Teaching of Dalit Literature in higher Education
Teaching of Dalit Literature in higher Education
There is no denying the fact that the education system in
Before we discuss about Teaching of Dalit Literature in Higher Education, it is imperative to know what the word Dalit means and who truly the Dalits are. The term Dalit is generally believed to have derived from the Sanskrit root dal which means burst, split, broken or torn asunder adv.1. Into separate parts or pieces: 2. Apart from each other either in position or in direction: , downtrodden adj.Oppressed; tyrannized.
Adjectiveoppressed and lacking the will to resistAdj. 1. ,
scattered, crushed, destroyed. (1) From these synonyms it is crystal clear that
a section of people called Dalits has been torn asunder, crushed and destroyed.
The Dalits or the ex-untouchables in our country have been variously and pejoratively adj.1. Tending to make or become worse.2. Disparaging; belittling.n.A disparaging or belittling word or expression. described
as Dasa, Dasyu, Rakshasas, Asura, Avarna, Nisada, Panchama, Mlechha, Svapaca,
Chandala, Achuta, untouchables, Scheduled Castes, Depressed Classes, Harijan,
etc. (2) Even the religious scriptures were written to justify these terms. The
conscious Dalits found out that these words were the words of contempt, despise
and paternalism . So they preferred to be called as Dalits. The term Dalit
does not mean low caste, or poor; it refers to the state to which a section of
people have been reduced and now they are living in that predicament. A human
being is not inherently Dalit, neglected or untouchable untouchableFormer classification of various low-status persons
and those outside the Hindu caste system in Indian society. The term Dalit is
now used for such people (in preference to Mohandas K. . It is the
system that degrades him in this fashion. Eleanor Zelliot (1996) believes that
"In the term and concept Dalit itself there is an inherent denial of
dignity, a sense of pollution and an acceptance of the karma theory that
justifies the caste hierarchy." (3) Dr Ambedkar, in his book Ostracized
Bharat writes: "Dalithood is a kind of life condition that characterises
the exploitation, suppression and marginalisation Noun
1. marginalisation
- the social process of becoming or being made marginal (especially as a group
within the larger society); "the marginalization of the underclass";
"the marginalization of literature"marginalization of Dalit people by the
social, economic, cultural and political domination of the upper castes'
Brahmanical ideology." (4)
In India
Almost every fourth Indian is a Dalit, and is easily identified.
He may be a beggar near a temple or a church, a permanent squatter,
a prematurely old person in his forties, a child labourer in a
factory, a pauper in a village, a child domestic help, a porter,
a rickshaw puller in a city, a bonded labourer, a migrant
slum-dweller. And a Dalit woman is always ill clad, a bag of
bones, often with a malnourished child in her arms, a temple
Devadasi. Although they constitute a significant number of the
country's population, they remain unseen and unnoticed since
unseeability and untouchability are the hallmarks of their
identification. (5)
However, they draw the attention of the so-called political leaders and mainstream writers only to become the objects of their political and literary jargons, to be spoken about and to be written on. Dalit women happen to be Dalits within the Dalits. For them rape, molestation n. the crime of sexual acts with children up to the age of 18, including touching of private parts, exposure of genitalia, taking of pornographic pictures, rape, inducement of sexual acts with the molester or with other children, and variations of these and disrobing are an everyday occurrence. The present usage of the term Dalit goes back to the nineteenth century, when a Marathi social reformer and revolutionary, Mahatma (məhăt`mə, –hät`–) [Sanskrit,=great-souled], honorific title used in India among Hindus for a person of superior holiness. Mohandas Gandhi is the best-known figure to whom the title was applied. Jotirao Phule used it to describe the outcastes and ex-untouchables as the oppressed and broken victims of the caste-ridden society. (6) It was popularized by the Dalit Panthers Movement of Maharashtra in 1970s.
HOW DALITS HAVE BEEN MISREPRESENTED IN LITERATURE
The Dalits have not only been exploited socially, politically and economically, but they have also been deprived of the right to education for centuries. Till recently, Sanskrit was an untouchable language for the Dalits. Centuries of caste stigma and segregation have benumbed the intellectual life of the Dalits. Their world-views and perceptions have been reduced to merely struggling for survival and not looking beyond for growth and development despite the richness and variety of their socio-cultural resources. Worst still, they are made to think that their culture is low and mean.
It cannot be denied that the ruling class historians and writers have given little or no attention to the history of life and culture of Dalits. Historical evidences related to Dalits are either destroyed or simply neglected for lack of interest. Dalits were simply marked under slavery and serfdom serfdomIn medieval Europe, condition of a tenant farmer who was bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord. Serfs differed from slaves in that slaves could be bought and sold without reference to land, whereas serfs changed lords only when the land in
The Dalits have started reconstructing the history. The excavations during 1920s in Mahenjodaro and
The Mainstream literature has treated Dalits as subhuman adj.1. Below the human race in evolutionary development.2. Regarded as not being fully human.
sub·hu . It has treated them as
drunkards, criminals, thieves, quarrelsome adj.1. Given to quarreling; contentious. See
Synonyms at argumentative, belligerent.2. Marked by quarreling. , etc. Thus the
literature of this country also has gone Brahmanic. It has failed to recognize
the rich culture and values of the Dalits. The evils of the Sati system which
is so specific to Brahmanic culture never affected the Dalit society. Dalit
community has never been affected by the evils of dowry (dou`rē), the property that a woman brings to her husband at
the time of the marriage. The dowry apparently originated in the giving of a
marriage gift by the family of the bridegroom to the bride and the bestowal of
money upon the bride by system. The "sustainable development Sustainable development is a socio-ecological process
characterized by the fulfilment of human needs while maintaining the quality of
the natural environment indefinitely. The linkage between environment and
development was globally recognized in 1980, when the International Union "
and "co-existence", which now social scientists and environmentalists
are talking about is part of Dalit culture, which is never accredited to them.
