Dalit dreams and reality in 21st century India: a candid account

INTRODUCTION:

We are excited to invite Siddhesh Gautam the person behind the popular Instagram handle bakeryprasad_azaad to share his art and thoughts with us. This post is the culmination of this positive collaboration.

in this candid account, he talks about how a lot of things in 21st century India remain unchanged. now, over to his words:

The person in life that you will always be with the most, is yourself. Because even when you are with others, you are still with yourself, too!

When I wake up in the morning, I am with myself, laying in bed at night I'm with myself, walking down the street in the sunlight or in the rains, I am with myself. But who am I? What defines me?

Sometimes I wonder, what kind of person do I want to walk down the street with? What kind of person do I want to wake up in the morning with? What kind of person do I want to see at the end of the day before I fall asleep? Because that person is me, and it's my responsibility to be that person I want to be with. I know I want to spend my life with a person who knows how to fly, who's full of love, who's bold, who's never angry, who's never blind, who's able to smile and be carefree. So that's who I have to be. And that's what I tried to be so far.

my identity was defined way before I was born, and way before my father was born, and way before my grandfather and his grandfather and his grandfather was born. Some say that my identity was defined when the universe was taking shape.

Although, it's a utopian thought in Indian Society to have an individual identity because my identity was defined way before I was born, and way before my father was born, and way before my grandfather and his grandfather and his grandfather was born. Some say that my identity was defined when the universe was taking shape. Being brought up in a progressive family, no one ever uttered the word caste until my parents lost control over my upbringing and I was allowed to go out with my friends. It was during my seventh grade when I participated in my first discussion over Dalits with my friends. When asked upon my caste, I replied that I'm a Brahmin. No one could judge my caste-based upon my surname as my surname was misleading. My surname was also a Brahmin surname in many parts of the country. My parents always taught me that the learned one is a Brahmin, the warrior is a Kshatriya, the businessmen is a Vaishya and the servants are Shudra. I always thought of myself as a Brahmin, I don't know why, maybe because I never had an urge to fight or earn a lot of money and who wants to be someone's servant? I was going to school. I scored good marks in school. I could speak in English, not perfect, but better than everyone else in my class. I had nice clothes. My skin color was fairer. And I didn't stink. I was definitely a Brahmin. And so they believed. While returning home, I realized that I have only made an assumption and it could be a lie that I am a Brahmin. My friend Sandeep is a Kshatriya, even though I'd never seen him fight. I could be a Kshatriya too. And what if I am a Shudra? I was terrified by this thought. I waited eagerly for my father to return from his job so that I could ask my caste.

Well, I was born a Chamar (caste of cobblers). Chamars are from neither of the above -mentioned castes. They are outcaste. They are untouchable. I am untouchable. Am I? For a very large part of my life, no one ever made me think of my caste or any one's caste. I would not even polish my own shoes. How would I ever manage to repair shoes? Time passed by and I chose to remain a Brahmin in front of my friends.

Dalit, meaning "broken/scattered" in Sanskrit and Hindi

Dalit, meaning "broken/scattered" in Sanskrit and Hindi, is a term mostly used for the ethnic groups in India that have been kept depressed by subjecting them to untouchability. Dalits or untouchables are officially known as Scheduled Castes since the Government of India Act,1935. the caste system, which according to scholars is ordained by the Hindu religious scriptures, has placed untouchables outside the Chaturvarna (four castes) system of social division and imposed oppressive and inhuman rules of treatment against them. These rules emanate from several other religious texts such as Manu Smriti, which has now come under renewed criticism. It’s 2019 and the untouchability related oppression still continues in many forms and the oppressors reinvent modern methods of discrimination and inhuman treatment.

This is how reservation looks... just an aid to the broken ones.

To be a Dalit in the 21st Century is to continue to suffer social oppression and discrimination and incessantly rebel, rise, and question the oppressive social system and order— armed with education and willingness to bring a cultural revolution in India. The Dalits are considered to be untouchable as they are believed to be born impure and should not be allowed to touch. They were only allowed to do jobs that were considered menial by the Hindu society such as slaughtering, tanning leather, cleaning toilets, and streets, manual scavenging, cremating dead bodies, etc. and were not allowed to avail formal education of any form. It was up to a messiah Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, to rescue the untouchables through legal reservations and laws against any caste related atrocity on Dalits. He started the modern Dalit revolution during the British colonial period and firmed up the equality provisions and remedies to discrimination and oppression in the 1950 Constitution of India. But the current social order of India, as it exists, defies the equality which is enshrined in the Constitution with laws that emanate to protect the Dalits and continue to oppress Dalits.

