Dalit Community Research Articles

The Biopolitics of Caste: Analysing the (Dis)honour Killings in South India

Even after 75 years of independence, India witnesses the increasing violence unleashed by the upper caste families against the individuals for inter-caste love or marriage. The objective of this article is to critically engage with the operational aspects of Michel Foucault’s biopolitics of caste system in enforcing endogamy in the marital relationship between two individuals. Caste as a social institution governs every aspect of Dalit’s life, ranging from cradle to graveyard. As such, the increasing incidents of (dis)honour killings, from South India, reflect the idea of endogamy, with the ulterior motto of controlling the sexuality of the Dalits and women, thereby ensuring the purity of the caste Hindu society. Thus, the patriarchy is an inseparable element of caste system in controlling the freedom of women in choosing her partner and it is prevalent in sub-castes of Dalit folds also. The question of discrimination and practice of endogamy within Dalit communities should be addressed in marching towards annihilation of the caste.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s Image and Thought as Perceived in Thailand From 1975 to 2017

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956), popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement and campaigned against social discrimination against untouchables (Dalits) while supporting the rights of women and labourers. This article examines how Ambedkar is characterized in Thai language academic and general writings published between 1975 and 2017. The paper is based on textual analysis that interprets the books and articles on Ambedkar in Thai language as primary sources for understanding his image and thought as portrayed in Thailand. Ambedkar’s forward-thinking ideas on democracy impressed Thai writers because Ambedkar attempted to dispense with the caste system and promote liberty, equality and fraternity among underprivileged communities in India. Ambedkar also served as chairman of drafting committee of Constitution and leader of the Dalit movement and community. Furthermore, Thai writers see Ambedkar’s ideas about Buddhism as qualifying him as a messiah or bodhisattva who revived a neo-Buddhist movement in India. Thai monks have served as significant intermediaries in narrating Ambedkar’s interpretation of Buddhism to the Thai Buddhist community because they have direct experience such as studying and staying in India. Academics and famous writers have also conveyed Ambedkar’s ideas about Buddhism and democracy, which qualify him as a modernist and maha manav [great man].

Basic Amenity and the Caste Conundrum: A Study of the Dalit Communities in East Uttar Pradesh

Dalits lack the bare necessities, such as living in substandard houses with constrained space and rooms devoid of the kitchen, bathroom, and sanitation facilities; with a minuscule living area and limited access to safe drinking water. These aspects of civic amenities are empirically examined with qualitative and quantitative approach in east Uttar Pradesh using significant variables such as housing conditions, access to safe drinking water and toilet availability in households. The article also discuss the dimension and level of civic amenities in Dalit households. Based on research-based field data and ethnography, poverty and a lack of civic amenities are the convoluted pathways and fundamental causes of Dalit families living in poor health, unhygienic conditions and without sanitation. The explanation justifies how Dalits’ lack of public amenities, particularly in micro-settlements, intentionally manifests organized caste identity.

Relationship Between Livelihood Capitals and Livelihood Strategies of Dalit

The Dalits of Nepal are living with a lack of opportunities, and the high-level poverty within Dalit communities shows that capabilities or livelihood of Dalits have not been adequately increased in quantity and quality. In the absence of capabilities, they have been adopting unsecured livelihood strategies. In this context, this study aims to find out the relationship between livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies adopted by the Dalit communities of Kusma municipality, Parbat, Nepal. The study was based on survey research design, and 390 respondents were selected by using stratified random sampling method. The relationship between the livelihood strategies and livelihood capitals are found positive, statistically significant and of moderate level strength with livelihood strategies. Access to capitals determine the livelihood strategies of the Dalit community. However, there is no rule and degree of relationship between the livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies. Likely, the agency and structure of the society dominate the capabilities of the Dalit households. Therefore, even though they have good knowledge, skills, income and physical capital, they are not well supported to choose livelihood strategies. Similarly, livelihood strategies do not contribute to livelihood outcomes as well.

