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UPSC SOCIOLOGY SYLLABUS
PAPER 2 – CHAPTER 5 – Social Movements in Modern India: Backward classes & Dalit movement.
- According to the Indian Constitution, the Dalits are the people coming under the category ‘Scheduled castes‘. With slight changes ,however ,the term ‘Dalit‘ would mean not only one category of caste, it means the human who is exploited economically, socially, politically and from all the spheres of life, by the traditions of the country.
- The term ‘Dalit’ is a Marathi word literary meaning ‘ground’ or ‘broken to pieces’.
FACTORS FOR EMERGENCE OF DALIT MOVEMENTS
- Ostracism – Since Dalits were assigned the duties of serving the other three Varnas, that is all the non– Dalit, they were deprived of higher training of mind and were denied social-economic and political status. They lived in the Hindu villages hence did not have advantage of geographical isolation like tribes. They were pushed to the jungles whereas, the mainland was occupied by the Brahmins. Many of the atrocities were committed in the name of religion.
- Occupation – Modern industry originated in the country with the help of the British. Indigo industry was promoted heavily by the British, as it was a primary export to Britain Jute industry prospered between 1833 and 1850. Assam Tea Company started in 1845; steel, coal, and leather industries also flourished. Industrial progress has led to the social change as people of different castes and communities got employment in the respective individual establishments.
- Social Reforms – Mahatma Jyotiba Phule formed the Sayta Shodak Mandal in 1873 with the aim of liberating non-Brahmins from the clutches of Brahminism. Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur started Satya Shodak Mandal in 1912 and carried forward the movement started by Phule. In the pre- independence period, the Dalit movements comprised of a strong non-Brahman movement against Brahmanism in Maharashtra. The Adi Dravidas movement in Tamil Nadu, Shri Narayan Dharma Paripalan movement in Kerala, Adi Andhras, movement in Coastal Andhra and the like. Phule tried to formulate a new theistic religion. The religious reformers of the 19th century were influenced by the work of Christian missionaries in India. The Brahmo Samaj (1828), the Prarthana Samaj (1867), the Ramkrishna Mission, and the Arya Samaj (1875) are the examples of such institutions founded with a view to fight against social evils practiced by the caste Hindus.
- Dalit Awakening – First, the western impact with its ideas and values of liberality of thought, individual freedom and equality started making inroads into the traditional matrix of the Hindu social system and the caste and other institutions. Second, the British administration with equality before law and introduction of modem technology created the necessary intellectual and psychological climate for the emergence of social reforms movements.
- (There are many factors that are responsible for the rise of Dalit movements in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The major factors include entry of Dalits into military services, Dalit reform movements, Dalit education, conversions, missionary activities, Islamic revivalism and Hindu reforms. On the other hand, there are some minor factors like land settlement, industry, communication facilities, education, press and books, legal system etc. which have contributed in the rise and development of Dalit movements in India.)
DALIT MOVEMENTS IN INDIA
- The major issues around which most of the Dalit movements have been centred in colonial and post-colonial India are confined to the problem of untouchability. In this sense, these movements are predominantly anti-untouchability movement. But at the same time, these movements also raised issues of agricultural labourers as Dalits are mostly engaged in such activity. The issue of increasing or maintaining reservations in elections, government jobs and welfare programmes has also concerned the leaders of these movements.
- G. Shah has tried to classify such movements into two types, namely a) reformative and b) alternative movement. While the former tries to reform the caste system to solve the problem of untouchability, the latter attempts to create an alternative socio-cultural structure through conversion to some other religion or by acquiring education, economic status or political power.
Two Important Movements
DALIT BUDDHIST MOVEMENT OR NEO BUDDHIST MOVEMENT
- Dalits, ranked lowest on the Hindu caste hierarchy, first started converting to Buddhism as a political gesture in 1956.
- This was the year BR Ambedkar, a Dalit icon, embraced Buddhism contending that this was the only way to escape caste oppression.
- Today, around 87% of Buddhists in India are neo-converts; the rest belong to traditional Buddhist communities, mostly in the north-east of India and other Himalayan regions.
DALIT PANTHER MOVEMENT
- Educated youth from the slums of Mumbai, India started the Dalit Panther Movement (DPM) in June 1972, inspired by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and the U.S. Black Panthers.
- The DPM combined the work of Ambedkar with the militancy and self-defense of the Black Panthers to combat atrocities against Dalits.
- They also expanded the term Dalits to include other oppressed peoples such as low (Scheduled) castes, neo-Buddhists, landless and poor peasants, and exploited women.
- DPM’s legacy is seen in Dalit literature and politics.
- The writings of PM poets and writers helped establish Dalit literature as a major literary form, and Dhasal became one of India’s leading poets.
- The DPM has also had a lasting impact on Indian politics.
AMBEDKARISM AND POST-AMBEDKAR MOVEMENTS
- He believed that the egalitarian social order for which he is striving is not possible within Hinduism whose very foundation is hierarchical with SCs at the bottom.
- The religious sanctity behind caste and Varna must be destroyed and it is possible to do so by discarding the divine authority of the Shastras.
- He asserted that SCs should get organised, educate and struggle for self-respect rather than depend on sympathy.
- The beginning of the autonomous Dalit movement can be traced back to 1937 when the Independent Labour Party (IPL) was established by Ambedkar. Since then the Dalit political consciousness has grown rapidly.
- The political mobilization of the dalits has contributed in Indian democracy by promoting independent Dalit leadership and by mobilizing them for direct participation.
- The formation of Republican Party of India, Dalit Panther Movement, Dalit Sathya Movement, All India Backward SC, OBC and minority communities Employees Federation and Bahujan Samaj Party were some important organizations which come up during this period.