Dalits in India: History, Reality in grassroots and Challenges to the Dalit Movement

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Inter-Asia NGO Studies

By Mohammad Moosa Azmi

Supervisor Prof. Khwan Jin Khwan

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

I hereby certify that this thesis is a result of my work except where otherwise indicated and due acknowledgement is given.

SIGNED

DATE

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have cumulative debts of my Professor, mentor, friends and colleagues in completing this thesis. The greatest debt is to my supervisor Professor Khwan Jin Khwan, whose consistent supervision and counseling made me to work with full effort and enthusiasm. Considerable gratitude is due to May,18 foundation, Hyundai Kia Motors and SKHU whose financial support enabled me to continue and complete my thesis. And is also due to Mr. Chanho Kim and Professor Jin young jong, who considered my candidature suitable for the MAINS Scholarship. My sincere thanks and gratitude to Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive director, Peoples Watch, who taught me a lesson of forward-looking and developed insight for social problems and nurtured in me an activist. My sincere thanks and gratitude is also to Mr. J. Manohar Vincent, Mr. Paul Dewakar and Mr. Anand Kumar Bolimera who pulled me towards Dalit movement and inspired me to work for it for social justice. I am highly obliged to Professor Francis daehoon Lee, Professor Margret, Professor Andrew Aeria, Professor Yongpyo, Professor Rajiv Narayan, Professor Cho Heeyeon and Professor Cho Hyoje for their kind cooperation and support. Last but not least sincere thanks to Mr. Erick, Mihyon, Bonojeet Hussain, Dr. Lenin Raghuwanshi and all my Friends and class mets. This work is dedicated to Anita, 8 year old Dalit rape victim and survivor, who inspired and strengthened me to move ahead in life in the direction of Social activism with Renu Mishra, Aparna and Ranjana Gaur, women activists, to ensure her fight for and justice.

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Outline Introduction ..6 Chapter 1 - A Brief history of Dalits in India ...10 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 An understanding of Caste and Varna according to Indian Religions view .....12 Historical facts about Caste and Varna..17 Dalit History in the Colonial Era...23 Resistance against the Caste System in Early India and its Current status...28

Chapter 2 - Approaches to the Welfare of Dalit34 2.1. Contribution of M. K. Gandhi to the Dalit movement....35 2.2. Contribution of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to the Dalit movement..37 2.3. Differences between Gandhi and Ambedkar...39

Chapter 3 - Current situation of Dalits in India ...44 3.1. Dalits education in India.............44 3.1. A- Historical background of educational development for Dalits ........46 3.1. B- History of Dalits education.47 3.1. C- Educational structure and understanding of dropouts status or throw out system.52 3.1. D- Dalits in Higher Education.......................58 3.2. Dalits land rights and its Current situation in India59 3.2. A- Steps taken by the Government of India and the realities of those steps..62 3.2. B- The Current situation of Dalits land rights and their struggles64 3.2. C- (i) A case study of Bhudan land distribution64 3-2-C - (ii) 21 Dalits shot in land Dispute.65 3-2-D- Dalits land rights and Globalization66 3-3- Dalit women rights.68 3-3-A- Dalit women in Asia.70

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3-3-B- Violation of Dalit womens rights71 3-3-C- Special Dalit womens occupations..................................................................72 3-3-D- Economic deprivation of Dalit Women73 3-3-E- Dalit women and Human rights74 3-3-E (i) - Civil and Political rights.75 3-3-E (ii) - Economic, Social and Cultural rights76 3-3-E (iii) - Millennium Development Goals and Dalit Women.77 3-3-F- Dalits Womens struggle..77 3-3-G- The Vision and the role of Dalit Womens liberation.80 Chapter 4 - Role of Civil society or NGOs to eliminate the Caste system in India...82 4-1- First Case study- NCDHR (National Campaign on Dalit Human Right).84 4-2- Second Case study- PVCHR (Peoples Vigilance Committee on Human Rights)...86 4-3- Review of NGOs and Civil society activities, Limitation and Challenges...90

Chapter 5 - Conclusions..98 References .............................................................................................................................102

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Introduction Educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can lose our battle. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality.1 Dr. B. R. Ambedker (1891-1956)

Many a time untouchability in India and slavery in Europe are compared with the presumption that untouchability is tolerable or less harmful than slavery. It is true that neither slavery nor untouchability is a free social order, but as Dr. Ambedkar maintained, If a distinction is to be made and there is no doubt that there is the distinction between the two, the test whether the education, virtue, happiness, culture, and wealth is possible within slavery or within untouchability.2 Dr. Ambedkar further argued Judged by this test it is beyond controversy that slavery is hundred times better than untouchability. In slavery there is room for education, virtue, happiness, culture or wealth. In untouchability there is none. Untouchability has none of the advantages of an unfree social order such as slavery. It has all disadvantage of a free social order.3

But the following views of Dr. Ambedkar distinguish slavery from untouchability in a more profound manner. Dr. Ambedkar maintains as follows: Slavery was never obligatory. But untouchability is obligatory. A person is permitted to hold another as his
1

These are probably the most frequently quoted words of Dr. B. R. Ambedker. You see them on the banners, T-shirts, websites, leaflets and books of Dalit activists. 2 Ambedkar, B. R. (1989). Babasaheb Ambedkar : Writings and Speeches, Government of Maharashtra, Vol. 5, p. 17 3 Ibid

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slave. If he wants to, he can free his slave, and by doing so this slave has the ability to become an equal member of society. But untouchable has no such option. Once he is born untouchable he is subject to the full social disability of an untouchable. The law of slavery permitted emancipation. Once a slave always a slave was not the fate of the slave. In untouchability there is no escape. Once an untouchable always an untouchable.

Another difference is that untouchability is an indirect and therefore worse form of social oppression. The deprivation of a mans freedom in an open and direct way is a preferable form of enslavement. It makes the slave conscious of his enslavement and to become conscious of slavery is the first and most important step in the battle for freedom. But if a man is deprived of his liberty indirectly he has no consciousness of his enslavement. Untouchability is an indirect form of slavery. To tell an untouchable you are free, you are a citizen, you have all the rights of a citizen, and to tighten the rope in such a way as to leave him no opportunity to realize the ideal is a cruel deception. It is enslavement without making the untouchable conscious of their enslavement. It is slavery though it is untouchability. It is real though it is indirect. It is injury because it is unconscious. Of the two orders, untouchability is beyond doubt, the worst. 4 Is it possible for any sensible person, much less an intellectual, to refute Dr. Ambedkars judgment on this distinction between untouchability and slavery and his considering untouchability worse between the two?

Government of Maharashtra (1989), Vol. 5 p. 15

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This thesis is about the Dalits and Untouchables of India, as well as Dalit human rights activists and civil society organizations or NGOs who work for Dalits and/or with Dalits in India. Today, 167 million Untouchables live in India, comprising 16.2 % 5 of the total population. Generally Dalits are the people better known as Untouchables 6. The Untouchables are those who are deemed so polluting that just touching then would defile a higher ranking person. They are not even worthy of occupying the lowest level inside the social and cultural hierarchical system known as the caste system. They are outcastes by birth, and will remain outcastes until they die. They are made to work for meagre wages or food leftovers, clean human waste with their bare hands, live in separate colonies, and even use separate tea glasses at neighbourhood tea stalls, all because they are deemed unclean and therefore untouchable7.

This thesis begins by briefly touching on the historical background of the caste system and the origin of untouchables in India. The history of Untouchables is very controversial and contradictory because of the interests of different political groups in India. In the essay I will outline the history of caste struggles and their contribution in the

Census 2001.(according to India government all scheduled caste fall under this figure) 6 In fact a variety of names are being used to refer to this group of people at the bottom of the caste hierarchy best known as Untouchables. I will mainly be using the term Dalit because that is the term my informants use and identify with, but it should be pointed out from the outset that not all Untouchables identify with this term or even know it. As will be seen each name is evocative of particular understandings and laden with political meaning. In recent years other downtrodden peoples have started embracing the term Dalit, especially tribal groups, or Scheduled Tribes (ST) as they are known in legal parlance. I will also expend the definition of Dalits in last part of this thesis. 7 Kiertzner, A. (2006). Dalit: Caste or Consciousness, University of Copenhagen

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current Indian society. I will also illustrate the influence of the caste system in others religions and the historical background of the caste system according to these religions.

The next part of this thesis will give a very briefly account of Mr. M. K. Gandhi (1869-1958) and Dr. B. R. Ambedkars (1891-1956) contributions to the elimination of untouchability and how they fought against untouchability in India and their influence on current Dalits movements. I will also discuss their contradictions and ideological differences regarding the removal of the cast system and untouchability.

The following chapter illustrates the current situation of Dalits after 60 years of Indian independence. It describes the situation of Untouchables after New Economic policies, the educational situation of Untouchables in India from origin to present and more specifically discuss the throughout system of education in India. Land rights of Untouchables and their land right standing from origin to present will give a detail picture of the economic situation of Untouchables in India. Also included is a separate sub-chapter for womens rights of Untouchables which addresses the pain, suffering and struggle of Dalit women in India. This chapter will also describe in detail the reality of Dalit situation in grassroots in India.

Finally this thesis will give detailed information and contradictory aims and effects of Dalit Human rights NGOs and their work, their ideological discourse, and their

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contribution to Dalit movements. Through case studies of two different kinds and levels of NGO and their activities and approaches to the elimination of the caste system and untouchability in India. Outline their contributions, limitations and challenges as well as try to find the theoretical gap between their approaches towards Dalit movement in India.

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Chapter One 1- A brief History of Dalits in India: Indian history starts along with the history of caste system. Indian history is also based on differences according to religious beliefs. The Vedas8 and the Manuscript9 (Manusmriti) tell us about the (mythic) origin of the caste system and the duties of the various castes, but they do not reveal much about why untouchability came into being. The Manusmriti explains that Untouchables are those born of a defiled womb, which means that untouchable castes originated from the intermixture of the different pure Varna10 colours. From a traditional Hindu point of view this might be sufficient

explanation, but for most social scientists, something is lacking in the equation. Most will agree on exploitation being the defining factor, but that still leaves the question of who these people singled out for the most oppressive and degrading positions in a system of structural inequality were. There is no consensus response to this question. The various answers proposed go hand in hand with different religious beliefs and interpretations of historical information.

Now that we know religion is one of the biggest parts of the Dalits history, the next part of this historical background of the Dalits will attempt to find the background and history of untouchability in Indian religious tradition.

8 9

One of the oldest Hindu scriptures Ibid 10 Manusmriti 10: 58

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1-1 - An Understanding of Caste and Verna according to Indian Religions View In Indian Vedic scriptures, one of the earliest religious literary forms, we find the caste system or Verna system outlined in detail. Verna is generally translated as colour and meant to refer to the skin colour and figuratively to the moral status of the different castes descending from the light skinned Aryans and the darker Dravidians. As we shall see, the origin of the caste system is an intensely debated topic, and likewise the meaning of Verna11. And it is first called or mention in Vedas.

The word caste is not mentioned in any ancient Sanskrit scriptures. This word brought in use by Portuguese upon their arrival to India in 16 th century12. The word caste derived from the Latin ward castus, meaning pure13. The Vedas are generally thought to have been composed around 1500 1000 B.C14.

The earliest section of the Vedic corpus, the Rig Veda, contains the Hindu creation story: Purusha is described as a primeval giant, sacrificed by the gods, and from his body the world and the Vernas were built15. The first group was made of Brahmins (priests). They came from Purushas mouth, and were to provide for the intellectual and spiritual needs of the community. The second group was called the Kshatriyas (warriors and
11 12

Kiertzner, A. (2006): p. 19 Bhardwaj, A. (2002). Welfare of Scheduled Caste in India. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publication, and Thapar, R. (2002) Early India: From the origins to AD 1300. New Delhi: penguin Books. 13 Kiertzner, A. (2006): P. 19 14 Ibid & Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p.6-7 15 Rig Veda 10:90

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rulers). They were created from the arms, and were to rule and to protect the others. Vaishyas (landowners and merchants) sprang from Purushas thighs. This group was in charge of trade and cared for agriculture. Shudras (artisans and servants) came from the feet. They had to do all the manual work. Thus, in the Rig Veda society is described as an organic whole sustained by various groups with differing roles and occupations all amalgamated into a stable structure. In the Vernic ordering of society notions of purity and pollution are central and activities are worked out in this context. The preoccupation with purity and pollution is obviously not exclusively Indian thing; it is found in many societies and functions as a mechanism for social regulation. What is considered pure and impure however varies considerably.

We can say with certainty that untouchability was practised around the beginning of the Common Era. In the Manusmriti, Manus Law, the best known of the Hindu Law Books dating back to 300 B.C. 400 A.D., there is frequent mention of untouchable castes. We learn, for example that they must never reside within the village, but outside at cremation grounds, on mountains or in groves. They are to wear only the shrouds of dead people and eat with broken utensils. They may only enter the villages and cities with the king's permission for work purposes, wearing special symbols to enable identification 16. Another example of identification of the untouchables is recorded by the Chinese Buddhist monk Fa-Hsien, who was on a pilgrimage in India in the years 405-411 A.D., collecting Buddhist manuscripts and studying at Buddhist monasteries, He describes how Untouchables had to sound a clapper in the streets of the town so that people were warned

16

Manusmriti 10: 51-55

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of their presence17. The Manusmriti also deals with the relationships between the castes, between men and women, with the organization of the state and all aspects of the law, and with religious duties and reincarnation, specifically Karma and Dharma.

Karma which means act, action, performance" is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and explained in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist religious philosophies. The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to us and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well. One of the first and most dramatic illustrations of karma can be found in the Mahabharata. In this poem Arjun, the protagonist, is preparing for battle when he realizes that the enemy consists of members of his own family so he decides not to fight. His charioteer, Krishna an avatar of god, explains to Arjun the concept of Dharma (duty) and makes him see that it is his duty to fight. The whole of the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu religious epic) within the Mahabharata is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjun on aspects of life including morality and a host of philosophical problems. The original Hindu concept of Karma was later enhanced by several other movements within the religion, most notably Vedanta and Tantra18.
17 18

Thapar, R, (2002): p303 Ibid

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The paired concepts of Karma and Dharma are associated with reincarnation. Karma is essentially cause and effect, the actions (or lack of actions) we initiate will result in later effects. Dharma on the other hand is related to our destiny, our place in society and the duties we must perform19. This Hindu code is important for its descriptions of many social institutions that have come to be identified with Indian society. Even in this day and age it still generates controversy, with Manu's verses cited in support of the subjugation of women and members of the oppressed castes.

The criminal justice system in ancient India was based on the Varna system and the Manusmriti defined crime and punishment for each Varna in a hierarchical mode. As such, the foundations for a system of graded inequality are laid down in the Manusmriti. The punishment for a particular crime is not the same for all Varnas, but varies depending on the Varna of the victim as well as the Varna of the person committing the crime. For the same crime, the Brahmin could be given a mild punishment, whereas a Shudras would be given the harshest punishment of all. Whether it is the choice of names, the manner of greeting, or the process of carrying out a funeral procession, at each and every step in life this system of graded inequality is applied and observed. Manu does not even spare the rates of interest on loans. For borrowing the same amount, Kshatriyas have to pay more interest than Brahmins, Vaishyas more than Kshatriyas, and the poor Shudras have to pay the maximum amount of interest.

