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.
文章翻译
6小时前
来自印度低等级Dalit社区的数千名抗议者在孟买中断了主要运输服务。
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孟买的抗议活动破坏了运输服务
本月早些时候，来自印度的低种姓达利特社区的成千上万人抗议西部城市孟买的右翼印度教团体，使这座城市停滞不前。 Nehali Upasham解释了为什么她参加了。
我在孟买工作和生活，但是每年的1月1日，我都会在四个小时之外拜访一个名叫Bhima Koregaon的村庄，这个节日是为了纪念达利特人（以前称为贱民）击败上层种族统治者的一场战役。
通常情况下，因为成千上万的达利特人在这一天参观了战场，所以在达利特的历史上，有许多摊贩出售食品，药品或书籍和电影等物品。
但今年似乎有些不妥。许多摊位都关了。
这更令人惊讶，因为2018年是Koregaon战役200周年。 1818年1月1日，达利特人与英国殖民势力一起打败上层种族统治者，这是我们社会所说的第一次反对种姓压迫的斗争。
人们聚集在Bhima Koregaon的一座方尖碑式的“胜利支柱”周围，以纪念今天代表达利特人的勇气。
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自从我还是个孩子以来，我一直在这样做。我也嫁给了一个出生在这个村庄的男人 - 所以我现在和这个地方的联系更加紧密了。
今年，我和一些其他的女人一起代表一家生产工厂设立了一个摊位。我们制作视频并运行一个关于达利特授权的YouTube频道。
Bhima Koregaon发生了什么？
当我意识到有麻烦的时候，我们正在停车场卸料。一群男子走近我们，告诉我们，我们不能摆摊，我们应该“走出去”。
虽然他们似乎有威胁，但我们选择忽视他们。
差不多一个小时后，我们发现我们无法使用手机拨打电话，因为我们无法访问网络。
在马哈拉施特拉邦Bhima Koregaon村的地图
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达利特在Bhima Koregaon的一场战役中击败了上层种族统治者
我的姐夫回到停车场，回来的消息是，我们的汽车的窗户被粉碎了。他说，他不得不逃离一百多人的暴徒，所有人都藏着印度右翼团体常用的藏红花旗帜。
当我们去停车场时，我们看到有人在跑。
然后暴徒开始跑向我们。人们从他们的阳台向我们投掷石块。具有佛教象征的车辆或者显示达利特图标的车辆是有针对性的。
一名老人在一辆巴士上扔了一块大石头，在这辆巴士上有一个“阿肖克脉轮”（佛陀的象征）。 [皈依佛教的达利人在车上展示这些符号]
通过这一切，警方未能保护我们。
我们逃往邻村，但村民阻止我们进入。他们说：“你不能在这里等，因为他们会烧我们的房子。”
我们别无选择，只能走，直到我们与Bhima Koregaon安全的距离。
为什么我加入了孟买拉力赛
我参加了在孟买街头的抗议活动，以便为我们发生的事情伸张正义，达利特在Bhima Koregaon。
在那一天，在比马克雷冈，有像我这样的人代表正义和我们的斗争。但也有其他人代表他们的个人议程。
在印度共和党的支持者在孟买举行抗议活动后，印度消防员检查了一辆受损巴士。图片版权归GETTY IMAGES
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由于孟买抗议活动变得暴力，公共汽车遭到袭击
但是比暴力本身还糟糕的是在社交媒体上开始的讨论。
这使我意识到，在英国殖民统治时期，达利特人的历史或地位是多么的少。我的一些同事激起我在社交媒体上做出反应，然后羞辱了我。
他们没有把我当人看待。他们把我的存在降低到我的种姓。
有些人评论说，这应该发生在“他们”[Dalits]，因为“他们”的地位只是因为“保留”或基于种姓的配额而进步。
另一些人说，虽然上流社会纳税，达利特人享有的好处，也许达利特人应该去英国“乞求”配额，因为他们已经在与Koregaon的战斗与英军的战斗。
庆祝活动中爆发的暴力事件是为了纪念Bhima Koregaon战役200周年图片版权所有AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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一名男子在Bhima Koregaon的冲突中丧生
