to be fertile but the groundwater has been depleted. It’s sad to hear that farmer suicides are happening because of the high debt farmers face when they don’t have salable crops. But what is even more sickening to hear is that these suicides are being covered up. This means that widows won’t get their pensions, and the issue is not raised in the government because of inaccurate numbers.

What could we do as witnesses? Well, we spread the message to the Dalits about their rights. We explained to the farmers that if they do not want to let this continue, we can forward their complaints to the appropriate authorities such as the Ministry of Rural Development and Agriculture so action can be taken.  We are also collecting these stories in hopes that attention will be brought to this area.