An exhaustive and reflective list of treatment of Dalits in modern-day India can be observed from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as amended in 2016.

SERIES OF ILLUSTRATION: Not ashamed of the occupation of our ancestors, Dalit is aware and not falling prey to Sanskritisation and tends to agitate the caste-society in the most critical way possible.

SERIES OF ILLUSTRATION: Not ashamed of the occupation of our ancestors, Dalit is aware and not falling prey to Sanskritisation and tends to agitate the caste-society in the most critical way possible.

SERIES OF ILLUSTRATION: Not ashamed of the occupation of our ancestors, Dalit is aware and not falling prey to Sanskritisation and tends to agitate the caste-society in the most critical way possible.

In the Act, atrocities against Dalits are listed as-

“Putting any inedible/obnoxious substance into the mouth; forces to drink/eat inedible or obnoxious substance; dumping excreta/sewage/carcasses/any other obnoxious substance in premises or at the entrance of the premises and dumping excreta/waste matter/carcasses/ obnoxious substance in the neighborhood. Garlanding Dalits with footwear/parades naked or semi-naked; forcibly removing clothes/forcible tonsuring of head/removing moustaches/painting face or body on Dalits. On the economic side - occupying and cultivating land owned by Dalits, illegally taking possession or transferring land allotted to Dalits. Dispossessing of Dalits from their land and/premises; destroying crops/taking away the produce; Forcing them to do inhuman work such as ‘beggar’/other forms of forced or bonded labor; compel Dalits to dispose of/carry human or animal carcasses/to dig graves; make Dalits do manual scavenging. Forcing Dalit girls to become prostitutes and devadasis (dedicating girls to a life of sex work in the name of religion).”

discrimination in higher educational institutions came into light after the university of Hyderabad student Rohit Vemula’s suicide.

We have come a long way, a few things have changed for good, and still, there is a rise in the modern form of untouchability. This modern form of untouchability is forcing Dalits not to vote; there’s an institution of false/malicious/vexatious suit or cases against Dalits in government employment. The atrocity against Dalits is very much prevalent in schools too. Dalit children are discriminated against when it comes to mid-day meals and getting access to clean toilets. Dalit students in the higher educational institutes and universities are discriminated against, they are often taunted by the upper caste for not being deserving enough to study in esteemed institutions. The UGC guideline of prevention of discrimination in higher educational institutions came into light after the university of Hyderabad student Rohit Vemula’s suicide. Meanwhile, Dalit women in rural India are framed as witches; thereby ensuring that the family is socially ostracised in the village.

SERIES OF ILLUSTRATION: Not ashamed of the occupation of our ancestors, Dalit is aware and not falling prey to Sanskritisation and tends to agitate the caste-society in the most critical way possible.

It’s not just limited to a certain section of society. Often, even top officials who are Dalits are insulted and humiliated with caste slurs. Dalit intelligentsia of urban settlements such as Dr. Anand Teltumbde is falsely framed under draconian sedition laws.

Dalit intelligentsia of urban settlements such as Dr. Anand Teltumbde are falsely framed under draconian sedition laws.

Even Ambedkar, after so many years of his death, is abused through the destruction of his sculptures and other objects related to him. There is hatred against Dalits and in the modern time, there is also a behaviour of jealousy for Dalits due to the laws that protects them and the reservation system which consists of a series of measures, such as reserving access to seats in the various legislatures, to government jobs, and to enrolment in higher educational institutions.

On paper, there is a plethora of laws and related notification of government which list the practices against Dalits and try to prevent and punish the offenders. But too often, it doesn’t quite work in the ground.

The person in life that I will always be with the most, is a Chamar. Because even when I'm hiding it from my friends and society, I will remain a Chamar.

When I wake up in the morning, I am a Chamar, laying in bed at night I'm a Chamar, walking down the street in the sunlight or in the rains, I am a Chamar. This is what I am? This is what defines me? Chamar?

Now I wonder, what kind of person do I want to walk down the street with? What kind of person do I want to work with? What kind of person do I want to see at the end of the day before I fall asleep? Because that person is me, and it's my responsibility to be that person I want to be with. I know that I shouldn't be ashamed of that person. I know I want to spend my life with a person who knows how to fly, who's full of love, who's bold, who's never angry, who's never blind, who's able to smile and be carefree. I know I want to be a person who is a believer of humanity. I know I want to be a person who has faith in justice. So that's who I have to be. And that's what I will always try to be. I am not a Dalit,

I'm The Lit.