Mar-apr 2005

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INSIDE INSIGHT Contents

Pages

Editorial Dalit Feminism

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Caste and Gender Special ♦ History and Reform in the Women’s Reservation Debate: Smita Patil

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♦Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki!: Shaweta Anand

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♦My journey that’s just begun: Sujatha Surepally

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♦ “My restlessness grew and started taking form quite early”: An interview with Pushpa Balmiki

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♦ “Coalition is the philosophy and need of the hour”: An interview with Du Saraswathi

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♦ “Kadhal Kondaen" - Sketching Gender and Caste Relations: Article by students from Pondicherry University 23 ♦ “Dalit Feminism Needs Theorizing”: An Interview with Prof Mary John

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♦ “Need to redefine Dalit Movement”: An Interview with Rajni Tilak

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♦ GSCASH: Sensitizing Campus, Preventing Abuse

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♦ “It Is Comforting”: An interview with Kanika Singh

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♦ ‘Common concern’ - Possible Framework for Dalits and Women: Y. Srinivasa Rao

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♦ Negotiating Caste and Gender - An Experience of Andhra Politics: Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

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♦ “That I am not inferior was always in the mind”: An Interview with Dr. Vimal Thorat

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Columns ♦ Our Icon: Muktabai - “Listen To What I Have To Say”

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♦ Letters with Insight

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♦ Voices: Gaddar - Sing. For Our Freedom Sings With You: B. Prakash

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Commentary ♦ Fear of History in MJ Akbar’s India: Shamuel Tharu

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♦ Dalits in Nepal: Politically Manufactured Karma: Suresh Singh

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♦ Celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti in Bonn: Dr. Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp

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♦ JNU celebrates Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 114th Birth Anniversary: Harish Wankhede

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♦ Maligning Ambedkar on his Birthday by Inaugurating Multi-Media Exhibition on Gandhi: Dr. Narendra Kumar

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Editorial

Dalit feminism Guest Editor - M. Swathy Margaret

I am a Dalit-middle-class, University educated, Telugu speaking Dalit-Christian-Woman. All these identities have a role in the way I perceive myself and the worlds I inhabit. I, as a Dalit woman, primarily write for Dalit women to uphold our interests. This statement of mine is necessary because if we do not define ourselves for ourselves, we will be defined by others – for their use and to our detriment. This voice is not representative of all Dalit women. However, I know that my voice is important because it is the voice of a socially denigrated category, suppressed and silenced. My own self-perception and understanding as a Dalit woman, as a point of intersection/an overlap between the categories “Dalit” and “woman”, took shape in the University of Hyderabad when I joined there for my M.A. in English. I fell in love with the sprawling campus instantly. Some familiar-looking young men came to my aid in filling the endless forms and challans, saying they are from the Ambedkar Students’ Union. Hearing Ambedkar’s name I knew I belonged there. However, it did not take much time before I realized they refused to see an equal intellectual comrade in me. Like the majority of men, they acknowledge a Dalit woman’s presence as only fit for handing over bouquets to the guest speakers they invite for their meetings. At the most, she can give the vote of thanks. They do not consider her in important decisions or in writing papers. Later I learned that excluding women from their committees was a deliberate policy they followed as they believed women’s presence would cause “problems” and come in the way of serious politics. Women inevitably mean “problems”, their sexuality being an uncontrolled wild beast waiting to pounce upon the unassuming Dalit men in the movement. It is assumed that they divert the attention from the larger concerns of the movement. I was given a nice room in the corner of the wing in the Ladies Hostel. But the only thing was that it was unused for a couple of years in spite of it being the best room in that wing, I was told. I did not ask why. Later I was told it was the room where one Dalit woman Suneetha hung herself to the fan, after continuous sexual exploitation and ultimate rejection by a Reddy man when the question of marriage came up. Some inquired if that fact scared me. The ghost that stared at me was not the thought of a hanging female body but it was my own body which is Dalit and woman and is as vulnerable as Suneetha’s. The stories of Dalit women being used and thrown by upper caste men, told and retold by my mother came back shouting loudly in my ears. I also saw the urban, fluent-in-English, extremely confident women, who called themselves feminist, who I could hardly talk to. When I did talk to them I was struck by their confidence,

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their go-get attitude. There were no shared fears, pleasures or problems with them. They do not seem to have a caste to be bothered about. Amidst such an entirely new atmosphere, there was this pressure to prove yourself, to be a good student, a meritorious student. The task did not seem too daunting in the beginning. Why should it, when there is such a huge library and thousands of books at my disposal?! And I am known for my intelligence! As a student of English literature, I came to see some very touching literature of African American women writers. They provided me with the tools to explain my exclusion within the Ambedkar Students Association, my sense of distance from other feminists who are from upper castes, an eerie sense of alienation I felt in the classrooms and outside. They also gave me strength to remain myself without trying too much to fit in any of these foreign structures. My association with other Dalit feminists on the campus gave me a sense of belonging. Our struggle for representation of women in the Students’ Union Body on rotation basis strengthened our collective self that we were entitled too. All this empowering experience began translating into my paper presentations and term papers, and in my readings of texts in the classroom. There was a corresponding dwindling in my grades. Asserting my position has always been important for me. Hence I have been learning to laugh at them (both my teachers and my grades). * In this issue of Insight on gender and caste, many articles raise the question of alliance-building among various movements, especially between the Dalit movement and the feminist movement. Dalit feminists share a definite sense of identification with many basic articulations raised by both these movements. We have gained a lot from them. While it is important and strategically wise to form coalitions and build solidarity with other marginalized groups, it should be considered only when a movement is armed with a clear understanding of its own historicity based on the experience of oppression and discrimination. It is productive to have in mind the historical dialogue between different marginalized sections of people. Otherwise, there is the danger of Dalit women, their self-definition and their peculiar positioning in the society being rendered invisible. For example, the Dalit ideologues like Katti Padma Rao, Gopal Guru and Gaddar seem to be less sensitive to the internal patriarchy of Dalit communities. They maintain that all women are Dalits. Since the upper caste women are not allowed to enter into their kitchens and are treated as impure during their menstrual periods, they are also untouchables! Here “untouchability” is the ideal framework to fight against caste oppression, claims Gopal Guru. What Guru overlooks is that untouchability is a phenomenon that evokes various notions and images of bodies--bodies that are marked by their caste, gender, class, age, sexual orientation and other identities. And different bodies are ascribed different cultural meanings. Not all bodies possess even identities. Not all Dalit bodies are one, not all female bodies are one. They interact with each other being caught in a complex web of intersecting identities. Dalit men, even those identified with the movement, do not want to see us as intellectuals. “You are a Dalit body, a Dalit female body. Why can’t I possess it? Why can’t I just come near you”? It is threatening. This happens at a very physical level. To prevent this, one of the strategies that I use, is to stay with upper-caste women as Dalit men will not dare do express and behave in the

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same manner with them. In such a situation who am I closer to? The Dalit men or the upper-caste women? Neither. This lack of understanding of this caste-gender dynamics is reflected in the work of some important upper-caste feminists like Volga, Vasantha Kannabhiran, Kalpana Kannabhiran, and Chhaya Datar, who feel that women of all communities and Dalits are both badly discriminated against by the diku system, and therefore all women are Dalits! These intellectuals do not, for a moment, think of Dalits who are also women. In spite of their awareness that women are divided along caste and class lines, they comfortably draw the analogy between “women” and “Dalits”. The social status of upper caste women has never been like that of Dalit men or women. Patriarchy, as it operates within and between different castes is determined by the caste identity of individuals. Politics based on difference should be sensitive not only to the difference that matters to them, which they perceive as important but also to other differences. The aim of identity politics like that of the feminists and Dalits is to ultimately dissolve the crippling effects of these burdensome identities. Asserting an identity is to lay claim on the universal. This universalistic vision can be realized only with the analytical tools that Dalit feminisms provide with. They aim at actively participating in eradicating all forms of violence, intolerance, hierarchy and discrimination in the society. An effective way of achieving this ideal is to take “difference” seriously and engage with the politics of difference. * Muktabai, a mang woman, in 1855, wrote about the subjugation that the poor mangs and mahars, especially women, suffered at the hands of the upper castes. She points to how the mahars have internalized brahminical values and saw themselves as superior to mangs. Dalit women writers are sensitive to the differential treatment meted out to different sub-castes and women within Dalit communities. Muktabai challenges the Brahmins to “try to think about it from your own experience”. We find that, according to her, “experience” has to be the basis of one’s understanding and analysis of the society. Brutal patriarchy within Dalit communities is one issue which repeatedly appears in Dalit feminist discourses. However, the views of Dalit male intellectuals on the negotiations between caste and gender are interesting. Ilaiah compares patriarchy in Dalits and Hindu patriarchy and declares that the former is more democratic! How can any oppressive structure be democratic at all? He substantiates his argument by stating that certain customs like paadapooja (touching the feet) are not observed in Dalit families. He, of course, notices the fact that there are oppressive practices like wife-battering prevalent in the Dalit families. However, “the beaten up wife has a right to make the attack public by shouting, abusing the husband, and if possible by beating the husband in return”. The Dalit woman shouts back not because of “democratic patriarchy” but because of the socio-economic situation she is trapped in. The Dalit woman, more often than not is dependent on her own labour. She labours outside her home from morning till evening.

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When she comes home, her husband will be waiting to snatch her hard-earned money which is often the only source to feed the family. If she refuses to give him the money, the husband beats her up. The woman shouts back; in the process of resistance, she might beat him back. This is not because of democratic patriarchy in her family. There are certain debilitating stereotypes of Dalit families in general and Dalit women in particular, which mar a clear understanding of her location in Indian society. Our self-perception is crucial for building our politics. I appeal to young Dalit women not to get subsumed in the relatively macro-identities of mainstream progressive movements such as the male Dalit movement or the upper-caste feminist movement. It is only by retaining our unique voice within these movements that we can contribute meaningfully to these movements and benefit from them. Giving ourselves a separate space does not mean we want a complete break with these movements.

JAI BHIM

M Swathy Margaret is an intellectual in her own right. She has submitted a path-breaking dissertation on “Writing Dalit Feminist Discourse through Translation: Translating Select African American Short Stories into Telugu”. She is pursuing her PhD at CIEFL, Hyderabad. She is also a research fellow at Anveshi, a Research Centre for Women’s Studies.

DIKU: MAKING MEANING GLOBALLY Dikus were the non-tribal money lenders, petty shopkeepers, forest contractors and Brahmins who were party to the colonial exploitation of the forests. It was against this category of the people that Birsa Munda led his struggle. We at INSIGHT have felt for a long while that all the categorizations surrounding caste has privileged the caste-hindus. Whether calling them Brahmins (born of the head of Brahma), or caste-hindu, or dwija (twice born) we found that we were unable to accuse them publicly (etymologically to categorize means to accuse publicly) of their exploitive history. It is with this word diku that it all falls into place. The word is expressive of the caste-hindus parasitic nature, practices of usury and scant regard for nature. We have been using the word diku to denote caste-hindus except when we are talking about specific divisions within them, since our January issue. The reintroduction of this accusation has brought tremendous response. Although our contributors to this issue have not used the word for various reasons, it has entered conversations, debates and academic discussions around the world. The excitement that this word has generated as only confirmed our belief that there is a need both political and socially for such a word addresses upper-castes without giving them a privileged position and also exposes their bankrupt historical presence.

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History and Reform in the Women’s Reservation Debate Smita Patil

society and developed the process of selfconsciousness.

It is important to trace the debates that surrounded the women’s movement, both pre and post independence, in order to understand the issues now surrounding such important question such as, the Women Reservation’s Bill and why further ‘quotas within quotas’ for other marginal women like Dalit, Muslim, OBCs etc., are essential to annihilate the hierarchy within the categories of women and society.

It is important to recognize that it certainly helped some upper caste women to emancipate themselves within the Brahminical social order, as it provided a certain space in the public sphere to acquire power, knowledge and a specific position. However this process resulted in the exclusion of Dalit as well as other marginal women from the feminist dialogue of sisterhood.

Interrogating Women’s Issues in the 20th Century

Moreover, one cannot ignore the parallel Dalit social reformist movement that cultivated the values of Jyotirao Phule and attempted to recognize Dalit women’s issues.

J.S. Mill was among the first to formulate an evaluation of society according the position of women as a group within each society. Needless to say, he condemned Indian religion, culture, and society for their rules and customs. A number of western educated Indian social reformers had, however, taken up such issues as sati, child marriage etc.

For example, people like Shivaram Janba Kamble through their magazine Somvanshi Mitra addressed social, religious and economic issues. He pointed out the plight of Dalit women, especially Devadasi, Murali, and Jogin and asked them not to practice these professions. Responding to him Shivubai, herself a Murali, replied to him that the parents and community were responsible for making the girl a murali. Instead of criticizing women, a more comprehensive solution was needed.

The entire colonial women’s movement, however, was adulterated with the ethos of patriarchal traditions. Lakshmi Lingam argues that the women’s issues were part of the social reform movements, dominated by the ‘Hindu nationalist’ male leader with an explicit investment in cultural identity. This de-centred location of the problems of women made it impossible to deal with them explicitly.

Following this, Shivaram Janba Kamble and others started a movement in which they tried to negotiate with these social evils from Shivubai’s point of view. Other reformers like Vitoba Munpade, Kisan Faguji Bansode, Kalicharan Nangawali and many others contributed to the emancipation of Dalit women. Nangawali established the first girl school called ‘Putri School’ for Dalit girls in Vidharba region. Though the Mahar movement has given recognition to Dalit women, but like the

Uma Chakravarti argues that as the high caste/Hindu women started asserting th themselves in the early 20 century, many women came out and established independent autonomous organizations related to women issues, such as education etc. Women like Tarabai Shinde, Anandibai Joshi, and Pandita Ramabai challenged the religious patriarchy of

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colonial state. However, I agree with Mary John’s argument in which she points out that Chatterjee does not reflect on the difficult growth in the women’s movement in political discourses.

colonial Indian social reformer, Dalit male social reformers monopolized this movement infusing it with patriarchal dominance. The Ambedkarite movement was a different and unique one, which organized Dalit women for the first time in the history of Dalits. This movement saw self-regulating claims by Dalit women and sharpened their consciousness. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar acknowledged the potential of women in general and Dalit women in particular and addressed Dalit women, asking them to join in the struggle to eradicate untouchability.

Women and Reservation Debate: PreIndependence The women’s question was more problematic in the political discourse in the colonial period (and after that) on reservation. The women started educating themselves and raising the question on social issues but remained in the boundaries of womanhood and cultural values.

In social arena, a number of Dalit women participated in the struggle of Kalaram temple, Mahad Satyagraha, Munusmiriti burning programmes, opposition of Poona pact including various other social evils in the society.

As far the questions and issues in politics were concerned it remain restricted only with voting rights. For example, age of marriage was a major concern in the social domain and was not seen in the context of politics such as politics of sexuality or politics of gender. The political focal point was on nationalist discourse and franchise.

Also, prominence was given to education of Dalit girls. Thus, they also began to establish independent forums for example ‘Dalit Mahila Federation’ (founded in 1942) was a historical landmark. This federation organized a number of Dalit Women from many places. They accepted Dr. Ambedkar as their leader and Santabai Dani was elected as a District President in Nasik of Scheduled Caste Federation.

Moreover, on the reservation affair, different women’s associations had different perceptions. Congress leader Sarojani Naidu was against the preferential treatment, either nomination or reservation. In her insight, the idea of difference might create a complexity within women. It may provide a hierarchal platform for categories within women. And the main duty of women was to maintain spirituality and it was to be spread worldwide as a cultural reform.

The Dalit women, however, failed to prove themselves to be an independent entity in the area of politics in the manner in which the mainstream women’s movement efficiently did.

On the other hand the position of Mutulakshmi Raddy was unbelievable. She was the first nominated member of Legislative Council of Madras in 1926 by Women’s Indian Association (WIA). Mutulakshmi was very keen observer and equally well aware of the problems of women such as economical dependency, inheritance laws, marriage laws, the Devadasi system and so on. And thus was interested to use politics as a medium for the upliftment of women.

For nationalists, Indian women were seen as the personification of spirituality though the idea of the ‘modern women’ was essential for the nation. Partha Chatterjee has argued that the nationalists simply granted the voting power for women without any struggle for suffrage while framing the Constitution. This act, he argues, tries to dissolve the major social problems of the women rather than emphasizing the political involvement in the

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She argued for reservation for women. One can say that she was extremely sensible for women in general and Dalit women in particular as she herself was born to a Brahmin father and Isai Velala caste (devadasi background) mother. In her autobiography she describes about how, while campaigning for devadasis and untouchables, she experienced biasness from her friends.

As Rajkumari Amrit Kaur argued that women are not keen on ‘communal splits’ within themselves. Aruna Asaf Ali remarked that we must give importance to the ‘preservation of the unity and diversity of our country’. Thus, the legislatures should protect shared thought of country. Minorities’ women gave mixed reaction as Begum Sakina Mayuzada, remarked that the act of preferring one community may cause harm to other community. Begum Shah Nawaz was in support of reservation and said that political leadership is necessary for women to change the society.

Although numerous women’s organization like All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), The National Council of Women in India (NCWI) and the WIA had different stands on the reservation question in the earlier stage, over a period of time they spoke in one voice for equality rather than for a preference of privileges.

However, untouchability was to remain a burning problem. Women’s movement was greatly influenced by Gandhi regarding the idea of untouchability. A special resolution was passed condemning the practice of untouchability and to work collectively to eradicate untouchability. Thus, the questions of untouchable men or women was not at all actually seen through women’s movement, as it was itself dominated with higher class and caste women.

The blame for this goes to Gandhi, as he was the main leader, who was responsible for mobilizing women against reservation. In 1932, in the Second Round Table Conference, all three women’s organization came up with a memorandum demanding “Universal Adult Franchise” and refused an earlier maneuver for nomination and reservation. As one observer remarked “the very method – reserved seats –by which women were accepted as part of the Indian Parliamentary culture (under the terms of the Government of India Act of 1935) was first vehemently opposed by those nationalist women whom it was later to benefit”.

Thus, if we assess the overall women’s movement in the colonial period, one can argue that communalism and caste were the major factors which damage the women’s movement while raising ‘equality’ issues. And Gandhi was directly responsible to motivate them in this particular direction. One can see, how one by one woman denied reservation for women.

The ‘Communal Award’ of 1932, specially meant to provide separate electorates and reserved seats to Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Anglo-Indians, made extraordinary provisions for the depressed classes. It is interesting to explore the reaction of Women’s movement on it. It was decided at that time that women would not interfere in any party politics and independently react on the ‘Communal Award’ and together think about women’s dignity.

The 1935 Act, although it provided a specific space for all who were historically marginalized, the entity called ‘women’ was not taken into account. Women’s organizations were caught in contradictory proclamations of the ‘unity of all women’. Post Independence The second phase of women’s movement developed along multiple dimensions and raised several questions; the question of

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women’s reservation bill still prominent among them.

recommendation of 30% reserved seats for women, at every stage of legislature.

The Constitution of India does assure equal citizenship to all Indians irrespective of sex, caste, creed and religion that are principally based on liberty, equality, and fraternity. Then why are women still always treated as secondary? One has to also investigate that why and how ‘we’ women are constantly facing the repression of State? What kind of solution do we have to solve women’s oppression? These are not simple questions.

Its recommendations were held up due to the inclusion of an additional reservation of 33.3% in rural and urban areas in government associations. So, the debate was instigated in 1989 and was time and again deferred and reproposed Finally, the demand for 33% reservation for women in legislatures got included in the election manifesto for all major political parities during the 1996 general election. But many regional political parties expressed their disapproval, suggesting reservation within reservation.

