Dalit Population Research Articles

Decoding the Migration, Rehabilitation, and the Impact of Caste in the Lives of Bengali Dalit Women Strata in the post-Partition Bengal: Revisiting Kalyani Thakur Charal’s Autobiographical Narrative Ami Keno Charal Likhi, and Novella Andhar Bil

Based on the reading of Kalyani Thakur Charal’s notable autobiographical narrative Ami Keno Charal Likhi (Why I Sign as Charal,2016) and novella Andhar Bil (2016), this paper intends to analyze the experiences of second-generation Bengali Dalit women refugees in case of the post-Partition West Bengal. The present paper examines the tropes of nostalgia, partition, and rehabilitation as experiences of Bengali Dalit women characters in the post-Partition West Bengal, the notions of migration, remembrance, oppression, and injustice. Through a detailed analysis of both the narratives, this research article intends to explore how the intersectional dynamism of caste, and gender have impacted the experiences of Bengali Dalit women strata substantially. In majoritarian aspects Bengali Dalit women characters have been reduced to mute objects, stripped of their agency, subjecthood, and desires, from which these two narratives shift substantially.
 In case of the post-Partition scenario of West Bengal, the experiences of refugees from the different sections of the society are not a homogenized one. Kalyani Thakur’s narratives offer some valuable points for thinking about the differentiated experiences of migration, displacement, deprivation, and caste discrimination faced by Bengali Dalit women characters. Through her autobiographical narrative and the novella Andhar Bil, Kalyani Thakur also tries to portray how the intersectional dynamism of caste and gender has problematized the overall experiences of the Bengali Dalit populace in the post-Partition West Bengal. The researcher wants to argue that ideas like caste and gender both act as a site of oppression, which the grand narrative of the Bengal partition is primarily unable to capture. To develop this paper, the researcher consults literary, historical, and sociological facets of the Bengal Partition of 1947, Dalit identity, migration, and its effects on the Bengali Dalit population.

Lack of a Dedicated Focus on Dalit in Corporate Social Responsibility Projects: A Qualitative Exploration of Mandated CSR in India

The concepts of caste discrimination and corporate social responsibility are not novel. They have existed for decades in social, political and academic discourses, albeit as separate concepts. Notably, how CSR engages with Dalit issues in India has not been explored, especially in mandated CSR. This article explores why corporates do not cater devoutly to the needs of Dalits in CSR projects. The article adopts a qualitative approach to interviewing participants from corporates, NGOs and external consultants from research and academic organizations. The author adopted the thematic analysis method and arrived at four major themes about the lack of a dedicated focus on Dalits in CSR projects. These are corporate boards’ caste-blindness, the design of CSR projects, the adoption of the umbrella target category—‘poor’ and the changing character of NGOs. These findings suggest larger structural issues with the way CSR projects are planned, designed and implemented, excluding the scheduled castes (SC). The findings underline a glaring gap and the need for corporates to understand the issues faced by SCs, resulting in inequality, poverty and socioeconomic exclusion. There is a crucial need for corporates to direct, design and implement their CSR projects with a dedicated focus on empowering the Dalit population.

Does the Advent of Federal Democracy and Madheshi Movement Significantly Successful to alter the Lives of Madheshi Dalit ? (A Study of Inaruwa Municipality, Sunsari District)

The Madheshi Dalits of Nepal fall below the national average for human development. They are also denied from basic human rights. In this article, researcher has examined the socio economic situation of Madheshi Dalits of eastern Tarai after Madesh movement and the country of Nepal attained Federal Democracy. The study is founded on a design for qualitative and quantitative research. It is conducted in Inarwa Municipality ward no 9 and sample of Dalit people, Dom, Khatwe, Paswan, Mushahar, and Chamar people is used. Interview schedule, observation, and case study methods have been used in the process of data collection. Data descriptively evaluated and has presented using basic statistical methods. The study has reached in conclusion that social and economic exclusion, inequality, and caste-based discrimination, illiteracy are equally significant contributors to the underdevelopment and poverty in the Madheshi Dalit community. The Madheshi caste-based Hindu hierarchical culture and prejudice are also significant among them. According to the study, the advent of federal democracy and Madhesh movement in Nepal did not significantly alter the lives of the Dalit community. Still prevalent are societal injustices like poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and violence. Increased in political engagement of Dalit activists have all had a significant impact on the study area's Dalit population. They know very little about Dalit's political rights and freedoms, as well as Dalit representation in local government. They have started to speak out about equal representation of man and women in local government and against many forms of social prejudice and violence both within and outside the group.

