In India, caste still defines who cleans cities – DW – 07/22/2025
At least 77% of India's 38,000 sewer and septic workers are from the Dalit community, according to data from India's National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE).
Dalits are a historically marginalized group, comprising the lowest level of India's centuries-old discriminatory caste hierarchy.
NAMASTE is an organization that claims to protect sanitation workers, while promoting the use of mechanized cleaning machines and securing subsidies to reduce manual labor.
In 2020, the Indian government announced measures to end the hazardous practice of manual scavenging — the removal of human excrement from toilets, septic tanks and sewers by hand — by August 2021.
The initiatives were part of the "Clean India Initiative," launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that aimed to enforce laws banning manual scavenging.
However, despite the ban, this dirty work goes on, largely carried out by Dalits.
Despite their efforts to obtain other municipal jobs for which they are qualified, many Dalits claim to have been denied other work, effectively trapping them in cleaning roles.
"The government refuses to acknowledge the social reality that India is fundamentally a caste-based society," said Bezwada Wilson from Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), a advocacy group in India seeking an end to manual scavenging.
"What they claim is less about facts and more about their own opinion," Wilson told DW.
"Telling manual scavengers to buy machines themselves under the NAMASTE scheme is a cruel form of 'rehabilitation,'" said Wilson.
"Instead of ending caste-based hiring, it simply repackages it under a modern name — NAMASTE is caste discrimination disguised as progress."
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Dalits are usually given the most menial and hazardous jobs, which are deemed "impure" by religious and social standards. These jobs are passed down through generations, trapping families into a cycle of social exclusion and economic deprivation.
Even among the Dalits, the Valmiki sub-caste, historically faces harsher socio-political and economic exclusion, suppression and violence.
"Caste is seen as a result of one's past deeds, condemning scavengers to a life of cleaning others' waste," Vivek Kumar, a professor of Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, told DW.
"Patronizing it by calling it a 'spiritual duty' or 'noble service to society' masks the harsh reality of discrimination," Kumar added.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Dalits often experience segregation in housing, education and social interaction. The association between caste and sanitation work limits Dalits from moving up the social ladder — forbidding their access to other jobs and opportunities.
Kumar said that caste has not withered away with modernity or urbanization. Instead, it has spread into urban centers and entered modern institutions, such as industry, civil society, polity and bureaucracy.
"Until caste acts as a cultural capital for the 'upper castes' we cannot eliminate it," he said.
Kumar believes that "dignity of labor" must be taught from primary to higher education to move past the outdated belief of scavenging work being tied to one's birth.
"Once the connection between caste and scavenging is broken and the job is fairly paid, we'll see other communities stepping in these jobs," Kumar concluded.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
5 hours ago
- DW
Finland's Niinisto: Trump to continue diplomacy with Putin – DW – 07/28/2025
Finland's ex-President Niinisto has met Russian President Putin and his US counterpart Trump. DW spoke to Niinisto about the diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine, NATO, and the Helsinki Niinisto: What we've seen for more than three years is the continuation of the war. It seems that neither Russia nor Ukraine is going to achieve a complete victory. So if nothing else, we must try to reach an agreement through Scholz was heavily criticized after he called. But when Trump started doing it regularly, and then Macron took the same step, he was not criticized. So, in a way, European opinion followedPresident Trump here. I guess Trump will continue his kind of diplomacy, and in my opinion, if he does, Europe has to be involved somehow. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoI told him that Putin is a fighter. You have to oppose him. That's very necessary. It doesn't break the discussion. I had the feeling that Putin likes a fight ― that we've seen that in other areas too. That's one element. Another is that whatever new ideas or views Putin supports, be careful if you're not completely aware of everything it might involve. One thing I learned is that he often opens an idea very modestly, even though he's been developing it in his mind for a long time. If you touch it, you're easily drawn into it. So I told Trump, if you don't fully understand what he means, or if it's a completely unknown idea, don't get involved. I also said that Putin likes to be respected ― not accepted, but respected. He considers it respectful when he's opposed, when you fight a difficult question. I still believe Trump wants to be a peacemaker. I think his position regarding Putin is still the