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閱讀英文原文
攝影師揭露印度賤民的苦難
By Robert Brown
BBC News 22 October 2010 Last updated at 16:44 GMT

影片 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11605929

照片一: 一位小女孩手臂與身體佈滿恐怖傷疤；她七歲時因為使用了"較高階種性"專用的道路，而被推入燃燒垃圾堆中。


賤民達利人，過去被稱為Untouchables，是傳統印度教種性制度最低等的人。


在印度，種性歧視是違法的，但它仍持續存在著，在農村地區更是嚴重。


照片二: 一婦人徒手清掃公共便坑

賤民常被迫使從事最低賤的工作；得不到更佳的工作機會讓他們經常生活在貧困中。


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Indian Dalits' suffering laid bare by photographer
By Robert Brown
BBC News 22 October 2010 Last updated at 16:44 GMT

Dalit activist Meena Kandasamy: This is something that has to be changed


A little girl leans against a stained turquoise concrete wall.

You first notice her face, which appears deep in thought - then your eyes are drawn to the horrific scars on her arms and body.

This is just one of the photographs on display at Being Untouchable, an exhibition at London's HOST Gallery exploring the lives of Dalits in India.

The little girl is Kamlesh. She was just seven when she was pushed on to a pile of burning rubbish as she was walking with her mother.

Kamlesh is a Dalit, and her scars are a constant reminder of the "punishment" she received for using a road reserved for "high-caste" people.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the charity that organised the exhibition, the bulk of caste-based discrimination and violence in India goes unrecorded.

But in 2008 alone, there were 33,000 reports of crimes against Dalits in official statistics, it says.

Formerly known as Untouchables, members of the Dalit community were considered to be the lowest in the traditional Hindu caste system.

The images are presented in such a way that the viewers will feel encouraged to touch them, says Marcus Perkins, the photographer behind the exhibition.


There are about 166 million Dalits in India, which means one in every 40 people in the world is a Dalit.

Discrimination on the basis of caste is illegal in India, but campaigners say it still continues and is particularly widespread in rural areas.


"It challenges your idea of hope and justice. It challenges your idea of any good future for the country," she says.

Low-end jobs

The aim of the exhibition is to use the photographs to show different forms of "untouchability", discrimination that affects Dalits in modern India, says David Griffiths of CSW.

"In our preoccupation with the extraordinary rise of a middle-class in India, we must not allow these voices to be drowned out," he says.

One photograph on display shows a woman called Uma cleaning the communal latrine of her village by hand.

Members of the Dalit community are frequently forced to take on some of the most demeaning and low-end jobs, whilst lack of opportunities for better work means they often live in severe poverty.

Another image shows Dalit families sleeping together in a community centre after their homes were looted and burnt during a surge in caste-related violence.

Mr Griffiths believes India has much to gain by dealing with the issue of untouchability and tackling the discrimination that Dalits still face.

"Fairer distribution of wealth and universal access to education in the country would mean a larger workforce capable of contributing to India's booming private sector.

"There's a real self-interest here for India to address caste discrimination," he says.
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※ 來源: Disp BBS 看板: Hindi 文章連結: http://disp.cc/b/145-GB3
※ 編輯: BonneCherie  時間: 2010-10-23 20:06:08  來自: h111-203-67-184.adsl.dynamic.seed.net.tw