Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Volume 15, Issue 1_suppl, Page S166-S179, August 2023.
In both developing and developed countries, women play a primary source of the social-economic support of the families. Unless there is no adult male living in the family permanently, Dalit women are not considered the head of the household. Gender bias exists when it is stated that the head of the family must always be an adult male, even if a woman’s socio-economic contribution to household upkeep is equal to or higher than a man’s. Most female-headed households are unplanned, as humans rather than natural forces established them. When males leave the family or divorce for any reason, the Dalit woman is left with the massive task of looking after the children. The Dalit women-headed households belonged to a wide area to analyse the Ranipet district of Tamil Nadu. Women, on the other hand, are unaware of their rights. It is especially true for low-income women. They are also discouraged from obtaining legal help due to a lack of financial resources and the duration of the legal process. It is possible to conclude that regulations alone will not be sufficient to prevent discrimination against Dalit women. Hence, the researcher analyses the socio-economic conditions and the status and survival of women’s headed households in the Ranipet district of Tamil Nadu.
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Educational Attainment, Literacy and Health Status of Scheduled Caste Students in Jammu and Kashmir
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The issue of the reservation system and its impression on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes have generated considerable debate. It is crucial to comprehend how far the scheduled castes, a socially marginalized minority, fall behind the rest of India in terms of human development. This article aims to examine the many human development elements, such as the educational attainment of the scheduled caste community in Jammu and Kashmir. Secondary data have been gathered for this purpose from the Chief Educational Office Doda and Unified District Information for the Education System. The population and literacy data eventually came from the Census 2011, and the health data came from the National Family Health Survey (2019–2020). This study displays the literacy and health-related elements of the scheduled caste population. The study also relates the scheduled caste status to other social groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
The issue of the reservation system and its impression on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes have generated considerable debate. It is crucial to comprehend how far the scheduled castes, a socially marginalized minority, fall behind the rest of India in terms of human development. This article aims to examine the many human development elements, such as the educational attainment of the scheduled caste community in Jammu and Kashmir. Secondary data have been gathered for this purpose from the Chief Educational Office Doda and Unified District Information for the Education System. The population and literacy data eventually came from the Census 2011, and the health data came from the National Family Health Survey (2019–2020). This study displays the literacy and health-related elements of the scheduled caste population. The study also relates the scheduled caste status to other social groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dalit Women and the Question of Representation: Issues of Caste and Gender
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Volume 15, Issue 1_suppl, Page S8-S18, August 2023.
Gupta (2016) in The gender of caste: Representing Dalits in print points out that media and print are responsible for creating the stereotypical images of Dalit women. They are always represented by their caste identities and not as individuals. Female bodies are represented as closely knit to their caste identities; the characteristic of the caste becomes the representation of the bodies of Dalit women. On the one hand, Dalit women are represented by the upper caste as wicked, cunning, house breakers, immoral, ugly and polluted, and on the other hand, they are represented as weak and passive victims who need care and help to come out of their misery. But it is not the case when the Dalit women represent themselves. So, the question here arises: How are caste and gender related? What is the role of caste in the manipulation of the identity of Dalit women? How is caste identity related to the question of gender and the creation of stereotypes in the context of Dalit women? What are the structures which are working in the formation of stereotypes which are directly or indirectly related to such representations? This paper explores the complex relationship between representation, caste and gender concerning the representation of Dalit women through the analysis of Joseph Macwan’s The Stepchild.
Gupta (2016) in The gender of caste: Representing Dalits in print points out that media and print are responsible for creating the stereotypical images of Dalit women. They are always represented by their caste identities and not as individuals. Female bodies are represented as closely knit to their caste identities; the characteristic of the caste becomes the representation of the bodies of Dalit women. On the one hand, Dalit women are represented by the upper caste as wicked, cunning, house breakers, immoral, ugly and polluted, and on the other hand, they are represented as weak and passive victims who need care and help to come out of their misery. But it is not the case when the Dalit women represent themselves. So, the question here arises: How are caste and gender related? What is the role of caste in the manipulation of the identity of Dalit women? How is caste identity related to the question of gender and the creation of stereotypes in the context of Dalit women? What are the structures which are working in the formation of stereotypes which are directly or indirectly related to such representations? This paper explores the complex relationship between representation, caste and gender concerning the representation of Dalit women through the analysis of Joseph Macwan’s The Stepchild.
