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Kerala Kaumudi Online
Saturday, 02 November 2024 5.43 AM IST

75 years as Republic; caste discrimination existing even in prison manuals

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The attitude and discrimination prevailing in society in the name of caste has not changed much, even 75 years after independence. Although generally referred to as Hinduism, it has hundreds of castes and sub-castes. None of these fit in with each other. Strata such as the upper caste and the lower caste were invented by humans themselves to exploit other humans. Once a group is labelled as low-caste, they can be made to do any degraded work. Just because one is educated does not mean that the thought of caste does not exist in one's mind. Only those who have a prudent intellect, broad-mindedness and humanity can stay away from casteist thoughts. Gurudeva devoted his life and vapus for spiritual defence against the caste devil.

It is a fact that even though social discriminations such as external alienation, untouchability and so on have completely changed, casteism is rampant in the minds of many in Kerala as well. There is still a lot of discrimination happening in the name of caste in many parts of India. Especially, in the north Indian states. This is reflected not only in the outside world but also in jail. In many jails in the northern states, prisoners are given employment based on their castes. In jail, jobs such as washing toilets, sweeping the floor and removing garbage are reserved for those who have been labelled as being born in a lower caste. Sukanya Shanta, a journalist in the news portal 'The Wire', who brought the matter to the notice of the Supreme Court through a petition, deserves absolute appreciation. The Supreme Court has ordered an end to caste discrimination in jails.

The Supreme Court, while holding that it is unconstitutional to assign jobs based on caste, has asked the government to remove the caste column in the jail registry and amend the prison rules, which are discriminatory, within three months and submit a report. A division bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has asked 11 states, including Kerala, and the Centre to submit their reports. No job is a low-caste job, but the caste devil wakes up when it is insisted that only "lower castes" should do such jobs. What the government needs to do is hire workers to sweep, mop and clean the jail. This should not be made a prisoner's job. This intervention of the Supreme Court upholds the principle that the dignity of the prisoners should be respected.

The court also came down heavily on the provision in the Uttar Pradesh prison manual that "a person who has been sentenced to ordinary imprisonment should not be made to perform low-key jobs, unless the caste of that person is doing such a kind of work". The court also observed that no one is born to do or not to do low-level work. Provisions containing such senseless caste discrimination are hidden not only in prison manuals but also in the manuals of many other departments of the government. The government should be prepared to revise all of them periodically and constitutionally. Social media can also play a big role in pointing out manuals with such abominable provisions.

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