Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
In Maharashtra, a few numbers of films have been produced on Dalit marginal or subaltern narratives, mainly based on the intersectionality of caste and gender conflicts. Unfortunately, these films have not received good responses nor got a box office success like Sairat movie did in the twenty-first century. In India, caste conflict, Brahminical hegemony and gender discrimination issues have produced fewer cinematic narratives about subalterns and badly left them without a voice. This article significantly exemplifies the Sairat movie to understand how a young generation in Maharashtra (especially from the rural areas) is facing caste hierarchy, class conflict, discrimination, gender-related issues and challenges in their lives. A class conflict and the characters’ struggle can be seen through the protagonists Parshya (Akash Thosar) and Archi (Rinku Rajguru) when they get married and start living their lives as an average couple, but nothing happens as a happy ending. This story re/presents the struggle of inter-caste marriage couples, social unacceptability and exclusion. They fail to resist the social, political and caste conflicts and get killed. In short, they become a victim of honour killing. To conclude, Sairat represents social, gender and caste conflict and reflects the struggle of youngsters in inter-caste marriages.
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Becoming Dalit Women’s Voice: Engaging with Self-reflective Narrative in Bama’s Karukku
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Volume 15, Issue 1_suppl, Page S113-S126, August 2023.
Dalit writings are considered to be centred on the issue of identity politics. Most analysis rests on their claim of identity as fixed and static. They ignore an embedded process of various spatial implications, characters’ interaction with it, and a self-reflexive narrative gaze that most of the prominent Dalit writers present through their autobiographical narratives. Concentration on these concepts provides a fresh perspective to critically analyse Dalit writings and presents a different understanding of identity formation. This article proposes to unearth this process through a reading of Bama’s Karukku (2012), in English translation. It attempts to establish that identity formation in Dalit writings is a process that is based on various kinds of spatial experiences that could be divided into three stages of development. This process culminates in transforming a character into a politically conscious Dalit figure. Also, this article attempts to chart a character’s development that corroborates to body’s spatial-cultural location and its response to/within that space. It is an attempt to understand various spatial ramifications that the character experiences in an attempt to forge an identity outside the traditional definition.
Dalit writings are considered to be centred on the issue of identity politics. Most analysis rests on their claim of identity as fixed and static. They ignore an embedded process of various spatial implications, characters’ interaction with it, and a self-reflexive narrative gaze that most of the prominent Dalit writers present through their autobiographical narratives. Concentration on these concepts provides a fresh perspective to critically analyse Dalit writings and presents a different understanding of identity formation. This article proposes to unearth this process through a reading of Bama’s Karukku (2012), in English translation. It attempts to establish that identity formation in Dalit writings is a process that is based on various kinds of spatial experiences that could be divided into three stages of development. This process culminates in transforming a character into a politically conscious Dalit figure. Also, this article attempts to chart a character’s development that corroborates to body’s spatial-cultural location and its response to/within that space. It is an attempt to understand various spatial ramifications that the character experiences in an attempt to forge an identity outside the traditional definition.
Dalit Literary Narratives: An Expression of the Lives of the Downtrodden—A Study
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Towards Visibility: Subaltern Counterpublics in Paul Chirakkarode’s Pulayathara
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Christianity has always been celebrated as a catalyst towards modernity for the Dalits of Kerala. Though missionary accounts and ethnographic studies confirm the progress of the community, there was rampant casteism and separatism too. This is succinctly revealed in Dalit Christian texts. Pulayathara by Paul Chirakkarode stands as a testimony to the Dalit Christian dilemma and traces the history of the Kuttanadan Pulaya community in the pre- and post-conversion scenarios. Conversions could not change the existing public sphere of Kerala, where upper castes were the dominant party. They (Dalits) continued to be marginalized and subordinated and lacked a class consciousness. The article highlights the limitations in the public sphere that emerged in Kerala as part of the missionary endeavours in accommodating the converted Dalits. The article attempts to trace the emergence of subaltern counterpublics among the Dalit Christians to oppose the continued oppression and casteism by situating Pulayathara at the centre of the analysis.