Bengali Dalits Speak: A Critical Study of Jatin Bala’s A Verse as a Sharpened Weapon
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Dalit literature in India emerged as a movement of Ambedkarite ideology to challenge caste discrimination. Poetry as a popular genre has been adopted by Dalit writers to disseminate revolutionary ideas to bring about a change in society. They significantly unmask how the upper caste Hindus hold the supreme power to ostracize the Namashudras (Dalits) in the name of religion and caste. A Bengali Dalit poet Jatin Bala with a liberal vision and mission, used his words to protest, revolt and negotiate with the domineering ideology. His poetry A Verse as a Sharpened Weapon not only breaks the myth that West Bengal is a casteless society but also carries a note of dissent against the upper caste hegemony. He has successfully constructed the poetic device with aesthetic values to showcase the domination and oppression that Dalits face in Bengal. As a revolutionary poet, Bala breaks the chain of age-old caste oppression and reverberates the message of liberty, equality and fraternity through his verse. The present article examines Jatin Bala’s poetry to explore the theme of exploitation and protest. It also shows how Bala’s poetry becomes the voice of resistance, liberation and emancipation of his community from bondage.
Dalit literature in India emerged as a movement of Ambedkarite ideology to challenge caste discrimination. Poetry as a popular genre has been adopted by Dalit writers to disseminate revolutionary ideas to bring about a change in society. They significantly unmask how the upper caste Hindus hold the supreme power to ostracize the Namashudras (Dalits) in the name of religion and caste. A Bengali Dalit poet Jatin Bala with a liberal vision and mission, used his words to protest, revolt and negotiate with the domineering ideology. His poetry A Verse as a Sharpened Weapon not only breaks the myth that West Bengal is a casteless society but also carries a note of dissent against the upper caste hegemony. He has successfully constructed the poetic device with aesthetic values to showcase the domination and oppression that Dalits face in Bengal. As a revolutionary poet, Bala breaks the chain of age-old caste oppression and reverberates the message of liberty, equality and fraternity through his verse. The present article examines Jatin Bala’s poetry to explore the theme of exploitation and protest. It also shows how Bala’s poetry becomes the voice of resistance, liberation and emancipation of his community from bondage.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Context of Religious Conversion
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
It is evidently seen that the history of religion has gone through various historical trajectories, such as conflicts and appropriation, spread and conversion, individual change and social transformation. In the recent history of conversion, Dr Ambedkar’s mass conversion to Buddhism is one of the important cultural phenomena in India. In this article, I intend to discuss the social–cultural context of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s historical public conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism in 1956 at Nagpur, Maharashtra. Further, I argue that Dr Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism was an attempt of replacement of the ‘common sense’ of historically humiliated and stigmatized ‘untouchable’ castes. It was an attempt of the restructuring and culturalization of the untouchable castes through rejecting the ‘coercion’ and ‘consent’ of the hegemonic structure of caste Hindu cultural authority, which was functional as a culture authority and social power. I argue that Dr Ambedkar’s religious conversion was an attempt to establish the epistemological separation and formulation of social ontology through the cultural imagination of ‘ex-communicated’ castes with the refusal of the ideology of ‘pure and impure’.
It is evidently seen that the history of religion has gone through various historical trajectories, such as conflicts and appropriation, spread and conversion, individual change and social transformation. In the recent history of conversion, Dr Ambedkar’s mass conversion to Buddhism is one of the important cultural phenomena in India. In this article, I intend to discuss the social–cultural context of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s historical public conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism in 1956 at Nagpur, Maharashtra. Further, I argue that Dr Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism was an attempt of replacement of the ‘common sense’ of historically humiliated and stigmatized ‘untouchable’ castes. It was an attempt of the restructuring and culturalization of the untouchable castes through rejecting the ‘coercion’ and ‘consent’ of the hegemonic structure of caste Hindu cultural authority, which was functional as a culture authority and social power. I argue that Dr Ambedkar’s religious conversion was an attempt to establish the epistemological separation and formulation of social ontology through the cultural imagination of ‘ex-communicated’ castes with the refusal of the ideology of ‘pure and impure’.
