Untouchables

The term untouchable is an English translation for the Indian terms antyaja and achhoot and refers to individuals and groups who inhabit the bottom rung of the hierarchical Indian social order known as the caste system. It is a social status forced upon those who either allegedly made serious transgressions against established orthodox Hindu rules of purity and conduct, or because of the defiling nature of their occupations are considered unclean. During the 20th century, several names have been coined in reference to them, including Harijan Scheduled Castes, and Dalit. The 1991 Indian census estimated the number of Harijans at 16%; however, many believe this number to be as high as 20% or higher.

The caste system has clouded origins in ancient India. Briefly mentioned in the Rig Veda, traditionally considered the most revered of ancient Hindu texts, it is a system of four varnas, or castes, that divide the society into priests and teachers, warriors and rulers, merchants and farmers, and laborers and servants. By the beginning of the Common Era, a fifth caste had been added, the anchama, or antyaja, the Untouchable. Members of this caste were placed outside the caste system (avarna), because their duties involved cleaning up after all the other castes or undertaking those tasks that were too impure and polluting for others to perform. Occupations in the category include leather workers, sweepers, scavengers, funeral workers, and so forth. The Manusmriti (third century BCE–third century CE)elaborates rules and restrictions for the various castes and firmly places Untouchables out of reach of most aspects of Hindu social and religious life that are available to the other castes. This text has continued to be used by the Hindu orthodoxy to justify the system and the inherent discrimination it perpetuates.

Treatment of Untouchables by orthodox and other caste Hindus has varied by time and region, with some avarna having had greater opportunities and rights than others. At its best, orthodox Hindu society has treated Untouchables like children, not yet capable of the rights of other adults to take part in the bulk of social and religious traditions. At its worst, Untouchables have been persecuted, tortured, and killed when attempting to step outside the narrow confines that orthodox Hinduism has placed on them. In many village regions, they have been relegated to living on the outskirts, forbidden to enter temples, not allowed in many schools, and prohibited from drawing water from wells used by caste Hindus. In some regions of the country where the percentages of avarna Hindus is high, they have been more able to create their own communities, build their own temples, dig their own wells, and, within reason, live like most other Hindus. Nevertheless, the majority of Untouchables are never far away from discrimination that has nothing to do with anything more than the reality of their birth. It is for this reason that attempts to overthrow the practice of untouchability are almost as old as the practice itself.