Class-Caste Politics, Hierarchy, and Hindutva in Indian Cinema and Protest Theatre

Abstract

Caste-based atrocities and discrimination have been an unfortunate reality in India for centuries. Although the administrative and structural implementation of an affirmative action system in the mid and later part of the twentieth century helped in the process of upward mobilisation of the lower castes and Dalits in India, the socio-cultural aspect of caste and thus the exclusionary politics that is associated with it has long been imbibed within the fabric of social memory of the subcontinent. Upper caste monopoly over intellectual and academic space have furthered the epidemic of marginalisation of lower caste communities for centuries. Simultaneously, the rise of Hindu nationalist politics in neo-liberal India has resulted in brutal segregation of the Dalits as well as the religious minorities. The origins of such alternative movements and methods of cultural resistance have often been rooted in social movements led by students, activist and leftist intellectuals. This paper is an attempt to explore the portrayal of caste and religious identity based violence, the idea of ‘Hindutva’ and the socio-cultural resistance against such forces through the lens of alternative/parallel cinema and protest theatre in India.