Contemporary Voice of Dalit

This article takes three concepts, namely ‘democracy’, ‘development’ and ‘political representation’ as entry points to understand the functioning of democracy in Uttar Pradesh. India, since the 1980s, has seen a tremendous rise of ‘lowered’ caste people and a parallel rise of Hindu communalism by ‘upper’ castes. In this respect, it becomes pertinent to ask if the rise of plebeians in Uttar Pradesh’s political sphere brought about any actual change in the lives of the plebeians. In search for an answer to this question, this article looks at the conspicuous rise of Dalits from the early 1980s. It proposes that rather than looking from the vantage point of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dalit assertion must be seen through non-BSP factors and broader socio-economic and demographic changes happening before the 1980s in the state. Thus, the article delves into the lives of All India Backward (SC, ST, and OBC) and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), Dalit Panthers, Ambedkarite social activists and Ravidasis-Buddhists. It argues that Dalit assertion is about the deepening of formal democracy, increment in substantive democracy and a demand for greater civility. Dalit movement is not ethnic, rather, it is universal, and the article explores it through secondary literature and fieldwork-based observations in Uttar Pradesh.

The Scheduled Caste (SC) communities of India have always been locked down with stigmatized social identities since the very beginning of the caste system. They were categorized with certain administrative identities under colonial rule and branded as ‘Harijans’ (Children of God) by the nationalist leaders. On the other hand, the SC communities themselves had asserted for respectable caste identities, opposed the Brahmanical hegemony, and fought against untouchability. Harijan identity, however, has transformed into Dalit identity in the post-colonial period. In such a context, Navayana Buddhism has appeared as a symbol of dignified identity. This article has highlighted this trend of changing identifiers of the SCs of Indian society.

Sacred in ecclesiastical terms is understood as something kept apart towards attainment of ‘real’ for the social group where real is transcendental. The group is generally considered as one unit, and, therefore, religion in this way becomes instrumental in attainment of higher end of all. Hinduism, when analysed as a religion, provides an epistemic reality of othering in the society and sacred text becomes basis for origin and continuation of peculiar social stratification in India. Looking in this way, Hinduism defies some universal characteristics assigned to the term ‘religion’, especially on the progressive count, and appears to be static and status quoist. This paper is an attempt to highlight such an aspect with the help of a meticulous and erudite analysis by Dr B. R. Ambedkar.

This paper attempts to understand the state’s role in providing Scheduled Castes (SC) status for Arzal or Dalit Muslims, and the struggle of Pasmanda Muslims through the Pasmanda movement for inclusion in the SC list. While doing so, it traces the trajectory of marginalization of Dalit Muslims by the state. It argues that since the inception of SC status in independent India, it was reserved only for the Hindu religion. Later on, it was amended twice: first, in 1956 for the inclusion of Sikh, and second, for neo-Buddhist in 1990. It did not include Dalit from the Muslim community. It also attempts to map the effort of Pasmanda Muslims for SC status. In this context, the paper tries to comprehend the role of the Pasmanda movement along with the struggle of social organizations. Consequently, the paper argues that these organizations fight for SC status; however, unable to make any significant intervention at the policy level. This paper also argues that there is a dissensus and intra-community contestation among Muslims regarding the Pasmanda movement and the demand of SC status for Dalit Muslims.

The Oraon, Munda and Santal are the three major Scheduled Tribes of the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. During the colonial period (mainly between 1880 and 1930), their arrival from the Chota Nagpur region to the Dooars region (Jalpaiguri district) took place by the British. In the present article, an attempt has been made to assess housing condition, livelihood pattern and socio-cultural life of the concerned tribes. For this purpose, 650 household surveys were carried out with the help of semi-structured questionnaire, focus group discussion, informal interviews and field visits. The study finds that, after being displaced from their homeland (Chota Nagpur Plateau region) and settled for long in the Jalpaiguri district, they undergone many changes in their habitat, economic condition and society, but it did not bring any improvement in their quality of life. The deplorable residence, lack of housing amenities and necessities, inadequate income, illiteracy, loosening of social organization are the major features presently prevalent among them.

The Chinese adage goes: ‘Teach a person how to catch a fish but don’t catch one’. For a long time, Dalits have been represented or led by socio-economically dominant communities in all disciplines and walks of life. However, Dalits have been trying by their own means to maintain their autonomy in all domains. Specifically, in self-respect struggles or anti-caste movements, there are enough examples to reinforce the idea that isolated struggles led by Dalit-Bahujan’s must be acknowledged as autonomous. This article analyses Ambedkar’s engagement with parties led by caste elites, while maintaining his social/political/cultural autonomy. This article also draws attention to how caste elites have tried to appropriate Dalit-Bahujan movements. This article was presented at the South Asia Anthropologists Group (SAAG) Annual Conference. The main idea of this article is to register the autonomy and isolation of Dalit students’ struggle through a case study at the University of Hyderabad. The anti-caste ‘Rohith Vemula’ struggle provides an instance of how political representation was practiced and how autonomy can be maintained in future struggles. The article argues this case out through the author’s experiential opinions as a participant, Ambedkar’s views and the carefully carved out vision of Dalit-Bahujan political movements.

Sanitation workers are those who work in any part of the sanitation chain. They perform one of the most important jobs in the society, and still, they remain unseen and unappreciated. The stigmatized caste system in India remains to be the key determinant of the fate of these workers. These workers often come into direct contact with human waste, working with no equipment or protection, which exposes them to a wide variety of health hazards and diseases that can cause unconsciousness or death. There is an urgent need to look into their problems, and this cannot be addressed without having a detailed understanding of the depth and width of their problems. Hence, the present study covers a number of areas such as the vast prevalence of sanitation workers in India, their pathetic conditions, their social and economic status, deaths due to sanitation related works and an alternative livelihood to sanitation work. Finally, this article suggests what the government needs to do for improving the lives of sanitation workers.

In India, the violent communist movement encompasses 70 districts of 10 states with substantial support from the marginalized people with arms in their hands. Why does the transformation process from a communist political party to violent communism take place in India? How does communism in its violent form still survive in India? These questions are addressed by reviewing the literature on the left-wing extremist movement in India from 2005 to 2022. It is found that the violent version of communism has largely succeeded in the domain of suppressing caste-based exploitations of the landless lower castes and gaining support from the indigenous tribes on land and forest-related issues. Therefore, the destination of communism in India is an important eventuality to study its survival strategies, diverse forms and processes.

Narayana Sukumar and Paul D’Souza (eds.), The Journey of Caste in India: Voices from Margins. New York and London: Routledge Taylor & Francis, 2023, 222 pp., ₹11439 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-1-032-31977-3, ISBN: 978-1-003-31717-3.

Jatin Bala, A Life Uprooted: A Bengali Dalit Refugee Remembers. Translated by Mandakini Bhattacherya and Jaydeep Sarangi. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2022.