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भारत में इंसानों के बीच ऊँच-नीच कैसे पैदा हुई? जाति और छुआछूत का संपूर्ण इतिहास — Transcript

by 𝗨𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗮𝘀 · 4,670 words · 705 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00A six-year-old innocent child is
0:02writhing in thirst. His lips are dry
0:05and cracked. Not a single drop of water
0:07has gone down his throat since morning.
0:09There is a well in front, filled with
0:11clean, cold water. The child holds his
0:14mother's hand and says, "
0:15>> Mother, give me some water from that
0:17well.""I am very thirsty."
0:19>> But tears begin to flow from the
0:21mother's eyes. She cannot take him near
0:24that well. Helpless, the mother kneels
0:27before a nearby dirty puddle and begins
0:30to fill her broken pot with that murky
0:33water. The child asks, crying, "
0:36>> Mother, why can't we drink water from
0:39that well?"
0:41>> The mother has no answer. Because that
0:44innocent child's only fault was that he
0:46was born into a household that society
0:49deemed untouchable. And this is not
0:52just a story. About 1600 years ago, a
0:55Chinese traveler who came to India
0:57wrote in his book that some people had
0:59to strike a piece of wood while
1:01entering the city so that people could
1:03hear the sound, move away, and not
1:05touch them by mistake. So, who really
1:08built this wall between human beings?
1:11In which scripture was it first written
1:13that not just touching, but even seeing
1:14a person is a sin? And was it truly the
1:17gift of invaders who came from outside?
1:20Today, we will know the full truth from
1:22its beginning to the present day, and
1:24at the end of the video, we will tell
1:26you about a case that is not a thousand
1:28years old, but from just 1995. To find
1:41the answer to this question, we have to
1:44go back about 3000 years from today. In
1:47that era, there were no great kingdoms,
1:49forts, or palaces in India. People
1:52lived in small villages, farmed, raised
1:55cattle, and sat before fire chanting
1:57mantras. During this period, in the
2:00final part of the Rigveda, a mantra was
2:02written, which is called the Purusha
2:04Sukta. In this mantra, society was
2:07depicted like the body of a giant human
2:09. It was said that the Brahmins were
2:11born from its mouth. The Kshatriyas
2:13from its arms, the Vaishyas from its
2:15thighs, and the Shudras from its feet.
2:16Now listen carefully. Nowhere in this
2:18mantra is it written that touching
2:20anyone is forbidden or that sitting
2:22with someone is a sin. But a very
2:24significant point was hidden in it. For
2:26the first time, humans were placed in
2:28an order from top to bottom. The mouth
2:31at the top and the feet at the bottom.
2:34This was the first seed upon which the
2:36wall of discrimination would continue
2:37to be built for centuries to come. But
2:40until then, it was just an idea. About
2:43100 years later, it was written in a
2:45text called the Chandogya Upanishad
2:47that those who do good deeds are born
2:50into a good family in their next life,
2:53while those who do bad deeds are born
2:55as dogs, pigs, or Chandalas. Try to
2:58understand the depth of this. Here, a
3:01group of humans was placed in the same
3:03category as dogs and pigs. Now, a
3:06person's very birth began to be seen as
3:08punishment for their past sins. This
3:11meant that a child born into a specific
3:13household was already considered
3:15inferior in the eyes of society,
3:16regardless of their actions; this is
3:18where the idea originated that
3:20humiliation is determined by birth, not
3:22by deeds. But even then, no scripture
3:25had yet said that touching such a
3:27person was forbidden. So, where was
3:29that first rule written? We find the
3:32answer in a text over 2,000 years old,
3:35known as the Apastamba Dharmasutra.
3:38Dharmasutras were books that prescribed
3:41what one should do in society, what to
3:44eat, whom to meet, and whom to avoid.
