Dalit Movement in Karnataka: Current Challenges and Intersectional Aspects (original) (raw)

Rise and Growth of Dalit Political Movement in Karnataka: A Critical Study

The privileged Brahmin was treated with high respect and had the superior power in hand and the less privileged Dalits were treated equal to animals and mere slaves. There writing started in the times of Mukti movement and it flourished into various genres in the time of Dalit Panther movement which started in 1970's with the influence of Black Panther movement from the west. These writings were to break the long silence of the dalits of thousand years they found the space to express their revolt against the social evil imposed on them for centuries. Majority of writers who wrote the brahminical text wrote with a Brahmin touch in order to sustain their mode of living in the society and they occupied the upper positions and leaving the dalits to do the lower job by subjugating them from the top in the form of religion, birth, caste etc. The proposition of the paper will deal with the rise of the political movement in Karanataka as the Dalit movement which was initiated in Maharastra lead to the momentum of initiating other movements in different states.

Dalit Movements in Contemporary India: Issues and Challenges

Vidyasagar University Journal of History, Volume VIII, 2019-2020, Pages : 120-131, 2020

Traditional Indian society was founded on Varna and Jati, as is commonly known. This system has a long history and has experienced significant modifications throughout time, yet caste continues to be a prominent institution in our socioeconomic , religious, and political structures after 75 years of India's independence. The idea of untouchability has been the most perplexing and troubling aspect of the caste system. While Dalit movements in colonial India attempted to dismantle the upper castes' elite history by concentrating on Dalit history, heritage, epistemology, and worldview; Dalit movements in the postcolonial time attempted to construct and recreate the pan-Indian Dalit identity through a variety of identity politics and social-political movements. With the above backdrop, the article tries to explore some of the contemporary Dalit movements in India and examines its deep relation to the Bhim Army, Rohith Vemula case and Koregaon Bhima incident which not only influenced the contemporary Dalit movements in India but also have contributed for arousing Dalit consciousness for a pan-Indian dalit identity, organisation and movement. The paper also vividly examines the issues and challenges in the path of Dalit movements in the 21 st century under the impact of neoliberal globalisation.

Dalits in India: From Marginalisation to Inclusion

It is said that that India is at the threshold of a Dalit Revolution, dalits being the most marginalised people in India. This paper opens a debate on participation and poverty of dalits in India's social and economic spheres by introducing the lens of 'inclusion' to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the issue. It highlights and discusses the present conditions and challenges of India's 167 million of oppressed and marginalised sections of society who – by and large – have for thousands of years – remained neglected and ignored in the social milieu. The dalits have suffered cumulative domination, protested several sources of deprivation, political powerlessness, exploitation and poverty. These protests and movements have no doubt given organisational shape and resulted in social awareness and political consciousness to develop self-respect and feelings of power-sharing. Economic and social " welfare measures " , along with political reforms have tried to address vital issues in dalit resurgence. There is some transformation in this sense. The revival of 'Ambedkarism' and dalit movement should be assessed in this context. Despite political empowerment dalits live in situations of social discrimination, physical violence and abject poverty. Around 50 per cent of the quantum of welfare measures is still unfulfilled. We need to explore social, cultural, political and economic factors (e.g. caste, class, gender, education, state, etc) in the context of dalit people's access to rights, resources, employment and security. The focus now needs to be on dalit emancipation, rights and inclusive growth, both within 'dalitology' and the new pedagogy of inclusive growth. Political reality – whether in case of agitations or administration – must admit social equality within caste dynamics. This indeed is a challenge.

Emergence of Dalit Political Movement in Andhra Pradesh: A Critical Study

Dalit movements started as a form of revolution in order to voice out for the right in the society. People fight for a cause and that turns into a movement and sometimes it is the movements which bring people together to fight against the atrocities. Likewise, Dalit movement started in the early 80 " s by Bakthi saints and it gained its momentum with giants like Buddha, Phule and Ambedkar. The inequality among the human on the basis of the religious text and rituals created inferiority and superiority complex in the minds of the people. The fight to gain the position as equal to other human and to stop the ill-treatment within human the movements stated to emerge. This Paper will mainly focus on the Dalit political movement in Andhra Pradesh.

‘Re-inventing Dalit Women’s Identity? Dynamics of Social Activism and Electoral Politics in Rural North India’, Contemporary South Asia Journal (BASAS 5th Annual Issue), 16 (4).

Contemporary South Asia, 2008

Dalit or ex-untouchable women's voices and perspectives have been marginalized not only in Dalit movements but also in upper caste Hindu-led women's movements. This paper aims at exploring the unheard voices and perspectives of Dalit women in the context of Dalit assertion in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. Scholarly writing examines the different facets of Dalit political assertion led by the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. Few scholars, however, examine the ways in which individual and organisational actors engage with women of Dalit castes through social activism in the state. This paper is an attempt to do so. Specifically, it examines, with special reference to issues of culture and identity, the engagement of a grassroots women's NGO with rural Dalit women in southern Uttar Pradesh. The paper begins with an enquiry on why engagement with issues of culture and identity is necessary for social activism with Dalit women, and how it is carried out. It then examines whether social activism and electoral politics with Dalit women cross-cut each other, and also what implications does this or its lack have on the women. Finally, it asks how far activism and politics can go towards re-inventing Dalit (women's) identity.

HISTORICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES ON DALIT MOVEMENTS IN INDIA LOKESHWARI

Comprehensive history presents that saga of Dalit people has been suffering from social, economic, religious, political, and various forms of discrimination and atrocities from times immemorial. Such socially implanted caste-based discrimination resulted in number of Dalit movements in India. The paper examines the various forms of the Dalit movement, traces Dalit problems, and their mobilization for the Dalit movement. The paper also brings forth the studies made on such movements. Thus, the paper examines the importance of the Dalit movement in India.

Contemporary dalit assertions in Kerala

Caste inequality is a heatedly debated issue in contemporary Kerala, in stark contrast to an earlier time, when the idea that Kerala had overcome caste hierarchies through the twin strategies of social development and political mobilisation was still hegemonic. Post-1990s, political developments have pushed the question of caste back into the forefront of public debate, and 'Dalit identity politics' has been perceived as a serious threat by Kerala's powerful left parties, despite the fact that Dalit political formations are not numerically powerful. Three processes seem to be crucial in precipitating the current situation: (a) the transformation of politics itself in the mid-1990s from the 'public action' mode to the 'liberal' mode, which was rejected by the Dalits and tribal communities; (b) rapidly widening economic inequalities and rapidly crystallising elite ideological dominance led to the strengthening of abjection as a mode of marginalisation of the lower castes which is being resisted; (c) the transformation of the Malayali literary public brought to the fore questions of caste and gender that were submerged under the earlier socio-cultural consensus generated by the hegemonic Malayali national popular shaped by the communists.