Christianity has always been celebrated as a catalyst towards modernity for the Dalits of Kerala. Though missionary accounts and ethnographic studies confirm the progress of the community, there was rampant casteism and separatism too. This is succinctly revealed in Dalit Christian texts. Pulayathara by Paul Chirakkarode stands as a testimony to the Dalit Christian dilemma and traces the history of the Kuttanadan Pulaya community in the pre- and post-conversion scenarios. Conversions could not change the existing public sphere of Kerala, where upper castes were the dominant party. They (Dalits) continued to be marginalized and subordinated and lacked a class consciousness. The article highlights the limitations in the public sphere that emerged in Kerala as part of the missionary endeavours in accommodating the converted Dalits. The article attempts to trace the emergence of subaltern counterpublics among the Dalit Christians to oppose the continued oppression and casteism by situating Pulayathara at the centre of the analysis.
Response of Local Government towards the Rural Dalits during the Second Wave of COVID-19: A Ground Experience from Remuna Block in the Balasore District of Odisha
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Dalit masses have historically been deprived of all sorts of privileges both socially and economically. But the debacle experience of rural Dalits during the pandemic in developing countries like India pose serious difficulties and challenges for accessing state-sponsored package and the state of Odisha is not an exception in this regard. Though Dalits’ conditions still remain unchanged due to ill practices of untouchability, the recent surge of coronavirus further pushed them into a deep catastrophic situation. This new experience brought multiple burdens on Dalits that affects their livelihood where poverty and malnutrition increased to some extent. In addition, the response of local governments during the first wave of COVID-19 across the country proved encouraging, but with the emergence of the second wave of COVID-19, it becomes pathetic in all aspects, which caused thousands of infections and deaths. The condition of rural Dalits of Odisha remains unchanged though the Constitution of India guarantees rights for all-round development of all sections of people, Dalits still suffer from exploitation and discrimination. This study attempts to understand the response of local government towards the rural Dalits of Odisha during the second wave of COVID-19 and tries to explore the ground reality that there is inherent local corruption and mismanagement of local funds, which caused the worst conditions for rural Dalits in the villages where majority populations are Dalits. The findings and inferences of the study reveal that Dalits of Odisha in general and Remuna Block of Balasore district in particular, faced more challenges in income, education and lack of health facilities during the second wave of COVID-19 due to their marginalization and lack of knowledge about COVID-19 having low economic status. The suggestive measures have been made at the end of the article to minimize such unpleasant conditions of Dalits and their miserable conditions at any stage, especially during the outbreak of any pandemic, natural calamities must be taken into consideration by focusing on different social and economic dimensions that empower the Dalits.
Dalit masses have historically been deprived of all sorts of privileges both socially and economically. But the debacle experience of rural Dalits during the pandemic in developing countries like India pose serious difficulties and challenges for accessing state-sponsored package and the state of Odisha is not an exception in this regard. Though Dalits’ conditions still remain unchanged due to ill practices of untouchability, the recent surge of coronavirus further pushed them into a deep catastrophic situation. This new experience brought multiple burdens on Dalits that affects their livelihood where poverty and malnutrition increased to some extent. In addition, the response of local governments during the first wave of COVID-19 across the country proved encouraging, but with the emergence of the second wave of COVID-19, it becomes pathetic in all aspects, which caused thousands of infections and deaths. The condition of rural Dalits of Odisha remains unchanged though the Constitution of India guarantees rights for all-round development of all sections of people, Dalits still suffer from exploitation and discrimination. This study attempts to understand the response of local government towards the rural Dalits of Odisha during the second wave of COVID-19 and tries to explore the ground reality that there is inherent local corruption and mismanagement of local funds, which caused the worst conditions for rural Dalits in the villages where majority populations are Dalits. The findings and inferences of the study reveal that Dalits of Odisha in general and Remuna Block of Balasore district in particular, faced more challenges in income, education and lack of health facilities during the second wave of COVID-19 due to their marginalization and lack of knowledge about COVID-19 having low economic status. The suggestive measures have been made at the end of the article to minimize such unpleasant conditions of Dalits and their miserable conditions at any stage, especially during the outbreak of any pandemic, natural calamities must be taken into consideration by focusing on different social and economic dimensions that empower the Dalits.