3:48It is believed that this Dharmasutra
3:50was written by a sage named Apastamba,
3:52and it was in this text that, for the
3:54first time, it was explicitly stated
3:56that touching a Chandala is a sin. Even
3:59talking to them is a sin. And even
4:01looking at them is a sin. Yes, just
4:03looking at them, and different penances
4:05were prescribed for this. If someone
4:08touched a Chandala, they had to take a
4:10full bath by submerging themselves in
4:12water. If they spoke to one, they had
4:14to purify themselves by talking to a
4:17learned Brahmin, and if they only
4:19looked at one, they had to cleanse
4:22their impurity by looking up at the sun
4:24, moon, or stars. Just think: a human
4:27who breathes, eats, laughs, and cries
4:30like everyone else was considered a sin
4:32even to look at, and this was no longer
4:34limited to just one text. After this,
4:38the Dharmasutras of sages like Gautama,
4:40Baudhayana, and Vashistha also included
4:42similar rules, stating that if anyone
4:44came into contact with such people,
4:46they would have to bathe to become pure
4:48. This means that gradually, it was no
4:51longer just one person's opinion but
4:53became an entire tradition that was
4:55passed down from generation to
4:56generation. Now the question is, why
4:58did this happen? At its root was the
5:01concept of pure and impure. At that
5:04time, people believed that things
5:06associated with death, corpses, blood,
5:09dead animals, and filth made a person
5:12impure. Therefore, those who performed
5:14this work were branded with impurity,
5:16and this is where the story took its
5:19most dangerous turn. Until now, the
5:21mark of impurity was only on the person
5:23who performed the work. But then
5:26society took a step further and assumed
5:29that this stain was in the blood,
5:31passing down to the next generation.
5:34From father to son, son to grandson,
5:36and grandson to his children. Imagine a
5:39small child who has never even touched
5:42a corpse in their life. Who has never
5:44even gone toward a cremation ground.
5:46They too became an untouchable the
5:47moment they were born. Only because
5:49they opened their eyes in that
5:51household. It was not their fault. Yet,
5:54they had to suffer the punishment for
5:55their entire life. Work could change,
5:58but birth could not be changed. And
6:01when a person's identity is tied to
6:03their birth forever, the next step is
6:05to impose rules on their entire life.
6:09And that is exactly what happened.
6:10About 100 years after the Dharmasutras,
6:13or roughly 2000 years ago, a text was
6:16written whose name everyone knows even
6:18today. Manusmriti. Like the
6:21Dharmasutras, the Manusmriti was also a
6:23book of rules. But it was much larger,
6:26more detailed, and more influential
6:29than them. For centuries to come, it
6:32was counted among the greatest
6:34rulebooks, and in the 10th chapter of
6:37this book, verses 51 to 56 prescribed
6:39rules for those whom society had placed
6:41at the very bottom. And these rules
6:44were not limited to just physical touch
6:46. This time, the entire blueprint of
6:49their lives had been drawn. First, it
6:51was written that their homes would not
6:53be inside the village, but outside it.
6:55Meaning, in the village where they
6:57worked, they would not get a place to
7:00live. Then it was written that no one
7:02else would use the utensils they ate
7:05from, and then came the line that is
7:07hard to believe even today. It was
7:10written that their only wealth would be
7:12dogs and donkeys. Yes, no cows, no
7:15horses, no gold, no silver. Only dogs
7:18and donkeys. Meaning, no matter how
7:20hard someone worked, they could never
7:22become rich. Because the rule had
7:24already determined what they could
7:26possess and what they could not. But
7:28this was only the beginning. The next
7:31verse stated that their clothes would
7:33be those removed from dead bodies.
7:35Their food would be served in broken
7:37pots. Their ornaments would not be of
7:40gold or silver, but of black iron, and
7:42they would always wander from one place
7:44to another. Imagine a person wearing
7:47the clothes of the dead, carrying a
7:49broken bowl, and having no permanent
7:51place to live. Subsequent verses state
7:55that a person who follows righteousness
7:57will have no association with them.
8:00Their dealings and marriages will be
8:02strictly among themselves. If they are
8:05to be given food, it must be given not
8:07directly by hand, but through someone
8:09else in a broken vessel, and they
8:11cannot roam villages or cities at night
8:13. They were allowed to come for work
8:15during the day. But by the king’s
8:18decree, they had to wear identifying
8:20marks so it was known from afar who
8:23they were, and the tasks assigned to
8:25them included removing unclaimed
8:28corpses and executing criminals on the
8:30king’s orders. That is, the
8:34society’s most difficult, painful,
8:36and detested work fell to them. And
8:39then, because of those very tasks, they
8:41were also labeled as impure. Which
8:43meant discrimination was no longer just
8:45a mindset. It had become a complete
8:47system. And then, about 100 years after
8:50the Manusmriti, around 1600 years ago
8:53near 399 AD, a Buddhist monk sets out
8:56on foot from China toward India. His
8:59name was Faxian. His purpose was to go
9:01to the land of the Buddha and take
9:03authentic Buddhist texts back to his
9:05country. For this, he crosses deserts.
