Mayawati, Obama and the political elite !

Caste, India, Politics 20 Responses »
Sep 042008

Nita has a good post here that looks at Mayawati and Obama, there is an interesting discussion that is also taking place. I began putting my two bits in and it just got so long that i decided to blog about it (thanks Nita, it has been a long time since i posted anything that i thought too much about :)

When we look at Obama, we need to look at him beyond his colour and see him for what he is – the child of two post graduate students, who has seen the world – not as immigrant labor or an army brat — but as part of the academic intelligentsia. His father was from Kenya – and the elite there, foreign education is not for the truly down trodden. His mother was an anthropologist and development worker. That is his background — and his value systems have possibly been shaped by that. If the US was not such a colour conscious country – they would look beyond the colour and see him as another one of the ‘upper class’ elite. If he was typically African American – he wouldn’t have got this far :) . If he was typically white working class – he wouldn’t have got this far either :)

Contrast that with Mayawati. She is the second generation to gain from reservations. Her father was a government clerk. Her origins have more in common with the mainstay of the BJP vote bank. She was the protege to Kanshi Ram – possibly one of the most charismatic leaders of India post independence. In a way she is also part of the political elite. which is why she has got this far ….. the question is whether she will go further. Will she become Prime Minister ?

For me, caste and gender are not the only defining factor here. You possibly also need to look at region. She is a UP leader. If you want to be more charitable – she is a North Indian leader. Talk to the electorate in Maharashtra (even the ‘dalit vote bank’)- and she doesn’t have too many takers, talk to them in TN – they possibly would not even have heard of her. Talk to the in West Bengal – and she possibly does not even feature in the top 20. The problem with Mayawati is not that she is woman or Dalit or autocratic or corrupt. She faces the same problem that Sharad Pawar and MGR had, that Mulayam and Lallu have — they are regional heroes. Unless Mayawati positions her party and herself beyond where there are now — she will not be the PM. It has nothing to do with being either Dalit or Woman.

The Dalits in India are as diverse as any other community – in terms of language, culture, rituals, gods, heroes and even voting patterns. Pan Dalit identity is as difficult as a Pan Hindu or a Pan Muslim or a Pan Christian or even a Pan Indian identity. Unless Mayawati or anyone else overcomes their regional & caste persona and project a national persona – it is going to be difficult to be even a pan Indian Dalit leader . And, i am not sure that she should be positioning her self that way. If she has to succeed then she has to be a pan Indian leader and the BSP has to be a pan Indian party.

It is difficult in India to have an Obama or even a Clinton or a McCain. Our system is different. Our nation is different. We may follow the same broad principals – but our cultural variations make it impossible to project the one ……

btw – when all commentators talk about where is our Obama, he happened 70 years ago … despite the variations in culture, and the complete stranglehold of caste ……he was called Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar…..:)

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Posted by gargi at 6:11 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste 4

Caste, Culture, India, Society 1 Response »
May 012008

Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in the Annihilation of Caste, 1935

The effect of caste on the ethics of the Hindus is simply deplorable. Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion impossible. A Hindu's public is his caste. His responsibility is only to his caste. His loyalty is restricted only to his caste. Virtue has become caste-ridden and morality has become, caste-bound. There is no sympathy to the deserving. There is no appreciation of the meritorious. There is no charity to the needy. Suffering as such calls for no response. There is charity but it begins with the caste and ends with the caste. There is sympathy but not for men of other caste. 

The Indian Express, today :

In a chilling reminder of caste divisions that still run deep in rural Uttar Pradesh, an upper caste youth, pursuing a masters in social studies, has been arrested by the Mathura police for allegedly hurling a six-year-old Dalit girl into a pit of burning waste after she “trespassed into a Thakur area of Tarauli village. The child, Kamlesh, who sustained 50 per cent burns on Tuesday evening, is being treated at the Swarn Jayanti Samudaik Hospital in Mathura. Sunny Thakur, who is said to be in his early 20s and is the son of Ashok Thakur, has been charged under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and under the SC/ST Act. He has been put behind bars.

