Editing Untouchability (section)

{{other uses|Untouchable (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Outcaste|other uses of "outcast"|Outcast (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Discriminatory practices against certain social groups}}

{{Discrimination sidebar|expand-religious=yes}}
'''Untouchability''' is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimination are found all over the world, untouchability involving the [[Caste system in India|caste system]] is largely unique to [[South Asia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of untouchability {{!}} Dictionary.com |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/untouchability |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128033833/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/untouchability |archive-date=28 November 2020 |access-date=28 February 2021 |website=www.dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shah |first1=Ghanshyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IFjDwAAQBAJ |title=Untouchability in Rural India |last2=Mander |first2=Harsh |last3=Thorat |first3=Sukhadeo |last4=Deshpande |first4=Satish |last5=Baviskar |first5=Amita |date=7 August 2006 |publisher=[[SAGE Publications|SAGE Publishing India]] |isbn=978-93-5280-564-8 |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Teltumbde |first=Anand |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1334333041 |title=MAHAD the making of the first dalit revolt. |date=2022 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-000-78061-1 |location=[S.l.] |pages=15 |oclc=1334333041}}</ref>

The term is most commonly associated with treatment of the [[Dalit]] communities in the [[Indian subcontinent]] who were considered "polluting". The term has also been used to refer to other groups, including the ''[[Burakumin]]'' of Japan, the [[Baekjeong]] of Korea, and the [[Social class in Tibet#Ragyabpa|Ragyabpa]] of Tibet, as well as the [[Romani people]] and [[Cagot]] in Europe, and the [[Al-Akhdam]] in [[Yemen]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Herbert |last=Passin |title=Untouchability in the Far East |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |date=1955 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=247–267 |doi=10.2307/2382914 |jstor=2382914}}</ref><ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Sean |date=28 July 2008 |title=The Last Untouchable in Europe |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-last-untouchable-in-europe-878705.html |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |access-date=28 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112024608/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/last-untouchable-europe-878705.html |archive-date=12 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Traditionally, the groups characterized as untouchable were those whose occupations and habits of life involved ritually "polluting" activities, such as pursuing a career based on killing (e.g. fishermen) or engaging in common contact with others' feces or sweat (e.g. [[Manual scavenging|manual scavengers]], sweepers and washermen).<ref>{{cite web |title=Untouchable – Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/untouchable}}</ref>

According to Patrick Olivelle’s interpretation of some of the religious [[Hindus|Hindu]] texts, untouchables were not considered a part of the [[varna in Hinduism|varna]] system. Therefore, they were not treated like the [[Varna (Hinduism)|savarna]]s ([[Brahmin]]s, [[Kshatriya]]s, [[Vaishya]]s and [[Shudra]]s).<ref name="Olivelle" />

Due to many caste-based discriminations in [[Nepal]], the government of Nepal legally abolished the [[Caste system in Nepal|caste-system]] and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including "untouchability", in 1963.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lekhanath Pandey |last=Kathmandu |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |title=Nepal: Deadly caste-based attacks spur outcry over social discrimination |date=16 June 2020 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/nepal-deadly-caste-based-attacks-spur-outcry-over-social-discrimination/a-53827719 |access-date=28 February 2021 |language=en-GB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430170145/https://www.dw.com/en/nepal-deadly-caste-based-attacks-spur-outcry-over-social-discrimination/a-53827719 |archive-date=30 April 2023}}</ref> 

Untouchability has been outlawed in India, Nepal and Pakistan. However, "untouchability" has not been legally defined.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} The origin of untouchability and its historicity are still debated. A 2020 study of a sample of households in India concludes that "Notwithstanding the likelihood of under-reporting of the practice of untouchability, 70 percent of the population reported not indulging in this practice. This is an encouraging sign."<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Continuing Practice of Untouchability in India: Patterns and Mitigating Influences |url=https://socy.umd.edu/sites/socy.umd.edu/files/pubs/Thorat%20and%20Joshi%202019_The%20Continuning%20Practice%20of%20Untouchability%20in%20India.pdf |journal=Economic & Political Weekly |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=37 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610192808/https://socy.umd.edu/sites/socy.umd.edu/files/pubs/Thorat%20and%20Joshi%202019_The%20Continuning%20Practice%20of%20Untouchability%20in%20India.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2024}}</ref>