Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Jason Keith Fernandes, Citizenship in a Caste Polity: Religion, Language and Belonging in Goa. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, 2020, 361 + xvi pp., ₹900 (hardback). ISBN-10: 9352879945; ISBN-13: 978-9352879946.
Book review: Judith Misrahi-Barak, K. Satyanarayana and Nicole Thiara (Eds.), Dalit Text: Aesthetics and Politics Re-Imagined
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Judith Misrahi-Barak, K. Satyanarayana and Nicole Thiara (Eds.), Dalit Text: Aesthetics and Politics Re-Imagined. New York: Routledge, 2020, xxiv + 238 pp., ₹641 (paperback). ISBN: 978-0-367-21841-6.
Judith Misrahi-Barak, K. Satyanarayana and Nicole Thiara (Eds.), Dalit Text: Aesthetics and Politics Re-Imagined. New York: Routledge, 2020, xxiv + 238 pp., ₹641 (paperback). ISBN: 978-0-367-21841-6.
The New Contours of Identity Politics: Saffron Mobilization of Dalit and Backward Caste in Uttar Pradesh
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The intense electoral competition has made it imperative for political parties to invent new languages and newer modes of organizing the demos. The interchanging registers of Mandal and Kamandal have so far configured the trajectory to power in the state. A careful reading reveals that both these registers have employed the discourse of ‘identity’ to mobilize people. The popularity of this discourse hinges on the fact that it is dynamic and can touch upon the idea of the ‘political’ of diverse people. However, the appropriation and reappropriation of this discourse has transformed its meaning over time. While caste remains the centre around which it is woven, the way in which caste entities are captured to form alignments has changed over time. While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) used it for arousing critical consciousness of the Dalit-Bahujan caste to challenge caste hegemony, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used it successfully for constructing a rightist identity and dismantling the Bahujan politics. BSP strengthened the Dalit-Bahujan identity to fight caste discrimination, turning caste disadvantage into caste advantage. To counter this BJP too engaged in caste-based community mobilization, while simultaneously giving a rhetoric of caste-free developmental politics to consolidated upper-caste–lower-caste Hindu alliance.
The intense electoral competition has made it imperative for political parties to invent new languages and newer modes of organizing the demos. The interchanging registers of Mandal and Kamandal have so far configured the trajectory to power in the state. A careful reading reveals that both these registers have employed the discourse of ‘identity’ to mobilize people. The popularity of this discourse hinges on the fact that it is dynamic and can touch upon the idea of the ‘political’ of diverse people. However, the appropriation and reappropriation of this discourse has transformed its meaning over time. While caste remains the centre around which it is woven, the way in which caste entities are captured to form alignments has changed over time. While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) used it for arousing critical consciousness of the Dalit-Bahujan caste to challenge caste hegemony, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used it successfully for constructing a rightist identity and dismantling the Bahujan politics. BSP strengthened the Dalit-Bahujan identity to fight caste discrimination, turning caste disadvantage into caste advantage. To counter this BJP too engaged in caste-based community mobilization, while simultaneously giving a rhetoric of caste-free developmental politics to consolidated upper-caste–lower-caste Hindu alliance.
Representation of Dalits in Hindi Cinema After Liberalization
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
This article delineates the transition of the representation of Dalits in Hindi cinema. For that purpose, the article categorizes Hindi cinema into two phases—first, the pre-liberalization phase, and the second, is the post-liberalization phase for the understanding of—why Dalits are treated as ‘Others’. The question of Dalit is fixed in the imaginaries of upper-caste as a matter of consumption. In the pre-1991 era, Dalit’s were represented as poor, wretched, non-heroic, and absolutely clientele characters. In the post-1991 scenario, Dalits came up as educated, skilled, competent and confident in the modern institutional setup, but Hindi Cinema did not present Dalits as protagonists. The continuous clientele depiction of Dalit characters in Hindi Cinema aggravates upper-caste prejudices against Dalits. The article argues that there is an ‘Absence of Presence’ of Dalit experiences beyond upper-caste imaginaries, and also, there is a complete exclusion of ‘New Dalit Middle Class’ from the popular cinema narratives. A commoner troupe is used to represent the Dalit and it further extends the question of ‘Real’ and ‘Reel’ representation. Thus, this article tries to investigate the above-mentioned questions in the broad context of post-liberal Hindi cinema and flag some theoretical issues emerging from this engagement.
