Finally...
As I briefly (and skeptically) mentioned in the previous post, my friend Pradeep had been planning to conduct some interviews in the nearby dalit colonies. Against all odds, this has actually happened, and I've spent several recent evenings with him, talking to people in the colony. I've learned more in this past week than I have in the previous six months. Here is a little bit of what I've learned.
First, allow me to clarify what it means to be a dalit, as there are a lot of inaccurate impressions and assumptions floating around out there. Dalit is not a caste name-- there is no Dalit caste. Rather, this is a title that members of several of the lowest castes have taken upon themselves. "Dalit" translates literally to "ground down" or "downtrodden." Those who have been systematically oppressed, discriminated against, and excluded by the caste structure identify themselves as dalits as a means of asserting their identity and making explicit their status. Since this is a term that does not apply to a specific caste, it also serves to unify those who might otherwise only be working for the uplift of their own particular caste and to create a movement of the oppressed that transcends caste lines.
And while, by definition, any person who is systematically oppressed and denied rights, access to resources, and dignity could be called a dalit, the term is currently used mostly in reference to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs). When India's constitution was drafted in 1950, it outlawed caste discrimination and sought to redress the harm done to the lower castes and tribal peoples by identifying many of these as SCs and STs and creating reservations (think affirmative action) for members of the SCs and STs in higher educational institutions and in government posts and civil jobs, and by earmarking money to provide for uplift in the form of loans for education and housing. However, reservation only benefits a very few members of these communities and most of the money set aside for their development goes into the pockets of local officials whose job it is to distribute this money. So while Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the politicaly correct, sanitized terminology, many people still prefer the dalit title as they are not really benefitting from their inclusion as members of SCs and STs.
Another common misconception is that dalit means poor. While this is often the case, it is important to note that dalit is not a class identification. Not all dalits are poor, and not all poor people are dalits. It is true that it is hard for many dalits to find work. In many cases, traditional professions (which are largely, if not entirely, caste based) are being rendered obsolete by modernization (which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Yes, I'm kind of a bleeding heart, but I'm not that bad...) and many people are being forced to either relocate to more urban areas in search of employment or to engage in daily wage labour. As the term implies, daily wage labour is not regular, consistent employment. Rather, men will go out each day in search of unskilled work-- construction, agricultural labour-- and women will often go for household labour. And if someone works one day, there is no guarantee that he/she will work the next. Aside from being an inconsistent and unreliable form of income, daily wage labour also pays significantly less than a regular job would. Just like many workers in America have to settle for negligible pay because there are people in other countries who are willing to do the same work for much less, wage labourers in Kerala must settle for this lousy pay because there is a constant stream of people from Tamil Nadu and other neighboring states who will do these jobs for much less.
In the dalit colony Pradeep and I have been visiting, there are members of three different castes-- the ulaadas, pulayas, and paraiyars (interesting note-- it is from this caste name that the word pariah has its origin). I am unclear as to which is which, but traditionally these castes were basket-weavers, tree cutters, and rat catchers. Those who were tree cutters can no longer find work in their traditional profession because there is a glut of labour in the lumber industry. Because it pays reasonably well, rural people from all castes have flocked to tree-cutting for their wages. Also, as large companies with technology more advanced than an axe and rope take over the lumber industry, the traditional labourers are foced out of their profession and are having to turn to daily wage labour to make a living. Similarly, those who used to make their living by weaving and selling reed baskets no longer have a market because of the influx of higher quality plastic products and they, likewise, are forced to do wage or household labour in order to survive. For the rat catchers, whose job it was to rid their employers' paddy fields of vermin, the stigma and indignity (is that even a word??) associated with the job led many people to voluntarily eschew their traditional profession while modern pesticides and pest-control practices drove the rest out of their jobs (this, to say nothing of the environmental issues surrounding this).
Nearly every person we have spoken to thus far in the colony goes for daily wage labour. Only one out of the maybe 50 people we have talked to has a regular salaried job with benefits. This man, Sureshan, has a reservation job working in the canteen of Travancore/Cochin Chemicals. And while he has a regular job, a well-maintained house, and a reasonably comfortable life, he still can not move out of this colony where at least four homes are crowded onto every ten cents (100 cents= 1 acre) of land and there is no infrastructure for indoor plumbing. While there is no official or structural bar to upward mobility for dalits, the attitude and mentality of people in the mainstream keeps them on the margins of society. News reports are replete with stories of violence against dalits who do not stay in their place or who dare to step outside the normative roles proscribed upon them. Dalits are punished-- beaten, murdered, their wives and daughters raped, their homes destroyed, their water (yes, in many places they have a specifically dalit water tank) poisoned-- for infringements as dire as drawing water from the public tap. There are laws and acts in place specifically to protect dalits from caste violence. But when invoked, the cases are rarely followed through, especially when, as is often the case, the perpetrators are influential members of upper caste families. However, when dalit frustration boils over into protest or violence, they are quickly and efficiently dealt with by the law.
I've tried to cram a lot into this post... I hope it makes sense and is at least a little edifying. I will write more as my understanding (hopefully) grows with subsequent visits to the colony. There is a lot related to the "dalit issue," such as land reform and the role of religion in their struggle for dignity and development, that I haven't even touched on here. Hopefully I'll be able to write about these things in the future. But I think this is quite enough for now.
As I briefly (and skeptically) mentioned in the previous post, my friend Pradeep had been planning to conduct some interviews in the nearby dalit colonies. Against all odds, this has actually happened, and I've spent several recent evenings with him, talking to people in the colony. I've learned more in this past week than I have in the previous six months. Here is a little bit of what I've learned.
