Satyamev Jayate: Aamir Khan slams casteism, manual scavenging

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: Aamir Khan once again struck an emotional chord with his show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ and discussed a subject on national television that anyone else wouldn’t have dared to- casteism. The tenth episode of the show spoke about discrimination made in the Indian society, made on the basis of caste and the kind of treatment that is meted out to people of the “backward” classes. The first guest to speak on casteism was Dr Kaushal Panwar, a Sankrit professor with Delhi University. For Dr Panwar, being born into a scheduled caste family was nothing less than a punishment. Her uniform was different from the uniforms of the other children in the school she went to and such an arrangement was made by the school authorities to differentiate children based on their communities. It was her determination and will and her father’s constant encouragement that made Dr Panwar the person that she is now. The next to share his take on casteism was documentary filmmaker Stalin K, who has produced a film titled ‘India Untouched’. He cleared the misconception that casteism was not only prevalent among the Hindu section of the Indian society, but was apparent among the Muslims, Christians and Sikhs too. The show played host to retired Justice Dharmadhikari, a veteran freedom fighter, who doesn’t appreciate the concept of relating a person’s identity to his caste. Born into a Brahmin family, Justice Dharmadhikari thought it was best to disassociate himself from the customary practices followed by his community. And that is the only way he would preach equality among all sections of the society. The elderly person also narrated an incident when his nephew’s life got saved by a Dalit person’s blood. He said when blood doesn’t know what caste and creed are, why should man even think about it. And the next to share his “untouchable” journey was Bezwada Wilson, son of a manual scavenger. He was assigned the job of a manual scavenger even without his consent – only because he belonged to a family that had manual scavenging as its occupation. Wilson is now working towards uplifting people who were “traditionally” into the occupation. In the end, Aamir urged the people of the country to make a loud noise about manual scavenging and casteism and that every person be treated with dignity irrespective of his background.