same. But yes, in a way, it is a turning point. We've seen some of those already. Becoming stronger in that discussion, that's already a turning point in have been time limits before. I think Trump's concrete actions and statements are more meaningful than just the "50 days" limit.I think he has said publicly ― at least a few years ago ― that it's of all, I hope that Europe becomes a lot stronger militarily. But it's not up to Russia to decide about EU enlargement. That's not their business. When I said I'd like to see a stronger Europe, I was thinking of a speech Putin gave in 2013 or 2014, where he said the West is weak because people are too idealistic and not ready to face real-world challenges. That's something we have to take seriously. Are we prepared to protect Europe and our countries? If you have an aggressive neighbor like Russia who thinks you're weak, that's a dangerous combination. So Europe must show strength and be seen as strong from the outside. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoWhat I saw was quite simple ― we are lacking both arms and troops. That's the core problem. Since then, I think we have to thank both Putin and Trump ― especially Trump. When he was elected, it served as a wake-up call. In Germany, for example, they're now talking about conscription again. We also see a huge increase in financial input to the military within NATO. So a lot seems to be going on, and that's 2021, I started talking about reviving the "Helsinki Spirit." I brought it up because it's important in itself, but also because I saw in 2021 that things were getting worse. I discussed it with the U.S. administration, President Biden, and also with President Putin. I asked whether something like that could happen again. Could we have something like the Helsinki Spirit, even on a broader global scale? I got polite answers ― but then, of course, everything changed when Russia attacked Ukraine. By Helsinki Spirit, I mean what happened in the middle of the Cold War, when world leaders sat at the same table and actually achieved something. I believe it would be very important for humanity if we could someday see the leaders of Russia, China, the United States, maybe others as well, sit at the same table and discuss common problems. Discuss what is going to happen to us.
DW
5 hours ago
- DW
Middle East: Germany announces plan to airlift aid to Gaza – DW – 07/28/2025
Germany's Friedrich Merz has announced plans to establish an airlift to deliver aid to Gaza with the support of Jordan. France said there is "no alternative" to a two-state solution to solve the conflict. DW has more. The leaders of Israeli rights organization B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) have spoken to the press about their new investigation that found the Israeli government to be committing genocide in Gaza. "Nothing prepares you for the realization that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us," said B'Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak. "After decades of separation, and of dehumanization of Palestinians, the horrors of the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, created deep existential fear among Israelis. The extremist, far-right messianic government is using that fear to promote an agenda of destruction and expulsion," Novak said. The lives of Palestinians "are being treated as worthless. They can be starved, killed, displaced – and the situation keeps getting worse. The world must stop the crimes Israel is committing now," he stressed. Dr. Guy Shalev, Executive Director of PHRI, added that "Israel is knowingly destroying Gaza's health system. As people who believe in the sanctity of life, we are obligated to speak the truth: this is genocide, and we must fight it. For 22 months, hospital after hospital has been attacked, patients have been denied life-saving treatment, and aid has been blocked." "This is a clear and consistent pattern of destruction. It is our duty as medical professionals, and to our colleagues in Gaza who are risking their lives to save others under impossible conditions, to face the truth and do everything we can to protect them," he said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Berlin plans to establish an airlift to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip with the support of Jordan. "We know that this can only be a very small help for the people in Gaza," Merz said, adding it is "a contribution we are happy to make." "We want to end the humanitarian suffering of the civilian population in Gaza as quickly as possible," Merz said. "We want the weapons in Gaza to fall silent immediately. Above all, we want our friends in Israel to finally find peace after the horrific events of October 7, 2023, and to be able to live in lasting security and peace." Jordan has served as a hub for aid deliveries to Gaza and has parachuted food into the territory for the past two days. The Israeli army began dropping aid supplies in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. It also announced the establishment of "humanitarian corridors" for trucks carrying aid supplies. Israel has been accused of engineering the starvation it now seeks to ease by dropping the aid into Gaza. Severe shortages of food and water in the sealed-off Palestinian territory have prompted warnings