Situation Of Dalit Caste In India

Dalit means 'broken' in the Sanskrit language and also a term used to refer to the backward castes in India. Such background castes have been subjected to cruelty and untouchability in the olden times. Dalits are the lowest in the caste hierarchy. They are considered to be untouchables because of their lowest position in the cast strata. Jyotibai Phule is believed to have coined the term “Dalit ”. Dalits have faced the wrath of being born into this caste right from their birth. They have been subjected to untouchability because the four other higher casts thought that mere touch of a Dalit is considered to be impure. Earlier in the rural area dalits were not allowed to reside in the village so they would live in the outskirts. They could not draw water from the well used by the higher caste families. They had no land and were forced to work for the upper caste. They were abused at work and denied basic facilities. They could not enter temples and could not be a part of any social or religious gathering. Their mere presence would be considered polluting and impure. They were considered impure because of the work they did. They were given menial tasks like getting leather from dead animals and dumping carcasses of animals. If they were thirsty and asked for water, it would not be given to them directly. The water would be poured from top and they had to cup their hands to drink it.

Dalit History Month was started in the year 2014. It showcases a detailed account of Dalit history. It looks at the long oppression faced by people and it shares untold stories of the Dalits. It traces the oppression, abuse and injustice meted out on Dalit . Later, April was recognized as Dalit history month. Christina Dhanraj in an interview said that “the motive behind the Dalit movement was every time you bring up caste, what gets spoken about is reservation”. I think by this statement what Christina means is every time we think about Dalit and improving their condition, we think of giving reservations to them rather than uplifting their condition economically as well socially. Recently the “Dalit” situation in India is gaining momentum. Dalit’s are given attention to at the convenience of politicians in India. During the time of elections, Dalit are given promises. They are given promises only to be left unfulfilled in the end. Whenever there is some unrest or protests in the Dalit community, the politicians increase the reservation percentage and introduce some new policy. This calms down the whole issue for some time and later the entire episode repeats itself. With changing times, it is expected that people stop discriminating others on the basis of caste, status and color but unfortunately that is not happening. People say that they do not discriminate but when they hear that the person is a Dalit there is some hesitation amongst them. No matter how hard a person tries, this feeing has been deeply engraved in us that dalits are inferior.

Yashica Dutt, a New York based journalist hid the fact that she was a Dalit her entire life. She recently revealed it to everyone. The reactions she got from her friends and other acquaintances were somewhat similar. Everyone told her that she did not look like a Dalit . The statement in itself is a proof of what others think about dalit. They have a set image of how Dalit look engraved in their mind. Dalit workers like Chandrasekhar Azad of Bhim Army and Jignesh Mevani are some of the most popular Dalit leaders. Mayavati on the other hand seems to have lost her shine. Christopher Jaffrelot answers saying that “Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is more than 30 years old and shows remarkable resilience, ins pite of lack of funds”. I think BSP being a party which has been around for a long time understands how the Dalit situation needs to be handled. A leader like Mayavati knows how to handle such a sensitive issue. She knows that being from the Dalit community herself; she should give something back to the people of her community.

The Indian Constitution has banned people from practising untouchability. India says that it treats every citizen in an equal manner but it is deeply ingrained in the society that the Dalit can never be at par with the so called upper castes. Since decades, Dalit have always been belittled and even today the so called modern India keeps doing this. Dalits have been placed the lowest in the traditional Hindu social structure. In the past, they were believed to be so impure that caste Hindus considered their presence to be polluting. They were given the title of being “impure” because of the work they did Dr. Vinod Sonkar describes an incident where the teashop owner asked him his caste as he was handing him a cup of tea. When Dr. Sonkar said he is a Dalit, the teashop owner asked him to break the cup after he was done drinking the cup of tea. Dr.Sonkar smashed the cup of tea in a fit of rage. In India, rural Dalit women face serious challenges as they are denied rights and suppressed. They do not have basic goods and services to support their families. In the rural areas, the Dalit's are still facing discrimination. They are dependent on the dominant castes in terms of employment. In the rural areas, often Dalit are abused and beaten for the smallest mistakes. Due to the segregation of caste, class and gender, Dalit women are ostracized. They face a lot of injustice and on top of that their financial situation is not very sound. This affects their dignity and they lack confidence. Dalit women are not only discriminated by the higher castes but also within their own community.

