Untouchable Citizens: Conclusion

Journal of Computational Information Systems, 2011

"Dalit" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Dal," which meant "to crack" or "to split" in ancient Indian languages. Dalits are a class of people who are deemed untouchables and have a long history of poverty, oppression, and dehumanization. Dalits in India are disproportionately impacted by the country's dreadful poverty cycle. It is considerably easier for a Dalit to become socially empowered if she is economically empowered. The information was gathered from Tamil Nadu's Dalit community. India's literacy rate increased from 12% in 1947, at the end of the British administration, to 73.0% in 2011. Some of the districts in Tamil Nadu with higher literacy rates are Kanyakumari (89.9%), Chennai (86.6%), Tuticorin (81.3%), and The Nilgiris (79.0%). There are four levels of education in Tamil Nadu: primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary. The state of Tamil Nadu has India's highest primary school enrollment rate. In certain states, elementary education lasts seven years, divided into four years of primary and three years of upper primary. The Dalits' movement in Tamil Nadu is motivated by a desire to see significant improvements in the state's social, political, and economic circumstances. Dalit participation in formal education is hampered by poverty. Lack of information and apathy toward education were also factors in Dalit educational backwardness. The first famous leader to fight for Dalit upliftment was Mahatama Jyotiba Phule. Dalit leaders B.R. Ambedkar and E.V. Ramaswamy Periyar influenced the Indian social revolution's values. The article tries to demonstrate how caste-based discrimination and exclusion manifest themselves in communities across India, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

Cultural Dynamics, 2010

Drawing on fieldwork with Dalit movements in Tamil Nadu, this article focuses on often neglected aspects of activism. A pervasive lack of resources has rendered Tamil Dalit movements overly incident-sensitive: reacting to caste atrocities rather than pursuing a positive agenda. Movement leaders thus concentrate on community-building by means of exclusive rhetoric that is, at times, divorced from the day-today concerns of their constituents. High-profile events and fiery speeches attract attention and foster collective identity, but are only part of a wider struggle in which the more mundane and everyday aspects of struggle-establishing strong networks, chasing up officials, seeking alternate sources of employment and so on-may be most effective. Changing caste relations, it is argued, requires continual commitment rather than episodic protest. This challenges what we mean by 'movement success' and 'activism'.

Journal of South Asian Development, 2007

This article examines contemporary Dalit assertion in India through an ethno-graphic case study of a legal tool being mobilized by Tamil Nadu's lowest-ranking Arunthathiyars in their struggle against caste-based offences. The Arunthathiyars of western Tamil Nadu are increasingly taking recourse to the 1989 Prevention of Atrocities Act (PoA Act) in an attempt to bring members of higher castes to justice. The article explores how Arunthathiyars are employing the law and how their litigation is reshaping the politics of caste in this region. The authors document how a process of litigation by Arunthathiyars is countered by a politicization of caste by the dominant Gounders of the region, who recently entered electoral politics with a new caste-based party. Even though the litigation route further antagonizes caste relations, it is argued that the PoA Act has provided Dalits with an invaluable tool to seek justice, democratize public space, and challenge the power of the dominant caste in the region. Dalit social movements, it is concluded, are more likely to be successful if they are backed by a legal weapon and accompanied by Dalits' growing economic independence.

Abstract - The human rights violation in India country is one of the major problems since centuries. The socio- economic milieu of Indian society is inherently hostile towards protection of human rights of Dalits. It is the caste and Varna system of social stratification which promotes the societal violation of Dalit human rights. The rule laid down by the Hindu law giver, Manu, is that there are only four Varna’s of Hindus and there is not to be fifth Varna. The four Varna’s are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. Gandhiji and others in their campaign against un- touchability contended that untouchables and scheduled Tribes fall under the fourth Varna namely Sudras on the basis of Manu’s law of stratification. Dr.Ambedkar has pointed out that this theory is not acceptable because Manu speakers of untouchables as varn-baya which means those outside the Varna system. The four clsses of Hindus are called Savarnas while those outside the four classes like the untouchables are called Avarnas. Manu has stated in his smiriti that the develling’s of the Chandals shall be outside the village, that they must be made ‘apapatras’ and their wealth shall be dogs and donkeys, their dress shall be the garments of the dead, they shall eat their food in broken dishes and black iron shall be their ornaments, they must wander from place to place and they shall not sleep in villages and towns at nights. It is well known that in villages the untouchables live in separate localities, while other castes live in the main village. It cannot, thus be denied that untouchables are not part of Hindu society and they must remain separate and segregated.