The dark forest of exile: A Dandakaranya memoir and the Partition’s Dalit refugees

The Partition of India in 1947 has often been studied through the lenses of territoriality, communal identity, and the high nationalist politics of the attainment of the two nation-states of India and Pakistan. However, the history of nation-making is inextricably linked with the account of Dalit communities in divided Bengal, their aspirations and arrival in West Bengal, and their subsequent exile outside the newly formed state to a government-chosen rehabilitation site called Dandakaranya in central India. From the 1950s, the Dalit population of East Pakistan began migrating to West Bengal in India following their leader Jogendra Nath Mandal who had migrated earlier. Subsequently, West Bengal saw a steady influx of agriculturalist Dalit refugees whose rehabilitation entailed a different understanding of land resettlement. Conceived in 1956, the Dandakaranya Project was an ambitious one-time plan to rehabilitate thousands of East Bengali Namasudra refugees outside the state. Some writings on Dandakaranya, such as those by Saibal Kumar Gupta, former chairman of the Dandakaranya Development Authority, offer us a profound insight into the plight of Dalit refugees during post-Partition times. This article explores two texts by Gupta: his memoir, Kichu Smriti, Kichu Katha, and a collection of essays compiled in a book, Dandakaranya: A Survey of Rehabilitation. Drawing on official data, government reports, assessments of the refugee settlers, and extensive personal interaction, Gupta evaluates the demographic and humanitarian consequences of the Partition for the Dalit refugees. These texts represent an important literary archive that unearths a hidden chapter in the Indian Partition’s historiography and lays bare the trajectory of Scheduled Caste history understood through the project of rehabilitation and resettlement in independent India.

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.

An Anthropological Analysis of the Invisibility of Dalits of India in the Environmental Discourse: A Tale of Subjugation, Alienation and Resistance

Ever since the onset of discourses around environment protection in India, different perspectives have come up to evaluate our natural environment. Nevertheless, even in their totality, they fail to provide a complete picture of the environmental struggles in India. This is partly because the ‘the Dalit perspective’ remains missing from the tales of ‘environmentalism’ that India has seen in the recent past. In India, there has been a complete subjugation of the Dalit perspective from the mainstream environmental discourses. So far as this subjugation goes, it is far from innocent and has a strong socio-political undercurrent, which creates a hegemonic structure within which the Indian Dalit loses his voice altogether. The authors, through the medium of this article, have made attempts to discover the forces which are at work in obliterating the Dalit perspectives from mainstream environmental discourse. The authors have tried to answer the questions that have characterized the subjugation in many different ways: Whether the missing of Dalits narratives is due to the monopolization of the discourses by the ‘upper caste’ and upper-class writings in India? The article will inquire how much truth is there in such allegations. More so, some light will be thrown on the structural framework of environment protection, and find answers as to how the structure of ‘environmental movements’ in India alienate the Dalits from actively participating in it. Further, the authors seek to unravel the politics of identity in India and how it affects the environment protection and subjugate the Dalit narrative. This will be done by taking into account some prominent Dalit symbols which have become tools for suppression by the state to cause the death of any resistance that comes from within the marginalized Dalit population of India. This article is solely an academic enquiry into the dialectical relationship that exists between the Dalits, the caste politics and the environments. The aim is to determine the reasons and consequences of subjugation and alienation of the Dalits from the environmental discourse.