This article delineates the transition of the representation of Dalits in Hindi cinema. For that purpose, the article categorizes Hindi cinema into two phases—first, the pre-liberalization phase, and the second, is the post-liberalization phase for the understanding of—why Dalits are treated as ‘Others’. The question of Dalit is fixed in the imaginaries of upper-caste as a matter of consumption. In the pre-1991 era, Dalit’s were represented as poor, wretched, non-heroic, and absolutely clientele characters. In the post-1991 scenario, Dalits came up as educated, skilled, competent and confident in the modern institutional setup, but Hindi Cinema did not present Dalits as protagonists. The continuous clientele depiction of Dalit characters in Hindi Cinema aggravates upper-caste prejudices against Dalits. The article argues that there is an ‘Absence of Presence’ of Dalit experiences beyond upper-caste imaginaries, and also, there is a complete exclusion of ‘New Dalit Middle Class’ from the popular cinema narratives. A commoner troupe is used to represent the Dalit and it further extends the question of ‘Real’ and ‘Reel’ representation. Thus, this article tries to investigate the above-mentioned questions in the broad context of post-liberal Hindi cinema and flag some theoretical issues emerging from this engagement.
Under the Sentence of Caste: Twin Peak Dalit Massacres in the Siwalik
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched the ‘People’s War’ from 1996 to 2006. The 10-year long insurgency in Nepal claimed over 13, 000 lives, and left over 1, 300 missing. As the Maoists professed themselves as a vanguard of a rebellion against the structural inequalities, they lured the members of the Dalit community into their ideology, and drafted many of them in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). State security forces, on the other hand, in a rapid escalation, targeted Dalit as Maoists or their allies. The shift in combat strategy of the Maoists in 2001, and the counter-insurgency tactics resulted in an increase of human rights violations against Dalit in the western hinterlands. By a qualitative interviewing of 17 Dalit families, of the two adjoining villages of west Nepal, of which 20 men were killed in two separate incidents by then Royal Nepal Army (RNA) in 2002, this article expounds the broad structural issues, the liberation and security discourses, and the local geography-time susceptibility of the families as the targets of state power enmeshed in the massacres as narrated by the family members, the contexts and grounds that culminated in the two events, and the social aftermath.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched the ‘People’s War’ from 1996 to 2006. The 10-year long insurgency in Nepal claimed over 13, 000 lives, and left over 1, 300 missing. As the Maoists professed themselves as a vanguard of a rebellion against the structural inequalities, they lured the members of the Dalit community into their ideology, and drafted many of them in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). State security forces, on the other hand, in a rapid escalation, targeted Dalit as Maoists or their allies. The shift in combat strategy of the Maoists in 2001, and the counter-insurgency tactics resulted in an increase of human rights violations against Dalit in the western hinterlands. By a qualitative interviewing of 17 Dalit families, of the two adjoining villages of west Nepal, of which 20 men were killed in two separate incidents by then Royal Nepal Army (RNA) in 2002, this article expounds the broad structural issues, the liberation and security discourses, and the local geography-time susceptibility of the families as the targets of state power enmeshed in the massacres as narrated by the family members, the contexts and grounds that culminated in the two events, and the social aftermath.
Karl Marx’s Writings on Alienation
Latin American Extractivism: Dependency, Resource Nationalism, and Resistance in Broad Perspective
Karnan: An Assertion of Dalit Identity
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Indian films, both mainstream Bollywood (Hindi cinema) and regional films have captured issues related to caste, class and gender disparities, and have enabled directors/producers to experiment with techniques so as to challenge stereotypical representations. Tamil cinema in this context has gone through a sea change in its representation of the subaltern class. From being silent and passive sufferers, the characters on screen now raise to speak for their community and assert their identity. This article explores the representation of Dalits on visual platform and how contemporary filmmakers seek to challenge and demystify the established narratives/canon. The article further analyses the recent Tamil cinema titled Karnan (April 2021) which challenges dominant ideologies that perpetuates discrimination, objectification, exclusion and silence to sustain its power. Using the Mahabharata mythical characters and employing cinematic techniques, the film resists and subverts dominant perception which aims to silence the other.