from UN agencies of "catastrophic hunger." The Israeli government has said an additional 180 trucks carrying aid have now entered Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military unit responsible for approving and coordinating aid, wrote on X that the trucks are "now awaiting collection and distribution." It comes after 120 trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Sunday. UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher told the BBC that the aid deliveries were welcome, but a "drop in the ocean" compared to what's needed. France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot made the comment on Monday as he opened a United Nations (UN) conference dedicated to a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. "Only a political, two-state solution will help respond to the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. There is no alternative," he said. Barrot and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan are co-chairing the conference. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned Israel's "creeping annexation" of the West Bank, saying it is "illegal" and that the "wholesale destruction of Gaza is intolerable." He said that both must stop. On a two-state solution Guterres said, "Unilateral actions that would forever undermine the two-state solution are unacceptable. They must stop." Israel and the US are boycotting the meeting, with the US calling the meeting "counterproductive." The European Commission is discussing a proposal today to partially suspend Israel's access to the Horizon research program. The proposal was mentioned in an agenda published by the Commission. Israel has been participating in the EU's research programs since 1996. Horizon Europeis a $93.5 billion research fund open for the period 2021-2027. Earlier this year, the Israel Innovation Authority reported that Israeli researchers and companies have secured grants totalling more than $1.1 billion between 2021-2024. This comes after several EU countries last week called for more pressure on Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. EU countries asked the Commission to put more options on the table, as they said Israel was not living up to its commitments on increasing aid. EU and Israeli officials had no comment on the proposal. US President Donald Trump said on a visit to the UK that he had discussed increased aid to Gaza with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and that he was also going to ask British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to join the effort when they met later on Monday. He also added that he felt a ceasefire in Gaza was "possible" a day after he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu over the phone. Trump said that he told Netanyahu his current course of action against Hamas wasn't working, and that he needed to try something "different." The president had expressed concern over the weekend at the level of malnutrition in Gaza, which he reiterated to journalists ahead of the meeting with Starmer. At the same time, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Trump to use his considerable influence — US aid is essential to the Israeli military — to "exert all efforts to end this war and allow the entry of aid." Jerusalem-based human rights NGO B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) have presented their findings following an investigation into the conduct of the Israeli government and the military in the Gaza Strip. The B'Tselem report points to a decisive shift in policy following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas. While purporting to be fighting only Hamas, the report found, the government was engaging in a policy of "mass killing, both in direct attacks and through creating catastrophic living conditions that increase the massive death toll." It also said that Israeli forces had inflicted "serious bodily or mental harm [on] the entire population of the Strip" and had engaged in "large-scale destruction of infrastructure" and "destruction of the social fabric, including Palestinian educational institutions and cultural sites." The report also pointed to "mass arrests and abuse of detainees in Israeli prisons, which have effectively become torture camps for thousands of Palestinians held without trial" and "mass forced displacement, including attempts at ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and making the latter an official war goal." It accused Israeli authorities of carrying out an "assault on Palestinian identity through the deliberate destruction of refugee camps and attempts to undermine the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The report points to the 1948 UN definition of genocide as "the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group," and points to both evidence on the ground in Gaza as well as statements made by Israeli officials to back up its findings that a genocide is being carried out in Gaza. The group added that "both morally and legally, genocide cannot be justified under any circumstance, including as an act of self-defense." The report ends with a call to action from both Israeli civil society and the international community to " means available under international law to stop Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people." PHRI