NEW DELHI - India's lower-caste Dalits are increasingly asserting their claims over land so they can bury their dead, human rights activists said on Friday , as their traditional burial grounds are targeted by real estate developers and higher-caste Hindus.
"We do not have land for housing or for livelihoods. Now, we are being denied land for dying," he said. More than half the country's lower-caste population is landless, census data showed. While several states have laws aimed at giving land to Dalits, few have done so, according to Dalit activists and leaders.
"Even where we do have land, there are no facilities like water and electricity. Or we are not allowed to pass through the village with the body to go to the burial ground," he said. Government officials in Tamil Nadu, in response to a court hearing after the viral video, said there was no discrimination against Dalits.
After all, isn't this the 21st century and just why in this century is such happening that demeans a people group labeled 'Dalits'?