Abstract
The shame of India is an article from the Guardian Weekly, a famous British Sunday newspaper. The columnist is Liz Stuart. It dates back to January the 10th of 2002. It's a fairly recent article. It raises the issue of the Caste System and in particular the shameful / disgraceful status of the Dalits, the Untouchables who represent between 18 and 25% of the population in India that is to say about 250 million people.
We learn in this article that contrary to what most people think outside India, the Caste System has not been abolished and that this social segregation still continues. This 3000 (three thousand)-year-old system of social classes is based on the Hindu religion and consists in dividing the Indian society into four great hereditary divisions: The Brahmans (Priests and learned class), the Kshatriyas (wariors and rulers), The Vaisas (farmers and merchants and the Sudras (peasants and labourers). There is also an outcaste called the Untouchables (Dalits) who are not considered part of the human society. Because of tradition and cultural barriers, millions of Dalits are discriminated against and are still living on the fringe of society, rejected and deprived of their rights by upper castes people. The article describes who they are and deals with Macwan, a Dalit, who has dedicated his life to fighting against this disgraceful tradition. We learn about his successes but also about his difficult struggle and about his doubts and sometimes discouragement.