Review Article: Dalit Literature and Criticism by Raj Kumar

The term ‘Dalit’ refers to a particular group or community in India which have been ostracized, exploited and humiliated due caste structure and social order ardently followed in India. The etymology of the word ‘Dalit’ can be traced to the root word dal in Sanskrit and dalan in Hindi meaning ‘broken down’ or ‘broken to pieces.’ It is believed that Jotibarao Phule (1826-90) first used the term to describe condition of outcastes and untouchables in India. Later, the term was popularized by B.R. Ambedkar as he used it profusely in his speeches and writings in Marathi. The term gained new meaning in 1970s, a period of literary and cultural boom that witnessed the birth of Dalit literature and in the present, the term refers to belated recognition of the Dalit’s militant claims upon a history of humiliation and suffering (Rao, 11). Since its origin Dalit Literature has emerged as a form of social resistance literature principally aimed at community identity formation and bringing about political and economic changes among the Dalit population. Arjun Dangle, the Marathi Dalit writer, editor and activist suggests, “Dalit literature is marked by revolt and negativism, since it is closely associated with the hopes for freedom by a group of people, who as untouchables, are victims of social, economic and cultural inequality” (Trans. Mukhherjee; 1). Dangle traces the origin of Dalit literature to Ambedkar. It was his revolutionary ideas that encouraged Dalits to speak for themselves and therefore Dalit literature is an expression of this self- awareness; an assertion for a dignified life.

Factors Affecting Antenatal Care Utilization Among the Disadvantaged Dalit Population of Nepal: A Cross- sectional Study

Background: Antenatal Care (ANC) visits are intended to prevent, identify and treat conditions that may threaten the health of the mother and newborn, and to increase the chance she has a smooth pregnancy and and safe childbirth. The most disadvantaged and underprivileged caste (Dalit) of Nepal has benefitted the least from maternal health service improvements in the recent years. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the rate and factors associated with the antenatal care service utilization among the most disadvantaged ethnic group (Dalit women) and recommend interventions to improve ANC utilisaiton, in the Mahottari district of Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during July-December 2014 using a structured questionnaire. A total of 328 recently delivered mothers were interviewed covering the entire district. Descriptive statistics, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05 and the strength of statistical association was assessed by odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results: ANC utilization rate (≥ 4 ANC visit) was found to be 42%. Mother's education, husband's education, mother's occupation, perceived “good quality” ANC, hearing about incentive program, maternal health message, non-perception of health workers behaviours as discriminatory, and exposure to Female Community Health Volunteer were found to be significantly associated with ANC utilization. Conclusion: ANC service utilization is low. So, there is an urgent need to address the issue of ANC quality and discriminatory behaviour of health workers toward Dalit. A targeted & comprehensive maternal health program should be developed to raise awareness and motivate pregnant women for maximum utilisation of ANC services.

Dalits, Their Support Base and the Bahujan Samaj Party: A Case Study of the Doaba Region

Scheduled Castes (SCs) comprise 16.6 per cent of India’s population. The distinguishing feature of SCs in Punjab is that they constitute numerical strength, that is, 31.9 per cent (2011 Census). In terms of population share, Punjab accounts for 4.4 per cent of the total SCs’ population in India. During this decade, two more castes, namely, Mochi and Mahatam/Rai Sikh castes, have been notified as SCs in Punjab. Today, it is estimated that the proportion of Dalits may have risen above 32 per cent in Punjab. This article argues as to why the high concentration of Dalit population in Punjab has not translated into success for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). For answering this question, the study examines two aspects, namely, the nature of the party organization and the political strategy of the BSP. The study was qualitative and conducted in the Doaba region of Punjab. It is an analysis of the interactions with 300 respondents of the targeted SCs population and 25 leaders of the BSP and its factional political parties.

Qualitative exploration of sociocultural determinants of health inequities of Dalit population in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

ObjectivesIn recent years, Bangladesh has made remarkable advances in health outcomes; however, the benefits of these gains are unequally shared among citizens and population groups. Dalits (jaat sweepers), a marginalised...

Do experiences and perceptions about quality of care differ among social groups in Nepal? : A study of maternal healthcare experiences of women with and without disabilities, and Dalit and non-Dalit women.

