Under India's caste system, Dalits are considered untouchable. The coronavirus is intensifying that slur
在印度的種姓制度下，達利特人被認為是賤民。冠狀病毒正在加劇這種汙辱
April 17,2020
By Priyali Sur, CNN
New Delhi (CNN) — Polamma carefully descends the 250 steps from the hilltop slum where she lives in southern India to walk one kilometer to the nearest grocery store.
新德裡（CNN）— 波拉瑪小心地從她居住的印度南部的山頂貧民窟走了250步，步行一公裡到最近的雜貨店。
She is nine months pregnant and has four children to feed, but at the bottom of the steps community leaders of a dominant caste force her to go back empty-handed.
她已懷孕九個月，有四個孩子要餵養，但在路途的盡頭，一個佔統治地位的種姓的社區領導人迫使她空手而歸。
Since India went into lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus on March 25, 57 families who live in Polamma's hilltop village in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, have been barred from going down the hill, even to purchase essentials such as food and medicine.
自從印度於3月25日進入封鎖狀態以阻止冠狀病毒的傳播以來，波拉瑪居住的位於安德拉邦維賈亞瓦達的山頂村莊的57個家庭被禁止下山，甚至禁止購買食品和藥品等必需品。
The families are part of the Yanadi community, who work mainly as waste pickers and drain cleaners and who -- even before the coronavirus -- were segregated because of their caste.
這些家庭是雅納迪社區的一部分，他們的主要工作是拾荒者和下水道清潔工人，而且甚至在冠狀病毒發生之前，就由於種姓而被隔離。
"We've been locked up here, like prisoners -- we live near a milk factory, and there is not a drop of milk for my children to drink. We are called dirty, and they say we spread the disease," said Polamma, who only goes by one name.
「我們像囚犯一樣被關在這裡——我們住在一家牛奶廠附近，卻沒有一滴牛奶供我的孩子們喝。我們被稱為骯髒的人，他們還說我們傳播了這種疾病。」只能使用一個名字的波拉瑪說。
Pollama said she was stopped by higher caste community members as she tried to walk one kilometer to the market for food.
波拉瑪說，當她試圖步行一公裡到食品市場時，遭到種姓較高的社區成員的阻攔。
India's caste system was officially abolished in 1950, but the 2,000-year-old social hierarchy imposed on people by birth still exists in many aspects of life. The caste system categorizes Hindus at birth, defining their place in society, what jobs they can do and who they can marry.
印度的種姓制度在1950年被正式廢除了，但在生活中的許多方面仍然存在著這種從出生時就強加在人們身上的、擁有2000年歷史的社會等級制度。種姓制度對印度教徒在出生時就進行了分類，確定了他們在社會中的地位，他們可以從事的工作以及可以與誰結婚。
Those at the bottom of the hierarchy, who fall outside the four main categories of Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (traders and merchants) and the Shudras (laborers), are considered "untouchables" or Dalits.
在等級制度最底層的、那些不屬於婆羅門（牧師和教師），剎帝利（戰士和統治者），吠舍（商人）和首陀羅（工人）這四個主要類別的人，被認為是「賤民」或達利特人。
Millions of people, about 25% of India's population of 1.3 billion people, are grouped under the scheduled castes (Dalits) and scheduled tribes (Adivasis) in India's constitution. Adivasis are indigenous Indians who have been socially and economically marginalized for centuries.
數百萬人（佔印度13億人口的25％）被歸入印度憲法中規定的種姓（達利特人）和規定的部落（阿迪瓦西斯人）之下。阿迪瓦西斯人是印度人原住民，他們在社會和經濟上被邊緣化了幾個世紀。
Both groups have long endured social isolation, but it's feared the rapid spread of the coronavirus and measures to stop it have worsened their segregation.
這兩個人群都長期遭受社會孤立，但是人們擔心冠狀病毒的迅速傳播以及制止它的措施加劇了他們的孤立。
Jobs that Dalits and Adivasis have been forced to take for centuries -- cleaners, manual scavengers and waste pickers -- expose them to a greater risk of catching the virus.
達利特人和原住民被迫從事多個世紀的工作——清潔工，人工清道夫和廢物收集工——使他們更容易暴露在感染病毒的風險下。
During the pandemic, their jobs are considered essential services by the Indian government, but many say they haven't been given adequate equipment to protect themselves against Covid-19. And if they get sick, there's no social safety net to ensure they don't fall even deeper into poverty.
在大流行期間，印度政府認為他們的工作是必不可少的服務，但是許多人說，他們沒有得到足夠的設備來保護自己免受Covid-19的侵害。而且，如果他們生病了，沒有社會保障網來確保他們不會陷入更深的貧困之中。
Lower access to services and higher mortality
更少的獲得服務的途徑和更高的死亡率
When the Spanish Flu pandemic ripped through India in 1918 killing almost 17 million people, caste played a crucial role in determining who received health care -- and who died.
