‘Only Brown Sahib allowed'

You might be an educated professional, but if you are a Dalit, you stand no chance of entering a five star hotel

Mita Kapur Udaipur

So you have to be 'decent looking' to be allowed to go through the portals of the 'fairytale pleasure of white marble, shimmering afloat on the calm waters of Lake Pichola - a five star hotel in Udaipur. Does 'decent looking' get defined by 'fair, suited-booted, flashing a branded watch' and does that mean you qualify to be allowed to grace the regal ramparts of the hotel only if you fit the bill?
There is no such sign outside or on their website. Dressed in jeans, a full-sleeves shirt and floaters, he arrived at the jetty with seven British officers from Action Aid on October 25, 2007. He had made reservations for lunch. He was the only one stopped from getting into the boat which takes guests to the hotel, the only one asked to talk to the manager to introduce himself. His name became a burden from that moment onwards.
He is Kanhaiya Lal Sanwariya, a 'dhobi' by caste, a Dalit, to make it worse. The gentleman has a Masters in Social Work, a Diploma in Labour Law, has worked for Action Aid and is currently Programme Coordinator for Prayas in Chittor since 2001. The rest of the group with him were white-skinned, in Bermuda shorts and chappals.
Kanhaiya's companions protested. "He is in sandals", they said. The white-skinned were all in chappals but that was ignored. They offered to give Kanhaiya their shoes but that wasn't to be heard of. Kanhaiya was wearing jeans, which was "not allowed" though Bermuda shorts were. It all boiled down to him not being 'decent looking'. Maybe if he had introduced himself as 'Kanhaiya Lal Singh', they would have let him in! 'Sanwariya' gave his game away - it signified his caste - he was a Dalit. So have we come a full circle or it seems we never traversed the diameters?
We are still at the same point, still shouting our protests, "Inquilab zindabad", "Kale Angrez Bharat chhoro", outside the hotel in Udaipur and another of their hotel in Jaipur. There is a dress code - accepted. But it's only for a dark-skinned Dalit - and that's shameful.
Just hours before the public protests outside the hotel in Udaipur on November 20, a written apology arrived. During the protest, the deputy general manager gave a public apology.
It's February 2008 and Kanhaiya still awaits action. A case based on Section 3 (1), (10) has been filed but the chargesheet is being delayed on grounds that the statements of one witness have not been recorded. Four witnesses have given their statements and that is enough for the 'chalan' to be moved to court. The case is being held up and this is yet another instance of living in a state of denial.
We escape from the larger questions, the vision falters and the fire to demand justice tends to die down. It is not just this case that boggles the mind but entrenched caste and class-based discrimination in a country which is fast-trotting towards globalisation. A human being is dehumanised into a powerless being where class and caste barriers are used as a tool to grab power and assert the glorification of those high up in the social strata. This is the most demeaning and self-defeating profile that we can project for ourselves.
There are more realities like Dalits being served tea and water in separate cups/glasses in hotels, their children being made to sit separately in schools, they not being allowed into shops owned by the 'higher' castes, or vote and assert their fundamental rights. A Dalit woman gave birth to a child under a tree near a government hospital in Orissa after a doctor refused to attend to her as her husband failed to pay a fee of Rs 2,000. Dalits have been burnt to death, raped, beaten alive, and made to eat feaces: the list of torture is as heart-wrenching as Schindler's List.
Police statistics averaged over the past five years show that every week 13 Dalits are murdered, five Dalit homes or possessions are burned, and six Dalits are kidnapped or abducted. Every day three Dalit women are raped, 11 Dalits are beaten up and every 18 minutes a crime is committed against a Dalit. This is despite the fact that many Dalits do not report crimes for fear of carrying the baggage of extra torture by the dominant castes.
Protecting the rights of the marginalised and vulnerable is the most disregarded area of human rights in India. We have the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and Prevention of Atrocities (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes) Act, 1989, and a Constitution that bestows human dignity and freedoms to every individual born in this country. Shouldn't this struggle be taken beyond class and caste and fought on humanitarian grounds?
It all exists in our minds. There is a hesitation to 'manage' this vast, deep-rooted problem. We are enslaved to various facets of our social structure. When are we going to free ourselves of these inevitable, ossified mind-blocks?

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