Women’s reservation might be an alternative but it is certainly not an absolute answer. The Women’s Reservation Bill becomes visible as the 81st amendment in the year 1996. And it actually raised fundamental issues for women like representation, citizenship and its correlation with politics. However, it is interesting to explore why women have started getting accommodation in the democratic politics of India.

However, it is an important challenge to all categories of women, in parliament, to think and rethink electoral awareness in the patriarchal society, especially, concerning the significance of decision-making. On the other hand, the secondary treatment in politics has led to the realization that political targets can’t be achieved easily unless reservation for women is implemented.

In 1974, a path-breaking report ‘Towards Equality’ comes into existence under a Committee on the Status of Women (CSWI). It directly makes a demarcation between the rural and urban women’s experiences. It questions the declining sex ratio, rising gender gaps in life expectancy, mortality, and emphasis on economic contribution and puts forth definite policy directions.

On the question of reservation for women in parliament and in state legislatures, two positions can be put forward firstly favouring and secondly against this. The first argument says that all the political parties by nature are patriarchal and reluctant to support women candidates and that is why reservation for women should be made compulsory. This implies that once the number of women increases in parliament then it is easy to formulate a lobby and to act according to their convenience and needs. The entire country is under the hegemony of males in parties, politics and public opinion. Laws are easily passed in the Indian constitution but the entire society is patriarchal, that leads to the notion of inequality. As the quota system will improve the socio-economic and political standing of women and ensure the positive representation of women’s apprehension in

It suggests possibilities of gender justice by suggesting alternatives to patriarchal society. Finally, for the amelioration of rural women it unanimously recommended the establishment of seats for women, through the statutory panchayat. Further, the ninth plan brought a policy framework called “National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (NPEW)”. NPEW principally discussed the socio-economic conditions, health, nutrition, environment, violence on women and so on, and gave the

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Some new alternatives have been projected because the passing of the Women Reservation Bill appears doubtful. The Election Commission has proposed that all political parties should reciprocally agree on the percentage of seats where they will mandatory field women candidates in parliamentary and Assembly elections. But guarantees of ticket do not mean the success of women in the elections.

political, developmental and decision-making forums. The other side chiefly says that it will be contradictory to the principle of equality in the Constitution. And that the interest of women cannot be isolated from those of other economic, social and political stratum. It may further damage a unity and diversity of nation. Moreover, similar political parties who supported the reservation of seats for women in local bodies are hesitant on the subject of similar legislation, at the parliamentary level.

On the other hand, the harsh antagonism between OBC and feminist leaders is decreasing. Most of women’s groups accept the principle of quotas within quotas, but only a few groups are arranging to rewrite the present Bill to include such quotas.

Could it be that enhanced representation of women in the national parliament, spells a far greater and immediate challenge to the gendered status quo within the party political system? Or conversely, is it that the pattern of quota systems in India have shown that elite based strategies of empowerment are less helpful to groups seeking greater recognition than those based on grassroots institutions?

Nevertheless, this bill consistently appears in every assembly debate as every political party tries to publicly create a picture that each of them is interested to provide an egalitarian society. Recently the Prime Minister of India declared that the bill would be discussed in parliament very soon.

Feminists react to affirmative action differently. Some argue that in the political process women’s participation can be drawn along two strong lines. Firstly, it will make democracy stronger. Secondly, it will transform the oppression of women as well as socially disadvantaged groups.

From this entire debate, one can argue that it is important to have the reservation for women in the legislature and the quota within quota must be incorporated to bring out egalitarianism in the society. Important questions still remain. Significantly, even after implementing the 33% reservation for women how and what kind of strategies could we have to evaluate that all women (inclusion of categories too) are actually being empowered. The accountability of empowerment needs to be measured from time to time. The Dalit or Muslim woman should not imitate the similar hierarchical approach of elite women as they shift their class as is inevitable with political empowerment.

Dealing with the question of Dalits and other minorities’ women is more complicated. With respect to the OBCs, it is complicated to accept women as representatives of political identities, because in Indian politics caste, class and religious identities exist along with gender identifications. Especially, in the Anti-Mandal incident, many upper-caste women protested against the reservations and expressed their anger that the men from their community were not able to secure jobs and made further claims that it will destroy the future of their children. But today, the agitations of the similar upper caste women for the reservation in context of parliament and state assembly are surprising.

Smita Patil is pursuing her PhD in Centre for Political Studies, JNU.

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Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki ! Shaweta Anand prescriptions should not become forced ones. This is from where a lot of problems arise. Of pushing tradition, forcing kids to emulate elders and become like them once they grow up.

‘Baal lambe karo, hamain ladko jaise baal nahin pasand,’ says a father to his little girl who is barely 10 years old. ‘Yeh nachti kya rehti hai, aaise nachti rahi toh bade hokar nachne vaali banegi aur hamaari naak katvaegi,’ is another dialogue the girl grew up hearing, whenever she lifted her foot artistically.

Mothers want their daughters to be like them, fathers want their sons to become what they couldn’t in their youth. No wonder adolescents have such a hard time in balancing a lifestyle between what they really aspire to be and what their family desires for them.

‘All girls convent school main padhaenge bachon ko,’ so the girls of this family went to a convent school because it was an all girls environment and that this would earn them better prospective husbands in future.

Why is sitting for the civil exams an unsaid norm in JNU? Just because the form costs forty bucks doesn’t mean every second person wants to become a civil officer? Line laga ke? Etna coincidence is not possible.

Another most commonly heard dialogue is, ‘Yeh jeans pehen ke kahan jaa rahi ho? Kapde badlo!’ or ‘yeh taiyaar hokar kahan jaa rahi ho aaj, koi khaas baat hai/kissi se milna hai,’ or ‘Yeh koi time hai ghar aane ka’ (only fifteen minutes late from school/college), or ‘etni dair kiske saathn ghoom rahi thi?’ or ‘aaj kal voh ladka bahut nazar aane laga hai es muhalle main, zaroor koi chakaar hoga.’

All sorts of choices made by Indian parents become part of our tradition that is in reality a passing on of accumulated sentiments in the restrained lives lead by parents. It is at this juncture that young girls and boys, practically imbibe the differences of their class and culture vis-à-vis others.

I can almost sense many women out there who will find the above conversations familiar. Many men would have heard these comments from their family members, friends or relatives.

The need to ‘identify’ their group, to ‘belong’ somewhere is very strong in this age. The slow realization of what makes them different from others creeps in. Most girls prepare to get married and boys have to soon start earning. How predictable can Indian life get? Here people spend all their lives killing those who they really are while defending what they ‘chose’ to turn into.

Somehow, middle class women gel very well when it comes to talking like this about family, family pressures, about these prescribed roles and performances we have to live out since birth through life and death. These norms design our lives as soon as the baby’s sex can be determined.

One has to be a ‘rebel’ to express oneself honestly, be it a man or a woman. Where is the need to form ‘queer’ groups, giving people names and separating them into groups? As if the ones who are apparently conforming are

I agree that ways of living are prescribed in all societies but my only problem is that these

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celebrate their husbands exerting power on them. Most women (that I know) have done their share of foul mouthing family. So I really don’t know if we have a problem here? Women usually get what they want to get. They want to feel weak and dominated.

following the guidebook rule by rule. Tradition therefore sounds very superficial for me. Even though I mechanically do what is asked of me in family matters but I refrain from getting totally involved. I don’t feel for it that much. There are people all around us who repeatedly brainwash themselves (for the sake of conforming to societal norms and earning desirable comments on public occasions) into adapting to ways and means that are not coming naturally to them.

So men have made that possible over ages. We can have a solution only when the problem is acknowledged. But not many women mind the treatment they receive from society. They have their own subtler ways of letting out their steam, if it is made in the first place.

We haven’t discovered these traditions and rituals first hand or in accordance with our times and requirements. We are blindly becoming slaves of the gray matter and creativity of our ancestors, who thought out these ways of life to suit their times and their purposes.

I can vouch for a great number of women who justify getting beaten up or justify their space getting violated. Within the term violence, I want to include irrational anger, use of crude, sharp and abusive language, violation of the rights and space of the woman. In fact, anything that is meant to incite fear in women of the house is an act of violence.

Most Indian women can be seen swelling with pride while getting nostalgic about their mothers who had sincerely followed tradition all their life. They defend their traditional relatives, bollywood films that largely reinforce their beliefs and our society, where a whimper of dissent is often heard for a brief while.

Scared people can never spread love; they can only spread more violence. Actually, I feel violent men too are a scared lot themselves, so just throwing stones at them won’t help. They too have been pressurized to accomplish tasks that define their masculinity.

Does that imply that there is no problem within our society? Since there are no sounds heard, men and women don’t have problems? That woman is sitting happy and content at home. They are happy to be jobless and they

The net result of such a situation is that we have a middle class society that is infested with different behaviors prescribed for men and women, they have different goals (determined by the society) to be achieved in prescribed age limits. Aren’t we bored yet?

Shaweta Anand is pursing her Diploma in NGO Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

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My journey that’s just begun Sujatha Surepally first time. (Mine is not happy marriage and I was caught up in middle of new value systems. I am not going into details).

I was born in a middle class family of a Telangana area in Andhra Pradesh. I was the only girl child in the family. I was one of the fortunate Dalit girls to be sent to school. Like many schools in the villages, we didn’t have many teachers and quality education. There was hardly any motivation from the teachers or parents.

When I was doing my Mphil (Sociology), there was an invitation from the women’s organization Asmita to attend a summer school on Gender, sometime back in 1994. It was an in-house training on gender and status of women in the society.

I had dreams of becoming something in life when I grew up. But my ‘life’ took a different turn when I was in teens when my father passed away untimely and I was married in my 20s. Before I could realize my interests and focus on my pursuit, I was pushed into marriage much before I realized what it was.

The training really helped me to go further with confidence, understand myself what I am, the pains I am going through. Even against all odds I did not stop my education. I finished my Bachelor of Education and registered for PhD which time and again got postponed for want of time owing to pressures of work and family responsibilities of being a mother and wife and all that.

I completed my Masters degree along with my new wedded troublesome life. Post graduate studies in Sociology gave me a different window to look into my people and their situation. It gave some vague ideas of knowing the society better. That was the beginning to gain closer insights into all the “reality” of the web of relations that keep some oppressed and chained.

I was never aggressive with people. (May be internalizing the pain is an inherited character for Dalit women living with troubles). I tried my hand at Information Technology and attempted to go abroad.

I slowly started to see the face of oppression in its varied forms like gender, caste, and class and what it meant for a woman for being born into a Dalit house. Until then, I hardly knew what was to be a Dalit because of my urban background and relatively liberal family background.

I borrowed lots of money to get trained which I had to repay over several years with hard work. But it was a failure and a waste of a lot of borrowed money. It took so many years to repay the loans. Today I ascribe this to lack of direction and escaping from problems. When I look back into my past I laugh even today for doing such things.

It increased further when I became a mother. Life was nothing but uneasiness, irritation, and helplessness at that time. First time, I started thinking about myself- What am I doing? And it led to the search to be something and also to be part of the efforts of my people who are beginning to dream of a future may be for the

But I value all those efforts and pains. I was happy at one stage when I realized that I derived satisfaction in working for people like me and it also reflected my own unfolding self. I finally decided to work for the people who are oppressed like me.

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I joined a voluntary organization as Field Coordinator. But that was a short-lived experience as I could not digest the injustice within the group. So I rebelled and I was asked to leave within three months. Sadly, it was a Dalit-headed NGO. I was again at a cross road in search of suitable jobs in development field, though I was doing my part-time consultancies with some organizations.

What I learned was that working in the NGO field is very difficult as there is insecurity of job, lack of space to express our views. Also managing field work and family pressures are much more difficult if there is no cooperation from the family. In the case of Dalit women, they remain in lower levels because of their educational background and sometimes due to lack of skills. They are often targeted and their every activity is eyed by many. I don’t think the situation is same for the upper caste women.

An NGO friend advised me to register with a group of sociologists through an NGO Sadhana - to work for women and children at Hyderabad. The same lacunas reappeared: Lack of confidence, inability in writing and communication, English speaking etc.

Another turning point in life was when I became a lecturer (my troublesome education finally helped me). My academic work started with young minds and professors.

Few friends supported me and with their encouragement I was able to work for couple of years satisfactorily without earning anything much. I did couple of Govt education programmes and IGSSS (Indo German Social Service Society) fellowship helped me to look into domestic working children in slums of Hyderabad.

I involved myself in many organizations and discussions along with teaching. My field work in the development field helped me to assess the students, helped me to prepare my own module. My back ground allowed me to focus more on Dalit and marginalized students, and motivated me to look into research aspects.

There was again gender and caste bias in NGO field. Managing the NGO, (less funding and too many activities) had become burdensome to me. I used to work on consultancies. That’s where I involved myself totally in the work keeping aside my personal problems.

My development work continued more conveniently along with the teaching. I tried to organize youths with high motivation but it took a wrong turn when the youth from all the districts choose me as key person.

I worked with Tribals, Dalits, especially, children in almost all parts of A.P and Orissa. Working with people taught me to look into my life in a different angle. When I compare myself with poor marginalized women and their problems, my problems are nothing. I got courage from them.

So called Dalit males refused to accept this. I would say that they spoiled the moment by blaming my personal life, same thing happened to me when I was working for the development of Telengana NGOs. This time there were many, both men and women, who also couldn’t tolerate my taking an active part.

From there I never stopped though there were many obstacles. Field works and trainings (in Gender, Child Development, Counseling, Management etc from reputed institutes like NIPCID Delhi, CYSD Orissa, IGSSS) helped me in shaping up my professional character.

I decided to keep myself away with the NGO sector and work voluntarily in Dalit issues and human rights. I joined the Human Rights course at Hyderabad University, concentrated more on youth, identifying the missing areas in the urban education. With my contributions I became a member, Board of Studies for two

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years in Sociology Department, Osmania University.

At the end I would like to say a few words, based on my experience:-

My work focused on involving youth in the issues of caste, class, gender and incorporating Human Rights concepts. My subject gives me flexibility in looking into these issues.

Today’s empowerment process is becoming more independent, self-centered. We are failing to spread or transform it. No one wants to share the power or position. No one believes in secondary leaderships and building up resources unless we unite we cannot fulfill our dreams. I believe in sharing, joining and collective activities with the people who are for Dalits and poor, especially women.

In recent times, I have started training small Dalit NGOs which lack the skills of fund raising, communication and self confidence. During these days I have presented various articles in different seminars like Globalization and Dalits, Status of Dalit Students in School Education in A.P, Dalit Women: Technology, Ecology and Development, Dalits and Development Aid.

Education (quality, goal oriented education) is very important for the Dalits or any other marginalized communities. Though our education is not promising any thing for the future, girl children need to be given much importance.

For the last 4 years, I am organizing exposure visits and tours for my students to various NGOs that are doing good work, organizing talks with eminent personalities on gender and caste, education, development etc with an intention to motivate youngsters into social work and nation building.

Human Rights perspective in all walks of life is important to assert our lives as well as to promote rights. As Dalit women, we suffer triple oppression. We need to work and face all the odds. Don’t ever stop the journey before achieving your goals, try and try until you attain them. We have to build confidence among ourselves rather than depending on others. I know it is very difficult but nothing is impossible.

Now I am also involved in bigger forums like Telengana Forums, Dalit Women Forum and various youth groups. Due to the lack of financial and collective support we are not doing as much as we expected.

My male colleagues please understand the need of our community; don’t ever discourage women in the development field or any field. Don’t target their personal lives; after all they are also human beings. After all the ups and downs, now I am confident about my life, my self and my goals. My heart felt thanks to all those who helped me in this journey.

With my work and interest on Human rights, I got the opportunity to visit Bangkok for 20 days’ training and workshop on Human Rights with support of Human Rights Institution, Washington in October, 2004. Presently I am the only fellow chosen by United Nations working group on minorities from South Asia along with four other fellows (April-June ‘05). Here, I am basically looking into Dalits and their situation and national and international mechanisms to protect their Human Rights. I would like to work more on women, children, human rights education in the field of development.

Sujatha Surepally teaches Sociology at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Presently she is in Geneva as fellow of the United Nations Working Group on Minorities from South Asia.

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“My restlessness grew and started taking form quite early” - An interview with Pushpa Balmiki

Pushpa Balmiki is the founder of Adharshila, an NGO working in the Tarai Region of UP. She has represented Dalit issues on various national and international foras. She has been instrumental in mentoring many grass-root level Dalit activists.

Tell us something about your background?

My mother never sent any of us to work; instead she sent us to school even if we were hungry. I used to see her crying for hours but could not understand why. Once, when my mother fell ill, my brother, who is now a scientist in America, sold off his school books and brought home some ration. Since then, he constantly had to borrow books from his classmates. We had to endure the most extreme deprivations on account of the caste system.

I was born in a Dalit family. My parents were safai karmis (sanitation workers) and faced a lot of hardships in bringing us up. Their daily work was to clean and carry human excrement out of private latrines. They used to get leftovers or half-eaten food, or some times, paltry sums of money on which all of us survived. After my four older brothers, I was the fifth child in the family. All our uncles, too, had only male children. In the entire family, I was the first girl child. For this reason, everyone doted upon me and I enjoyed a lot of attention. However, in the social world outside the family, I was an object of contempt. I could not play with the children of our upper-caste neighbors. It was with longing eyes that I watched them play and have fun.

Somehow, I studied till Std. IX. Then my eldest brother tried to arrange my marriage. I always saw that though my mother did all the work in the house, the men in the family took major decisions. She silently suffered. Women do hard labour, earn for the entire family, work in the household also but are treated in an inhuman way. Their alcoholic husbands beat them throughout the night. Women get only the leftovers after they have fed the entire family. I found that the situation of women in our society is deplorable and because of this I started dreading marriage.

My mother got married to an alcoholic at the age of twelve. He used to beat her frequently. At fourteen, she left him and married on her own. But where could she have found a refined fellow in the bhangi caste? My father used to gamble and that created problems for my mother. In order to rear her children, she worked very hard. From 5:00 am till 3:00 pm, she cleaned toilets and removed human waste. We ate only one meal a day properly, in the evening. In the morning, before going off to school, we used to divide and eat the leftovers of the previous night.

The oppression of women within the family because of patriarchy and outside the family because of the caste system, made me see myself as an agent of social change. It was then that I decided to fight.

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women and have got positive results from 90 villages. I consider Lakhimpur as a model district. In 1994, I shifted from Lakhimpur to Lucknow. Here, I came across a leaflet advertising a public exchange of ideas on some issues like attitude towards women, caste system, alcoholism, scientific concerns, etc. I attended the programme, where I was elected as State President, Women’s Wing of the Indian People’s Science Movement. This is how I came to understand that I could effectively work through institutions, when the other members and the govt. are supportive.

Eventually, after a lot of struggle, I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Arts. Then I yielded to the pressure and agreed to get married. I had kept the condition that the person should not be an alcoholic or gambler. Fortunately, my husband had no such habits. He is also struggling against caste-based oppression, along with me. His career had been cut short on account of his caste. He was an accomplished athlete but because he was from the bhangi caste, he was barred from competing at higher levels, while his juniors and upper-caste competitors, whom he had squarely defeated in competitions, were promoted and given excellent opportunities. I married him in 1979 and since then both of us have been working for social change. After staying at my in-laws’ place for a couple of months, I left it and joined a govt. school as a teacher. My husband joined me soon and since then we have been working on issues like land, caste-oppression, labour and women empowerment.