MY FATHER BALIAH: COLONIALISM, EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT

This paper is a study and analysis of Y.B. Satyanarayana’s autobiographical text, My Father Baliah. It examines how the author’s family were able to negotiate the spaces of colonial modernity and its institutions, such as the railways and educational institutions, for the upliftment of their family. Historically, education and respectful employment were categorically denied to Dalits. They were denied to Dalits due to the prevailing Brahminical caste system which prohibited Dalits from either acquiring book knowledge or owning any form of wealth or assets. However, the Dalit community was able to access some resources of modernity during British colonialism. Interestingly, the author documents the positive role Muslim rulers of the times as well as the British who enabled this mobility of a downtrodden caste. The paper looks at these historical shifts which opened a liminal liberal space for the author’s forefathers during colonialism and sowed the seeds of education and empowerment for his family and an entire community.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0992/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Emergence of Dalit Art entrepreneurs: Exploring anti-caste songs as the new-creative industry in North India

ABSTRACT Music is the significant factor in the rise of anticaste consciousness and creating a narrative of resistance among Dalit communities. The practice of musical genres like Bhimgeet has witnessed a rise in recent times, claiming dignity and social justice for historically oppressed Dalit communities. The production of anticaste songs has also created a new class of Dalit-Art entrepreneurs who are engaged in the new-creative industry of producing anticaste songs. Through the multiple entrepreneurial examples and in-depth interviews, the paper has discussed what are the different kinds of production houses, music industry that has emerged around anti-caste consciousness in regions of North India. Furthermore, the paper has explored the culture-economy of anticaste songs and how they are gaining popularity in the public memory. The paper conceptualizes Dalit-Art entrepreneurs as part of the new Dalit Middle class and how they are negotiating with caste identities by maintaining solidarity with community members.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DALIT CONSCIOUSNESS IN VIBHAVARI SHIRURKAR’S NOVEL ‘THE VICTIM’ AND LAXMAN GAIKWAD’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY ‘THE BRANDED’

Dalit literature is a literature by Dalit writer or any other writer with Dalit consciousness. Most of the Dalit writers and critics are of the opinion that Dalit consciousness is an exclusive experience of the person born into Dalit community. However, many writers belonging to Upper caste communities like Munshi Premchand, Mulk Raj Anand and Arundhati Roy etc. wrote on Dalit lives with Dalit consciousness throwing light on the plight of Dalits. When we read the novel The Victim by Vibhavari Shirurkar and Laxman Gaikwad’s autobiography The Branded the live picture of the branded communities appears before our eyes. The present paper aims at in-depth study and the analysis of Dalit consciousness found in these two works and the similarity of experiences portrayed by the writers.

DALIT LITERATURE: A TOOL OF RESISTANCE

In Indian society, the Dalits who are known earlier as untouchables or Shudras have been suffering in the name of Casteism. Even after more than 70 years of achieving Independence, the Dalits are bearing the brunt of torture and humiliation at the hand of upper caste people in many states in India. Dalits, being born in lower castes, are the worst target of embarrassment, dishonour, torture and discrimination. They have been inflicted violence physically or mentally in such a cruel manner that their whole identity is trampled underfoot. For centuries their life has been an epic of traumatic experiences. Their survival was possible at the behest of upper caste people who otherwise treated them like beasts. The wishes and dreams of the Dalits didn’t matter as they had no right to dream for a world of joy and progress. With the passage of time, people in the Dalit community realised the traumatic situation and sufferings of their brethren and decided to give voice through literature to the worst kind of sufferings they had to undergo. It is painfully surprising to think how Dalits were made to bear silently the humiliation and ill-treatment. If one comes across the excruciating accounts of pain and trauma poured down in Dalit literature, one can easily feel the immeasurable pain. Their afflictions are laid open barely before the readers just to make them feel how they will feel, in turn, if they happen to replace their position.

