Commentaire de texte anglais : the shame of india

The Shame of India

Presentation:

It’s a press article entitled The Shame Of India. It was written by Liz Stuart, I would add that it published in the Guardian Weekly which is a British Newspaper. It’s actually a digest of articles from the Guardian and the Observer, the Washington post and Le Monde. Eventually it was published on January 10th 2002

Summary:

This article describes aDalit’s man’s life. The journalist reports on the Caste System in India. For this reason, we can say that the article is based on a testimony. Actually, the burning issue is social division and discrimination in India. We are given information about their social status. They are (Dalits) not considered as part of human society. Morover she insist on the fact that they represent 20% of the totalpopulation. Their everyday living conditions are appaling/miserable. Then the other focus is on MacWan. The key information about him is that he’s an activist he has been fighting for Dalit’s civil rights since 1981. As for his family background we can say that he come a very underprivileged family and yet he managed to carry on further studies. Nonetheless, one day he was on the verge of give up hisfight since he was sick and tired. However a dalits mother gives him the right way once more. MacWan is the leader of a domestic and international lobby given that he believes the cast system is the shame of India.

Structure:

My commentary will be splet int 3 part.
1 -11 : “Indian’s hidden apartheid”
12-25 : “Dalit’s everyday lives” “A shameful discrimination”
22-end : “MacWan’s fight”“A grass-root activist”

Commentary:

(Part I) The role played by this part is to expose and denounce the social situation of Dalits in India. She points out the fact there are consider as a minority group and yet there 250miliion Dalits in India. This figure is very impressive and even flabbergasting. It corresponds to 25% of the total population which amounts to 1 billion people. I’d like toadd that India is the 2nd biggest population in the world. The problem lies in the fact they are not regarded as human beings, they are an outcast, it means that they are discriminated and prejudiced against. The word outcast means that they are not belong to the social pattern. Through MacWan’s testimony we are informed that they are opposed. He’s fighting for their civil rights. What she wants usto realize is that this situation is known by many people (l.1). The word Dalits doesn’t ring a bell to many people (l.5). She puts the stress on the idea that very few people have got information about this pattern (l.8) is very pregnant with meaning. The journalist makes a comparison with South Africa when she uses the word Apartheid. Most people have heard about the cast system believe thatit has been abolished/eradicated/whipped away; we can read it l.6-7.

(Part II) Fortunately, MM has decided to struggle against this discrimination so that Dalits can fight they’re civil right back but also their dignity. Dalits are humiliated; they are treated like animals/dirt. They are considered as non-entities, it means that they are not regarded as human beings. Some humiliations areminor-ones, for example, they are not allowed to wear sunglasses, they are forbidden from tucking their shirt into their pants, they are denied to ride bicycles in town centers. But they have go to through major-ones. Dalit’s women are raped by caste men. They are forced to prostitute to temples. They are obliged to clean septic tank by hands. It’s a very degrading job since they lose their dignity.All these examples show that they are excluded; they are cut off from society. This passage proves that they are an outcast. Discrimination is forbidden by the law in Indian. And yet it is weekly spread; it is paradoxical. They are considered as non-entities.

(Part III) The focus is on MacWan’s family background. His father was a tobacco picker. It is a very underpaid job since it is…