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on 2007/10/11 22:57:40
After shooting in eight states and across four different religions, a new documentary film suggests that caste-based discrimination is alive and kicking in different pockets of India.
'India Untouched', a 108-minute documentary by Stalin K. in Hindi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam with English sub-titles, seeks to expose the underbelly of social discrimination across various religious groups in India.
Director Stalin , a Gujarat-based human rights activist, spent four years travelling across India to study what he called 'the continued oppression of Dalits, the socially disadvantaged who suffer under a 4,000 year-old' system of discrimination.
Asked what led him to make the film, Stalin said: 'Denial! I was sick and tired of people denying the existence of caste or caste-based prejudices.
'The middle classes are more prone to this denial and they are the ones who are most vocal - the writers, the journalists, the policy pushers. My film is dedicated to all those who are in denial of the fact that our lives continue to be governed by age-old caste practices that are discriminatory.'
The film introduces leading Benares scholars who interpret Hindu scriptures to mean that Dalits 'have no right' to education, and Rajput farmers who proudly proclaim that no Dalit may sit in their presence and that the police must seek their permission before pursuing cases of atrocities.
The film captures many 'firsts-on-film,' such as Dalits being forced to dismount from their cycles and remove their shoes when in the upper caste part of the village. It also exposes the continuation of caste practices and untouchability in Sikhism, Christianity and Islam, and even amongst the communists in Kerala.
'Even though we are stepping into the 21st century, our social and political relationships with others continue to be governed by stupid and illogical notions and traditions of 'purity', 'pollution', 'inferiority' and 'superiority',' he said.
Said Stalin: 'The film has been very well-received, especially by urban youth. Since its premiere in April this year, more than 50 different organisations and individuals across 10 states have organised screenings of this film and I have been personally present in 32 of them.
'From the discussions after the screenings and the constant flow of e-mails, it seems like there is an acceptance and willingness to engage with the issue,' he added.
'I have received several e-mails thanking me for making the connection between traditional forms of untouchability, with the desire to marry within ones own caste,' said Stalin
'Subtle casteism is much more dangerous because it's difficult to confront or argue against things that are not blatantly in your face. Today's urban middle class is too sophisticated to practise blatant casteism. But, again, their desire and tradition of wanting to marry only within their caste or sub-caste is not seen as blatant casteism,' he argued.
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