Dalit

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Mother and daughter from the Pulaya Caste in Kerala

Dalit is the common name of the lowest groups in Hindu society, which, according to the religious-dogmatic distinction in Hinduism between ritually “pure” and “impure” social groups within the Indian caste system, are considered to be “ untouchables ” and “ casteless ”. The socio-political classification of the Dalits belongs in a larger and coarser context to the construction of the two large groups Aryans and Dravids , Dalits are partially associated with the descendants of the Indian natives .

The term “casteless”, which is often used in the West, is imprecise, since the untouchables definitely belong to a caste ( Jati ), even if not a Varna . In the western world, especially in the German-speaking area, they are sometimes referred to as pariah .

Gandhi called them Harijan (translated in the West imprecisely as "Children of God", actually: " Hari / Vishnu-born"). This designation was always rejected by the Dalits because they do not want to be seen as children worthy of protection, but as people with equal rights. The corresponding term in the language of today's Indian administration is Scheduled Tribes .

etymology

The term "Dalit" developed from the Sanskrit word दल्, dal , which is translated as "broken", "torn", "crushed", "expelled", "trampled down", "destroyed" and "the one on display" . It was first used by Jyotirao Phule , the father of the Indian Social Revolution, in the late 19th century. He had been referring to Sanskrit scripts to find a word that would adequately describe the underprivileged sections of society, victims of the caste system.

Social situation

The number of Hindu Dalits is estimated at over 160 million, together with the Muslims , Buddhists and Christians in India , from the point of view of those who represent fundamental Hinduism , there are around 240 million untouchables and thus almost a fifth of the Indian population. Although the rights of the Dalits were officially strengthened by the Indian constitution of 1950 ( discrimination was forbidden and the caste system was officially abolished), discrimination, economic exploitation, and sometimes persecution and violence by other caste Indians are still part of their everyday lives. This form of racism and slavery is still a reality today, especially in rural areas . This can go so far that you avoid touching its shadow yourself. Again and again they are victims of violence and land grabbing . Between 2011 and 2016, Indian crime statistics counted around 193,000 crimes against the Dalit. This represented a six to eight-fold increase in crimes against Dalits compared to previous years. A Kalkulierung of underreporting found in the survey not taken.

In order to improve the situation of the Dalit, a quota was introduced, which should allow the Dalits unhindered access to education and universities in India . However, across the country, the quota initially led to further violence from other Indians who felt they were disadvantaged by the quota.

In 1995, Mayawati was the first Dalit to be elected Prime Minister of a state ( Uttar Pradesh ). In 1997, KR Narayanan was the first Dalit elected President of India . He too took initiatives to abolish caste discrimination. In the presidential election in India in 2017 , for the first time all (two) candidates had Dalit descent.

Contextualization in colonial and post-colonial times

During the British colonial rule in the 19th century, South Asian historiography developed, based on the fact that many centuries ago the "Aryans" rose above the native "Dravids" as an immigrant people. Since this colonial theory formation, as has often been observed, was not only received by the colonizers, but also by the colonized, a political discourse arose that is significant beyond colonialism to the present day. This can be observed, for example, in scientific controversies on the subject, ranging from denying Aryan immigration to claiming indigenous Hinduism. It is clear, however, that the immigration thesis, coupled with the installation of the caste system, served both the British colonial rulers and the Indian elites. Because “being Aryan” and belonging to one of the top three castes were equated. This made contact and cooperation between British and Indians, who after all belonged to the same “race”, easier. In addition, the current political and social injustice that the Shudras and casteless suffered could be interpreted historically.

One of the first to advocate reversing the immigration thesis described above was Jyotirao Phule (1827–1890). He made a living by building schools and orphanages, advocating better education for women, and campaigning against social and political discrimination based on castes. He stood for a non-brahmanic and anti-brahmanic politics. A number of political parties emerged that represented the Dravidian movement in general, such as the South Indian Liberal Foundation (or Justice Party) or the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam . The religious movements of the Adi Hindu emerged from the rejected, but continuing caste discrimination of the Dalits in spite of industrialization and urbanization. The comparable organization of Ad Dharm arose in Panjab.

