Linked with A charter of Dalit human rights, and with Nishikant Waghmare – India.
« Our’s is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality. » Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
NCDHR recieves ‘RAFTO Human Rights Prize-2007‘ on November 4 in Bergen, Norway.
Who are Dalits? & What is Untouchability;
Overview of Dalit Human Rights Situation;
Reports & Publications;
Resources & links;
Women’s Rights Overview;
Dalit Economic Rights;
Dalit Right to Education;
Address: NCDHR National Secretariat, 8/1, 2nd Floor, South Patel Nagar, New Delhi – 110008, Tel: (+91) 011-25842249 , Fax: 011-25842250
Contact.
About NCDHR: Human Rights (NCDHR) is a coalition of Dalit Human Rights activists, civil society organizations, journalists, and academics who are committed to ending the caste-based discrimination and “untouchability” practices that deny human rights and dignity to 170 million Indian citizens – one sixth of India’s population. Established in 1998, NCDHR is a non-party based secular platform centered in Delhi and with offices in 14 states of the country.
NCDHR performs atrocity monitoring, legal interventions, and national and international advocacy to achieve a three-pronged objective: (1) to hold the State accountable for all Human Rights violations committed against Dalits; (2) to sensitize civil society by raising visibility of the Dalit problem; and (3) to render justice to Dalit victims of discrimination and violence. All of our activities are supported by private contributions; we accept no government funding.
NCDHR’s Origins & Objectives In October 1998, seventy-eight Dalit activists and human rights activists from across India, concerned about the frequent atrocities and the blatant lack of implementation of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, met in Bangalore to discuss a program of action. We were anguished that though our nation had just completed her 50th year of independence, and in spite of our Constitutional and International committments to the contrary, the prevalence of « untouchability » continued unabated in many parts of the country. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we called for an urgent national campaign to highlight Dalit Human Rights and to uphold that « Dalit Rights are Human Rights. »
The Campaign is an expression of Hope as well as Anguish: Hope that we Dalits can re-establish our lost humanity, dignity, and security of life; Hope that we Dalits have the capacity to transform our pain and struggle into power for achieving justice, equality, and dignity regardless of caste, gender, religion, race, or ethnicity. Our efforts are to establish ourselves as daughters and sons of the Indian soil — and to assert our aspirations for self-governance with Dalit leadership in order to bring about a change of power equations in the economic, cultural, and political orders.
Dalit movements have been fighting « untouchability, » casteism, economic exploitation since the 1920s. Needless to say, today we are at a crucial juncture where Dalits are voicing their urge for liberation. On this occasion we fondly remember our great leader Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and leaders like Jotiba Phule and E.V.R. Periyar who have made historical contributions towards the abolition of the « heinous crime of untouchability » from the face of this country. We carry on the great march that they lead decades ago.
It is to be stressed that the Campaign is not an effort to subsume, replace or negate on-going efforts of Dalits and others in various mass movements, people’s organizations, labor unions, etc. Rather, it is an effort to galvanize and martial all these movements into a representative body that can collectively organize, educate, agitate, and demand for an end to untouchability and casteism once and for all in both the government and in civil society.
Earlier Work & Current Focus: … (full text).