These unique values of the Dalit communities have never drawn the attention of
the upper caste writers. Many of the artistic forms were in fact taken from the
Dalit communities. There is a traditional Marathi saying, "Brahman ghari
gyan, Kunbi ghari dhan, Mahar ghari gan" (in the house of the Brahmans,
knowledge; in the house of the Kunbis, grain; in the house of the Mahars,
songs)." That means Dalits were the original performers and creators,
singers and dancers. This ingenious quality of the Dalits is never appreciated;
rather it is appropriated by the upper caste Hindu writers. (8) The opinions of
these so-called writers have been considered as the only truth. Their ideas were
considered as the universals. The perennial evils of caste
system Noun 1. caste system - a social
structure in which classes are determined by heredityclass structure - the organization of classes within a
society in India
Similarly, in the words of Michael Foucault (1984), knowledge and power are interrelated. Those who have knowledge have power, so the decisions and the understandings of the intellectual and powerful few seem to be serving better in the interests of the ignorant and the powerless who constitute the majority, "the other". And the perception of these intellectual few wins credibility or legitimacy over other available meanings. This is very true in the case of Hindu society too. Knowledge and power are concentrated in the hands of the upper caste Hindus. Even the holy scriptures have been so systematically written to justify the slavery and serfdom of the Dalits. The killing of Shudra Shambuka by Rama, the mutilation See also Brutality, Cruelty.Mutiny (See REBELLION.)Absyrtushacked to death; body pieces strewn about. [Gk. Myth.: Walsh Classical, 3]Agatha, St.had breasts cut off. [Christian Hagiog. of Ekalavya's thumb by Dronacharya, justifying even cutting down the tongue or pouring melting lead in the ear of an ex-untouchable if he dared to read or hear the so-called holy scripture, and thousands of such incidents in history and mythology reflect how violent are Hindu religion and those on top of its hierarchy. Denial of knowledge is denial of power. For centuries, caste system in the Indian subcontinent has controlled, regulated and hierarchised knowledge. Brahmanism has sought to legitimate the servitude servitudeIn property law, a right by which property owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another. Servitudes allow people to create stable long-term arrangements for a wide variety of purposes, including shared land uses; maintaining the of Dalit castes through its hegemony over social universe of knowledge. However, the hegemony of Brahmanic literature/education has seldom gone uncontested.
Karna, Vidura, Eklavya (the low-caste heroes in the puranas) all in their different ways actually served the Brahmanical and feudal system in spite of their victimization Social medicine The abuse of the disenfranchised–eg, those underage, elderly, ♀, mentally retarded, illegal aliens, or other, by coercing them into illegal activities–eg, drug trade, pornography, prostitution. by it. Shambuk, the shudra boy killed for the "sin" of attempting to follow Brahmanical yoga, is silent in the face of the forces ranged against him, much as in a film on atrocities against tribals (Aakrosh), the tribal male hero is silent except for a cry of protest. Against this, the Dalits could only protest: while Eklavya, for example, was to be important for them as an illustration of what Varnashrama Dharma (där`mə). In Hinduism, dharma is the doctrine of the religious and moral rights and duties of each individual; it generally refers to religious duty, but may also mean social order, right conduct, or simply virtue. meant, they wanted him to do what the myths did not reveal him doing, revolt. The history and the myths require a process of reinterpretation tr.v. re·in·ter·pret·ed, re·in·ter·pret·ing, re·in·ter·pretsTo interpret again or anew.
Similarly, in the words of Michael Foucault (1984), knowledge and power are interrelated. Those who have knowledge have power, so the decisions and the understandings of the intellectual and powerful few seem to be serving better in the interests of the ignorant and the powerless who constitute the majority, "the other". And the perception of these intellectual few wins credibility or legitimacy over other available meanings. This is very true in the case of Hindu society too. Knowledge and power are concentrated in the hands of the upper caste Hindus. Even the holy scriptures have been so systematically written to justify the slavery and serfdom of the Dalits. The killing of Shudra Shambuka by Rama, the mutilation See also Brutality, Cruelty.Mutiny (See REBELLION.)Absyrtushacked to death; body pieces strewn about. [Gk. Myth.: Walsh Classical, 3]Agatha, St.had breasts cut off. [Christian Hagiog. of Ekalavya's thumb by Dronacharya, justifying even cutting down the tongue or pouring melting lead in the ear of an ex-untouchable if he dared to read or hear the so-called holy scripture, and thousands of such incidents in history and mythology reflect how violent are Hindu religion and those on top of its hierarchy. Denial of knowledge is denial of power. For centuries, caste system in the Indian subcontinent has controlled, regulated and hierarchised knowledge. Brahmanism has sought to legitimate the servitude servitudeIn property law, a right by which property owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another. Servitudes allow people to create stable long-term arrangements for a wide variety of purposes, including shared land uses; maintaining the of Dalit castes through its hegemony over social universe of knowledge. However, the hegemony of Brahmanic literature/education has seldom gone uncontested.
