Of Rape, Gangrape and Torture of Dalit Women
Sid Harth
Villagers thrash sub-inspector for raping Dalit woman
http://saxakali.com/southasia/litrev6.htm
Dalit Women
Aranha, Celine; Fernando, Peter; and Mahale, Prabha. 1991. Beyond The
Fire Line: Perceptions of Eight Tribal Women. New Delhi: Indian Social
Institute.
Intro.; Self-Image: Some Basic Concepts; The Jenu Kuruba: A Tribe of
Karnataka; Jenu Kuruba Woman: Life Experiences; Jenu Kuruba Woman:
Profiles; Jenu Kuruba Woman: Perception of Realities; New Directions.
95 pp.
Study undertaken by Streevani at Dasanpura Haadi, Karnataka. Streevani
started by Dr. Engelbert Zeitler, the then Director of Ishvani Kendra,
Pune. Collaborate with "Development Through Education (DEED): of
Hunsur. Study of Jenu Kuruba Tribe of Hunsur Taluk, Mysore.
Bhai, P. N. 1986. Harijan Women in Independent India. New Delhi: B. R.
Publishing.
Bhawat, Vidyut., and Rege, Sharmila. 1993. "Towards a Gender-Sensitive
Sociology," paper presented at University Grants Commission (UGC)
National Seminar, March.
Bhagwat, Vidyut. 1995. "Dalit Women in India: Issues and Perspectives -
Some Critical Reflections," in P. G. Jogdand, ed.. Dalit Women in
India: Issues and Perspectives. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, in
collaboration with University of Poona, Pune. p. 1-7.
As Gabriele Dietrich (1992) in her exremely balanced article "Dalit
Movements and Women’s Movements" points out while discussing the
interrelationships between caste and patriarchy, that caste should be
looked at as a marriage circle and endogamy which is related to
patriarchal controls over women. Women were and are the ‘gateways’ of
the caste system. Dietrich further states that "in his early writings
of 1916 Ambedkar comes very close to Morton Klass" version of seeing
caste as a "marriage circle" which regulates access to resources as
well as exchange of services based on territoriality and kinship"
(:Dietrich 1992:90) (1995:1).
Her conclusion is that "... neither Morton Klass nor Dr. Ambedkar go
into an analysis of how the closing into endogamous marriage circles is
related to partiarchal controls over women" (1992:92). She further
states "... intermarriage and even fantasies about intermarriage and
interdining are major factors in triggering off caste riots in Tamil
Nadu today. There is a need to work on a feminist position on this
issue by Dalit women themselves since otherwise the debate deviates
into the rape fantasies of men" (1992:91). I would only make an
addition here bu saying why talk of intermarriages; even marriages
within kinship by choice are opposed vehemently by the dalit-caste
panchayats to chop off the heads of young couples, e.g., the recent
case in U.P (August 1993) (1995:2).
In short, the term dalit stands for change and revolution... we feel
that the voices and protests of Dalit women are almost invisible.
In fact when we use phrases like, marginalization of women in the
development process, or feminisation of poverty or women’s contribution
in the unorganized sector we are referring to dalit women without even
being conscious about their specificity (1995:2).
Dalit women were actively participating in the Ambedkar led movement in
the pre-independence period. Today we see no protests against the so-
called 30% reservations for women in the local self government which
further denies the possibility of dalit women getting any
representation (1995:2).
Through there are some autobiographical writings, and some literary
texts, dalit women’s writings has not become a force as yet. Malika
Dhasal’s autobiography Mala Uddhvasta Vhayachay was in a sense a
significant contribution. Today dalit women are working in various
government offices, they are active members of Zilla Parishads, but
they are still bearing the burden od a double-day, sexual division of
labor and overall patriarchal ideology and not saying any thing about
it. Why is it so? It is not suffficient to answer it only in terms of
political economy and brahminical ideology (1995:3)
It is generally argued by many social thinkers that in India women are
protected by community, caste, kinship and family networks. This
neglects the fact that women are the gateways of caste-system and the
crucial pivot on whose purity - sanctity axis the caste hierarchy is
constructed (:3-4).
The participation of women in the anti-mandal agitations and caste-
based violence (Gothala/Pimpri-Desmukh) has implications for both the
women’s movement and the Dalit movement. The women’s movement has in
its enthralment of ‘sisterhood’ failed to note the ‘caste’ factor while
the Dalit Movement has remained patriarchal and sees the dalit women’s
oppression merely as a caste oppression (:4).
