By himself, for the community

January 25, 1986 is a date Martin Macwan will remember for the rest of his life. For it was on this day that he narrowly escaped being killed. It was on this day that four of his friends were shot dead by the feudal Darbars in Gujarat, against whom they were crusading. Martin was 40 km away at Nadiad town.
Hearing the news, he rushed back. Weeping inconsolably, he swore, "Your death will not go in vain." It did not.
Martin and a group of friends were already working for the uplift of Dalits at Golana, and several other Gujarati villages, when the tragedy struck. Born to a widowed tobacco worker mother, Martin, a Christian Dalit, had seen poverty and caste discrimination ever since childhood.
Starting out as a farmhand to help support his family, and attending night school, he completed his primary education. A scholarship helped him get into St Xavier's college, Ahmedabad. While at Xaviers, he worked with Pakistani refugees in the Banaskantha district and tribal children in south Gujarat. He then teamed up with a few of his friends and resolved to put an end to the cruelty of caste bondage.
They carried their struggle to the remotest villages in Gujarat, educating the Dalits and fighting for their rights. But his friends' deaths made Martin resolve that he would carry on his struggle on a much bigger scale. He was only 26 then.
The next few years, Martin pored over every legal text available and ensured that the 14 killers were sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1989, the angry young man launched the Navsarjan Trust to carry on his crusade. His mission being to address issues of violence, land rights, minimum wages, women's rights, and poverty.
Today, the Navsarjan Trust is a membership-based grassroots organisation working in over 2,000 of Gujarat's villages, covering 34 talukas in 11 districts. It conducts its activities through 187 full time activists (87 of them being women), who have a local base, have been trained professionally, and have established their credibility with local communities. It is the largest organisation in the state addressing Dalit rights, and its experiences have been the source of inspiration for the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights.
"Ultimately, it is the resolve of the community to raise itself to dignity that is going to end caste-based discrimination, our hidden apartheid," says Martin.
A notable contribution that Martin and his fellow crusaders have made to the cause of Dalit uplift is their fight for the rights of "human scavengers". Eight years after the death of his friends, Martin had himself another shock.
He saw members of a community in Surendranagar district carrying human excreta on their heads. They were cleaning out what the rest of the village left behind. "Mahatma Gandhi called for an end to the practice a century ago. There is the notion of making it a 'noble' profession. But which other community will apply for the job?" he asked. Navsarjan went to court, asking for the abolition of manual scavenging, and continues the effort to rehabilitate the community.
"Bhangi, door bes" (scavenger, stay away), is a common refrain even today. Martin recalls how one scavenger's child, only nine years of age, was blinded, in Dhandhuka taluka, for touching a paanwallah's paan box, thus "defiling" it. Martin is still fighting the case and is desperately hoping to find a specialist who will work a miracle and save the boy's eyes.
Martin's crusade has also brought him international recognition. He received the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award 2000, instituted by the RFK Memorial Centre for Human Rights, Washington DC. The award is given annually to those who, at great personal risk, stand up to oppression in the non-violent pursuit of respect for human rights. Remarked Senator Edward M Kennedy, as he presented the award to Martin.
"Martin Macwan is a rare voice of tolerance, non-violence and effectiveness. Today, in honouring Martin, we also honour those who selflessly campaign for the downtrodden throughout the world."