While working in this organization, I wrote an essay on the subject of women. I received several letters of appreciation from all over the state. In 1995, I registered my own organization, ‘Adharshila’. People have come and gone but the organization is successfully working despite financial strains. To strengthen the movement, I have been encouraging women to stand in the forthcoming Panchayat elections and have offered them my full support.

Tell us some of your experiences of student days.

I exhort the youth to come up and fight against discrimination of any kind. Inter-caste marriages should be encouraged. Through a special programme, I have been trying to understand the mental state of oppressed women in the states of Bihar, U.P., Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. In U.P., I have been working in Lakhimpur, Gazipur, Gaziabad and Kanpur and have got tremendous response from these places. I believe that politicians have a crucial role to play in social change and I appeal to them to work honestly. Balmiki caste is still far behind on the road to development primarily because they have not yet incorporated Ambedkar’s philosophies in their lives. However, gradually this consciousness is growing. As far as entry into politics is concerned, I am prepared to take on the challenge and will not shirk my responsibility.

At the age of five, my mother enrolled me in primary school. The teacher there was a highcaste Hindu and despised me for my caste. While correcting my note-book, she would hold the pen from a distance so as to avoid touch. There was a pitcher of drinking water in my school for everybody’s use but I was forbidden to touch it. I sat separately on my own piece of mat. For every little thing, I was scolded and shouted at. I was taking training in B.T.C. in 1976. I was the only Dalit in the class. My classmates despised me and there was no social interaction between us. Besides, they could not stand me eating with them. Since when are you involved in Dalit activism? Since 1976, I have been working for this cause incessantly at various levels. Now I have been working in five states primarily for Dalit

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a woman, however, the men involved in the leadership did not give me a chance and took over the work that was my responsibility. I was frustrated.

Tell us about your experiences of running a Dalit organization. Between 1995 and 1998, I actively worked to associate with several institutions in a supportive network. But these institutions offered neither good guidance nor reliable information. Even voluntary service organizations used the work of our organization for their profit. They misdirected us instead of helping us. In 1999, I associated ‘Adharshila’ with Lucknow’s ‘Educational Partner’s Centre’ and finally received some formal training and accurate information. Then we trained a group of activists in that area who worked for us without pay. Eventually, some other organization took them away from us by paying them salary. This organization which is run primarily by upper-caste people has oppressed several Dalit and women’s organizations. I have some upper-caste comrades here in ‘Adharshila’ but the uppercaste people of the above-mentioned organization have tried to woo them by saying, “Why are you affiliating yourselves with a bhangi? Come join us instead”.

What have been your achievements and losses, in retrospect? I had nothing to lose- neither wealth nor respect. But I had a great deal to gainincluding the two things I have just mentioned. Respect I have, to some extent, gained personally, but what I want is to achieve fearless, dignified, respectable lives for the entire Dalit community. This is my dream. Awareness, education and independence are all crucial for this, and these are the things I am, through my organization, attempting to attain. To some extent, there has been change in the sweeper community. I have obtained human resources, an institution and dignity. Some people in society even take my name as a model. The courage of the Dalits is growing. The community’s elderly and its youth claim me as their own and love me. On the other hand, society’s anti-social elements- those who earn their bread and butter by reinforcing social inequality, sucking interest off loans, bribing and taking bribes, striking deals with the police, and committing thuggery- have problems with me and are trying to attack me. This is because they do not want social change. Now I have three children– two sons and a daughter- and my husband and motherin-law complete the family. At hand are not only institutional responsibility and an office structure, but young comrades, trustworthy supporters, and people’s community.

Tell us about your experience of activism as a Dalit woman. I really feel great when women come to me and express their wish to work with me and support me. Lack of participation on the part of men is a cause of pain. Though my mother always supported me, my father and brothers did not; they indeed discouraged me. I was part of the creation of one ‘Dynamic Action Group’. I was one of the organizers. An election was held for seven conveners and I was the sole woman convener. Because I was

This interview was conducted by R.B. Rawat. He is pursuing his MPA at Lucknow University

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“Coalition is the philosophy and need of the hour” - An interview with Du Saraswathi

Du Saraswathi is a Bangalore-based writer, poet, artist and an activist. Since her student’s days, she has been involved with women’s groups, the DSS, peace movements and the struggle of the farmers and the labourers. Here she interacts with Vijay on various issues.

has been existing for ever. I felt this as a woman. It was also around that time that I began to realize what outlets were available from this oppression and how to resolve this. I got introduced to a women’s group called Vimochana. There I mostly liked the songs and street theatre, not just the theory or lecturing. I feel it is the strength of all the Dalits and this is how we relate to issues around us. One Mr. K. Ramaiah used to write the lyrics and someone would write the play and perform in streets, raise money for next performances. That’s how I related with the issues around.

Could you tell us about your experiences as a Dalit student, in your college life? I studied in a predominantly a brahmin college, there were only brahmins around. You could only see Dalits who had come through the reservation category, other wise we could not even step inside the college. Caste exist very subtlety in urban areas, and is quite discreet in the cities. For instance, the brahmin girls avoid eating the food which we offer, I never understood that previously. They would say ‘no, we don’t taste other homes salt’. How did they come to know you are a Dalit?

What have been your experiences as a Dalit woman activist?

By my caste certificate, they all knew about that. I never talked about it. I first opened up about my caste when I was in my 2nd year of pre-university college. Jenny and Dr Siddalingiah (from Karnataka Dalit Sangarsha Samiti) came to our college for a talk. Jenny sang and later Siddalingiah joined in. That opened me up and I started to feel proud about my caste.

I first came in contact with Vimochana, which was a center for most of the progressive and radical forces. All the Dalits groups used to meet there, even farmers groups too. I got my exposure being with them. That was my backbone in understanding my Dalit ideology. I was also inspired by people like K. Ramaiah, Devanur Mahadeva, my grandmother and my parents.

How did you join the social activism?

You are involved in both feminist as well as the Dalit movement in context of Karnataka

It was in the college, from my NSS days, that I began to share my experiences as a woman. I began to recognize that patriarchal oppression

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I have been emotionally attached with the Dalit movement and have been closely watching the movement and seeking guidance from the people in the movement. I have been working with pourkarmikas (Dalits who work as scavengers in Bangalore Municipal Council). It’s a really a self-respect movement for the people of Karnataka. Comparatively, the DSS (Dalit Sangarsha Samiti) is more gender sensitive when compared to any other movement, because when a girl was raped in Kolar, K Ramaiah wrote a song and DSS took up the case, campaigned all over Karnataka not because she was a Dalit, but she was a women, Even if you look at the constitution of DSS, they talk of cultural roots and equality. I feel its part of their culture.

Once very strong, but now Dalit Sangarsha Samiti (DSS) had split into many factions in Karnataka. I do not have problems with the splits. I think we should respect our differences. I respect any kind of political or ideological differences. But then we need to examine carefully about these splits as how much they are due to political differences and how much are ego clashes. Before these splits, DSS grew into a powerful cultural revolution and also a pressure group. It came to be noticed by the political parties. I think the Janata Party was the first to start using them, till then all the Dalits used to vote for Congress so it was an asset to any political party. Also there was no political clarity amongst the Dalit movement itself. One of the reasons for the splits could be that we could not form a political party due to lack of resources. The Dalit movement was built by raising money from labourers by singing songs; they were not in a position even to support any political party, forget starting their own. When Kanshiram first came to Bangalore in 1984-85, he declared that DSS would be destroyed. Sure enough, some from DSS joined the Janata Dal and others BSP.

What about the ‘mainstream’ feminist movement? They never took up caste as a serious issue. Feminist movements were sympathetic, showing solidarity but never took issues which are directly linked to the issue of caste. As a Dalit feminist how do you look at gender and caste matters in social movements? It’s a limitation of these movements, but I don’t look at it as a big flaw. I have gained from both the Dalit and feminist movements. Today for Dalits, class and gender questions should be the important questions, for feminist movements it should be caste and class, for Marxists it should be caste and gender. Feminist movements have identified with other movements too, like DSS, KRRS and anything to do with peace. We were the first in Bangalore to organize anti-nuke demonstrations. It is not just being sensitive and sympathetic but also we should address the issues of caste, class and gender which is a burning reality, no peoples’ movement can over look these aspects.

How do you see Dalit movements twenty years from now? The more inclusive we become the better for us. It is dangerous for us to remain secluded. I feel it is appropriate time that we start talking of coalition. We should all know our limitations and have patience. I hope by another 20 years we realize the value of equality but that would be the next wonder in this world. I think we should all fight against power centralization and any kind of hierarchy. I believe in collective politics. Tell us something about your writings I published my first poetry collection in 1997. I used to write before that too but never published. It is called ‘Weave like a Spider’. I got an award for that in Mangalore. In 1999, I

How do you look at the present status of Dalit movement in Karnataka?

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emotional. They should also understand economics, and by being practical, by looking at our roots we can find answers. Let’s not look at Oxford for the answer for this. The people who have built the philosophy which comes from hard sweat have much more value than people sitting on an arm-chair.

wrote a personal account about how I was falsely accused in the bank where I was working, describing the trauma which I went through. It is called ‘What will I do now’ (Eggannu masdeere). I had got good responses for both of my works. I also write a column called Sanna thimmi in Kannada. It is about Dalit women in villages and how they relate to issues like globalization, women reservation bill, concept of border, bomb, how they looks at war or beauty pageants. It is quite satirical.

Anything else you would like to say to our young readers? Looking back at my teenage days, I realize that I was constantly fighting for a space. I would not like someone rejecting our viewpoint just because we were still young, we should have the freedom to even speak stupidly, so-called elders should respect our stupidity and take the essence of what we mean, keep the values which we believe. For Dalits, it is always the inferiority complex which they suffer from. Even I have suffered from this, by feeling hesitant not to talk about my caste. The first thing which hits our mind is that we Dalits are drunkards, meat eaters, dirty people, fools, even modern education makes us feel more of that, but our real strength lies in the fact that we belong as a community. I would like to identify with that kind of life - more collective and group living.

What are your views on the Women’s Reservation Bill? Why only 33%? Why not 50%? And definitely for all other backward women too! Those who have benefited should step back to make way for the downtrodden. If we look at the present statistics we see that people who have power, who are well-read, those who hold positions in the government are upper caste, upper class, urban women. There is no doubt on this. Those who have enjoyed the power should step back to make way for the people who deserve it. This applies even to Dalits too. The class question is very important for Dalits. In the background of liberalisation-privatisationglobalisation (LPG) phenomenon, Dalits should not seek answers only by being

[Vijay is an independent film maker, sculptor, painter and activist based in Bangalore]

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“Kadhal Kondaen" - Sketching

Gender and Caste Relations This article is written jointly by the students of MA, English Department, Pondicherry University namely Shanthi V., Arthi G., Vidhya G., Dinesh, Bala Abirami & Catherina E. Batty

We generally say, "Everything changes, except the concept of 'change'''. But how far we change our outlook is the question. Even in our ' modern ' society the issues regarding caste and gender discrimination still prevail. Therefore to think about a land devoid of all these disparities has become a 'utopia'. This article attempts to show how the issues of caste and gender are interconnected and how caste plays an important role in determining the status of men and women in the society through a critical analysis of the Tamil movie' Kadhal Kondaen ("[I] Fell in Love")

city people. When he wants to go back to his orphanage to escape this "ugly" environment, Divya lends him her friendship. She is attracted by his intelligence, takes him under her wings and attempts to transform him into a 'socially' accepted person. The torrent of love that Divya showers on him soon leads him to develop feelings for her. In the meanwhile, another man Adhi, who is in many ways a flirt, falls in love with Divya who reciprocates his love though she abhors him in the beginning. Dejected Vinodh, in his obsession for Divya, kidnaps her to his mysterious shelter in the forest under the pretext of uniting her with her lover Adhi.

Kadhal Kondaen, the blockbuster of Tamil cinema of the year 2002, gained the director many accolades for his daring venture into a "road not taken" both in the story and the screenplay. The movie's success in spite of its non-stereotypical portrayal of gender relations is an important aspect of the movie. The complicated relationship portrayed in the movie between Divya and Vinodh (two protagonists) not only is unconventional in Tamil cinema but also is regarded as something which is unacceptable even in today's society.

The movie thus moves from college romance to a psycho thriller. Vinodh’s sexual frustration grows day by day. Divya's affection and understanding nature changes him. He reveals to her about his nightmarish experience in a factory-cum-orphanage during his boyhood days and how his earlier girl-friend Devi was molested and killed by the factory owner. When Adhi along with the police comes in search of the two, Vinodh tries to kill him. Later when he understands that Divya does not want to treat him as her lover but only as a friend, he kills himself.

The movie begins with the orphan boy, Vinodh, joining college in Chennai where he feels himself very inferior in status. Due to his lower status and idiosyncrasies, he is ostracized by his classmates. He does parttime duty in hotels at nights, which exposes him to the sexual perversion of the modern

In the beginning of the story, we get a stereotypical portrayal of women as sex objects and easy captives to men's luring as can be seen from the introductory song of Adhi and his discussion with his friends,

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nurturing him like a protective mother and, at some other point, she emerges as a true and faithful friend who gives him mental support to bring out his hidden talents.

which changes as the movie progresses. In the movie, there is no compartmentalization of specific characteristics to a particular sex. 'Feminine' qualities like modesty, shyness, chastity, which are mostly associated with the heroine, are not given much importance.

In all these instances, Vinodh is shown as a shadow of Divya in the sense that without Divya he has no existence. Even a vague notion of losing her transforms him to be a menacing power. This cannot be attributed to his masculine power as he acts so only to retain his position in her mind. Even Divya does not consider him as a masculine figure. This is evident from the way she kisses and hugs him without any inhibition. She is bold enough to bring Vinodh to her bedroom. The question is whether the treatment would have been similar if it was any of her other male friends.

Divya does not make a hue and cry when Adhi kisses her to win a bet. She slaps him across his face and there ends that incident. Similarly, in another instance, Seenu, one of Divya's classmates, attempts to rape her. While trying to escape from him, she gets injured and is hospitalized by Adhi and his friend. After this, there is no talk about it and the story moves casually with its love subject. The conventional stereotypical heroine would have caused a big scene as to what had happened to her. But Divya completely forgets the incident. It only serves as an initiator for the blooming of the love between Adhi and Divya.

Even the notion of sexuality is not demarcated in the movie. Both the male and female becomes the object of sexual harassment. The director has highlighted the victimization of girls and boys through flashback in the narrative where both Vinodh and his childhood friend, Devi, are sexually tortured through 'forced sex’. This childhood trauma is so intense in him that he brutally kills the prostitute who makes sexual advancement towards him. Both man and woman are equally responsible for the corruption in the society as we can find in the factory episode.

As Divya is not a stereotypical 'feminine' heroine, similarly Adhi is not the macho man as usual heroes are. He is portrayed as an ordinary college boy with romantic inclinations. A simple act like grabbing of the heroine's hand or snatching her 'dhuppata' is enough to boil the hero's blood to the highest temperature. But Adhi, knowing that somebody had tried to rape her, is not prompted to take revenge. Instead he takes that opportunity to express his love for her. This shows that the trait of 'protectiveness' of the usual heroes in the stereotypical portrayal of man and woman is changing.

We get only a glimpse of the conventional housewife in Divya's mother character. Therefore in the movie, the traditional stereotypical portrayal of gender is completely erased and the director has redefined gender as a broader category where nothing but biological difference matters. Divya is addressed as "angel" throughout the movie. It does not mean "The Angel in the House". But in the contrary, the human qualities like love and caring for the unfortunate, understanding the sufferings of others make her to be the angel.

The feminine qualities like shyness, nervousness are attributed to male characters as well.In the beginning of the movie, Vinodh is projected as a nervous wreck who finds it hard to find a space in society. Divya's friendship becomes a pathway to him to establish his individuality and identity. But this relationship makes him over possessive and we find him depending on Divya mentally, physically and financially. At one point of the movie we find Divya lifting Vinodh and

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The concept of beauty, which largely constitutes the meaning of angel, occupies only the back seat here. Of course, the heroine is exquisitely beautiful. But on noticing the costumes and the camera angles, one would find that the director has given more importance to the feelings of the heart than her physical appearance.

The movie thus shows that even a secular institution like college shuns giving space for people from the so-called lower-caste society. Another stereotype of the lower caste is that he is dumb and unintelligent. In that sense, the movie also consciously breaks this stereotype by making Vinodh go and solve the math problem on the board. Therefore, in that sense Vinodh is portrayed as having more merit, being more deserving to be in the college than the others. What he lacks is the cultural capital-codes of behavior of ' polite society' or upper caste-class society which is what Divya tries to give him. Through her friendship, she tries to make him acceptable to her society, i.e. 'polite society', but is not very successful.

Even though the movie does not seem to portray any significant debate about caste at the surface level, a little insight would reveal the portrayal of the menacing caste distinction that is prevailing in society. For Divya's father, he wishes the death of his daughter rather than her marrying a boy of another caste. The director has shown the conflicts prevailing within the different castes and he seems to be projecting Christianity as an all-encompassing religion, which provides asylum for people regardless of caste, creed, sex, etc. The movie gives the impression that Vinodh belongs to the lower caste (as he is being sold in the factory and works as a bonded laborer), and the Christian orphanage and the priest provide him the shelter to live. The warmth of love and the extraordinary understanding of Vinodh's feelings by the priest emphasize this. When Divya sheds tears healing his terrible childhood experiences in the factory, we are shown the picture of Christ who sheds tears of blood.

Divya's attempt to 'socialize' him is also an indication of her attempt to make him adapt himself to 'modem' society. Vinodh, whose shyness to mingle freely with girls and other boys as could be seen in his hesitation to dance in the discotheque and shake hands with his class-mate in the "Devadhaiyai Kandaen" song shows him trapped in restrictive traditional caste-class relations. This "traditional" Vinodh cannot accept the "modern" Divya’s friendship as love. Divya has already broken away from the older generation’s norms by choosing her life-partner of her own and running away from her house when she finds it as a hindrance in new modem paradigm. It seems that the class-caste distinction is so strongly imprinted in people's mind that one hardly recognizes its existence. Nobody in the college suspects the relationship between Divya and Vinodh as love. It seems all the people in the college as well as in the society unanimously believe that a beautiful girl like Divya will not choose an unhandsome, poor and especially a lower-caste boy like Vinodh as her life-partner.

Though the caste difference is not seen among the college students, (i.e.) the younger generation whose concern is on the economic status of the individual, it is very much present among the elder people who are portrayed as religious fanatics. Caste also figures in the beginning when in the college, the lecturer scolds Vinodh and says all kinds of people are now coming into colleges (a reference to reservations) implying that Vinodh is undeserving, uncouth, etc. and shouldn’t be in a place like college.

Their class-caste differences only allow for such relations as mother-child, protectorprotected, teacher-student but not a manwoman relation especially sexual relation. As

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already printed out, Vinodh is not even considered as a 'man'- seen by the way her strict father does not say a word when she takes him into her bedroom and even later allows him to meet her when she is locked in. Adhi is at least recognized as a man and hence a threat for the father.

has got the message but is still not repulsed by him. The movie therefore portrays that class-caste distinction also plays a cardinal role in determining the "gender-vision" of the society. The movie is surely a breakthrough regarding its portrayal of male and female both of whom are shown as holding equal positions and equal independence in the society. The heroine is not sidelined in the movie. Her role is as commendable as the roles of the two male protagonists.