Sandeep Pendse in his incisive article "Sadhvi Ritambhara Va Jamatvad"
(Sadhvi Ritambhara and Communalism) gives us clues on how women’s
leadership within the framework of neo-Hinduism is perverted and
vicarious (Pendse, Sandeep. 1993. "Sadhvi Ritambhara Va Jamatvad" in
Stree-Uvach, 7th issue. Bombay).
Hinduisation of dalit youth in the Bombay anti-Muslim riots is an
extremely alarming situation (:5).
It is true that both the elite and the populist currents of Hindu
opinion and sensibilities regarding woman carry a deep impress of
mother-goddess cults and forms of worship. At the level of social
reality Hindu religion has so far functioned within the context of a
caste society (:5)
The woman of the so-called higher castes pays for the dominant role
gained by her male counterpart over the rest of society. A rigid
control over higher caste women in the context of their body and
granting a lot of room for lower caste women not as freedom but as a
space for brahminical male licentiousness are results of brahminic
patriarchy. Women from lower castes were considered so lowly and
degraded in life that thier body was a free terrain of colonisation
(:6).
Dalit literature constructed dalit woman in the similar patriarchal
framework of ‘glorification of Motherhood’ and overall subjugation of
women. Similarly dalit politics also looks at the issues of empowerment
of women as a non-issue. Women in dalit politics figure only in number
and are also caught in a trap of ‘our women’ framework. This results
into further marginalization of dalit women (:6).
D'Lima, Hazel. 1980. A Study of Women Members in Zilla Parishads and
Panchayat Samitis of Maharashtra. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay.
Das, Bhagwan. 1995. "Socio-Economic Problems of Dalits," in Bhagwan Das
and James Massey, eds. Dalit Solidarity. Delhi: Indian Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK).
President of Dalit Solidarity Programme and a laywer at the Supreme
Court.
Dalits have preserved their customs and rituals, social institutions
and some customary laws inspite of pressure from Hinduism, ignorance
and illiteracy. As a result the Dalit women enjoy more freedom than the
upper caste Hindu women. Dalit women enjoy the right to divorce and a
widow could remarry. ...Yet she suffers from more harassment,
oppression and exploitation than the upper caste women. Literacy rate
among the Dalit women is very low. Infant mortality due to neglect and
malnutrition is very high. As the affluent among the Dalits become
Hinduised, practices like dowry deaths, killing of female children,
foeticide, etc., also creep in (:73-4).
Dalit male is much influenced by the pattern maker, upper caste men...
(:74) For centuries Hindus have been infecting the Dalit woman by
forcing them to have sex, under the belief that sexual intercourse with
women belonging to sweeper castes is a sure cure for syphilis (:74).
In all cases of caste conflicts, Dalit woman is the first victim. In
order to terrorise the whole caste, upper caste men, very often with
the connivance of police, rape, even gang-rape the Dalit women. Even
policement take advantage and falsely implicate them into criminal
cases and rape them while in custody. Baba Saheb Ambedkar had advised
the Dalit women to keep some chilly powder handy, to temporarily
incapacitate the offender. Since the Dalit women work in the homes,
fields, forests, hospitals, hostels, airports and railway stations,
they are exposed to much sexual harassment and exploitation (:74).
Dalit women are kidnapped by upper caste men who after pretending to
have fallen in love and after satisfying their lust throw them in the
streets or sell them to brothels in the metropolitan cities. Many women
from the hilly region of UP, terai area adjoining Nepal, and slums of
Bengal, are lured into prostitution by pimps and procurers belonging to
upper castes. In some places upper caste men enter into illegal
temporary marriages and then disgard them as rinds. Contractors and
other well paid employees working in project areas often illegaly marry
Dalit and Tribal women even when they are already married. After the
term of service is over or the work is completed they quietly disappear
leaving the women with additional burden of child raising and the
stigma (:74-5).
In the temples of Tamil Nadu and Kerala many of the Devadassis belonged
to Brahmin and other upper and middle castes (:75). Madras had more
than 200,000 Devadassis. A study of prostitutes in Bombay by S. D.
Punekar in 1962 found that most of the devadassis were SCs from
Bijapur. North Kanara sends the largest number of Davadassis. Andhhra
has more than 40,000 devadassis in Nizambad and other adjoining
districts (:76). Several acts like the Madras Devadassis Protection Act
of 1954 and karnataka Act against dedication were passed. These laws
proved to be ineffective in eradicating the pernicious system. The root
cause is superstition and the pressure of the upper caste men in the
rural areas who want the systen to continue. Most of the victims of
Devadassi system are Dalit women. The number of Brahmin and upper caste
Devadassis in the famous temples is gradually diminishing (:77).