First, allow me to clarify what it means to be a dalit, as there are a lot of inaccurate impressions and assumptions floating around out there. Dalit is not a caste name-- there is no Dalit caste. Rather, this is a title that members of several of the lowest castes have taken upon themselves. "Dalit" translates literally to "ground down" or "downtrodden." Those who have been systematically oppressed, discriminated against, and excluded by the caste structure identify themselves as dalits as a means of asserting their identity and making explicit their status. Since this is a term that does not apply to a specific caste, it also serves to unify those who might otherwise only be working for the uplift of their own particular caste and to create a movement of the oppressed that transcends caste lines.
And while, by definition, any person who is systematically oppressed and denied rights, access to resources, and dignity could be called a dalit, the term is currently used mostly in reference to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs). When India's constitution was drafted in 1950, it outlawed caste discrimination and sought to redress the harm done to the lower castes and tribal peoples by identifying many of these as SCs and STs and creating reservations (think affirmative action) for members of the SCs and STs in higher educational institutions and in government posts and civil jobs, and by earmarking money to provide for uplift in the form of loans for education and housing. However, reservation only benefits a very few members of these communities and most of the money set aside for their development goes into the pockets of local officials whose job it is to distribute this money. So while Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the politicaly correct, sanitized terminology, many people still prefer the dalit title as they are not really benefitting from their inclusion as members of SCs and STs.
Another common misconception is that dalit means poor. While this is often the case, it is important to note that dalit is not a class identification. Not all dalits are poor, and not all poor people are dalits. It is true that it is hard for many dalits to find work. In many cases, traditional professions (which are largely, if not entirely, caste based) are being rendered obsolete by modernization (which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Yes, I'm kind of a bleeding heart, but I'm not that bad...) and many people are being forced to either relocate to more urban areas in search of employment or to engage in daily wage labour. As the term implies, daily wage labour is not regular, consistent employment. Rather, men will go out each day in search of unskilled work-- construction, agricultural labour-- and women will often go for household labour. And if someone works one day, there is no guarantee that he/she will work the next. Aside from being an inconsistent and unreliable form of income, daily wage labour also pays significantly less than a regular job would. Just like many workers in America have to settle for negligible pay because there are people in other countries who are willing to do the same work for much less, wage labourers in Kerala must settle for this lousy pay because there is a constant stream of people from Tamil Nadu and other neighboring states who will do these jobs for much less.
In the dalit colony Pradeep and I have been visiting, there are members of three different castes-- the ulaadas, pulayas, and paraiyars (interesting note-- it is from this caste name that the word pariah has its origin). I am unclear as to which is which, but traditionally these castes were basket-weavers, tree cutters, and rat catchers. Those who were tree cutters can no longer find work in their traditional profession because there is a glut of labour in the lumber industry. Because it pays reasonably well, rural people from all castes have flocked to tree-cutting for their wages. Also, as large companies with technology more advanced than an axe and rope take over the lumber industry, the traditional labourers are foced out of their profession and are having to turn to daily wage labour to make a living. Similarly, those who used to make their living by weaving and selling reed baskets no longer have a market because of the influx of higher quality plastic products and they, likewise, are forced to do wage or household labour in order to survive. For the rat catchers, whose job it was to rid their employers' paddy fields of vermin, the stigma and indignity (is that even a word??) associated with the job led many people to voluntarily eschew their traditional profession while modern pesticides and pest-control practices drove the rest out of their jobs (this, to say nothing of the environmental issues surrounding this).
Nearly every person we have spoken to thus far in the colony goes for daily wage labour. Only one out of the maybe 50 people we have talked to has a regular salaried job with benefits. This man, Sureshan, has a reservation job working in the canteen of Travancore/Cochin Chemicals. And while he has a regular job, a well-maintained house, and a reasonably comfortable life, he still can not move out of this colony where at least four homes are crowded onto every ten cents (100 cents= 1 acre) of land and there is no infrastructure for indoor plumbing. While there is no official or structural bar to upward mobility for dalits, the attitude and mentality of people in the mainstream keeps them on the margins of society. News reports are replete with stories of violence against dalits who do not stay in their place or who dare to step outside the normative roles proscribed upon them. Dalits are punished-- beaten, murdered, their wives and daughters raped, their homes destroyed, their water (yes, in many places they have a specifically dalit water tank) poisoned-- for infringements as dire as drawing water from the public tap. There are laws and acts in place specifically to protect dalits from caste violence. But when invoked, the cases are rarely followed through, especially when, as is often the case, the perpetrators are influential members of upper caste families. However, when dalit frustration boils over into protest or violence, they are quickly and efficiently dealt with by the law.
I've tried to cram a lot into this post... I hope it makes sense and is at least a little edifying. I will write more as my understanding (hopefully) grows with subsequent visits to the colony. There is a lot related to the "dalit issue," such as land reform and the role of religion in their struggle for dignity and development, that I haven't even touched on here. Hopefully I'll be able to write about these things in the future. But I think this is quite enough for now.
posted by Andy at 8:24 AM
2 Comments:
There are dalits in every society on earth. There are more in India and they are more visable than in most societies, so the issues are more prominant there. When you return to the US, you will see it here in sharper focus and maybe, just maybe, you can help here.
Dad
Probably your best post yet. It sounds like the Indian Constitution had great intentions for the dalits, but I seem to remember a road being paved with those...
Pardon the language, but the hate crimes and treatment that you describe of these people is the kind of bullshit that's so wrong with the world. It's a sign of people not seeing others as people, as fellow humans. I don't know what can be done about it, but it probably means a lot to these people that a Westerner is interested in hearing their stories. Maybe something great can come out of it...
~D
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