So one way of looking at the kidnapping and what follows is to see it as Vinodh's attempt to make Divya see him as a man. Yet, Divya steadfastly refuses to do so as is seen in the way she touches and kisses him and in the water song where she teaches him swimming. Vinodh is driven to more desperate acts because he feels he will lose her. We can also see the ending as the only time Divya equalizes Vinodh and Adhi by refusing to let go both when they are hanging at the top of the mountain. Finally, Vinodh relieves his hand from her with the satisfaction that at last she

But the ending of the movie is surely an indication of a different type of gender relations where the caste category determines whether one is "man" or "woman" enough to live in the society. Thus the movie seems to be driving home in one form; they reappear in some other form and thus assert their inextinguishable presence in the society.

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“Dalit Feminism Needs Theorizing” - An Interview with Prof Mary John, Women Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

You include a section on the Dalit movement in your course on Women’s studies? What according to you is the relation between the two?

movement in the context of a women’s studies class? I have been offering this course for two years now. There is a tension in the class. It is understandable. Between 15 and 20 of my students are girls (all upper-caste and upper class) and four or five are boys mostly Dalits. When there is a clear dynamic of gender, the discussion is usually straight forward. But when questions such as Dalit women in the feminist movement or reservation in legislatures for women arise, friction is definitely generated. OBC women are absent and this accounts for an experiential gap in the discussions.

Our understanding of this question is recent. It was in the 90s, in the post-Mandal context, that this relation emerged in a distinct manner. The Mandal agitation played an important role in bringing caste into the feminist discourse, indeed into all social science discourses. Pre90s, I don’t think women’s programmes included anti-caste histories. It is only following Mandal that G.P. Deshpande translates Phule and many feminists like Uma Chakravarty start writing on caste. The anti-caste movements have made immense contributions to the creation of an autonomous women’s consciousness. This history was largely forgotten. It did not enter into academics automatically. Growing up we did not hear about the role Phule, Ambedkar and Periyar played in the women’s struggles. We only learnt about Ram Mohan Roy’s and Vidyasagar’s interventions in widow remarriage and sati prevention.

The discussions usually follow expected lines, but the manner of dialogue is what requires comment. It is surprising, but true that most of the women, when they speak accusingly of Dalit men in such discussions are unaware that there may be Dalits in the class. It reflects the complete lack of awareness about the manner in which caste operates around them. Socialization is essential to remedy this. There is a need for politicization of such a lack of awareness. It is also important to create spaces where non-Dalits can realize roles as supporters of the movement. Spaces where there can be debate about what roles they can play. In what way they can unlearn their caste cultural behavior and mindset. This should not be of a sentimental nature.

The interesting question is: How is this revival of interest is taking place? There are no clear answers but it has been a very productive engagement. Some women have denied the relation between these two lines of struggle. There are bound to be such differences. Many of us however, now teach these things in class.

What is your opinion about Dalit feminism? It is productive, necessary and will contribute to the women’s movement as a whole. There is undeniably a distinct nature of discrimination

What is the reaction of students to the introduction of material relating to the Dalit

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faced by Dalit women. Dalit feminism also got an immense impetus from the Mandal agitation. Dalit feminism made women’s movements to start taking notice of caste, but it was largely unintended. Previously we used to only talk about poverty in a general sense, but now we have to engage with caste.

There could be many reasons. I think the most obvious is that most of them are first generation college goers and have fought a lot to get here. They carry many responsibilities and their stakes in higher education are very large. Maybe they just want to find a space to survive. I have found through my experience that the most silenced group in progressive institutions like JNU is Dalit women. It is much easier for Dalit men. Even in terms of political rewards, a Dalit man can expect to make the transition between student politics and representational politics. That space is not yet available for Dalit women, as Dalit women. We have to imagine a space between total silence and coming headlong into the movement. This can only happen with exposure to the works of Ambedkar, Phule and the history of the anti-brahminical movement and the relations of these to the women’s movement.

It has lead to the creation of the National Federation of Dalit Women in 1994, lead by Dalit women like Ruth Manorama, Kumud Pavade and Vimal Thorat. They have done a good job in raising consciousness about the triple exploitation of Dalit women. It needs more support though. There is some support from non-Dalit women like V Geetha and Uma Chakravarty. Still I feel that the critical mass required to run this movement has not been achieved. The Dalit movement has also not played a very supportive role to enable Dalit women. This is in part due to some activists romanticizing Dalit patriarchy by claiming that Dalit women are free to work and to leave the house and to beat their husbands etc. These are products of her situation. They are not emancipatory. It is important to recognize this. We need more accounts of Dalit women themselves who are able to theorize this.

We cannot end an interview without asking our favorite question. What are your views on reservations? Reservations are a good thing. But I think that the discourse has been dominated too much by the pro-anti dichotomy. It is time to think about this in a more nuanced manner. There are definitely some dominant castes that need to be de-reserved. The caste dynamic has changed immensely. We should not ask as academics, do we want reservation? But who occupies what space in society? How has caste translated itself into modern society? There is only one place in which 100% reservation is fulfilled, and that is political reservation and yet most of the discourse even within the movement is that this has not served the Dalits cause in any great manner. How then should we rectify this? How can we rethink this issue in order to create an effective and active Dalit political voice?

Dalit feminism needs strengthening. Dalit feminist theories are coming from non-Dalit women and are being written in English. Dalit women’s writing in the vernacular is emerging as an extremely productive and intense field, but this is still in the autobiographical or biographical form and there is a need for theorizing these accounts. Why do you think that the student movement in JNU is unable to appeal to Dalit women much?

Interview was conducted by Sandali (MSW, TISS Bombay) and Anoop Kumar (Mphil, JNU New Delhi)

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“Need to redefine Dalit Movement” - An Interview with Rajni Tilak

Rajni Tilak is Executive Director of Centre for Alternative Dalit Media (CADAM) and Founder Member of NACDOR. She is one of the prominent Dalit rights activist and India’s leading voice of Dalit feminism as well.

(Progressive Students’ Union). Later on, we split with them because of some political and ideological problems. The Left in the name of student mobilization was focusing more on their own agendas for strengthening their political parties and the core issues like casteism and other problems of students from deprived sections were not taken seriously.

To begin with, please tell us about your family background I was born in old Delhi, on 27th May, 1958 in a family having very limited means. I came from a family that was badly and wholly coerced by Hinduism. My father was a tailor whose ancestors migrated to Delhi from UP to earn a steady source of livelihood. With all the then-persisting problems my parents gave the best education to all seven of us siblings – four boys and three girls. But because of severe poverty our higher education got shattered, especially mine – being the eldest girl in the family I had to take care of my younger brothers and sisters. Once I aspired to become a nurse but ultimately I had to change track due to the absence of appropriate financial support.

How did you Movement?

get

initiated

in

Dalit

Right after my disenchantment from the left, I came to realize about my Dalit consciousness and also that the Left is not seriously regarding the core problem erupting out of caste discrimination. Then I started reading Ambedkar, Chandrika Prasad Jigyasoo, Mary Taylor, Gandhi, Rahul Sanskritayan and a lot of other authors. When I got in touch with the Dalit movement, I found that it was at another extreme.

After passing my higher secondary (1975), I joined ITI’s cutting and tailoring course at Curzon Road. Since I was looking for some skill development in order to feed my family, I also joined a stenography course at the Shahdara ITI. During these days, along with other like-minded friends, I made a union for girls, since the girls were discriminated on many grounds over there, especially those who were from deprived sections. There was the problem of their scholarships, separate sanitation was not available and they lacked confidence while dealing with others. After sometime I merged our union with the vibrant left organization of the time - PSU

While the Left was completely focusing on the economic problems, the Dalit movement was focusing only on problems of caste by completely ignoring the problems of patriarchy that is prevalent among the Dalits. I started building my organization allying with Bharathiya Dalit Panther in Delhi (1982). Some of us also started a Dalit theatre group called ‘Ahahwan’, and a students’ awareness programme by establishing a Youth Study Circle. During the 1980s, I also worked with anganwadi workers and formed a union of

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anganwadi helpers and workers at the national level to demand regular pay scale. In this union we have mobilized and organized about 4,000 women, but since we lacked any experience to deal with such a big organization it was soon co-opted by the Congress.

We can seek the differences in the background of both the movements and also in the approach, priorities, agendas and philosophy of both of them. While the Dalit feminist movement has its ideals likes of Savitri Bai Phule, Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule, there is a complete absence of any pronounced ideal in the mainstream feminist movement. As far as the similarities are concerned, it is true that the women of every community are equally suppressed by patriarchy. Patriarchy dominates caste and class everywhere. It is true that, to a great extent, Dalit women are more affected by patriarchy, and it is also not false that upper-caste women are fighting against the injustices done by patriarchy.

You are one of the leading Dalit voices in the feminist movement. Could you please tell us about your experiences with the feminist movement? During the infamous Mathura Rape Scandal (1972), I along with my co-workers organized a huge agitation all over Delhi, which we later on converted into a successful women’s liberation movement. Thereby, I got in touch with ‘Saheli’, an autonomous women’s group. Since the activists of Saheli were working in many fields like sanitation, health, counseling for family planning, providing shelter for deprived sections, campaign against dowry, eve-teasing, rape, molestation etc, I benefited immensely from my experience with Saheli. I learned how to work with fewer people more intensively and constructively.

Would you throw some light on the contemporary Dalit feminist movement? Nowadays Dalit feminist movement is quite weak. Although we have 15 or 20 strong Dalit women leaders working in different parts of India, I still feel it is not enough. The Dalit feminist movement lacks a strong structured organization, to direct the movement more rigorously. I perceive Dalit feminist leaders as more in the role of subordination to other movements instead of leading these themselves.

However, I also realized that the approach of such feminist movement is not towards the central problem of women that lies in the villages, slums and other backward regions of our country. The standards of so-called mainstream feminist movement was restricted to a certain class of women who while enjoying their social status (economic independence and upper-caste identities) were not prioritizing the core issues related to the problems of lower caste women. I perceived that the problem lies in the leadership of the feminist movement which was in the hands of those women which were already socially liberated.

Today we have a network of Dalit women which is called the National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW). Through this network, sensitization of other Dalit organizations is pursued for the upliftment of Dalit women in the Dalit movement as leaders. NFDW is bringing a new front into focus – the front which is really fighting for women’s emancipation at the grassroots level. To put it more concretely, CADAM (founded in 1995) has played a greater role in establishing Bharatiya Mahila Andolan. Since 1995, CADAM organizes Indian Women’s Day for the promotion of women’s rights on March 10, the death anniversary of the first women leader of India, Savitri Bai Phule.

Could you explain the difference and similarities between the Dalit feminist movement and “mainstream” feminist movement?

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women, minority women and OBC women to make this Bill feasible otherwise this Bill is going to be another instrument in the hands of the state to oppress.

CADAM also organizes ‘Education Day’ to commemorate the birth anniversary of Savitri Bai Phule. We are also able to develop a vast network through which we are able to train many Dalit women.

Are you satisfied with the progress made by the Dalit feminist movement so far?

What is required to mobilize Dalit women to actively participate in the movement?

Of course, I am satisfied. After all in the last 50 years we have carved our own niche. At least people listen to us now. It is we who have really faced the problems and oppression in Indian society. We know what are the basic necessities and demands of women. I am very optimistic regarding the Dalit feminist movement and I hope a day will come, when every single girl of this nation will realize her potential.

To bring Dalit women into the feminist movement it is required to first sensitize them about their being human and thereby infuse them to participate at their local level; to participate in decision making processes. Only then will they be able to lead the others. It is a lengthy process. Normally they have lots of family burden on their shoulders which makes it difficult for them to take active participation in such activities. But somewhere they have to realize that they too are human and have equal rights to lead a dignified life. I am very hopeful that given the situation Dalit women will be the ones who will participate in large numbers and lead the movement to its logical conclusion.

But it is also true that despite making our voice stronger, we are also lacking a collective programme, generally in the Dalit movement, and particularly in the Dalit feminist movement. We require a constructive and concrete programme to at least provide a profound foundation. By adding to the works of Jyotiba, Savitri Bai Phule and Ambedkar our organization can strengthen its roots.

Why is it that Dalit girls, especially those in higher education, do not join the feminist movement for their own cause?

What are your views on the Women’s Reservation Bill?

The Dalit movement’s aim earlier was to fight Brahmanism, capitalism and patriarchy. Our movement is now concerned with the urban problems and thereby is restricting itself to employment and reservation. Such an approach can only empower an individual, but it cannot benefit the larger and greater mass of this country. Therefore there is an urgency to redefine the goals and aims of Dalit movement keeping in view the ideals propagated by our icons. I feel that there is an urgent need to build collective leadership which is visibly the greatest weakness of the Dalit Movement.

We have already done a signature campaign among Dalit women across the country regarding their concerns about the Bill. We have also campaigned among MPs of different parties. We met the PM in order to explain that it is very pertinent and urgent to involve Dalit

Interview conducted by Moggallan Bharati who is pursuing his M.A. in Centre for Political Science, JNU

I think it is because of the Dalit community’s patriarchal nature. There is a very little mobility for Dalit women. Child marriages are still in practice. Those girls who are getting into higher education lack confidence in themselves. It is due to the patriarchal society and also because of lack of exposure and the constant pressure from their families to avoid contact with others.

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GSCASH

SENSITISING CAMPUS, PREVENTING ABUSE The Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) is one of the unique institutions of Jawaharlal Nehru University. The institution has gone a long way in making our campus provide women students with a sense of security and equality. Its presence works not only as a deterrent, but also to provide a space around which issues of harassment, and abuse can be addressed in campus. The Supreme Court of India laid down the guidelines on the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace in its judgment on the case of Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan, 1997. Taking note of it the JNU administration appointed a working group on Sexual Harassment under Prof Karuna Channa on 5 September 1997. It prepared a policy against Sexual Harassment and as a result of its recommendations the Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual harassment (GSCASH) was set up on 16 April 1999. Major Functions Gender Sensitization and Orientation -It helps in creating awareness and to sensitize the JNU community on Gender issues by organizing seminars, talks, movie screenings as well as through pamphlets and posters. Crisis Management and Mediation- It assist in the mediation of crises arising out of incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault on the campus. It also coordinates with the campus security services to devise ways and means by which a system of crisis management, that is both gendersensitive as well as prompt and effective, is put in place. Formal Enquiry and Redressal- GSCASH shall be responsible for the formal redressal of complaints of sexual harassment. It shall receive complaints, conduct time-bound enquiries and recommend disciplinary action, if any, in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down herein. Composition The committee has thirteen members of which at least half the members must be women: - Two faculty members (at least one woman) specially elected to serve on GSCASH. - Two Wardens (at least one woman) to be chosen by the Wardens to serve on GSCASH. - Two students (preferably one day-scholar and one hostel-resident – at least one woman) specially elected to serve on GSCASH. - One officer and one staff member specially elected to serve on GSCASH. - One representative each of the JNU Students Union and Teachers’ Association. - One eminent woman academician from outside the University. - One representative of an NGO with special experience in issues of sexual harassment. - One counselor. The JNU model is a standard for other educational institutions of the country to follow. It shows the commitment to provide a place of work and study free of sexual harassment, intimidation or exploitation.

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“IT IS COMFORTING” -

An interview with Kanika Singh

Kanika Singh is an elected student representative of GSCASH. She is pursuing her MA in Centre for Historical Research, JNU. She joined JNU in July 2004 and was elected as GSCASH student representative in November 2004 for a one year term.

lecture of Prof Kumkum Sangari (co-editor of Recasting Gender) on ‘Framing Gender: Feminism and Anti-feminism’. We also invited Dr. Saida Hameed (Member, Planning Commission) to speak on gender issues. The response from the student community towards these two lectures was tremendous. Then, together with JNUSU we had organized various programmes celebrating Women’s Day. Right now we are working on plan for sensitization activities for security personnel employed in JNU. We are also planning to have billboards in various places in the campus to sensitize students regarding the gender issue.

What motivated you to stand for the post of student representative in GSCASH? Perhaps its unique nature was the main motivation. Before coming here I had no idea. When I joined JNU, Dr Kumkum Roy (Faculty CHS) was the chairperson of the GSCASH. By interacting with her, I came to know about the working and the utility of GSCASH. It encouraged me. Other than that, within my friends circle there was always something to talk about GSCASH and its impact in the campus. My involvement in student groups dealing with gender issues like Anjuman and Parwaz also helped me take this decision. Moreover its apolitical nature also has lot to do with my decision.

As a student representative what responses do you get from students?

What exactly student representatives in GSCASH do?

Warm responses, of course! Many a times I am flooded with queries from students regarding the working of GSCASH. Students do take GSCASH very seriously. Lot of them come to me with their questions and I always try to satisfy them. Some of them even confide and try to consult about their problems with me. I am quite satisfied with my job.

We have to organize and coordinate all the programmes and activities of GSCASH. As per the guidelines there are two elected student representatives and one student representative is nominated by JNU Student Union. All three of us represent the student community of JNU. We are equal partners in all decision making activities.

What is your opinion about the ongoing Dalit movement, particularly about the Dalit feminist movement?

Can you tell us about your recent activities with GSCASH?

My coming to JNU only gave me some exposure to the Dalit movement. I now understand that Dalit women have been facing

Recently we organized a very successful programme in the campus where we had film screening of ‘Unlimited girls’ followed by a

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we have been able to withstand any kind of pressure. I have not personally dealt with such cases but have heard of them. Currently the main bone of contention between GSCASH and the administration has been the Ashok Mathur Committee Report (regarding the reframing GSCASH and attempt to undermine its authority). The recommendations have not been made public by the administration yet for fear of protest. The stand of GSCASH is that it should be made open.

severe exploitation in this society. Apart from being women they are also victim to caste based discrimination. So they are the worst sufferers. In my opinion, the Dalit movement including Dalit feminism has an important role to play to end all kinds of discrimination in the Indian society. Many cases handled by GSCASH attract much attention of political parties and of the administration. What happens in such cases? Does GSCASH face pressure and if so how does it deal with this?

What has been the difference in JNU since the institution of GSCASH?

GSCASH is a recommendatory body and the University administration is the decision making and executive arm. There have been several cases which have been politicized. But

It has certainly acted as a deterrent and is able to create awareness. Personally I feel it is very comforting for a woman to know that it exists.

Interview was conducted by Anoop Kumar, Mphil, School of International Studies, JNU

‘Common concern’ Possible Framework for Dalits and Women Y. Srinivasa Rao

Social movements, both old and new, have always surfaced in response to discrimination and exploitation. Some of them are very successful and some of them failed badly. Though failure of certain movements cannot be totally attributed to the mishandling of movements by designers and executers, it seems to me that one of the main reasons for the failure is that these movements were lead in an isolated manner. These isolated attempts always facilitated suppressive forces to carry on with their fragmentation program. Social movements led by minority forces did not open doors for other minority forces to come and join. As a result, they always met with failure.

All minority sections in India have one common concern i.e. fight against constant marginalization and exclusion from certain processes (e.g. development). Out of this ‘common concern’, it is possible to design an ultimate movement that would put maximum pressure on suppressive forces. In case of women’s and Dalit movement, since they have some commonalty in their fight, there is a strong possibility of crafting a movement that would solve some long standing issues. It is important and necessary to devise such commonality. In India, lower caste people and the upper caste women (if not at every sphere of life) are equally subjected to the cruelty of Hindu caste

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system and social order. Though the upper caste women, in a sense, as being wives and mothers of households enjoy all facilities inherent in the upper caste women identity, but as ‘women’ she faces the same problem what every other women facing in India.