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Posted by gargi at 6:14 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste 2

Caste, Culture, Gender Issues, India, Politics, Society 7 Responses »
Mar 072008

On the eve of Maha Shivratri a great victory was won. Devotees, backed by the state and other institutions, ensured that the right to pray the way you want to, in the language that you understand, in the manner that you choose , was upheld. 

In the face of a growing demand for their dismissal as the priests of Lord Nataraj temple in Chidambaram, who assaulted non-Brahmin devotees for wanting to sing Tamil hymns inside the temple, the Brahmin priests ~ Dikshits ~ today agreed to allow worship in Tamil.
The Dikshits, who control the administration of the temple, relented after political parties, Leftist and Tamil nationalist groups threatened to agitate and make demands for a government takeover of the temple administration.
The Dikshits, who assaulted some devotees led by non-Brahmin priest Arumugasamy Odhuvar heading a Saivaite Mutt when they had come to sing Tamil hymns composed by revered saints of Hindu renaissance on Sunday, seemed much mellow today and welcomed volunteers of a few Leftist organisations who entered the temple for the same purpose.

And, this is 2008. Devotees still face the kind of threat that Tulsidas faced when he rewrote the Ramayan in Brij Bhasa and Jyaneshwar translated the Bhagwad Gita into Marathi … thereby making them accessible to all. People of all types arent' allowed to enter places of worship. some prevent women. others prevent 'other' castes – whatever they maybe. Which is why last night's reading was so much more poignant.

This is Dr.Ambedkar on the role of social status in our society.

That economic power is the only kind of power no student of human society can accept. That the social status of an individual by itself often becomes a source of power and authority is made clear by the sway which the Mahatmos have held over the common man. Why do millionaires in India obey penniless Sadhus and Fakirs ? Why do millions of paupers in India sell their trifling trinkets which constitute their only wealth and go to Benares and Mecca ? That, religion is the source of power is illustrated by the history of India where the priest holds a sway over the common man often greater than the magistrate and where everything, even such things as strikes and elections, so easily take a religious turn and can so easily be given a religious twist.

Take the case of the Plebians of Rome as a further illustration of the power of religion over man. It throws great light on this point. The Plebs had fought for a share in the supreme executive under the Roman Republic and had secured the appointment of a Plebian Consul elected by a separate electorate constituted by the Commitia Centuriata, which was an assembly of Piebians. They wanted a Consul of their own because they felt that the Patrician Consuls used to discriminate against the Plebians in carrying on the administration. They had apparently obtained a great gain because under the Republican Constitution of Rome one Consul had the power of vetoing an act of the other Consul.

But did they in fact gain anything ? The answer to this question must be in the negative. The Plebians never could get a Plebian Consul who could be said to be a strong man and who could act independently of the Patrician Consul. In the ordinary course of things the Plebians should have got a strong Plebian Consul in view of the fact that his election was to be by a separate electorate of Plebians. The question is why did they fail in getting a strong Plebian to officiate as their Consul?

The answer to this question reveals the dominion which religion exercises over the minds of men. It was an accepted creed of the whole Roman populus that no official could enter upon the duties of his office unless the Oracle of Delphi declared that he was acceptable to the Goddess. The priests who were in charge of the temple of the Goddess of Delphi were all Patricians. Whenever therefore the Plebians elected a Consul who was known to be a strong party man opposed to the Patricians or " communal " to use the term that is current in India, the Oracle invariably declared that he was not acceptable to the Goddess. This is how the Plebians were cheated out of their rights.

But what is worthy of note is that the Plebians permitted themselves to be thus cheated because they too like the Patricians, held firmly the belief that the approval of the Goddess was a condition precedent to the taking charge by an official of his duties and that election by the people was not enough. If the Plebians had contended that election was enough and that the approval by the Goddess was not necessary they would have derived the fullest benefit from the political right which they had obtained. But they did not. They agreed to elect another, less suitable to themselves but more suitable to the Goddess which in fact meant more amenable to the Patricians. Rather than give up religion, the Plebians give up material gain for which they had fought so hard. Does this not show that religion can be a source of power as great as money if not greater ?