Dunn, Dana. 1993. "Gender Inequality in Education and Employment in the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes of India," Population Research and Policy
Review, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 53-70.
About 80 percent of women in India live at or below a minimal
subsistence level. Indian women strive not for gender equality, but for
their very survival (Mukhopadhyay 1984).
The fact that India is one of the few nations in the world where life
expectancy at birth is shorter for females than males is a clear
indication of women’s standing relative to men’s. The lower life
expectancy for women is due to systematic discrimination against them.
Compared to sons, daughters are far more likely to be malnourished and
far less likely to receive adequate health care (Jain 1984; Papanek
1990; Visaria and Visaria 1981) (:54).
For these women, the hardships associated with living in a "low-income"
developing nation and the deprivation associated with minority status
are compounded by a patriarchal value system (:66).
Only about 11 percent of the scheduled caste members live in urban
areas. Most live in rural area and are employed as agricultural
laborers or marginal farmers (:56).
Many suggest that the Constitutional guarantee of protection for these
scheduled caste groups has not substantially improved their position in
Hindu society (Gallanter 1984).
Dietrich, Gabriele. 1992. "Dalit Movements and Women’s Movement," in
Reflection on the Women’s Movement in India. New Delhi: Horizons India
Books.
Dietrich, Gabriele. 1988. "Women, Ecology and Culture," paper for the
IV National Conference on Women’s Studies, Andhra University.
Gorhe, Neelam. 1995. "Social Development and Dalit Women," in P. G.
Jogdand, ed., Dalit Women in India: Issues and Perspectives. New Delhi:
Gyan Publishing House in collaboration with University of Poona, Pune.
p. 8-17.
Mohan Kamble, brother of Adnya Satwaji Kambe - a twelve year old Dalit
girl, and Satwaji Kamble, her father, were murdered on the 7th of
September, 1991 in Gothala, Latur District, Maharashtra. A crisis was
brewing in the village on the issue of appointment of a Dalit as a
Kotwal. I visited the village along with a team of activists. We askd
Adnya, "where do her people get water from?" The Dalits with her
informed that they get it from a source within their basti. And, "what
if this supply runs short or you require more water, say, for
ceremonies and all?" Adnya shot back, "if we go to the main village we
are driven away with choicest curses and abuses."
Gnanadason, Aruna. 1990. "Dalit Women - The Dalit of the Dalit," in
Arvind P. Nirmal, ed., Towards A Common Dalit Ideology. Madras: Gurukul
Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, p 109- 120.
Life is a pan of fire you have to get burns first to get your bread
later.
(Bahinabai Chaudhari, an illiterate Marathi Poetess in the 19th Cenury)
Anasuya was just 14 years old when she was gang raped one evening in a
banana plantation in a village near Shimoga, Karnataka. She was raped
to teach a lesson to her father, Sheshagiriyappa, a dalit bonded
laborer. Her story is not unique - this is the life of indignity and
uncertainty in which millions of dalit women live (109).
Accamma carried herself with pride and dignity, inspite of the fact
that her hard and painful life had aged her. Her drunken husband her
and three children. The landlord, an upper caste man, had twice tried
to molest her. As a mark of contempt, she spat out the betel nut juice
in her mouth, at his direction. She was waylaid and beated up by five
men. On questioning, the landlord said, "how dare she spit in my
direction, she is a dalit and a woman at that!" (:110).
Dalit women are the dalit of the dalit in Indian society - the trice
oppressed victims of centuries of social, political, economic, cultural
and religious pressures. Dalit women in India live a precarious
existence combining abject poverty with grinding labor in the fields
and work places; and in the home they are abused and used, powerless
and exploited (:110).
The hope lies in the fact that dalit women have begun organizing
themselves. In Maharashtra, in Karnataka, in Tamilnadu and in other
parts of the country dalit women have come together autonomously to
make their voices heard. Dalit women, who have for centuries been kept
powerless, their voices silenced, their dignity and personhood trampled
on, are no longer going to accept submissively patriarchal economic,
political, social, cultural and religious institutions that oppress
them. The image of the Dalit woman that is emerging is that of a strong
person, capable of rising above many deprivations and sufferings, to
keep her family together (often solely responsible for its survival!)
and yet becoming a voice of strength in the community too (:111).
It is important to view the movement among Dalit women from the
perspective of the women’s movement in India, which has been the major
impulse for dalit women to get organised. The women’s movement has
identified patriarchy as a system of graded subjugation and
hierarchical relationships which specify women’s oppression in terms of
class, caste, race, religion and gender. Patriarchy defines not just
women as the "other" - all those who are dominated over. The
interlinkage of all forms of oppression and the double or triple
oppression women face within patriarchal structures are the basis of
political thought of a large section of the women’s movement in India
(:111).