9:08He crosses snow-covered mountains. He
9:11loses many of his companions on the way
9:13and, after years of this arduous
9:15journey, finally reaches India. At that
9:18time, the Gupta kings were ruling here,
9:20an era often called the Golden Age of
9:22India. Faxian stays here for several
9:24years. He travels from city to city and
9:27records everything he sees in his book.
9:30He heaps praise upon India. He writes
9:33that the people here are happy. They do
9:35not kill living beings, do not drink
9:37alcohol, and do not even eat onions or
9:39garlic. But amidst this praise, he
9:41writes one line that changes the entire
9:44picture. Only the Chandalas are an
9:46exception to this. He explains that the
9:48Chandalas are people considered evil
9:51who live apart from the rest of society
9:53. And then he writes the very thing
9:55with which we started this video. When
9:58these people enter a city gate or
10:00marketplace, they walk while striking a
10:03piece of wood so that people hearing
10:05the sound know who is coming and can
10:07avoid them. Faxian also writes that
10:11fishing, hunting, and selling meat were
10:13jobs only the Chandalas performed. In
10:17other words, what was written as rules
10:19in the Dharmasutras and Manusmriti had
10:21now become an everyday reality in the
10:23streets and markets. And this is the
10:26first evidence of untouchability in
10:28India for which we know the date and
10:30which was recorded by someone who saw
10:32it with their own eyes, and here a huge
10:34misconception is shattered. It is often
10:36said that untouchability is a gift from
10:39foreign invaders and that nothing like
10:41this existed in our society before they
10:43arrived. But the dates tell a different
10:46story. Faxian wrote all this around the
10:49year 400. Whereas the first major Arab
10:51invasion of India took place in 712.
10:54Meaning there is a gap of a full 300
10:56years between the two, and the
10:58Dharmasutras and Manusmriti had been
11:00written hundreds of years even before
11:02that. The meaning is clear:
11:04untouchability did not come from
11:06outside but gradually started within
11:08our own society. But the truly
11:10surprising thing is that even after
11:12this, the number of people considered
11:14untouchables kept increasing instead of
11:16decreasing. How did this happen? About
11:191500 years ago, kings in India started
11:22a new practice. They began donating
11:25land. Entire villages and large parts
11:29of forests were donated to temples,
11:31scholars, and their officials, recorded
11:34on copper plates. New cultivation began
11:37on these lands, new villages were
11:39settled, and forests were cleared. Now
11:41just think, tribes had been living in
11:43those forests for centuries. They
11:45hunted, took food and wood from the
11:47forest, and lived life on their own
11:49terms. But when the forests became
11:51farms, they were left with only two
11:53options. Either go somewhere else or
11:56come to these new villages to work, and
11:58when they came to the villages, they
12:00were given the lowest place in society.
12:03They had no land and no rights. They
12:06only had the work that no one else
12:08wanted to do. Historian Vivekanand Jha
12:11has shown in his research how many
12:13forest tribes gradually turned into
12:16castes considered untouchable. The free
12:20person of the forest became the lowest
12:22laborer of the village, and during this
12:24period, another dangerous thing
12:25happened. The list of tasks considered
12:28impure grew longer. Initially, it was
12:31limited only to carrying corpses or
12:33cremation work. But now, tasks like
12:36lifting dead animals, skinning them,
12:38leatherwork, cleaning filth, and in
12:40many areas, even washing clothes began
12:43to be considered low. Whichever group
12:46performed these tasks was also
12:48gradually considered untouchable. This
12:50is the reason why the list of groups
12:52considered untouchable in later texts
12:54is found to be much longer than before.
12:57Meanwhile, Dr. Ambedkar believed that
12:59the people from tribes defeated and
13:01scattered in wars were settled outside
13:03villages, and later, their dietary
13:04habits, especially eating beef, led to
13:06them being made untouchables. And then
13:09came the period when untouchability
13:12reached its most terrifying form. About
13:14200 to 300 years ago, in some parts of
13:17India, the situation became such that
13:19touching someone was out of the
13:21question. For some people, even
13:23appearing in front of someone was a
13:25crime. It was even decided exactly how
13:27many steps away they had to stay. This
13:29is most clearly visible in South India,
13:32in Kerala and the then-state of
13:34Travancore. Untouchability there was
13:37not limited to just touching. Even
13:39coming close was considered to make a
13:41person impure. A distance was fixed for
13:44every community regarding how many
13:46steps they had to stand away from
13:48people of so-called higher castes.
