Caste and Structural Violence: Contextualizing Sewer Deaths of Valmiki Community in Delhi

Abstract

Indian society is a caste-based society with graded inequalities, exclusion, discrimination, and untouchability. It produces violence in a structured manner by justifying through caste and religious codes which Ambedkar calls it as division of laborer. Scavengers’ community is at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, are obliged to do unclean occupations which is culturally assigned for centuries. Manual scavenging is one of the toxic occupations, which leads to death or serious diseases. The question arises of how caste produces/constructs structural violence against manual scavengers in Delhi. Though literature is available on the issues of manual scavenging problems and concerns, few have analyzed the life and death of manual scavengers in the context of structural violence. This study is based on my observation and interaction with the families of the deceased manual scavengers (sewer and septic workers) and sewer workers in Delhi. This study is qualitative research based on primary and secondary data. Further this paper argues that the caste status of manual scavengers makes them vulnerable to caste based structural violence. Stigma, Exclusion and Caste Violence is the base of my theoretical concerns.