Shame and hypocrisy

The hypocrisy of political parties exploiting Dr. Ambedkar's name while ignoring the plight of Dalits is highlighted, along with the alarming statistics of manual scavenging, hate crimes, and discrimination faced by the Dalit community.

ernment, is the antithesis of what Ambedkar believed. If any of the political parties responsible for the disgraceful fisticuffs and hooliganism in Dr Ambedkar's name had been sincere in their love of him, they would have done more to end the shameful treatment of our Dalit communities that continues to this day.

Here are some statistics that should shame us all. Manual scavenging is technically illegal today, but the largest employer of manual scavengers is the Indian Railways.

In nearly half the districts in India, manual scavenging is prevalent. More than 90% of the workers employed to clean sewers and septic tanks in our ancient land come from castes that fall into the scheduled categories. These sanitation workers lack not just dignity, but also protective gear. Too many die simply from doing their job. Rahul Gandhi loves to pretend to do the work of ordinary workers, but has not dared to give this job a shot.