BackgroundSuboptimal quality of care and disparities in services by healthcare providers are often reported in Nepal. Experience and perceptions about quality of care may differ according to women’s socio-cultural background, individual characteristics, their exposure and expectations. This study aimed to compare perceptions of the quality of maternal healthcare services between two groups that are consistently considered vulnerable, women with disabilities from both the non-Dalit population and Dalit population and their peers without disabilities from both non-Dalit and Dalit communities.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 343 total women that included women with disabilities, Dalits and non-Dalits. Women were recruited for interview, who were aged 15–49 years, had been pregnant within the last five years and who had used maternal care services in one of the public health facilities of Rupandehi district. A 20-item, Likert-type scale with four sub-scales or dimensions: ‘Health Facility’, ‘Healthcare Delivery’, ‘Inter-personal’ and ‘Access to Care’ was used to measure women’s perceptions of quality of care. Chi-square test and t test were used to compare groups and to assess differences in perceptions; and linear regression was applied to assess confounding effects of socio-demographic factors. The mean score was compared for each item and separately for each dimension.ResultsAll groups, women with disabilities and women without disabilities, Dalit and non-Dalit rated their perceptions and experiences of quality of care lowly in a number of items. While perceived quality of care between women with disabilities and without disabilities in the ‘Health Facility’ dimension and associated items, was found to differ (p<0.05), this difference was linked to disability status, but was not linked to caste differences. For example, differences in mean scores relating to ‘Cleanliness and Facilities’, ‘Open and Friendliness’ and ‘Compassion and Kindness’ were highly significant (p<0.001), with women with disabilities rating these as better than women without disabilities. On the other hand, women without disabilities rated the ‘Availability of cash Incentives’ more highly (p<0.01). No significant differences were found between Dalit and non-Dalit women in perceived quality of care, except in relation to ‘Cleanliness and facilities’, which Dalit women rated lower than non-Dalits (p<0.05).ConclusionsPerceptions about the quality of care differed significantly by disability status but not by caste. All groups rated the quality of healthcare delivery, interpersonal and personal factors as well as access to services ‘low.’ Poor service user experiences and perceptions of quality of care undermine opportunities to translate increased healthcare coverage into improved access and outcomes. Greater attention is required by policy makers, health planners and providers to the improvement of quality of care in health facilities.

Dalit Participation in Total Sanitation Campaign with Special Reference to Satara District in Maharashtra

Development cannot be achieved without the participation of people from all segments of society. It is a process that requires collective action for social transformation or social change in the socio-economic and political lives of the people. The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) is one of the major programmes in India to promote sanitation and hygiene. The article is an attempt made to understanding the Dalit population’s participation in the total sanitation programme. The field visits in six villages reveal that illiterate 20 per cent respondents did not participate in the decision-making process. Gram panchayat has not given equal opportunity for participation to Dalit women in the planning process of the campaign activities. Educated people are more likely to get the opportunity for participation in planning and implementation of the scheme. Villages, even gram panchayats, have not conducted any awareness campaign to disseminate the information of the Campaign among Dalit and rural masses.

Jagdish, Son of Ahmad: Dalit Religion and Nominative Politics in Lucknow

Between the late 1940s and the 1970s, the sanitation labour castes of Lucknow radically altered their nominative practices, replacing Islamicate personal names with names in a Hindu style, and abandoning the caste title Lal Begi in favor of the surname Valmiki. Based on oral histories and ethnographic research with the Valmiki community in Lucknow, the article presents and evaluates evidence for how and why this transformation took place. Building on Nicolas Jaoul’s (2011: 280) insight into the ‘politically engineered’ nature of the consolidation of the sanitation labour castes under the sign of a Hindu sage, the article argues that Congress policy at the national level played a decisive role in the renaming of an entire swath of the Dalit population. At the same time, working with Ambedkar’s assessment of the Valmiki movement as ‘clandestine conversion’ and ‘undergoing protective discolouration,’ it is argued that the nominative Hinduization of the sanitation labour castes may not constitute the Hindu majoritarian triumph that it appears to be.

