Dalit epitomises our destiny

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dalit activists generally prefer the generic term, 'Dalit', to 'scheduled caste/schedules tribe', which have acquired a pejorative slant in Kerala.  But not everybody thinks so. A youth has demanded that the term, 'Dalit' be banished from Government communication, literature and other audio-visual material. Instead, he wants SC&STs to stay. Back in 2008, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes asked state governments not to use 'Dalit' in official documents, saying it was "unconstitutional". The Commission said the term is neither constitutional nor has been mentioned in modern laws. 'Scheduled Caste' is the appropriate and notified word in accordance with Article 341 of the Constitution, it said.

On cue, Kerala Government had issued several warnings to its agencies against taking liberties with, 'Dalit'. On November 26, 2012, SC-ST Secretary Devendrakumar Dodavat issued a circular, clarifying that "Harijan, Girijan and Dalit" are unconstitutional.   But such words don't just fly out of the window, as pointed out by the Jithin R S in his petition to Kerala SC-ST Commission. On the basis of his complaint, the Commission has asked the State Information and Public Relations Department how 'Dalit' is back in Government communication. The commission has summoned I &PRD officials to appear before it on October 30.

In a circular on October 10, I & PRD banished 'Dalit, Harijan and Girijan' from its periodicals- Janapadham and Kerala Calling- other publications and audio-visual materials. Such words "insult SC members", the PRD circular says.  The row over the use of 'Dalit' has provoked a revisit to the age-old Harijan-Girijan conundrum. Dalit was first used by Pune-based social reformer Jyotirao Phule to refer to untouchables outside the Hindu caste system and popularized by B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.   Says Ajay Kumar V. B., who heads the NGO, Rights: "To call Dalit unconstitutional, when it has gained pan-Indian acceptance is illogical. That word empowers us and given us a respectable identity. Isn't it a better reference than being called 'adima santhathikal (children of slaves) or Aadiyar? "      He said the PRD circular reference to "insult" is intriguing "because we've never felt insulted. How can a Government department, though trying to be empathetic, attribute insult to the term", he said. 

Writer Sathy Angamali said that first of all the Commission should realize complaint filed by the individual concerns a very large social segment. Rather than disposing of the petition as an individual petition, the commission should elicit opinions from affected sections of people.  "I have a feeling that the judiciary dances to the establishments’ tune, so just because a judicial forum had decreed Dalit unconstitutional, it doesn't take away the respectability surrounding the word, which epitomizes a larger political collective identity. 

"The world over subaltern stories and marginalized writings are conflated in a new literary genre. Our universities recognize Dalit literature. Dalit studies are engendered by members from oppressed communities, who have learned to read and write. Also we should realize that words gather new meanings with the passage of time. Dalit is one such term that defines our collective destiny". She would not restrict the term to conventional Dalit confines. It encompasses women suffering in a patriarchal order, which the establishment and its different arms try to perpetuate.     "Dalit is so different from Hindu. The current homogenization agenda of the Hindutva forces cannot tolerate the Dalit identity, which is anathema to the caste-oriented Savarna identity.  The SC-ST Commission should be aware of the ramifications of the decisions it takes while interpreting what may look like mere semantics", said Ms Angamali.