19

Kiertzner, A. (2006):20

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Manusmriti is comprised of two words Manu and Smriti. People believed that Manu was the writer of the Manusmriti and Smriti literally means memory. It means the low of Manu is in the memory of the people mind and they practice that law in their day to day life. Even today, in democratic India we see remnants of this thinking with many Untouchables living as bonded labourers, unable to ever free themselves of debt because of outrageous interest rates. And we see that Untouchables are receive harsher punishments than other castes, or even worse, are punished for acts which are not constituted as crimes today, such as entering high caste villages or temples. This is of course prohibited by law, but the problem is that those meant to enforce the law do not always see these reforms to be in their own interest. Even Dalits practice these laws in their day to day life. People in Indian society are socialized in such a way that they practice Manus law even Muslins, Jains, Sikhs, Christians and others incorporated in their day to day life, not only upper or dominant caste citizens, but even lower caste and Untouchables. Over time, Manus law has become a part of general Indian social behaviour and culture.

Manu also described the system of marriage and people still follow the same concept as thousand years before. In India system of the marriage is an endogamy system which is very deeply rooted in peoples minds and consciousness. So it will continue to be practiced for years to come. Over time this system of endogamy has become part of Indian culture and in Indian society it is practiced by members of all religions. Manu also described the punishment for anyone who breaks the low by refusing the tradition of endogamy, with punishments and restriction laid out for each group of people.

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In India the advent of Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism as well as the introduction of Islam and Christianity did not end these notions of purity and untouchability. They remained part and parcel of Indian society and these religions adopted the Brahminical traditions of hierarchical society and endogamy marriage and endogamy marriage system will remain in the Indian society.

With this historical view we can see how the caste system fused with Indias religious traditions, a Brahminecal social pattern permeating them all. The next part finds the historical origin of the caste and Verna systems in India.

1-2 - Historical facts of Caste and Varna There are several theories about the origin of Caste in India, one of which is the historical theory of Dalit origin described by Anil Bhardwaj in his book, Welfare of Scheduled Caste in India, which says that: In ancient India there were two cultures, the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian. Literary records of the Indo-Aryan culture are not only the earliest but contain both the first mention and a continuous history of the factors that makes up caste. Dravidian culture, when examined records that they are immensely influenced by the Indo-Aryan tradition. The Brahmanism variety of the Indo-Aryan civilization, it is the most widely spread and deeply rooted aspect, was developed in the Gangetic plain.

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It is established fact that caste originated in this region. According to Anil Bhardwaj: Around 5000 BC the peoples who lived in or inhabited this area was known as the Indo-Aryans, a member of the larger Indo-European or Indo-German linguistic family. This family includes the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, the Tautens, the Romans and the Iranians among others. They lived in one fairly define region and for various reasons they dispersed from their home land with various groups heading in different directions and resettling under various circumstances. One of these groups reached India around 2500 BC with the kind of religion represented in the early Vedic tradition. Vedic Indians and Iranians lives together and called themselves Aryan20.

It is seen that the favorite word for certain groups and others of among IndoAryans was Varna Colour. Thus, they spoke of the DAHA and DASA Varna or more properly DASA peoples. The Iranian spoke of the peoples whom they captured as Daha. Iranian Daha is exact equivalent of Vedic Dasa, making allowance for the linguistic values of the sounds of last syllable. Like Vedic Aryans the spoke of themselves as Arya or Ariya whose connection to the Sanskrit word Arya, meaning high Varna, is obvious.

The Vedic Aryans also developed on exclusive social attitude toward native populations and cultivated a partiality for ideas of ceremonial purity. Some Aryan communities actually elaborated them into exclusive social stratification, though of rather limited extent and depth. This behavior of Vedic Aryan is analogous and comparable for sake of clarity with native peoples. In spite of the egalitarian and democratic preaching of recent centuries, wherever the Europeans went as conquerors they manifested
20

Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p.7

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exclusiveness varying from utter contempt and strict social restriction to condescension and hypergamous attitude and practice. Whenever they condescended they at best took native women as wives but never even considered that their own women marry to native males. Even in this hypergamous practice they took care to separate the progeny of halfbreeds.21 The attitude of exclusive pride toward conquered peoples of whatever culture status or racial class met within the doings of so many Indo-European peoples appears in the attitudes and practices of the Aryans of the Gangetic plains of the Vedic or post Vedic age in particular.22

Overall this theory is basically based on Aryan Invasion Theory which states that Aryans come and attacked the native Indians and make them slaves or Das, and that das people over a period of time became untouchables and Shudras. These theories develop because over the last couple of centuries the stories narrated in the Rig Veda have commonly been believed to relate to historical circumstances of an Aryan people from Central Asia entering India. It all began when the British East India Company sent Judge William Jones to Calcutta in the 1770s. He had extensive knowledge of ancient European languages and upon learning Sanskrit in India he soon found many similarities with languages he already knew.

In years to follow several scholars, most notably Max Mueller, have built on these theories of a common Indo-European language and culture.23 In short, it is argued that the fights described in the Rig Veda took place between light skinned Aryans and dark
21 22 23

Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p. 8-9 Bhardwaj, A (2002) : p.8-9 Ibid

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skinned indigenous peoples. As a mechanism to maintain racial segregation the caste system came into being, and as such race functions as a biological indicator of caste. Today the Aryan Invasion Theory is being challenged, largely referring to the same linguistic, historical and archaeological sources, but with different interpretations of these.

An Archaeological expedition in the 1920s of the ancient cultures in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley. Found very advanced settlements dating back to 3000 B.C. Now Hindus nationalists or fundamentalists claim that Aryans didnt come from outside but they are the native or indigenous peoples of India and they further migrated to the others parts of Asia, several groups even claim that this Indus valley civilization is the first civilization. Some even go as far as to say that the ancient civilizations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa have Indian ancestry, India being, in their view the centre of the world and the oldest culture on earth. Therefore they argue that Aryan invasion theory is basically Christian or colonialist propaganda which attempts to discredit everything indigenous to India while highlighting positive foreign influence.

On the basis of historical facts, Dalit scholars have mixed opinions, Jyotirao Phule24 in the late nineteenth century, argued that Dalits have been suppressed by Sanskrit speaking Brahmins descended from the invading Aryans25. In contrast Therefore Dr. B. R. Ambedker refuted the western thesis linking caste to race. According to him, all the castes descend from a common stock and untouchable castes emerged in the wake of Buddhism as persecuted Buddhists. They were steadfast followers of Buddha after began preaching
24

Jyotirao Phule (1827-1890) was from Maharashtra and known for his work for the upliftment of women and lower castes. 25 Thapar, R. (2002): p.15; Massey (1995):23-24 and 66-72

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in the sixth century B.C. and they remained Buddhists while the rest of society returned to the Hindu fold under Brahmin pressure. As all other theories of caste and the origins of untouchability this theory is lacking in strong historical evidence26.

M. C. Raj, a Dalit leader and guru in Karnataka in South India, has a different strategy. In his recent book Dalitology he implicitly dismisses the whole debate and simply states:

The Puranas are saying that Brahmin was born from the head of Brahma, Kshatriya was born from the shoulders of Brahma, Vaishya was born from the thigh of Brahma and Shudra was born from the feet of Brahma. But we Dalits are born from the earth and we shall go back to the earth. What he says is very scientific, rational and environmental. Therefore, we Dalits do not have any god and goddesses. Our stand is that nature is our source of power [] Dalitology is the answer to those who have created the illusion that Dalits do not have a history of their own27 Besides relating Dalits to history, the quote also contains an encouragement to Dalits to reject the Hindu religion. But the paradox is most Dalits profess Hinduism, the very religion prescribing their predicament: they worship Hindus gods and follow the rules laid down by Hindu scriptures. They even practice the untouchability among subcastes.

The origin of caste in India is highly debatable and very interesting. We can see how explanations relate to the position of the author in relation to the caste system and
26

Ambedkar, B. R. in Rodrigues (2002): p.396 405, Jaffrelot (2004): p.39, Massey (1995): p.70 27 Raj, M.C. (2001): p.20

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how they invariably serve socio-political purposes. Like Aryan Invasion Theory, brought forward by William Jones and directly or indirectly adopted by Jyotirao Phule and Dr. B. R. Ambedker to create a historically verifiable picture of the untouchable condition and claiming original ancestry of India, this is a source of pride and assertion of forgotten worth deserving recognition. On the other hand fundamentalist upper caste and dominant caste Hindu theory claiming original ancestry of India through Indus-valley civilization is very politically established. In that situation, it is not possible to give a historically correct and verifiable picture of the untouchables. But we can see that the Untouchables have occupied a distinct place in Indian society for at least two millennia. What is interesting to note is how the explanations relate to the position of the author in relation to the caste system and how they invariably serve socio-political purposes. Dalits and nonDalits alike might assert that Dalits are a natural category, but their rationales and purposes will differ. For Dalits claiming original ancestry of India, this is a source of pride and assertion of forgotten worth deserving recognition. For non-Dalits, the naturalness of untouchability serves to justify unequal treatment. Whenever notions of exploitation enter the discourse it is recognized that social engineering plays a role. In the discourses of both Dalits and their oppressors we find elements drawing legitimacy from both natural and social categories, depending on the question at hand.

Now we not only know the religious history of caste but we also know the controversial historical point of view of many historians based of their political interpretations. And all these start during the colonial era. Because before the colonial time Dalits are highly oppressed, uneducated and marginalized by the oppress caste in the

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Indian society. We can say Dalits dont have their history that Dalits history was destroyed by the Brahmins; or we can say the documented history of Dalits began during the colonial period of India. The next part of the history of Dalits attempt to see the Dalit history in colonial era to find the same account of these questions. How and why origins of Dalits become so controversial in India?

1-3 - Dalit History in the Colonial Era The British, through East India Company, came and colonized to India for their own profit and ruled for about 200 years till 1947. In this era Dalits history and political theory of Dalits came in to the picture, because at that time all political resistance and war took place for control over the state, and all social resistance and struggle happened against discrimination and untouchability. This is also the time when the ancient cultures in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley came in to the picture. That provides opportunity to the fundamentalist forces to counter the struggle and resistance of Dalits and Untouchables in India to manipulate and further legitimize them.

We find the first systematic ethnographic studies of the caste system in the census and gazetteers of the 19th century. We have already seen how the administrative tasks of the colonial administration spurred academic interests. The vehicle of much of this administrative scholarship was the census, which began on a nationwide basis in 1871-2. British census officials became obsessed with the question of whether Untouchables were properly classifiable as Hindus. It may well have been the first time such a question was asked. Until Indian civilization was defined relative to a world outside, there was no need

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for a concept of Hindu at all. The origin of the word Hindu is disagreed upon by historians and linguists, but it is generally accepted as having originally been a Persian word for someone who lives beyond the river Indus, i.e. any inhabitant of the Indian subcontinent (before the partition of India). Until the 19th century, the term Hindu implied a culture and ethnicity and not religion alone thus clubbing all people living in India into a single group called Hindus. When the British government started a periodic census and established a national legal system, the need arose to for Hinduism to be clearly defined as a religion, along the lines of Christianity and Islam28.

As the time when British censes started and during the first 2-3 censes, there was no general model of how to register Untouchables. In the 1871-2 census the Chamars, long since recognised as the largest untouchable caste in India, were in the province of Bengal lumped into a category called Semi-Hinduised Aborigines. In other provinces untouchable castes, e.g. the Mahars of Maharashtra and the Pariahs of Tamil Nadu were placed with Buddhists and Jains into a category called Outcastes or Not Recognising Caste. The British census officers saw themselves as simply trying to answer the question of who was a Hindu, and they often felt their job was made harder by the attitudes of their native assistants, the complaint being that high caste Hindus did not want to recognise untouchable castes as belonging to the Hindu religious community at all. By 1911 the British noticed that a complete reversal had occurred, whereby the leaders of Hinduism were adamant that the untouchable castes were a regular part of Hinduism. The spur to change was the arithmetic of parliamentary representation. In 1909-10 under the Morley-

28

Mendelsohn & Vicziany (1998): p.27

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Minto Reforms29. The Muslim League30 had sought to argue that the Hindu population was artificially inflated by inclusion of the Untouchables, and in response the Hindus now laid vehement claim to these people. The British ended up registering the Untouchables as Hindus, but in a separate schedule, thereby coining the term Scheduled Castes (SC). This designation appeared for the first time in the Government of India Act, 1935. Constitutional reforms elaborated by the British administration made it mandatory to have a schedule of all castes considered untouchable who were from then on to be granted the right to education and reserved seats in various legislative assemblies, from parliament to the local village council (panchayat)31.

Indian literature is full of colonial influences in general Caste, politics and Democracy. But it shows two aspects. One the one hand it shows the positive side of British rule and their contributions to Dalits rights and on the other hand their relations ship with Brahmins and others upper caste peoples. In assessing the implications of colonialism for Untouchables Mendelsohn & Vicziany and Basil Fernando represent opposite poles on a continuum. Mendelsohn & Vicziany are mainly positive about the side effects of colonialism for Untouchables and the Indian state:

What the census commissioners accomplished, on the other hand, was to carve out an ideological space that could accommodate [] what we are calling the Untouchables. It is difficult to exaggerate the
29

The Government of India Act of 1909, better known as the Morley-Minto Reforms (John Morley was the secretary of state for India, and Gilbert Elliot, fourth earl of Minto, was viceroy), gave Indians limited roles in the central and provincial legislatures, known as legislative councils. Indians had previously been appointed to legislative councils, but after the reforms some were elected to them. 30 A social and political group of Muslims in colonial India and they are very influences in Muslims 31 Perez (2004): p.14, 24 25; Mendelsohn & Vicziany (1998): p.27-29

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importance of this approach for the success of Ambedkars political strategy in the late 1920s and 1930s. The census Commissioners had established the Untouchables as a legitimate social category, and it was then a matter of political concession rather than ideological imagination to treat them as entitled to the kind of advantages bestowed on other groupings the Muslims, above all. Whereas Kabir and the other great bhakti thinkers had looked towards an ultimate equality of all individuals in the eye of God, the AngloIndian state had created a more practical basis for untouchable progress. The British had provided the instruments with which the Untouchables could assert themselves as a political collectivity, rather than merely pressing their moral worth as individuals32. Mendelsohn & Vicziany talk of the British policy toward Untouchables is seen as one of holding up a mirror to Indian society, thereby presenting fresh images to modernising Hindus and Untouchables themselves33.

Conversely Basil Fernando portrays the positive impact of colonialism as a myth created by self-congratulatory British, having no basis in fact. The kind of democracy they introduced in India and other parts of South Asia was a perverted kind, which only consolidated the powerful high caste elites and destroyed the power of resistance of the people by increasing and further institutionalising the suppression mechanisms of precolonial times34. The logic behind this line of argumentation is that by definition there can be no enlightened colonialism. Colonialism looks only at the moment and its motivations are: how much can be extracted and how quickly?. Accordingly the British have in fact impeded democracy. They bear responsibility not only for the past but also for the present, due to their consolidation of the caste system and destruction of local resistance to inequality. According to Fernando a true democracy should grow from the imagination
32 33 34

Mendelsohn & Vicziany (1998): p.29. Mendelsohn & Vicziany (1998): p.26. Fernando (2002): p.155.

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and creativity of the people and be founded on ideas of taking control over ones own destiny, but this process never took place in South Asia. This argument is basically give the picture of British how they established in India and for their establishment British needed the cooperation of the feudal elites, who had a long experience in controlling and suppressing their own people, but the latter demanded a price for their support, namely that the British would not interfere with the existing systems of inequality.