Disrupting Caste Hegemony in Punjab: A Reading of the Punjabi Dalit Poetry of the Pre-Independence Period
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The idea of caste has always been debatable, contested and controversial. Since the time of its inception, it has been prevalent throughout India. Any Indian cannot define his or her identity without referring to his or her caste. However, it also became and still is a reason behind the marginalization and exploitation of millions of people. Various activists, scholars, thinkers, political leaders and literary writers have tried to fight against the stigmatization of a particular caste. However, the experience of caste discrimination is not the same in all the states of India. Though the basic problems and concerns of Dalits such as untouchability and exploitation are the same, their degree and intensity vary from one state to another. Various cultural, social and economic moorings impact the way caste-based discrimination is practised in a particular society. Various critics from Punjab such as Ronki Ram, Harish Puri and Paramjit Judge argue that the experience of Dalits in Punjab is comparatively different than those in other parts of India because in Punjab casteism was practised not on the basis of purity/pollution syndrome but as a divide between the landless and the land-owning communities, so they have studied the material aspect of caste. It is observed that the literary writings by Dalits from Punjab highlight instances of untouchability and caste-based discrimination in the pre- and post-independence periods. They resisted and protested against the caste system and also claimed to overthrow it. Therefore, the article seeks to evaluate the notion of casteless in Punjab. It takes into account the poetry of Gurdas Ram Alam, Charan Das Nidharak and Pritam Ramdaspuri. Through the qualitative content analysis using theories of Dalit aesthetics, the article explores the major thrust areas of Punjabi Dalit poets and highlights how these poets express their caste identity and try to raise the consciousness of their fellow caste members and protest against the discriminatory practices of the dominant Punjabi society and culture. It also, in a way, makes these poets (and those communities to which they belong) a subcultural phenomenon that runs parallel to the dominant Jatt culture of Punjab.
The idea of caste has always been debatable, contested and controversial. Since the time of its inception, it has been prevalent throughout India. Any Indian cannot define his or her identity without referring to his or her caste. However, it also became and still is a reason behind the marginalization and exploitation of millions of people. Various activists, scholars, thinkers, political leaders and literary writers have tried to fight against the stigmatization of a particular caste. However, the experience of caste discrimination is not the same in all the states of India. Though the basic problems and concerns of Dalits such as untouchability and exploitation are the same, their degree and intensity vary from one state to another. Various cultural, social and economic moorings impact the way caste-based discrimination is practised in a particular society. Various critics from Punjab such as Ronki Ram, Harish Puri and Paramjit Judge argue that the experience of Dalits in Punjab is comparatively different than those in other parts of India because in Punjab casteism was practised not on the basis of purity/pollution syndrome but as a divide between the landless and the land-owning communities, so they have studied the material aspect of caste. It is observed that the literary writings by Dalits from Punjab highlight instances of untouchability and caste-based discrimination in the pre- and post-independence periods. They resisted and protested against the caste system and also claimed to overthrow it. Therefore, the article seeks to evaluate the notion of casteless in Punjab. It takes into account the poetry of Gurdas Ram Alam, Charan Das Nidharak and Pritam Ramdaspuri. Through the qualitative content analysis using theories of Dalit aesthetics, the article explores the major thrust areas of Punjabi Dalit poets and highlights how these poets express their caste identity and try to raise the consciousness of their fellow caste members and protest against the discriminatory practices of the dominant Punjabi society and culture. It also, in a way, makes these poets (and those communities to which they belong) a subcultural phenomenon that runs parallel to the dominant Jatt culture of Punjab.
Book review: Rup Kumar Barman, Caste, Class and Culture: The Malos, Adwaita Malla Barman and History of India and Bangladesh
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Rup Kumar Barman, Caste, Class and Culture: The Malos, Adwaita Malla Barman and History of India and Bangladesh. New Delhi: Abhijeet Publications, 2020, 224 pp., ₹ 978-93-88865-49-4 (Hardback)
Rup Kumar Barman, Caste, Class and Culture: The Malos, Adwaita Malla Barman and History of India and Bangladesh. New Delhi: Abhijeet Publications, 2020, 224 pp., ₹ 978-93-88865-49-4 (Hardback)
Voices and Perspectives of Dalit Elected Women Representatives in Local Governance and Politics in Kerala, India
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Volume 15, Issue 1_suppl, Page S152-S165, August 2023.
