6 hours ago
Thousands of protesters from India'slow-caste Dalit community disrupted key transport services in Mumbai.
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Protests in Mumbai disrupted transportservices
Thousands from India's low-caste Dalitcommunity protested against right-wing Hindu groups in the western city ofMumbai earlier this month, bringing the city to a halt. Nehali Upasham explainswhy she took part.
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I work and live in Mumbai but every year,on 1 January, I visit a village called Bhima Koregaon four hours away, for afestival that commemorates a battle where Dalits (formerly known asuntouchables) defeated an upper-caste ruler.
Usually, since thousands of Dalits visitthe site of the battle on this day, one sees many stalls selling items such asfood and medicines or books and films on Dalit history.
But something seemed wrong this year. Manyof the stalls were shut.
This was all the more surprising because2018 marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon. On 1 January 1818,Dalits fought alongside British colonial forces to defeat an upper caste ruler,in what my community calls the first battle against caste oppression.
People gather around the "victorypillar", an obelisk-shaped memorial in Bhima Koregaon, to honour thecourage that this day represented for Dalits.
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I have been doing this ever since I was achild. I am also married to a man who was born in this village - so myconnection to this place is stronger now.
This year, I was setting up a stall onbehalf of a production house that I manage along with some other women. Weproduce videos and run a YouTube channel about Dalit empowerment.
What happened in Bhima Koregaon?
We were in the parking lot unloadingmaterials when I realised there was trouble. A group of men approached us andtold us that we could not put up any stalls and we should "get out"of the village.
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Although they appeared threatening, wechose to ignore them.
Nearly an hour later, we found that wecould not use our phones to make calls because we weren't able to access thenetwork.
A map of Bhima Koregaon village inMaharashtra
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Dalits defeated an upper caste ruler in abattle in Bhima Koregaon
My brother-in-law, who had gone back to theparking lot, returned with the news that the windows of our car had beenshattered. And he said he had to flee from what looked like a mob of more thana 100 men, all of whom were holding saffron flags [which are commonly used byright-wing Hindu groups].
When we went out to the parking lot, we sawpeople running.
And then the mob started running towardsus. People started pelting stones at us from their balconies. Vehicles withsymbols of Buddhism or those that displayed images of Dalit icons weretargeted.
An elderly man threw a large stone at a busthat had an 'Ashok Chakra' [a blue wheel that is a symbol of Buddhism] on it.[Dalits who have converted to Buddhism display these symbols on theirvehicles.]
Through all this, the police failed toprotect us.
We fled towards a neighbouring village butvillagers prevented us from entering. They said: "You cannot wait herebecause they will burn our houses."
We had no choice but to walk until we werea safe distance from Bhima Koregaon.
Why I joined the Mumbai rally
I took part in the protests on the streetsof Mumbai to get justice for what happened to us - Dalits - in Bhima Koregaon.
On that day in Bhima Koregaon, there werethose like me who were there to represent justice and our struggle for it. Butthere were also others who were representing their individual agendas.
Indian firemen inspect a damaged bus aftersupporters of the Republican Party of India turned violent during a protest inMumbaiImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
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Buses were attacked as Mumbai proteststurned violent
But what was worse than the violence itselfwas the discussion that it kicked off on social media.
It made me realise how little people knewof Dalit history or their status during British colonial rule. Some of mycolleagues provoked me to react on social media and then humiliated me.
They didn't treat me like a human being.They reduced my existence to my caste.
Some people commented that this shouldhappen to "them" [Dalits] since "their" status hasprogressed only because of "reservations" or quotas based on caste.
Others said that while upper castes paytaxes, Dalits enjoy the benefits, adding that perhaps Dalits should go toBritain to "beg" for quotas since they had fought alongside Britishforces in the Koregaon battle.
Violence broke out during celebrations tocommemorate the 200th anniversary of a battle in Bhima KoregaonImagecopyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
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One man was killed in the clashes in BhimaKoregaon
The comments don't surprise me since I havebeen hearing similar statements for a long time.
Every time there is violence againstDalits, everyone blames the caste-based quotas in India.
I want to know why is there so much angerand discrimination against Dalits? What does anyone truly gain from this?
Aren't we - Dalits - human like the rest ofthem?
More than a week has passed since theevents in Bhima Koregaon but I can't forget what I saw.
Now it's become a matter of our identity.So, we will fight until we get justice.
We, the followers of BR Ambedkar [an iconicDalit leader], believe in peace and I believe those who share our beliefs willnever indulge in violence.