13:50Records from that time show this
13:52distance written as 30 to 40 steps in
13:54some places, and even more than 90
13:56steps in others. Different regions had
13:58different rules. But the mindset was
14:00the same: do not come near me. Now just
14:02imagine, you are walking on a path and
14:05if you see someone coming, you have to
14:07immediately step off the path into the
14:09fields so that the fixed distance
14:11between you and them remains. For some
14:14communities, the situation was even
14:15worse than this. Just being seen by
14:17them was considered impurity. That is,
14:20they had to live in daylight avoiding
14:22people's eyes on common roads. And
14:25walking on roads around many temples
14:27was strictly forbidden for these people
14:30. Even the roads that belonged to the
14:32government and were meant for everyone
14:34could not be stepped on by some people.
14:36One such incident is also linked to
14:38Pune in Maharashtra. This is from the
14:41time when the Peshwas ruled there. Dr.
14:43Ambedkar wrote in his book '
14:45Annihilation of Caste' that during the
14:48Peshwa era in Pune, a person considered
14:50an untouchable had to walk with a broom
14:53tied to their waist. So that their
14:55footprints would be erased as they
14:57walked. And no one else would become
15:00impure by stepping on those marks, and
15:02they had to hang an earthen pot around
15:04their neck so they would not spit on
15:06the ground because their spit could
15:09also make someone impure, and then
15:10British rule came to India. It is often
15:14said that the British created the caste
15:16system. But by now you have seen that
15:19this is not true because it had been
15:20going on for thousands of years before
15:22them. But yes, the British certainly
15:25solidified it in a new way. In 1901,
15:29when the country's census took place,
15:31the official Herbert Risley decided
15:33that not only would people be counted,
15:36but castes would also be recorded in
15:38government documents in a hierarchy.
15:41Furthermore, British officials of that
15:43era even measured the width of people's
15:46noses. This was to prove that different
15:48castes were, in fact, different races.
15:51The discrimination of the villages had
15:53now reached official government papers.
15:55This meant the thousands-year-old
15:56practice of untouchability had been
15:58further solidified with a government
16:00seal. It started to feel like these
16:02conditions would never change, and
16:04those who faced this humiliation would
16:06endure it forever. But during this very
16:09era, there were some people who refused
16:11to remain silent. In truth, voices
16:14against this discrimination had been
16:16raised even before this. Hundreds of
16:19years ago, Saint Kabir had said: "
16:21Garbhwas mahkul nahi jaati." Which
16:23means, there is no caste in a mother's
16:26womb. Everyone is born from the same
16:28place. Saint Ravidas dreamed of a city
16:31that he named Begumpura. Meaning, a
16:35city where no one would have any sorrow
16:37. And Guru Nanak started a tradition
16:40where free food was cooked for everyone
16:43together, which subsequent Sikh Gurus
16:45strengthened further. Whether a king or
16:48a laborer, rich or poor, everyone sat
16:51in the same line on the floor and ate
16:53together. But the words of these saints
16:56remained mostly limited to devotion and
16:58sermons. The rules of society continued
17:00to remain as they were. Real change
17:03began when people moved beyond just
17:05words and took action on the ground. In
17:081848, in the city of Pune, Maharashtra,
17:11a husband and wife did something that
17:13no one at that time could even imagine.
17:16Their names were Jyotirao Phule and
17:19Savitribai Phule. In that era, just
17:21educating girls was considered a very
17:23big deal. And teaching children
17:25considered untouchable was nearly
17:27impossible. But the Phule couple first
17:30opened a school for girls and then for
17:32those children whom society had always
17:34kept away from education. Jyotirao
17:37first educated Savitribai himself, and
17:39then Savitribai began teaching those
17:41children. Their biographies state that
17:44when she went to school, people would
17:46throw mud and cow dung at her on the
17:48way. That is why she used to carry a
17:51spare saree in her bag. So that she
17:54could change her clothes upon reaching
17:55school and teach the children. And then
17:58came the year 1868, when the Phule
18:00couple took a step that connects
18:03directly to the greatest pain of this
18:05story. He opened his home's water tank
18:09to those who were not allowed to fetch
18:11water from the village and city wells
18:13or ponds. Think about it: in an era
18:17where even a person from a lower caste
18:19touching someone's utensil was a crime,
18:21someone opened his own home's water to
18:23them, and Phule did not stop there. In
18:271873, he formed the Satyashodhak Samaj
18:29so that those who had been oppressed
18:31for centuries could unite and raise
18:33their voices for their rights. And this
18:36voice was not limited to Pune alone.