The fallacy of the Socialists lies in supposing that because in the present stage of European Society property as a source of power is predominant, that the same is true of India or that the same was true of Europe in the past. Religion, social status and property are all sources of power and authority, which one man has, to control the liberty of another. One is predominant at one stage; the other is predominant at another stage. That is the only difference. If liberty is the ideal, if liberty means the destruction of the dominion which one man holds over another then obviously it cannot be insisted upon that economic reform must be the one kind of reform worthy of pursuit. If the source of power and dominion is at any given time or in any given society social and religious then social reform and religious reform must be accepted as the necessary sort of reform.

 When the religious right in circa 2008 stands up and says 'this reform is against our religious traditions, ' what they are doing is following an age old tradition of dogma. They have opposed every major social reform movement – whether it was ending caste discrimination, or rights for women, or rights for various types of minorities not sanctioned by their dogma (religious, sexual, left handers, race … what ever) . It is no different now, than it was 80 years ago… except that it is citizens pushing for our rights … where are the leaders ? 

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Posted by gargi at 8:50 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste

Books, Caste, India, Politics, Society 3 Responses »
Mar 052008

I am currently re readingDr.Babasaheb Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste - It is a thin little well thumbed, book – actually a speech that is published in a book form. It

This is a book that every Indian ought to read…I read this almost a lifetime ago as part of what ever i was doing at that time. Read it fast, converted into data, precised it and forgot about it. This time around, I am going to savour it… and while doing so am going to post excerpts

As i read through it – some 20 years after I first read it – i keep nodding my head in agreement. Smiling at the humour. chuckling, when things don't seem too much different now than they were almost 70 years ago (two opposing factions. One threatened to burn the other's pandal if they held a political rally)…cringing when things don't seem too much more different now than when they were then (discrimination). And of course his wry comments…

The path of social reform like the path to heaven at any rate in India, is strewn with many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics. The critics fall into two distinct classes. One class consists of political reformers and the other of the socialists.

I can't seem to find any copies in bookshops. But, it is online here and here 

It gives an insight into what ailed us, and what continues to ail us … caste …and more importantly deep rooted programming on caste lines. 

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Posted by gargi at 10:54 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Scavenging as Spirituality 101 by Narendra Modi

Caste 7 Responses »
Nov 262007

Narendra Modi has done it again…….This is his latest gem:

In a recent book written by him and published by the state information department Modi says, รขโ‚ฌล“Scavenging must have been a spiritual experience for the Valmiki casteรขโ‚ฌย.

The book titled Karmayog is yet to hit the stands.

In the book, he goes on to say, รขโ‚ฌล“At some point in time somebody must have got enlightenment in scavenging. They must have thought that it is their duty to work for the happiness of the entire society and the Gods.รขโ‚ฌย

As Atrocity News rightly asks — is this the BJP stand.

And, my answer to that question is that it is possibly the Sangh Parivaar’s collective stand. And, this is the kind of stand that one would take if one was brainwashed with the Manusmriti from childhood and internalise it to a point of no return.

Dalits were considered to be beyond the pale of Arya society, which was made up of the 4 varnas (chaturvarna) or castes. The Brahmins – teachers / Administrators/ Priests – were at the top of the pile, followed by the Kshatriyas – the warriors, the Vaishyas – the Merchant Class – and the Shudra’s – the serving class. The Dalits were not part of the Chaturvarna system. They were beyond that……The Dalits were called Chandalas or Dasyus’ – terms that were very much in vogue, until Gandhi dubbed the community as Harijan.

And this is what the Manusmriti - the set of Laws that the Sangh Parivar is committed to — has to say about the Dasyu’s :

  • Manu has declared that the flesh (of an animal) killed by dogs is pure, likewise (that) of a (beast) slain by carnivorous (animals) or by men of low caste (Dasyu), such as Kandalas. (manu chapter 5, 131)
  • Nor one wholly dependent, nor one of bad fame, nor a Dasyu, nor one who follows forbidden occupations, nor an aged (man), nor an infant, nor one (man alone), nor a man of the lowest castes, nor one deficient in organs of sense, – on who can bear witness (Manu chapter 8,66)

