DFN HITS A HOME RUN WITH THE WHITE HOUSE OBAMA HITS A HOME RUN WITH THE DALITS
Early in 2010, DFN USA’s President, Dr. Ana Aspras Steele, received an email from a colleague in the White House, asking what the Obama Administration can and should do in relation to the Dalits.
What followed were a long arc of meetings and several rounds of edits to a Letter to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama from the Dalit Freedom Network.
The Letter informed the President that past American Presidents in their addresses during State visits to India have recognized Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru as the nation’s greatest heroes of emancipation and independence, but they have never acknowledged Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the most prominent Dalit political leader of his time to fight for freedom, civil liberties, and equality for every outcaste and unrecognized citizen of India.
They have failed to publicly address the struggle for Dalit freedom and have yet to publicly affirm the inherent dignity of 250 million “untouchables.” DFN appealed to President Obama to become the first U.S. President to make this symbolic but heroic statement on behalf of India’s Dalits and Other Backward Caste (OBC), signaling your identification with their cause for freedom and human rights.
INDIA MAKES PROGRESS IN COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Dalit Freedom Network gives testimony in U.S. Congress
On September 30, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs convened a hearing to assess efforts worldwide to combat modern slavery. The hearing, “Out of the Shadows: The Global Fight against Human Trafficking” drew a crowd of high ranking Members of Congress and their staff, modern day abolitionists from the NGO community, and members of the press.
Beryl D’souza, M.D., DFN’s India Anti-Human Trafficking Director and Medical Director, delivered testimony on the trafficking of India’s Dalit population, 250 to 300 million “untouchables” living under the threat of human enslavement every day.
Following a brief introduction, Dr. D’souza limited her remarks to three topics — India’s progress in combating human trafficking; the challenges looming ahead for India; and DFN’s four approaches to the crisis that are showing success.
To emphasize India’s progress, D’souza told the Committee that India’s top political leadership has openly admitted that human trafficking is a national problem.
On December 27, 2006, Prime Minister Singh became the first Indian leader to compare the condition of Dalits with that of black South Africans under apartheid:“Even after 60 years of constitutional and legal protection and support, there is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our country. The only parallel to the practice of untouchability was apartheid.”
On November 15, 2008, in New Delhi, at a UN Delivery of Justice Colloquium, the Honorable Dr. Justice Arijit Pasayat of the Supreme Court of India stated “there was no bigger problem in India today than human trafficking. It is for all stakeholders to identify problems faced so that the problems can be tackled sternly with an iron hand.”
“HE DID IT!”
In his historic speech before India’s Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, President Obama became the first American President to honor Dr. Ambedkar.
"In your lives, you have overcome odds that might have overwhelmed a lesser country. In just decades, you have achieved progress and development that took other nations centuries. And now you are assuming your rightful place as a leader among nations. Your parents and grandparents imagined this. Your children and grandchildren will look back on this. But only you—this generation of Indians—can seize the possibility of this moment.
As you carry on with the hard work ahead, I want every Indian citizen to know: the United States of America will not simply be cheering you on from the sidelines. We will be right there with you, shoulder to shoulder—because we believe in the promise of India. And we believe that the future is what we make it. We believe that no matter who you are or where you come from, every person can fulfill their God-given potential, just as a Dalit like Dr. Ambedkar could lift himself up and pen the words of the Constitution that protects the rights of all Indians."
In May 2009, the Ministry of Women and Child Development estimated there are about 3 million prostitutes in the country, of which an estimated 40%, or 1.2 million, are children.”
Also in May 2009, India’s Home Secretary, Madhukar Gupta, startled audiences with his estimates that “at least 100 million people were involved in human trafficking in India.”
D’souza concluded her remarks with four recommendations for India as it fights to eradicate its number #1 social problem. Her recommendations reiterated DFN’s Four Pillar Community Transformation Model that is showing success in over 100 communities throughout India and currently garnering national attention.
Excerpts from DFN’s recommendations to the U.S. Congress:
First, we believe the end of human trafficking begins with education. Education is a pre-emptive strike against the selling and exploitation of Dalit children into the child labor and sexual trafficking industry. We educate children so they are worth more than the meager income they can make in the factories employing them.
Second, the end of human trafficking draws near when we economically empower Dalit populations and elimimate the desparing poverty, which leads to intergenerational debt bondage and claims the freedom of entire families.
Third, the end of human trafficking requires an understanding that healthcare is a basic human right. Preventative healthcare, health education, and safe labor practices promote healthy communities and produce healthy economic factors. By curtailing human trafficking, we also hope to reduce the occurrence of HIV/AIDS in India, as a huge proportion of commercial sex workers are now becoming infected with this virus.
Finally, the Dalit people of India and all trafficking victims worldwide need advocates in government who will defend their safety, security, and human rights. We believe advocacy should be specific and targeted beginning with the U.S. and Indian governments and extending to our friends and allies around the world who seek to stand with us in our efforts.
End Dalit Trafficking. Make Slavery History.
Please visit our website at www.dalitnetwork.org
631 Pennsylvania Avenue S.E., Suite 2, Washington, D.C. 20003
202.375.5000
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