I happened to read this article of Smruti koppikar in Outlook magazine titled ‘A metropolis is shamed’ speaking about the harassment and torture of Dalits in India, which still continues even after several decades of Independence. It is shameful that such atrocities still continue despite socio-cultural movement of the Dalits and their struggles against untouchability. Dalit women bear the brunt of poverty and, are traumatized by gender discrimination.
In this particular case, a 23- year old woman was abused, beaten up and stripped of her clothes despite her pleading with the crowd. Her mother was also insulted. This shows the fury of the upper caste mobs against hapless Dalit families and also the condition of getting marginalized. The crowd was jeering at her shouting ‘neech jati, neech jathi’. That some youths were taking pictures of her plight in mobile phones shows the utter cynicism of the society. Finally, a man from the neighborhood mustered up courage to drape the victim with a piece of cloth. Significantly, this man was a Muslim and in Islam there are no caste distinctions.
It is a lived experience of a Dalit. The lived experience includes the experience of feeling the oppression and harassment. This lived experience can be termed as the real experience in which he or she cannot come out of it. It is said that the person who has the real lived experience alone has the right to theorize on Dalits. But the unfortunate Dalit woman was rescued and given a piece of cloth by a neighbour, in this case a Muslim. This man who experienced the torture by being a witness to the incident has also the right to theorise, so also the police who arrested the offenders. Taking an opposite stand about the lived experience, I would like to quote an example. For instance, Vatsayana, author of the Kamasutra wrote the book without his lived experience. He sent his disciples to get knowledge and a feel of sexuality and based on which he wrote Kamasutra, still regarded as an authoritative book on sex. This proves wrong that only the lived experience can be theorized.
Another remarkable thing is that the woman was tortured since her brother was involved in a rape case. What had the poor woman done to suffer so much at the hands of the upper castes for the alleged crime committed by her brother? This again shows that poor Dalits have nobody to help them from the mob fury. Except for a Muslim nobody ventured to rescue her from the crowd.
Interestingly, as many as 17 upper caste women were charged with the crime. They went hiding after the incident and one of them managed to get bail even though it was a non- bailable offence. Most of the tormentors of the Dalit girl were women. Then the movement feminism and women’s liberation movement in the past have failed in their social role. Some of the assailants were confident of getting bail even though they were booked under non-bailable offences. Those who committed the crimes might have influenced the police which generally take the side of the accused in most cases. This was the reason that an accused managed to get bail though it was a non-bailable offence. Surprisingly, even the leaders of Dalits were indifferent to the plight of their fellow beings. The attitude shown by the Dalit leaders to the incident shows their disinterest in the issue. It is said that only the Dalit has the right to theorize on dalit.
This calls for argument. A Dalit who has entered to a next level in his class cannot theorize on Dalit experience because he doesn’t face the exploitation faced by the other Dalits. Here Dalit leaders are the example for it. They enjoy all the freedom and facilities in their life. One remarkable point in this context is that a Dalit does not have the tool to theorise since he is hedged in by poverty. If he gets the tool, he is transformed into the next class in his own community ie as a Dalit leader, doctor, professor etc. Do they have the right to theorise about the more marginalized Dalits?
What is of outmost concern is that the number of crimes in Maharashtra is on the increase. Why that is the crime graph is climbing up? What is the political class doing? Leaders dine in dalit colonies during elections. These hapless victims of atrocities would be left to the mercy of their tormentors once the police withdraw protection to the affected families.
Due to historical reasons Dalits are segregated and oppressed and marginalised. In a country like India where there are hardly any people to raise their voice against these atrocities, it will be difficult for the Dalit community to overcome oppression and harassment. What can be done is to unite and fight against such atrocities and provide them with education and basic necessities so that they can come up in life.
About the Author:
Praphul Ram is pursuing his Post Graduation in Journalism at Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal. He hails from Kannur, Kerala.
Comments
Add new comment