This on who can beget what on whom – and I shan’t even go in to the sexist aspect of Manu Smriti in this post…. This From Manusmriti chapter 10,

  • A Dasyu begets on an Ayogava (woman) a Sairandhra, who is skilled in adorning and attending (his master), who, (though) not a slave, lives like a slave, (or) subsists by snaring (animals).
  • A Vaideha produces (with the same) a sweet-voiced Maitreyaka, who, ringing a bell at the appearance of dawn, continually. praises (great) men.
  • A Nishada begets (on the same) a Margava (or) Dasa, who subsists by working as a boatman, (and) whom the inhabitants of Aryavarta call a Kaivarta.
  • Those three base-born ones are severally begot on Ayogava women, who wear the clothes of the dead, are wicked, and eat reprehensible food.
  • From a Nishada springs (by a woman of the Vaideha caste) a Karavara, who works in leather; and from a Vaidehaka (by women of the Karavara and Nishada castes), an Andhra and a Meda, who dwell outside the village.
  • From a Kandala by a Vaideha woman is born a Pandusopaka, who deals in cane; from a Nishada (by the same) an Ahindika.
  • But from a Kandala by a Pukkasa woman is born the sinful Sopaka, who lives by the occupations of his sire, and is ever despised by good men.
  • A Nishada woman bears to a Kandala a son (called) Antyavasayin, employed in burial-grounds, and despised even by those excluded (from the Aryan community).
  • These races, (which originate) in a confusion (of the castes and) have been described according to their fathers and mothers, may be known by their occupations, whether they conceal or openly show themselves.
  • All those tribes in this world, which are excluded from (the community of) those born from the mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet (of Brahman), are called Dasyus, whether they speak the language of the Mlekkhas (barbarians) or that of the Aryans.
  • Those who have been mentioned as the base-born (offspring, apasada) of Aryans, or as produced in consequence of a violation (of the law, apadhvamsaga), shall subsist by occupations reprehended by the twice-born.
  • To Sutas (belongs) the management of horses and of chariots; to Ambashthas, the art of healing; to Vaidehakas, the service of women; to Magadhas, trade;
    Killing fish to Nishadas; carpenters’ work to the Ayogava; to Medas, Andhras, Kunkus, and Madgus, the slaughter of wild animals;
  • To Kshattris, Ugras, and Pukkasas, catching and killing (animals) living in holes; to Dhigvanas, working in leather; to Venas, playing drums.Near well-known trees and burial-grounds, on mountains and in groves, let these (tribes) dwell, known (by certain marks), and subsisting by their peculiar occupations.
  • But the dwellings of Kandalas and Svapakas shall be outside the village, they must be made Apapatras, and their wealth (shall be) dogs and donkeys.Their dress (shall be) the garments of the dead, (they shall eat) their food from broken dishes, black iron (shall be) their ornaments, and they must always wander from place to place.
  • A man who fulfils a religious duty, shall not seek intercourse with them; their transactions (shall be) among themselves, and their marriages with their equals.
    Their food shall be given to them by others (than an Aryan giver) in a broken dish; at night they shall not walk about in villages and in towns.
  • By day they may go about for the purpose of their work, distinguished by marks at the king’s command, and they shall carry out the corpses (of persons) who have no relatives; that is a settled rule.
  • By the king’s order they shall always execute the criminals, in accordance with the law, and they shall take for themselves the clothes, the beds, and the ornaments of (such) criminals.

Given Modi & his ilk’s support of the agenda of the Manusmriti – it is hardly surprising that he has made a statement like that. And, i would not at all be surprised if he actually believed that to be true.

Maybe, given the amount of blood on his hands, and adharma that he has committed he should take up scavenging to attain spiritual bliss…..

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Posted by gargi at 6:07 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

Ouch

India, Media, Print No Responses »
Aug 062007

This, a headline from the ET – India's most widely circulated business broadsheet : Some SC/STs too made it on merit replace the word SC/ST with any other ethnic/religious/gender grouping and tell me what is right/ wrong with this headline. media bias anyone or am I being oversensitive?

