In South Asia's caste system, an untouchable, dalit, or achuta is a person outside of the four castes, and considered below them. Untouchables include such people as leather-workers. There are various subcastes or jati within untouchable, the lowest ranking generally considered to be the Bhangis. At the 1991 census, Dalits constituted more than 16% of India's population, [1] (http://www.censusindia.net/scst.html) with the greatest numbers living in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. Nepal and in Pakistan (http://www.pakdalits.tk), more than 60% of total Hindus is Dalit population.
Harijan was the polite form for untouchable coined by Mahatma Gandhi which means "Children of God" (Hari is another name for Vishnu, a Hindu God). Untouchables generally consider this term to be condescending and prefer the name dalit, variously translated as "crushed", "stepped on" or "oppressed". The term scheduled castes/scheduled tribes (SC/ST) is also used in the Indian legal system to refer to this group along with other non-caste tribes.
Mari Marcel Thekaekara. 1999. Endless Filth: The Saga of the Bhangis. London: Zed Books. ISBN 184277266X.
Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 817036809X (India HB) ISBN 0761993444 (U.S. HB).
The band have blamed Internet "piracy" (see copyright infringement) for this, but others blame a decline in the band's songwriting since Follow The Leader for the drop in sales.
Early organisation by Untouchables themselves was on a caste and regional basis, and relationships between different Untouchable castes were often difficult.
Ambedkar, an Untouchable himself, developed a deeper analysis of Untouchability, but lacked a workable political strategy: his conversion to Buddhism in 1956, along with millions of followers, highlighted the failure of his political endeavours.
Discrimination against Untouchables is still widespread in rural areas in the private sphere, in ritual matters such as access to eating places and water sources.
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