A rights body in Bangladesh has called for lifting the unwritten ‘ban’ on the entry of Dalits – the lowest outside the four main castes in the Indian subcontinent’s social order– into restaurants and eateries after a youth burnt his hand in a scuffle over the issue. The Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement (BDERM) made the demand during a press conference held at the Bogra Press Club on Dec. 17 days after Mithun Bashfor, 23, suffered burn injuries at a local hotel in the Santahar municipal area of the northern Bogra district.
The next day, on Dec. 18, police arrested Masud Rana, 33, a Muslim youth for allegedly pushing Bashfor and causing him to fall on boiling oil, after a heated argument over serving him inside the restaurant. “This age-old rule, this racist treatment of a specific class of people who are in a minority is a violation of human rights.
India’s poor deserve better than this
Concerns are being raised about whether the needs of poor and marginalized communities in India are receiving enough attention in current government policies. Observers say