Indian films, both mainstream Bollywood (Hindi cinema) and regional films have captured issues related to caste, class and gender disparities, and have enabled directors/producers to experiment with techniques so as to challenge stereotypical representations. Tamil cinema in this context has gone through a sea change in its representation of the subaltern class. From being silent and passive sufferers, the characters on screen now raise to speak for their community and assert their identity. This article explores the representation of Dalits on visual platform and how contemporary filmmakers seek to challenge and demystify the established narratives/canon. The article further analyses the recent Tamil cinema titled Karnan (April 2021) which challenges dominant ideologies that perpetuates discrimination, objectification, exclusion and silence to sustain its power. Using the Mahabharata mythical characters and employing cinematic techniques, the film resists and subverts dominant perception which aims to silence the other.
Pandit C. Iyothee Thass and Christianity
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Iyothee Thass (1845–1914), a forgotten Dalit activist, has become part of serious academic discussions in the recent times. Various studies had been carried out, such as I. Thass as a Dalit journalist; I. Thass as a Forerunner of Buddhist Renaissance in the Tamil region and I. Thass as an anti-caste activist. This article analyses Thass’ articles related to Christianity. These articles can roughly be classified into two categories: articles that are exegetical (explaining the Biblical passages/events/personalities) and articles that are critical of the institution of the Church and its mission. The analysis of all the articles on Christianity reveals that Thass emerges both as a strong critic of Christianity in India, specially its adaptation of caste in its Indian version and a Buddhist exegete who could explain the whole Bible as a veiled doctrine of Buddhism.
Iyothee Thass (1845–1914), a forgotten Dalit activist, has become part of serious academic discussions in the recent times. Various studies had been carried out, such as I. Thass as a Dalit journalist; I. Thass as a Forerunner of Buddhist Renaissance in the Tamil region and I. Thass as an anti-caste activist. This article analyses Thass’ articles related to Christianity. These articles can roughly be classified into two categories: articles that are exegetical (explaining the Biblical passages/events/personalities) and articles that are critical of the institution of the Church and its mission. The analysis of all the articles on Christianity reveals that Thass emerges both as a strong critic of Christianity in India, specially its adaptation of caste in its Indian version and a Buddhist exegete who could explain the whole Bible as a veiled doctrine of Buddhism.
Caste Maters: An Empirical Study on Asset Structure of Dalit Woman Labour Households
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The primary data were collected from 927 Dalit woman labour households belonging to all the three geographical regions of Punjab (India) to analyse the asset structure of these households. The study revealed that a Dalit woman labour household had assets worth ₹128,750.98. Out of the total value of assets, 90.81% were durable assets and the remaining 9.19% were livestock assets. All the respondent households were found landless. The ratio of debt to household assets was found to be 0.41 which indicates that 41% of the household assets would be needed to pay off their current debt. More than 70% of the total value of durable assets was swallowed only by the dwelling house. Most of the durable items in these households were found useless, old and broken. Actually, the relatively rich households of the village used to give them these already used items in order to seek their cheap or free labour.
The primary data were collected from 927 Dalit woman labour households belonging to all the three geographical regions of Punjab (India) to analyse the asset structure of these households. The study revealed that a Dalit woman labour household had assets worth ₹128,750.98. Out of the total value of assets, 90.81% were durable assets and the remaining 9.19% were livestock assets. All the respondent households were found landless. The ratio of debt to household assets was found to be 0.41 which indicates that 41% of the household assets would be needed to pay off their current debt. More than 70% of the total value of durable assets was swallowed only by the dwelling house. Most of the durable items in these households were found useless, old and broken. Actually, the relatively rich households of the village used to give them these already used items in order to seek their cheap or free labour.