Issues in the Rehabilitation of the Dalits
Introduction
The word Dalit
refers to the situation of group of people who are down trodden, ground, and
split, exploited and misused etc… they are the people who stand outside of the
caste system of the Hindu religion. Most popularly they are known as the
“untouchables”. Taking account of the Karma
theory M. C. Ray gives a beautiful explanation for the emergence of the Dalits it says that “Dalits are born from the earth and we
shall go back to the earth.”[1]
They consider themselves as the belongingness of earth and it is their source
of energy in different realms of life. Dalits
are bound with their regional, linguistic, and historical identity. When we
consider the situation of India they are known as in different names in
different states of India Praiyars, Pallars, Chakkiliars of Tamil Nadu, Mahars
of Maharashtra, Ad Dhaharmi of Punjab etc…[2]
They are different in nature but politically or socially they all come under
the category of Dalits, untouchables,
etc… If we take in to the consideration of society every where the inferiors
are ground trodden by the inferiors same as in the case of Dalits- inferiors.
The sufferings of the Dalit people in the hands of the dominant castes is inexplicable especially
the way of Brahmanism and Brahmins have oppressed the Dalit communities is inscrutable.[3]
They were under slavery, thralldom of the Brahmins.
An untouchable must confirm the
status of a inferior in society by making identity for the same such as a)
having a contemptible name, not wearing clean cloths, not having tiles roof,
not wearing silver and gold ornament.[4]
They were not allowed to sit on the chair in the presence of a Hindu and they
were bound to salute them. Any violation of these rules considered as great
offence and they were put to severe punishments.
Devadasi
system was the one of the great sufferings the at the Dalit women faced throughout their life. Many Dalit girls were dedicated to Yellamma to become a prostitute in
the temple and to satisfy the sexual needs of the high caste men. Beautiful
girls of the Dalit communities-
untouchables were misused and embraced by the high caste as they proclaim untouchablity
and purity. The new married girls of the Dalit
community were misused by the high caste before they jointed to the marital
relationships.
Like this there were a lot of
problems faced by the Dalit community.
When the days pass by them themselves fond the necessity to protest against the
injustice happen to them as a result many leaders came out of them. Srinarayana
Guru (1855-1928), is one among them. Being a member of Ezhava community he started a religion for the Ezhava community[5]
as they were in the situation that did not allow them to enter into the temple.
Ayyan kali (1863-1940) is a leader of Pulaya
community in Kerala. E. V. Periyar Ramaswamy Nai, Jotiba Phule (1827-1920),
Ghasi Das (1756-1836) B. R. Ambedkar, etc… are some other leaders who came out
from the outcastes to release the people from slavery. They stood for the right
of their community and collected people for the same. As they moved forward
they found a lot of difficulty in their journey.
This was the main problem faced by the dalit community because “behind knowledge there is power”[6].
They were not powered because of their lack of knowledge. So they could not
protest for anything and they just remained as inactive. Their illiteracy made
them calm and quiet for the injustice happened to them.
Untouchablity
is a matter of inter- relationship among the society actors. In spite of
changes in the external world sadly the attitude of the high castes and their
expectations from those whom they considered as untouchable have remained
basically the same.[7]
The idea put
by the B. R. Ambedkar- mixed marriage faced lot of obstacles even in the
present society. The mixed marriage couples were put to death as punishment.
These punishments were given in the public. Most of the policies of the
rehabilitation of the dalit people
seem to be silent due to the barriers in communication dalits were geographically depressed and they were divided this
washer problem faced in rehabilitation because it was a difficult task to bring
all of them together. All this divided sub groups are different in nature,
worship, customs etc…
Most of the
families of dalit protested against
educating their children because they found to be easy to send their children
for work rather to educate them so they could earn something for their family.
Children too did not find any meaning for going to school in the initial stage.
They just wandered in the forests and fields.
Conclusion
Reservation for the scheduled castes and is an important
aspect of the modern Indian political history. It is a constitutional provision
which has generated a lot of debate form the time of its farming. These debates
reveal also the conflicts and contradictions in the Indian society stemming
from the system of caste. The roots of reservation policy lie in the awakened
consciousness that the upper caste and classes retain all the powers, with the
little room for the weaker ones. It is a
measure contemplated to compensate the old age discriminations practiced
against the dalits and to empower
them by creating a society based on the principle of society equality.[8]
Bibliography
M. C, Raj. Dalitology. Shanthinagar,
Ambedkar Resource Centre, 2001.
Wilfred, Felix. Dalit
Empowerment. Bangalore, NBCLC, 2007.
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