An ‘Untouchable’ Story: My Life As A Protest

When one is born as an untouchable or into a marginalised community in India, their life itself bec­omes a protest. For me, protest is a cla­im to be recognised as a human being or as equal to others. Even though the struggle is not plan­n­ed, by the time we reclaim our dignity, it’s bran­ded as a protest. Though the Constitution says all citizens are equal, our society identifies me as a scavenger, untouchable, or by my caste, religion or gender. Though we use words such as ‘emancipation’, our primary struggle for rights continues.

My life as a protester started early. When I was a child, I was called a thoti (scavenger). I used to get offended and resisted it. Despite the fact that everybody has their own culture, history and int­ellect, among other attributes, and despite my community being marginalised, I’d be called thoti. In school too, I faced questions about my parents’ occupation or caste. I protested by not responding to them. Silence is also a form of protest. Many a time, I replied with my silence, anger or anguish. I tell people that my parents did scavenge, but I never did. How can you call me a scavenger? If one’s par­ents are doctors, nobody calls their children doctor.  

People also ask me how the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) came about. Well, it was formed out of anger and anguish. If a human being has to clean the excreta of others, there is something seriou­sly wrong with our system. We have pointed that out. It is not only about Dalits doing the cleaning. There are other embedded issues such as oppression, slavery and many forms of discrimination. When marginalised and oppressed communities, including women, come out and declare that som­ething is wrong, it’s a protest. We claim it as one. If somebody wants to resist even that, it only reveals the kind of society we live in. Society must duly respect the anger and anguish in the voices of protesters from marginalised communities. Babasaheb Ambedkar said ours is not a fight for wealth or power, but to reclaim our human dignity. That will, in fact, enrich our democracy and our constitutional values. The protest is not against anyone, but to enrich our society.

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Despite all odds, there is hope because there is change, and civil society has become proactive. People come forward and confess they have done injustice. In a democracy, we must provide space for protest. Protests actually free us from historical wrongs we have committed.

Our SKA is a coming tog­ether of people who have similar values and dem­ands. It emerged as a big movement across the country. We now have units in 22 states. We also extend solidarity to countries like Bangla­desh and Nepal. The­re are no boundaries for our work. Nowhere in the wor­ld should a human bei­ng be treated as unequal.

With the Ramon Magsaysay Award, our voice was heard globally. The credit goes to the women who spearheaded the protests. Initially, women scavengers used to run away from us when we tried to talk to them. They were ashamed of reve­aling their occupation and would hide from us. Over the years, they have started coming out and speaking about it. They started listening to us aft­er we narrated the agony of their fellow workers to them. We ignited their anger, which they used as a platform to reclaim their dignity.

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The women were afraid and ashamed to declare their identity to society. Now they go and sit in front of the district collector’s office for days, till their demands are met. They have burnt the baskets in which they carry the excreta on their heads, saying we don’t need these. These are strong symbols of protest, which makes society more humane. The women created their own plat­form and called it SKA. The world was forced to listen to their perseverance and resilience. We cannot ignore their voices anymore.

In 2003, seven women sanitation workers from SKA filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, demanding that manual scavenging be recognised to viol­ate fundamental rights of the scavengers. The SC  in 2013 gave the final verdict. The PIL sou­ght to request the states and the Centre to implement the 1993 Prohibition Act, but states are yet to do it. Approaching the SC was itself a protest against the government. Though Prohibition of Emp­­l­­o­y­ment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabi­li­tation Act, 2013, is not very ‘progressive’, its provision of recognising construction of unsanitary toilets as an offence is a positive move.

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We want the Prohibition Act to be implemen­ted in letter and spirit. We are not here to punish anyone. The government of India suggested 10 years imprisonment for those who violate the Act. We are not for such stringent punishment. Seeking truth and justice in every step is the beauty of our movement led by women. They are still fighting for rehabilitation and other rights.

The government should display political will, and introduce policy changes to repair the syst­­em. Women sanitation workers are fully aware of the government’s role in this. Their way of prot­e­­st is powerful. They have the capacity to conv­i­nce authorities and negotiate with them on iss­u­es like eradication of dry toilets in the city. They have held many protest rallies in many sta­t­es to demolish dry toilets. Many times, authorities were forced to destroy dry toilets in many places since women refused to clean them. The persistence of women sanitary workers has for­ced aut­horities to meet their demands. Usually, they will continue their protest outside collectors’ offices till the official meets them and hears them out.

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Even now, women clean human waste in many parts of the country. Their struggle is going on. After cleaning human waste for centuries, the community still hasn’t got any compensation or rehabilitation.

Even now, the government is only permitting loans for sanitation workers, not grants. We dem­and the Prime Minister apologise to the entire community. We want to see India as a manual scavenging-free country. But the government is rushing to claim or declare that India is already manual scavenging-free. Every month, deaths are reported due to manual scavenging. It’s ironic that amidst these deaths, the government is clai­ming the country is free of manual scavenging. If the government had adopted a mechanised way of cleaning and modernised sanitation, we wou­l­dn’t have lost so many lives of sanitation workers in gutters and septic tanks. We have data but if we reveal the numbers, the government will come up with counter claims. They may file cases agai­nst us. We are not asking for charity. It is a constitutional demand.

Our immediate fight is for viable employment opportunities for manual scavengers. The gover­nment still has no schemes. Our movement has support from many sections of society and a bro­ad coalition is also emerging. Women’s moveme­nts and other like-minded groups are also our all­ies. Our protest, call it a struggle for dignity, is going to be a lifelong one.

(This appeared in the print edition as "My Life as a Protest")

(Views expressed are personal)

(As told to Preetha Nair)

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Bezwada Wilson is an Ambedkarite human rights activist and recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award