[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PRIME MINISTER, FREE THE DALITS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, earlier this month a human rights 
conference was held on Capitol Hill on the issue of the Dalits of 
India. We learned that India's caste system was established 3,000 years 
ago. It allows a powerful few to dominate the many, but not everyone 
has a caste.
  A group once called the Dalits, ``the untouchables,'' have none. They 
are literally outcast, some 250 to 300 million people. Often the Dalits 
are treated worse than animals, denied access to water, food, health 
care, even clothing, because they are deemed unworthy of these things. 
The vast injustice done to these people is indescribable. The Dalits 
are attacked not only physically, but various community members, 
sometimes even the police, attack them.
  India is a great friend to America. As the world's largest democracy, 
it holds limitless potential; but just as slavery and the unequal 
treatment of African Americans blemished our record for much of our 
history, so the treatment of Dalits will hold our friend India back.
  Countries that protect the rights and freedoms of all people are more 
stable and more prosperous. Once America came to accept that all 
citizens were equal and deserved equal opportunity to build a better 
life, we became a stronger Nation, and our calls for freedom elsewhere 
carry more credibility, because we grant it to all of our citizens. If 
they free the Dalits, India's will, too.

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