“Mandela” Film is a Stark Reflection of Caste in India
Published on: 3 May 2021, 04:32 am
The stark difference among castes in India is seen in the humiliating practice of manual scavenging. A recent movie, "Mandela", depicts the difference in a no-nonsense way. While many policies, including the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, were meant to curb this practice, they have fallen flat, especially in rural areas, writes SHAILESHWAR YADAV.
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A FILM, "Mandela", premiered recently on Netflix, is a political satire and comically rich. It captured the intricacies of caste-based oppression in Indian society.
The movie is set in a small village and follows events leading to a local body election. The storyline is simple: two half-brothers belonging to different regions and caste contest an election against each other when their father, the village leader, falls sick. The village is divided into two prominent groups led by the two brothers. Yogi Babu plays the role of Mandela, a lower caste barber who does not belong to either of the groups and is considered an outcast.
Rampant Discrimination
The opening scene of the film shows caste discrimination. The villagers can be seen in utter distress after a stray dog soiled the new and only public toilet in the village just before its inauguration. To clean the toilet, the quest for Mandela began.
A villager drove in a car to take Mandela to the toilet. However, as soon as Mandela sits in the car, he is slapped by the villager. "Get down! Don't you know your caste? Have you got no shame? How dare you get in the car? You will get in the car as an equal?" the casteist villager questioned angrily. Mandela was then ordered to follow the car and reach the public toilet. Mandela then cleaned the toilet.
This practice of manually dealing with excreta is called manual scavenging by the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. But this law has remained toothless.
It provides for a public official to be appointed for the identification and rehabilitation of manual scavengers. However, the reality is that there is a lack of interference by such officials in rural areas.