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Posted by gargi at 2:48 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

Hide - the Dalits are coming to town

India, Media, Print 28 Responses »
Dec 052006

….. says the DNA - not in so many words, but that is more or less the take away. Some excerpts:

Come December 6, residents of Shivaji Park in Central Dadar press the panic button. Many alter their work and daily schedules, beef up security in buildings, inform schools that their children will remain absent, and literally barricade themselves inside their homes with heavy-duty locks.

Why. are the Dalits going to break in to the homes and do to the people in homes what is being done to them in their homes?

Post-Khairlanji and the subsequent riots throughout Maharashtra, this year’s gathering is expected to attract over 20 lakh Dalits from all over the country.

As the numbers swell, heart beats of Shivaji Park residents will also quicken in anticipation of the “gross” inconvenience caused during the following days.

what is gross? And why is it in quotes – is it gross because you think that the people have no right to gather or celebrate. or is it something else?

Unlike previous years, this time too a huge shamiana has been erected at the Shivaji Park grounds to house the teeming lakhs. Colleges and other places have been rented to accommodate the devotees, says Bhadant Sanghpal, in-charge of Chaityabhoomi.

Was the Shamiana erected in earlier years or is it just this year. Unlike other years what is different?

A majority of hotels and restaurants have decided to down shutters on December 6. According to a hotel manager, “The crowd is unruly. We expect more trouble this year as the situation is explosive. We will shut down the hotel that day.”

That also makes for complete business sense -20 lakh visitors land up in your neighbourhood – and you shut down operations. HOw many hotels is this – every single one in the Shivaji Park neighbourhood or only one.

Neeta Godbole, who lives close to the venue, is one of the “worst affected”. As proprietor of Neeta Godbole Classes, she decries the noise and air pollution. “There is loud music at night, people barge into buildings and dirty them, bathe in the open on the footpaths, throw food around and make life miserable for us. We cannot go out or take our cars out for fear of hitting someone. We are under house arrest all day.” According to Godbole, parents of her pupils hound her to suspend classes during this time. “We are really tired of the whole thing,” she says. “Why can’t they do something about it?”

You know the funny thing is that Mumbai is a city of celebrations & gatherings. Come December last week – the roads will be jammed with cars and people trying to get to parties. Come January it is wedding season – the roads will be jammed with people and cars trying to get to weddings. Then there is the Urs in Mahim, Ganpati, Navratri, Chatt Pooja and the big baap of all cluttered events – Holi. And, I am not even including political rallies, bandhs and other forms of spontaneous expression. I haven't really seen articles that are this patronising or one sided when it comes to their reportage. Yet, when it comes to Dalits congregating once a year to mark the anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar – they become the teeming masses that 'gross' out the neighbourhood.

I read the DNA regularly. I quite like it. But, this is a bad and biased piece of journalism – possibly influenced by the writer's own prejudices. Having said that, in this case it is not just an issue with one sided writing. I think that the editor or the sub have not really done their job in making sure that the piece is not so prejudicial.

Or does this kind of reportage reflect the values of the paper?

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Posted by gargi at 1:42 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

The Other Priyanka

India 18 Responses »
Nov 292006

(warning: this post contains pictures that may offend the 'dignity', 'decency', and sensibility of some readers). Not Priyanka Vadera Gandhi, Not even Priyanka Chopra. But, Priyanka Bhotmange. Just a simple, ordinary girl called Priyanka who lived in a small little village called Khairlanji in the back of beyond in the state of Maharashtra. She studied in the 12th and hoped to make something of her life that would allow her to escape from the restrictions of caste, class and gender. priyanka Two months ago – on Sepetmber 29th – she was murdered. Now, she wasn't just murdered – she was gang raped by a drunken mob before that. As Shivam's harrowing post describes

four victims …..dragged away to the village chaupal, Priyanka strapped to a bullock cart. By now, men allegedly from the entire village of about 150 Powar and Kalar families had collected. Some shouted to the sarpanch to allow them to sexually assault the women.

Surekha and Priyanka were stripped, paraded naked, beaten black and blue with bicycle chains, axes and bullock cart pokers. They were publicly gang raped until they died. Some raped them even after that, and finally, sticks and rods were shoved into their genitals.