Recasting the Tribal Warrior: The Politics of Paratexts in Mayilamma: The Life of a Tribal Eco-warrior
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
This article attempts to read the paratextual elements in Mayilamma: The Life of a Tribal Eco-warrior (2018), the translated autobiography of Mayilamma, a tribal activist from Kerala, India, who led the protest against a Coca-Cola plant in their village. This study also attempts to analyse how translations work to shape and control marginalized life narratives, within an academic framework that caters to predominantly Western imaginings of the marginal exotic. It further questions how a marginalized life narrative is conceived and processed within the larger academia, as well as by the publishing industry. It provides a detailed discourse analysis of the paratextual elements in Mayilamma: The Life of a Tribal Eco-warrior to bring out its market politics and the process of exoticizing the marginalized. This article argues that through paratexts, there is an attempt to formulate a subject–object out of Mayilamma, within the academic imaginings of a marginal exotic rebel tribeswoman.
This article attempts to read the paratextual elements in Mayilamma: The Life of a Tribal Eco-warrior (2018), the translated autobiography of Mayilamma, a tribal activist from Kerala, India, who led the protest against a Coca-Cola plant in their village. This study also attempts to analyse how translations work to shape and control marginalized life narratives, within an academic framework that caters to predominantly Western imaginings of the marginal exotic. It further questions how a marginalized life narrative is conceived and processed within the larger academia, as well as by the publishing industry. It provides a detailed discourse analysis of the paratextual elements in Mayilamma: The Life of a Tribal Eco-warrior to bring out its market politics and the process of exoticizing the marginalized. This article argues that through paratexts, there is an attempt to formulate a subject–object out of Mayilamma, within the academic imaginings of a marginal exotic rebel tribeswoman.
Understanding the Reasons of Decline of Pasmanda Movement: Insights from a Region
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The Pasmanda Movement is nearly a 100-year-old discourse. However, this movement is not competent enough to unite Muslims, particularly the Pasmanda Muslims, under one banner. It could not develop as a vigorous sociopolitical movement to gain political benefit. In this context, this article attempts to divulge the causes of its deterioration. Analysing so, it tries to trace the unity among Muslims with regard to this discourse. This article also attempts to understand the political philosophy of this movement. This article aims to underline the protests managed by the followers of the movement regarding the Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Muslims. It highlights the assertion of movement in the upsurge of right-wing and secular versus communal politics. This also strives to understand the nature of this discourse in terms of its independency. This article analyses its silence upon the orthodoxy among the Muslim community and their activism through social media to continue this movement.
The Pasmanda Movement is nearly a 100-year-old discourse. However, this movement is not competent enough to unite Muslims, particularly the Pasmanda Muslims, under one banner. It could not develop as a vigorous sociopolitical movement to gain political benefit. In this context, this article attempts to divulge the causes of its deterioration. Analysing so, it tries to trace the unity among Muslims with regard to this discourse. This article also attempts to understand the political philosophy of this movement. This article aims to underline the protests managed by the followers of the movement regarding the Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Muslims. It highlights the assertion of movement in the upsurge of right-wing and secular versus communal politics. This also strives to understand the nature of this discourse in terms of its independency. This article analyses its silence upon the orthodoxy among the Muslim community and their activism through social media to continue this movement.
Inequality of School Enrolment and Literacy Status Between Scheduled Tribe and Non-Scheduled Tribe Community: A Critical Study in West Bengal
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Historically, the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community is deprived of primary education and suffers from a lower literacy rate in India, particularly in West Bengal. From this perspective, the study aims to find the trend of the primary gross-enrolment ratio (PGER) of 7–14 years aged children and the overall literacy rate in the ST community as compared to its non-ST counterpart. The study also focuses on gendered literacy disparity in ST and non-ST communities. Gendered literacy disparity is measured using modified Sopher’s disparity index of Kundu and Rao (Educational planning: A long term perspective, 1986 [pp. 435–466], NIEPA). Besides, paired sample t-test is applied for the empirical result. Apart from this, a comparative analysis of rural and urban Bengal is made. The study reveals that in India as a whole and particularly in West Bengal, the literacy rate and PGER have yet not achieved its desired goal. The condition was worse in the ST community in the previous census and has created a wide PGER and literacy gap with the non-ST community. Gendered literacy disparity exists in both the communities, though the level is very high in the ST community.