Karna, Vidura, Eklavya (the low-caste heroes in the puranas) all in their different ways actually served the Brahmanical and feudal system in spite of their victimization Social medicine The abuse of the disenfranchised–eg, those underage, elderly, ♀, mentally retarded, illegal aliens, or other, by coercing them into illegal activities–eg, drug trade, pornography, prostitution. by it. Shambuk, the shudra boy killed for the "sin" of attempting to follow Brahmanical yoga, is silent in the face of the forces ranged against him, much as in a film on atrocities against tribals (Aakrosh), the tribal male hero is silent except for a cry of protest. Against this, the Dalits could only protest: while Eklavya, for example, was to be important for them as an illustration of what Varnashrama Dharma (där`mə). In Hinduism, dharma is the doctrine of the religious and moral rights and duties of each individual; it generally refers to religious duty, but may also mean social order, right conduct, or simply virtue. meant, they wanted him to do what the myths did not reveal him doing, revolt. The history and the myths require a process of reinterpretation tr.v. re·in·ter·pret·ed, re·in·ter·pret·ing, re·in·ter·pretsTo interpret again or anew.
re , because the voice of low castes,
women, tribals, non-Aryans, etc. has been filtered through the interpretations
of their masters and conquerors. Shambuk was not silent, he was silenced; his
voice was not recorded. Eklavya may well have fought, but his fight has been
erased from myths. In many cases though, the resistance was at least partially
recorded, sometimes in the written versions of the legends and sometimes in
folk versions that had to be recovered, searched out and brought to a positions
of hegemony. These may seem obvious points, something that any social scientist
and historian interpreting popular mythology knows: the document itself has
been produced in a social process. It should not be necessary in these days of
deconstruction and post-modernism to point this out. But it has become
necessary to repeat such points because even the academic interpretations of
Indian culture, the ones most influenced by supposedly sophisticated
methodologies, have very often taken the high-caste versions of the myths for
granted, as texts which are taken to be the unexamined basis for theorizing.
It may be important to mention here that the feminists' attempts to unravel the complexities of Hindu patriarchal co-option have major contributions to offer to the Dalit contestation of Hinduism. The most interesting example of a suppressed, partly voiceless, seemingly co-opted heroine is Sita, the apparent paradigm of self-sacrificial devotion to a husband. In recent years she has been taken more often as the symbol of woman-victim. But there is much to Sita than this, as even a reading of the Valmiki version of the Ramayana makes clear. Thus, we find her, for example, rebuking Rama in the name of the Rakshasa:
It may be important to mention here that the feminists' attempts to unravel the complexities of Hindu patriarchal co-option have major contributions to offer to the Dalit contestation of Hinduism. The most interesting example of a suppressed, partly voiceless, seemingly co-opted heroine is Sita, the apparent paradigm of self-sacrificial devotion to a husband. In recent years she has been taken more often as the symbol of woman-victim. But there is much to Sita than this, as even a reading of the Valmiki version of the Ramayana makes clear. Thus, we find her, for example, rebuking Rama in the name of the Rakshasa:
.... you are alarmingly close that sinful state to which the
ignorant are prone.... that is, killing a creature who has not
committed any offence.... O hero, my prayer is that when armed
with the bow, you are engaged in waging war against the
rakshasas, who have this forest for their home, you may never
allow yourself to slay indiscriminately those who are not to
blame." But Rama, in reply makes it clear that his killing of
the rakshaas including the rakshasa queen Tataka, is out of a
vow made to the Brahmans of the Dandakaranya forest, and thus
as part of a protection of caste hierarchy. (9)
Even now the powerless are not seen as credible sources of knowledge and explanation. Some kind of writing and writers are more powerful than others, and this is connected to the wider issues of caste and class, economic and political power, ideological and cultural struggle and the relationship between writers and the building and maintenance of hegemony.
Power, status, values and attitudes towards writing and writer are all closely interconnected. Therefore, it is very important to know about who writes, what, about whom and for whom. If we carefully glance through the literatures we can see that the disadvantaged are mostly written about, sometimes written for, but hardly ever the writers. The best way to find out what somebody thinks and feels is to ask him/her, not somebody else. This self-evident truth Noun 1. self-evident truth - an assumption that is basic to an argumentbasic assumption, constatationsupposal, supposition, assumption - a hypothesis that is taken for granted; "any society is built upon certain assumptions" is ignored or misrepresented when Dalits remain merely the subject to be written about, not the ones who are writing. But we must know that when the powerless become merely the object of another man's thinking without being a part of the whole thought-process, that type of thought cannot but be a false testimony which is perversively in its way to build up a hegemonic world view. The professional historians have always consciously or unconsciously attempted at de-historicization of Dalits. The Dalits were always presented as historyless people. However, this process has now been identified by the Dalits and is being reversed by turning from passive objects to active subjects engaged consciously in constructing their own histories and assert for a respectful social location in society. (10) Generally a good writer is judged as one who is adept at using language and effective at expressing ideas. Class and caste affiliation also play a vital role in an author's marketability in a country like
WHAT IS DALIT LITERATURE AND WHO IS A DALIT WRITER?