In the meanwhile

Meanwhile, Priyanka’s brothers, 21-year-old Sudhir and 19-year-old Roshan, were murdered. After Priyanka and her mother were raped, they too were murdered.

This from Shivam

They raped the women and killed all four, even as their womenfolk looked on, mute spectators to a form of justice reserved for castes lower than theirs. One woman, Sudha Dhenge, reportedly did protest but was slapped into silence. She now says she was never there.

And finally

The first photographs of Priyanka's body, that were taken by a social organisation, showed rods sticking out from her genitals. But when her body was taken to the Mohadi hospital for the post-mortem, the sticks and rods had disappeared.

Priyanka's crime – her family was Dalit and worse than that – it was a family that dared to stand up for its rights. Yet at a certain level Priyanka and her mother Surekha were also punished for being women. And how dare a woman, and a DAlit woman at that have delusions of equality? Don't we all know that historically and culturally while being a Dalit is bad enough, being a woman is worse. And God help you if you are both. Last week – my students and I were carrying out an little exercise that we conduct fairly regularly. We look at the top of mind recall stories from all the media. The students identified around 17 stories. 12 of those were entertainment or celeb oriented- Ash, Abhishek, Cricket, Rahul Mahajan. 2 of them were business – tata corus. Two of them were national/international political. And one student said Solapur. I asked what solapur and she said that some Dalits are protesting. About what, i asked. Something, she said. And my students are bright, aware and at an age where they do care about the world and get outraged about injustices. Yet they had not read anything beyond Dalits protesting. And then i did something i have never done in class. I turned brutal. I just read out part of Shivam's piece from memory – the bit where the villagers were petitioning the sarpanch to be allowed to rape the women. And the manner of the murders. There was a shocked, stunned silence. This is the first time that i have really used graphic descriptions in a class. I used to resist graphic descriptions – and given the fact that i teach media and how media impacts society – i used to be careful about explaining stuff like decency and dignity and all those wonderful terms. But, somehow this time around i realised that trying to pussyfoot around the topic is not going to help. That my students, future journalists and media people have to know what is going on and how. and so does everyone else. Family of four killed in Nagpur or Solapur does not really describe the story or its implications. And it is with this in mind i have decided to link to the pictures of the victim. A girl called Priyanka is dead. She was murdered by men who demanded the right to rape her and then kill her. The permission was granted. And we want to be polite about it? A woman called Surekha is dead. She is also gang raped and murdered. Two young men called Sudhir & Roshan and beaten to death. And we use flowery terms like 'dignity in death'. What dignity? The dead are dead, and what we are trying to do is protect the dignity of the living. Our dignity. We don't want to see a raped and murdered woman's photograph because it offends us. Not the act but the picture. I have been following the Indian blogospheres' reactions on the incident. And, almost like in a black farce, beyond a lipservice to outrage at the act – it has focused mainly on whether a blogger should have published the picture or not. As someone pointed out on beaupeep's blog

Common man wants to learn and wants to learn the essence. He can very well picturise : a dead body or what a rape or mutilation can leave behind on a human body. Are you achieving any purpose beyond disturbing his mind one bright morning.

As I said – dignitiy and decency and all the polical correctness is for us. not the dead. i hate to use the analogy of Fox News – but the fact remains that those who have been screaming about the 'dignity of death' (pray tell me what is dignified about being gangraped, having rods and objects shoved into you, and necrophilia) have really taken a leaf out of the best propagandists in the world. When the issue is important scream out a different question. A few months ago when Priyadarshini Mattoo's family was finally given justice – i asked my students a question – if the woman was poor, dalit and from the back of beyond, would there have been so much outrage and outcry. I guess i have got my answer. Other reads Shivam Vij The Great Bong Atrocity News images courtsey: The life, thoughts and teachings of Beau Peep

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Posted by gargi at 5:47 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Miss, May I Come In?

Caste, India 1 Response »
Oct 012005

About 15 months ago -has it only been that long? – i was in Marathwada making a documentary on Self Help Groups set up by destitute women that form the basis of bare foot capitalism. Starting with nothing these women have built up amazing capital – in the form of goats.The women combat the triple whammy of gender, caste and poverty. Yet, their strength is quite something else. Their perserverence and dedication to change their lot without bitterness is admirable.

