Regulated by its caste and outcaste quintessence, 'Caste India' continues to be apprehensive of the idea of a shared India. Its soul trapped in the quagmire of the past, India refuses to emancipate itself from that unhealthy state. At 166 million, Untouchables currently make up around 16.2 percent of the population; tribals, at around 84 million, comprise about 8.2 percent. Despite encompassing nearly a quarter of the population, to the mind of Caste India, both these Dalit groups are social aliens, and must remain where they have been for ages. In other words, Dalits are entitled to neither dignity, nor any partnership in whatever happiness India as a society generates.
When the veteran journalist B N Uniyal wrote the groundbreaking 1996 article "In Search of a Dalit Journalist", in which he showed that there was not a single Dalit journalist working in Delhi's mainstream media, the larger society remained unmoved, undisturbed. The media is generally seen as among the more humane, forward-looking, and contemplative of institutions. Yet despite India's 4890 daily newspapers, it is not possible to this day to name even four mainstream Dalit journalists. As far as the electronic media is concerned, there are no Dalits in the newsroom — either as anchors, producers, cameramen or correspondents.
If that mindset continues to govern the 'progressive' media, it is easier to understand the attitude of the larger Hindu society toward Dalits. As a central feature of the caste society, the regime of hierarchy does not even spare beasts. In the Tamil village of Tuticorin, non-Dalits had imposed a ban on Dalit-owned dogs, worried they would stray into non-Dalit areas. The social ideology of hierarchy would simply not allow Dalit dogs to mingle with non-Dalit dogs.
The December 2004 tsunami devastated fisherfolk families in Nagapattinam, but even in such trying times, the non-Dalits in the village refused to share makeshift shelters with Dalit survivors. Similar tales of discrimination were reported when the massive earthquake of January 2001 struck Gujarat, killing thousands. Like Nagapattinam, Dalit survivors in Kutch were thrown out of emergency shelters, in full view of national media.