Historically, the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community is deprived of primary education and suffers from a lower literacy rate in India, particularly in West Bengal. From this perspective, the study aims to find the trend of the primary gross-enrolment ratio (PGER) of 7–14 years aged children and the overall literacy rate in the ST community as compared to its non-ST counterpart. The study also focuses on gendered literacy disparity in ST and non-ST communities. Gendered literacy disparity is measured using modified Sopher’s disparity index of Kundu and Rao (Educational planning: A long term perspective, 1986 [pp. 435–466], NIEPA). Besides, paired sample t-test is applied for the empirical result. Apart from this, a comparative analysis of rural and urban Bengal is made. The study reveals that in India as a whole and particularly in West Bengal, the literacy rate and PGER have yet not achieved its desired goal. The condition was worse in the ST community in the previous census and has created a wide PGER and literacy gap with the non-ST community. Gendered literacy disparity exists in both the communities, though the level is very high in the ST community.
Caste and Premarket Discrimination: Access to Civic Amenities and Healthcare Facilities in Rural Punjab
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Access to civic amenities improves the quality of life as well as helps to overcome various health-related problems. The focus of the present study is to examine the caste-based premarket discrimination concerning access to civic amenities and healthcare facilities in rural Punjab. The primary data, collected from 12 villages of Punjab during the year 2015–2016, is analysed applying the univariate analysis technique. The analyses prove that the Scheduled Castes (SC), compared with non-SC households, have low access to the basic civic amenities of safe drinking water, drainage and toilet facility. A similar disadvantageous position of SC vis-à-vis non-SC households exists in rural Punjab so far as the ownership of the durable household assets of entertainment, household utilities, tools of information and communication technology, and means of transportation are concerned. The SC and non-SC were found to have equal access to the available healthcare facilities; nevertheless, both caste groups received different treatment from the medical staff.
Access to civic amenities improves the quality of life as well as helps to overcome various health-related problems. The focus of the present study is to examine the caste-based premarket discrimination concerning access to civic amenities and healthcare facilities in rural Punjab. The primary data, collected from 12 villages of Punjab during the year 2015–2016, is analysed applying the univariate analysis technique. The analyses prove that the Scheduled Castes (SC), compared with non-SC households, have low access to the basic civic amenities of safe drinking water, drainage and toilet facility. A similar disadvantageous position of SC vis-à-vis non-SC households exists in rural Punjab so far as the ownership of the durable household assets of entertainment, household utilities, tools of information and communication technology, and means of transportation are concerned. The SC and non-SC were found to have equal access to the available healthcare facilities; nevertheless, both caste groups received different treatment from the medical staff.
Governing Their Way: Traditional Self-governing Institutions Among the Tai Khamtis of Arunachal Pradesh
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Democracy has the quality of governance as it encourages people’s participation in decision-making and provides ample space for a transparent and egalitarian society based on equality, freedom and justice. Many democratic institutions have the qualities of internal governance, which broadens the idea of transparency, accountability, equal participation, responsiveness etc. The traditional self-governing institutions also have similar internal and external qualities to a democratic institution. Notably, many tribal communities in the north-eastern part of India have several such institutions working enormously in establishing democratic temperament and quasi-judicial activities, which are otherwise the prime functions of a modern democratic institution. The Khamtis are also not an exception. Khamtis are the prime ethnic dwellers of the eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh under the district of Namsai. They have their self-governing traditional institutions, which still have been actively performing their role in the administration of the village and the tribe. Many of the village-level decisions have been taken by the self-governing institutions along with the modern democratic institutions based on customary laws. Hence, it is interesting to study how the traditional institutions are rooted in the community life of the Khamtis and the present status of those institutions with the deepening of modern democracy. This study applied a case study method for the collection of information.
Democracy has the quality of governance as it encourages people’s participation in decision-making and provides ample space for a transparent and egalitarian society based on equality, freedom and justice. Many democratic institutions have the qualities of internal governance, which broadens the idea of transparency, accountability, equal participation, responsiveness etc. The traditional self-governing institutions also have similar internal and external qualities to a democratic institution. Notably, many tribal communities in the north-eastern part of India have several such institutions working enormously in establishing democratic temperament and quasi-judicial activities, which are otherwise the prime functions of a modern democratic institution. The Khamtis are also not an exception. Khamtis are the prime ethnic dwellers of the eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh under the district of Namsai. They have their self-governing traditional institutions, which still have been actively performing their role in the administration of the village and the tribe. Many of the village-level decisions have been taken by the self-governing institutions along with the modern democratic institutions based on customary laws. Hence, it is interesting to study how the traditional institutions are rooted in the community life of the Khamtis and the present status of those institutions with the deepening of modern democracy. This study applied a case study method for the collection of information.