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Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimination are found all over the world, untouchability involving the caste system is largely unique to South Asia.[1][2][3]
The term is most commonly associated with treatment of the Dalit communities in the Indian subcontinent who were considered "polluting". The term has also been used to refer to other groups, including the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea, and the Ragyabpa of Tibet, as well as the Romani people and Cagot in Europe, and the Al-Akhdam in Yemen.[4][5] Traditionally, the groups characterized as untouchable were those whose occupations and habits of life involved ritually "polluting" activities, such as pursuing a career based on killing (e.g. fishermen) or engaging in common contact with others' feces or sweat (e.g. manual scavengers, sweepers and washermen).[6]
Due to many caste-based discriminations in Nepal, the government of Nepal legally abolished the caste-system and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including "untouchability" in 1963.[7]
Untouchability has been outlawed in India, Nepal and Pakistan. However, "untouchability" has not been legally defined.[citation needed] The origin of untouchability and its historicity are still debated. A recent study of a sample of households in India concludes that "Notwithstanding the likelihood of under-reporting of the practice of untouchability, 70 percent of the population reported not indulging in this practice. This is an encouraging sign."[8]
- ^ "Definition of untouchability | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
- ^ Shah, Ghanshyam; Mander, Harsh; Thorat, Sukhadeo; Deshpande, Satish; Baviskar, Amita (2006-08-07). Untouchability in Rural India. SAGE Publishing India. p. 19. ISBN 978-93-5280-564-8.
- ^ Teltumbde, Anand (2022). MAHAD the making of the first dalit revolt. [S.l.]: ROUTLEDGE. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-000-78061-1. OCLC 1334333041.
- ^ Passin, Herbert (1955). "Untouchability in the Far East". Monumenta Nipponica: 247–267. JSTOR 2382914.
- ^ Thomas, Sean (28 July 2008). "The Last Untouchable in Europe". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
- ^ "Untouchable – Encyclopaedia Britannica".
- ^ "Nepal: Deadly caste-based attacks spur outcry over social discrimination". Deutsche Welle. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
- ^ "The Continuing Practice of Untouchability in India: Patterns and Mitigating Influences" (PDF). India Human Development Survey.