Until the beginning of the 20th century there was no formal education available for Dalits. Dalit literature as a genre emerged only in 1970s through some of the Dalit protest movements in
The first essential characteristic of the Dalit literature is that it does not aim at achieving an aesthetic performance in literature as an art but it serves purposes of social intervention and accordingly carries strong militant connotations. The main concern is of self-assertion and protest, and the ways of a quest and construction of an identity of one's own, on the part of those who have been denied a full human dignity Human dignity is an expression that can be used as a moral concept or as a legal term. Sometimes it means no more than that human beings should not be treated as objects. Beyond this, it is meant to convey an idea of absolute and inherent worth that does not need to be acquired and , and whose consciousness was made to forcibly internalize patterns of cultural depreciation and social subalternity.
Dalit literature is certainly a form of protest literature but all protest literature is not Dalit literature. There are differences between Dalit writers and non-Dalit writers writing on Dalits. The difference is not only in ideas but also in experience, content, subject matter, style and language. Bama, a Tamil Dalit writer answers to a question "Should Dalit literature be written by Dalits only?" in the following:
Need not be. Dalit consciousness can be illustrated by people from
other castes. There is no hard and fast rule. Is there any one?
Anyone can write about anything. But the difference will always
remain. Take the example of untouchability--only an untouchable
would know the pain of being one. Other people can
empathise/sympathise. But the agony is always personal and it cannot
be the same as something that is reflected or reported about. I
don't think anyone other than a Dalit can expose all the Brahmanical
lies and insult heaped upon Dalits. Others too can also write about
Dalits. What is the harm? But it should always be done remembering
the respectability that has been denied to us and we so rightly
deserve. Their writing should be rich with the understanding of
Dalits. Otherwise let the Dalits write about themselves. There are
some writers who think that only the upper castes can help Dalit
come up and not the Dalits and their leaders or writers. (12)
Dalit writers are teachers of their people. Through their writings, they endeavour to tell that they are not historyless and that they have a definite past. Until 1970s the ex-untouchables were merely the objects of someone's story. They did not have a different history of their own other than what "the other" said. They had to accept what caste-Hindus had to say about them. Many writers have dealt with the theme of untouchability in the past but it has always been from the perspective of an outsider, however sympathetic they might have been.
One might feel great about Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable (1935) which attempts to gain sympathy of the caste Hindus towards the outcastes. His main character, Bakha is made so fatalistic n.1. The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable.2. Acceptance of the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable. a character that even for centuries he would not be able to raise voice against such an existing exploitative system. The solution to the vicious untouchability is not sought out by Bakha himself but by the author. Even if "flush" latrine n.A communal toilet of a type often used in a camp or barracks.
[From French , privies, from Old French, from
Latin (the
only solution given by the novelist) came to India
When the narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. is from outside the Dalit community, there is a greater possibility of narrating merely as an observer, whereas when the narrator is from within the community, more than his observation, his experience percolates into his thought. The classic example is Chinua Achebe, a very famous Nigerian writer, who says about how he first came to write about his own people thus:
When the narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. is from outside the Dalit community, there is a greater possibility of narrating merely as an observer, whereas when the narrator is from within the community, more than his observation, his experience percolates into his thought. The classic example is Chinua Achebe, a very famous Nigerian writer, who says about how he first came to write about his own people thus:
The nationalist movement in British West Africa after the Second
World War brought about a mental revolution.... It suddenly
seemed that we too might have a story to tell. "Rule of
Britannia!" to which we had marched so unselfconsciously on
empire day now struck in our throat. At the university I read
some appalling novels about Africa ..... and decided that
the story we had to tell could not be told for us by anyone
else no matter how gifted or well intentioned" (13)
As Achebe's remarks indicate, until the withdrawal of colonial rule, the colonized seemed to accept that they were merely the objects of someone else's story, indeed, someone else's history. They just accepted unconsciously, without any inhibition, about themselves whatever the colonizers had to say and write.
DALIT LITERATURE VIS-A-VIS BRAHMANIC LITERATURE
Let us make a comparative study between the Dalit writers and non-Dalit writers. Gopinath Mahanty, who wrote during the first half of the 20th century, was a very "famous" and "popular" Oriya Hindu upper caste novelist. Most of his novels seem to be dealing with social issues, and more particularly the issue of untouchability. One of his well known novels is Harijan. The title itself is highly objectionable. The term Harijan is a Gandhian euphemism. Of course literally it means "the children of God," but in social practice it is just the opposite. People those who are called children of God are not even allowed to enter in the temple. Of late the use of this term has generated much criticism.
Gopinath Mahanty's Harijan (1947) may seem to be very sympathetic in nature, but the portrayal of Dalit characters make one feel contemptuous about it. Puni's mother is a scavenger woman. In spite of her societal position she cherishes a desire to build up her daughter's future. But this good quality has been overshadowed by her stealing nature. She steals a small cabbage from the field of an upper caste man and was badly bitten by his dog. Her daughter, Puni is seduced by Aghor, son of a rich contractor. For his uncritical view Mahanty has been criticized. One such critic is Raj Kumar who writes:
Mahanty takes an uncritical view of the molestation. Instead of
reacting to the act, he seems to be glorifying it by telling
that it was a sheer chance for an untouchable girl like Puni
to have been given to a rich upper caste man. It looks as if
Puni has been greatly favoured by Aghor. Sexual violation against
a Dalit woman has been seen as something natural and spontaneous.