To substantiate my argument of ‘common concern’, I would like to present one of the important student political movements in the University of Hyderabad, as a case. The university harbors students from all parts of country with different socio-religious and cultural backgrounds and histories. The women of the campus, like the men, are a combination of upper and lower castes and also a combination of upper, middle and lower classes. Most of them belong to educated families of upper caste or women belong to middles class families. They are the first generation women being exposed to or learning about the discriminative nature of the Indian male dominated society and Indian social system.

In 19th century, influenced by English education and enlightenment, women of upper castes started negotiating with male-dominated society to get some self-respect, dignity, rights and identity, but now influenced by the feminism and radical feminism they started questioning the authority of patriarchal system and began to claim equal share in all sphere of life. In spite of all these efforts, women’s movements are yet to register an impressive victory in India. However, it is visible that women of upper caste are the first to question the authority of Hindu social order in which women are subjected to discrimination from the beginning to the end of their life. Their journey from being submissive to the societal authority to that of much more radical women is a long one. Similarly, position of Dalits is also the same. They are designers of many social movements. Through these social movements they aimed to question the exploitation based on caste system by which they have been subjected to discrimination for generations. So women and Dalits have a common platform for fighting against the common enemy i.e. Hindu social order.

Among them upper-caste progressive women and Dalit women are very vocal in their protest against discrimination at university level. Most of the women who are active in voicing their concerns at the university level are students from humanities and social sciences. For some mysterious reasons women from science streams are always silent. Anyway, there is some kind of sociological explanations why women from social sciences and humanities are active and why science streams students are not. The Dalit student community is able to question caste-based discrimination in the campus which surfaces all the time at regular interval in sophisticated forms. Sometimes they are able to get elected to student union body positions. With the help of likeminded progressive populace of the campus they are quite successful at many instances. Apart from getting educated, they took part in many movements at national level and also led movements from this university and made them national ones.

In the decade of eighties, Dalit movement and women’s movements emerged as the struggles of serious identity politics. The debate in civil society influenced the politics of Andhra Pradesh in a significant way. In the name of identity politics, Dalits and women are sharing the same theoretical platform to assert which may result in bringing these two communities on to one platform. It cannot be seen as definite and a permanent arrangement between women and Dalit groups. But it has to be seen as an important, workable and a possible option for achieving common goals.

In all these movements, progressive women played an important role by directly participating in the movement and by taking part in the scripting and constructing of such

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Unfortunately, this committee itself was consisted of men and women who were against the idea of the creating positions for women students. Anyway, after day long negotiations with the committee, finally both parties agreed to settle the issue by conducting voting. At this juncture, the student community divided into two groups. On one side was the combination of Dalit and progressive men and women and on the other side was the anti-Dalit-women combination. Though the result of the movement was realized when committee pushed the idea of voting, Dalits and women did not give up till to the end. On their side, anti-Dalit-women group generated massive support and worked hard to defeat women and Dalits. Finally in the number game, Dalits and women lost the battle. However, one of the important points to be noted here is that, they might have lost in the number game, but they both (women and Dalits) led one of the successful movements in the history of the campus. They might have lost in the battle where the fight was between minority and majority, but this movement resulted in creation of workable frame work for achieving long term goals.

movements. Thus there has been a long time relationship between these two communities at the political level. It is also possible to see this in the visible participation of Dalits in the women’s representation movement. In University of Hyderabad, as like any other university, men are more in number. However, compared to any other university, percentage of women students is quite high. They amount to some where around 25% of the total student community. Since they are in considerable number they felt the need for having women student representatives in student union body for addressing their concerns. But for a long time neither university authorities nor the male-dominant student community agreed to reserve a position for women community. University authorities ruled out the necessity of creating a position. Though they have been asking for this position for long time, it was in 2001 the University women came strongly with a demand to create a permanent women representative post in the student union body. They undertook dharna for almost ten days. It was one of the longest student led movement in the history of university. Women and men of ‘upper’ caste and Dalits joined hands to fight for the cause and also they maintained enthusiasm to the end of the movement. Women’s representation movement was perfect example for devising a workable combined social movement. These model movements can be formed at both state and national level.

This sense of togetherness (common concern) has to be seen in the context of unifying minority forces for achieving a set goal within the given context. Spectacular character of this new combination is that, if adopted, it has power of solving some long standing issues. Working on this platform would certainly benefit each other. In the present scenario, where the oppressive force is stronger, amalgamation of minority forces is an absolute necessity. Post-modern social movements must be based on common concern agenda and they should be organized on comprehensive manner with unlimited space for accommodation of all minority forces.

After women started the movement with dharna, on the very next day Dalit student associations of the campus - Dr. B.R Ambedkar Students Association and Dalit Students Union - supported women’s representation movement. After some seven to eight days of dharna, the university constituted a committee to look into this matter.

Y. Srinivasa Rao is pursuing his Ph.D. in History, Indian Institute of Technology Madras

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Negotiating Caste and Gender An Experience of Andhra Politics Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

In the decade of eighties, Dalit movement and women’s movements emerged as the struggles of serious identity politics. In the name of identity politics Dalits and women are sharing the same theoretical platform to assert their identity. The Dalit movement brought the issue of caste and its oppression to the forefront, the women’s movement brought the issue of gender and its oppression. Both of them are critiques of liberal politics of ‘universal man’ and to certain extent the politics of class struggles. At least in Andhra, both the movements have understanding in countering the ideology of left struggles. Both the struggles succeeded in establishing their own philosophical position and in taking their struggles further. The struggles generated good amount of literature.

society in general. There are questions and confrontations on the issues of women reservation, issue of obscenity and rape of women and the question of usage of language in literature. It provides the understanding that ‘Dalit’ and ‘women’ are not a homogenous category. As K. Sanjeevi points out, even though they are Dalits, men are always men, but never be women and the same applies to women. It is a fact that there exists patriarchy among the Dalit men and caste hatred among the non-Dalit women. In this paper I would like to look into, besides their struggles targeting the hindu social order as a source of oppression for the both in different forms, the tensions prevailing among the upper-caste women and Dalit men in their everyday life experiences. Further I would like to extend my argument to how the women as moral capital are used by upper-caste men to counter Dalit political assertion. If there is the need to build up the movements to counter the hegemony of dominant classes/castes by creating the hegemony of the oppressed, it needs a healthy dialogue among all the oppressed sections of Indian society.

The conscious Dalits consider that women too are the oppressed people and victims of the same upper-caste hindu ideology which is patriarchal in nature. So the Dalit groups consider the women too as a ‘Dalit’. The conscious upper-caste women of the women’s groups too felt to extend their support for the struggles of Dalits. From the women’s group of Asmita, writers like Volga and Vasanta Kannabiran endorsed that the term ‘Dalit’ connotes conscious people who are struggling against the dominance of caste, religion and patriarchy. The word Dalit came into existence with struggle. It is the symbol of struggle. For the broad based alliance in fighting against common enemy these kind of attempts are necessary.

In the context of increasing claims of Dalits and women (upper-caste) to gain access to public institutions, the problems are generally posed as the conflict between the two. On the one side women entering the universities are from relatively better economical positions compared to men in general and Dalits in particular. They pretend to be ‘independent’, ‘self assertive’, ‘confident’ and are able to ‘speak in English’. Where as Dalits mostly come from rural areas and are the first

But in practice there are conflicts between these, i.e. between Dalits and women in

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generation to enter universities. The cultural environment for the Dalits is new and at the same time soon they become assertive because of the influence of ongoing Dalit struggles. They are painted by others as ‘unskillful’, ‘reservation fellows’, ‘black’, ‘ugly’, ‘nonmeritorious’ and ‘manner less people’. In the class room they are projected as ‘dumb’, because they can’t speak in English. There is an attack silently going on psychologically. There is a general hatred towards the Dalits in the period of competition for resources and opportunities.

In post independent India most of the conflicts between Dalits and upper-castes are in some way or other connected to women. One way or other Dalit men assert in public space by making themselves visible. The upper-caste women always feel threatened psychologically that somebody will attack them. While walking at public places they feel insecure. This somebody may be read as the image of rowdy. It is obvious that their imagination meets the lower caste men. It is the popular perceptions that ‘rowdies’, ‘goondas’, ‘criminals’ are essentially drawn from lower castes. This situation also coincides with upper-caste women’s objections against obscenity in films. The films of nineties depict the aggressive, masculine subaltern hero in mass cinema pursuing fleshy, well-nourished white skinned female bodies. Exactly these situations received enormous public approval as obscene frames. The middle-class uppercaste audience seeing it says that the theatres are no more places for decent people to sit in these days since the films are more obscene.

It is generally believed by the upper-caste students that the Dalits are grabbing their opportunities without having much merit. On the other side any assertion of Dalits has been seen as negative, violent, undemocratic and anti-development. Women from upper-caste back ground also ascribe to such attitude. In a caste-dominated society, any proposals from the lower caste boys to upper-caste women have been dubbed as indecent and vulgar and not worth acknowledging. For Dalit men in the emotional front, the access to upper-caste women is socially and culturally restricted. Women too share their prejudice against Dalits. The large scale mobilization of uppercaste students can be seen against the Dalits at the time of Mandal agitation in which women student have played an active role.

In contemporary times, Dalits are self asserting and struggling for their rights. They demand self respect and dignity for their life. With the rise in Dalit consciousness they are resisting the dominance and cultural hegemony of upper-castes. The upper-caste people are unable to tolerate this kind of situation. They are attacking the Dalits both physically and psychologically. In most of the cases they are justifying their attack that these Dalits are harassing (their) women. Women are used as a moral capital in settling scores with Dalits. They suddenly transform themselves as saviours of women. In public press they circulate this kind of concerns for women. In fact, these are the same people who are responsible for the oppression of women along with nurturing the ideals of caste system.

Rural India is in no way different from the university. At most the difference may be in the form. For the upper-caste men of the village, Dalit women are easily available and vulnerable prey. Everyday there are sexual harassment and rapes on Dalit women going unnoticed. There is no chance for Dalit women to protect themselves from the sexual exploitation. The state and its machinery: police, judiciary never pays any serious attention to the issues of violence against Dalit women. In case of Dalit men, the response is quite contrary.

The classic example for this is Tsundur massacre, where eight Dalits were killed in the year 1991 by upper-caste Reddy community.

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women reservation bill pass in the parliament in existing form. Later one can discuss about caste (OBC women) and religion (minority women).The leaders who are arguing for the passing of the bill only after incorporation of sub quota for OBC, Dalit and minority women are considered and propagated by the women activists as ‘anti- women’.

In response to this Dalits organized rallies and challenged against upper-caste dominance. To counter this, upper-caste people mobilized all their fellow people on the pretext that Dalit activists raped their women and sexually assaulted them. By doing this they not only consolidated their base and mobilized support in their favor, at the same time they succeeded in minimizing the support for Dalit victims from the progressive non-Dalit sections. The women groups were forced to maintain silence. The issue of women’s reservation bill generated much debate in the realm of politics. There is a serious confrontation between women groups and Dalit groups. It is argued that though the women population is half of the nation, there is no proper political representation for women in legislative bodies. The bill is proposed in parliament by one government after another and till now the bill is not passed. There are many reasons for the delay. One of the reasons is consideration of sub-quota for Dalits/OBC in the quota of women reservation.

They are being accused of not being sincere to the women’s cause. Further, these women leaders are shouting at them that all women are same, ‘why do you people create division among us, which are not there.’ The media too helped them to portray leaders like Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Kanshiram as ‘villains’ in this whole episode. It is the wellshared opinion in media and upper-caste middle class that these Dalits are ‘fools’, ‘jokers’, can’t speak English properly, and don’t have either skill or eligibility to rule the nation; because of them our Indian politics has become corrupt, criminalized, and violent; all together moral values are degraded, etc. Their anxieties and aspirations are considered as nonsensical and undemocratic.

The Dalit leaders and the leaders from backward communities are stressing for this. They put forward the argument that in the name of women, mostly upper-caste women will enter into the Parliament. The lower caste women will be marginalized forever. Further they argued that women are not a homogenous category. They too are divided in terms of caste, religion, class. The women’s groups and some of the women parliamentarians like Mamata Banerjee countered this argument that, political parties are not sincere enough in this issue and are finding strategies to not to pass this bill.

One should not forget that these lower-castes leaders not only challenged the hegemony of upper-caste in politics, but also gave new meaning to the Indian politics. It is a known reality that these leaders have more experience and access to their respective castes than the upper-caste women. In a society where the social relations are defined/ constructed on the basis of caste, it is uncontested truth that people (women) within the caste will speak wholeheartedly than with upper-caste women who come from cities. It doesn’t mean that there is no dialogue between Dalit women and conscious urban upper-caste women.

The women leaders mainly argued that irrespective of the caste, the patriarchal dominance and exploitation is everywhere. For this Dalit men are no exception. The feminist leader Vasanta Kannabiran, like many other women activists of the country, felt that let the

Dalit women are victims of both caste dominance and patriarchy along with poverty. Caste dominance relatively plays a more important role than patriarchy in the liberation of Dalit women. There is a criticism against

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individual, then what meaning we are giving for the liberation struggle? Can’t we think about other alternatives than imitating the language of the enemy? We can’t win the battle with oppressors by using the tools of oppressors’.

the feminist groups that they are urbancentered and mostly confined to the problems faced by upper-caste women. They are not in touch with the problems of rural women. In particular, problems of Dalit women are quite different from the urban upper-caste women. By realizing this, the organizations of women in affiliation to revolutionary parties got activated. Anti-arrack struggle of women is one such example in this context.

In Telugu literature, the feminist writers conceptualized the body politics in their writings. Female body is identified as a site of oppression. They countered the patriarchal constructions of women bodies. From feudal time till date, men controlled the women through the ideology of patriarchy. To sustain this rules, Hindu social order played a vital role. The philosophies and religious doctrines contributed to the subordination of women and allowed the hegemony of male dominance. Patriarchy strengthened its foundation by continuing the caste system.

Politically conscious groups of Dalits and women are mutually sensitive to the concerned issues. They understood that contradiction between the two are delicate and need creative intervention. There are occasions in Andhra of supporting each other by correcting their positions. They treat the contradiction between them as friendly contradiction. I would like to mention two such occasions, one is in literary debate and other women’s reservation issue in University of Hyderabad. (For an extended version of the reservation issue in Hyderabad University see Y. Srinivasa’s article on Common Concern in this issue).

Ambedkar realized early on that the patriarchal system is inseparably related with caste system. The freedom of women, status of women in family and civil society is directly linked with the Hindu caste system (or its absence as the case may be). This caste is sustained through the maintenance of hierarchy and the principles of endogamy. Endogamy rules out any interaction and intermarriage with the other castes. Ambedkar foresaw that women are centrally located in the struggle against the caste system. He proposed the Hindu Code Bill in parliament for the codification of laws in empowering women socially and economically.

One such occasion was when the feminist writers objected the words of slang used by the Dalit writers and asked them to correct this. They appealed to Dalit writers to reform their language since most of the slang or obscene words in their writings are targeting the women. They are centered on the body parts of women. They are the words of insult to women. They too agree that Dalit women are being raped and sexually humiliated by uppercaste men, the anger of Dalit men can be understood. Let the Dalit women speak how to retaliate to such situations. They cautioned the male Dalit writers to think about the words used by them like- ‘we will rape your mothers and sisters’.

The Hindu Code Bill discussed Hindu Marriage Act, divorce and inheritance of property rights for the benefit of women. This bill was opposed vehemently by caste-hindus. There has been no difference even fifty years after this episode. But the upper-caste hindus succeeded in using women to counter the Dalits. This can be seen in the case of women’s reservation issue and Tsundur massacre issue. The hindu upper-caste pick up

As the feminist writers said, ‘to take revenge in religious and caste conflicts, the bodies of women are being used as an instrument. In the liberation struggles if women are seen as instruments of revenge instead of the

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the liberal language (contrary to its spirit) to negate the claims of Dalits.

writers against the common enemy. In this effort women and Dalits should maintain exclusiveness in articulating their problems and political position and at the same time should maintain inclusiveness of all progressive groups in building the struggles against oppression and hegemony of dominant castes and classes.

At the same time there are attempts on the part of the conscious forces of Dalits, women and progressive groups to come together. This can be seen in the case of struggles of women representation in students union of university and mutual reciprocation of feminist and Dalit

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar is a Lecturer in Philosophy Department, Pondicherry University

“That I am not inferior was always in the mind” - An Interview with Dr. Vimal Thorat

Dr. Vimal Thorat is a Reader, Hindi Department, IGNOU, New Delhi. She is currently the President of Dalit Lekakh Sangh (Dalit writers’ Association). She is one of most prominent Dalit activists in the country.

developing relationship with the family; they never came home.

Tell us something about your background. Basically I belong to the Nalwada village of Amravati, Maharashtra. I have mostly stayed in the urban areas because of my father’s job. My father was in the police and was the first sub-inspector of the Mahar caste from that region. In those times, the wave of Ambedkar movement had gripped the imagination of the Dalits, especially the Mahar caste. My father was a product of that movement. He inculcated Ambedkari samskaar (Ambedkar’s philosophy) in his children. He was a fearless officer and people acknowledged him as one. However, social relations with his upper-caste colleagues were minimal. Even upper-caste constables did not have any social interaction with my father. His colleagues lived in the vicinity but there was no attempt towards

Could you narrate some experiences of your student life? I did my schooling from a govt. school. There was this convention in my school that students kept their lunch boxes close to the blackboard. Once, to solve a question asked by the teacher in the class, I moved towards the blackboard. Just then, my fellow-students, protested saying that my touch would defile their lunch. The teacher, sharing similar feelings, asked me to be away from the board. On the other hand, I used to keep my tiffin box inside my bag. In school picnics, I always had food separately. I was bright in studies and mixed well with my classmates but still there was a distance. On the occasions of Ganpati utsav or Sharda

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utsav, I was allowed to participate in cultural programmes but not in rituals. Teachers also played their part in perpetuating this.

association with the movement because of my father’s stringent rules. How did you come to know about the Dalit Panther’s movement?

How did you deal with such situations? I used to feel angry and frustrated. Once I gave vent to my anger by tearing the books of my fellow upper-caste students. I was a Buddhist child and have no memories of any Hindu ritual being performed in my house. The philosophy of benevolence, forgiveness and peace, propagated by the Buddha, gave me confidence. That I am not inferior was always in the mind. As a result of the Ambedkarite movement, people had fear in their minds that practice of discrimination against the Dalits might land them in trouble. The leaders of the Republican Party of India were very effective. They gave direction and form to the movement and made it grassroots-oriented. Ambedkar Jayanti was celebrated in govt. schools. Ambedkar’s consciousness was always in the mind since childhood.

At that time, the Dalit Panther movement was gaining ground. However, media was not projecting it in a favourable light. They themselves did some private publications. I got to know about them and their working through their literature. In college, non-Dalit students boycotted Dalit students who talked about the Dalit Panthers. The spread of the movement was restricted to Pune, Mumbai, Aurangabad and Nagpur since there was a dearth of leaders in the rural areas. My husband, Mr. S.K. Thorat was the general secretary of the Dalit Panther movement. He was then teaching in Aurangabad University. After marriage, I came in direct contact with the movement. I joined MA in what is now known as Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Marathwada University and started participating in the movement. I was working especially on issues specific to women. Then because of difference in ideologies, the movement got divided. Both of us, my husband and I, felt that it was unfortunate. The movement was in its full form in Siddhartha College, Mumbai and Milind College, Aurangabad.

How did the other Dalit students behave? They were silent, subdued and hardly questioned anything. Besides, they were not encouraged by the teachers. I was good at studies as well as sports and the experience of having been brought up as a Buddhist child, had enhanced my self-confidence. I used to speak on their behalf and advocated their concerns.

