Durban: Demand to Include India's Caste-based Racism

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source - admatri@yahoo.com

open Letter to  U.N / Mr Kofi Annan / Ms Mary Robinson and 
All Delegates at U.N. Conference Against Racism in Durban 

Sir/Madam,

India has a one billion population and almost 30% live below poverty-level.
Most of the poor in India belong to Dalit / Harijan or lower caste (race).
The reason for their economic and social plight is the caste-based racism
practised by the Higher-caste (race) Hindus for centuries.

The Indian government is also controlled by high-caste Hindus who also
discriminate against the lower castes (though not publicly sometimes).

The Indian government is wrong in trying to sweep the racism charge under 
the carpet and to turn a blind eye to the problem of caste-based racism in 
India.

Mahatma Gandhi had acknowledged such racism and done a lot to solve the 
complex caste-based discrimination problem in India. This problem still exists
(clear from the poverty statistics / demographic studies / census etc.)
A lot more needs to be done in India by the government and other agencies to 
root out this form of racism (casteism) from Indian society.

Prime Ministers BJP Party uses caste-based racism to try to win elections by 
following vote-bank politics based on caste (race). I hope the U.N. Conference 
sends a strong message to India to improve its racist record.

The poor people in India need a voice and must be helped from around the world
to end their plight.This is the single largest racism problem in the world 
affecting 160 million people (in India).   Unless caste-based racism as 
prevalent is monitored closely by U.N. and U.N.HRC, millions of Dalits and 
Harijans will continue to suffer silently for years to come. India has not 
done much in last 54 years to improve the lot of Dalits/ Harijans.
                                                     
Sincerely,
Manoj
74/22 Rajpur Road 
Dehradun, India
e-mail 
 
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nytrc-09.03.01-04:24:26-25528