A beleaguered class in past and present India
Here are some of the key components of the genesis of this backward community and its concomitant socioeconomic characteristics:
Who is a Dalit?
The Sanskrit term Dalit literally means ‘broken’ or ‘split’. It was used to refer to people belonging to the backward castes in pre-independence India, who were subjected to untouchability by those belonging to upper castes. The term Dalit was popularised by economist and social reformer B.R. Ambedkar, who also belonged to a backward caste. Dalits have had the lowest social status in India’s traditional Hindu social system.
Assigning social markers and political rights
In 1932, the British government in India decided to have a separate set of electorates to elect leaders of the Dalit community. This was supported by Ambedkar, but Gandhi was opposed to it. This difference of views initially resulted in the Puna Pact, which eventually paved the way for the Government of India Act, 1935, that provided reservation of seats for the depressed classes — later known as Scheduled Castes.
Dalits in independent India
The Indian Constitution, adopted in 1950, apart from abolishing the practice untouchability, also took several measures to ensure adequate socioeconomic benefits and opportunities for the backward castes. These included adoption of the reservations system in government jobs and national educational institutions and a further classification of backward castes into Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes.
Rise of the Dalit ‘consciousness’:
According to the national census of 2011, Dalits comprise 16.6 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion-strong population. Dalits have had the lowest stature in the traditional Indian social structure. However, James Lochtefeld, a professor of Religion and Asian Studies, feels that “adoption and popularisation [of the term Dalit] reflects their growing awareness of the situation and their greater assertiveness in demanding their legal and constitutional rights”. This is what sociologist Ashis Nandy has also referred to as “a certain degree of political empowerment”. Emergence of young political leaders from the Dalit community, such as Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor bears, testimony to that.
The overwhelming reality
On the one hand is the unavoidable social reality of a ‘short end of the stick’ that has been very lucidly enumerated in a 2007 Human Rights Watch report that likened the condition of Dalits to a “hidden apartheid”, whereby members of the community do not have adequate access to schools, health care, housing and public services. On the other hand is the issue of ‘haves’ and have-nots’ within the community itself, whereby, taking full advantage of reservations in government jobs and through participation in the political process, a certain section of Dalits have prospered. Torn between these two extremes, the issue of Dalit emancipation is front-and-centre in India’s social and political life.