This article explores how gender socialization as women along with other intersecting identities influence the perspectives of Dalit Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) on power relations in the political space of Kerala. The purpose of the article is to understand the perspectives of Dalit EWRs on power relations in local governance, which reveal the barriers, their interest and aspirations in local governance and politics. The perspectives are elicited through detailed interviews of EWRs for two time periods. The study finds that EWRs participation in local electoral politics and the extent to gain space for decision-making would depend on their ability to overcome barriers to their representation and acceptance in decision-making fora. They also faced caste discrimination and allegations of favouritism in the governance.
This article explores how gender socialization as women along with other intersecting identities influence the perspectives of Dalit Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) on power relations in the political space of Kerala. The purpose of the article is to understand the perspectives of Dalit EWRs on power relations in local governance, which reveal the barriers, their interest and aspirations in local governance and politics. The perspectives are elicited through detailed interviews of EWRs for two time periods. The study finds that EWRs participation in local electoral politics and the extent to gain space for decision-making would depend on their ability to overcome barriers to their representation and acceptance in decision-making fora. They also faced caste discrimination and allegations of favouritism in the governance.
Democracy, Development and Political Representation: Notes on Dalit Assertion in Uttar Pradesh
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
This article takes three concepts, namely ‘democracy’, ‘development’ and ‘political representation’ as entry points to understand the functioning of democracy in Uttar Pradesh. India, since the 1980s, has seen a tremendous rise of ‘lowered’ caste people and a parallel rise of Hindu communalism by ‘upper’ castes. In this respect, it becomes pertinent to ask if the rise of plebeians in Uttar Pradesh’s political sphere brought about any actual change in the lives of the plebeians. In search for an answer to this question, this article looks at the conspicuous rise of Dalits from the early 1980s. It proposes that rather than looking from the vantage point of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dalit assertion must be seen through non-BSP factors and broader socio-economic and demographic changes happening before the 1980s in the state. Thus, the article delves into the lives of All India Backward (SC, ST, and OBC) and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), Dalit Panthers, Ambedkarite social activists and Ravidasis-Buddhists. It argues that Dalit assertion is about the deepening of formal democracy, increment in substantive democracy and a demand for greater civility. Dalit movement is not ethnic, rather, it is universal, and the article explores it through secondary literature and fieldwork-based observations in Uttar Pradesh.
This article takes three concepts, namely ‘democracy’, ‘development’ and ‘political representation’ as entry points to understand the functioning of democracy in Uttar Pradesh. India, since the 1980s, has seen a tremendous rise of ‘lowered’ caste people and a parallel rise of Hindu communalism by ‘upper’ castes. In this respect, it becomes pertinent to ask if the rise of plebeians in Uttar Pradesh’s political sphere brought about any actual change in the lives of the plebeians. In search for an answer to this question, this article looks at the conspicuous rise of Dalits from the early 1980s. It proposes that rather than looking from the vantage point of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dalit assertion must be seen through non-BSP factors and broader socio-economic and demographic changes happening before the 1980s in the state. Thus, the article delves into the lives of All India Backward (SC, ST, and OBC) and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), Dalit Panthers, Ambedkarite social activists and Ravidasis-Buddhists. It argues that Dalit assertion is about the deepening of formal democracy, increment in substantive democracy and a demand for greater civility. Dalit movement is not ethnic, rather, it is universal, and the article explores it through secondary literature and fieldwork-based observations in Uttar Pradesh.
Book review: Rup Kumar Barman, Migration, State Policies and Citizenship: A Historical Study on India, Bangladesh and Bhutan
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Rup Kumar Barman, Migration, State Policies and Citizenship: A Historical Study on India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. New Delhi: Aayu Publication, 2021, xxviii + 242 pp., ₹1,895. ISBN: 978-93-89381-13-9 (Hardback).
Rup Kumar Barman, Migration, State Policies and Citizenship: A Historical Study on India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. New Delhi: Aayu Publication, 2021, xxviii + 242 pp., ₹1,895. ISBN: 978-93-89381-13-9 (Hardback).