Caste-based discrimination in Uttarakhand villages

Like the whole of India, the society of Uttarakhand is also divided based on caste, people live together but they also discriminate based on caste.

If we look at the data of the Uttarakhand Police, it is known that in the last three years, there has been a 35% increase in crimes against the SC/ST community in the state.

In the year 2019, where 100 such cases were registered, in 2021, 135 cases were reported. The maximum number of cases were reported in Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, and Nainital.

Caste discrimination in Bageshwar

Baijnath, which is the abode of Lord Shiva, the women of the surrounding villages told Ground Report that the upper caste people do not eat the food touched by their hands or rather the food made by our hands, nor do they come to our house. We get entry into the temples, but till the time we worship in the temples, the people of Brahmin and Thakur communities do not enter the temple. They do their worship only after we leave.

Women say that they feel bad when they are discriminated against in this way, and when we complain about this to upper caste people, they do not have any answer for this.

Babita resident of Chaursu village says that "there is a slight change in the new generation, but the parents of the children do not send their children to birthday parties at the homes of the children belonging to the lower castes."

Ordh (stone mason), Lohar (blacksmith), Tamta (coppersmith), Dholi (musicians), Chamars (tanners), and Jamadars (cleaners), etc. in Uttarakhand are traditionally considered untouchable castes.

Recently, the Dalit Bhojanmata controversy of Champawat was discussed throughout the whole country, in which school children refused to eat the mid-day meal prepared by a Dalit Bhojanmata. The upper caste people had also pressured the school administration to remove the Dalit Bhojan Mata.

One thing that came to the fore after this controversy was that caste discrimination in the state is still persistent.

Sangeeta of Chaurasu village says "when there is a program in our place, upper caste people take part in it but do not eat or drink anything. Our children also do not go to the homes of upper-caste children because they see how discrimination happens. Some children who study in cities do not discriminate like this but their parents prevent them from coming to our place."

Babita says that "the people of the olden days are more discriminating. People of the new generation have got some understanding."

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