Causes of Occupational Changes among Dalit Communities of Kaski District

Occupational change from traditionally adopted occupations to new occupations is an increasing trend in the new generation of Nepalese society. And this seems relatively high in the people of Dalit communities. This study aims to investigate the status of occupational change and their causes among the Dalit communities of the Kaski district. This study has conducted by using the quantitative nature of data collected from primary sources with the help of a structured questionnaire. Total 300 head of the household covering 150 from each urban and rural area including 50 each from three Dalit caste groups namely Nepali (Sarki), Pariyar (Damai), and Bishowkarma (Kami) are the sample for this study. The information regarding the occupational change was collected from the head of the household. The study reveals that there is a statistically significant difference in the involvement in a particular occupation in the past and at present. The tendency of abandoning past & caste-based occupation and shifting to new & modern occupation is high (63.33%) among the people of the Dalit communities. While investigating towards causes for occupational change; insufficient for livelihood, low return compares to costs & efforts, lack of skills & knowledge of past occupations, skills & knowledge of other occupations, lack of work for a whole year in traditional occupations, have found as the key causes for the occupational change in the Dalit communities. However, 36.67 percent still involved in past occupations, and the key causes for no change in the past occupations are lack of other skill & knowledge, satisfaction in the past occupation, and lack of capital.

Occupational Change and Socioeconomic Status among Dalit Communities in Kaski District

The purpose of the study is to examine the occupational change, socio-economic status among, and the inherent association between occupational changes and socioeconomic status. This study has conducted among the people of Nepali, Pariyar, and Bishwokarma caste of the Dalit communities in the Kaski district of Nepal using the quantitative nature of the information collected from primary sources with the help of a structured questionnaire. The total sample of this study is 300 head of the family member covering 150 from each urban and rural geographical region consisting of 50 from each caste. The data and results show the involvement in a particular occupation in the past and at present have significant variation, as well as the tendency of leaving the caste-based traditional occupation and adopting new & modern occupations is high. From the overall economic perspective, Nepali caste people stand at the first position followed by Bishowkarma, and the last position occupied by Pariyar. While looking from the socio-cultural perspective, Bishowkarma caste people stand at the first position followed by Nepali, and the last position occupied by Pariyar. At the regional level, residence of urban areas have a better overall economic and socio-cultural position compared to the rural areas. However, test statistics reveal the economic status is statistically significant at the caste and regional level whereas, the socio-cultural status is not statistically significant at both caste and regional levels. Finally, while investigating the association between occupational change and socioeconomic status, the results reveal that the overall economic status is the best of those people who have completely changed their past occupations while the overall socio-cultural position is the best of those who have not changed. However, these variations are not statistically significant.

Issue of Dalit Identity and the Partition of Bengal

This paper attempts to present the history of partition of Bengal and the issues of Dalit communities that they faced during and aftermath of partition of India in 1947. It presents the experiences of the ‘Chhotolok’ or Dalits and the sufferings they encountered because of the bifurcation of the Bengal province. The paper deals with the migration process in Bengal side and the treatment of government and higher-class societies towards lower class/caste people in their ‘new homeland’. The paper presents an account of representation of Dalits in Bengali partition narratives and the literature written by Dalit writers. The paper also presents their struggles in Dandyakaranya forest and the incident of Marichjhapi Massacre in post-partition Bengal as depicted in several Bengali partition novels written in Bengali and English language.

Rāṅgey Rāghav’s Literary Biographies, Loī kā tānā and Ratnā kī bāt, in the 1950s and the Debates on the Status of Indian Women and Dalits

The article proposes to investigate the political and ideological uses of Hindi literary biography, with focus on two texts by Rāṅgey Rāghav, Loī kā tānā (“Loi’s Warp’’) and Ratnā kī bāt (“Ratna’s Speech”), based on lives of Kabir and Tulsīdās respectively. The relevance of Rāghav’s biographies goes beyond the merely literary and derives from the ideological and political functions played by these texts in the period they were written. Viewed by Rāghav as complementary works with a didactic and ideological value, they move away from the ‘brahmanical’ interpretations of the early modern Hindi poets by scholars of the 1920s and 1930s. To understand Rāghav’s motives and strategies, one needs to examine the ideological and political context in which he recast values linked to the main figures of the early modern devotional (bhakti) literature. As the 1950s witnessed debates on the status of Indian women and Dalit communities, the same becoming crucial to Hindi literary sphere, special attention needs to be paid to the representation, in Rāghav’s biographies, of Loī and Ratnā—Kabīr’s and Tulsīdās’ wives respectively—who embody some of the politically and ideologically progressive slogans which Rāghav projected on to these poets. The present work, based on recent studies on literary biography (Benton 2005, 2011, Middlebrook 2006, Miller 2001), is also an attempt to investigate some of the intellectual and ideological aporias which seem to have affected Hindi literary progressivism since the first decades of the postcolonial period.

