Today on Listen Up: A multi-million dollar kidney transplant scam and
its victims. We’ll examine religious realities in India that set
people up to be sold for body parts.
We’ll also examine
atrocious vulnerabilities amongst the poorest people in the world’s
largest democracy. India is prosecuting the latest of an underground
kidney trafficking ring that shocked the world.
Today we'll
learn about the people targeted for exploitation: those known as Dalits
and scheduled caste’s. We'll find out why they're vulnerable to the
most violent of human rights abuses. And we'll hear a plea to speak
out on their behalf after the trail of their misery found its way to
Canada.
THE CONTEXT
A suspected mastermind accused
of a shocking crime. Amit Kumar, is alleged to have coordinated the
theft of human kidneys for sale in markets around the globe. Over 500
people from underprivileged castes in India were victimized in the
scandal. Some desperate for money, sold their kidneys. Others were
forced at gunpoint and drugged as their kidneys were surgically
removed, then sold to wealthy recipients around the world.
In
India, it’s led to nationwide revulsion. Charges of “crimes against
life and health” were laid against Kumar, who made his home in Canada
where he was known as a medical doctor and where he kept his money and
family.
Indian police said teams of kidney scouts roamed
labour markets in Delhi and cities in India's poorest state, searching
for potential donors for the kidney scam. Implicated in the case are 20
paramedics, five nurses, three hospitals, 10 clinics and seven police
charged with accepting bribes.
Kumar denies all wrong doing.
News reports here, say emails he had been receiving suggest Kumar was
getting transplant inquiries from Canada.
Dr. Joseph D’souza leads multiple organisations both in India and
internationally. He is the International President of the Dalit Freedom
Network and is particularly concerned about human rights issues in
India and other parts of Asia. He has spoken at both the United Kingdom
and Hong Kong Human Rights Conferences. He has spoken at the Human
Rights Commission meetings in Geneva and has had discussions with Mary
Robinson, the previous United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (UNHCHR). In addition, he has been a delegate at meetings with
members of Parliament in Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom,
and Congressional leaders in the United States.
D’souza is also the President of the All India Christian Council.
In 2005, Dr. D’souza published his first book, Dalit Freedom Now
and Forever. It traces the history of the Dalit quest for emancipation
and the response of the Indian church. It gives a strong challenge
toward the elimination of caste discrimination around the world.
Dr. D’souza lives in India and operates out of London and Denver.
To buy Dr. D’Souza’s book: Dalit Freedom Now and Forever: http://ww4.aitsafe.com/cf/add.cfm
What Listen Up looked at today is the largest case of
modern day slavery. The plight of Dalit people in India. They are
socially, religiously, economically, and politically oppressed. Treated
as untouchables, millions work in slavery. All taking place in the
world’s largest democracy, India. Please go to the material on our
website at listenuptv.com to be part of telling the story of this
tragedy of discrimination and abuse. It will take effort, but when we
know who our neighbors are and what they face as we learned today, have
we any other option? Let’s get involved in the plight of more than 250
million Dalits and scheduled castes.
WHO ARE THE DALITS?
(from Dalit Freedom Network)
One
of the more confusing mysteries of India is her caste system. The caste
system, which has existed for more than 3,000 years, was developed by
the Brahmin (priest) caste in order to maintain their superiority.
Eventually, the caste system became formalized into four distinct
classes (Varna).
The Brahmins are the highest Varna and are the
priests and arbiters of what is right and wrong in matters of religion
and society. Below them are the Kshatriyas, who served traditionally as
soldiers and administrators. The Vaisyas are the artisan and commercial
class, while the Sudras are the farmers and the peasants. It is said
that the Brahmin come from Brahma’s mouth, Kshatriyas from his arms,
Vaisyas from his thighs, and Sudras from his feet.
Beneath the four
main castes is a fifth group, the Scheduled Castes. The people of the
Scheduled Castes are not part of the Varna system. They are the
untouchables, the Dalit.
A Dalit is not considered part of human
society, but instead is considered something less than human. The
Dalits generally perform the most menial and degrading jobs. Caste
rules hold that Dalits pollute higher caste people with their presence.
If higher caste Hindus touch an untouchable or even come within a
Dalit’s shadow, they must undergo rigorous series of cleansing rituals.
Approximately
250 million Indians (a full 25% of the population), are Dalit. In a
country where everybody is supposed to have equal rights and
opportunities, one out of four people is condemned to be untouchable.
Although
the Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms for
all Indians, Dalit are systematically abused. Dalit are poor, deprived
and socially backward. Their most basic needs of food, shelter, and
safety are not fulfilled. They also cannot access decent education and
employment. The systematic denial of their basic human rights results
in a lack of education, food, healthcare, and economic opportunity,
thereby keeping Dalit in perpetual bondage to the upper castes.
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On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