18:39Around the same time Phule was fighting
18:41for schools and water in Maharashtra,
18:43people at the other end of the country
18:45were also beginning to stand up against
18:48this humiliation. In that same Kerala
18:50we just heard about, where some people
18:52were forbidden from even appearing
18:54before others and were not allowed to
18:56set foot on certain roads. There, in
18:591888, Sri Narayana Guru personally
19:01installed a Shiva Lingam at Aruvippuram
19:04with his own hands. At a time when many
19:07communities were not even allowed to
19:09approach the temple, a message
19:11associated with him began to echo
19:13throughout Kerala. One caste, one
19:15religion, one God, and then came the
19:18year 1893 and a sight that no one had
19:21ever imagined. A young man named
19:24Ayyankali bought a bullock cart. For
19:27people who were forbidden from even
19:29walking on public roads, sitting in a
19:31bullock cart was beyond imagination.
19:33Ayyankali tied bells around the necks
19:35of the bulls. He wore a white dhoti and
19:38a turban, and drove his bullock cart
19:40directly onto the very road where his
19:43community was forbidden to step. As the
19:46cart moved forward with the sound of
19:48bells, the entire area watched in
19:50astonishment. This was not just a ride.
19:53It was a declaration that this road
19:55belongs to me too. And then, in a small
19:57town called Vaikom in this same Kerala,
20:00a major Indian movement began. The
20:02Vaikom Satyagraha, meaning a peaceful
20:04fight for one's rights. There was a
20:07famous Shiva temple in Vaikom, and
20:09people from many communities were
20:10forbidden to walk on the roads
20:12surrounding it. Note that this fight
20:14was not about entering the temple. This
20:17fight was simply about walking on the
20:19road that passed outside the temple. On
20:22March 30, 1924, some people marched
20:24towards those roads and were arrested.
20:27But the movement did not stop. More
20:29people came the next day. Days turned
20:31into weeks, and weeks into months. Even
20:33during the rainy season, the people
20:35remained steadfast there. E.V. Ramasamy
20:37also came from Tamil Nadu to support
20:39this movement. The same social reformer
20:42whom people called Periyar with love
20:44and respect, and he even went to jail
20:46for this fight. And the most surprising
20:50thing was that groups of Sikh
20:51volunteers from Punjab, thousands of
20:53kilometers away, reached there and
20:55started running free kitchens for the
20:57protesters so that no one would go
20:59hungry. In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi also
21:02reached Vaikom and started trying to
21:05resolve this dispute. This fight lasted
21:08for about 604 days, and finally, in
21:10November 1925, some roads around the
21:13temple were opened for everyone. Just
21:17imagine, people had to fight for 604
21:19days just to get the right to walk on a
21:21road. Now the winds of change were
21:23blowing across the entire country.
21:25People were demanding schools,
21:27demanding roads, demanding respect. But
21:30one thing was still exactly as it was.
21:33Water; in every village, every city,
21:35the same old rules were still applied
21:37to public wells and ponds. And during
21:40this period, a child was growing up in
21:42Maharashtra. Who, even when thirsty at
21:45school, could not get water because he
21:46could not touch the tap himself. That
21:49child never forgot this insult, and
21:51later that same child stepped toward a
21:54pond with thousands of people one day,
21:56and then that same child wrote the
21:58Constitution of independent India. I am
22:01talking about Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. On
22:05April 14, 1891, he was born into a
22:07family that society considered
22:09untouchable. He was very sharp in
22:13studies from childhood, but what
22:15happened to him in school was enough to
22:17break any child's heart. He was not
22:19allowed to sit with the other children
22:22in class. He used to carry a sack from
22:24home and sit separately on it, and when
22:26he felt thirsty, he could not touch the
22:29tap himself. The school peon would come
22:31and pour water into his hands from
22:34above. Only then could he drink water,
22:36and if the peon was not there, he would
22:38not get water all day. Ambedkar later
22:41wrote about this in his autobiography
22:43in just four words. "No peon, no water,
22:45" meaning if there is no peon, there is
22:48no water. Think about the same pain
22:50that the 6-year-old child had at the
22:52beginning of this video. The same pain
22:55was endured daily in his childhood by
22:57the person who wrote India's
22:58Constitution. Once he set out on a
23:00journey with his brother to meet their
23:02father. On the way, they rented a
23:05bullock cart, but as soon as the driver
23:07found out which family these children
23:09were from, he stopped the cart in anger
23:11and made them get off. After much
23:14pleading, he agreed to charge double
23:16the fare on the condition that the
23:18children would drive the cart
23:19themselves while he walked alongside,
23:21and throughout that entire night, the
23:23children could not even find water to
23:25drink. Then, times changed. Ambedkar
23:27got educated and went to America and
23:29England. He returned with degrees from
23:32the greatest universities there. Very
23:34few Indians at that time had such
23:36education. But when he reached Baroda
23:39for a job, he couldn't find a room to
23:41live in the city. He hid his identity
23:43to rent a room in an inn, but when
23:46people found out the truth, he was
23:48thrown out. This meant even foreign
23:51degrees could not save him from the
23:53humiliation he faced solely because of
23:56his birth. And this is what Ambedkar
23:58realized: this battle could not be won
24:00through education alone. One would have
24:02to stand up for it. And then, that day
24:04arrived. In 1923, the Bombay government
24:07passed a resolution that government
24:09wells, ponds, and public water sources
24:12would remain open for everyone. But the
24:15rule written on paper was not
24:16implemented anywhere on the ground.
