HYDERABAD: At a programme organised under the banner “70 years of independent India: inclusion and exclusion” in the city on Tuesday, a Telangana-based Dalit rights group launched a campaign against domestic violence suffered by Dalit women.The organisation Dalit Sthree Sakthi’s president Jhansi Gaddam, who presided over the programme, said that if Dalit women are empowered to lead the movements demanding our rights, it will only trigger the possibility of a revolution in our society.
“We are launching a campaign to emancipate domestic violence. According to our survey, 95 per cent of the Dalit and tribal women population face domestic violence. For the upliftment of our society, the liberation of women from these atrocities is a must. In November, we will be holding a public hearing against this social evil,” said Gaddam.Former Andhra Pradesh chief secretary and SC, ST Officers’ Forum head Kaki Madhava Rao unveiled the posters against domestic violence on the occasion.
“To end the suppression of Dalits in our country, only social development will not be enough but economic development is also a must. Bridging the gap between those thriving and the economically suppressed is the need of the hour. We have to realise that unlike the superpowers, we are the only country where the disadvantaged caste is suffering social exclusion,” said Rao.
It was argued that the existing reservation provided by the government for the upliftment of SCs and STs should be successfully functional and should not remain a game of numbers which is visible only on paper. It was also asserted that for the upliftment of Dalits, development policy should be given more importance than welfare policy.
Siddhoji Rao, the founder of help desk for underprivileged, former civil servant PSN Murthy were among the key participants at the programme. The representatives from Child Welfare Committee in the state, members of Ambedkar Students’ Association from the University of Hyderabad, and a few students from Osmania University also showed their presence.