06-05-2007, 07:55 PM
from above link
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> "<b>I am a farmer and I am poor," said Rajesh Gurjjar, 26, his thin T-shirt soaked with sweat a few minutes after police chased him off a main thoroughfare in New Delhi's suburb of Gurgaon on Monday.
"I want a government job. It pays more. The office is cool in summer. The fields are too hot."
In other words, the fastest way up India's modern economic ladder is a quick step down its age-old social ladder</b>.
...........
India's 160 million dalits have no caste, and for centuries been viewed as "pollutants." To this day, many are forced to live in separate villages, prohibited from drawing water at wells used by other Hindus, and often subjected to violent abuse.
It's this group the Gujjars want to join.
"Our people have not benefited from India's economic growth. Most Gujjars are herders. They live in huts on the hills. This is a matter of survival," said Bharat Tanwar, 30, who joined a small, peaceful protest Friday in central New Delhi.
That may be true for most Gujjars, although not necessarily for Tanwar. He's a textile engineer.
"But I did not go to a top university. I cannot make so much money," he said. "I want my son to go to a top engineering school, to work with computers."
<b>What about the stigma of being at the bottom of the caste system?
"That does not matter so much for us," </b>said Pradeep Bidhuri, a 27-year-old teacher, also taking part in the protest. "We are not as disrespected as dalits."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> "<b>I am a farmer and I am poor," said Rajesh Gurjjar, 26, his thin T-shirt soaked with sweat a few minutes after police chased him off a main thoroughfare in New Delhi's suburb of Gurgaon on Monday.
"I want a government job. It pays more. The office is cool in summer. The fields are too hot."
In other words, the fastest way up India's modern economic ladder is a quick step down its age-old social ladder</b>.
...........
India's 160 million dalits have no caste, and for centuries been viewed as "pollutants." To this day, many are forced to live in separate villages, prohibited from drawing water at wells used by other Hindus, and often subjected to violent abuse.
It's this group the Gujjars want to join.
"Our people have not benefited from India's economic growth. Most Gujjars are herders. They live in huts on the hills. This is a matter of survival," said Bharat Tanwar, 30, who joined a small, peaceful protest Friday in central New Delhi.
That may be true for most Gujjars, although not necessarily for Tanwar. He's a textile engineer.
"But I did not go to a top university. I cannot make so much money," he said. "I want my son to go to a top engineering school, to work with computers."
<b>What about the stigma of being at the bottom of the caste system?
"That does not matter so much for us," </b>said Pradeep Bidhuri, a 27-year-old teacher, also taking part in the protest. "We are not as disrespected as dalits."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->