India's 'Untouchables' Last to Be Rescued, If at All. By Gavin Rabinowitz, AP, September 1, 2008. "In the two weeks since a monsoon-swollen river burst its banks, ancient prejudices have run just as deep as the floodwaters. India's 'untouchables' are the last to be rescued -- if at all -- from a deluge that has killed dozens and made 1.2 million homeless. Dalits, the social outcasts at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder, have borne the brunt of the devastation as the rampaging Kosi River swamped hundreds of square miles in northern India after it overflowed and shifted its course dozens of miles to the east... In Triveniganj, Dalits huddled together in a small group at the end of the bridge away from everyone else. They said rescuers were saving the upper castes and the rich first, leaving their people to suffer without food and clean water. 'We are 200 people on a roof for days. Two children fell in and drowned. No one is coming to help us,' said Kishore Ram, 22... 'The officials don't listen to us little people. We can't offer bribes and influence...' [he] said."
2008-09-03
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