Both Mendelsohn & Vicziany and Basil Fernando highlight valuable points, and upon closer inspection they are perhaps not as incongruent as they might seem at first. I think there is no doubt that the British helped create a space for the Untouchables that they had not had before, but Fernandos harsh comments on the nature of democracy and the political system in India help us understand why, in spite of new opportunities, the Untouchables still occupy the bottom rungs of society more then 60 years after independence. As we shall see in coming chapters, it is an uphill struggle to utilize a space only formally recognized by the more powerful groups in society.

In this section have seen how Dalit history came into being and how scholars have different opinions and arguments about this origin. One thing is clear: approaches towards Dalits during British rule opened the window for them and gave them courage to resist and fight for their dignity and also to negotiate with upper castes for their benefit. We have also seen how two famous leaders Dr. B. R. Ambedker and M. K. Gandhi, fought for the untouchables and we will go through their approaches for the elimination of untouchability in India in the next part of the thesis. But here we should know that in the

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last two millennia there have been many revolutions against the caste system in India. In the next part of this historical account we will see a few of the challenges against the caste system in early India and their outcomes.

1-4- Resistance against the caste system in early India and its current status As we know the caste system established and strengthened within religion, so in early India resistance or challenge happened in the context of religion, or you can say explanations of their protests against an exploitative system were also based on religion. that challenges or changes took hold is evidence that untouchability was not simply accepted by its victims. For now, suffice it to say that we do indeed find protests against the caste system going far back in time. Below we see a brief sketch of the most notable challenges.

The first two attempts were rise of Buddhism and Jainism in India; both were direct attempts to challenge the Varna system and establish egalitarian societies, both religions came to counter Brahmanical supremacy in the early Indian society but both of these reform-religions lost their potential for large-scale influence after only a few centuries. Dr. Ambedkar also referring evolution of Buddhism was basically challenged to the caste system and Brahmanical supremacy, and struggle for spiritual supremacy began between Buddhist monks and Brahmans Priests which lasted, with varying fortunes for ten centuries. It ended after the death of King Harsha of Thanesar (650AD) with the complete victory of Brahmanism35. And after that Buddhism and Jainism lost their potential for

35

Bhardwaj, A (2002): p.10

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large-scale influence in India but it expended out of Indian continent in Asia more specifically Buddhism.

The next serious challenge to the Brahmanical hierarchy came with the Bhakti movements; so-called devotional movements which can be traced back to the seventh century, but which exerted their main influence in the period between the 14-17th centuries. They were spearheaded by devotional mystics later canonized as Hindu saints. These holy men were mainly from the lower castes, some of them Untouchables, e.g. the famous Bhakti poet Kabir, whose poetry include direct attacks on Brahmin supremacy. The Bhakti saints sought to renew faith by casting aside the heavy burdens of ritual and cast and encouraged people to simply express their love of God. The movements were region specific and one of their greatest contributions was the popularisation of peoples languages as opposed to Sanskrit, which had remained the language of the Brahmins. Bhakti literature was all in the regional languages, which enabled the strengthening of different identities distinct from the Brahmanical hierarchical identity. Later on these challenges took the shape of separate religion. But once again, the Brahmanical caste system proved resilient to drastic changes, and was able to marginalise the Bhakti movement, resorting to outright violence as well as the cooption of the gods and goddesses of the oppressed castes into the Hindu pantheon36.

Other currents that challenged the caste system in North India and parts of South India came in the form of Sufism, which preached an egalitarian, socially just and secular Islam, and Sikhism, which preached the equality of man and vigorously opposed
36

Jacob (2002): p.6-7; Hardtmann (2003): p.48 and Kiertzner, A. (2006): p. 34

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caste discrimination. But the consolidation of Sikhism as a religion distinct from Brahmanical Hinduism in the Punjab, and the emergence of a feudal ruling class headed by monarchy there, also saw the absorption of the caste system within the religion itself and the resultant degeneration of original egalitarian values. Untouchables remained Untouchables, and today Punjab has the highest percentage of Untouchables in the country37.

Thus we see that the Brahmanical caste system encompassed not just Hinduism, but also the other religions present on the continent. A similar thing happened with the arrival of Christianity in India. Today many Christian communities practice untouchability, for example separate cemeteries for caste Hindus and Untouchables are not uncommon. Besides providing evidence that resistance to untouchability is not only a thing of the recent past, the rise and fall of these different religions and traditions points to the tenacity of orthodox Hinduism has in either absorbing and limiting by way of containment, or smothering radical schools of thought that challenged the control of the high castes38. Theoretically analysed by Mendelsohn & Vicziany, the failure of those challenges is based on the tenacity of orthodox Hinduism. A practical and short answer is given by Anil Bhardwaj.

The progress of civilisation introduced certain important changes in the Vedic social system. It would seem, firstly, that the tendency to endogamy caused by amalgamation of the races of different blood had sensibly weakened with the passage of time; at all events, one hears of numerous instances of mixed marriage both at this and at a later period. Secondly, trade and industry become organized into a
37 38

Jacob (2002): 6-7; Kiertzner, A. (2006):34-35. Mendelsohn & Vicziany (1998): p.26, and Kiertzner, A. (2006): p.35.

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number of guilds or corporations of persons following the same occupation, which quickly become influential and later, were powerful enough to secure for themselves important privileges. They soon succeeded in establishing the principle of hereditary function, which predisposed them in favour of guild endogamy. And lastly, long before the end of this period, Brahmanical order, whose original function had been confined to the expert knowledge and performance of religious ritual, had acquired a monopoly of all important branches of learning. 39 The above historically based argument by Anil Bhardwaj and current marriage system of all big religion in India if we see and analyse then we can find the similarity of these endogamy marriages is same as Vedic or Brahmanical Varna system define or Manuscript define to maintains and sustain the notion of purity of Caste and Varna. The endogamy practices of any religion in India serve to promote and propagate the caste system in India. As well as reproduce the caste system in India. This is also one of the biggest issues for the Indian civil society to properly address. There are many laws, a few were enacted by British and later on modified by the Government of India, but they are not affected as the motive of that law to eradicate the caste system and stop the violations of the rights of those trying to escape endogamy.

However, in this chapter we see the history of Dalits and root of Untouchability and protests against untouchability all happened within the Hindu fold as trying to change Hinduism or provide alternative. Also other religions were influenced by the notion of caste in India. But in the beginning of the 20 th century saw the arrival of two great reformers came who address the issues of untouchability and caste in India: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, and M. K. Gandhi. Next chapter is dedicated to these two legendry leaders
39

Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p. 9

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who changed the face of India as well as the issue of Indian Dalits. Current Indian civil society follows their approaches to address the issues of Indian Dalits. So it is very necessary to understand the basic approaches of these leaders, the differences between their approaches and their contradictions. Then we can easily understand the current Dalit NGOs work, their composition and the challenges they face as they address to the caste system in India.

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Chapter - 2 Approaches for the welfare of Dalits India Approaches to the welfare of Dalits are based on two ideologies: that of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and M. K. Gandhi, two approaches. The first autonomous anti-caste antiHindu stance crystallized in the 1930s40, epitomized by the controversies between the two historical figures B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi. These controversies are of significance for an understanding of todays Dalit movement, because Dalit activists in their discourses now constantly refer back to this historical period 41. Most Dalits NGOs and members of civil society who are working for Dalit Human rights and elimination of the caste system in India, follow approaches based upon the ideologies of Gandhi and Ambedkar. And also todays Indian government policy towards welfare of SC and ST is reflection of this Gandhi/Ambedkar ideological straggle.

Before I start to write about these legendary leaders and their contribution to the Indian society and Dalits, first I have to accept the fact I am not capable enough to write and comment about them. I will just try to see them and their work according to my little knowledge and understanding of their ideological approaches and their contribution to the Indian society.

40

The Adi movements of the 1920s were in important ways forerunners to this decisive break from Hinduism. The activists of the Adi movements claimed to be the original inhabitants of India, Adi meaning ancient or original, defeated by the Aryans. These movements were found across the country, e.g. Adi Andhra in Andhra Pradesh, Adi Dravida in Tamil Nadu and and Ad Dharm in Punjab, but where largely unrelated. Most of the movements adopted a clear stand that they were not Hindus, but they also took a lot of their inspiration from Hindu poetry, including from the Bhakthi saints, and are therefore not easily categorised into either an autonomous anti-caste anti-Hindu tradition or a Hindu caste-reform tradition (Hardtmann 2003: 46-47). 41 Kiertzner, A. (2006): p.35

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2-1-Contribution of M. K. Gandhi in Dalit Movement In 1919, when Gandhi appeared as a shining star in an Indian political horizon, His magnetic personality gave a new life to the Indian freedom movement as well as the old congress. Under Gandhis Indian Congress got face lift and was converted into a mass organization, adopting the policies of non-cooperation and civil disobedience.

In the beginning, Gandhi was firm in his belief that if the untouchables were permitted to enter the temples, the blot of untouchability would vanish. It was this belief which prompted Gandhi to incorporate temple entry as a part of his anti-untouchability campaign which was intensified during post-Poona Pact period42.

Therefore Gandhis anti-untouchability campaign started when he was released from Yervada prison, Gandhi made fervent appeals to the orthodox and Santana caste Hindus to open up their hearts and treat the untouchables as their brothers and sisters. He also undertook the tour which is commonly referred to as the Harijan tour during the period of November 1933 to August 1934. On this tour Gandhi addressed 161places and covered a distance of 12650 miles43.

Gandhi was a devoted Hindu, and strongly believed that untouchability was a corruption of Hinduism. His aim was social reform, transforming the Untouchables into a Varna and removing their former stigma, thereby rectifying the original spiritual corruption of Hinduism. He believed this would change the attitude of caste Hindu,
42 43

Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p.23. Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p.24.

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encouraging the acceptance of Untouchables as children of God, or harijan, a term coined by Gandhi in 1933, and used much more by other castes than Untouchables themselves44.

After a long campaign for Untouchables, Gandhi also realized the ugly reality of the caste system and there was a considerable reconceptualizaion of the issue. In 1935 he become a critic of the caste system but continued to be a votary of Chaturvarna 45 in Varna dharma. That is the time when his all the comments still criticize by many Dalits activist to dominate and ignore what Gandhi did for untouchables but we forget that the same Gandhi who in 1930 fully opposed to inter-dining and inter-marriage as he felt that such things should be left to the unfettered choice of the individuals. In 1935, he was against creating artificial little groups which would neither inter-dine nor inter-marry 46. However, by 1946 there was a complete volte-face in his approach. It was in this year Gandhi made a startling announcement to the effect that in Sevagram, his Ashram at Wardha, no marriage would be celebrated unless one of the parties was untouchable by birth. And he said: Untouchability is the sin of the Hindus. They must suffer for it, they must purify themselves, and they must pay the debt they owe to their suppressed brothers and sisters. Theirs is the shame and theirs must be glory when they purged themselves of the black sin. The silent loving suffering of one single pure Hindu as such will be enough to melt the hearts of millions of Hindus; but the suffering of thousands of non-Hindus on behalf of the untouchables will leave the Hindus unmoved. Their blind eyes will not be opened by outside interference, however well intentioned and generous it may be; it will not bring home to them the sense guilt. On the contrary, they would probably
44 45 46

Perez 2004: 15-17 and Hardtmann 2003: 51 The Varna system is based on four Varna so its also called Chaturvarna system. Harijan, November 16, 1935: p.316

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hung the sin all the more for such interference. All reforms to be sincere and lasting must be from within.47 Gandhi in the name of reborn he also said: I do not want to reborn, but if I have to reborn, I should be born as untouchable, so that I share their sorrow and suffering, and the affronts leveled at them in order that I may endeavour to free myself and them from the miserable conditions. I, therefore, pray that if I should be born again, I should do so not as a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra, but as an Atishudra (untouchable)48. Overall, my understanding of Gandhi approaches towards Untouchability is the two way approach. The top down approach, meaning basically he wants to reform Hindu religion and society to stop practicing Untouchability and also in the name of untouchable they should not carry any discriminatory social and ritual religiously oppressive practices. On the other hand Gandhi also appeals to Untouchables to get rid of and not to take the reform work is, because this is the job of caste Hindus only. According to Anil Bhardwaj He never used them as apolitical weapon or an ideological stance and wanted them to gain their own strength to stand on their own feet49.

2-2-Contribution of Dr. B. R. Ambedker in Dalit Movement Ambedkar was born in Mahow Indore on 14th April 1891, an untouchable Mahar, a caste group that traditionally worked as village servants in Maharashtra. With the help of the Maharaja of Baroda who was impressed with his intellectual capacities, and due to the fact that his father had worked in the British army and had some financial means,
47

the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: government of India, ministry of information & Broadcasting), 1967, Volue xxIII, p515-16 48 Yang India, 4th May, 1921, p.144 49 Bhardwaj, A.(2002): p.40.

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Ambedkar gained access to an education traditionally inaccessible to someone of his social position50. Still, his education and later his professional life were strongly marked by the stigma of untouchability. In primary school he had to sit outside the classroom and was not allowed to drink from the common water tanks and later, at secondary school, there was objection to his studying Sanskrit, the language of the scriptures, strictly forbidden for an Untouchable. He had difficulty finding accommodation both at university hostels, and later when he was stationed in different parts of the country as a government official. Even when he was appointed Minister for Finance in Baroda (a political post never before occupied by an Untouchable), he was discriminated against by his peers, who refused to touch any document he may already have handled 51. Based on his own experiences, Ambedkar adopted a social and political perspective contrary to Gandhis; to him, the problem of untouchability was intrinsic to the whole construction of Hinduism, and he believed there would be no emancipation of Untouchables without the destruction of the caste system52.

Ambedkar was popularly known after completing his education he started to work for his people. First, in 1919, he gave evidence before the South Borough Committee to constitute separate electorates for untouchables. He started a weekly paper Mooknayak (Leader of Dumb) on 31st January 1920, to mobilise untouchables for their struggle53.

50

Ambedkar obtained a Ph.D. in economics at Colombia University, New York, in 1916, and a D.Sc. in economics from London School of Economics and Political Science in 1923, the same year he became a barrister at law and was admitted to the British Bar. 51 Perez (2004): p.17-18 52 A full exposition of this view can be found in Ambedkars Annihilation of Caste: With a reply to Mahatma Gandhi (1936) 53 Kuber, W. N. (1963): p.18.

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Ambedkar deeply craved a new social order based on the lofty principals of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice. These principals are the core of his philosophy. In 1924, he established the Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha, the untouchables welfare forum. The aim of which was to prepare the untouchables for future struggle. Through this Sabha, Ambedkar gave a clarion call to his peoples to Educate, organize, and agitate 54. He looked upon law as a vital means for social change or social engineering, the aim of which should, of course, be social justice. The concept of social justice is at the center of Ambedkars socio-legal philosophy.

Though analyses of the problems of untouchables as put forth by Ambedkar may only be an indicator of the prevailing system and condition of his times, His ideas continued to guide the successive government in formulating the welfare policies for Dalits and others depressed classes. At present, Dalit activists and NGOs who work for Dalits Human rights, using his three words Educate, Organized, Agitate to librates Dalits. As Ambedkars principles and his concept of socio-legal philosophy pointed out by Anil Bhardwaj, I will discuss and argue the significance of his theory and philosophy, his followers, and current Indian civil society, how they interpreted and implicated his principals in their work and outcome, and their counter arguments, in the last part of this thesis.

