Making Untouchables Touchable

India said NO to discrimination. The cruel practise of Untouchability was one of the scars in the Indian democracy that the Untouchability Act finally abolished. But is the law enough to change the caste-system mindset in the country?

It's banned now!; Source: Project Indianama, Behance

Times change and so do people and their opinions. With changing times, the world takes a new form and there is a hope that in the future things would change further. Nothing is stagnant. Even the waters of the stagnant pool evaporate to fall somewhere else. However, for three thousand years, some things remained pretty much fixed on the Indian subcontinent.

The traditions of the old become solid with time, if not re-questioned. The varna system of the old worked fine for the people. It kept the work divided and made establishing hierarchy easy. Outside the varna system, untouchability remained fixed because it helped in passing the menial jobs to people outside the society.

Over time, the divisions only became more classified and clear as the untouchables were declined to the lowest realm of the living.

There were always rebels who fought against the set rules and broke the chains of tradition. These movements from below helped start a change but nothing major happened until June 1 in 1955. India was independent now and it was time to free all from the clutches of the rusted old traditions.

Article 17 of the Indian Constitution in general forbids the practice of untouchability and granted equality to all. But it was not enough. So the Indian government worked together and passed The Untouchability (offences) Act, 1955.

The Act, first of its kind, abolished untouchability and set punishments for the violation of the said law. Later, the name of the Act, and rightly so, was changed to the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955.

The Act includes 17 sections that define punishment for preaching and practising the ghastly custom.

So, if you stop a person, on grounds of being untouchable, you can be charged for that.

If you refuse to admit someone to a hospital, on grounds of being untouchable, you can be jailed for that.

If you refuse to sell someone goods or any services, on the fact that the person asking is untouchable, you can be punished for that.

If you are an owner of a trade or services or business, all can be snatched from you if you practice untouchability. If you have received a grant from the government and you practice untouchability, the grant can be taken away from you.

Any repugnant activity against any human being that puts that person below you socially to standards that they are considered polluting, is punishable by this legislation.

The Act focuses on the root cause behind the social malaise and is free of its outward appearances of fighting a set tradition. Over the years, the Act has done considerably to eradicate the evil of untouchability from our society.

Untouchability is a stigma in our country. When Fa Xian came to India and saw the Candals being treated so, he was taken aback. When the British came and understood the practice, they couldn't accept it. The only way to remove this stigma was to bring a change from above.

The Act hasn't been totally successful but it has changed a lot. With amendments, more can be changed. The truth however remains that nothing can be transformed until the collective opinion of the people does. With legislation, social awareness is equally required to develop the feelings of humanity, equal at all levels.