Of outcaste and lower caste Chandrabhan Prasad The Pioneer http://dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=prasad%2Fprasad191%2Etxt&writer=prasad
Many social scientists, political theorists and journalists tend to describe Dalits as lower caste. Under the lower caste nomenclature, Shudras and Dalits become one social block- repressed and stigmatised equally. The logic of reservation/affirmative action/diversity therefore, becomes larger to include all the lower castes. This mischievous thesis hurts the Dalits most as the Lower Castes which never face Dalit like discrimination, claim Dalit like public policy. The public policy thus becomes a disputed. Can the plight of Dalits be compared with any other doctrine of discrimination? Or, can there be any thing worse than untouchability? To begin with, the untouchability also condemns untouchables into unsociability. The unsociability thus, denies Dalits any space unless State intervenes. We must ponder over as how Dalits can become Collectors, Engineers, Ministers and surgeons, but not tea vendors or sweet shop owners? After touring Barmer in Rajasthan recently I was sharing my experiences with Sunil Kumar Suman, a young Dalit scholar from JNU. After our conversation had ended, he told me a similar story. According to Sunil, Amulya Das Gupt has written a story called *Achhut*(Untouchable). In Amulya's imagery, Bal Gangadhar Venkat Narayanam, a Namboodari Brahmin, as was his daily ritual, had gone to the river for a holy dip. One day Gangadhar after returning from his bath he saw an untouchable named Kumarappa walking towards him. As per the caste tradition, Kumarappa had tied a bell around his neck to notify his presence. The noise of the bell alerts non-Dalits so that they can escape from any possible pollution. The bell had got stuck and did not make a sound. Unaware of Gangadhar, Kumarappa kept walking toward the river. Upon seeing Kumarappa reaching the polluting distance, Gangadhar begun shouting at Kumarappa. There was a storm building up, and hence, Kumarappa could not hear the cries of Gangadhar, who began walking back towards the river and he fell in he river. Seeing this Kumarappa rushed to help him and threw a rope. Gangadhar held the rope tightly, Kumarappa began pulling him. As Gangadhar neared the safety zone, his holy books haunted his consciousness. As per the Shastras, lest a non-Dalit get polluted by the touch of an untouchable, he must keep distance of a minimum of 80 *haath*(distance from elbow to fingers). "How long is the rope", asked Gangadhar. "It is 73 *haath*", replied the worried Kumarappa. Gangadhar left the rope, and perished in the river. Between untouchable and death, Gangadhar chose the latter. Can Amulya's Chhut be related to present day realities? Consider the Dhunda village story. In August 2006, the unusual floods in Barmer had claimed 132 lives, and left thousands homeless. About three dozen people from the village Dhunda escaped the fury of flood, and tracked down to a road. Hungry and shivering under cold, they yelled for help. Dalits of another village came to know of their sufferings, and organized relief. They gave them food and fed them for three days. Upon learning that their saviours are Dalits, the flood victims became furious. "Why didn't you tell us that you were Dalit" asked one. They asked the Dalit saviours to get lost and approached non-Dalits for help. The Dalit saviours became victims of humiliation themselves. For the record sake, the flood victims were Malis, a caste ranked very low in the lower caste hierarchy. Socially despised, do the Dalits of Dhunda village have any scope to open a tea, or vegetable shop near their village? As a matter of fact, most enterprises in the countryside relate to eatables. Those who can't open a tea or a *paan* shop, are least likely to graduate into iron, cloth or grocery shop owners. On the other hand, howsoever poor the lower caste people may be, society offers them ample opportunities of self-employment. That's the distinction between out caste and lower caste. It is for such compelling reasons, Dalits have the first right over affirmative action/diversity. Can't the so-called lower caste shut their mouths for few decades? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