WE are Dalit History

Life writings had time and again been used as source material for historical research both in the West and the various literary cultures of South Asia. Considering the absence and a deliberate, socially conditioned erasure of Dalit history from the mainstream narratives of Indian historiography, some scholars have introduced the notion of viewing Dalit life writings as exercises in history writing. This article explores several Dalit autobiographies as instances of engagement with the process of constructing history of Dalit communities in India. Starting from this premise, it undertakes a preliminary analysis of various narrative strategies employed in Hindi autobiographies by Dalit authors in the hope of revealing the nature of their engagements with India’s past and present. The study presented in this paper is based on four relevant examples of prose in Hindi—by Kausalya Baisantri, Sushila Takbhaure, Omprakash Valmiki, and Sheoraj Singh Bechain.

Ambedkar’s Dhamma: A Counter-theology of Law for Indian Political Thought

ABSTRACT This paper will argue that B.R. Ambedkar attacked the social law of Hindu dharma for legalizing and legitimizing Brahminical sovereignty in the form of a birth-based caste order centred around the ambivalent sacrality of untouchability. Although Ambedkar inaugurated postcolonial India’s transformative constitutional project, its juridical language of secular legality was not powerful enough an antidote against the social customs of caste and untouchability. Since these practices were ultimately grounded in a Hindu theology imputing responsibility for action to a fixed immutable being, Ambedkar sought to unsettle and destabilize it by proffering a counter-theology of Buddhism that delinked action from any substantial being, and thereby opened up sovereignty as an empty place of political power. His Buddhism though, was less a religion of selfless renunciation, and more a religion of rupture mediated by the political law of fraternal freedom, actualized in the excessive subjectivity of the Dalit community of converted Buddhists.

Transformation From Aesthetics to Activism: An Analysis of Select Dalit Women Personal Narratives

Dalit resistance gained prominence in postcolonial India through Dalit literature, with Dalit life writing emerging as a significant way to address ongoing problems and issues faced by Dalit communities. Dalit personal narratives are not mere reflections into the past but lived experiences with a timely and current sociological base. Dalit narratives have become a platform for social and political activism against various hegemonic discourses that otherwise exclude the experiences of the Dalit population. Moreover, Dalit women suffer many layers of oppression and violence, and there is a necessity to understand the intersectionality of Dalit women’s realities. Hence this article analyses select personal narratives of two Dalit women writers: P. Sivakami’s The Grip of Change ([1989] 2006) and ₹Author’s Notes: Gowri’ ([1999] 2006); and Bama’s Karukku ([1992] 2005). The ₹Author’s Notes: Gowri’ is a reflection on The Grip of Change and the two narratives are collectively referred to as The Grip of Change. This article attempts to understand the extent to which Dalit personal narratives transform from aesthetics to activism. This article analyses the narrative technique and form used in the narratives and explores how the narratives expose embodied issues to foster activism in and through the content.

Pedalling Out of Sociocultural Precariousness: Religious Conversions amongst the Hindu Dalits to Christianity in Nepal

Christian conversion has become a major topic of discussion amongst academics, religious leaders, and policymakers alike in recent decades, especially in developing countries. Nepal has witnessed one of the highest rates of Hinduism to Christianity conversion in South Asia. Whilst there are no legal restrictions for religious conversion in Nepal, the conversion from Hinduism to Christianity appears to be disproportionately higher amongst Dalit communities in Nepal. However, religious conversion amongst Nepalese Dalits is yet to be fully understood. This research uses mixed methodologies of data collection and analysis to explore various issues related to religious conversion amongst Hindu Dalits into Christianity in Nepal. Results indicate whilst elderly and female Dalits tended to convert to Christianity, a range of factors specific to personal and communal biographies including social, cultural, emotional, and spiritual interplay together to shape the process of religious conversion amongst the Dalits. The paper concludes that the study of religious conversion should consider a range of sociocultural factors to fully understand the dynamics of religious conversion amongst Dalits.

