How quickly can a prevailing attitude shift? What forces can bring about drastic changes in the structure of a society, and how quickly can that change be enacted? How long does it take for crippling stereotypes to disappear? These questions are central to those marked as untouchables, and to those equally stigmatized. The plight of the untouchable class is mostly known in context of the Indian caste system. Many people are unaware of the existence of similar classes in other countries. India's caste system finds logical extensions in other parts of the subcontinent. Thus, countries like Nepal and Pakistan have similar caste systems, with some accounts putting Nepal's untouchable class at about 20% of its population (hrw.org).
[...] Through a lack of governmental regulation and enforcement, untouchability was abolished in name only. Very little has changed. The Dalits are still heavily segregated from the other castes. When they break the rules of untouchability they are subjected to harsh punishments. They are murdered, attacked, raped, paraded naked through the streets or otherwise publicly humiliated, and their homes are destroyed. The atrocities were so common that the Indian government was forced to pass Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 1989 as a means to combat this discrimination. [...]
[...] Gandhi had successfully led the country to nonviolent means of protest, and the country had willingly embraced it. In 1942, the Indian congress passed the Quit India resolution, calling for a wide scale nonviolent rebellion against the British. The reaction was immediate. Before the movement was started, the major leaders of the congress were arrested, and the congress itself was declared illegal. This resulted in popular revolts. In 1946, the British, shaken by the animosity pointed against them, announce their intention to grant India its independence, and work is begun on its constitution. [...]
[...] At the bottom of this were the Eta and Hinin. Ultimately, Hinin and Eta status both became hereditary. With a set social order, segregation and discrimination that had been happening largely at the provincial level was now a nationwide phenomenon. In 1859, an Eta youth attempted to enter Asakusa's Shinto shrine. He was beaten to death, and when the official of the Eta community lodged a formal complaint, the magistrate ruled that an Eta was the equivalent of 1/7th of an ordinary person. [...]
[...] For Hinduism, though, the caste system, and resulting outcastes, are almost inherent. Japan's outcastes came from adopted religious values. During their legalized existence, both outcaste communities suffered similar fates. They were segregated from the rest of the populace, and had to perform similar actions when dealing with that populace. For instance, both cultures emphasized that the untouchables were not allowed to wear shoes, and if they were, had to remove those shoes to interact with commoners. Both communities were legally emancipated during a reformation of government, and continued to face discrimination nevertheless. [...]
[...] One of the most important functions that a Shinto priest performs is a ceremony of purification, cleansing people, places, and things. Shintoism being the indigenous religion of Japan, the country, as a whole, had a long history of viewing certain associations with death as dirty. For instance, was customary to remove people near death from the house so that they would not pollute the building” (140, Hane). Thus, those people who disposed of dead people and animals were seen as doing unclean work. [...]
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