Puni is also made to think of the spontaneous union among birds,
animals and insects so she decides not to give too much importance
to whatever happened to her. Indian literature is full of such
descriptions where the body of the lower caste and the tribal
woman has been romanticised. (14)
Sameer Ranjan is an Oriya Dalit writer who tries to give a new dimension to the portrayal of Dalit character in Oriya literature. Unlike the mainstream Hindu literature, he gives protesting voices to the Dalit characters. In the Foreword to his collection of short stories, Man turns into an Anthill he writes, "Because Oriya literature gives more importance to themes based on kings and queens, fables and fairies, the real life story of common man is neglected." He says that these themes have paralyzed the society. He believes that the prime objective of literature is to teach; entertainment should be a secondary function. Other Oriya Dalit writers and poets like Bichitrananda Nayak, Ramachandra Sethi, Basudev Sunani, Jagannath Mallik, and Sanjay Bagh
·
feel
disgusted with the existing form of Oriya literature, which has been treating
Dalits as subhuman. For them literature is not merely about kings, queens and
fairies. Man has to be in its center. It participates in man's joys and sorrows
and leads him to a just revolution. It teaches equality to the mass of humanity.
It considers man noble. Dalit literature, in a way, does not spread hatred
among men but love. (15) Sameer Ranjan's characters in Man Turns into an
Anthill, are conscious of their human dignity and human rights. They never
surrender to any exploitation. Unlike Mulk Raj Anand's Bakha or Gopinath
Mahanty's Puni, who are voiceless and fatalistic, the characters of Sameer
Ranjan are assertive, proud of their identity and are ever protesting in
nature. The following example will suffice this statement.
In the title story Man turns to an anthill Baba represents the voice of the oppressed. He is expelled from the company where he was working because of his "rebellious nature". His son is expelled from the company school. So Baba's wife takes her son to a nearby Ashram ashram or ashramaIn Hinduism, any of the four stages of life through which a “twice-born” (see upanayana) Hindu ideally will pass. school. She is ridiculed there. But what makes her different from the traditional Dalit characters as portrayed in the mainstream literature is her resistance to the establishment:
In the title story Man turns to an anthill Baba represents the voice of the oppressed. He is expelled from the company where he was working because of his "rebellious nature". His son is expelled from the company school. So Baba's wife takes her son to a nearby Ashram ashram or ashramaIn Hinduism, any of the four stages of life through which a “twice-born” (see upanayana) Hindu ideally will pass. school. She is ridiculed there. But what makes her different from the traditional Dalit characters as portrayed in the mainstream literature is her resistance to the establishment:
She shouted--I am telling you, don't tell like that. Dacoits,
bandits, robbers, thieves, also become leaders. And have the
scavengers pissed in your water? Badipada, showing vaman,
Hey! Like you sandal paste smearing pundits, bloody, running
after many untouchables women on the sly like dogs. After the
heat of your body cools down, you pull your moustache to show
your upper caste by saying--get lost, get lost, don't you
see; and you chase them away. Only to cover up those sins you
commit, you take the names of gods and deities, religion and
duty; and you pretend to recite the rosary. What type of good
men are you? (16)
Even though she is a Dalit woman she does not get subjugated by the Acharya For the pen name of D. Murdock, see .An is an important religious teacher. The word has different meanings in Hinduism and Jainism. In HinduismIn the Hindu religion, an acharya (आचार्य) is a , the representative of the upper caste. In stead, she retaliates intrepidly. There are several instances in the story how the Dalit characters are very strong in their protest. For example, Baba is annoyed with the servile adj.1. Abjectly submissive; slavish.2. a. Of or suitable to a slave or servant.b. Of or relating to servitude or forced labor. attitude of his own people. Unlike others he does not want the paternalistic n.A policy or practice of treating or governing people in a fatherly manner, especially by providing for their needs without giving them rights or responsibilities. attitude of the upper caste people. He says:
Saa..... la the world.... Has become brahmanical. Saa..la.
... No one to liberate us. Only ..on pen and paper..... Going
on Harijans ... Harijans ... Which.... Saala.... Harijan's
what and where ... overturned ... who knows us sweepers ... The
same is the burden of filth ... as before. Pellet doesn't strike
in their mouths; they say something ... and do something. Always
Harijans.... Harijans.... Harijans.... If rise.... Saala.
And you.... Saala ... Never listen to my words. I'm ... saying.
... Educate the children.... Don't make them illiterate. If
they.... Become men.... They will save us.... From this hell.
Otherwise this caste will be suffocating inside the filth and
dying.... Forever. (17)
It may be necessary to remember here that Babasaheb Ambedkar never believed that his people would change because of the external factors but more because of their education, movement and agitation. Although Baba in the story is not highly educated, still he is aware of that only education can lift them up from the filth. He has a great aim to make his son an I.A.S. officer. Oriya Dalit writers like Sameer Ranjan, who see the Dalit characters from a new perspective are never recognized by the mainstream literature or writers. But the fact is that they have always challenged the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. and have attempted to offer different meanings and understanding.
The "Chakrabyuha" is yet another powerful story in the same anthology which deals with a Dalit woman, named Chemi. In the story, Panchua, Chemi's husband serves the landlord for six years for the debt his father had taken from the landlord. Yet the landlord thinks that the debt has not been paid. The landlord goes with police force and forcefully occupies their house, the only possession. When Panchua begs for his mercy, he was beaten up to death. Chemi was raped by the police and the landlord. She goes mad but was determined to avenge the landlord. She waits in front of the mansion of the landlord for twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. . One day she gets a chance and bites the landlord, sucks his blood and pulls a mouthful of flesh from his face. The story ends with a note of victory on Chemi's face.