當1918年西班牙流感大流行席捲印度時，幾乎有1700萬人喪生，種姓在決定誰獲得醫療保健以及誰死亡方面起著至關重要的作用。
Lower caste people living in crowded slums were the most exposed to the virus, and the least able to find food and medicine as the flu spread, according to historian David Arnold, who has extensively researched and written about the Spanish Flu epidemic in India.
據歷史學家戴維·阿諾德說，生活在擁擠的貧民窟中的低種姓人群最容易感染該病毒，並且在流感傳播時最不具有找到食物和藥品的能力。他對印度的西班牙流感疫情進行了廣泛的研究和撰寫。
Historian Amit Kapoor, author of "Riding the Tiger," said 61 lower caste people died for every 1,000 in the community. For upper caste Hindus it was 19 for every 1,000, and the figure was even lower for Europeans living in India.
歷史學家阿米特·卡普爾是《騎老虎》的作者，他說，該社區每千人中有61名低種姓人死亡。印度教的上等階級為每千人19個，居住在印度的歐洲人的數字甚至更低。
However, Kapoor believes that while people belonging to the lower caste were disproportionately impacted in 1918, the situation now is different. "While caste was very predominant in 1918, in 2020 the impact of epidemics have more to do with the economic hierarchy than the social hierarchy." said Kapoor.
然而，卡普爾認為，雖然在1918年，屬於下種姓的人們受到的影響不成比例，但現在情況有所不同。卡普爾說：「雖然種姓在1918年佔十分主導的地位，但在2020年，流行病的影響更多地與經濟等級制有關，而非與社會等級制有關。」
There's little doubt that lower caste Indians are poorer than higher castes.
毫無疑問，低種姓的印度人人比高種姓者更貧窮。
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)'s global multidimensional poverty index (MPI), half of scheduled tribes were considered poor compared to 15% of higher castes.
根據聯合國開發計劃署（UNDP）和牛津貧困與人類發展倡議（OPHI）的全球多維貧困指數（MPI），列入中的部落中有一半被認為是貧窮的，而等級較高的種姓則為15％。
Poverty makes lower castes more vulnerable during emergencies, according to the findings of a 2013 study by the International Dalit Solidarity Network, a network of international human rights groups fighting Dalit discrimination.
根據國際達利特團結網2013年的一項研究結果，貧困使低等種姓在緊急情況下更容易受到傷害。
For example, after the 2004 Asian tsunami, Dalits were forced to remove bodies and debris, for very little if any pay, and weren't offered any psychological support. Many weren't compensated for their lost possessions, such as the bikes and fishing nets that were swept away, the report said.
例如，在2004年亞洲海嘯之後，達利特人被迫以幾乎沒有報酬的方式清除屍體和碎片，也沒有被提供任何心理支持。報告稱，許多人得不到任何對其損失的財產的補償，例如被掃走的自行車和漁網。
Dalit activists fear the coronavirus will again reinforce inequality in India.
達利特活動家擔心冠狀病毒會再次加劇印度的不平等。
"India has 600,000 villages and almost every village a small pocket on the outskirts is meant for Dalits," said Paul Divakar, a Dalit activist from the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights.
供職於全國達利特人權運動的達利特活動家保羅·迪瓦卡爾說：「印度有60萬個村莊，幾乎在市郊的每個村莊都有一個小口袋供達利特人使用。」
"This settlement is far from health care centers, banks, schools and other essential services. During times like Covid-19, the aid may not even reach this small pocket."
「這個定居點離醫療中心，銀行，學校和其他基本服務很遠。在像Covid-19疫情這樣的時期，援助甚至可能達不到這個小口袋。」
He said repeated advice on social distancing threatened to encourage the kind of behavior seen in the northern city of Bareilly when migrant workers were doused with bleach disinfectant.
他說，有關社會疏遠的一再建議威脅要鼓勵在北部城市巴雷利看到這種行為，因為農民工被漂白消毒劑所浸沒。
"Covid-19 is legitimizing these actions all in the name of hygiene and social distancing," said Divakar.
迪瓦卡說：「 Covid-19正在以衛生和遠離社會的名義合法化這些行動。」
Dalits are forced to take up the jobs such as cleaning, manual scavenging, working at brick kilns and leather-crafting -- occupations considered "filthy" or "dishonorable" for higher-caste communities.
達利特人被迫從事清潔、手工清理和在磚窯和制皮方面的工作，這些職業被高種姓社區認為是「骯髒」或「不光彩」的。
The sanitation and cleaning work formally and informally employs 5 million people, of which 90% belong to the lowest Dalit sub-castes, according to a five-month study of sanitation workers across India carried out in 2017 by Dalberg Advisors, a development policy and strategy firm, with the support of The Gates Foundation.