WITHDRAWN–Administrative Duplicate Publication: Understanding Reproductive Health Services in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India: A Dalit Feminist Approach

The identity of women cannot be seen in isolation but one that exists along with other constituents that intersects with class, race, sexuality and caste also. Being a woman, a person is already at periphery, adding caste to it makes more vulnerable. Thus, Dalit women are more subjugated in Indian society whether it is about leading a normal life or availing reproductive health services. This study primarily draws from a Dalit feminist perspective to understand the subjectivity and nuisances of the Dalit women who avail reproductive health services. While availing reproductive health services, the sort of discrimination the Dalit women face are denial in providing reproductive health services, creating and observing distance with the Dalit women by the health practitioners, and also promotion of privatization of healthcare services. The study is based on qualitative research design basically, participant observation, in which the total 27 married women were selected for the in-depth interview, among them 16 women were from the Dalit community and 9 women were from the so-called upper caste community. This research was conducted from February to April 2015 in Mau district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.

Political Participation of Dalits in Punjab of the Twenty-first Century

This article focuses on pattern and direction with which Dalit politics moves in Punjab. An attempt is made to understand political participation as well as voting behaviour of Dalits in Punjab, which is quite different when compared with political behaviour of Dalits in the rest of India. In this study, political participation and political gains of Dalits in Punjab are studied under three phases as well as economic and social factors that have reshaped and redefined the role of Dalits in Punjab politics. Ever since Punjab’s first Assembly election held in 1951 till the 13 Punjab state Assembly election held in 2017, there is no major change in the pattern of Dalit leadership as there is no Dalit leader who commands the whole of Dalit strata in Punjab. On the basis of historical and analytical studies, this article argues that possibilities are quite remote for the emergence of strong leadership having a support of entire Dalit community in Punjab in the upcoming state Assembly elections of 2022.

Casteism and India’s Failing Democracy in Bama’s Karukku, Baby Kamble’s The Prisons We Broke, and Baburao Bagul’s When I Hid My Caste

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to discuss three representative works by Dalit writers—Bama’s Karukku (2014), the first autobiography by a Dalit woman, Baby Kamble’s memoir, The Prisons We Broke (2015), and Baburao Bagul’s collection of short stories, When I Hid My Caste (2018)—that reveal how, despite some improvements in their condition, the Dalit community continues to be subjected to various, at times, subtle, forms of discrimination in present-day India. The analysis of these works suggests that, while India is the most populous democracy in the world (1.3 billion), its democracy is tainted by a remnant of the past: its caste system. Although the practice of untouchability was legally abolished after India’s independence in 1947, and the overall living conditions of the lowest caste, the Dalits (25% of the population) have slowly improved over the years, the legal measures undertaken by the government have failed to guarantee their equality and inclusion in all social spheres. The three literary works reveal that casteist discrimination has not ceased but rather has changed its appearance, which is why, in the words of Urvashi Butalia, “there is still a long road to be travelled” before India overcomes its democratic deficit, its inherited casteism.

Understanding Reproductive Health Services in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India: A Dalit Feminist Approach

The identity of women cannot be seen in isolation but as one that exists along with other constituents that intersect with class, race, sexuality and caste. Being a woman, a person is already at periphery and adding caste to it makes her more vulnerable. Thus, Dalit women are more subjugated in Indian society whether it is about leading a normal life or availing reproductive health services. This study primarily draws from a Dalit feminist perspective to understand the subjectivity and nuisances of the Dalit women who avail reproductive health services. While availing reproductive health services, the sort of discrimination the Dalit women face are denial in providing reproductive health services, creation and observation of distance from the Dalit women by the health practitioners and promotion of privatization of healthcare services. The study is based on qualitative research design which includes participant observation, in which a total of 27 married women were selected for the in-depth interview; among them, 16 women were from the Dalit community and 9 women were from the so-called upper caste community. This study was conducted in 2015 between February and April in Mau district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.