In 1977, I came to Delhi and joined JNU as a student of MA. The environment here was liberal but since this was a hub of Marxists, we used to have regular confrontations with them on the issue of caste. My husband together with friends founded the Ambedkar Study Circle. A reading group was formed and regular meetings were held on Sundays to discuss Ambedkar’s works. I participated enthusiastically in the anti-emergency movements as I saw it as a brazen attempt to hit at the roots of democracy. The student community of JNU was not supportive of the Dalit movement and could not see the issue of caste as being different from class. However, as time passed, we were able to convince some

I did my graduation from Nagpur University. The environment was quite congenial there. I did not experience any kind of discrimination. In course of discussions, more often than not, the issue of reservation came up. I always felt that scholarship given to the SC/ST students is an incentive. It is our right. Percentage of Dalit students in the college was quite low; they were mostly from the middle-class. I used to participate in a lot of extra-curricular activities like drama and debate though I was not involved in the Dalit movement in those days. In retrospect, I regret the delay of my

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axes of social stratification- caste, class and gender.

of them; they started accepting the image of Ambedkar as a social democrat. In 1989, I joined IGNOU as a lecturer of Hindi, while doing my Ph.D. in JNU. In my earlier student life I used to write love poems but the exposure to Dalit movement made me to write on social issues concerning our lives. Initially I wrote in Marathi then shifted to Hindi.

What are the main activities of the NFDW? It deals with the socio-cultural and economic issues of women. We bring out statistics on the atrocities of Dalit women and analysis of the kinds of atrocities. The members here coined the term ‘triple exploitation’-a qualitatively different kind of exploitation of Dalit women, (i.e. on the basis of caste, class and gender). International conferences like the Beijing Conference, Durban conference and World Social Forum gave us a platform to share our concerns with the rest of the world.

How did you join the Dalit women’s movement? In 1989, the First Conference on Dalit Women called ‘Women’s Voice’ was organized by Ruth Manorama. The conference was attended by 92 Dalit women activists. Later, we organized 4-5 meetings per year. In this way, an attempt was made to create a platform for the hitherto silenced voices of the Dalit women. It was felt that mainstream women’s movement had been sidelining this issue for long. Till 1995, Dalit women were not a part of mainstream women’s movement. In 1985, a group of 100 Dalit women, including students, intellectuals and grassroots activists formed the ‘Jagruti Mahila Parishad’. The then President of India, late Shri Gyani Jail Singh, encouraged them. The Parishad took out rallies, distributed pamphlets, etc. In one of the rallies, they shouted slogans against scavenging. They tried to bring forth the issue of untouchability but in all the meetings, they faced stiff resistance. Ruth Manorma mobilized 700 Dalit women to form the National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW) on 11August, 1995. At one point of time, there were 50,000 members in the organization.

NFDW is also a member of the Asia Women’s Forum. Besides, mainstream feminist movement, even Dalit movement is silent on the issue and is therefore, in my views, an oppressor. Dalit male activists do not want to talk about it. The organization, therefore, primarily works in the fields of advocacy and awareness generation through information dissemination among Dalits as well as nonDalits. We work in a human rights framework. Many small and large groups are working in this area but the effect is not very substantial. Women’s participation in political parties, literary platforms or social groups is not much. There are no specific policies/programmes to combat atrocities on Dalit women. NFDW is also doing networking of different women’s groups. Rigorous ‘Leadership Training Programmes’ among Dalit women are being conducted in some states. Because of these efforts by the organization, participation of women has increased. The main reason behind this is the creation of a platform where they can speak fearlessly. This has also led to enhancement in their confidence. In Dalit literature, women have written more autobiographies and can be seen as asserting their identity by utilizing this space. Feminist angle in their works can be discerned, which are definitely not an effect of Western

How is Dalit feminism different from mainstream Indian feminism? Mainstream feminism takes ‘women’ as a category, a homogenous entity, whose intensity of exploitation might vary but the form remains the same. However, I feel that in all areas- socio-cultural and economicexploitation of women takes on different forms because of the interplay among the different

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movements. On the one hand, Dalit society is patriarchal and on the other, there is not much understanding among mainstream feminists owing to their different socio-cultural conditions and lack of similar experiences. Therefore, the battle is two-pronged.

Feminism, as many of them are still not exposed to it. For example, Shanta Kamble’s writings, which speak of social justice and equality, seem to be an effect of Buddhism and not Western Feminism. Have you had any experience discrimination in your college days?

of

How do you think Buddhism has led to the emancipation of women?

I had given my entrance for M. Phil. in JNU. A list of 20 students was taken out as successful candidates. However, the admission of the last 10 candidates was not taken. After JNU Student Union called a strike for 3 days, all the students except me were given admission. I approached the SC/ST cell and we gheraoed the office of the Dean since the decision to withhold my admission was taken by the Dean instead of the Academic Council. After 6 months of agitation, the then VC (exPresident KR Narayanan) gave an order in my favour. Since then, I have resolved to fight against discrimination. Something similar happened at the time of submission of my Ph. D. This was the turning point of my life; since then I have believed in struggle.

In our culture, there is no prevalence of dowry, sati and other such oppressive Brahminical systems, which are employed to maintain purity of women in the Brahminical Social Order. Buddhism was the first socio-religious organization which included women in its sanghas. A woman is thought of as an intellectual entity. Buddhism was liberating for the women, who found themselves trapped in the Vedic structures. Ambedkar legalized this process of emancipation by introducing the Hindu Code Bill according to which women got the right to property, polygamy was banned and adoption was allowed. The Brahminical Social Order had long denied these. Ambedkar’s philosophy gave respect and a sense of identity to the women.

What kind of resistance was encountered by the Dalits in the field of literature?

What, according to you, is the reason behind lack of participation in student’s activities among Dalit women students?

Dalit literature is realistic, based on day-to-day experiences. The critics dismissed this genre saying that it does not conform to the rules of aesthetics. Also, that it uses abusive language and has a tendency towards sentimentalism. They said that non-Dalits can write Dalit literature as well. Though internationally it has received acclaim, there is still not much acceptance of Dalit literature in the Hindi belt.

Most of the Dalit women students come from middle-class backgrounds. Despite financial constraints and family pressure, they come here with the specific aim of completing their education. Rise of individualism with the notion of success makes them turn apathetic to such causes. However, I feel activism has increased in the rural areas where the women do not have middle-class aims. Consciousness has increased and the major contribution is of Dalit media which is working incessantly to create a space in people’s minds. As of now, there are at least 450 magazines and newspapers on Dalit issues in India, which is an achievement in itself. Role of urban middle-

Do you think that Dalit movement is maledominated? To a large extent, yes. Dalits, who are leading the movement in the NGO sector or politics, are more often than not, male because of which Dalit women’s movement remains 40 years behind. There is struggle for space in both Dalit as well as mainstream feminist

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people associated with the movement. This difference is not because of token representation in politics but is a product of social movements. What people want is socioeconomic change and that is what the Dalit activists are aiming at. Protest against manual scavenging and the phenomenon of devdasis, and advocacy for land rights are some of the issues which have been taken up by the movement. Women’s voice has definitely strengthened because of the movement.

class towards creating awareness through writings has been important. What is your take on the Women’s Reservation Bill? I strongly feel that there should be quota for SC/ST, OBC and the minorities within the quota of 33%. Mainstream feminists say that let us first get the share and then we will divide amongst ourselves. But how can we trust them that we will get our share? Who are they to decide? What is your opinion about the overall Dalit movement in the country?

Interview was conducted by Sandali (MSW, TISS Mumbai) and Anoop Kumar (Mphil, JNU New Delhi)

In the last 10 years, there is a perceived increase in the awareness level which has been made possible by the incessant efforts of the

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“LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY” - MUKTABAI (1841-?) We have very little biographical information about Muktabai. We know that she studied at the school in Pune founded by Savitribai and Jotiba Phule and she wrote an essay, on the condition of Dalits, in 1855, while she was fourteen. Of what happened to her later, or indeed of any of her other writings, we have no record. Yet through her vivid and acerbic polemic we get an unmistakable impression of her intelligence and self confidence. For an untouchable, and a woman at that, to write “O

learned pandits, wind up the selfish prattle of your hollow wisdom and listen to what I have to say,” would be surprising even today. In Muktabai’s time it was awe-inspiring. Her essay was originally published in 1885 in Dnyanodaya, an Ahmednagar journal. The essay was reprinted in the Dnyanodaya Centenary Volumes, edited by B.P. Hivale, in 1942. It is probably the earliest surviving piece of writing by a mang woman, an “untouchable” from Maharashtra.

MANG MAHARACHYA DUKHVISAYI

(About The Grief of the Mangs and Mahars)

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If one attempts to refute, on the basis of the Vedas, the argument of these Brahmins, the great gluttons, who consider themselves to be superior to us and hate us, they counter that the Vedas are their own property. Now obviously, if the Vedas are only for the Brahmins, they are absolutely not for us. Teach us, O Lord, thy true religion so that we all can lead our lives according to it. Let that religion, where only one person is privileged and the rest are deprived, perish from the earth and let it never enter our minds to be proud of such a religion. These people drove us, the poor mangs and mahars, away from our own lands, which they occupied to build large mansions. And that was not all. They regularly used to make the mangs and mahars drink oil mixed with red lead and then buried them in the foundations of their mansions, thus wiping out generation after generation of these poor people. Under Bajirao’s rule, if any mang or mahar happened to pass in front of the gymnasium, they cut off his head and used it to play bat ball with their swords as bats and his head as a ball, on the grounds. If the victim managed to save his life and Bajirao came to know about it, he used to say, “How dare they save their lives? Do these untouchables expect Brahmins to hand over their duties as revenue officers to them and to start roaming with their shaving kits, all over the town, shaving the heads of widows?” With such a remark he used to punish them. Second, were these Brahmins satisfied with prohibiting the knowledge of writing to us? No. Not them. Bajirao went to Kashi and died a dusty death there. But the mahars here, no less untouchable than mangs, have absorbed some of his qualities through their contact with him, and consider themselves to be superior to the mangs, so much so that they do not allow even the shadow of a mang to fall over them. Do the merciless hearts of these Brahmins, who strut around in the so-called holy places, ever feel even a grain of pity for us when we suffer so much grief on account of being branded as untouchables. Nobody employs us because we are untouchables. We have to endure miseries because we do not have any money. O learned pandits, wind up the selfish prattle of your hollow wisdom and listen to what I have to say. When our women give birth to babies, they do not even have a roof over their houses. How they suffer in the rain and the cold! Try to think about it from your own experience, suppose the women suffer from some puerperal disease, from where could they have found money for the doctor or medicines? Was there ever any doctor among you who was human enough to treat people free of charge? The mang and mahar children never dare lodge a complaint even when the Brahmin children throw stones at them and injure them seriously. They suffer mutely because they say they have to go to the Brahmin houses to beg for the leftover morsels of food. Alas! O God! What agony this! I will burst into tears if I write more about this injustice… Extract from Susie Tharu and K Lalitha (Eds) Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present: 600 B.C. to the Early Twentieth Century (New York: Feminist Press, CUNY, 1991) p 215-216

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LETTERS WITH INSIGHT

Ramchandra Guha’s criticism shows that people don’t want to face reality. The article from the technical institute exposes the dangerous social & educational scenario of Vedic Indian education. Jayant Biswas ([email protected]) I am delighted to receive new issue of Insight with improved printing and definitely the content. Please keep it up. It is long way to go for a magazine highlighting the plight of Dalits in this country. Good Luck Dr. N K S More, Lucknow Thank you for saying that DV has been an inspiration to you. We are doing our duty in supporting you. We support all those fighting for their human rights. However, we request you to involve Dalit women in all your work. When we addressed your meeting there were hardly any. Manuwadis burn their women and have all contempt for them but we can’t follow them. But in our tours round the country, we find the same tendency. Dalit movement is totally maledominated. In Dalit Voice, we hardly get any articles from Dalit women. We are deeply worried. As young Dalit intellectuals you have to set the example. Please bear this in mind when you bring out the next issue devoted to “Caste and Gender”. V.T. Rajshekar, Editor, Dalit Voice I read Anoop’s article, it is good. I feel proud, when I think about him. But I have one point to make. If each of the “broken people” starts talking about their own story then think about... As far as I’m concerned I say that every Dalit talk about what happened to him, then nothing new happens. B. Ravichandran, CIEFL, Hyderabad I am very glad that you have made your on-going war against Hindu Nazi terrorism a success. I am very happy about your new issue. The contemporary issues you have touched on were good. “Gay ka huddi” the Hindi poem was nice. Try and increase the printing quality. Also try to include some great scholars’ writings. My dream is to gather all Dalit graduates under one umbrella and fight together for our people. I have established “Dalit Graduates Association” (DGA) though that is in the initial stage. I am inviting every Dalit graduate to join us. I am hoping Insight will serve this purpose. Insight should reach every Dalit graduate and ensure that he works for his family (jati). Most Dalit graduates think that after their graduation they should settle well in his life, it is OK but they also want keep their jatiwalas away and more over they think that if they want to develop and be respected by everyone in the society then they have to do this. What a shame on our part, we are neglecting our own family members. The whole Dalit community has great hopes for Dalit graduates, but in reality, they simply betray them, and forget about them. They don’t have interest in politics. We have put an end to

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this. We should direct our own community, which ever may be our field of work and what ever may be the faith we are following, where ever we may be, we have to think of our people first. DGs must come together and fight for our own people. This is the dream of our father Dr. B R Ambedkar. If we miss this theory and do that and this, we will never get to rule our own land, we will remain slaves. Vijaykumar, Kakatiya University, Warangal, AP The present question is globalization and Dalit. The politics of globalization should be analyzed very seriously. In solidarity, C K Vishwanath, Kunnur, Kerala I am hoping that some of you have been involved in the NCERT’s recent curriculum review (see the NCERT website for details) in which there has been a special focus group on “problems of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students” chaired by Dr. Padma Velaskar of TISS, Mumbai. Specifically I feel that school textbooks do introduce various biases at an early age and can also be effective in countering these biases. Jayashree Ramadas, ([email protected]) I am a student of TISS. I got a chance to read your Jan/Feb edition recently. I must say it is a brilliant attempt at creating a platform for the silenced voices of the Dalits. Some of us here in TISS have been thinking about creating such a space. You must be aware that TISS is a ‘professional’ institute. Though the dictum of ‘personal is political’ is taught in the class, its actualization in one’s life is not encouraged. The engagement with issues revolves around assignments (for the most part of our lives in TISS, we are doing assignments) and classroom discussions. Believe it or not, both these platforms are orchestrated mostly by the teacher concerned! We sometimes find ourselves out of place here and have been in search for an outlet within the institute. Though it is extremely difficult for the students to come together because of the schedule here, we are hopeful that we will get the support of some, if not many. I would be grateful if you can send us some information about how to start the journal. Though I have done my MA in English Literature and have an experience of writing, I have no clue about how to start a journal. Sandali, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai Insight’s last issue on Nationalism is indeed full of thought provoking information. It would have been beneficial had Milind Awad’s article DIKU NATIONALISM had been included in the Hindi section also for countrywide circulation. Kindly let me know if it is available in Hindi. I am taking out some Xerox copies of the English one for being sent to my intelligent friends who know English. S. Akhtar U. Patel, Khanpur, Bharuch

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VOICES

SING. FOR OUR FREEDOM SINGS WITH YOU B. Prakash

[This article is second part of series of articles on revolutionary Dalit singer Gaddar] “Bullets will not silence (Gaddar) voice nor will they pierce the heart of the song The song had been wounded but it will recover soon…” (Quoted from a poster released after the brutal attack on Gaddar)

peoples’ theatres (like Eknath’s Bharul) which raised their voice, vented their anger and tried to raise awareness against exploitative brahminical ideas as well as feudal oppression. The whole struggle of the poet saints (predominantly from Dalit and other lower sections of the society) should be seen as a forerunner of such cultural resistance against brahminical-feudal social order. But over time their revolutionary zeal was lost and people forgot their social messages.

In the present context popular, mass-based, cultural forms of resistance has to play many roles. The general notion is that poor people only need bread and their whole struggle revolves around bread only. This is half the truth. In reality, they have also to fight against caste-oppression, gender oppression, communalism, corruption and more, to regain their self respect and their right to lead an honourable and dignified life. Hence the struggles of women, Dalits, Tribals must not be limited to bread alone. We are very proud that in Gaddar we find this much needed totality and vision. Gaddar’s theatre emerged from the peoples’ need and against socio-political deprivation of Dalits, Tribals and other backward sections of the society. It is true that art never changes society, but, as Habib Tanvir argues, it possesses the way for social change. Gaddar’s Jana Natya Mandali is also a harbinger of such change. He conceived JNM as an instrument in bringing socio-political change to benefit the exploited masses.

JNM has its seed in the Telengana struggle, which started in 1946 and lasted for over five years. Although this armed struggle was suppressed by the newly-independent Indian state and the Nizam’s Razakars, its values went deep into the consciousness of the masses. It remained alive in the form of new cultural forms. One of them was Praja Natya Mandali (PNM) which was formed with clear objectives of mobilizing peasants and other exploited sections of the society and to prepare them to struggle for uprooting the traditionalexploitative socio-political order.

JNM is certainly not the first in this direction. There have always been some forms of

Due to various splits in the communist movement, it also got divided and lost steam.

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section of the masses, JNM activists would live with them for several days to have a first hand knowledge of their life.

But the 1970s saw a new upsurge of peoples’ struggle, especially in Andhra, reviving again the cultural movement of protest. Revolutionary Poet Subba Rao Panigrahi and many other poet singers emerged. Subba Rao created a popular form called Jamukulakatha. It created an impact in the Srikakulam region of Andhra Pradesh. The content and style of this form was folk oriented and used the local dialect. It became so popular that local feudal elements started opposing it vehemently and Subba Rao was killed in a police encounter.

Song as a powerful Weapon - With Gaddar, a great singer as well as composer, songs are a very important part of JNM activities. Songs come from day to day lives of workers, peasants, students, laborers etc. Normally they are composed in a satirical manner so as to have maximum impact on the masses. Several of JNM’s songs based on railway workers, rickshaw drivers, rising prices of essential commodities, and other daily chores of the masses, are already termed as modern-day classics as they are hugely popular.

This failed to dampen the spirit of masses. Immediately a group of students came into forefront and challenged the literary and cultural figures of Andhra who benefited from the status quo and believed in ‘art for art sake’. On 4July 1970, Virasam (Viplava Rachaytala Sangam, Revolutionary Writers’ Association) was formed. The legacy of Subba Rao was carried forward by Cherabamda Raju. He became the first poet-singer of the Naxalbari movement. In such turmoil JNM was formed in 1973. Gaddar and Narasinga Rao were founders of this cultural group in support of the ongoing peasant’s movement.

Artists from the below – It always tries to choose artists from the lower section of the society. JNM firmly believes that artists are not necessarily born but made. The art which emerges from the lives of poor section of the society does not differentiate between the Lokadharmi and Natyadharmi. They are capable of presenting their ideas very powerfully. The popularity of JNM is to be seen to be believed. Through its performances it touches the heart of the masses and raises political and social consciousness among them. More often it tries to inform them of the real causes of their miserable lives in a simple yet effective way. Gaddar along with other members have become a phenomenon in AP and other nearby areas. Thousands of people gather to listen Gaddar and JNM even when there is huge risk of state backlash.