根據Dalberg Advisors在2017年對印度環衛工人進行的為期五個月的研究，衛生和清潔工作正式和非正式地僱用了500萬人，其中90％屬於最低等的達利特子種姓。這是一家發展政策和策略公司，受蓋茨基金會的支持。
The Indian government has deemed sanitation and cleaning to be essential services, which must continue during the lockdown. India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a directive that sanitation workers in hospitals and elsewhere should be provided with personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks and gloves.
印度政府已將衛生和清潔視為封鎖期間必須堅持的必不可少的服務。印度衛生與家庭福利部發布了一項指令，要求醫院和其他地方的環衛工人應配備個人防護設備（PPE），包括N95口罩和手套。
Sanitation workers clean hospitals for seven to eight hours a day, but many say they have not been given sufficient, if any, protective gear, said Suryaprakash Solanke, leader of a Dalit workers union in Mumbai.
孟買達利特工會的負責人蘇裡亞普拉卡什·索蘭克表示，環衛工人每天要對醫院進行7至8個小時的清潔工作，但許多人說，他們沒有得到足夠的（如果有的話）防護裝備。
"For years they have been cleaning and scrubbing hospitals, residential complexes, streets and railway stations. But instead of providing them with protective gear, and rewarding them, people are ostracizing them. Some have even been refused water to drink, when requested while at work," said Solanke.
「多年來，他們一直在清潔和擦洗醫院，住宅區，街道和火車站。但是，人們沒有給他們提供防護裝備並給予獎勵，而是排斥他們。有些人甚至在工作時需要的時候被拒絕提供飲用水。」索蘭克說。
CNN reached out to officials in the Health and Labor Ministry for comment on allegation insufficient PPE had been provided to sanitation workers but did not receive a response.
美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）向衛生和勞工部的官員們徵求意見，指稱沒有向環衛工人提供足夠的個人防護設備，但沒有得到回應。
The work Dalits do exposes them to another risk: discrimination.
達利特人所做的工作使他們面臨另一個風險：歧視。
Sanoj Kumar left his job at a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu to return to his village near Bodh Gaya in Bihar before the lockdown was imposed. He said he faced ostracism as soon as he stepped off the train.
薩諾伊·庫馬爾在封鎖令生效前離開了他在泰米爾納德邦的一座磚窯的工作，回到他的比哈爾邦菩提伽耶附近的村莊。他說，他一下車後就立即面臨排斥。
"The police started stopping the returning migrants at the railway station and sending them for checkups to the hospital. They were stopping people in a random manner. Those who well dressed and seemed like belonged to an upper class and dominant caste were not singled out. The others like me were stopped and sent to the hospital," he said.
「警察開始在火車站阻止返回的移民，並將他們送往醫院進行檢查。他們以隨機的方式阻止人們。穿著得體，看上去屬於上層階級和統治種姓的人沒有被挑出來。像我這樣的其他人被攔下並送往醫院，」他說。
After his checkup, Kumar was sent home and ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days. He says health workers check on him every two days. He obliges because he understands the need to fight the virus, but every time they visit, it adds to his family's social stigma.
體檢後，庫瑪被送回家，並被要求自檢14天。他說，衛生工作者每兩天檢查一次。他之所以願意配合，是因為他了解對抗這種病毒的必要性，但是每次他們到訪時，都會加重其家人的社會恥辱感。
"They should come up with a better and more sensitive way of doing this," said Kumar.
庫馬爾說：「他們應該提出一種更好，更體貼的方法。」
No access to bank accounts
沒有接觸銀行帳戶的途徑
Estheramma lives with her husband and two children in a dump yard, five kilometers away from the densely populated city of Guntur in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. She's an Adivasi waste picker and makes a living by collecting the waste from dumps, segregating the waste and selling it. She and her community live segregated on the dump. There is no ration shop nearby nor are there any health care facilities close to her.
埃斯泰拉瑪和她的丈夫及兩個孩子住在一個垃圾場，距離南部安得拉邦人口稠密的城市貢土爾五公裡。她是個原住民拾荒者，她通過收集垃圾場中的廢物，將廢物分類並出售來謀生。她和她的社區生活在垃圾堆上。她附近沒有口糧店，也沒有醫療保健設施。
Like many other Dalits and Adivasis, Estheramma doesn't have an active bank account or a national ID card -- the two basic instruments needed to access direct cash transfers by the government.