With a certain amount of succes under their belt, the women are now turning their attention to something very important to them. Their Children's education. They are funding neighbourhood schools where their children can study without discrimination.

But, this little boy, like all little boys is fairly ambivalent about going into school. He would rather be playing outside:)

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Posted by gargi at 4:52 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Freedom from Caste?

India 2 Responses »
Aug 172005

One of the purchases that I made at the Strand Book Sale was Dr. Narendra Jadhav's book The Untouchable.
From the author's note, the book grabs your attention and keeps it rivetted.

"Every sixth human being in the world today is an Indian, and every sixth Indian is an erstwhile untouchable, a Dalit"

The book is an incredible read. In the main it is a romance – the love story between Dr.Jadhav's father – Damu – and his mother – Sonu. Caste forms the backdrop of this incredible partnership. The affection, love and mutual respect that Damu and Sonu have for each other comes through in every page. Sonu's voice and perspective and her vision of happiness completemented by Damu's vision of a society where he and his children are treated just the same as anyone else. Not much to ask for, but a lot even in today's day and age.

The story begins with Damu running away from his village to Mumbai to escape caste oppression. He does the unthinkable. Stands up for his rights as a human being. And that in a caste ridden village society is a definite no no, and he gets whipped for his troubles. In the middle of the night – he and his wife take off for Mumbai.

The book is divided into alternate Damu and Sonu chapters. So we see the unfolding of this incredible story from both points of view. Different perspectives of the same event. Parallel events in each others lives that build the narrative. Sonu's incredible story of how she as a new wife learns to 'love' her husband. Damu's own feelings of tenderness and affection towards his wife contrasted with his sense of outrage at an unfair system. And this outrage is directed as much towards the upper castes that seek to dominate and oppress Damu and his family, as it is directed towards his own community for accepting the discrimination.

Damu describes the aftermath of the Mahad water agitation – where Ambedkar had led a satyagraha to ensure that Dalits were allowed equal rights to portable water. He says (pg 24):

We returned to Mumbai only to learn that the orthodox high-born of Mahad had the Brahmin priests 'purify' the 'desecrated' water reservoir by pouring into it 108 pots of curd, milk, cow-dung and cow urine amidst loud religious chants?
Didn't these educated people realise that the notion of purification with animal urine was more ridiculous and despicable than the idea of defilement by human touch?

Obviously not. In conservative Tam Bram families even today – it is recommended that a woman who has delivered a baby has the panchamrut that is made up of milk, ghee, cow's urine, a bit of dung and something else equally yuk. It is no wonder that most of my female cousins remain unmarried and unhindered by kids!

Advice that Sonu is given on making her husband happy:

"Accept your husband. Taht is the reason why we have been given our long flowing padar for the sari. It is big enough to accomodate all the shortcomings of our men, and long enough to cover them with the shade of our understanding"

Caste oppression and discrimination are part and parcel of the book. But nowhere does the author let go of the narrative and stand on a soapbox. And, that is possibly the reason why the book makes more of an impact than anything else that I have read on caste. It is chilling in its normalcy. You care so much about Damu and Sonu that anyone who wants to harm them is the villian.

Unfortunately, I cannot find an on-line reference for the book. But, buy the book. gift the book. It is a must read for our generation. Especially because many of us believe that caste does not matter any more.

untouchable

And for all of us who think that caste is history, think again. This morning while reading the newspaper this article. A Dalit woman (therefore doubly discriminated) sarpanch was not allowed to raise the flag on independence day:

In a letter to the Bundelkhand police superintendent, Anita Bai Ahirwar has alleged that government officials did not permit her to hoist the national flag on August 15 because she belongs to the Dalit community.

“I was told by the officials that chamar-chamariya (Dalits) cannot hoist the national flag at the centre of a market place,” Anita Bai wrote, giving an account of how she was prevented from raising the flag in a chowk that fell under the jurisdiction of her panchayat.

Words fail me on this one. They truly do.

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