JNM cannot be categorized as a theater, dance or song group. It is multi-ways of communication and expression of cultural identity. Some basic methodology on which JNM is working are as follows Folk form as an important tool - Right from its beginning JNM understood the effectiveness of folk as the best form to reach the rural masses. It took popular forms like ‘Oggu Katha’, ‘Veedhi Bhagotham’, ‘Yellama Katha’ and ‘Rytu Cooli Vijayam’. Thus it was able to communicate its message to largely illiterate masses effectively.

Yet the people there love Gaddar so much that state government was forced to give permission to Gaddar to hold performances in the open. One such performance of Gaddar was attended by lakhs of people that too in the capital city of Hyderabad. Every song sung by Gaddar is a warning to the state as well as to feudal-brahminical elements of the society to

From the Masses to the Masses - JNM maintained an organic link with the masses in molding and remolding its cultural tools to perfection before presenting them to a larger audience. To write a song on a particular

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these questions either through a narration or through a song. It is carefully designed towards a fast expression, a frequent feature of the popular conversation in the villages. These singing performances are supplemented by musical instruments like Damurukam, Maddila, Dolu, Kameera etc. These performances are generally performed for longer duration. These performances, sometimes, go on for hours together.

mend their ways otherwise the time is soon coming where they will have to regret. Gaddar chose four predominant popular art forms for the purpose of conscientisation and to further revolutionize the society. These forms are - Song, Oggukatha (a song Ballad), Drama, other miscellaneous folk forms. Songs as the expression of human emotions like -

So Gaddar and his JNM group have all the ingredients to be called popular theatre. According to Brecht, “we have people in mind who make history, change the world. We have in mind a fighting people and therefore an aggressive concept of what is popular. Popular means intelligible to the masses, adopting and enriching their forms of expression, assuming their stand point, confirming and correcting it, relating to their traditions and developing them”.

I. Oh peasant you got to the Field of the land lord At the early hour of dawn You return home around midnight Having relentlessly worked From dawn to the desk Never you had the fruits Of your labour Never the sufficient food You had in your life II. Ours is the village Ours is the street Ours is the hamlet We are there for every work Who is Dora? Why is his domination? Hammer is ours Knife is ours

Initially it was thought that use of traditional art forms by Gaddar and his group would make conscientisation difficult. But through a serious concern for revolution in favor of exploited masses JNM and Gaddar refuted this and disapproved the fact propagated by some progressive writers that feudal and irrational contents are interwoven into various folk forms and hence are of no use for the muchneeded revolution.

Another very important medium of communication is called Oggukatha. It has been a popular mode of popularization adopted by JNM. This is a form in which song, music and dance co-exist inseparably. The language is local both in dialect and structure; and its images are spontaneous and rustic. Moreover it is more related to the experience of the pastoral communities of the region. The performance consists of three to six member groups and it goes on narrating the arduous experience of the populace.

JNM, unlike other peoples’ theatre group, is not merely a group of performers but it is also fighting with the people, for the people. So where other progressive groups have no real mass support and are in constant search for the conscious audiences, JNM has succeeded in penetrating deep inside the masses and leaving a deep impact on them by making them more conscious about their plight.

Among the three performers, one would be the leader and also the main singer. Other two interpret the main song by raising several questions. The main singer would answer

One of the qualities of JNM which I admire the most is about their whole process of peoples’ participation and their control of the process. Any popular theatre may be

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participatory in the sense that local people are involved in producing it, but unless they control the selection of content and the whole educational process they may become willing accomplices in their own domestication.

Many peoples’ theatre groups are not able to grasp the ground realities and tend to generalize things superficially. In the name of rejecting tradition, to show themselves as more progressive, they tend to reject peoples’ culture. Therefore they are also rejected by the people. Amidst this critical situation of peoples’ theatre movement JNM has provided us an alternative by playing the role of conscientising the masses under Gaddar, an organic intellectual.

Participation as mere performance is no guarantee of progressive change: unless they control the popular theatre process they may be used as mere mouth piece for ideas produced by others which mystify their reality and condition them to accept a passive, dependent, uncritical role in an inequitable social structure.

B. Prakash is pursuing his MA in the School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi

VOICES is a column on contemporary art, culture and literature. It is an attempt to interpret cultural politics and the ongoing arts-related movements of the marginalized groups of the country. It is also a small step towards resisting the Diku hegemonisation of the arts as well as strengthening more egalitarian forms of art and culture. In the next issue we will try to elaborate on Bhikhari Thakur who became a legend for developing Bidesia style of theatre in Bhojpuri language. We request our readers to provide information regarding artists, their arts or related to folk culture which you find neglected in ‘National’ Culture. Such contributions will help us to fulfill the objectives of this column.

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Fear of History in MJ Akbar’s India Shamuel Tharu

M J Akbar, Nehru: The Making of India, (New Delhi, Penguin, 1988)

There are many things to say about M J Akbar’s book. But we have neither the time nor the inclination to go into all of them. What was shocking and pertinent for us was the manner in which he represents Babasaheb Ambedkar in the book and what this means to the manner in which we represent secular discourse in India today.

Although Akbar pays lip service to the “terrible” nature of untouchability, there is no imagination in his analysis. It is almost impossible for him to see beyond the need of the ‘united’ nation. This desire overcomes his ability to recognize the castiest nature of this nation that he is supporting. It is also surprising that he gives the entire agency to the machinations of the British. It is almost as though the British create the anti-diku movement in India. This is logically unsound. The anti-diku movement has to essentially be against the dikus. There is no space within the diku world for a self-respecting Dalit.

This is a classic, in the terms of rewriting the national movement’s history in a diku light. Even an “enlightened” Muslim is unable to reclaim our pre-independence past without falling prey to the Gandhian aura. He must shout loudest about the Muslim League, deny the uniqueness of the Muslim identity and subsume it within Gandhi’s India. Just as the Dalits and Adivasis have to buy into an antiMuslim location to enter the national discourse, in this manner the Muslim must buy into an anti-Dalit and anti-tribal location to enter into the national discourse.

Even the dikus do not use such language. They oppose Ambedkar and call him caste names. But to accuse him of wanting to create a Buddhistan is news to us. Ambedkar claimed the Indian nation. He claimed it in the name of liberalism and equality. He was not looking for a separate state. Such an interpretation is suspiciously reflective of a fear of partition, of the guilt of partition. Not having a say in being born a Muslim, he has had to live with accusations, directly or indirectly, of his identity being responsible for the partition.

Let’s get back to the book. Mr. Akbar sees the creation of the Dalit identity as an aborted child of the British attempt to create Ambedkar as a Dalit Jinnah. According to him, it was only because Gandhi was the great man that he was (and anyone less than Gandhi would not have been able to achieve it) that he managed to prevent the creation of a Buddhistan in 1932. Even if we ignore the fact that Ambedkar only begins to consider leaving Hinduism publicly in 1935 and this results in his considering Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and deciding on Buddhism only in the 1950s, it is impossible to ignore the implications of such an interpretation.

It is this social constitution of his identity that makes him view all identities that do not flow seamlessly into the diku “secular” nation as threatening partition. And this must necessitate a reaction of vocal resistance from him. It is almost as though he is atoning the fact that he is a Muslim and therefore different in the hindu state, by denying the Dalits their difference from that same state.

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the light of the fact that Ambedkar had been a strong fighter for the presence of Dalits in decision making fora. He would not abandon such a location without immense thought.

This fear of leaving the nation as described by the dikus is reflected in his recounting of the Hindu Code Bill. In Akbar’s version, Nehru was besieged by the diku right and by the right-wingers within the Congress. He was deserted by Ambedkar at the time when he needed support most. Akbar contradicts himself almost immediately quoting Nehru as saying that he was not in a mood to compromise on the Bill.

The pity about Akbar’s book is not that he mis-represents Ambedkar’s role in the national movement and in the making of the liberal state. It is that he is trapped in the secular discourse by the diku nationalist discourse. This will have its fall out in his interpretation of reservations. I would be surprised if Akbar supports reservations in the government or reservations within reservations in the Woman’s Reservation Bill.

If this was so, why did the departure of Ambedkar suddenly made Nehru compromise with the Bill. Further, most versions of history show that Ambedkar was crucial in drafting the Bill as the Law Minister and he lobbied for it and tolerated immense caste abuse in the public sphere for his role in drafting that Bill. In fact it was Nehru who was trying to postpone the Bill to avoid an electoral backlash. It was only when Ambedkar saw Nehru as dilly dallying over the Bill and attempting to break the Bill up to appease the dikus that he resigned in frustration and protest. It is important to see his resignation in

There is hope, of course, in the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj where Dalit and OBC Muslims are reclaiming Islam as their own and are doing so with the legitimacy that they are of the soil. They do not need the diku validation of their presence and refuse the guilt of partition forced on them.

Shamuel Tharu is pursuing his Mphil in Security Studies, JNU

Insight now reaches 46 major universities and institutions across the world. It is also making inroads into NGOs people movements. We have received quite a good response from the Student Community. Looks like we’re on our way to making a difference.

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Dalits in Nepal: Politically Manufactured Karma The facts on the ground Suresh Singh

people that have moved to the plains of Nepal mainly from the neighboring areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar before and after the IndoNepal Treaty of 1950. The proportion of upper castes: Brahman, Rajput, Bhumihar and Kayastha — to this caste groups is not more than 1.6%. The Dalit castes are: Chamar, Musahar, Tatma, Khatwe, Dusadh, Dhobi, Dom, Pasi, Paswan and Halalkor.

Dalits are groups of people considered as ritually impure and imagined as living apart from the “mainstream society”. This poorly understood community is called untouchables or Dalit, a term borrowed from India. The literal meaning of Dalit in the Nepali dictionary is “the person who is suppressed”. An intellectual Dr. Drona Prakash Rasali proposes the word “Karmajan” to refer to, in a more dignified manner, the people of occupational castes in Nepal.

Manufacturing Untouchability

In the context of Nepal, there is no consensus on definitions as well as on the number of Dalit communities. Based on prevailing social practices, the National Dalit Commission identified 22 major castes as Dalit. In 1997, Dalit Vikas Samiti identified 23 various cultural groups as Dalits, and Dalit Ayog (formed in March 2002) forwarded the Bill to the government identifying 28 cultural groups as Dalits in Nepal.

In 14th century, Jayastithi Malla of Kathmandu valley legally classified the Newari people into 64 castes to maintain the class hierarchy and division of labour for easy extraction of revenue. In the western and central mountains of Nepal, terms such as Kami, Sarki and Damai existed depending on the nature of arts and crafts that the people of the Mongoloid and the Austro-Asiatic descent followed. There is no evidence of these comprising the castes.

There are three distinct groups of Dalits in Nepal: - 1. Hill Dalit. 2. Newar Dalit. 3. Tarai Dalit. The jats (castes) consisting the Hill Dalit are Kami (metal smiths), Sarki (leather workers), Damai (tailors, musicians), Gaine (singers) and Badi (village entertainers).

In 16th century, we hear of few Kami, Sarki, and Damai along with the brahmans accompanying Dravya Shaha from Lamjung to settle in Gorkha. Gradually, this mountainous region emerged as a constellation of scattered principalities. Expansion of agriculture and clearance of land was accompanied by the Shakti or Devi worship serving as a fertility cult. With regular taxation and the maintenance of an army, the military officials and priests controlling the land created inequalities- resembling a sort of feudalism.

The Newar Dalit consists of Chyme, and Halahu, considered as untouchables, belonging to the Newar community, which is centered on Kathmandu valley. They belong to the AustroAsiatic and Mongoloid stock speaking Newari, a Tibeto-Burmese language. The Tarai Dalit group is same as the Indian Dalits racially and culturally; they constitute the majority of the

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poisoning the prince as directed by Bhim Sen Thapa were made untouchables.

The people performing manual labor came to be looked upon as impure and those abstaining from it became purer; by the 18th century the artisans and craftsmen in this region came to be regarded as untouchables. The idea of sanctity or purity became the dominant discourse in society, contributing to the idea of God and religion, and molding the idea of people’s existence.

In the 19th century, the process of hinduisation and sanskritisation was accelerated and enforced by the state. Certain existing practices like cross-cousin marriage (with maternal uncle’s daughter), levirate, and marrying the elder brother’s widow including the widows of cousins were declared illegal for the brahmans and khasas (Chhetris) during the primeminister-ship of Bhimsen Thapa who defined these relationships as incest. Sati, child marriage, and widowhood were imposed.

The royal brahman priests used to play central roles in diplomacy of conquests and relations among the Rajas through the medium of letter exchanges and the news transmitted by reporters and spies, who were also the brahmans. The killing of a brahman and a guru was considered as a mahapapa (great sin) and mahaapradha (great crime); these are also mentioned in the medieval inscriptions. Thus, a brahman was not given death sentence for his crimes.

The Muluki Ain: marriage practices

Criminalization

of

In 1853-54, Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana introduced the legal code called Muluki Ain. This divided society into TagadhariUpadhyaya, Thakuri, Jaisi, Chhetri, and Sanyasi; Matwali (communities to whom alcohol is not a taboo). These were in turn arranged into enslavable and unenslavable; Pani nachalne chhoi chhito halnu naparne (touchable but water unacceptable).

Five types of serious punishments were awarded to criminals called panchakatconfiscation of property, degradation from caste, banishment, mutilation and death. Degradation of caste was the most severe penal action for the brahman; his holy thread was torn off, head shaved and a small pig was hung on his neck; another way was to make him drink wine and eat pork. He was declared as an untouchable, considering it as equivalent to death. Crimes like murder, spying, and conspiracy against the state committed by a brahman were punished with caste degradation. This punishment was inflicted often on those, regarded as the enemies of Gorkha Raj.

Further distinctions were made for Muslims, Europeans- Britons and Newar castes. Outside the mainstream society were the pani nachalne chhoi chhito halnu parne (water unacceptable and untouchable) Sarki, Kami, Sunar, Chunara, Hudke, Damai, Gaine, Badi, Chyame, Halahu. Except the last two Newar Dalits, the Hill Dalits are listed in accordance with the existing terms associated with works under the untouchable realm. The Ain uses the term ‘untouchable’ and ‘lower caste’ for them in the chapters consisting of rules and regulations and not as separate castes. Nowhere, the Ain treats them as a part of the society but as casteless people. In the Muluki Ain, the chapter titled “Dharma adhikar ko” is full of stipulations, on violation of which, the tagadhari was degraded to the untouchable status. The crimes for such a punishment in Ain are - Adultery, sex with

We can see few popular instances: the jaisi brahmans of Belakot had planned to hand over the crown prince Pratap Singh Shaha of Gorkha to Jaiprakash Malla of Kathmandu. On discovering it, King Prithvi Narayan Shaha degraded the jaisis from their caste to untouchable status, got them killed and their property was confiscated. In 1837, the physicians (brahmans) who were suspected of

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untouchable, marriage with untouchable, a woman undergoing abortion, accepting rice, pulse and water from untouchable, and from the people of Jhana pana sect (heretics), revolt or conspiracy against the state (only brahmans were made untouchables for this crime, others were killed), and marriage and sex relations with the relatives (especially cross-cousin marriage and marrying the widow of elder brother).

This Muluki Ain continued till 1963 but the degradation of caste through marriage with untouchables still continues in Nepali society everywhere. Untouchable Brahmans Untouchability was equivalent with death, and the untouchables were out of the social system as casteless. Large number of brahmans, and few thakuris and chhetris who had become untouchables were worried about their status and for the future of their children. They tried to create a space in a society or a system by creating an identity, which could be possible only by forming themselves into castes and by strengthening their castes.

The royal authority used to appoint the Dharmaadhikars or the judges from the upadhyaya brahman caste. The person accused of a crime was presented before the court of the Dharmaadhikar who would brand him as an untouchable. Such a person could re-join his caste after a purification ceremony but he had to obtain a certificate called patiya from the judge to undergo such a ceremony on payment of heavy fine and in most of the cases his property was confiscated by the state. According to the Ain, the Judge could issue such a certificate only to those persons who had committed the crime “unknowingly”.

This they did, by converting the existing terms associated with work into castes- 1. KamiSunar, Tamta, Chunaro, Od, Lohar. 2. Sarki. 3. Damai. 4. Gaine- Gandharba. Population size and the economic status were the factors for arranging these castes into high and low. The larger the number of brahman clans the higher the caste- they became Kami if they were having the largest number of degraded brahmans and the gaine if the lowest. In course of time, the caste became a self-enclosed unit limiting social intercourse with other caste including messing, marriage, etc.

Crimes like marriage with the untouchable and conspiracy or revolt against the state were unpardonable and no patiya could be issued for these crimes. If it was found that the accused had committed the crime in full consciousness, the judge could issue patiya only through royal permission; the accused had to approach the palace and prove his innocence to get the permission and this was not an easy task for every one. The Ain did not spare the judge also; if he issued the certificate before branding the accused as an untouchable and had taken rice or water from him, the Judge himself would be dismissed and degraded to untouchable status. The officials who had assisted him also face the same punishment; if the officials and state functionaries helped the accused person in getting certificate by taking bribe then they would have to submit to the same fate.

Demography The size of the population of Dalits ranges from 2 million to more than 4.5 million in various sources. The censuses are not of much help. The total population of ten Dalit groups as enumerated in the 1991 census was 2,201,781 (11.9%) of the total population of Nepal. But the census has not provided figures of many Dalit groups in the Newari community and the Tarai community. The census of 1991 and even the latest census (2001) have put all the Newar Dalits under the ethnic/linguist designation of their larger group. Some of the Newars have protested their inclusion in the list but they do not seem

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Sanskritisation; in 1854 they were given the title of chhetri (derived from Sanskrit kshatriya) and included in the tagadhari category by the Muluki Ain. The descendants of the chhetris from the magar or gurung women are considered as matwali chhetri, and in most of the cases they take the caste of their mothers; those chhetris who marry bhote women also are granted the matwali status. But the large numbers of khasa who follow shamanism are untouchables belonging to the caste of Kami.

to represent the sentiment of the concerned people as a whole. According to the 1991 census, Kami ranks the highest (43.8%) among all Dalits groups with 5.2% of the Nepalese, and damai- 2%. The lowest number or the minority group (less than 5,000 in number) is gaine. In the Tarai, the chamars have the highest number. The females outnumbered males by little more than 0.6 per cent. The young population (below 15 years) accounted 44 per cent of the total population. According to the Human Rights Watch (2004), some NGOs estimate Dalit population at 4.5 million or 21 per cent of Nepal’s population. The Dalit activists cite the figure of 25% that also includes the “touchable but water unacceptable” jats of Newars: - Kasai, Kushle (Kapali), Dhobi, Pode, and Kulu.

Academic Categorization as Discrimination Scholars like Dor Bahadur Bista do not have the courage to write this fact; they only say that they are khasa or khas- shamanic and alcoholic. Their silence is understandable that they want to suppress the history of the large chunk of Dalit population. During the 12th and 14th centuries, a vast khasa empire existed including the western Nepal, Uttaranchal, Ladakh, and parts of Tibet bordering Nepal centered sometimes at Sinja and sometimes at Dullu. During 15th centuries, it broke up into small confederacies that were swallowed by the thakuri kingdoms. The khasa mallas were admitted into the thakuri caste, the small elite from four clans into chhetri and others who follow chamanism as kami. After the archeological excavations by Giuseppe Tucci and Yogi Naraharinath, and their books The Discovery of the Malla (1962) and Preliminary report (1956), and Itihas Prakash (1956), no research has been undertaken on the khasas. Thus, depriving the Dalits their past.