also released its report on Monday when it presented "this health-focused legal analysis of Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023, concluding that it constitutes genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention." "The evidence shows a deliberate and systematic dismantling of Gaza's health and life-sustaining systems — through targeted attacks on hospitals, obstruction of medical aid and evacuations, and the killing and detention of healthcare," the NGO said. Israel has dismissed accusations that its forces are committing genocide and other rights abuses in the Gaza Strip, saying its primary war aim is to eliminate the Hamas militant group. DW spoke to Jamil Sawalmeh, the country director for ActionAid Palestine, about Israel's announcement it would open some land routes to allow aid to enter Gaza. The group is the Palestinian branch of the Johannesburg-based NGO ActionAid. "Unfortunately this does not change the reality because it's very severe. The conditions are horrific," Sawalmeh said. "This temporary and tactical pause is not what we need right now," he said. "We are seeing that children particularly are actually most impacted by the engineered starvation in Gaza." He said he believed the announcement was "only a way to mitigate international pressure and it's not going to be sufficient or adequate for any scale of needs in Gaza." "However, we [also] consider this an opportunity and a call for the international community to continue increasing the pressure using all means to make Israel abide by its international obligations under international law and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire," he stressed. He also criticized Israel's plan to deliver aid through air drops, asking, "Why do we need these air drops when we have a land crossing [and] tonnes and tonnes of aid piled up by the crossing?" "Previously when these air drops were conducted, some [civilians] were killed directly by the pallets falling from the skies on their head," he said. "Some of these air drops have landed into dangerous combat zones, which means that civilian populations cannot access it. And if they try to access it, they will be subject to direct fire from the Israeli army." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to meet with his Security Cabinet in Berlin a day after speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone. Merz said he had urged Netanyahu to improve the humanitarian crises in Gaza, having previously called Israeli policy in the enclave "unacceptable." The cabinet includes Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil of the Social Democrats (SPD), the center-left junior coalition partners of Merz's center-right block. Last week, several prominent members of the SPD urged the government to take a stronger stance against Israel after 28 countries, including close allies France and the UK, issued a joint declaration condemning Israel's military actions in Gaza and calling for an end to the war. Representatives of B'Tselem, also known as the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) are due to present their latest report on the war in Gaza later on Monday. B'Tselem is a Jerusalem-based organization that focuses on human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, and has expressed criticism of the Israeli government's policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The Israeli government has said that 120 aid trucks having been allowed to enter Gaza, coinciding with a ten-hour pause in military operations in some areas, such as Al-Malawsi and Deir al-Balah. Last week, international criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza reached a fever pitch as news of mass starvation, particularly of children, continued to circulate. There was also hefty criticism of the US-run and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), one of the few aid organizations that was allowed to operate during Israel's months-long blockade, due to the reports of killings of hundreds of people waiting for aid at their distribution points. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The UN welcomed the news, a week after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called what was happening in Gaza a "horror parallel in recent times." The body's Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said: "We welcome Israel's decision to support a one-week scale-up of aid, including lifting customs barriers on food, medicine and fuel from Egypt and the reported designation of secure routes for UN humanitarian convoys." Fletcher cautioned, however, that it still wouldn't be enough "to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis," before adding: "And no more attacks on people gathering for food." Israel has announced a ten-hour pause in military action for Monday following an increasingly widespread global outcry over the mass starvation in the enclave, which has been under a months-long blockade of aid by the Israeli military. The Security Cabinet of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to meet on Monday afternoon to discuss Berlin's position on Gaza and Israeli conduct there. Also on Monday, two Israel-based NGOs are expected to present their findings after an independent investigation on rights abuses in Gaza.
