Bezwada Wilson and the struggle for Human Dignity
On a Saturday morning in December 2017 I find myself sitting in the auditorium of my Alma Mater Wilson College Mumbai at the last session of the Human Rights Week being organised by the Political Science Department. We were waiting to hear Bezwada Wilson, who had come all the way from Bengaluru to speak to us about “Manual Scavenging”. Wilson meekly walks up to the podium when requested, folds his hands and announces that he has no powerpoint presentation to show us and begins to string together sentences with whatever English he could teach himself to tell us his story.
Wilson, 50, the national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), got the Magsaysay award for “asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity” in 2016. But fifteen minutes into his talk one realizes that an award is far from why he is doing it or even close to the desirable outcome of his efforts. Wilson was born into a dalit sub-caste in Karnataka which has been made to carry out this ghastly job of cleaning dry latrines of human excreta for centuries. The caste system continues to dictate that they should remain doing so throughout their lives, prohibiting them to lead a dignified life in the society. At a young age he discovered that his parents and his brother picked human waste for a living which was a shocking revelation for him. He soon realized even the school he went to was specifically meant for his caste so that they wouldn’t “pollute” the regular schools where children of higher castes would study. Although his family and friends completely resigned to this reality it was just unacceptable to young Wilson. Soon he would set out on a long, gruesome and continuing journey with hope of getting social justice and equality for his community.
For most of his talk he tries to meekly present the inhumane conditions of work and the long drawn out legal battle for human dignity but occasionally he would raise his voice, which on finding unfamiliar territory, begins to quiver and break into short silences. This is usually followed by a half assuring advise that one must not lose faith in the Judicial system after looking at the way facts and figures continue to be distorted by the State in the matter of illegal practice of manual scavenging. He recalls a one particular incident when a government official, on his insistence, set out to identify manual scavengers and on seeing a woman carrying a bucket of waste across the road the official remarked “Oh that can’t be manual scavenging because she is not carrying the bucket on her head like the old days!”.
His life so far has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. But lows seem to have greeted him more often. He remembers one night that he spent crying under a tree outside a local government office when a negotiation with the officials didn’t come through — a simple request to get a spare bucket for a worker who was using a old leaking bucket to collect waste from dry latrines in his village. The practice continues even today despite the 1993 Act ‘The Employment of Manual Scavenging and construction of Dry Latrines” that prohibits it. However with his efforts the number of people in this profession has come drown from over 15 lakh in 1996 to around 2 lakh in 2013, 1.6 lakh of whom are women. He also acknowledges help from his community, especially those who managed to break out of the occupation and occupy positions of power to be able to push the cause much further. He fondly remembers Late S. R Sankaran Indian civil servant and social worker who mentored him and gave him the confidence to take SKA nationwide.
Safai Karmchari Andolan was initiated in 1995 by children of those engaged in Manual Scavenging themselves. Since then, it has grown progressively to become a national movement spread over 25 states of India, with the national secretariat in New Delhi. Under the guidance of the National Advisory Group, SKA’s programs are executed by the National Core Team working closely together with State Conveners, Organizers and Animators across the country. But a lot remains to be done and the State needs to work harder to closely engage the with community to truly eradicate this evil. He refuses to meet the PM and dignitaries of the State until these workers, majority of whom are women, are allowed to be present with him and tell their stories firsthand. Wilson urges the audience to reflect on whether our democracy truly inclusive if even today such is the quality of life of lakhs of supposedly “equal” citizens. Does everybody really have the right to dignity, equality and human personhood today? Until the answer is undoubtedly positive his struggle continues.
