Dalits change name for pride, dignity
INNOVATIVE STRUGGLE Members of the community in Telangana adopt ‘Swaero’ title
HYDERABAD: When Botla Karthik, a Dalit youth from Mulug village of newly-formed Jayashankar Bhupalpalli district, got an Aadhaar card for his two-year-old daughter earlier this month, it generated a lot curiosity. Her name on the card read: Botla Abhaya Swaero.
The surname “Swaero” in the girl’s name might appear surprising, but it has now become a buzzword among the community members in Telangana that has given them a new identity. Instead of being referred to as Dalits or Scheduled Caste or marginalised section, they now prefer to call themselves “Swaeros”.
The letters Sw stand for social welfare, while the word “aeros” refers to sky, suggesting that sky is the limit for them.
The new identity revolution for Dalits, launched by senior IPS officer and secretary of the Telangana social welfare residential educational institutions society Dr RS Praveen Kumar, is fast spreading among Dalits, with students of these institutions taking it up as a mass movement to find a sense of pride and esteem for them in the society.
Among two lakh-odd students of the social welfare institutions, the word Swaero has almost become a suffix for their names.
They have been spreading the word “Swaero” extensively on social media platforms so that every Dalit has started using the word as his or her surname.
“Gone are the days of calling the SCs as Chandala, Harijan, Dalit, Badugu, Nimna.. etc. We are Swaeros. This is our new identity to discover our true potential,” says the IPS officer, an alumnus of Harvard University. He also prefers to be called “Praveen Kumar Swaero.”
The movement has picked such momentum of late that Dalit youths have proudly started displaying the word Swaero on all occasions.
When Botla Karthik got the Aadhaar card for his daughter with Swaero on it, the initiative got wide appreciation from all quarters in the community. Botla Abhaya Swaero is also the name his daughter’s birth certificate bears.
Sharing it on his Facebook page, Praveen Kumar commented: “This is my new identity. Now I chose a name that truly reflects my aspirations and my bright future. Call me Abhaya Swaero now. It is official.”
Even in the wedding invitations, Dalit youth have started carrying the suffix Swaero in their names. For example, Andey Bhaskar and Ganga Jamuna, both alumni of the social welfare institutions, who got married at Andey village of Mirdoddi in Siddipet on May 14, had carried the suffix Swaero in their names while sending the wedding invitations. “I am a Swaero,” Bhaskar wrote on the top of the invitation.
In Thandriyal village in Jagitial district, the Dalits renamed their colony as Swaeroes Colony. A student from the village, Vamshi, says on his Facebook page that he feels proud when the state road transport bus driver stops at the village and shouts “Swaero colony has arrived. Get down, please.”
Praveen Kumar feels that the word Dalit is imposed on a section of the people and it only acknowledges their oppression. “The Swaeros movement is aimed at rediscovering our true potential. It has been following 10 commandments, first of which says I am inferior to none and the last one says I shall never give up,” he points out.
Gone are the days of calling the Scheduled Castes Chandala, Harijan, Dalit, Badugu, Nimna, etc. We are Swaeros. This is our new identity to discover our true potential. PRAVEEN KUMAR SWAERO, IPS officer