Our Kids, Their Kids

Children of safai karmacharis in Gujarat are forced by teachers to clean toilets and mop floors in school

They are abused and beaten if they refuse to do the menial tasks

Treated as untouchables and kept at arm’s length by upper caste students

In some areas, they are not even allowed to drink from a common source of water

Reports of their notebooks never being corrected since teachers don’t like to handle their books

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T hey had, it seems, come from all corners of Gujarat. From Gandhinagar to tribal Panchmahals, from Porbandar on the western coast to the Dangs at its southern tip. The children arrived at the Mahatma’s Sabarmati ashram, lining up solemnly in their new Gandhi caps. At the gates, they were welcomed with handwoven cotton thread malas by elderly Gandhian leaders.

They were children of safai karamcharis, Balmiki kids used...