This can be explained through an analysis of the plight of a rural poor
dalit woman in a village in Karnataka, who is burdened by the weight
not only of her class and her caste but also of her gender. Her
liberation does not lie in purely economic or political terms, her
social and cutural liberation must also be taken into account.
What has emerged as a political movement, therefore is a new feminist
paradigm which has challenged traditional ways of understanding and
analysing society and a totally new way of looking at what liberation
of people and society implies. Clearly, the classical methodology of
analysing basic structures of oppression in any society in purely
economic terms (or class terms) is far from adequate - gender, race,
caste and cultural questions such as religion and even human psychology
are to be taken cognisance of (:112).
"Development" - Dalit Women’s Agony:
They bear the costs of "development" but have been systematically
excluded from its ‘benefits’. If anything they have been viewed
as "target groups", the recipients of "development" programs, planned
and implemented by groups with economic and political power. Dalit
women have been the special targets of population control programs, in
a bid to limit their family size and so provide them an ‘opportunity
for development.’ Horror stories have been related by dalit women of
how they and their sisters have been butchered in ‘family planning
camps,’ often without their knowledge of what is being done to them.
Injectable contraceptives and other hormone drugs are tested on these
powerless, voiceless women by unscrupulous multi-national business
(:112-113).
‘Development’ has also implied that they have been herded into crowded
and unhealthy areas in dalit sections of villages or in slums, with
very few civic amenities and with limited access to conveniences
and ‘benefits’ which are theirs as basic rights. To them ‘development’
has meant displacement from their traditional productive activity and
their labor and sexuality have been abused and exploited in the
capitalist market-place. Akatai Kamble, a dalit woman full time worker
with the Tobacco Processing Workers Union in Nipani, Maharashtra, has
this to say,
The women supervisors in the factory would give us a lot of trouble.
The manager and the owner were even worse. If they saw any good-looking
woman they would call her to sweep the owner’s office and rape her. At
that time we could not protest because if said anthing they would
remove us from work. So no woman would say anything. She preferred to
keep quiet. Even I was very scared because if I lost that work how
would I feed my children? Since there was no one to support us we
continued to live in fear. All the women were in the same condition of
poverty and the majority were Mahars. Casteism was so strong that Mahar
women were not allowed to touch the keys or even the water untensils.
When we asked for water it was given to us from a distance.
For the next ten years I worked like an animal. Even animals are given
rest in the evening after a day’s work. But we didn’t get even that. I
worked til one or two o’clock in the morning. Then I would sleep a few
hours and wake up to cook, bathe and go back to work by eight o’clock.
So I worked for almost twenty-four hours. Whenever I fell ill the
children would suffer and we never money to buy medicines. But I didn’t
go to anyone when my children were starving. After my mother’s death I
worked alone and supported the three of them. Gradually I stopped being
afraid and became courageous (Kamble, Akatai. 1986. "My Story," Lokayan
Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 6, p 20) (:113-114).
The Past - How it all began:
The coming of patriarchal Hinduism and its caste system into India
institutionalised the oppression of the outcaste dalits and this had a
particularly deleterious effect on women. The control on women’s
sexuality was essential for the development of a patriarchal caste
hierarchy, both for the maintenance of caste and for the legitimation
and control of inheritance. Restrictions of time, place and space were
therefore imposed on women to ensure the purity of caste by avoiding
the danger of inter-caste ‘pollution’ (:114).
There was a stream of resistance against the rigidity of patriarchal
Brahmanism. There was a resurgence of mother goddess cults and
fertility worship. The Shakti cult representing the female power
principle became strong. The Bhakti cult, a strong non-Aryan southern
movement, brought in anti-caste, anti-patriarchy challenges to
Hinduism. Matriarchal and populist culture continued to make their
opposition felt inspite of the consolidated strength of patriarchy.
Brahmanism was forced to make some concessions. For example, since the
mother goddess cult could not besuppressed, she was finally
incorporated in Brahmin ritual by providing "brahmanical" husbands to
non-brahmanical mother goddesses (:117).
In Madurai every year Meenakshiamman the goddess is decked with the
temple jewels and adorned in a new saree, then she is married to a male
brahmanical god. But for the people, Meenakshiamman continues to be the
real goddess, not the Brahmin god. Shital, also the goddess of
smallpox, in another region rejects marriage and pregnancy symbolising
the local people’s rejection of Brahmin attempts at patriarchal control
of women’s sexuality (:118).
