Mapping Hate: Caste-based crimes in 2021 Hate crimes against Dalits and Adivasis continue even today!
13, Jan 2022 | CJP Team
Communal violence aside, hate crimes against India’s Dalits (oppressed castes) and Adivasis (indigenous tribal communities) persisted in 2021. To highlight how these crimes are prevalent even in this day and age, CJP had previously put together a list of these shameful attacks. Now, we are presenting an interactive infographic, charting the various instances of hate crimes against Dalits and Adivasis.
The attacks against the two groups are showcased distinctly using blue (for Dalits) and green (for Adivasis). A cursory glance reveals that caste-based crimes are more rampant and abundant across the nation. Meanwhile, attacks against Adivasis are focused in central India where there has been an increase in awareness about forest rights since the passage of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Among its four pillars of action, the land and livelihood rights of Adivasis and traditional forest dwellers, is one. CJP, with its expertise in navigating cases of human rights violations in the courts and beyond has been active on the issue; partnering with the All India Union of Forest Working Peoples (AIUFWP) since 2017 to battle any setback to these rights in the courts. This includes legally fighting back against malicious prosecution of leaders of the community and defending the Forest Rights Act, 2006 in the Supreme Court. We stand with the millions of Forest Dwellers and Adivasis whose lives and livelihoods are threatened. Please support our efforts by donating here.
In all, the map charts 39 hate incidents of which seven attacks are against indigenous groups. This means that 82 percent of the crimes documented in this map were against Dalit community members. So far, 11 caste-based crimes occurred in UP (28 percent), followed by four incidents in Bihar (10 percent), three crimes in Gujarat and Haryana (7 percent), two crimes in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Delhi recorded one incident each. It may be noted that this is not an exhaustive list of all such hate crimes in 2021.
Similarly, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh reported two incidents each of crimes against indigenous communities and Rajasthan and Jharkhand reported at least one.
Following individual attacks, crimes against minors were the highest – 11 incidents against children from Scheduled Castes (SC) and 2 incidents against children from Scheduled Tribes (ST). Similarly, there were 10 cases of crimes against women including minors in 2021 and 9 incidents of attacks on families or groups.
Earlier, CJP and our sister concern SabrangIndia had also documented 60 incidents of communal violence. If those attacks are also accounted for, caste-based crimes still account for around 32 percent of hate crimes.