In this story, Bansi Gandpa represents the servile mentality of Dalits, who under fatalism n.1. The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable.2. Acceptance of the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable. surrender themselves to the exploitation they face from the upper caste Hindus. There is no sign of protest. His dialogues in the story express his cowardly nature. He says, "Although I protested against this, but I couldn't do anything." Again he says, "What else could these helpless minnows have done? Everyone is in the hand of the landlord." (18) He only expresses his helplessness and surrenders at the heavy hands of the upper caste power. But Chemi, a Dalit woman character is entirely different. She is determined to take revenge against the landlord and finally gets back her lost house. She waits in front of the mansion for a chance to take revenge against the landlord. She rebukes Bansi Grandpa, the school teacher for his cowardice See also Boastfulness, Timidity.Acres, Boba swaggerer lacking in courage. [Br. Lit.: The Rivals]Bobadill, Captainvainglorious braggart, vaunts achievements while rationalizing faintheartedness. [Br. Lit. :
Stop Babu, stop your helpless. You don't have inner power to create
a new man in you, Babu. Instead you have the power of tortoise
which tolerates everything remaining inside the shell. But I have
given them up Babu. For long, I hid myself inside the shell. But
now I have sharpened myself to fight against the injustice until
I regain my homeland. I will count the blood and tears of twenty
years. (19)
This dialogue is representational voice of Dalits. This is really the manifested voice of all the oppressed Dalits. The voice of helplessness against the Brahmanic structure is spoken by the school teacher, but self-conviction and determination to change the plate upside down and bring a total revolution among the Dalit brethren is clearly understood in the voice of Chemi. When Chemi had to encounter the landlord after twenty years, she roared up saying, "Restore my honour, give me back, give my world, return my dream. Leave me Babu also ba·boo n. pl. ba·bus also ba·boos1. Used as a Hindi courtesy title for a man, equivalent to Mr.2. a. A Hindu clerk who is literate in English.b. , I will finish him off who has taken my everything. I will crush his neck and suck his blood. For twenty years I have been just waiting for this opportunity." (20)
Basudev Sunani, another Oriya Dalit poet, in his collection of poems, Ashprushya, writes very provocative poems about Dalits. For example, in one of his poems, titled, "Chinnhibaku padiba Seijanaku" (They He must be recognized), the poet warns his fellow-men to be very careful about the hypocrisy and duplicity DUPLICITY, pleading. Duplicity of pleading consists in multiplicity of distinct matter to one and the same thing, whereunto several answers are required. Duplicity may occur in one and the same pleading. of the successors of Manu. He tells that if a Dalit is not able to recognize them and truly understand their nasty politics, their lot will also be the same as that of his ancestors. (21)
It is in this context that the words of Paulo Freire Paulo Freire (Recife, Brazil September 19, 1921 - São Paulo, Brazil May 2, 1997) was a Brazilian educator and is a highly influential theorist of education. Biography are significant. He is the one who advocates that the search for liberation must come from the oppressed themselves. He says, "They will not gain this liberation by chance but through the praxis of their quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby"quest after, go after, pursuelook for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the it, through their recognition of the necessity to fight for it." Sameer Ranjan's Dalit characters, whether it is Baba in "Man Turns to an Anthill", or Chemi in "Chakrabyuha", or Om Prakash Balmiki in Jhootan are conscious of this fact. They all know that only they can liberate themselves. To a greater extent they all are liberated characters who fought against the same exploitative and oppressive forces of our society. Definitely these Dalit characters are motivating force for the readers to seek for an egalitarian society.
DALIT LITERATURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
In spite of the continuing simmering of the Dalits, and anti-caste challenges from below the face of
What does it really mean to be a Dalit child/adult in schools/colleges/universities today? Available studies provide clear evidence that schooling can be quite a traumatic experience for a Dalit child. Prescribed textbooks of schools, colleges and universities are, by and large, silent about the Dalit experience of social oppression. They mainly talk of stories of fairies, kings and queens and some romantic tales of the upper caste people with whom he cannot relate himself. He does not find a space while reading all these romanticized texts. He is alienated from the school environment, from other students and even from teachers. The upper-caste teachers have low expectations of Dalit pupils and often consider them as "dull" and "unteachable". A significant proportion of the scheduled-caste professionals recall being made to feel "unintelligent" and "inferior" by their teachers, and also feeling "ignored" by them. Interpersonal relationships among students are also a problem. An ICSSR ICSSR Indian Council of Social Science Research study conducted in the nineteen seventies concludes that "at least as far as the Scheduled Castes are concerned, schools and colleges have not functioned effectively as melting pots for caste boundaries in the matter of friendships." (22) The adverse learning environment experienced by the Scheduled-Caste pupils cannot but affect their educational aspirations and achievements. Therefore, the drop-out rate is quite alarming. Almost one finds none in many of the streams especially in higher education. This problem is not confined to rural areas. It is disturbing to find that caste prejudices die hard even in metropolitan cities. The children are abused on caste angles publicly.