DW
6 hours ago
- DW
Cameroon: What keeps Biya in power? – DW – 07/28/2025
At 92, Paul Biya is already the oldest head of state in the world. He wants to be re-elected in October. The power apparatus is kept stable through harshness and fear of losing privileges. "The best is yet to come." That is the promise Paul Biya makes as he runs for an eighth term as Cameroon's head of state. The 92-year-old has had over 40 years to shape his country's destiny: he has been in power since 1982, and if he is re-elected on October 12, the world's oldest head of state could remain in office until shortly before his 100th birthday. Many inhabitants of the central African country no longer believe in a better Cameroon under Biya. Young people in particular — more than 36% of the population is under the age of 18 — lack prospects: unemployment, education, and health care are among their concerns. One in four Cameroonians lives below the poverty line. Despite its wealth of oil, natural gas, aluminum, gold, precious woods, coffee, cocoa, and cotton, Cameroon is heavily dependent on China's economy, but also on development aid. Corruption and human rights violations are part of everyday life. Many Cameroonians shrug their shoulders at Biya's renewed candidacy. "It's no surprise," student Olivier Njoya tells DW. "It's just a shame that there are people who don't think about the common good, but only about their own interests." So how does a politician manage to keep his tight web of power intact for 43 years? Especially since Biya has often stayed abroad in clinics and for recreation in Paris and Switzerland. Christian Klatt, office manager of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Cameroon, told DW it is "striking how good he is at holding on to power." Voices from within his own camp and from the opposition repeatedly claim that Biya knows how to play his competitors off against each other. "In recent years, no one has been able to pose a threat to Biya," says Klatt, adding that no one has ever really succeeded in establishing themselves as Biya's successor, either from within his own ranks or in the largest opposition parties. "Biya is very good at praising people away, transferring them to other posts," Klatt says. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Particularly in West Africa, disgruntled generals have seized power in coups in the past. Klatt considers such a scenario impossible in Cameroon: "The military, which is always a risk factor in many other countries, has a strong separation of powers within its own structures. No single group would therefore be strong enough to launch a coup," he tells DW. Biya's party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), has been in power since Cameroon's independence in 1960 and has been led by President Biya since 1982. According to Klatt, it is not unlikely that Biya will win the election again in the fall: "His ruling party has many supporters and is best represented throughout the country." In a short election process, the RDPC could outdo other opposition parties. In the Cameroonian electoral system, a candidate only needs a simple majority to win the election, which greatly benefits Biya. One of those running to succeed Biya is 37-year-old Hiram Samuel Iyodi. He is one of the youngest candidates and was nominated by the MP3 (Patriotic Movement for the Peoples' Prosperity) party, which was founded in 2018. "Young people in particular have the impression that the Cameroonian electoral system is tailored to the ruling party," Iyodi told DW. "We are saying to young Cameroonians: if we all stick together, we can put an end to this regime that is no longer able to respond to the current concerns of the population," he adds. The opposition parties' efforts over the years to create a counterweight to Biya's candidacy failed due to differing ideologies and their internal divisions: a political coalition, the Douala Group, collapsed shortly before the deadline for presidential nominations (July 22). However, some experts do not see Biya as a strong man, but rather as a puppet of a perfidious political system. According to Philippe Nanga, political analyst and human rights activist, real power no longer lies in the hands of the president, but in those of a small circle of actors, led by the president's secretary general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. "The secretary-general now signs almost all documents that are supposed to come from the president. He is omnipresent on the ground, leads political missions, and resolves internal conflicts within the party. These are tasks that normally fall under the responsibility of the head of state," Nanga told DW. According to Nanga, despite his Biya's frail health, he remains the only one who can preserve the unity of the party. "As soon as someone else officially comes to power, the party will break apart. There are already deep internal divisions," says Nanga. Some officials are opposed to the president's re-election but do not dare to express this openly for fear of reprisals. Many individual journalists, politicians, and activists have been arbitrarily detained and physically assaulted in Cameroon. In its latest annual report, the non-governmental organization Freedom House refers to attacks on "independent media, opposition parties, and civil society organizations, which have faced bans and harassment." Political scientist Ernesto Yene says fear is what maintains the façade of stability in Biya's system. "Anyone who dares to slam the door is quickly marginalized," Yene told DW. "In reality, everyone is hiding behind Paul Biya's candidacy because it guarantees everyone the preservation of their privileges within the power apparatus. If another candidate were to emerge, the party would run the risk of imploding."
