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인도, 달리트(불가촉천민), 제73차 개헌, 판차이야트, 타밀나두, 인권, 민주주의

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment and the Political Empowerment of Dalits in Tamil Nadu, India

Lee, Sang Soo

Professor, Hannam University

Ever since the Independence, the Indian Government enacted a series of laws to abolish the untouchability practices, for example the Protection of Civil Rights Act(1955)and the Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act(1989), which were found not so effective for their purposes.

To overcome the shortages of the above laws, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment was made in 1992, adding a new chapter named “Part 9. Panchayat.” With it, the Indian Constitution comes to have very detailed provisions on the grass root local governments, i. e. Panchayat. And it has special importance for the promotion of the Dalit human rights, for it provides that the Dalits shall have reserved seats in every Panchayat in proportion of the number of Dalits to the whole population of each unit and that the offices of the chairpersons in the Panchayats shall be reserved for Dalits in the same way.

This article traces the effects of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment on the political empowerment of the Dalits and the promotion of their human rights, focusing on the Dalits in 4 villages in Dadurai district, Tamil Nadu. Fieldwork was conducted to survey what was actually happening in the village level.

Despite the prevailing evaluation that in the nationwide level the Amendment seems to have some positive effects for the promotion of Dalit human rights, it is quite different if we talk about the situations in the village level in Tamil Nadu.

In the said 4 villages, I find that various kinds of untouchability practices are still being committed. For examples, Dalits are not allowed to enter Hindu temple or roads in Caste Hindu area, they are separated in schools, they are not allowed to get water in public wells, etc. These practices shows that the anti-untouchability acts did not work in the villages. It is in this situation that the Amendment was made. We may say that it is a new trial in a sense that it tries to promote the Dalit human rights by letting them participate in the local governments.

But in reality, the expected effects were now shown. Even the Dalits participation itself was totally frustrated by the caste Hindu. Caste Hindu obstructed the elections in several ways. They boycotted the elections, they prevented the Dalit to run for the offices by intimidating or killing candidates, they hindered election campaigns in the village, they sent puppet candidates and forced them to resign when winning, they persecuted the Dalits who voted, etc.

As long as the 4 villages in Tamil Nadu are concerned, we can say for certain that the 73rd Amendment did not made any positive effect for the promotion of Dalit human rights. In addition it brought about new conflicts and sufferings to Dalits.

Regarding the causes of the total failure of the new trial made by the Amendment, three categories should be considered. One is the resistance of the Caste Hindu, another is the involuntariness of the (state) government and the last is the weakness and handicaps of the Dalits.

Lastly this article provides some theoretical and practical implications. Especially it emphasizes the relationship between human rights and democracy and between human rights. The deficiency of one can cause the deficiency of the other. In that sense human rights and democracy should not be separately considered and human rights are dependent on each other.

[Key Words]

India, Dalits(untouchables), 73rd Constitutional Amendment, Panchayat, Tamil Nadu, human rights, democracy