Therefore, it is not only enough to strengthen mechanisms of ensuring entry of oppressed in education system. It is also equally vital to have fair representation of oppressed castes and their life experiences in educational texts. For example, in Oriya literature, one studies Gopinath Mahanty or Fakir Mohan Senapati Fakir Mohan Senapati (14 January 1843 - 14 June 1918) was an Indian writer in the Oriya language, and is called the "Father of Modern Oriya Litrature".[1][2][3] Notes1. but one never has an access to read Bhim Bhoi's Nirbeda Sadhana
Sadhana (Sanskrit or Sameer
Ranjan's Man Turns to an Anthill or Basudev Sunani's Asprushya. This is so
because they are the voices of the dissent, they are the voices of the
marginalized. Similar things can be spoken about the Dalit writers of other
regions too, whether it is Om Prakash Balmiki's Jhootan or Bama's Karukku.
Dalit literature as a subject has already been introduced in many foreign universities. But it is a sad feature that Indian universities hardly teach Dalit literature as a subject or even a full fledged paper. Premier universities like, University of DelhiThe University of Delhi, (DU)is a university in India. Established in 1922, it is one of the premier universities of the country and is known for its high standards in teaching and research. It offers courses at the Undergraduate and Post Graduate levels in most subjects. ..... and Jawaharlal Nehru University The sprawling campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय ) have not felt it necessary to introduce Dalit Literature as a subject. It is high time that the academia understood that by not introducing Dalit Literature as a subject in the higher education, we will only continue to suppress the voices of the oppressed. Dalits, who have entered into universities have been compulsorily studying and reading the literature which is not their own. No text books ever present Dalit culture as an integral part of Indian culture. Most of the time they are bundle of lies about them, yet they have to study. There is no dearth of Dalit literature. A good number of Dalit autobiographies, novels, poetry and short stories exist in many regional languages and many of them have already been translated into English. These writings represent the true culture and identity of the Dalit communities. Therefore, they should be introduced and taught in true spirit. Now Dalits must speak about themselves and others must listen to their voices. Others must recognize that the Dalits also have a story about themselves and they are not historyless. However, the aim of introducing Dalit literature in higher education is not to create another "gettoisation" (23) like the Hindu literature. It has to be inclusive.
Now questions may arise: who would teach this literature, and what should be the pedagogy? Whether only Dalit teachers would teach Dalit literature or the upper caste teachers also can teach it? Whatever may be the answers, one thing should be kept in mind. The subject has to be taught with sensitivity. One must realize that caste system is an evil which must be eradicated from the society. It is an evil perpetrated through the centuries by the upper caste. Without accepting this fact one cannot teach Dalit literature with the true spirit and true sensitivity.
Teaching Dalit literature in higher education should aim at debrahmanization and de-hinduization of knowledge. The basic challenge before Dalit studies is to recover, research and rediscover and to teach the true history of India
Dalit literature as a subject has already been introduced in many foreign universities. But it is a sad feature that Indian universities hardly teach Dalit literature as a subject or even a full fledged paper. Premier universities like, University of DelhiThe University of Delhi, (DU)is a university in India. Established in 1922, it is one of the premier universities of the country and is known for its high standards in teaching and research. It offers courses at the Undergraduate and Post Graduate levels in most subjects. ..... and Jawaharlal Nehru University The sprawling campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय ) have not felt it necessary to introduce Dalit Literature as a subject. It is high time that the academia understood that by not introducing Dalit Literature as a subject in the higher education, we will only continue to suppress the voices of the oppressed. Dalits, who have entered into universities have been compulsorily studying and reading the literature which is not their own. No text books ever present Dalit culture as an integral part of Indian culture. Most of the time they are bundle of lies about them, yet they have to study. There is no dearth of Dalit literature. A good number of Dalit autobiographies, novels, poetry and short stories exist in many regional languages and many of them have already been translated into English. These writings represent the true culture and identity of the Dalit communities. Therefore, they should be introduced and taught in true spirit. Now Dalits must speak about themselves and others must listen to their voices. Others must recognize that the Dalits also have a story about themselves and they are not historyless. However, the aim of introducing Dalit literature in higher education is not to create another "gettoisation" (23) like the Hindu literature. It has to be inclusive.
Now questions may arise: who would teach this literature, and what should be the pedagogy? Whether only Dalit teachers would teach Dalit literature or the upper caste teachers also can teach it? Whatever may be the answers, one thing should be kept in mind. The subject has to be taught with sensitivity. One must realize that caste system is an evil which must be eradicated from the society. It is an evil perpetrated through the centuries by the upper caste. Without accepting this fact one cannot teach Dalit literature with the true spirit and true sensitivity.
Teaching Dalit literature in higher education should aim at debrahmanization and de-hinduization of knowledge. The basic challenge before Dalit studies is to recover, research and rediscover and to teach the true history of India
. Discovering
history is one of the major parts of Dalit studies. Paulo Freire (1993) once
wrote,
... sooner or later being less human leads the oppressed to
struggle against those who made them so. In order for this struggle
to have meaning, the oppressed must not, seeking to regain their
humanity (which is a way to create it, become in turn oppressors
of the oppressors, but rather restores of the humanity of both. (24)
It is very clear that the teaching of Dalit Literature is definitely an endeavour in the process of restoration of humanity; it is possible only when we readily de-learn the distorted facts and truth about the Dalits and willingly and humbly learn the truth about them.
REFERENCES
Achbe, Chinua. 2003. Named for Victoria, Queen of England Noun 1. Queen of England - the sovereign ruler of Englandfemale monarch, queen regnant, queen - a female sovereign ruler . In Tapan Basu (Ed.), Things Fall Apart.