The censuses identify the bahun (brahman), thakuri (rajput) and the chhetri (khasa) as the major groups of Nepal. The 1991 census gives the figures as: - bahun- 14%, thakuri- 1.62%, and the chhetri- 16.05%. The census of 2001 keeps the bahun population at 12.74%, thakuri at 1.47% and chhetri at 15.8%. Censuses include the hill Dalit people in the bahun and chhetri castes, which is facilitated, as almost all the clans of the Hill Dalit are same as that of bahun and chhetri such as adhikari, koirala, khannal, etc. We can see that the thakuri is shown in less numbers- 1.62% (1991) and 1.47% (2001) because the hill Dalit castes do not have more than three or four similar clans as that of thakuri; so it is not possible to include the large number of hill Dalits in thakuri caste.

Development index

In the Karnali region and the far-west, khasa is the largest ethnic group, having its own language and shamanism as a religion. During the 17th and 18th centuries, a small section of elite had emerged in it called thread-wearing khasa belonging to the clans of thapa, basynat, khadga, and karki. These elites had undergone the process of Hinduisation and

The Nepal Human Development Report 2004 says that 15% Hill Dalits were landless and 43.98% of the Terai in 2001. About 54% of Dalits depend on agriculture. Caste- based traditional work (such as blacksmiths, leatherworkers, tailors etc) is becoming unimportant due to rudimentary skills of the

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Nepal Dalits live, because most of the activists live in cities and towns (mostly Kathmandu based) and tend to rely on the imagination, media- electronic and printed words. For instance, writers say Dalits are denied cow milk; here they suppress the significance of buffalo domestication. In Nepal buffalo is the animal yielding milk, but it is printed on papers that it has role in only 65% of the total national milk production.

traditional workers not being able to cope up with technological advancement. Regarding the economic condition, TEAM Consult (1998) found the population below the poverty threshold level being highest among untouchables (68%), followed by the Tagadhari (61.3%) and Matwali (58.5%). The highest proportion of Tarai Dalit has food deficiency (46.4%). Many of them also have debts from buying additional grains. The main economic activity of majority of Terai Dalits is wage labour.

Cow in Nepal is small and does not give much milk that is used for religious purposes, and cow is reared for worshipping and for gift in marriages, and ceremonies to pandits, daughters, sisters, etc. It costs only 500- 700 rupees. Activists and scholars should go to villages and study the situation radically. Two or three villages can be taken for fieldwork and studied. Attempts at taking study of a district or even a large area consisting of several villages would lead to generalizations because different conditions exist at different places. Economic status of Dalits and other castes should be compared in a village without any pre-conceived notion.

The domination of tagadharis and small number of matwali in the public sectors has developed the coalition for institutional corruption and nepotism, creating difficulties for competent Dalits to get into the public services. This leads them to seek space in private sectors, and in showing their talent independently in music and film industries. Popular folk singers- C.K. Rasaily and Late Jhalakman Gandharba, Deepa Jha, renowned film director Tulsi Ghimire, and renowned music composer Ranjit Gajmer, etc are few to name. The illiterates and under-graduates move to India, Gulf countries, Malaysia, and Japan, etc for short term and long term jobs.

In the villages of central and western Nepal, for instance in Syanja and Palpa, hardly any economic difference exists between the hillDalit, matwali and the tagadhari. In the far west- such as the hill villages in Dailekh, and Jajarkot, one can see that Dalit households are on the top of the barren hills, while non-Dalits have captured all fertile land. There is also a typical pattern: a poor Dalit will raise a female young buffalo calf or dry buffalo cow owned by a tagadhari landlord on very unequal contract. Once the buffalo is confirmed for pregnancy, its owner takes it away. The family, which worked hard to make the buffalo pregnant, never gets chance to taste its milk.

The Human Rights Watch (2004) saw Dalits serving only as a vote bank for the political parties. The gender issue is taken in its narrow sense as ’femininity’; it is a systematic trick that again brings power to the same households; tagadhari and matwali women would get more opportunities. While Dalit women are neglected and oppressed in a double jeopardy resulting from caste and gender discrimination. Academic misconceptions and research avenues There is a pre-conceived notion that Dalits are poor and suppressed. Scholars tend to exaggerate, and the Dalit activists, except few, have not been able to study the situation and condition in rural areas where 85% of the

This region is one of the poorest in Nepal, resulting in conflicts for land, cattle, green pastures. Dalits are viewed as socially inferior by everyone, which makes them vulnerable to the competition for resources. Even the

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system was not abolished. It cited Section 10 of the subject entitled Adal ko (on disciplinary matters), it warned, “those who indulge in actions prejudicial to the social customs and traditions of others will be punished”. The punishment granted by the section was imprisonment for one year or a fine of Rs. 1000.

brahmans are forced to compromise and sometimes move to other areas due to the behavior of the landlords. Often, we can hear of a poor brahman saying, “Khas doesn’t let us live in peace, they do not respect Brahmans, they are a demonic race. Reservations Dalits in Nepal need a separate identity of their own for their well-organized movement; this can only be achieved through constitutional recognition with a provision of reservation for them like in India. The Tribhuvan University had announced 15% student quota in professional courses like BE and MBBS for Dalits as per the government’s directives in 2004. But the Supreme Court’s verdict given by a division bench of Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Anupraj Sharma annulled TU Board’s decision stating that any reservation for the socially and economically backward class should be made only after formulating relevant laws. Dalits have established various nongovernment organizations to fight against caste based discrimination getting aid from international agencies such as World Bank, European Union, USAID, and more than hundred INGOs like Action Aid Nepal, etc. The Hill Dalit dominates NGOs, and for the youngsters it has become a career option. According to the INSEC magazine InformalJune 2004, the Kami caste people are controlling 75% of the NGOs followed by the Damai- 17%.

In Nepal many Dalits personally visit temples especially in urban areas and worship there but they are not allowed to enter if they make declaration and come to streets to gain access to temple. In other words, temple entry movement is not about Dalits just wanting to be inside the temple, but it is about a symbolic action for being treated equal with other castes in public places like temples. This is a fact that other caste people also clearly know, and hence they retaliate to stop the temple entry movement from succeeding. Monarchy or democracy? The caste rules and hierarchy among the castes are not based on mutual agreement. These exist in a society because they are the part of a system even if the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 (1990), Article 11(4) forbids discrimination against Dalits. One can say the recent Royal takeover of country’s powers for the King’s direct rule as an absolute monarch is conceivably a setback to the ongoing Dalit movement, though its effects are not only on Dalits in Nepal but also every sphere of the country’s well being. Another view is that had it been under a Monarchy, the Supreme Court judges would not have gathered courage to stop the TU’s decision to give reservation to the Dalits when the Government had directed the TU to do so. One can remember that during the monarchy, Hira lal Biswakarma was a Dalit Minister for a long time.

Temple entry In 1963, through the promulgation of New Civil Code (Mulki Ain), degradation of caste and discrimination were made illegal. Soon after this, Dalits made attempts to gain access to the Pasupatinath temple. The government reacted quickly and stated that the caste

Suresh Singh is pursuing his Mphil in History at the Kurukshetra University, Haryana

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Celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti in Bonn Dr. Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp

special interest at Bonn, represented through Assistant Professor Dr. Heinz-Werner Wessler. He is also an active member of the DSiG.

The Platform Dalit Solidarity in Germany (DSiG) celebrated its annual convocation on the 16/17 of April 2005 in Bonn. The Platform Dalit Solidarity was founded in 2001 in support of the Dalit cause in connection with the Anti Racism Conference in Durban. Since then, DSiG has been supporting the issue that caste discrimination is acknowledged as a form of racism by the UN. Fortunately, this bore fruit. On its 61st session, the UN acknowledged that caste discrimination is a special case of discrimination based on occupation and decent.

Bonn is a medium size town, situated on the river Rhine. It is the former capital of Germany and the birthplace of famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven. In Bonn, Germany’s first and most distinguished chair of Sanskrit studies was founded in 1818. The first chair holder August Wilhelm von Schlegel stood in the tradition of German Romanticism, which combined language studies with a deeper quest for universal knowledge and understanding.

This year’s convocation of the DsiG had the title:” Dr Ambedkar’s Critique of Hinduism and the Abolition of Caste.” The Chief Guest was Bhagwan Das, L.L.B., close associate of Dr. Ambedkar, founder of “Dalit Solidarity Peoples”, practicing Buddhist and author of many books projecting Dalit issues. Bhagwan Das gave the inaugural speech on “History of the Dalit culture and religion from the beginnings until the Dalit revival today.” Other noteworthy presentations were of Heinz Werner Wessler on “Paul Hacker and his concept of Inclusivism”.

Unaffected by colonial ambitions, there was a deep veneration for the “Language and Wisdom of the Indian People” as the title of Friedrich von Schlegel’s book suggests. He was August von Schlegel’s younger brother and his book got published already in 1808, a decade before the first chair of Sanskrit studies was founded. German Sanskrit studies can be regarded as a transgression of traditional Indian learning. Teaching and learning of the Holy Scriptures of the hindus was the privilege of the upper three varnas. Neither foreigners (mlechas), nor shudras or Dalits were allowed neither even to listen to the Vedas nor to learn Sanskrit. But German Sanskrit scholarship democratized exclusive brahminical learning. Famous Sanskrit scholar Max Muller, who taught at Oxford University, translated the holy scriptures of the hindus from Sanskrit into

To choose Bonn as place for the annual convocation was not accidental. Bonn has a very special link with India and with the Dalit cause Bonn is called “Benares of the Rhine”, because the first Department of Sanskrit studies in Germany was founded at Bonn in 1818. Dr. Ambedkar enrolled at Bonn University in 1921, obviously with the intention to study Sanskrit. Dalit Sahitya is of

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English. That made the Vedas accessible to everybody.

Sanskrit scholar of his times. He taught at Bonn University from 1889 to 1922.

Dr. Ambedkar was not allowed to study Sanskrit in India. Within the course of his studies in the US and Europe, Dr. Ambedkar wanted to make up for this shortcoming. Therefore he intended to study in Bonn. He registered at Bonn University on 29 April 1921 (and not in 1923, as Dhananjay Keer had stated in is book: Dr. Ambedkar, Life and Mission p. 49)

But how did Dr Ambedkar get in touch with Hermann Jacobi? In 1913/1914 when Hermann Jacobi was visiting professor at Calcutta University, Dr. Ambedkar had just left for the US to take up his studies at Columbia University. The contact must have been established through letters and correspondence, while Dr. Ambedkar was in London, working on his thesis at the London School of Economics. (There is still a box of old handwritten letters at the Department of Sanskrit studies, which nobody has deciphered yet.)

The following entry in his form reads as follows Father’s profession: General; Religion: Hindu; Previous Universities: Bombay, Columbia, London; Number of Semesters: 18; School leaving certificate: Yes; Subject: Economics; Date of Birth: 14.4.1891; Place of Birth: Mhow; Home Town: Bombay; District: Bombay. So he delightfully upgraded his father’s military rank. Noteworthy is also his religious affiliation- at the early stage of his life- certainly before he was contemplating on the question of conversion, he wrote hindu under the heading of religion.

Well, they might have met personally during Dr. Ambedkar’s brief visit to Bonn on the occasion of his registration at Bonn University. But Dr. Ambedkar never took up his studies in Bonn. Contrary to Dhananjay Keer’s claim he did not study at Bonn University for three months. He only came to Bonn on the occasion of his registration. As he did not attend any classes, he was taken off the university register on 12.1.1922. Intentions and plans apart, Dr. Ambedkar’s project of Sanskrit studies at Bonn University remained unfulfilled. German Sanskrit studies, represented through Hermann Jacobi, certainly played a supportive role in Dr. Ambedkar’s endeavor to study in Germany. But for his scathing attack on Hinduism as well as his most creative cast of Buddhism he had to rely on translations and secondary sources. And many of those Sanskrit texts were translated by German scholars.

Dr. Ambedkar registered for Economics with the clear intention to submit a thesis in Sanskrit studies. In his handwritten CV he stated that he knew German well, because he had taken it as a minor at Columbia University: He continued: “I would like to mention that the University of Bonn through the kind help of Prof. Dr. H. Jacobi granted me to submit a Ph.D. thesis in case I show adequate performance and I am enrolled for three semesters there.” Professor Hermann Jacobi (1850-1937) was the leading German

Dr. Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp has researched extensively, among other things, on the Dalits in Kanpur

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JNU celebrates Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 114th Birth Anniversary Harish Wankhede

Vimal Thorat, Convener NCDHR, New Delhi and members of Dalit Sahitya Sangh graced the occasion with their presence.

Every year in JNU the celebration of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Birth Anniversary is a special and important event. It has become a cherished tradition in the campus to celebrate this day for a span of a week as Jai-Bhim Saptah. This year also keeping the tradition alive, United Dalit Students Forum celebrated this day from 11th to 14th April 2005. Public meetings, cultural programs, rallies and a film show were organized during the Jai Bhim Saptah in order to commemorate Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 114th Birthday.

On the third day of Jai-Bhim Saptah, UDSF organized three Programmes. It commenced with a poster exhibition at Ganga Dhaba with the help of NACDOR and NCDHR. That night a public meeting was organized on the issue of “Reservation in Public Sector”. Speaking on the issue, Prof. S.K. Thorat highlighted the reasons for a reservation policy in the private sector. He gave empirical evidences of many developed countries who endorse the same policy to fight discrimination.

On 11th April 2005, the inaugural function of Jai-Bhim Saptah was organized at Kaveri Mess. Presiding over the public meeting on “Dr. Ambedkar and his Relevance in Contemporary Society” Prof. Gopal Guru noted that Ambedkar will be relevant till the time we would not be able to establish the norms of society on the principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Speaking on the same occasion Dr. Vivek Kumar observed his relevance in preserving the sanctity of democratic institutions which Dr. Ambedkar had built so laboriously. On behalf of the UDSF, Sumit Mhaskar convened the meeting.

Following the public meeting, the Jai-Bhim Rally was organized in which more than 200 JNU students participated. Slogans like JaiBhim, Manuvad Ho Barbad and Baba Tera Mission Adhura, Hum Sab Milke karenge Poora were raised during the procession, reasserting the commitment of JNU students to carry forward the struggle of Ambedkar for a more just and humane society. The day of 14th April was of course very special one. The first programme of this day began at early in the morning, by paying our floral tributes to Dr. Ambedkar at Students Union Office. Along with general students, faculty members from both JNU and Delhi University were also present and offered their tributes to Dr. Ambedkar. A group of students thereafter went to Parliament House under the banner of UDSF to offer their homage to the Statue of Dr. Ambedkar. The third programme of the day, a ‘Get-together’ was organized by

The next day, a cultural evening was organized at Ganga Dhaba. This occasion was marked with a good presence of the JNU student community. UDSF invited a cultural group ‘Pahal’ who performed a realistic street play “Amma” depicting the plight of a Dalit woman in doing her job as scavenger in a government office. A group of JNU students also presented Bhim Geets in their regional languages. Dr.

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we show our gratitude and sense of responsibility towards the mission of social change. These alternative celebrations are our cultural capital against the domination of diku culture. But giving sole importance to such events and neglecting the basic problems of our general life would be a false tribute to our great leaders.

INSIGHT at Tapti Mess. It was a meeting point of students to greet each other on this occasion. The final programme was the screening of Jabbar Patel’s film “Babasaheb Ambedkar” at KC OAT. During this year’s Jai-Bhim Saptah, the participation of general students in all our programs was positively noted. Secondly, new stream of Dalit student activists also evolved who worked energetically to make this Saptah a successful event. Thirdly, this event was also useful in rejuvenating the almost defunct UDSF with new blood. And finally the successful completion of Jai-Bhim Saptah demonstrated the unity and commitment of Dalit students of the campus in carry forwarding the message of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

There are many issues pertaining to the Dalit students of JNU, ranging from financial assistance to faculty appointments. We should activate our energy through out the year in deliberating and contesting the Dalit issues for a positive culmination and not only in celebrating Saptah. UDSF at this juncture should introspect and deliberate over the need of Dalit students’ Movement in JNU and how it is going to provide leadership to other movements outside the campus in times to come.

There is no doubt that celebration of Birth anniversaries of our great leaders are very important events, as these are the days when

Harish Wankhede is pursuing his Mphil at the Centre for Political Science in JNU, New Delhi

MALIGNING AMBEDKAR ON HIS BIRTHDAY BY INAUGURATING MULTI-MEDIA EXHIBITION ON GANDHI Dr. Narendra Kumar

It is a well-known fact that the 14th of April is celebrated as Ambedkar’s Birthday and various programmes are organized by the State and non-State organizations to mark the occasion. Today, Ambedkar is not the Ambedkar of yesterday, who was made to rest in oblivion but is better understood and more

respected not only by his followers but by his ideological opponents as well. It is expected that the Head of the Government (Prime Minister) will do something concrete and better for the legendary hero whose birthday comes on a particular day and not for someone else, especially not for the one whose

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ideological contradictions were and are well explicit.

When confronted by Babasaheb, Gandhi changed his tracks but still thought the caste system to possess ‘limitation’ and not ‘restraint’ and suggested to combine castes. He said, “….the best remedy is that small castes should fuse themselves into one big caste. There should be four such big castes so that we may reproduce the old system of four varanas.”

In this case, the Prime Minister paid just floral tributes to Ambedkar statue at Parliament House on this Birthday and immediately after that inaugurated a Multi-Media Exhibition on ‘Eternal Gandhi’. The trouble is not that something was done for Gandhi, but nothing substantial was done to commemorate Ambedkar who deserved more than floral tributes at least on his Day.

On the contrary, Babasaheb was very clear about the exploitative nature of caste when he said, “…You cannot build anything on the foundation of caste…..Anything that you will build on the foundation of caste will crack and will never be a whole.” Babasaheb regarded castes to be anti-national in the first place because they bought about separation in social life and also generated jealousy and antipathy between caste and caste. He did a great service to the Indian nation by engaging with revivalist Gandhi and exposing his obscurantist thoughts. Through his erudite scholarship, he clearly exposed the fallacies of chaturvarna which Gandhi preached as a solution to end caste-based discrimination in Indian society.

We may not see it as a serious matter to be pointed out. But as a conscious young citizen, it needs to be considered a serious lapse on the part of the PM in particular and PMO in general because if PM had nothing substantial to recognize Ambedkar’s contributions than he could have avoided this day to reaffirm Gandhi’s contributions, especially in the light of Gandhi’s position on the monstrous social evils such as Varna and Caste System. In contrast, Ambedkar’s whole life was crusade against these. We are still paying a heavy price because of Gandhi’s opposition to Babasaheb and his crusade against caste based exploitation suffered by the Dalits. It’s not that Gandhi did not speak against social ills related to caste. But he merely paid lip service and was dead against the provisions which could have really emancipated Dalits (one glaring example is that of blackmailing Babasaheb for signing Poona Pact). He was great supporter of caste system and perceived it as the only factor which provided the much needed strength to Hinduism. He has said, “I believe hindu society has been able to stand because it is founded on the caste system”. He refused to see the exploitative character of Hinduism. He addressed untouchability but spared the system of caste in whose roots the former prospers.

Today, when there is intermixing of professions among majority of the castes, it is difficult proposition to adopt division of labour based on caste or Varna as suggested by Gandhi. And a personality who glorified these evils and suggested their revival should not be given more space, especially while celebrating the day of a legendary personality, who vehemently spoke, wrote and acted against the old social order. And if we do so then we are not only undermining but also washing away the vision of the icon whose contributions are of more relevance and need recognition on his Day.

Dr Narendra Kumar teaches Political Science at Motilal Nehru College, Delhi University

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