與其他許多達利特人和原住民一樣，埃斯泰拉瑪也沒有激活的銀行帳戶或國民身份證-這是政府直接現金轉移所需的兩個基本工具。
Without this she won't be able to claim the Rs 500 ($7) offered each month for the next three months to women, who are bank account holders registered under the government's financial inclusion program.
沒有這些東西，她將無法在接下來的三個月中索取500盧比（合7美元）每個月的、提供給女性的補貼，這些女性是根據政府的金融普惠計劃註冊的銀行帳戶持有人。
"There are people, especially Dalits and Adivasis who don't have accounts, then there are those who have accounts but are not able to operate them because the control of it is with someone else, either their upper caste literate landlord or the ration shopkeeper," says P. Sainath founding editor of People's Archive of Rural India, a digital journalism platform that archives stories from rural India.
「有一些人，尤其是沒有帳戶的達利特人和原住民；那麼就有一些人，擁有帳戶，卻無法操作帳戶，因為帳戶的控制權是由其他人控制的，要麼是他們的上等種姓的房東，要麼是口糧店主。」，P.塞納特說道，他是「 印度農村人民檔案 」的創始編輯，這是一個數字新聞平臺，用於存儲印度農村的新聞。
Since many bank accounts are tied to mobile phone accounts, local shopkeepers help many illiterate Dalits and Adivasis carryout their bank transactions.
由於許多銀行帳戶都與手機帳戶相關聯，因此當地的店主可以幫助許多文盲達利特人和原住民進行銀行交易。
"Sometimes, the bank accounts are automatically opened when someone buys a mobile connection and the person is not even aware that this bank account exists. And according to the government, all the direct cash transfers come to the newest bank account of the beneficiary, so at times they have no clue that they have received money," adds Sainath.
「有時候，當有人購買了移動連結時，銀行帳戶會自動打開，而這個人甚至都不知道該銀行帳戶的存在。根據政府的說法，所有直接現金轉帳都會進入受益人的最新銀行帳戶，因此有時他們不知道自己收到了錢，」塞納特補充說。
Estheramma has a ration card and is eligible to receive the government benefit of 5 kilograms wheat or rice and 1 kilogram of preferred pulses for free for the next three months, but she said she can't go to the ration shop because it's run by shopkeepers of dominant castes who are not letting her come in. She says she's living on small food packets distributed by charities.
埃斯泰拉瑪擁有配給卡，並有資格在接下來的三個月內免費獲得5公斤小麥或大米和1公斤首選豆類的政府補貼，但她說她不能去配給店，因為這是由統治種姓的店主經營的拒絕讓她進入的店鋪。她說，她靠慈善機構分發的小食品包為生。
"The relief package should not be centralized or linked to biometric IDs like Aadhar," said economist Jayati Ghosh, chairperson of the Center for Economic Studies and Planning at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
賈瓦哈拉爾·尼赫魯大學經濟研究與計劃中心主席、經濟學家Jayati Ghosh說：「救濟計劃不應集中在Aadhar（印度的一項生物身份識別項目）等生物識別ID上，或與Aadhar這樣的生物識別ID相關聯。
More than 11,900 have been infected with the coronavirus in India, and more than 390 people have died, according to the latest numbers from the John Hopkins University.
根據約翰·霍普金斯大學的最新數據，在印度，已有超過11900人感染了冠狀病毒，並且有390多人死亡。
It's a staggeringly small number in a nation of 1.3 billion people. The Indian government is expected to extend the nationwide lockdown beyond May 3, but it is still too early to gauge the final impact on the country's poorest.
在一個擁有13億人口的國家中，這個數字非常少。預計印度政府將在5月3日之後將全國範圍的封鎖期延長，但現在評估該國最貧困人口受到的最終影響還為時過早。
People like Polamma and Kumar hope they'll be offered greater protection, but it hasn't come yet.
諸如波拉瑪和庫馬爾這樣的人希望他們能被提供更好的保護，但這尚未到來。
After two weeks of lockdown, Polamma was finally able to access the grocery store after the police interfered at the request of Dalit activists. But she said no health workers were visiting her community to check on pregnant and lactating mothers.
經過兩周的封鎖，警察在達利特活動家的要求下進行幹預後，波拉瑪終於能夠進入雜貨店。但她說，沒有衛生工作者到她的社區去檢查孕婦和哺乳期的母親。
Kumar and his family are staying indoors to comply with the lockdown order -- and to avoid abuse.
庫馬爾和他的家人住在室內，以遵守封鎖令——並避免受虐待。
"Every time I step out, people start shouting 'corona, corona'." he said. "Earlier they would walk at a distance because I am a Dalit, but now they call me the disease itself."
「每次我走出去時，人們都會大喊'冠狀病毒，冠狀病毒』。」他說。「由於我是達利特人，他們早些時候會在我的一定距離外行走，但現在他們稱我為疾病本身。」