Liberation aspirations

The attempt at liberation through conversion to Buddhism, which was used in parts of the Dalit movement, appears for the first time in the context of C. Iyothee Thass (1845–1914). Due to the increasing influence of the Brahmin elite on the colonial rulers, members of the Paraiyar middle class like Thass, the chances of social advancement were enormously limited. He therefore converted to Buddhism with numerous like-minded people. He found his justification in the thesis that Paraiyar were Buddhists in the past.

Group of “untouchables” in Bangalore , early 20th century

The Constitution of the Republic of India (Bharat) of 1949 prohibits all discrimination on the basis of castes. She wanted to exclude any form of "untouchability" from the start and guarantee human rights and democratic freedoms for Dalits as well. In practice, however, the steps taken by the Indian government to overcome the exclusion of the Dalits have not shown the hoped-for success.

Out of disappointment, BR Ambedkar (1891–1956), for his followers Babasaheb , who campaigned for the abolition of castes as a lawyer, politician and educator and was an important spokesman for the Dalits, came to the conviction that only a departure from the Hindu system was the Dalits could open a way to social emancipation. However, he never spoke of "Dalits", but of socially disadvantaged or oppressed castes. The discrimination was practiced by Hindu believers who base their religious system on the holy scriptures such as the Vedas, Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita. Among the religions that are based on the equality of all people and thus reject the system of castes, Ambedkar found Buddhism to be the most suitable. In 1956 Ambedkar initiated a mass conversion of Dalits to a self-developed and political form of Buddhism . A high proportion of Indian Christians are also recruited from Dalits. However, today many see no solution to their problems in conversion, since they also encounter the same traditional prejudices in other religious communities. But also in October 2006, on the 50th anniversary of the great conversion, thousands of the disadvantaged again converted to Buddhism and Christianity, sometimes in joint ceremonies.

The Catholic Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan is currently one of the most prominent fighters for the rights of the Dalits in India. In this context he heads a special commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Kerala . The majority of his diocesans are Dalits. If they convert from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam, they officially - but not in everyday life - lose their caste membership and thus all state support if the social status remains the same, which is also a grievance denounced by Bishop Ponnumuthan.

A special form of emancipation was the rededication of the traditional self-government organs of the caste into political or trade union structures. A case study are, for example, the Dhobi, the launderers of Benares , who have managed to organize themselves politically since the 1980s thanks to their traditional caste councils. The councils now serve as a body to represent collective interests, in particular to support the demand for public washing places to be set up for the exercise of their profession. The Dhobi are a special case because the majority of the members still work in the traditional laundry business.

Kancha Ilaiah's Critique of Hinduism

The criticism of the philosophy, culture and political economy of the Hindutva movement, initiated by Kancha Ilaiah in his work Why I am not a Hindu , published in 1996, illuminates the tension between Hinduism and the Dalit movement from the perspective of the caste . Kancha Ilaiah, who comes from South India, grew up in the first post-colonial generation of India. In his work he expressly distances himself from the idea of ​​Hindutva, which declares every Indian who is not a Muslim, Christian or Sikh to be a Hindu. He not only criticizes the negative position of the representatives of the Hindutva against Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, but also fundamentally questions whether the low castes and the casteless have anything to do with Hinduism or Hindutva at all. From his childhood he knew "Hindu" neither as a word nor as a term for a culture or a religion. In contrast, the following group names were common: "We heard about Turukoollu (Muslims), we heard about Kirastaanapoollu (Christians), we heard about Baapanoollu (Brahmins) and Koomatoollu (Baniyas) spoken of as people who were different from us." Castes and casteless people and the latter two groups are the most serious. There were points of contact with Christians and Muslims in everyday life; such as B. Eating meat and touching one another. Kancha Ilaiah continues to advocate the thesis that Hindu culture, which he sees as a partial and elitist high-caste culture, is hermetically sealed to the low-caste and casteless.