There have been situations where women have been beaten on trivial issues such as drawing water from the village well. They also lack access to water. In villages dalits have a separate well and housing outside the village. As areas and resources are segregated if Dalit come into non-Dalit areas, they are beaten and severely punished. Further, Dalit women verbal, physical and sexual violence sometimes the reason behind this is the perpetrator simply hates the caste and that is why the women is attacked. Even in their own houses women are not respected. They are assaulted by their husbands. If the wrath they are facing in the society is not enough they are harassed by their own families. Dalit women face violence and sometimes assaulted physically or mentally by their in-laws and their families. Further, due to their low socio-economic status, Dalit women are often the victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Dalit women’s sexual and bodily integrity are threatened and violated, even from a young age. Dalit women are violated by the upper caste men in several instances. One example of this is “Mansi, 13 was raped by an upper caste man in Maharashtra. The police instead of filing a case against the perpetrator took Mansi in custody so that she would take back her complaint”. They do so because they think they have acquired a right over these women’s bodies just because these women work for such men. Dalit women are considered to commodities by the men from the dominant caste. Additionally, the use of forced prostitution of young Dalit girls is a major problem. Sexual exploitation of Dalit women is a common because of their low socio-economic status. They have to put up with unnecessary advances by dominant caste members who intend to take advantage of them. Being Dalit does not mean they have no right over their own body. They have dignity and the right to live with self-respect. If a human from some other caste is not ridiculed or harassed on the basis of their caste, why should a Dalit be deprived of their rights?

PA Ranjith, a director by profession in an interview spoke about the brutal murder of a 13 year old girl in Salem and the alleged rape and death of a tribal girl in Dharmapuri. He said “The fact that a young girl was beheaded was of no news value. I feel as soon as we discover the person who died is Dalit, the doors begin to close”. Just as he said because it was a Dalit girl who died no one was bothered. The issue was conveniently brushed aside. The media too did not bother to report it. Today Dalit are educated and employed at higher posts. There are situations where the higher caste employees have Dalit superiors. Savitribai Phule, a Lok Sabha member from Bahraich, UP quit BJP. She did that because she was a Dalit she was not given the opportunity to put forward her views in the party. She stated in the interview her fellow part members told her that if she wished to speak, she had to do so in accordance to the wishes of the party. She said “Anant Kumar had imposed this condition. He said I should read the speech he would prepare or I would not be allowed to speak”. She made some scathing remarks about Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India saying that he is a namesake OBC. She was quoted saying “His caste was included in the OBC to get the community’s vote”.

Rohit Vemula, a Research Scholar hanged himself following his conflict with the ABVP and ASA. He was part of the ASA (Ambedkar Student’s Association). He was a young man with hopes for his future. He was extremely poor and the only source of his income was the monthly stipend of Rs.25000 he was given by the university. He was not paid his stipend for 7 months because he was raising issues under the banner of ASA. This incident points out the loopholes in our education system. If a university is being accused of such behaviour towards its students then think about the effect on the student. Rohit Vemula’s suicide shows that we may be given freedom of speech but when we express our opinions fingers are pointed at us. Rohit expressed displeasure at the treatment of Dalit students which resulted I his suicide. A bright future ended before it started because of people’s obsession with caste.

Not only universities but schools also treat Dalit students in a biased manner. According to a study conducted by National Dalit Movement for Justice shared that discrimination is prevalent in states like Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Sometimes, schedule caste students are made to clean toilets. The higher caste students do not accept the Dalit students as friends. In a village in Maharashtra, students of a school were not allowed to sing a song about Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. They were told they could sing songs from films. Following this incident, an FIR was filed but then both parties agreed to compromise. Later, the Dalit community in the village was boycotted. The situation was so tense that police protection had to be provided to the Dalit families.

There are many Dalits who are highly educated, have numerous degrees from prestigious universities and are highly respected around the world but not in India, their own country. Dalits are still facing stigma no matter what they have achieved. They still experience discomfort when they are ridiculed on the basis of their caste. There are some Dalits who still hide their caste so that they can lead a normal life. Dalits are denied opportunities even when they have the required qualifications because the employer does not want a Dalit employee. Back in the days when a person’s caste decides whether we should interact with them or not, Dalit parents used to condition their kids so that they do not make mistakes and earn the wrath of the society. Today, the future of Dalit is still marred with uncertainty. Even today the young generation is often told not to mix up with people of the lower castes. Dalits are not at fault in this situation. Even after facing unjust treatment at the hands of higher caste people they are still ready to give us a chance. It is high time we change our opinions rather than looking at Dalits with suspicion.

References

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9. Vundru, R. S. #BeingADalit: What is it like to be a Dalit in 2018, Writes a Senior IAS Officer. https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-dalit-in-2018-writes-a-senior-ias-officer-1640681.html
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