Anand, Mulk Raj. 1935. Untouchable,
Avehi. Alternative Education. Available online: <http://www.avehi.org/>
Dangle Nursing A popular term for the first movement a Pt is allowed, either after surgery under general anesthesia, or 'under local', where the recuperee allows his/her feet to dangle over the side of the bed , Arjun. (ed.) 1992. Poisoned Bread: Translation from Modern Marathi Dalit Literature,
Dewanji, Malay. (ed.) 1994. Dalit Literature: Quest for Dalit Liberation,
Fernandes, W. 1996. The Emerging Dalit Identity: The Reassertion of the Subalterns,
Freire, Paulo. 1993. Pedagogy of the Oppressed Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the most widely known of educator Paulo Freire's works. It was first published in Portuguese in 1968 as and the first English translation was published in 1970. Trans.
Fucoult, Michael. 1984. Power/Knowledge, ed. by Paul Rabinow, New York New York, state, United States Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Peregrine.
Ilaiah, Kancha. 1996. Why I am not Hindu.
Joshi, Barbara R. 1986. Untouchable: Voice of the Dalit Liberation Movement.
Kumar, A. & Kumar, S. (ed.) 2005. Dalit Studies in Higher Education.
Kumar, Raj. People at the bottom: The untouchables in Indian novels. In The
Mahanty, Gopinath. 1947. Harijan,
Massey, James. 1997. Downtrodden. Geneva Geneva, canton and city, Switzerland (jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. : WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → COE m (Conseil œcuménique des Églises) n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → Weltkirchenrat m Publications.
--. 1998. Indigenous people: Dalits.
Nayak, Radhakanta. Dalit identity in a caste-clawed society: A voice from within. In The Fourth world: Journal of the Marginalised People, No. 11, April 2000.
Omvedt, Gail. 2006. Dalit Visions,
Palaka, Prabhakar. 2001. The voice of the oppressed: Translation of Sameer Ranjan's Uihunka Palatijauthiba Manishamane. A Collection of Oriya Short Stories into English, Unpublished M. Phil dissertation, JNU JNU Jawaharlal Nehru University JNU Juneau, AK, USA - Juneau , New
Ranjan, Sameer. 1999. Uihunka Palatijauthiba Manishamane (Man Turns to an Anthill: A Collection of Oriya Short stories). Puri: Biswamitra Publications.
Shah, Ghanshyam (ed) 2001. Dalit Identity and Politics: Culture Subordination and the Dalit Challenge, Vol. 2.
Suna, Basudev. 1999 Asprushya (Untouchable: A Collection of Poems). Nuapada: Eeshan-Ankit Publications.
Walder, Dennis. 2002. Post-Colonial Literatures in English: History Language
Zelliot, Eleanor. 1996. From Untouchable to Dalit.
NOTES
(1.) Shivam Apte Vaman, The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary,
(2.) James Massey, Indigenous people: Dalits, Deluxe Universal Traders,
(3.) Eleanor Zelliot, From Untouchable to Dalit, Manohar,
(4.) B. R. Ambedkar, Ostracised Bharat, 1990, p. 204.
(5.) Radhakanta Nayak, "Dalit identity in a caste-clawed society: A voice from within", in The Fourth World: Journal of the Marginalised People, No. 11, NISWASS,
(6.) Eleanor Zelliot, From Untouchable to Dalit, op. cit., p.271.
(7.) James Massy adj. mass·i·er, mass·i·estHaving great mass or bulk; massive. , Indigeneous People: Dalits, op. cit., p. 8.
(8.) Gail Omvedt, "A proposal for dalit studies", Dalit Studies in Higher Education, edited by A. Kumar. & S. Kumar, Deshkal Publication, Delhi, 2005, p.23.
(9.) Gail Omvedt, Dalit Visions, Orient Longman,
(10.) Badri Narayan, "Assertion of the oppressed: History, nation and knowledge production", Dalit Studies in Higher Education, edited by A. Kumar. & S. Kumar, op. cit., p.45.
(11.) Arjun Dangle, (ed) Poisoned Bread, Orient Longman,
(12.) Manoj Nair, An Interview by Bama, Dalits@ambedkar.org, April 2001
(13.) Chinua Achbe, "Named for Victoria, Queen of
(14.) Raj Kumar, "People at the bottom: The untouchables in Indian novels", in The Fourth World: Journal of the Marginalised People, No. 8, NISWASS,
(15.) Arjun Dangle, (ed.) Poisoned Bread, op. cit., p.317.
(16.) Prabhakar Palaka, The Voice of the Oppressed: Translation of Sameer Ranjan's Uihunka Palatijauthiba Manishamane (A Collection of Oriya Short Stories into English), Unpublished M.Phil dissertation, submitted to JNU, New Delhi, 2001, p.33.
(17.) Ibid., p.30.
(18.) Ibid., p.68.
(19.) Ibid., p.70.
(20.) Ibid., p.69.
(21.) Basudev Sunani, Asprushya, Eeshan-Ankit Publications, Nuapada, 1999, p.2.
(22.) Quoted in the article, "Alternative education", http://www.avehi.org/.
(23.) Gail Omvedt, Dalit Visions, op. cit., p.18.
(24.) Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos, Penguin Publications, London, 1993, p. 26.
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