DURBAN, South Africa, Sept. 5 -- Growing up as an "untouchable" in southern India, Sanga Priya Pilliyar was forbidden to eat from the same plates or cups as her schoolmates from higher Hindu castes.

One of the few men who have risen from the malodorous sink which is below the lowest caste of India is Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, No. 1 Untouchable. This plump, cheery, bespectacled man of no caste, ...

*The plight of the Dalit people is the focus of the third edition of V.T. Rajshekar’s 1997 book “Dalit: The Black Untouchables of India.” Traditionally known as the “Untouchables,” Dalits are a ...