Caste and Cultural Politics in Akhila Naik’s Bheda: A Perspective on Dom Caste in Rural Odisha

Abstract

Caste has been a taboo subject in Odisha. Although there are multiple events of caste violence and atrocities against Dalits in Odisha, they hardly get any attention from the state, media and civil society. Like any other part of India, Dalits in Odisha also face the wrath of the caste system; sometimes, their houses are burnt down to ashes, or they are ostracized. Unfortunately, the everyday violence against Dalits is normalized by the cultural practices in Odisha. Popular religious cults and the Brahminic hegemony often overshadowed the caste issue and forced the Dalits to the boundary. Thus, their voice often goes unheard. Also, the rapid Hinduization of indigenous culture has served as a catalyst for caste violence and maintaining the caste order in rural Odisha. The successful integration of tribal and other backward communities into the Brahminical fold has made the life of Dalits more difficult. In most of the caste violence in Odisha, tribal and other backwards communities are pitted against the Dalits, which washed out the idea of ‘united subaltern groups’ or the Dalit-Bahujan unity. Thus, this article focuses on the cultural hegemony of the Brahmins and how it makes caste a complex affair in rural Odisha. In Akhila Naik’s Bheda, he unravels the caste questions in Odisha and how the arrivals of Brahmins and Marwaris in rural Odisha have corrupted the village ecosystem. The villagers are polarized in the name of caste and religion, and the village’s indigenous belief system and harmony are at stake.