2-3-Differences of Gandhi and Ambedker The difference between Gandhis and Ambedkars approaches to the welfare of untouchables was intangible in the binging, but it was crystallized in 1932, and the
54

Bhardwaj, A. (2002): p.45.

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resulting pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar still plays a core role for the welfare of Dalits in India. In 1931, at the second Round Table Conference held in London, held by the British Government regarding the proposed reforms of the new constitution of India 55, they were both present and both claimed to represent the Untouchable castes. At this conference, the so-called Communal Award was announced introducing separate electorates for the untouchable castes. Ambedkar was strongly in favour; Gandhi, on the other hand was strongly opposed arguing that separate electorates in any form for the untouchable castes implied the risk of splitting Hindu society and destroying Hinduism 56. Gandhis response was to enter into perhaps the most famous of his fasts unto death on 20 September 1932. Faced with the martyrdom of the Great Mahatma, Ambedkar had no choice but to back down. He agreed in the Poona Pact to give up on separate electorates for Untouchable voters in return for a substantial increase in the number of general seats to be reserved for candidates from the untouchable castes. But it was a bitter compromise and Ambedkar later commented on Gandhis fast in his book What Congress and Gandhi Have done to the Untouchables (1945), saying there was nothing noble in the fast, rather it was a foul and filthy act constituting the biggest betrayal of Untouchables in history. Ambedkars concern was that in the general constituency Untouchables would always be a minority. Without separate electorates there was an overwhelming risk that the caste Hindu majority would come to choose the representatives among the untouchable castes who were seen to be most loyal to their own interests and not to the interests of the

55

The India Act of 1935 quoted by Bhardwaj, A. (2002):

56

Muslims had been granted separate electorates with the India Act of 1909 also known as the Morley-Minto reforms, and we see how the issue of separate electorates is a continuation of the already mentioned debate on how to categorize Untouchables in the census.

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Untouchables. Unfortunately, the current political climate only serves to confirm Ambedkars apprehensions57.

Ambedkars motives for the fight for separate electorates for Dalits have been frequently questioned and unjustly linked with an anti-nationalist agenda. His stance was deliberately misconstrued, and he had to bear the burden of being labeled a traitor simply because of his plea that the rights of the Dalits should be made a pre-condition for independence from the British. The visual images produced of Ambedkar and Gandhi, loaded with cultural references, further serves to set them apart. Ambedkar is always portrayed in western attire, suit and tie, with a book under his right arm whereas Gandhi is portrayed in a simple loincloth sitting next to the spinning wheel used to produce khadi, the symbol of a united Indian people against colonial powers58.

Where Gandhi became known as Mahatma Gandhi, the Great Soul, or the Father of Independence, Ambedkar became known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Great Man, and as Father of the Indian Constitution, because he was the first Law Minister in independent India as well as chairman of the committee that drafted the Indian Constitution. But compared to Gandhi, Ambedkar has been unknown outside India until quite recently. It is only with the intensified activities of the Dalit movement in the 1990s that his name has become somewhat better known. Among Dalit activists there is today a lot of hatred towards Gandhi and resentment that their hero, Ambedkar, is so little
57

See e.g. the book The Chamcha Age An Era of the Stooges written by Kanshi Ram, founder and leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), in 1982, the fiftieth anniversary of the Poona Pact. The title itself is revealing of his views. See also Jaffrelot (2003), Hardtmann (2003): p.55-57, Perez (2004): p.18, Mendelsohn & Vicziany (1998): p.104-105 and Kiertzner, A. (2006): p.37-38. 58 Kiertzner, A. (2006): P.38.

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recognized within as well as outside India. It is felt that Ambedkar would have been recognised as a great social reformer on par with Gandhi, or perhaps rather Karl Marx, if only high caste Indians had not kept him a secret59.

59

Hardtmann (2003): p.51.

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Chapter -3 3 - Current situations of Dalits in India In this chapter I will attempt to give a detailed picture of the Dalits situation in India. I will first describe Dalit education in India to give general information and also draw attention in Indian throw out system in education. Thereafter, a detailed understanding of land rights of Dalits and the situation of Dalit women in India will described in this part of my thesis.

3-1- Dalits Education in India The suffering and total marginalization of a major portion of Indian society, dates back to the time immemorial. Though even the perpetrators of these offences of Dalits concede to the fact that they were the earlier inhabitants of this land, the heap of insults and the untold story of their miseries on all fronts still goes unchecked. The arrival of the British to a certain extent proved to be a blessing in disguise for the untouchables. The British made them understand that the education can play a major role in freeing them from the shackles of slavery. According to Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar: Education is the surest and the soundest key to Dalit Progress60.

Historically, Dalits in India were prevented and strictly prohibited from getting an education and the caste system in Hinduism clearly describes the practices to discriminate against Dalits in term of education. The development of Indian society is also based on education but due to religious hypocrisy and social acceptance of caste Dalits are unable to
60

Mungekar, B. L. (2002). Education :The only key to Dalit progress, paper presented in International conference on Dalits Rights, UK.

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access the educationel system and there is no special system that provides education especially for Dalits.

In the British Colonial period, the British started providing opportunities for the education of Dalits. They opened the door of educational world for Dalits in India. But they had their own political interests and according to their political interests they made two types of education structures in India. An education structure for the elite class and one for Dalits.

After independence, the Indian government also continued the same type of dual education structure. According to scholar Deepali Gakhar in her paper presented in seminar entitled Dalits In Education she mentions that in India higher education is elite61. In independent India the main objective of education is to look after the needs and development of Dalit children who have remained isolated from the ambit of education for centuries. After independence the new government at least took some steps to rise the educational standard of the Dalits, however the result of this has not been satisfactory in terms of implementation and outcome. The Indian government also does many things for the higher education of Dalits children but proper access in higher education is still very far for Dalits. Mere primary or basic education is not sufficient for Dalits empowerment, and not providing proper opportunity for higher education is also a type of discrimination.

61

Gakhar, D. (2001). Paper presented in seminar entitled DALITS IN EDUCATION. New Delhi.

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3-2-A-Historical background for educational development of Dalits Here I make an attempt to look into the position of Dalits and their access to the higher education in India and their educational development in the post independence period. Education time immemorial till the end of the nineteenth century was limited only to a few privileged classes. Brahmins62 had monopolized the entire educational sector in India. They were considered supreme and education became their property. The Shudras 63 and untouchables64 (Dalits) were denied even basic education.

Instructions in formal education were more or less limited only to the dwijas (twice-born) castes. The Brahmins who studied classical religious texts and interpreted and communicated them to the illiterate masses in their local dialects. The Kshatriya had to learn to rule and get acquainted with the weapons, state crafts and organizational matters and some schooling for this purpose was necessary. The Vaishyas required knowledge of arithmetic for transacting business, keeping records and maintaining accounts. Lastly skills necessary for making crafts at the domestic level could well be acquired at home, i.e., the artisan groups or the Shudras. So the untouchables were the only section of the society left out with no accessibility to education of any kind. If there is no accessibility of Dalits in education then talk about the accessibility in higher education is not logical. Denial of education to the Dalits perpetuated their social

62 63

Brahmins is the highest caste in caste order of the Hindu varna system the lowest caste in caste order of the Hindu Varna system 64 peoples they are not included in caste order of the Hindu Varna system and facing discrimination

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humiliation, economic exploitation, political marginalization and cultural subordination 65 and it has create a cycle of oppressions and atrocities. Examples of denial of access to education can even be seen in the Hindu epic The Mahabharata66. There are examples of education structures when Pandaw67 and Kavraow68 wanted to be educated they went to an Ashram to study. When one tribal child Eklawya 69 went to get en education in same Ashram where there Pandw and Kavraow were studying then Guru (Teacher) Drownacharya denied him education because Eklawya did not belong to the Kshatriya caste. There was no other ashram available for him to get the same education for himself.

3-2-B-History of Dalits Education The British were silent for a long time on the question of promoting education among the native population. In 1813, parliament decided to spend less then one hundred thousand rupees for the improvement of literature and the encouragement of learned natives of India. But the depressed classes were crestfallen as British government ruled that education was to be a preserved for the higher classes. No schools were opened for depressed classes before 1855 because of the deliberate policy of the British to provide the benefits of the higher education exclusively to the Brahmins and other upper classes. The depressed classes were not allowed by the government to have their slice of education. And its maintain cycle of oppression in Indian society. What is the political interest of
65

Gakhar, D. (2001). Paper presented in seminar entitled DALITS IN EDUCATION, New Delhi. 66 One of the Holy book of Hinduism 67 the sons of the kings and by caste Kshatriya in the Book of MahaBharat 68 the sons of the kings and by caste Kshatriya in the Book of MahaBharat 69 Belong to non Kshatriya caste man in the book of MahaBharat

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British that is the deferent issue but Dalits can start excess and test the education in India after long time of oppression and discrimination.

According to Indian constitution, India is a welfare state so many policies were based on welfare; but at the same time Indian government also started industrialization programs for the development of India. And in this industrialization, dominant castes also wanted to sustain their social status during a time when standard education was developing. The upper caste reaction: privatization of higher education.

The literacy rate is internationally recognized as an important indicator of educational development. The Indian government also wants to demonstrate to the international community that they also started to focus in increasing the literacy rate. An analysis of drop out rate in post independent India was conducted: During 1961-1991, the literacy rate rose from 10.27% to 37.41% among the Scheduled Castes, while it increased from 37.41 to 57.40% in case of the rest of the population. Scheduled Caste 70 children discontinued their studies prematurely before reaching the level for which they have enrolled. The drop-out rate in 1986-87 for classes I-V was 50.79 percent in the case of Scheduled Castes. In classes I-VIII the drop-out rates were as high as 69.15% and 80.19% respectively. 70% of the students in the age range of 6-14 years among the Scheduled Castes study in Government schools in rural India. Only 5% of the Scheduled Caste students study in private schools.

70

Those Untouchable castes come under the Scheduled list of Indian constitution.

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

Their proportion in professional courses decreased steadily from 32.63% in 196465 to 28.5% in 1970-71, 25.38% in 1975-76 and 17.08% in 1977-78. It also reveals that the proportion of Scheduled Caste students in professional courses is almost half in contrast to their corresponding proportion in undergraduate level courses. A fewer Scheduled Caste students make the transmission from the lower level courses to the professional subjects, which has a direct bearing in occupations, compared to nonScheduled Caste students71.

Thus it is clear from the above analysis that there has been some improvement of Scheduled Castes with respect to education in the post-independence period, but there is a big gap in the education level of Dalits and others and also a high dropout rate. Their low level of educational development is largely due to their poverty and the social stigma attached to being an untouchable. But there is one more important factor that was not recognized properly: the accessibility of higher education to Dalits. The Indian

governments focus on the increase of the literacy rate, so the literacy rate is increasing, but access of higher education is not increasing according to population and educational growth. And the dropout rate is increasing also because all the policies are based on basic or primary education and increased the literacy rate. It means there is no policy to allow adequate opportunity to pursue higher education, and Indian government is following approximately the same pattern of British educational development and government unwillingness to provide access to higher education to Dalits children. Again the cycle of oppressing and discriminating against Dalits is maintained.

71

Analysis done by Deepali Gakhar in her paper Dalits and Education

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In 1950, The father of Indian Constitution Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, made a provision in Article 21 right to equality based on states along with opportunity state will take affirmative action or reservation system, for reservation in all Governmental positions and educational institutes to ensure that Untouchables and tribes (Scheduled Castes /Scheduled Tribes) were adequately represented. As per the constitutional right of reservation, Dalits are entitled to obtain 22.5% of the vacancies in State postings and admissions to courses of study.

The reservation system is not enough to fill all the gaps in minority representation in the Indian Government. With inadequate enough higher schools and colleges, there are not enough educated Dalits to fulfill all reserved quotas. And when Dalit students seek admission to higher studies, they are admitted due to reservation others who come under the meritorious fight against the reservation system because they never get the opportunity those are entitle to get the admission and their rights are denied. This means reservation system does not give enough opportunity for Dalits children but at the same time creates problems between Dalit and non- Dalit students and creates a rivalry among them. This reaction turned bad recently when many students started protest against Reservation system in Delhi. Before when the Mandal commission 72 recommendation was enforced, there was also a negative reaction against reservation system. It happened because of the limited opportunity for higher education and that time enforcement of reservation in higher education encroaches the meritorious based opportunity of Dominant Caste students.

72

A commission constituted by India government

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As I mentioned above the policy of reservation has been criticized on the grounds that, the quota system is viewed as an encroachment on the rights of the meritorious students drawn from other castes and communities. This generates a social atmosphere not favorable to the Scheduled Caste and scheduled caste students in these institutions often get discouraged when admitted therein.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar argued that reservation is a movement for the establishment of social, economic and educational equality in the society, which is probably the most effective method of putting an end to the evils of the caste system 73. But the goals of the reservation system will not be accomplish if there is a lack of proper opportunity for higher education in the educational system. It doesnt mean providing only the proper opportunity for higher education, but also increasing the number of good and professional higher education campuses. Because if there are not enough good and professional higher education campuses then few Dalit children will have access to higher education. And if there are too few sources for intermediate education then its very difficult to fulfill the reserved quota of Dalits in higher education.

The effect of this problem can be seen In J.N.U. (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) where only about 15% of the seats reserved have been filled so far. Further in the year 2001, of the 22.5% reservation eligible to Dalits, only 6.3% is filled up, in the B.Tech course in IIT Madras. As Deepali Gakhar argued in her paper, Their less representation is caused by in-built social and structural constraints. These operate [both]

73

Gakhar, D. (2001)

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at the levels of their family background including social and economical positions 74. But my argument is, as I said above, that at first, if we dont have enough Inter college campuses in proportion to the Indian population then these castes based structures will not give proper opportunity to Dalits to access Higher education and, as a result, they will end up as drop outs halfway through their education. Second, without intervention of the state it is impossible to provide proper opportunity to these students who are marginalized and suppressed in this society. And third, states should also strongly monitor the issues of Untouchability and discriminatory practices in higher education. In the name of ragging, untouchable students are tortured in Universities and hostels. Without enough inter colleges and higher education campuses, fights between Dalits and others in the name of reservations will not stop.

3-2-C-Education structure and understanding of dropout status or throw out system Schools dropout rates show a pattern of throwing out Dalit children. Its very crucial to understand the patterns of Dalit dropouts second one must identify the root cause of this dropout of Dalit children. Thus, in the following Tables we look at the statistics relating to school attendance rates among children in the age group 4-14 belonging to the above categories, with regards to sex and their origin (rural or urban). Again, the information relates to three points of time, i.e. 1983, 1987-88, and 1993-94.

It is heartwarming to observe in this table that over a time school attendance rates among SC and ST children are increasing. But compared to the children belonging to category other, they are lagging far behind. Further, the gap is much wider in the case of
74

Ibid

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female attendance rates of two Dalit categories vis--vis other. Lastly, the school attendance rate among SC/ST children in rural areas is less satisfactory when compared to those in urban areas. In other words, school attendance rates among the SC/ST children in general and those among rural females in particular are quite unsatisfactory compared to those among the non-SC/ST children. What is further distressing is that, the dropout rates among the SC/ST children are also much higher.