It is said that that India is at the threshold of a Dalit Revolution, dalits being the most marginalised people in India. This paper opens a debate on participation and poverty of dalits in India's social and economic spheres by introducing the lens of 'inclusion' to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the issue. It highlights and discusses the present conditions and challenges of India's 167 million of oppressed and marginalised sections of society who – by and large – have for thousands of years – remained neglected and ignored in the social milieu. The dalits have suffered cumulative domination, protested several sources of deprivation, political powerlessness, exploitation and poverty. These protests and movements have no doubt given organisational shape and resulted in social awareness and political consciousness to develop self-respect and feelings of power-sharing. Economic and social " welfare measures " , along with political reforms have tried to address vital issues in dalit resurgence. There is some transformation in this sense. The revival of 'Ambedkarism' and dalit movement should be assessed in this context. Despite political empowerment dalits live in situations of social discrimination, physical violence and abject poverty. Around 50 per cent of the quantum of welfare measures is still unfulfilled. We need to explore social, cultural, political and economic factors (e.g. caste, class, gender, education, state, etc) in the context of dalit people's access to rights, resources, employment and security. The focus now needs to be on dalit emancipation, rights and inclusive growth, both within 'dalitology' and the new pedagogy of inclusive growth. Political reality – whether in case of agitations or administration – must admit social equality within caste dynamics. This indeed is a challenge.

Science, Technology and Development Volume XIV Issue II FEBRUARY 2025 ISSN : 0950-0707, 2025

Caste remains a central determinant of socioeconomic mobility, political representation, and identity in Tamil Nadu. This study explores the intersection of caste politics, social exclusion, and identity formation, with a particular focus on Dalit contestations, gender inequality, and poverty alleviation. Using an empirical framework, the research examines how economic, political, and social structures perpetuate systemic marginalization while also shaping resistance and empowerment strategies within Dalit communities. The study assesses the role of caste-based political movements, affirmative action policies, and grassroots mobilization in challenging exclusion and fostering political agency. It further investigates the gendered dimensions of caste oppression, analyzing how Dalit women navigate intersecting inequalities in education, employment, and public participation. Additionally, the research evaluates poverty alleviation efforts, including government welfare schemes, self-help groups, and alternative livelihood models, to determine their effectiveness in improving socioeconomic conditions. By integrating quantitative data with qualitative narratives, this study offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolving nature of caste-based exclusion and identity politics in Tamil Nadu. The findings contribute to ongoing debates on social justice, inclusive development, and policy reforms aimed at dismantling caste hierarchies and promoting equitable economic opportunities. This research paper examines critical and urgent issues that are particularly relevant in today's fast-paced and interconnected world, emphasizing their importance in the current global context.

Caste inequality is a heatedly debated issue in contemporary Kerala, in stark contrast to an earlier time, when the idea that Kerala had overcome caste hierarchies through the twin strategies of social development and political mobilisation was still hegemonic. Post-1990s, political developments have pushed the question of caste back into the forefront of public debate, and 'Dalit identity politics' has been perceived as a serious threat by Kerala's powerful left parties, despite the fact that Dalit political formations are not numerically powerful. Three processes seem to be crucial in precipitating the current situation: (a) the transformation of politics itself in the mid-1990s from the 'public action' mode to the 'liberal' mode, which was rejected by the Dalits and tribal communities; (b) rapidly widening economic inequalities and rapidly crystallising elite ideological dominance led to the strengthening of abjection as a mode of marginalisation of the lower castes which is being resisted; (c) the transformation of the Malayali literary public brought to the fore questions of caste and gender that were submerged under the earlier socio-cultural consensus generated by the hegemonic Malayali national popular shaped by the communists.

Vidyasagar University Journal of History, Volume VIII, 2019-2020, Pages : 120-131, 2020

Traditional Indian society was founded on Varna and Jati, as is commonly known. This system has a long history and has experienced significant modifications throughout time, yet caste continues to be a prominent institution in our socioeconomic , religious, and political structures after 75 years of India's independence. The idea of untouchability has been the most perplexing and troubling aspect of the caste system. While Dalit movements in colonial India attempted to dismantle the upper castes' elite history by concentrating on Dalit history, heritage, epistemology, and worldview; Dalit movements in the postcolonial time attempted to construct and recreate the pan-Indian Dalit identity through a variety of identity politics and social-political movements. With the above backdrop, the article tries to explore some of the contemporary Dalit movements in India and examines its deep relation to the Bhim Army, Rohith Vemula case and Koregaon Bhima incident which not only influenced the contemporary Dalit movements in India but also have contributed for arousing Dalit consciousness for a pan-Indian dalit identity, organisation and movement. The paper also vividly examines the issues and challenges in the path of Dalit movements in the 21 st century under the impact of neoliberal globalisation.