social opression

Sankarshan Thakur’s anecdote “Still There” from “People Unlike Us”, a well selected compilation of contemporary essays, poses a grave question as the country drags itself through the dawn of a new century. As a piece of civic journalism it bluntly portrays the caste oppression prevalent in several parts of India; in particular it focuses on the mass hysteria and social setup crippled by age old beliefs and long practiced customs that led to the brutal killings of two Chamar (harijans of the so called cobbler class) boys and a Jat (high born) girl in the village of Mehrana in Uttar Pradesh, India.
The underlying story is simple and is probably well known to most of us. It tells the tale of a low born boy, Brijendra and a high class girl, Roshni, who fell in love. Evidently, their families would not approve of their marriage; so they eloped. They were assisted by a friend of the boy who goes by the name of Ram Kishan. It was not long before they were caught red handed and the ...