Psychiatric illnesses among Dalit Nepalese population

Background Nepalese population includes a wide variety of ethnic groups namely, the Brahmin, Chettri, Dalit, Gurung, Newar, Puns, Magar Dalits population in Nepal are a traditionally victimised, underprivileged community who have been obliged to lag at the base of the public constitution in Nepal. Dalits Nepalese has poor income, education and other human development indicators. They are often landless and much poorer than the dominant caste population like the Brahmins, chetris, newars. The main objective of the study was to find out the commonest psychiatric disorder found in the poor Dalit Nepalese population in western development region of Nepal for which hospitalization is required. Method The study was a cross sectional study carried out between 1st October- 31st March 2010 at Psychiatric ward in Manipal Teaching hospital. The diagnosis of the disease was based on ICD-10 (Tenth revision) Classification of mental and behavioral disorders, Diagnostic Criteria for Research.. Results Among all the psychiatric diseases Schizophrenia, Schizotypal and Delusion Disorders 30.6% was the commonest disease seen in the Dalit Population followed by Mental and behavioral disorder due to Psychoactive Substance abuse 20.8%. Psychiatric diseases were more common in male patients 52.8%. 87.5% of the cases were &lt;40 yrs of age, 72.2% of the patients were Hindus by religion followed by Christian 27.8%. 87.5% of the patients were unemployed and 84.7% of the patients were having monthly income &lt;10000/month. 45.8% of the patients were students followed by housewife 34.7%. Mental and behavioural disorder due to Psychoactive Substance abuse F10-19 was found more prevalent in males [OR 8.320,95%(CI(1.717, 40.311)] as compared to female patients among the Dalit patients Conclusion Among the low socio-economic class Dalits Schizophrenia was the commonest psychiatric disorder followed by Mental and behavioral disorder due to Psychoactive Substance abuse. Psychiatric illnesses are mediated by poverty, unemployment and dearth of family income which leads to psychiatric illness among dalit Nepalese population. Interventions should target these factors to minimise the load of various psychiatric illness among poor Dalit Nepalese population. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v4i3.10667 Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2014; 4(3): 370-377

Internet as an alternative media for Dalits in India: Prospects and challenges

Internet has enormous power to bring social equality to the people neglected in the society. Internet has been widely used by the people living on the margin of the society as an alternative to the mainstream media.In India, Dalits comprise of more than 200 millions. But their socio, political and economic issues noticed by the mainstream media are miniscule in numbers. Thus, there is a need for the educated Dalit population to find an alternative media through which they can express and respond with outside world. In this scenario, internet has proved to be an avenue for educated Dalits. This paper analyses in detail about how internet platform such as Dalit websites, social media such as blogs are an alternative media to verbalize the issues of Dalits in India.This paper outlines the new opportunities for Dalits in the cyber spaceonline networks which accommodates the voice of the subaltern people and also maps the approaches of main stream media towards the issues of Dalits. The conceptual discussion on the issues has clearly exemplified the deplorable state of affairs of the coverage of Dalit issues by the mainstream media.

Swineherders: An Interview with Murtada Bulbul

Sharon Sliwinski, with the aid of Anushree Majumdar, interviews photographer Murtada Bulbul.

Beyond Conversion and Sanskritisation: Articulating an Alternative Dalit Agenda in East Punjab

AbstractGiven different socio-economic structures, and acute landlessness among the Dalits of East Punjab, the agendas of conversion to neo-Buddhism and sanskritisation, the two most popular Dalit social mobility models in India, have failed to strike a cord among the Dalits in this border state of northwest India. But that does not imply that Dalits of Punjab have failed in improving their social status. On the contrary, they have been very vocal in their assertions for social justice and dignity, and pressing for a due share in the local structures of power; a clear indication of a significant surge of Dalit social mobility in Punjab. The question that still remains largely unexplored, however, relates to the patterns of Dalit social mobility in Punjab that have emerged independently of the agendas of conversion to neo-Buddhism and sanskritisation. The study aims to map out the contours of an emerging alternative Dalit agenda in Punjab, which is conspicuous by its absence in existing Dalit studies, and examines its catalytic role in enhancing the legitimacy and effectiveness of increasingly visible Dalit social mobility in the state. The paper concludes by visualising the possibility of an articulation and assertion of a similar alternative Dalit agenda through highly contentious democratic politics in other parts of India, where the archetypical agendas of conversion and sanskritisation have either failed to deliver social justice and dignity or could not simply appeal to the local Dalit population.

Demarginalisation and History

The article demonstrates how the ongoing demarginalisation of Dalits in India today works on a variety of levels. Through creating new narratives and virtually inventing a new alternative history and language, this movement for demarginalisation uses a particular style of popular and widely circulated booklets, vigorously read and disseminated by the neo-literate Dalit population. The construction of this alternative history through such new texts, seen as an existential necessity for the Dalits, works by weaving together stories found in religious Brahminical popular texts about dissenting lower caste characters, glorified as Dalit heroes who fought against upper caste oppression and injustice. It also includes stories of unsung Dalit freedom fighters, transformed into local myths. Importantly, the language used is different from Standard Hindi, since folk proverbs, idioms and symbols, as well as the grammar and vocabulary of local dialects, are used. The article demonstrates in some detail how these processes of constructing new literature work, and indicates that these new sources may well be laying foundations for the histories of the future of many subaltern communities of South Asia.