Table 1 School Attendance Rates among Children in the Age-group 5-14 yrs. (i.e. number of children attending the school per 100 children in the age-group) for different social groups in India. (Figures in per cent) @ Figures correspond to current enrolment rates. Social School attendance rates among children (5-14yrs.) group Male Female 1983@ 1987-88 1993-94 1983@ 1987-88 Rural ST 39.50 44.50 57.90 20.40 26.20 SC 48.90 49.80* 64.30 25.50 31.10* Other 59.20 63.40 74.90 39.20 45.80 All 55.30 58.90 71.00 34.80 41.10 Urban ST 67.00 67.20 79.70 52.70 62.30 SC 66.70 68.20* 77.50 52.30 53.80* Other 76.50 78.00 86.80 69.10 72.60 All 74.80 76.40 85.30 66.40 69.90 * Neo-Buddhists of Maharashtra are not considered under SC for estimates. Source: Sarvekshana, vol. XII, No.4, April-June 1999.

1993-94 40.90 46.20 61.00 55.90 69.70 68.60 83.00 80.70 obtaining the

This being the case the levels of education among the SC/ST population compared to the non SC/ST population is bound to be different. How they are different is shown in Mohammad Moosa Azmi 3

Table Two. Thus, Table 2 shows that the levels of middle, secondary and higher secondary education among the male as well as female population in both rural and urban areas among the SC/ST population are much lower compared to the non-SC/ST population

Table-2 Percent Distribution of Persons of Age 15 years and above by General education for Different Social Groups: India (Figures in per cent) Social Percent distribution of persons (15+) by level of general education group Not Literate Middle Secondary Higher Graduate Above Literate and up secondary Graduate to primary Rural Males ST 58.80 24.50 9.60 4.30 2.10 7.00 SC 54.20 25.00 11.60 5.50 2.60 1.10 1.00 Other 34.90 28.90 17.30 10.50 5.00 3.40 All 41.10 27.60 15.40 8.90 4.20 2.60 Rural Females ST 84.30 10.10 3.50 1.40 4.00 2.00 SC 82.40 11.60 3.90 1.60 4.00 1.00 Other 65.50 19.00 8.70 4.40 1.50 7.00 All 70.80 16.60 7.30 3.60 1.20 5.00 Urban Males ST 25.00 27.60 17.10 14.30 7.60 8.00 2.00 SC 31.90 29.00 17.80 10.40 6.00 4.80 1.00 Other 13.70 22.40 18.60 18.60 11.80 14.80 1.00 All 16.20 23.30 18.40 17.50 11.00 13.40 1.00 Urban Females ST 50.50 19.10 13.30 7.90 5.30 3.50 3.00 SC 62.00 17.80 10.10 5.50 3.20 1.20 Other 32.20 22.20 14.90 13.90 7.80 8.90 1.00 All 36.30 21.60 14.30 12.70 7.20 7.80 1.00 Source: As Table 1 All

100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

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Relatively low school attendance rates accompanied by high drop-out rates among SC/ST children creates a lack of proper opportunity and sow the seeds of low achievements standards of Dalit children to benefit from the available opportunities in the various spheres of the society, ultimately result in socio-economic discrimination.

According to the above attendance rate and dropout status we will now look into the reasons underlying the drop-out rate of Dalit children. The problem of school drop-out among Dalit children is a complex one, having multiple causes behind it. We may, however, integrate the items which have some proximate relationship among themselves. The reasons have been divided into six broad categories. Deepali Gakhar analyzes the causes of dropping out and come to the conclusions that there are 5 major causes of Dalits dropping out of school that include: Poverty and Economic Hardships, School and School Related Factors, Domestic Existences, Individual Deficiency and Cultural Factors75 but there is one more crucial, intangible factor the lack of proper opportunity for higher education.

Poverty and associated handicaps are chiefly responsible for the drop-out incidence among Dalit children. The next contributory element to reckon with is the existing inadequacy of the school system. Punitive, unhelpful and impersonal attitudes of school teachers as well as the aggressive and unfriendly acts of school mates seem to have created a credibility vacuum between Dalit students and the school system. The third, fourth and fifth categories relate to family or personal issues like sickness and death, declining interest of the child in studies and superstitious beliefs and values against the
75

Gakhar, D. (2001)

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continuity of school education. In general, the economic backwardness of Dalit families and unreceptive and discourteous atmosphere in the school constitute two major barriers that lie at the root of the drop-out problem among Dalit children, but the last category alone plays a greater role very intangibly and without addressing this cause, we cannot control the drop out of the Dalits children in education. Above I already mention many cause of drop out of Dalits children but one more important part I observed is being missed by the social thinkers and by our society and government. This factor forces me to say that its not drop out its Throw- out system which means the intangibly prevented proper opportunity for higher education.

An example in the Varanasi District in India, in a total of nine blocks, each block has a number of Government primary schools 76 (till 5th standards only) as shown in table no.3 below.

Table No. 3 s.no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Name of the Block Nagar Nigam (City Municipality) Pindra Sevapuri Kashi Vidya pith Haraua Chola Pur Chirai Gaon Bada Gaon Aaraji Line Total Number of the schools 229 174 179 161 191 274 203 160 223 1794

76

Varanasi District Basic Education Department, primary schools list Register, 2008

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As the table above shows, the total number of Primary schools is 1,794 77 and if we include 200 schools, those which are run by the Indian government under NCLP (National child labor Project) through labor department with the help of NGOs then the number of primary education schools will be 1,994.

Out of 1,994 primary schools in Varanasi, there are only 162 governments inter colleges (from 6th standard to 12th standard only). It means there are less than 10% of Inter colleges required accommodate all children who have completed primary level education. It is impossible for that percentage to accommodate all qualified children from 1,994 primary schools every year. This means less than 10% inter college eligible student are not thrown out due to their inability to get admission. It is also easy to say that this limit leads to the creation of standards and rules or regulations to prevent certain children to be admitted. According to Indian Constitution every child has the right to a good and standardized education, but this system violates these fundamental rights. The weaker section of society fall victim to this system namely the poor, Dalits and women. These systems throw out those children who came from this section of society. This, in my opinion should be called throw-out instead of drop-out.

We already know that an overwhelmingly large percentage of the SC/ST population living in rural areas work as agricultural laborers. Even the up and corners among them are generally marginalized farmers lacking access to adequate social resources. In view of this problem, the level of education alone could help them cross the boundaries of caste-based occupations and jobs and secure socio-economic stability in
77

Ibid

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their otherwise deprived lives. Such a low level of education, however, compels a large number of the Dalits to undertake jobs that earn relatively low income. This has as inevitable consequence poverty among the Dalits. Poverty is the main factor to preventing them from getting a decent education. This is a cycle of hall progress that throws out children while preventing them from making their own lives better.

As we know, a large proportion of Dalits come from the villages or rural areas, and they are poor. Privatization of education and elite higher education is impossible for Dalits to access to higher education campuses. Compared to Dalits students studying in Government inter collages, there is a huge difference on the quality of education and this very evident in the higher education.

3-2-E- Dalits in higher educations As we know 80% of students who attend university come from the top 20% of classes. Under the caste hierarchy they fall under the upper caste and that realty was not yet been realized by the Indian government until now. This proves that the throw out system has tangibly prevented Dalits from getting higher education.

Despite all these problems, if any Dalit can get access to these higher education campuses, caste discrimination still applies and forces these Dalit students to cut short their higher education. This type of discrimination demands societys deep consideration as well as that of the state and law enforcement that these issues might be properly addressed.

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

3-2-Dalitsland rights and its Current situation in India Denial of land rights to Dalits is directly linked to the caste system and its pernicious influence results in gross human rights violations in multiple forms. Exclusion and discrimination faced by Dalits is a corollary to the graded and iniquitous social system which prevails in Indian society.

Because Dalits are discriminated against and marginalized by the religiously based social belief they are assigned or bound for most heinous tasks like manual scavenging. Historically they are landless and/or usually work in the agrarian field as bounded and labor. Almost half of them (49%) are agricultural laborers, while only 25% are cultivators. By contrast, in 1961, 38% of Dalits were cultivators and 34% were agricultural laborers78.

The caste system would have not perpetuated for centuries only through subjective prejudices and the idea of pollution. One of the most formidable factors that provided enduring strength to the caste system was its solid economic foundation. Again, what needs to be emphasized, is that the economic aspects of the caste system were sanctified by the Hindu religious scriptures and, like every other form of social discrimination, they were also deeply internalized79.

78

Broken Promises and Dalits Betrayed BLACK PAPER on the status of Dalits Human Rights (A Summary) 79 Mungekar, B.L. (1999).

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In view of this, it would be interesting to assess the extent of land ownership by Dalit households. This is because in rural areas ownership and/or access to land is the single crucial factor that enables one to share the benefits of agricultural development and also serves as a symbol of social prestige. Thus, Table 1 shows that households owning less than one hectare of land ,ade up 68.50% among the SC compared to 57.5% among others. Further, as we increase the size of land owned by any household, the percentage of households belonging to SC families continues decline when compared with those belonging to the category others. For example, only 1.5 % of SC households owned more than four hectares while the same percentage for others was 6.40. This unequal ownership of land among the SC households vis--vis the others ultimately results in unequal distribution of gains of agricultural prosperity. In the case of ST the position of land ownership is better than SCs and sometimes also others. This may be attributed to the nature and features of the tribal economy and should not mislead one to conclude that agriculture as an economic activity is more favorable for ST compared to the SCs, let alone the non-SC/ST population.

Ownership of Agricultural Land by Sign Class of Holdings (1993-94) Table 1 No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sign Class in Hectares S. T. S. C. Landless 13.30 18.10 Less than 1 51.30 68.50 1 to 2 18.70 08.00 2 to 4 11.90 03.90 4 above 04.80 01.50 Total 100.00 100.00 Source: Sarvekshana, vol. XII, No.4, April-June 1999. Others 11.20 57.40 15.10 09.90 06.40 100.00 All 12.90 59.10 14.00 08.00 06.00 100.00

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

In Table 2, we present the composition of households by household type i.e., by nature of primary occupation. The novelty of this table is that we have separate

information for SCs, STs, and others i.e., non-SCs and STs. Thus, Table 3 shows that only 38% of ST and 20.10% of SC households are self-employed in agriculture and 5.90% and 10.70% of them are self-employed non-agricultural fields. Thus, all self-employed (both in agriculture and otherwise) ST and SC households comprise 44% and 30.80% respectively. Compared to this, 43.30%, 14.50% and 57.70% households belonging to others were self-employed in agriculture, self-employed in non-agriculture or otherwise self-employed.

Percent Distribution of Households by Household Type (1993-94) Table 2 Household Type S. T. S.C. Others SEA 38.00 20.10 43.30 SENA 06.00 10.70 14.40 All SE 44.00 30.80 57.70 AL 37.80 49.30 23.20 OL 10.10 10.20 06.90 All Lab. 47.90 59.50 30.20 Others 08.20 09.70 12.10 All 100.00 100.00 100.00 Source: As Table 1 SEA = Self-employed in agriculture, SENA = Self-employed in nonagriculture AIISE= All Self-employed, AL= Agricultural labor households OL= Other Labor AII Lab= All labor, ST= Scheduled Tribe, SC= Scheduled Caste Furthermore, 37.80% and 49.30% of ST and SC households were agricultural labor households, while the proportion for other was 23.20%. Similarly, other labor households constituted 10.10% and 10.20% respectively for the ST and SC households with only 6.90% among others. This shows that the majority of SC households depend

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

upon their own labor as their main source of livelihood, followed closely by ST households. In this respect households belonging to category others are far better off when compared to those of ST and SC80. 3-2-A-Steps taken by the Government of India and the Realities of those steps After the independence of India, thanks to the efforts of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar the Indian government adopted a constitution that ensures the equality, justice and fraternity. In order to achieve these objectives some special pro-SC visions have been made available for the downtrodden in general and for the SC and ST in particular. These provisions exist mainly in the areas of education, employment in the public sector and political representation. Also, in addition various acts have been passed against practice of untouchability (1955), violation of Civil Rights (1976), and SC/ST prevention of Atrocities (1989). Various schemes and programs have been introduced for the welfare of SC/ST communities. The constitution of India guarantees basic human rights also known as Fundamental rights. Violation of these rights could be challenged in the court. But From independence to today, after all these laws and rules, still Untouchables are facing lots of problems and discrimination that are regularly highlighted by them, Media and NGOs. Only the form of violation and discrimination has changed not social conciseness.

After independence many land reforms and land rights movements were affected and such movement was Bhudan Andolan (Land Gift movement) started by Vinoba Bhave to promote the Bhudan Movement over a period of twenty years, Vinoba walked the length & breadth of India persuading land-owners and land-lords to give their poor and downtrodden neighbors a total of four million acres of land, but most of the land was
80

Mungekar, B. L. (2002).

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never reached the Dalits. This accrued even though according to Bhudan Act, 50% of Bhudan Land should be given/distributed to landless Dalits as priority and after that landless poor.

Secondly came the Land Reform Act. Land Reforms Acts which were envisioned as a re-distributive strategy to change agrarian relations and break the caste-class nexus of big landlords and, had the potential to provide reparation for the crucial disability inflicted upon Dalits by the caste system. The implementation has however been subverted by the absence of political will and bureaucratic commitment, loopholes in the laws, tremendous manipulative power of the landed classes, lack of organization among the poor and excessive interference of courts81.

According to the Report of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes82, as of 30 September, 1996, about 5.213 million acres of land were distributed at an all-India level. Of these about 1.8 million acres were distributed to SC, and 2.67 million acres to non-SC/ST persons. A total of 5.121 million beneficiaries have so far been covered, of which 1.84 million were SC, and 2.55 million non-SC/ST. The land distributed per SC/ST beneficiary comes to 0.977 acre, which is less then the 1.047 acres for each non-SC/ST. Of the total land distributed to SC households, however, West Bengal alone accounted for about 20 percent, followed by UP. In terms of share in beneficiaries, West Bengal also accounted for nearly 43% of total beneficiaries, followed by U.P. (13%), A.P. (12%) and Bihar (12.4%)
81 82

Report on Prevention of atrocities against Scheduled Castes, NHRC, 2004, p.85 1995-96, Government of India

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3-2-B-The Current situation of Dalits Land Right and their struggles The egalitarian principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution have not been realized up to a great extent even after five decades of a modern and democratic system of governance in the country. Dr. Ambedkar was very clear on this matter. One of the biggest issues he had with the Congress party and Gandhi ji concerned caste. The Congress held that political power could tackle caste, whereas Dr. Ambedkar thought that caste would have to disintegrate from within. Through his writings, he pointed out the limitations of legislation or the power of the State in dealing with issues that are essentially social in nature. He argued: As experience proves, rights are protected not by law but by the social and moral conscience of the society. If social conscience is such that it is prepared to recognize the rights which law chooses to enact, rights will be safe and secure. But if the fundamental rights are opposed by the community, no Law, no Parliament, no judiciary can guarantee them in the real sense of the word83 Dr. B.R Ambedkars words from 60 years ago are todays ground reality. As an example of land dispute and atrocities in India we can see the situation of Dalits in India.

3-2-C (i)-A case study of Bhudan Land distribution In a village named Baranpur in Korao Block Tahasil Meza on the 4 th of January 1958 Vinoba Bhave get 1095 Bigha Land which he redistributed as a token gester to 18 th Dalits about 95 bigha land and rest of the land he give to Bhudan Samiti (Committee) and
83

Bhan, C. (2008).