文章翻譯
6小時前
來自印度低等級Dalit社區(qū)的數(shù)千名抗議者在孟買中斷了主要運輸服務(wù)。
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孟買的抗議活動破壞了運輸服務(wù)
本月早些時候挤安，來自印度的低種姓達利特社區(qū)的成千上萬人抗議西部城市孟買的右翼印度教團體蛤铜，使這座城市停滯不前骡送。 Nehali Upasham解釋了為什么她參加了。
我在孟買工作和生活摔踱，但是每年的1月1日，我都會在四個小時之外拜訪一個名叫Bhima Koregaon的村莊蛹批，這個節(jié)日是為了紀念達利特人（以前稱為賤民）擊敗上層種族統(tǒng)治者的一場戰(zhàn)役腐芍。
通常情況下试躏，因為成千上萬的達利特人在這一天參觀了戰(zhàn)場颠蕴，所以在達利特的歷史上，有許多攤販出售食品椅您，藥品或書籍和電影等物品掀泳。
但今年似乎有些不妥。許多攤位都關(guān)了脑沿。
這更令人驚訝马僻，因為2018年是Koregaon戰(zhàn)役200周年巫玻。 1818年1月1日仍秤，達利特人與英國殖民勢力一起打敗上層種族統(tǒng)治者可很，這是我們社會所說的第一次反對種姓壓迫的斗爭。
人們聚集在Bhima Koregaon的一座方尖碑式的“勝利支柱”周圍苇本，以紀念今天代表達利特人的勇氣瓣窄。
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自從我還是個孩子以來劝贸，我一直在這樣做逗宁。我也嫁給了一個出生在這個村莊的男人 - 所以我現(xiàn)在和這個地方的聯(lián)系更加緊密了瞎颗。
今年，我和一些其他的女人一起代表一家生產(chǎn)工廠設(shè)立了一個攤位言缤。我們制作視頻并運行一個關(guān)于達利特授權(quán)的YouTube頻道管挟。
Bhima Koregaon發(fā)生了什么？
當我意識到有麻煩的時候导帝，我們正在停車場卸料。一群男子走近我們斋荞，告訴我們虐秦，我們不能擺攤悦陋，我們應(yīng)該“走出去”。
雖然他們似乎有威脅俺驶，但我們選擇忽視他們暮现。
差不多一個小時后，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)我們無法使用手機撥打電話拍顷，因為我們無法訪問網(wǎng)絡(luò)塘幅。
在馬哈拉施特拉邦Bhima Koregaon村的地圖
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達利特在Bhima Koregaon的一場戰(zhàn)役中擊敗了上層種族統(tǒng)治者
我的姐夫回到停車場，回來的消息是爱沟，我們的汽車的窗戶被粉碎了呼伸。他說钝尸，他不得不逃離一百多人的暴徒括享，所有人都藏著印度右翼團體常用的藏紅花旗幟铃辖。
當我們?nèi)ネ＼噲鰰r娇斩，我們看到有人在跑。
然后暴徒開始跑向我們犬第。人們從他們的陽臺向我們投擲石塊。具有佛教象征的車輛或者顯示達利特圖標的車輛是有針對性的丰介。
一名老人在一輛巴士上扔了一塊大石頭哮幢，在這輛巴士上有一個“阿肖克脈輪”（佛陀的象征）志珍。 [皈依佛教的達利人在車上展示這些符號]
通過這一切碴裙，警方未能保護我們点额。
我們逃往鄰村还棱，但村民阻止我們進入。他們說：“你不能在這里等珍手，因為他們會燒我們的房子琳要。”
我們別無選擇童叠，只能走课幕，直到我們與Bhima Koregaon安全的距離。
為什么我加入了孟買拉力賽
我參加了在孟買街頭的抗議活動杜秸，以便為我們發(fā)生的事情伸張正義润绎，達利特在Bhima Koregaon诞挨。
在那一天亭姥，在比馬克雷岡达罗，有像我這樣的人代表正義和我們的斗爭静秆。但也有其他人代表他們的個人議程抚笔。
在印度共和黨的支持者在孟買舉行抗議活動后，印度消防員檢查了一輛受損巴士辐宾。圖片版權(quán)歸GETTY IMAGES
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由于孟買抗議活動變得暴力膨蛮，公共汽車遭到襲擊
但是比暴力本身還糟糕的是在社交媒體上開始的討論敞葛。
這使我意識到惹谐，在英國殖民統(tǒng)治時期，達利特人的歷史或地位是多么的少鸿秆。我的一些同事激起我在社交媒體上做出反應(yīng)谬莹，然后羞辱了我附帽。
他們沒有把我當人看待井誉。他們把我的存在降低到我的種姓。
有些人評論說喳钟，這應(yīng)該發(fā)生在“他們”[Dalits]，因為“他們”的地位只是因為“保留”或基于種姓的配額而進步蛮寂。
另一些人說酬蹋，雖然上流社會納稅抽莱，達利特人享有的好處，也許達利特人應(yīng)該去英國“乞求”配額匕垫，因為他們已經(jīng)在與Koregaon的戰(zhàn)斗與英軍的戰(zhàn)斗虐呻。
慶祝活動中爆發(fā)的暴力事件是為了紀念Bhima Koregaon戰(zhàn)役200周年圖片版權(quán)所有AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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一名男子在Bhima Koregaon的沖突中喪生