Kancha Ilaiah compares the Brahmin deities of the Hindus and the deities of the Dalits. He characterizes the former as war heroes who maintain the caste system, are androcentric , can only be addressed in Sanskrit and need mediation by priests. The Dalit deities embody the opposite. There is no distance between humans and the egalitarian gods. Culturally they are rooted in the production, preservation of life and procreation of offspring. In addition, he feels that the worlds in which Dalits and Hindus live are antagonistic to one another. A violent, hegemonic Brahmin culture is blamed for the subjugation of the Dalits in history and the post-colonial present. So the Dalits were not granted any development towards equality. Their political, economic and cultural structures were destroyed. It was precisely because of the anti-colonial struggle and India's independence in 1947 that the higher castes came to power. Modern Brahmanism, however, claims to be democratic and egalitarian. Due to his view "... Hinduism has never been a humane philosophy. [...] The Dalitbahujan castes of India are living evidence of its brutality." Kancha Ilaiah strictly rejects 'Hinduization'. On the other hand, he suggests 'Dalitization'. Because how he contrasts the deities of the Dalits and the Hindus, he characterizes the cultures as a whole. Brahmanism, for example, embodies capitalism and private property and expresses itself misogynously . The Dalit culture, on the other hand, is anti-Rahman, community-oriented, egalitarian and democratic. She turns to the worker. Her religion is also egalitarian and she has gender-neutral deities.

literature

  • Stefan Schütte: Caste organization and the politics of caste. Self-determination of untouchable work using the example of the washers of Banaras (India) , in: Work - Movement - History , Volume III / 2016, pp. 7–26.
  • Brigitte Voykowitsch: Dalits - The untouchables in India . Verlag Der Apfel, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85450-143-9 .
  • Johannes Beltz: Mahar, Buddhist and Dalit. Religious Conversion and Socio-Political Emancipation . New Delhi, Manohar 2005, ISBN 81-7304-620-4 .
  • B. Das, J. Massey (Ed.): Dalit Solidarity . Delhi 1995.
  • James Massey: Roots. A Concise History of the Dalits . Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, India 1991, ISBN 81-7214-034-7 .
  • James Massey: Dalits in India. Religion as a Source of Bondage or Liberation with Special Reference to Christians . Manohar Publishers, New Delhi 1995, ISBN 81-7304-128-8 .
  • N. Minz: A Search for a Common Ideology. In: J.Massey (Ed.): Indigenous People: Dalits - Dalit Issues in Today's Theological Debate. Delhi 1994.
  • Kancha Ilaiah: Why I am not a Hindu. A Sudra Critique of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy. Calcutta 1996.
  • Dasari Murali Manohar: Dalits and Religion. New Delhi 2009.
  • Michael Bergunder / Rahul Peter Das (eds.): " Arier " and " Draviden ". Constructions of the past as a basis for the perception of oneself and others in South Asia, Hall 2002. doi: 10.11588 / xabooks.379.539 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Dalit  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Census of India - India at a Glance: Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Population. Censusindia.gov.in, accessed May 19, 2010 .
  2. ↑ a b Tim van Olphen, DER SPIEGEL: Minorities in India: Where defamation and violence are everyday life - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved June 29, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Biggest caste survey: One in four Indians admit to practicing untouchability. In: The Indian Express. November 29, 2014, accessed June 29, 2020 .
  4. ↑ What Lies Beneath the Alarming Rise in Violence Against Dalits? Retrieved June 29, 2020 .
  5. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: India: Favorite Ram Nath Kovind wins presidential election - DER SPIEGEL - politics. Retrieved June 29, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Michael Bergunder: Contested past. Anti-Brahmin and Hindu Nationalist Reconstructions of Early Indian Religious History. In: Michael Bergunder, Rahul Peter Das (eds.): "Arier" and "Draviden". Constructions of the past as the basis for self and other perceptions of South Asia. Halle 2002, p. 139.
  7. ↑ Bergunder: Contested past. 2002, pp. 145f.
  8. ↑ KCBC panel alleges government laxity . Indian Express, August 15, 2011.
  9. ^ Stefan Schütte: Caste organization and the politics of caste. Self-determination of untouchable work using the example of the washers of Banaras (India) , in: Work - Movement - History , Issue III / 2016, pp. 7–26.
  10. ↑ Kancha Ilaiah: Why I am not a Hindu. 1996, p. Xi.
  11. ↑ Kancha Ilaiah: Why I am not a Hindu. 1996, p. 100f.
  12. ↑ Kancha Ilaiah: Why I am not a Hindu. 1996, p. 115.
  13. ↑ Kancha Ilaiah: Why I am not a Hindu. 1996, pp. 116, 119, 124.