Psychology and Politics of Victimhood: A Case Study of Dalits in India

Abstract

The basic presumption is that Dalits are considered to be oppressed by the higher castes from the long time; they have faced discriminated socially, politically and economically. This paper tries to see how the Dalits have subscribed themselves to the ideology of victimhood and why they are asserting their victim status; is it in the psyche of the Dalits or it is just an identity created by the political parties for their own benefit. Analysing the psychological aspects of Dalit victimhood, it has been observed that “passive acceptance” of the victimhood stance by the Dalits can be attributed to the rigid caste structure which have forced the Dalits to believe and accept that the oppression is natural and pre-ordained by fate. Further legitimation of Dalit victimhood by the State through various legal statutes has enhanced the state of powerlessness and impotence which is central to the ideology of victimhood. The “sense of injustice” created through prevailing social exclusion and victimization made the Dalits to demand for a new status of a “recognized victim” that is tied to measures of redress. It has been observed that the Dalits are wishing to cling themselves to victim status as they can reap the benefit by actively asserting themselves as victim. The State protection and incentives for clinging to the victimhood identity is much more than not having the same. Construction of a Dalit “symbolic victim” identity as a dominant social identity by political parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is nothing but a tactics of mobilising the Dalit vote bank. Here we have observed how BSP have played “politics of Dalit victimhood” identity for mobilising the Dalit voters towards the party. The paper concludes that though there is no denial of the acts of atrocities against Dalits by the upper caste, one at the same time cannot deny of the fact that the political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party is using the Dalit victim status for their own benefit. In assembly election of Uttar Pradesh in 2007, BSP won 206 seats out of 403 seats forming an absolute majority. This result is evident how Dalit victimhood has turned into Dalit powerhood through the political manipulation of the Dalit victim identity.