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he expected that according to Bhudan Act land was redistributed to all Dalits but Upper caste people make a trust name of Sarvoday Mandal Baranpur trust and they transfer 600 Bigha land to the name of that trust. When the people who know this they apply to get back their land and rest of the land was return to the land lord of that area. It happened in 1960 but upper caste was doing all this in the paper and government register. In 1975, an upper caste group with the nexuses of the police and political leaders, came and took possession of the land and destroyed Dalits crops that day, a Dalit committed suicide, shocking everyone. After that, Dalits went to the court to sue and to fight for their land rights but to this day after 33 years, the case is pending. Meanwhile more the 50 cases were fabricated against Dalits with the help of the police to demoralize them and more then 100 counts of mass atrocity took place in that village without any result favoring Dalits. This is the ground reality of Bhudan land distribution. The 18 people who got titles for land during the Binova Bhave were listed as landlords in the government record but in reality they received nothing and are still landless. This is one example of the thousands of pending cases of Korao block alone84.

3-2-C (ii) 21 Dalits Shot in Land Dispute Chamalpur Village, Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh. A disputed and unused piece of land was under consideration to be allotted to 7 Dalit families. On the afternoon of 10 November, 2006, a dominant-caste member of the village, along with his family, began to erect a house on the land. When the Dalits learned of this, they rushed to the police station to lodge a report. The police officials discouraged and demoralized the Dalits and did not register the complaint. The Dalits then returned to the land where they
84

News paper (Nishpaksh Pratidin on 20 November 2007 Lucknow, UP, India)

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requested that the perpetrators stop working and showed them the stay order of the court. In response, members of the dominant-caste Yadavs began to curse the Dalits and fired gunshots at them, injuring 21, six of them seriously. No arrests have been made and no protection has been provided to the Dalits though they continue to receive threats from the perpetrators.

If we look deeply we will find that all case studies give us an idea of the facts and figures of government reports and also those to which I refer above, and the reality of the land ownership of Dalits. And we clearly understand the situation of Dalits as well as the violations, atrocities and crimes committed against in India are dire. Indian government reports Crimes against Dalits according to official Indian crime statistics, averaged over the period 2001-2005, are as follows: 27 atrocities against Dalits every day 13 Dalits murdered every week 5 Dalits homes or possessions burnt every week 6 Dalits kidnapped or abducted every week 3 Dalits women raped every day 11 Dalits beaten every day A crime committed against a Dalit every 18 minutes85 These types of cases and records of atrocities give us an idea of the situation of Dalits land rights and the governments will to deliver justice to the Dalits. It also shows the caste system and general apathy among people.

3-2-D- Dalits land rights in globalization

85

www.ncdhr.org.in

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According to Vandana Shiva, We are witnessing the worst expressions of organized violence of humanity against humanity because we are witnessing the wiping out of philosophies of inclusion, compassion and solidarity. This is the highest cost of globalization -- it is destroying our very capacity to be human. Rediscovering our humanity is the highest imperative to resist and reverse this inhuman project. The debate on globalization is not about the market or the economy. It is about remembering our common humanity and the danger of forgetting the meaning of being human.86

From Independence to today, in the name of development, Untouchables face many types of problems created by the process of industrialization. For example, landless Untouchables borrow land from landlords with terms and conditions and those landlords have extra land that they are unable to cultivate. They give that land to Untouchables for cultivation and after one season they divide crops according to there terms and conditions. But after the widespread use of big machines like tractors and harvesters, landlords stop giving land to Untouchables so due to mechanized agriculture Untouchables and SC are also losing their agriculture work. Secondly, in India agricultural work was traditionally done in villages but now big farm houses and agricultural fields are more common and the 70% of the SC and Untouchables population lives in villages are loosing their livelihoods. Third, in the name of development, the Indian government introduced mega structure development projects and to make way many Untouchables, SC and ST peoples are forcefully displaced from their traditional villages. Fourth, in the name of SEZ, (Special Economic Zone) the Indian Government gives land to big private companies: lands originally belonging to landless SC/ST and Untouchables who are not compensated.
86

Shiva, V. (2008). Globalization and Its Fall Out: Neither Prosperity nor Peace.

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Untouchables are still landless and the government forgets to give land to landless Untouchables, SC and ST. Its kind of state sanctioned atrocity.

In many parts of India, Dalits and Tribals are fighting for their land rights. In Gujarat, Narmada Bachao Andolan (Narmada Dam Movement), in West Bengal, Nandi Gram and Signore land movement. In Jharkand, Tribals are also fighting for their land rights. In Orissa, Untouchables and Tribals struggle against SEZ. These are the few major struggles for land rights in India. Still the Indian Government and bureaucrats are ignoring the land rights of Dalits.

Recently 25 thousand SC/ST, Poor and landless, marched from Madhya Pradesh to New Delhi, the National Capital of India more than 1000 Km covered for land rights and Land reform and they want to raise their voice because the Indian government and government officials are not listening to their sentiments and suffering. They want to tell them that without land they cannot live and survive. Land rights is the key issue for Dalits upliftment and it will happen only through this fight for their land rights and through this struggle is going on. The lack of interrelation of all land rights struggles is leaves only hope that in future changes will take place. What the cost will lies in the futures hands.

3-2- Dalit Women Rights Indian society, as I see it flows from hunting and gathering period until today as a Religion and Caste based Patriarchal Capitalist Society. In these thousands of years of social transformation, it did not only develop a society but also left back or forcefully

Mohammad Moosa Azmi

prevented a community from being a part of this developed society and exploited the rights of marginalized peoples.

This means that if we find those people or groups and communities who were prevented from enjoying their rights in this socialization and development we can apply this to the current Indian social composition of the society. We can say very easily that they are the religious minorities, oppressed or the out caste (untouchables), women and the poor portion of Indian society.

In the Indian caste system, untouchables some time called Dalits, or outcasts, are people who, according to traditional Hindu belief, do not have any "Varna" (according to the traditional caste system).Varna refers to the Hindu belief that most humans were supposedly created from different parts of the body of the divinity Purusha (person). The part from which a Varna was supposedly created defines a person's social status with regard to issues such as with whom they may marry and which professions they may hold. Dalits fall outside the Varnas system and have historically been prevented from doing any thing but the most menial jobs. But today the caste system does not remain only in Hindu religion its a social and cultural phenomenon and ground-reality of Indian society and has affected other major religions like Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Buddhism.

Today the caste system does not only exist in India, it exists in a big part of South Asia and Japan87. As I have said, Untouchables are outcaste and they face very inhumane
87

Japan historically subscribed to a feudal caste system. While modern law has officially abolished the caste hierarchy, there are reports of discrimination against the Buraku or Burakumin undercastes, historically referred to by the insulting term "Eta.

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and degrading treatment from the upper or dominant caste people. Patriarchy is also a part of the caste system that worsens the situation of Untouchables women as victims of discrimination, deprivation and exploitation.

In this situation, an overview of Untouchables women and the violation of their rights and struggles and future impact on South Asian society is. If the current society one of religion and caste based patriarchal capitalist society, its first and worst victims are Untouchables Women who not only face caste discrimination but gender based patriarchal violation and capitalist exploitation as well. In this situation, Dalit women struggle or Dalit Feminism is the only hope for the Future of Untouchables womens rights and a peaceful democratic society.

3-3-A- Dalit Women in Asia

The caste system exists throughout Asia, particularly in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even in one part of Japan. The SC and ST, number around 260 million people in South Asia (accounting for roughly 1/4 of Indias population), face systemic and structural discrimination in the region due to their inferior social status88.

This means about 50% of 260 million people, or around 130 million people, are Untouchables women found only in India and if we include Untouchables women from
Studies comparing the caste systems in India and Japan have been performed, with similar discriminations against the Burakumin as the Dalits. The Burakumin are regarded as "ostracized." The burakumin are one of the main minority groups in Japan, along with the Ainu of Hokkaid and residents of Korean and Chinese descent 88 The Hague Declaration on the Human Rights and dignity of Dalit women (http://www.iheu.org/node/2474)]

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Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, then number of Untouchables women may reach around 150 million which is a very big population. These Women are especially discriminated against, even within their own caste, as they are defined as intrinsically impure beings. Dalit women are forced to perform the most degrading jobs, denied access to education, and are subjected to violence, including the Devadasi system of forced and ritualized prostitution. Dalit women are basically stripped of all their basic human rights, having no recourse against the men perpetuating these abuses and inequalities.

3-3-B- Violations against Dalit Women

A case study- Dalits House Destroyed, Wife Molested Due to Land-Ownership Bhaniyana Village, Pokhran District, Rajasthan. A Dalit couple (Tajaram and Bhawari Devi) are the only Dalits who own land in the entire village. Having no respect for them and wanting to take the land to extend the campus of a nearby private school, several dominant caste villagers sought to intimidate the couple. On the night of

December 7, 2006, these dominant caste members forcibly entered their house, molested and injured Bhawari Devi (failing in an attempt to rape her) and ransacked and destroyed everything in her home. The police registered a report, but have taken no measures to protect the family and have not apprehended the accused89.

This is the common case in terms of atrocities and Untouchables women are the soft target for the dominant caste to control and maintain the status quo and also exploit Dalits and Dalit women.
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www.ndchr.org 3

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3-3-C- Dalit Womens Occupations Temple Prostitution (Devadasi system) In Indias southern states, thousands of girls are forced into prostitution before reaching the age of puberty. Joghinis, literally meaning female servant of god, usually belong to the Dalit community. In the name of religion, thousands of Untouchable female children between six and eight years are forced to become maidens of God (ritualized prostitution in temples). Once dedicated, the girls are unable to marry and are raped by temple priests and upper-caste men, eventually auctioned secretly into urban brothels for prostitution. It is estimated by NGOs that each year 5,000 to 15,000 girls are secretively auctioned to brothels90.

Manual Scavenging According to government statistics, an estimated one million Dalits are manual scavengers who clear feces from public and private latrines and dispose of dead animals; unofficial estimates are much higher. An activist working with scavengers in the state of Andhra Pradesh claimed, In one toilet there can be as many as 400 seats which all have to be manually cleaned. This is the lowest occupation in the world, and it is done by the community that occupies the lowest status in the caste system91.

Thousands of female manual scavengers are forced to earn their living scavenging, cleaning dry latrines, by using metal pans and a short broom to scoop up the night soil.
90 91

(HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH) Caste and eye Cast an Eye. International Dalits Solidarity Network

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The excreta is carried in baskets on their heads. This dehumanizing practice has killed the dignity of women at the same time these women believe that without this job they will have no way to earn their livelihoods. Gender division reinforces and sustains caste distinctions, and gender ideology legitimizes not only the structure of patriarchy but also elements of Caste hierarchy. Yet another dimension of this ideology is that lower caste women are considered inferior and sexually loose.

The overall violation of Untouchable gives us an idea of the situation of Untouchable women in India. As I mention before out of 27 atrocities against Untouchable every day and13 Untouchable murdered every week and many more. This is the data of violation of Untouchable in India and if we include the domestic violation against Untouchable women and indirect mental violation of Dalit women because of their male family members being subjected to atrocities then situation of Dalit women is getting worse and worse. And this is an overview of atrocities to understand the situation Dalit women in India only were I to include the data of Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka the situation of Untouchable women would become unpredictable.

3-3-D- Economic Deprivation of Dalit Women Untouchable Women are the most economically deprived section of Indian society. The female Untouchable labor force constitutes the backbone of Indian agricultural economy. 71% of them are agricultural laborers. 90% were cultivators (1991). 32.40% of the household sector and a large number of them employed in unorganized labor in urban areas. A large number of them are employed in unclean occupation.

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 They are denied just and equal wages, fair share in economic distribution, maternity benefits, security and protection. Almost all Untouchable womens enter the labor market before the age of 20. 31.6% of all girl children from Dalit communities are child laborers (Guntur District Andhra Pradesh)92. 3-3-E- Dalits Women and Human Rights The interface of the severely imbalanced social, economic and political power equations in caste and patriarchy impacts Untouchable women uniquely, distinctly from the experience of other women and even Untouchable men. These forces combine to expose them to increased physical and sexual violence and increased exploitation of their labor. Together these keep Untouchable womens from having access to and control over assets and resources. It does not recognize their social and economic contribution. It limits their choices and opportunities, placing them on the bottom rung in all development indicators. This process of exclusion and discrimination inculcates the disrespect and indignity of Untouchable women at the hands of all men and non- Untouchable women.

India is a democratic country and a signatory to most of the major UN human rights treaties. These treaties provide the same rights for men and for women. Because India is also a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)93, the Government has an extra obligation to make sure that women can realize their rights. It is generally accepted in international law that governments have to do more than just pass legislation to protect human rights. The
92 93

Manorama, R. (2000). The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

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Government of India has an obligation to take all measures, including policy and budgetary measures, to make sure that women can fulfill their rights. It also has an obligation to punish those who engage in caste-based violence and discrimination. The government of India, as a modern country with a growing economy, has the means to fulfill its obligations.

3-3-E (i)-Civil and Political Rights India is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Based on this treaty, the Government of India has an obligation to make sure that Dalit women can enjoy a whole range of human rights, such as the right to life, freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, freedom from slavery, the right to be equal before the court, the right to recognition as a person before the law, the right to privacy, the right to marry only with free and full consent, and the right to take part in public affairs. The life and dignity of Dalit women depends on the realization of these human rights. However, they are breached systematically.

An essential precondition for the realization of civil and political rights of Untouchable womens is registration. Article 24 (2) of the Covenant provides that every child shall be registered immediately after birth. In India, 46 % of all children are not registered. There is no system for the registration of marriages. This is not only a barrier for the realization of civil and political rights; it also prevents the protection of Untouchable girls from sexual exploitation and trafficking, child labor and forced and child marriages.

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A case study- District Varanasi, Village Koirajpur, Uttarpradesh, India 2006 New elected Untouchable women village head Muniya Devi was brutally tortured and stripped half naked by Dominant Caste people namely Ravindar Singh and his family. After independence, it is the first time in that village Head seat was reserved for Scheduled Caste women and it was also the first time that any Untouchable woman becomes village gead. The case is pending in court and Muniya Devi still waiting for justice.

This is just one reality of the practical state of the civil and political right of Untouchable women. In many villages, when Untouchable women become village head, their husbands take over their rights and force her to stay at home and do house work. In Uttar Pradesh, we call them Pradhan Pati (Husband of Village head) and government officials also call them and except them to take part in the official meetings in the name of his wife. This is another example of practicing Civil and political right of Untouchable women. When her family members are violating her rights, she is left with no choice and cannot do anything against them.

3-3-E (ii)- Economic, Social and Cultural Rights India is also a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This treaty not only identifies a range of economic, social and cultural rights, but it also requires that all people have these rights without discrimination. The treaty also discusses the ways in which states must work to realize these rights. The rights outlined by ICESCR include the right to work and to just and favorable conditions

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of work, the right to form trade unions, the right to social security, protection of the family, the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, housing and clothing, and the right to health.

In villages, the situation is worse because all these so called rights do not exist in reality. 79.8%94 of Untouchable lives in the villages in India. This majority of women suffer a worse form of human rights violation. These women hardly enjoy any of these human rights.

