equal by law, unequal by caste - International Dalit Solidarity Network

Vol. 26, No. 2 Equal by Law, Unequal by Caste 303over the course of the past quarter-century a total of US$93.75 billionhas been siphoned from Dalit development programs. 273C. CASTEISM AS CORRUPTIONWhile the near epidemic of over- and under-enforcement speaksto a lack of political will on the part of the state to ensure Dalits’ rights, italso serves to counter common assumptions about why such abusespersist. The notion that a dearth of resources are to blame for the lack ofsocio-economic development of Dalits is belied by the siphoning of closeto $3 billion a year away from funds that were meant to advance Daliteconomic empowerment. Secondly, the brutality of the police towardDalits makes clear that they are not merely uninterested in securingredress for anti-Dalit crimes; they view Dalits as criminals and derelictsat best, and subhuman at worst. Local police chiefs have been known toindoctrinate recruits to hate Dalits, 274 and Dalits may be denied entry intopolice stations. 275 What security do Dalits have when they cannot evenstep foot into the very office that represents their first line of defense, orworse, when they are tortured or raped by those meant to defend them?What has alternatively been called a “lack of political will” or“police corruption” benignly represents something far more pernicious.The words “police” and “corruption” seemingly go hand in hand inIndia; one can hardly avoid using one word without uttering the other.But what is meant by corruption in the context of caste is woefullymisunderstood. While petty bribes do certainly play a role, especiallywhen most Dalits can ill-afford to pay them, the lack of “will” to enforcethe law is not due to passive apathy but to active complicity in the castesystem. The nexus between political leaders and “upper-caste”community members accounts, to some extent, for these failures and forthe disincentive to address violations by private actors. 276 That which isunder-enforced is done so at the behest of the privileged castes to whomUnion Budget 2006-07; Outcome Budget 2006-07 for various Ministries of CentralGovernment).273 S. Viswanathan, Denial by Design, FRONTLINE, Oct. 6-19, 2007, http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2420/stories/20071019509412400.htm (last visited Aug. 16, 2008).274 Eisenman, supra note 9, at 160.275 SHAH ET AL., supra note 102, at 71.276 For example, social and economic legislation to further Dalits’ rights adversely affects theinterests of the classes and castes to which political leaders either belong or represent; politicalleaders are either landowners themselves or have close political and social links with landowners,and those relying on cheap or bonded labor, including child labor. NHRC REPORT,supra note 110, at 125.