(An Article for the 1st World Dalit Convention held at Kuala lampur, Malaysia)

The organizers of the 1st World Dalit Convention deserve to be congratulated on their choosing the theme, "A New Vision Towards A Casteless Society", which is very appropriate for the 21st century. This article gives the author’s view of the new vision that should guide the Dalits (the oppressed ex-untouchables of India) in their attempt to achieve their goal of social, economic and political freedom. Having lived outside India for about 35 years, the author may be forgiven for any incorrect assumptions he may make about the current conditions in India.

However, the author’s frequent visits to his homeland, and his regular reading of the Newspapers and magazines (e.g., ‘India Today’ and ‘Dalit Voice’ from India, and ‘Dalit International Newsletter’ published by the Presbyterian Church of USA) have greatly helped him in understanding the current situation of the Dalits in India. Even ‘The Washington Post’ periodically publishes very perceptive articles about the plight of the poor Dalits in India. The author has also read many news items devoted to the Dalits’ problems frequently published in the Internet, the new revolutionary medium, which lets the people in USA read the latest news before it is released to the public in India! Since the author is unaware of the Dalits’ conditions in Malaysia, the host of the historic 1st World Convention, this article is based on his knowledge of the Dalits’ issues in India, and attempts to offer a draft Action Plan for the purpose of discussion at the Convention, time permitting!

My idea of a new Vision for Dalits in the 21st century is to start a new approach for solving our social problems. This new approach demands that the Dalits "look inward" and "strive for self-realization", and work towards becoming ‘self-sufficient’, instead of simply blaming the "Brahminical Social Order" (BSO) for all the ills that they are suffering from today. When I say this, I am not exonerating the BSO for its undeniably ugly and outrageous role in committing the original sin of concocting the caste system (‘Varnashrama dharma’). We all know that the evil caste system dehumanized the Dalits during the past thousands of years and continues to do so even in this modern age, in spite of heroic efforts to change that system by scores of brilliant social reformers including Babasaheb Ambedkar and Periyar Ramasami who spoke and wrote so eloquently against the stupid and cruel caste system perpetrated by some cunning upper caste religious leaders in the past! (Please note that I am not criticizing here the modern members of the so-called upper castes, some of whom, particularly young people who have spent some time in foreign countries and seen how modern society functions, have been very good to the Dalits).

Even though the caste system has dehumanized the Dalits, time has come for our political leaders and intellectuals to stop wasting all their energies in simply criticizing the admittedly abominable and anachronistic caste system, and start seriously thinking and questioning about what is wrong with ourselves, and whether we are really doing anything substantial to change the social system, or whether we are just enjoying the ‘fruits’ (like government jobs and political positions) that have been given to us thanks to the lifelong struggles of Babasaheb! Such thinking and questioning will lead to a better understanding of own weaknesses and strengths.

With my limited knowledge of the current conditions of the Dalit society in India, I can see that the greatest weakness of our people is that they are not united and they even practice "untouchability" among themselves; for example, the so-called "Devendra Kula Vellalars" (previously known as Pallars), do not consider the Cobblers (who call themselves "Arunthathiyars")1 to be their equals. It is regrettable that even the educated Dalits think of the interests of their own little groups (e.g., the Mala-Madiga fight in Andhra Pradesh). During my trips to India, I found that there was not much socializing even in the cities among the Dalit officials who belong to different subcastes! They seem to have carried with them their parents’ old prejudices prevalent in the villages.

The only thing common among them is that all of them are all equally Ill-treated and despised by the so-called upper castes. When they realize this, they will also realize that their main strength lies in their sheer numbers as they form about 25% of the Indian population, and that, if they unite and act as one group, they can once again become the rulers of the land, rather than remain as slaves as they are today. When such self-realization dawns on the different Dalit subcastes, their political leaders, and even the government officials should go back to their kith and kin whom they have left behind, and do what Babasaheb wanted us to do, and we have failed to do so far: "educate, agitate, and organize" our brothers and sisters in the villages, so that they too will realize that they belong to one single suppressed group of people who have to help each other, rather than claim superiority of one subcaste over the other. If we don’t get rid of the mistaken feelings of superiority and separateness among ourselves, and help the more depressed segments of our people (such as the sweepers and scavengers), what right do we have to demand the so-called uppercastes to treat us equally and fairly? Please reflect on this!

If we reflect on the real issues that face us today, we will realize that we have gained very little by banging on the BSO in the past. Even after more than 50 years of badgering the BSO (and breaking the idols) as advised by the extraordinary social revolutionary, Periyar, his followers have not accomplished much in bringing about rational social and religious practices in their daily lives. If anything, conditions are worse today than they were before! Caste and religious divisions among the people have increased, rather than decreased, and even young people today are more superstitious than they were in my younger days! Instead of achieving equality among various castes and subcastes, there are separate associations for different castes. Even the Dalits who should normally fight for a Casteless society, we have formed separate subcaste based groups, and glorified such groups by naming them after the Hindu mythological stories. We have ‘Devendra Kula Vellalars’(DKVs), ‘Arunthathiyars’ (ARs), etc. Of course, there are somesociological thinkers today who feel that strengthening each ‘Jati’(caste) will bring about social equality and equity among the various subcastes sooner than otherwise. That is a complex concept, and this is not a proper forum to discuss the pros and cons of such an idea.

