Sat 05/03/2005 20:16 Image(313)
I am sure that you are wondering why this guy is wearing a mask. He too has a cause and it is to bring attention to the plight of the Dalits which is another world for Untouchables. They are thought to be of no value and that they pollute the air with their very being. I had thought, you too probably, that the caste system had been abolished but that is not at all the case.
KIP Knowledge is Power is trying to do their part in confronting the problem of the caste system. The people producing this brand of clothing are the Untouchables. He’s wearing a mask to put himself in the same position as the Dalits, one of the oppressed without a face.
In India three Dalit women are raped every day. Two "Out-cast" people are killed daily in the name of thousands of years old religious principals. Dr. Ambedkar, an untouchable by birth, the first law minister and the writer of the Indian Constitution was the instigator of this revolt. Today many movements are trying to fight for the recognition of the dalits as human beings.
KIP is a line of clothing made by dalit women in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) at the Doctor Ambedkar Cultural Academy. The institute for empowerment of Dalits, created by Dalits themselves, on the initiative of Antony Raj, a disciple of Ambedkar.
If you live in Paris, you can visit the squat on 111 rue St. Honore up until next Tuesday and give your support to a good cause by purchasing one of the samples. At the moment they are all size large.
