By Shiva Thorat, TwoCircles.net
Recently, the debate on the usage of the word ‘Dalit’ was highlighted again. The petition of one Pankaj Liladhar Meshram with the support of lawyer Shailesh Nanaware has become a trigger point, highlighting the issue in Maharashtra. “The petition was filed against the record of Maharashtra Government where Dalit word is used,” says Meshram. Meshram is General Secretary of Bhimshakti, an Ambedkarite organisation in Amravati district.
Meshram said, “the word ‘Dalit’ is hurtful to the Bahujans. Social media is spreading word intentionally to take down Bahujans. I am filing a petition to stop the intentions of the dominant culture, it is unconstitutional to call a Scheduled Caste as ‘Dalit’.
When TCN asked what dominant culture Meshram referring to, Meshram replied saying, “dominant culture knows what ‘Dalit’ word stands for. It is disgust and begging from someone. Why they do not want to use Scheduled Caste or just oppressed community, their thinking should be better. The word ‘Dalit’ translates as ‘split, broken, cracked’. It was first popularly used in the Dalit Panthers’ manifesto in the 1970s and originally was used to refer to all the oppressed castes.”
Amol Vajji, a PhD student doing his research on ‘social movements of Maharashtra’ in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi (JNU) and activist for BAMCEF (The All India Backward And Minority Communities Employees Federation) said that, “the word Dalit is labelled on the Bahujans because of high class politics. In the second round table conference Dr. B R Ambedkar opposed the word Dalit in front of Ramsay Macdonald in 1935. That time only law was created for the Indian state. The British never use Dalit in their constitution and credit goes to Dr. B R Ambedkar. ‘Scheduled Caste’ was accepted after that’. Although TCN wasn’t able to verify this incident, the term Dalit was experiencing some level of usage in the 1930s.
One of the residents of Chembur, Mumbai, Sachin Salve, a 40-year old auto driver by profession said, “when Dalit Panthers rose in India, they had good feelings for the peoples but they did not have an intellectual clarity, they used ‘Dalit’ just to popularise the movement all over the India. It is seen that after the Dalit Panther movements, the word prevailed over the mind of peoples.”
Pankaj Meshram also said that, “the past and present governments were never with Scheduled Caste peoples. The census of India is one of them. By making Scheduled Caste as ‘Dalit’ they just want to confuse the Scheduled Caste population.”
Anis Ambade, a social worker who lives in Aurangabad said that, “there is different arguments from people like Stalin Padma-the maker of India Untouchable-that if the Black movement used ‘black’ to progress their own politics why not Scheduled Caste use ‘Dalit’ to effect change’.
Not counting Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims, the Scheduled Castes represent about 16% of the population of India,. Amol Vajji said, “The historic document newspaper ‘Janata’ which was begun to support Dr B R Ambedkar, also use word ‘Dalit’ but it was totally different from his politics and that was the reason to close down the ‘Janata’, just after that, Dr B R Ambedkar started daily newspaper Prabuddha Bharata.
In Maharashtra, many Buddhists who converted from their untouchable castes do not feel good when someone calls them ‘Dalit’. Surendra Wankhede, Secretary of cultural group, Bahujan Rangbhoomi in Nagpur, explained the issue. “There are groups who called themselves Dalit Muslim, Dalit Christian, they have departed from untouchability but are they able to depart the stigma of being ‘Dalit’?, No. Buddhism is different, those who are converted to Buddhism never call themselves ’Dalit Buddhists’. But people still automatically make us ‘Dalit’ in other notions and popular concepts. Why are we not just perceived as Buddhists?” he said.
Surendra added, “This debate on ‘Dalit’ word is creating confusion to divert from the other real issues. We have Rohith, we have Khairlanji, we have Ahmednagar, Shirdi and many other concerns, but all our organisations are busy fighting over the word”
Anand Teltumbde, civil rights activist wrote, “notwithstanding the textual source of the term, which happens to be ‘dalit bandhu’, in a periodical started by Vitthal Ramji Shinde in Pune in 1930, and later in Ambedkar’s speeches and writings, one finds the word, “dalit”, in common usage in Marathi referring to the untouchables”.
Nisaar, a poet and lyricist who lives in Kalyan, Mumbai offered a different view on the matter. “Those who become middle-class Buddhists don’t like word ‘Dalit’, poor Buddhists from zopadpattis who are struggling for survival, don’t care for this kind of debate. They have other issues they want to focus on’,” he says.