Therefore, instead of wasting our energy, time, and the meager newspaper resources we have in blaming the BSO or everything that is wrong with our society, let us adopt the long-forgotten Kamaraj plan, defer our dreams of gaining instant political power, and go back to the villages where we all came from, and do what the great Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar ordered us to do - "educate, agitate, and organize" our people. I can think of only a few exemptions from this rule, like the Indian President Mr. K. Narayanan (who has brought so much credit to our community by not readily agreeing to dismiss duly elected State Governments by misusing Article 356), and It is amazing that we, who have been dehumanized by the Hindus, still hanker after the Hindu mythological names for us! What do Dalits have to do with ‘Devendra’ and ‘Arunthathi"? Governor Dr. Padmanaban, the internationally recognized Poet-Administrator. Except for such eminent and elderly statesmen, the rest of the young and energetic Dalit leaders (who are now doing nothing but beg their respective political bosses for the MLA and MP seats, and in the process, sell their souls) should re-adopt the old Kamaraj plan and go to the villages, and work to unite the different subcastes, and improve their living conditions, by doing constructive service as briefly described below. Action Plan to Implement the New Vision for the 21st Century:

(a) Unity among Dalit Subcastes: This is an absolute necessity, and this goal can be achieved by nothing short of a revolutionary zeal on the part of the Dalit leaders (including the past and present State and Central Ministers, MLAs and MPs, government officials, and also those in the teaching professions in schools and colleges, and students of all castes). As they say, we have to hang together, or else we will be hanged separately by the unscrupulous upper castes.

(b) Cooperation with Other Backward Castes and Minorities (and even foreign benefactors): There is a need for meaningful cooperation with enlightened social workers and intellectuals from the other backward castes and even from the so-called upper castes in our struggles to bring about social, economic, and (real) political freedom for Dalits. The great benefit that can be derived from such cooperation will be clear if we learn about the fruitful American experiences during the Civil Rights struggles in USA in the 1960s. Many white students and social activists worked hand in hand with the African-American blacks to end segregation in schools and buses in the southern United States, and some whites sacrificed their lives while fighting for the Civil Rights of the Blacks. Similarly one of the important leaders of the South African Party that fought to end the White rule in South Africa was a White man.

Our Dalit brothers like Dr. Annamalai, Dr. Berwa, and Mr. Varhade in North America are doing great service to our people by educating the westerners about the pitiable plight of the Dalits in India by presenting petitions to the US Congress and to the United Nations. It is true that, ultimately, it is the Dalits who have to fight their own battles and win their war against the persisting effects of the centuries-old practice of untouchability. The Indian leftists (the communists and the socialists) who should have been in the forefront of the fight for the social liberation of the Dalits have failed miserably in their duty, as their predominantly upper caste leaders did not encourage and support Dalit workers in their parties to attain leadership positions (as can be seen from the history of the two left-ruled states in India). Even then, the Dalits should actively seek and use all the help and cooperation they can get from well meaning upper caste people (particularly young people who are actively working in many of the NGOs).

I am currently working with an Indian American Association in USA which collects money and sends it to help the Dalits and other Backward Castes. Of course, its membership consists mainly (I presume) of highly educated upper caste students (who are working for their MS and Ph.D. degrees. (A couple of upper caste students who got their Ph.D. degrees recently in USA are currently working in India serving the poor people through self-help programmes discussed below; most of the poor people they serve, I am sure, are of the so-called lower castes!)  

Although the plight of crores of poor Dalits cannot be improved without massive government initiated programmes, we should not just sit idle and expect good things to happen to our people! We should embark on serious voluntary self-help activities initiated by the Dalits, as the Blacks in USA have done. There are scores of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (called HBCUs) started and run by Blacks themselves. There are several nonpolitical associations in USA which are devoted to securing the social, educational, and political rights of the Blacks. Two such organizations are worth mentioning here: (1) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) which fights for the social and political rights of the Blacks, and (2) the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) which collects funds from both Blacks and other well-wishers and helps the HBCUs and the Black students in a big way. These Associations are large national undertakings and have succeeded in producing great leaders among the Blacks. The Black leaders consider it a very prestigious opportunity to serve as the Presidents of these organizations, instead of seeking political jobs. For example, a Black Congressman in USA (equivalent to an MP in India) resigned his elected job as a US Representative, and took up the job as the President of the UNCF! The American Television channels carry daily advertisements in which the retired General Colin Powell (a Black leader who is considered a strong Presidential candidate) appeals to all Americans to donate generously to the UNCF.

My objective in mentioning all this is to emphasize the fact that there are other equally important and satisfying ways of serving the people than by getting political jobs (MLAs, MPs, Ministers, etc.) only. I am not saying that Dalit leaders should not seek political power, but they should not be obsessed with it; instead, they should plan and implement constructive programmes that will help the poor uneducated Dalits. I read recently that there are in India thousands of self help groups like the ‘Grameen Banks’ which were originally started in Bangladesh to give small loans to poor women in the villages and help them buy sewing machines, etc. and make a living. In a similar manner, Mr. Karuppan, while serving as an IAS officer in Madras, was involved in helping poor people buy cattle, and improve their economic status in life. I wish more such officials will take interest in such programmes to help the rural poor people. I am sure (and I hope) that our energetic leaders like Mr. Kanshi Ram and Mr. Paswan will bring about a real change in the lives of our people by using their great organizational skills to such self-help projects all over India.

My main objective in writing this article is to appeal to our people (particularly the political leaders and govt. officials) to develop a new vision for the 21st Century which will bring about unity among the various (‘warring’) Dalit subcastes and help them become self-supporting and strong, socially, educationally, and economically, so that they can achieve real political power in the 21st Century without waiting at the doorsteps of the so-called upper caste political bosses.