3-3-E (iii)- Millennium Development Goals and Dalits Women In 2000, 189 countries accepted the Millennium Declaration and agreed to take the necessary action in order to attain eight specific goals: the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The realization of human rights of Dalit women will have a major positive effect on the realization of the MDGs. Dalit women are extremely poor, and make up 2% of the worlds population. In India, 60 million children do not attend primary school; the majority of these children are Dalit girls. Indias child mortality rate is one of the highest in the world and with its vast population and a rate of 540 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, India accounts for more than 20 % of all global maternal deaths. A greater availability and accessibility of healthcare for women, including Dalit women, is needed95.

3-3-F- Dalits Women Struggle

94 95

Caste an Eye
Manorama, R. (2000). Background information on Dalit women in India,

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One of the more significant developments in the post independence period is the rise in Dalit consciousness and activism. While this is still confined to a relatively small portion of Dalits, achievements in creative writing, cultural expression of the Dalit experience, a search for ideology and identity and, a growing organized socio-political strength, are in evidence. Among the Dalit masses a new wave of assertiveness is

noticeable on all fronts. Therefore, Dalits are becoming less willing to accept social, cultural an economic subjugation and are claiming dignified Human Rights. Many

observe and believe that this assertiveness is the result of the middle and upper caste backlash.

The story of womens participation in the anti-untouchability movement is an interesting phenomenon. To trace the early activism of untouchable women, one has to go back to the beginning of the 20th century. In the following decades womens activities developed from participation as beneficiaries or as an audience to the shouldering of significant responsibilities in various fields of activity in the Ambedkar movement.

The life, work and struggles of Dalit women for survival and dignity today has more to do with subjugation than in the past. This struggle assumed varied dimensions, particularly in the face of significant developments in the socio-economic and political arenas.

Thousand of villages and districts have small Dalit womens organizations like in Varanasi, Banaras Mazdur Mahila Sangthan (Varanasi Women Labor Organization),

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Savitri Bai Mahila Manch (Savitri bai Phule Women Forum), and Mushar Nat Adhikar Manch. These district level organizations organize Dalit women and fight against atrocity and discrimination.

These small organizations came together and established a state and national level organization which is not only fighting for Dalits rights but also for Dalit womens rights and gives opportunity to these Dalit womens organizations to come forward and take leadership of the whole struggle. Especially in India, only a few national and state level organizations are doing a tremendous amount of work for Dalit rights and Dalit womens rights like the National Campaign for Dalit Human Right (NCDHR), All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, Peoples Wacth Tamil Nadu, Dalit Action Group, Sakshi, Dalit Shakti Kendra. etc.

These National organizations came together and built a strong network during the last decade and they are doing a great job in terms of international advocacy in the United Nations. One of the outputs of the effort was apparent when UN appointed two- member special reporters to submit reports on the basis of work and descent based discrimination. That is the one of the great achievements of the Dalit Movement and this is the only movement or struggle which is not only based on mans leadership: these movements are also lead by Dalit women who are coming forward very strongly.

The first-ever International Conference on the Human Rights of Dalit Women was held at The Hague in 2006. Determined to transform their pain into power, Dalit

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women from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal presented shocking and heart-breaking testimonials about the violence perpetrated against them and the impunity that followed. In connection with this conference National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW) was launched by Dalit women through long, drawn out debates and discussions amongst the Dalit women, representatives from the womens movements and Dalit movement as a whole, for over a decade. Dalit women view the formation of NFDW in the larger context of historical struggles of Dalits all over the country to redeem their full dignity, particularly that of the Dalit women. The National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW) was launched by Dalit women themselves and committed itself to undertake several tasks to bring about positive changes in the lives of Dalit women, such as legal action against caste-based atrocities, political empowerment of Dalit women, economic empowerment against growing pauperization, building self-confidence and leadership.

3-3-G- The Vision and the Role of Dalit Women in Liberation The role of Dalit women is crucial and it is in the centre of Dalit liberation and identity; in the larger framework of Dalit movement and struggle. Henceforth, womens positions in the Dalit vision is more than an equal partner with men and this must form the main path of alternative consciousness. In essence, the Dalit vision and alternative

consciousness is primarily feminist, non-patriarchal, non-hierarchical and positively ecological. Dalit women all over the country need to stand up for freedom, the inalienable right to human dignity and equal status with men and others in the society.

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Chapter 4

Role of civil society or NGOs to eliminate the caste system in India Above, we saw a broad picture of caste system, different versions of the history of its origin, approaches to the welfare of untouchables, the struggle for the elimination of untouchability and these tasks current situation in India. As is already known, there are many sub-castes that exist in India, perpetuating and sustaining the caste system in the country. In this chapter I will attempt to draw first, the kind of role played by the civil society or NGOs to address the caste system and untouchability in India and second their limitations and challenges to their approaches in addressing the caste system in India.

There are many definitions of NGOs and civil societies in the academic world. Here I am not going to evaluate and analyze or attempt to understand these NGOs and civil societies according to those definitions. Instead I will try to understand them according to their work or action towards the elimination of the caste system and welfare of Dalits. In my understanding, to best evaluate any NGO or civil society, we must first evaluate their work and activities.

In doing so, it is also important to set some standards and norms for evaluation. The goals of social service, social work and movement will be used as standards. In understanding these standard or norms, let me give you one metaphor to explain their work and activities under these standards.

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There was one person who was walking on the street when he suddenly fell down under the hole in the ground. Few peoples came forward and brought him out, did some first aid thereafter sent him to either hospital or home. Later on, these people organized themselves, mobilized fund and decided to help anyone falling in the hole in the ground by bringing them out and sending them back home. This charity work falls under the term, social service. The second example is when people came forward and decided to fill that hole in the ground so that no one will have accident. Later on, when they went further they found many other holes and they decided to take responsibility to fill all these holes. So they organized, they also mobilized sum fund and started filling the holes in the ground. These kinds of work fall under the category of social work. The third category is few peoples decided to go forward and checked who is digging the hole in the ground and stopped them. In order to stop them, they either convinced them to stop and pending failure, confronted them. In confronting them, they mobilized their recourses and started to take some actions. These kinds of activities fall under the definition of Movement.

Looking at the metaphor, we can describe the first one as immediate responses; the second as Long-term responses and the last example is trying to achieve permanent solution. These three categories in all three activities are important and non-negotiable. Take this example: If someone is going to die because of hunger then the immediate response is to provide food and then later on to make arrangements for them to raise permanent food for themselves and lastly eradicate that causes of their hunger and poverty. In order to understand the activities of NGOs, here I will attempt to give few

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case studies of different NGOs in India who are working for or with Dalits. Then latter on I will evaluate their activities according to our standards and understanding of the caste system.

4-1- Case study- NCDHR (National campaign on Dalit Human Right) The National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) is a coalition of Dalit Human Rights activists, civil society organizations, journalists, and academics who are committed to ending the caste-based discrimination and untouchability practices that deny human rights and dignity to 170 million Indian citizens one sixth of Indias population. Established in 1998, NCDHR is a non-party based secular platform centered in Delhi with offices in 14 states around the country. NCDHR monitors atrocities, legal interventions, and advocates nationaly and internationally to achieve a three-pronged objective: (1) to hold the State accountable for all Human Rights violations committed against Dalits; (2) to sensitize civil society by increasing visibility of the Dalit problem; and (3) to render justice to Dalit victims of discrimination and violence. All activities are supported by private contributions; they accept no government funding96.

NCDHR's Origins & Objectives In October 1998, seventy-eight Dalit activists and human rights activists from across India, concerned about the frequent atrocities and the blatant lack of implementation of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, met in Bangalore to discuss a program of action. They were anguished that though the nation had just completed her 50th year of independence and in spite of the Constitutional and
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International commitments to the contrary, the prevalence of "untouchability" continued unabated in many parts of the country. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they called for an urgent national campaign to highlight Dalit Human Rights and to uphold that "Dalit Rights are Human Rights."97

NCDHR also declared that it is to be stressed that the Campaign is not an effort to subsume, replace or negate ongoing efforts of Dalits and others in various mass movements, people's organizations, labor unions, etc. Rather, it is an effort to galvanize and martial all these movements into a representative body that can collectively organize, educate, agitate, and demand an end to untouchability and casteism once and for all in both the government and in civil society98.

Earlier Work & Current Focus Since its inception in 1998, NCDHR has made major strides in giving visibility to the plight of the Dalit community in South Asia. NCDHRs work has been instrumental in bringing the kind of international attention and media coverage which has made many in India and around the world sit up and take notice of the injustice and oppression faced by Dalits. To name just a few examples, NCHDR has been involved in events such as the World Conference Against Racism in South Africa (2001), all World Social Forums, the historic 40-day Dalit Swadhikar Rally across India (2004), the first ever public hearing on The Situation of the Dalits in India at the European Parliament in Brussels (Dec 2006), and the first International Conference on the Human Rights of Dalit Women at The Hague
97 98

Ibid ibid

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(Nov 2006). The positive results of these efforts include the first-ever recognition of the Dalit Human Rights problem by the United Nations (Aug 2001), the European Union (May 07), and the United States Congress (July 07), important events which have increased international pressure on the Government of India to address the serious Dalit issues it has until now only paid lip-service to99.

With successes in raising national and international awareness of the Dalit human rights situation, NCDHRs focus is shifting: NCDHR seeks foremost to hold the State responsible for not checking the impunity being enjoyed by non-Dalits in the criminal justice administrative system. Specifically, they challenge the State and its justice delivery mechanism, including the Human Rights institutions that are in place, to actually implement and enforce its constitutional and legislative measures to safeguard, protect and promote the basic human rights of Dalits.100

4-2- case study- PVCHR (Peoples vigilance committee on Human rights) PVCHR Peoples Vigilance Committee on Human Rights was started in 1996 as a membership based human rights movement in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), one of the most traditional, conservative and segregated regions in India101.

PVCHR works to ensure basic rights for vulnerable groups in the Indian society, e.g. children, women, Dalits and tribes and to create a human rights culture based on democratic values. PVCHR ideology is inspired by the father of the Dalit movement, Dr.
99

ibid ibid 101 PVCHR report provided by the convener of PVCHR 2009
100

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B. R. Ambedkar, who struggled against Brahmanism and the hierarchical caste system prevailing in India102.

In 1999, PVCHR formed the public charitable trust Jan Mitra Nyas (JMN) to monitor and evaluate activities, to manage its own bank account and to enable the organisation to have official clearance for receiving foreign grants103.

VISION and MISSION of PVCHR

To establish a true, vibrant and fully entrenched democratic society through the Jan Mitra concept where there shall be no violation of civil rights granted by the state to a citizen104. To provide basic rights to all, to eliminate situations, which give rise to exploitations of vulnerable and marginalized groups and to start a movement for a people friendly society (Jan Mitra Samaj) through an inter-institutional approach105.

PVCHR works in Indian society, more specifically in the northern part of India, especially in rural areas, which are still influenced by feudalism and the caste system which that determines the political, social, and economic life of the country. Caste based discrimination is practiced in the educational system, in places of work, villages and towns and even in courts of justice. The most heinous impacts of caste based discriminations are

102 103 104 105

Ibid Ibid Ibid Ibid

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starvation and malnutrition. Acute poverty and cases of starvation occur especially in marginalized groups in the Indian society like minority communities, tribes and Dalits106.

PVCHR working approach The working approach of PVCHR are to Accurate investigation and documentation of human rights violations connected with advocacy, publication and networking on a local, national and international level, creating models of non violent and democratic communities (People friendly villages, torture-free villages), to Building up local institutions and supporting them with active human rights networks, creating a democratic structure for the voiceless to enable them access to the constitutional guarantees of modern India, to empowering marginalized communities by trainings and access to information, to promoting a human rights culture and linking local and

international human rights together as well as linking grass roots activities and international human rights networks and institutions together.107

PVCHR activities PVCHR approach these problems in two ways: practice to Politics and Politics to practice.108 From practice to politics The approach in this field of activities is twofold: to have a strong grassroots organization to work for democratic rights of those in marginalized communities and second, to create the structure and dynamics to receive the assistance of national and international institutions.109
106 107 108 109

Ibid Ibid Ibid

ibid 3

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PVCHR works on the grass-roots level in 45 villages in Uttar Pradesh. In close cooperation with local human rights activists, PVCHR documents cases of severe human rights violations in the villages, for example cases of malnutrition and starvation, police torture or lack of medical treatment. Especially in cases of custodial torture, PVCHR also provides legal aid. To raise public awareness, PVCHR alerts media as well as national and international human rights networks and requests local authorities to act to prevent further human rights abuses110.

Effective advocacy (Urgent Appeals) for every single case can be accomplished through close cooperation with key partner, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). In the context of international advocacy along with AHRC, PVCHR achieved the rare distinction of being reported by the UN special rappoteur on Racism and Xenophobia. In the same year three out of four cases from India in the report filed by the representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights defenders were from PVCHR.

In the case of the From politics to Practice approach PVCHR creates THE MODEL OF JAN MITRA VILLAGE to translate policy into practice. The Jan Mitra Rickshaw Bank Project has been implemented according using the concept of microcredits. 100 rickshaws are provided to rickshaw drivers who commit to pay back a daily amount of 25 Rs (INR), but unlike to the current situation the Rickshaws will change ownership of the drivers after a period of 2 years.

110

ibid 3

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PVCHR facilitates the provision of education in these villages, reactivating defunct primary schools, encouraging the education of girls, and promoting non-formal education. Further activities are focused on the organisational development of vulnerable groups and the implementation of village committees. In each Jan Mitra village a community centre has been established, forming the basis for project activities. People are also provided with community-based counselling.

One of the core activities in the model villages are the Folk schools. In community meetings people give testimonies about their suffering and receive support from their neighbours. The main issues dealt with in the Folk schools are conflicts with the village head or experiences of torture. Special forums for women are also organized. Here the main problems discussed are mostly health related, and sometimes also related to dowry issues. The statements of the villagers are recorded and their demands are forwarded to appropriate local administrations and government.

Review of NGOs and civil society activities, limitation and challenges Looking at these two organizations, we can first find out that NCDHR is a umbrella organization of Dalits NGOs in India while PVCHR is a grass-roots organization that works in a small part of northern India, mostly in villages and with the urban poor in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Both organizations share the same activities of monitoring Dalit atrocities, organizing legal intervention, documentation and advocacy, and lobbying against

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atrocities. Incidentally atrocities against Dalits are some of the biggest issues in India, and both organizations fight against them in their own capacity, putting pressure on local, state and central government to take steps against the impunity of these violations. At the same time they also beseech international organizations to address these issues in India in order to force the Indian government to take more immediate action. It is a common observation that the approach they use that is, looking at the law in a broader concept- is the same approach that Ambedkar used. On one hand, we can say that this kind of approach is very important, however, these activities fall under the standard of immediate relief, social service, in helping victims to fight for their human rights, and also long term relief, social work, to build pressure on the local, state and national level to set up strong mechanisms or strengthen existing mechanisms that could stop atrocities in India against Dalits. What are lacking, perhaps, are specific activities wherein victims can become aware of how to fight against the caste system as well as for their own fundamental human rights or to persecute the perpetrators of offences. These kinds of activities may decrease the reproduction and propagation of the caste system and put a stop to violations and atrocities based upon this caste system. Focused action for these issues is missing in these organizations activities.

