INDIA and The Untouchables (Dalits)

Описание: Over 80% of Indias population are Hindus who believe a person is born into one of four castes based on karma and "purity"-- how he or she lived their past lives.
Those born as Brahmans are priests and teachers;
Kshatriyas are rulers and soldiers;
Vaisyas are merchants and traders;
Sudras are laborers.
There is a fifth group that is so unworthy it doesn't fall within the caste system.These are the 200 million people labelled as Untouchables (Dalits) and are literally outcastes. Because they are considered impure from birth, untouchables perform jobs that are traditionally considered "unclean" or exceedingly menial, and for very little pay. Millions of Dalits work as manual scavengers, cleaning latrines and sewers by hand and clearing away dead animals. Millions more are agricultural workers trapped in an inescapable cycle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and oppression. Dalits are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same temples, wear shoes in the presence of an upper caste, or drink from the same cups in tea stalls. Dalits are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense.