75 "... Untouchables" "In the Indian caste system, a Dalit, often called an untouchable, or an outcaste, is a person who according to traditional Hindu belief does not have any "varnas". Varna refers to the Hindu belief that most humans were supposedly created from different parts of the body of the divinity Purusha. The part from which a varna was supposedly created defines a person's social status with regard to issues such as whom they may marry and which professions they may hold. Dalits fall outside the varnas system and have historically been prevented from doing any but the most menial jobs. (However, a distinction must be made between lower-caste people and Pariahs) Included are leather-workers (called chamar), carcass handlers (called mahar),poor farmers and landless labourers, night soil scavengers called bhangi or chura), street handicrafters, folk artists, street cleaners, dhobi, etc. Traditionally, they were treated as pariahs in South Asian society and isolated in their
