Finding it difficult to change Dalit mindset for better prospects, 'respected' lifestyle

A Gujarat Dalit women's demonstration

By Shantanu Singh Yadav*
Even after 75 years of independence, India, along with significant macro and microeconomic issues, is dealing with a problem that lies at the very heart: Casteism. The first thing an individual associates to, right after being born, is their caste. This is a critical factor during admission to a school, marriage, renting/buying a flat in society, and even the rights performed during cremation. The result of casteism is heavily skewed with only selected individuals enjoying power at the helm of everything while the masses still facing the brunt.
Many leaders and activists throughout the last 75 years who have fought against this evil of casteism. One of those is a human rights activist and lawyer, Manjula Pradeep, a women rights leader dedicated to the Dalit movement in Gujarat. She was born to a Dalit family in Vadodara district which had recently migrated from Uttar Pradesh.
Being from a Dalit family, Manjula knows and closely understands the abuse and misery Dalits, especially Dalit women, are subjected to due to the trinity of gender, class, and caste deep enshrined in the Indian societal hierarchy.
Pradeep, right after graduating from the MS University, Baroda (Vadodara), joined as the first female employee of the Navsarjan Trust, one of the largest organizations for Dalit rights addressing issues of discrimination on the basis of gender and caste. While being associated with the Navsarjan Trust, Manjula got a deeper and more holistic experience of the lives of Dalit women in India and the atrocities committed against them.
Pradeep decided to study law while dealing with an elderly Dalit woman whose son was killed in custody after being brutally beaten up by police. She realized that in order to drive change, one needs to fight not only in the streets but also in the courts of law.
After becoming director of Navsarjan Trust in 2004, Manjula made attempts to bring caste and gender in the Dalit rights framework. Currently, she is involved in State and national-level programmes of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. Additionally, she is also a member of the International Dalit Solidarity Network. During the UN World Conference Against Racism, South Africa, she garnered visibility for Dalit rights.
Working in Gujarat, Pradeep realized that though there has been infrastructure and industrial development in the State, the situation of the marginalized communities has only deteriorated. Deep inside the state is very much casteist, with the upper caste communities reaping the benefits of employment and a better standard of living coming from the development.
She says that caste identity is the sole reason behind the sexual abuse of women in the villages and even in developed cities like Vadodara and Ahmedabad. And this is the reason behind the high dropout rate from schools among Dalit students.

Manjula Pradeep

Despite being banned in India since 1993, manual scavenging is pretty common in the state of Gujarat, with the scavengers from just the Dalit communities stepping inside the drains and sewers for this inhuman task. Dry toilets used by upper caste communities and cleaned by Dalit women were common in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. Pradeep worked on a documentary named “Gandhi ka Gujarat” for submission to the Supreme Court on a petition filed against manual scavenging, which demolished makeshift dry toilets.
The most shocking incident she came across was the 2008 Patan Gang Rape case where a 17-year-old Dalit girl student was gang-raped by six male teachers multiple times. In the absence of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Pradeep took custody of the student and fought the case on her behalf.
After one year long, resulting in life imprisonment for all the six accused, she won the case. In addition, there are other cases on the grounds of sexual trafficking, sexual abuse, murder of Dalit women, etc., that Pradeep has dealt with during her work as an activist.
Driving change in the mindset of people, both upper and lower caste, has been an extremely difficult task for her. While upper caste communities leave all the degrading work for lower caste communities, people from lower caste communities also accept it as their fate. Since these communities have been employed in such demeaning jobs for generations, to drive a change in their mindset for better prospects of job and hence a respected lifestyle is also difficult.
Pradeep believes that during the last 30 years of her work, she has observed some change in the mindset from both ends and expects it to continue for the future to come.
---
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, PGP 2020-22

Comments

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Delhi HC rules in favour of retired Air Force officer 'overcharged' for Covid treatment

By Rosamma Thomas* In a decision of May 22, 2023, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of petitioner Group Captain Suresh Khanna who was under treatment at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, between April 28 and May 5, 2021, for a period of eight days, for Covid-19 pneumonia. The petitioner had to pay Rs 3,55,286 as treatment costs, but the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) only reimbursed him for Rs 1,83,748, on the basis of government-approved rates.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Search This Blog