Poverty has nothing to do with scavenging, says Bezwada Wilson

Hyderabad: Magsaysay Award winner Bezwada Wilson on Sunday busted the commonly held notion among people that manual scavenging was a result of poverty and illiteracy.  He said that it is a result of casteism.

Delivering a talk at Manthan Samvad 2016, Mr Wilson said, “There are many illiterates and poor people but not all of them do manual scavenging. It is only people from a few untouchable castes who have been forced to do it for thousands of years. They have been forced to do so because of their caste. You have the privilege to forget your caste but I don’t. Brahminism is in everyone's head.”

He recalled an instance where he had produced a photograph of a manual scavenger at work in the Supreme Court. The Court said the picture was two years old and told him to get another one.

He said, “A human cleaning and carrying human excreta is an image that I cannot bear to see but I was forced to tell the woman to pose for the picture again while working. At some places such photographs had to be clicked 7-8 times,” he said.

Mr Wilson attacked the pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “Crores of rupees have been allocated for Swachh Bharat and money is being collected in the name of cess. But why is it that manual scavengers are not being paid the promised compensation ranging from Rs 1-15 lakh. Swachh Bharat was launched by the PM in 2014 but he did utter a word regarding manual scavengers."

He asked, "India has developed cryogenic engine on its own but why is it seeking technological assistance from Western nations when it comes to the simple issue of cleaning sewers and maintaining sanitation?"

Mr Wilson said that apart from casteism, patriarchy is another major issue. He said, "Why did the Gurgaon police recently issue order saying women should not be out after 8 PM. It should have rather passed order that men should not be out after 8 PM because they are the ones who commit crimes against women."

Touching on the beef issue, Mr Wilson questioned the ban on beef asking why a food item that is being consumed by some members of society since ages is being banned. He said, "If cow is matha then why is the dead body of a cow given to a dalit for disposal rather than respectfully cremating it?"