24:18There is a small town in Maharashtra
24:21called Mahad. There was a large public
24:24pond there named Chavdar Tale.
24:26According to the law, this pond was
24:28open to everyone. Even animals could
24:31drink its water, but those considered
24:33untouchables could not touch it. On
24:37March 20, 1927, Ambedkar marched toward
24:39this pond with thousands of people. He
24:42walked down the steps of the pond, bent
24:44down, cupped the water in his palms,
24:46and drank it. Thousands of people
24:48behind him did the same. These were not
24:50just a few sips of water. It was the
24:52first open response against thousands
24:54of years of humiliation. But what
24:56happened afterward shows how difficult
24:59it was to change mindsets. Rumors were
25:01spread in the city that these people
25:03were also going to enter the temple;
25:06the returning crowds were attacked, and
25:08then the pond was "purified." Meaning,
25:11things like cow dung and cow urine were
25:13added to the water to make it holy
25:15again because untouchables had touched
25:16it. But Ambedkar did not back down. On
25:20December 25, 1927, in the same Mahad,
25:23he publicly burned copies of the
25:26Manusmriti. The very text that,
25:28thousands of years ago, decreed that
25:30these people's homes must be outside
25:32the village and their food served in
25:34broken vessels. This was a message that
25:37rules which do not recognize a human as
25:39a human would no longer be accepted.
25:42And then, 20 years later, the country
25:44became independent. The chairman of the
25:46committee to draft the Constitution of
25:48independent India was made the same man
25:50who, as a child, was not allowed to
25:52touch the school water tap. The
25:54Constitution came into effect on
25:56January 26, 1950, and Article 17
25:59clearly stated that untouchability is
26:01abolished and its practice in any form
26:04is forbidden. Meaning, the
26:07untouchability that began thousands of
26:09years ago in religious texts was
26:11declared a crime by independent India
26:13in its greatest book. After this, a law
26:17providing punishment for it was enacted
26:19in 1955, and in 1989, an even stricter
26:21law was introduced to prevent
26:23atrocities against Scheduled Castes and
26:26Tribes. But did the mindset change just
26:29because laws were made? Remember, at
26:30the beginning of the video, we
26:32mentioned a case. Nearly 45 years after
26:35the Constitution came into effect, in
26:371995, a case from a village in
26:39Karnataka reached the country's highest
26:41court, the Supreme Court. What was the
26:44case? Some people in the village were
26:46stopped from drawing water from a
26:48public water source. Just because of
26:50their caste. That is, the same water
26:53for which a fight was waged in Mahad in
26:551927, for that very water, one had to
26:57knock on the doors of the court even in
26:59independent India. And this is not an
27:02isolated case. In 2011-12, a major
27:04survey was conducted across more than
27:0742,000 households nationwide, where
27:09people were directly asked if
27:11untouchability is still practiced in
27:13their homes today. And about 27%of the
27:16households admitted it. Yes, meaning
27:19roughly one in every four homes. So now
27:22, let's return to the question of that
27:246-year-old child with which we started
27:26this video. Mom, why can't we drink
27:28water from that well? His mother did
27:30not have the answer to that question.
27:33But today, we do. Water does not belong
27:35to any one person. Water belongs to
27:38everyone, and before any caste, a human
27:40being is just a human being. Does such
27:43discrimination still exist in your
27:44village or city today? Do share your
27:48thoughts in the comments, and if this
27:50video has forced you to think, then be
27:52sure to reach it to those who need to
27:54know this truth.

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