The question now to answer is: who are those people who is responsible for the caste system, excepting of course, the Hindu believers? The answer can be traced back to the historical development of caste system. Caste system is established, strengthened and sustained based on hierarchy and separatism. I have already mentioned several times that in India all four castes and the Dalit out caste, are divided into thousands of sub-castes;

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and that the sub-castes relate to one another in an antagonistic manner, or as Dumont would have it, a hierarchical manner, but it is time to look into this with greater scrutiny. Both Dumont and Moffatt referred to the reproduction of hierarchy as fundamental evidence that Untouchables share in the same ideology as caste Hindus thereby accepting the moral basis of their own inferiority as well as religious belief. Both claim that the structural response of the untouchable castes to their exclusion is replication. That is, Untouchables recreate among themselves virtually every relationship and institution from which they have been excluded due to their untouchability 111. this means that the caste system is works as social force, that force, forced upper caste as well as Dalits to reproduce and propagate the caste system in India.

A further question is this- how can the caste system reproduce? What are the major activities that sustain and strengthen the caste system in India? Many of the reasons come from, the political, economical and religious activities; however, we can single out the most important and strongest activity, which is the endogamy system. This endogamy system is the basis and foundation of the caste system and is very visible in current Indian society; people can eat with Dalits, live with Dalits, work with Dalits, play with Dalits, and allow them in temples, but they cannot marry Dalits. Even people from a sub-caste will not want to marry with someone of similar status of another sub-caste, even though both belong to the untouchable caste. This endogamy system is also forced upper caste or dominant caste equally to follow the social structure of endogamy.

111

Moffatt (1979): p.89.

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The dynamic of sub-caste is so deeply rooted in Indian society, as well as in Dalits regard of this issue. In sharp contrast to the strategy of glorifying a distinct Dalit culture, Martin Macwan, Director of Navsarjan in Gujarat, claims that:

Caste lies within ourselves. It flows in our blood. You hear many people saying that caste is something outside himself, but I say it starts with me. Nothing can change before I change. Caste is internalized in the way we eat, marry and move in social space. Anyone who says differently is a big hypocrite. We can take up wonderful programmes, but if they in any way reinforce the caste system we have not achieved anything112. Commenting on the general dynamics of the sub-caste clash, Mr. Macwan says:

Caste is a conspiracy to divide the poor, it is a fallacy, a man-made division not a natural one. In Navsarjan we have two non-negotiable; anyone who believes in sub-caste cannot be a part of Navsarjan, and we will not go and work there. And two, treating women as inferior to men is a non-negotiable113. The above comments by Mr. Martin Macwan refer to the way to come out with these sub-caste systems and at the same time show how it is deeply connected to hierarchy and the separatist caste system in Dalits and non-Dalits as well as NGOs.

If the root of the caste system is within the Dalits community as well as that of the caste Hindus, then Indian society is just a mere composition of these groups, as well as the civil society and NGOs. They all just came from similar cultural backgrounds, carrying the same consciousness into their NGO work. It wont come as a surprise, then, that if an
112 113

Interview Martin Macwan 25.01.05., Ahmedabad. Ibid

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NGO is organized and established by a caste Hindu, its members will be of the same caste or same caste members will be in good and higher post in that organization. At the same time, a Dalit NGO has a majority of its members coming from the Untouchables community. In fact, membership in many NGOs depends on who is the peoples who established a particular NGO and they belong to which caste. This kind of phenomenon will not end. Coordination and networking among the Dalits NGOs themselves is another problem, be it at the grassroots, national or international level. We can also say these NGOs are not Dalit NGOs basically they are caste based NGOs. So, we have to differentiate between Dalit Movement and SC or ST Movements in India.

How do Dalit NGOs and Human rights activists address the issues of the sub-caste and endogamy system? One perspective is mentioned by Anna Kiertzner during her work with Dalits NGOs and organizations as well as Human right organizations. According to her:

In spite of a growing awareness that the efforts of building a strong collective movement are severely hampered by sub-cast clashes most of the organisations I worked with had not developed a strategy of dealing with these conflicts. The issue is in the hearts and minds of the Dalit activists no doubt, but it is rarely articulated and not reflected in the organizational materials. Not in the vision, mission and strategy documents, the training materials, the annual reports nor the websites114. Her observations are correct. In fact, it is very rare to find any NGOs or organizations who clearly mention the endogamy system or help and assist in giving
114

Kiertzner, A. (2006): p.73.

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awareness to Untouchables and caste Hindus should end this endogamy system and fight against the caste system in India. Whats worse, no single NGO works specifically with caste Hindus for the issue of caste even though it is a fact that the caste system is deeply rooted in society and the majority of the people still follow this system, unconsciously though it might be. It is not even surprising to know that the perpetrators are always from the upper or dominant caste, yet there is no clear and specific strategy or activity to address them.

This is worth mentioning because there has always been a dilemma when it comes to prioritizing what and who to address. In many cases, local people will organize themselves in saving the perpetrators, who are from the same caste; others will sympathize with the victims and fight injustice. Many of them choose to save the perpetrators to save the dignity of their castes. In these situations, we can clearly see that there is no single strategy for giving awareness to caste Hindus about the struggle of Dalit movement against the caste system. This becomes more difficult and non scientific, non practical and non realistic.

As one Human Right activist pointed out regarding NGOs: They are selling Dalits and Dalit issues, and its all ready sold-out 115. Ashok Bharti, the leader of another national level network, the National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) even made the same comment on this issue as quoted by Anna Kiertzner:

115

I have not mentioned the name of this person because of the controversial nature of the comment.

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NCDHR leadership does not like to give space to other leaders. They are trying to monopolize the space of international advocacy by not allowing other Dalit platforms membership of IDSN. Basically IDSN is a mouth piece of NCDHR, an extension wing of a few powerful NGO leaders. But we need to give space to multiple voices from within India. No single group can speak on behalf of all Dalits116. Some opponents go as far as to accuse the human rights NGOs of being deliberately exploitative, profiting on Dalits in the human rights market by misusing the enterprise and the word Dalit. In a 2003 edition of the bi-weekly magazine Dalit Voice117, Fr. Maria Nathan refers to the human rights NGOs as Vedic -dominated NGOs thus equating them with the Brahmin rulers in the caste system and alluding to a new form of hegemonic power amongst Dalits themselves. NCDHR claims to be the first and largest national network of Dalit organisations, but this status is contested by NACDOR 118. NACDOR claims to have a larger membership base than NCDHR because they are movement based, NCDHR on the other hand prides themselves on receiving more attention nationally as well as internationally. The relations are so strained between NCDHR and NACDOR that for three consecutive years they have held separate events at the World Social Forum and also hold separate celebrations on important days like the

116

Interview Ashok Bharti 10.01.05., New Delhi. This is a very serious allegation and one needs to be very careful when commenting on it. It is true that IDSN has a very limited number of partners within India relying heavily on NCDHR, but this is due to historical reasons long lasting relationships between the funding agencies that are members of IDSN and the NGOs that formed NCDHR, the catalyzing effect of Human Rights Watchs Report Broken People etc. and not due to any conspiracy theory. At the same time it is also true that a more broad based representation is desirable, and both NCDHR and IDSN should perhaps do more to ensure this, if not they might run the risk of endangering NCDHRs reputation and development on the national scene. ( clarification of Anna Kiertzner regarding Ashok Bhartis comments) 117 Dalit Voice Vol. 22 No. 6, March 2003. 118 There are other national networks of Dalit organizations, e.g. National Dalit Forum (NDF) based in Hyderabad, but to my knowledge NCDHR and NACDOR are the biggest networks.

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anniversary of Ambedkars birth and death119/120. In the same way there are many NGOs and civil society organizations and activist who accuse PVCHR also in the same way and contested with PVCHR as NACDOR contested with NCDHR.

These comments and statements clearly demonstrate the biggest challenge of NGOs and civil society in maintaining the legitimacy of their identity and work while at the same time coming together and working together. In summary, there are many similarities, limitations and challenges facing Dalit NGOs and civil society in India.

119 120

Kiertzner, A. (2006): p.83. NACDOR launched a new initiative at the World Social Forum in 2004 called World Dignity Forum, an alliance between Dalits, Muslims, Tribal and other oppressed groups. The 5th of December is celebrated as World Dignity Day. NCDHR is not part of this initiative. The two organizations give different explanations for this, each accusing the other of being exclusionary and not wanting to join forces. (clarification of Anna Kiertzner regarding above comments)

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Conclusion

After working through the issue of Dalits in India and their history, we find that there are many historical theories and definitions of the background of Dalits in India and its roots in the dominant Brahmanical culture in India. There are few facts of Dalit history in Hindu religious books and all that do exist are narrated in a derogatory way.

In Indian society and culture, as I reflected upon at length in this thesis, a fairly large amount of contextual information is necessary in order to understand the practices of society as well as Dalit organizations and the conflicts that characterize the contemporary Dalit movement. Although the problem of caste must be one of the oldest in the world, having a history of more than 3000 years, it is also one of the least discussed at a global level and, significantly, it has not informed the human rights debate which has been going on since the end of World War II.

There are a lot of problems with and challenges to the Dalit Movement in India, but Dalit NGOs and Civil Society still ignore the issue of sub-caste and internal segregation, as well as the practice of endogamy, which is predominantly responsible for the reproduction of the caste system.

One of the implications of the recontextualization of the concept of Dalit is that the old definition cantering on membership of a caste category seems inadequate in capturing the realities of the lives of Dalits as well as the struggles of the Dalit movement.

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In these previous chapters I told the story of how Martin Macwan had to make a hard decision regarding those who believe sub-caste people should not be part of his organization. Reflecting on this and other similar episodes Macwan states: Segregation is a basic fight of the Dalit community. The integration cannot come along caste lines; it has to come on ideological and moral grounds, and therefore we redefine Dalit 121. For Macwan, Dalit is a moral position; a Dalit is a person who has overcome caste consciousness and both caste and sub-caste affiliation. In a seminar 122 on civil societys approaches to Dalit empowerment, he provocatively raised the question: Are we creating a Scheduled Caste movement or a Dalit movement?

Anna Kiertzner, supporting the view of Martin Macwan regarding the definition of Dalit and she worded a similar idea in this way: Macwan is not alone proposing a new definition of Dalit, but he is the one person I have met who makes the strongest case and most forcefully pursues an agenda consonant with this definition123. Keirtzner refers to Dalit writer Gangadhar Patawane expressing similar views: Dalit is not a caste. Dalit is a symbol of change and revolution. A Dalit believes in humanism. He rejects existence of God, rebirth, soul, sacred books that teach discrimination, faith and heaven because these things made him a slave124. When she interviewed Suresh Lelle, Director of Chindu then she put his view in this way: Calling yourself Dalit means you have given up your sub121

Franco (2004): p.321 This quote is not from my own interview with Macwan, but taken from Franco, Macwan & Ramanathans book. Journeys to Freedom: Dalit Narratives about the different strategies employed by Dalits in the state of Gujarat to attain liberation from oppression. The book is based on interviews with 56 Dalit respondents reproducing large parts of the interviews with the intention of giving the subalterns a voice. 122 The seminar took place in New Delhi on 24-25. September 2004 and was organized by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies. 123 Shah (2006). 124 Shah (2006): p.22-23.

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caste identity. Dalit as consciousness moves, shapes and changes. A Brahmin can also become Dalit, but he has to work harder to decasteify himself than a SC and ST, he has a longer distance to travel125.

I participated one programme National consultation on Sc/St (prevention of Atrocity) Act 1989 organized by PARVVI (Public Advocacy Initiatives for Rights & Values in India) a Delhi based NGO on 20-21 st March 2009, in ISI (India social Institute). In that programme Mr. S. R. Darapuri a retired IPS officer and well known Dalit Activist in UP presented his lecture on Sc/St Act. In that presentation, one participant asked him who are Dalits in India? and Mr. S. R. Darapuri answered all SC are Dalits in India. This answer made me realize that to this day Dalit activists and Dalit leaders are greatly confused about and misunderstand the Dalit Movement and concept of Dalit. In that program, more than 15 state representatives and Dalit activists as well as Dalit NGOs participated. This proved that one of the biggest challenges for the Dalit Movement is to understand the definition of Dalit and the motives of the Dalit movement in India.

As Martin Macwan states, segregation is one of the biggest challenges in Dalit community I realized and observed that not only segregation, but also contesting and blaming other Dalit NGOs and civil society is also one of the biggest challenges to the Dalit movement, as well as decastify themselves is the challenge of Dalit Movement. I believe until these issues, more specifically sub-caste issues, clear understanding of the definition of Dalit and Decasteificetion of Dalits, and the practice of endogamy are more

125

Interview Suresh Lelle 01.02.05., Hyderabad by Anna Kiertzner

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properly addressed and recognized by Dalit NGOs and civil society, the Dalit Movement will struggle internally and they will fail to eliminate the caste system in India.

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References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Ambedkar, B. R. (1979). Annihilation of Caste: With a reply to Mahatma Ambedkar, B. R. (1991). What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Ambedkar, B. R. (1992). Buddha and his Dhamma. Bombay: Education Ambedkar, B. R. (2002). The Essential Writings of B.R. Ambedkar. New Kiertzner, A. (2006). Dalit: Caste or Consciousness? Copenhagen: Gandhi. Bombay: Education Department, Government of Maharashtra. Untouchables. Bombay: Education Department, Government of Maharashtra. Department, Government of Maharashtra. Delhi: Oxford University Press. University of Copenhagen. Bhardwaj, A. (2002). Welfare of Scheduled Caste in India. Unknown Dumont, L. (1980). Homo Hierarchicus:The Caste System and its Thapar, R. (2002). Early India: From the origins to AD 1300. New Jacob, T. G. (2002). Reflections on the Caste Question: The Dalit Jaffrelot, C. (2003). Indias Silent Revolution : The Rise of the Low Jaffrelot, C. (2004). Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Analysing and Massey, J. (1995). Dalits in India: Religion as a Source of Bondage or Mendelsohn, O. & Marika V. (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, Perez, R. M. (2004). Kings and Untouchables: A Study of the Caste place: Press unknown. Implications. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Delhi: Penguin Books. Situation in South India. Bangalore: NESA. Castes in North Indian Politics. London: Hurst. Fighting Caste. London: Hurst. Liberation with Special Reference to Christians. New Delhi: Manohar. Poverty and the State in Modern India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. System in Western India. New Delhi: Chronicle Books.

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15.

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Hastrup, Kirsten & George Ulrich (eds.), Discrimination and Toleration: New perspectives. The Hague: Kluwer Law International. 16. Anthropology. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. Raj, M. C. (2001). Dalitology: The Book of the Dalit People . Tumkur: Ram, K. (1982). The Chamcha Age: An Era of the Stooges . New Delhi: Mungekar, B. L. (2002). Education: The only key to Dalit progress. Gakhar, D. (2001). Dalits in Education. New Delhi: Lady Irwin College. Shah, G., Mander, H., Thorat S., Despande, S. & Baviskar, A. (2006). Manorama, R. (2000). Dalit Women the Downtrodden of the Bhan, C. (2008). Markets and Manu: Economic Reforms and its Impact Narula, S. Broken Promises and Dalits Betrayed, BLACK PAPER on the Mungekar, B. L. (1999). State, Market and the Dalits: Analytics of the Ambedkar Resource Center, REDS. Publisher unknown. Paper presented in International conference on Dalits rights, United Kingdom. Hardtmann, E. M. (2003). Our Fury is Burning: Local Practice and Global Connections in the Dalit Movement. Stockholm: Stockholm Studies in Social

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Dalit Narratives. Kolkata: Samya. Structure and Consensus. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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29. 30. Register, 2008 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.

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