Women of all caste groups therefore experienced this ‘dalitness’
through it was women of the lowest caste and outcaste groups who
experienced the brunt of patriarchal repression both in the hands of
the upper caste and in the hands of men (:118). Raping dalit women is
therefore one more weapon in the well-stocked private armies of rich
upper caste overlords in India’s villages. To add to this millions of
dalit women live in an atmosphere of constant violence in their homes
in the hands of drunken husbands and sometimes other members of the
family. And yet, they often single handedly slave at home and in the
fields to keep their children from hunger (:119).
Defying police degradation
Tossing aside tradition
We have come!
Dalit, battered woman, worker, farmer
We have come!
To end dowry, rape and abused authority
To stop wife beating and cruelty
We have come!
To wipe out women’s suppression
To remove class/caste oppression
To free humanity
In a morcha we have come!
(Sonal Shukla and Vibhuti Patel, translated by Joy Deshmukh)
Joshi, R. Barbara. ed. 1986. Untouchable! Voices of the Dalit
Liberation Movement. London: Zed Books.
In one village it is Untouchable women who will no longer drag
themselves through the heat to a distant, inferior, "Untouchable" water
supply (:2).
Jogdand, P. G. ed. 1995. Dalit Women in India: Issues and Perspectives.
New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House in collaboration with University of
Poona, Pune.
Preface
Exploration of the specificities of Dalit Women in India. Dalit women
constitute a lower segment in Indian society and suffer from dual
disadvantages: (a) of being Dalit, i.e., from socio-economic and
cultural marginalization and (b) being women, i.e., from gender-based
inequalities and subordination. They have to struggle harder to secure
basic necessities pf life, viz., food, fuel and water.
Contrary to the belief of the mainstream women’s movement, the
liberation of women is not a uniform or undifferentiated domain.
Notions of liberty vary from community to community. Dalit women is a
separate category and they have typical problems as compared to other
women in our society.
New approach and theoretical perspectice for the study of all Indian
social reality of crucial issues concerning Dalit women.
Early social reformers were concerned with two major problems - the
emancipation of women and the amelioration of the condition of
Depressed Classes. Their first efforts were directed against certain
customs like Sati, prohibition against widow remarriage, female
infanticide, the observance of purdha, etc. In fact, the debates were
all based on the upper caste religious texts and the forms of violence
being addressed were all primarily upper caste Hindu practices (widow
burning, child marriage, seclusion, enforced widowhood).
The lower caste women who were being marginalized by the new land
legislation and exposed to the threat of sexual violence under
the ‘Zamindari’ system of land legislation and the distress sale of
women following the new land settlements (Vaid and Sangari 1990) were
absent in these debates. Caste bondage had gender specificities and
specific caste biased atrocities against Dalit women were not taken up
in these debates. This is mainly because the category of ‘Indian Women’
was treated as homogeneous category and read as ‘middle class’ ‘upper
caste women.’
Indian Women’s Movement gathered momentum in 1970s. First phase focused
on women’s rights. The second stage focused on women’s liberation and
autonomy. Mass based groups focused on women’s paid work, women’s
unpaid domestic work, and unionisation; autonomous groups focused on
violence within home and violence outside home. However, the
specificity of Dalit’s women’s oppression remained hidden (xii).
In 1970s, Dalit Movement as a New Social Movement expressed itself
through radical literature and action. But even this upsurge did not
give vent to the mute voices of Dalit women in rural or in urban India.
In the social sciences too the interconnection between caste and gender
was not brought to the fore and category of ‘Dalit women’ figured
neither in women’s studies nor in caste studies.
The problems of women vary from one social stratum to another, one
cultural group to another and also from one economic stratum to
another. Undeniably, those who are involved in women’s studies as well
as who are activists have looked at the intricacies of the above
mentioned problem. However, it can be said that not enough attention
has been focused so far on the life condition and problems of women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (xiii).
Further, it is argued that the Dalit women are ‘trice alienated’ by
class, patriarchy and caste. The Dalit women subjected to severe
exploitation at the work place also suffer on caste ground and gang
rape from upper castes, while at the same time they may be beaten up in
their own houses as well. In addition to this, the process of rural
development has played a decisive role in forced migration of Dalit
women from rural to urban areas. Although the state sponsored
development activities have brought some awareness to Dalit women, it
has led to overburdening and self-exploitation (xiii).
Karlekar, M. 1982. "Some Perspectives on the Employment of Scheduled
Castes Women," Social Action, vol. 32, p. 292-302.
Kshirsagar, R. K. 1994. Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders (1857-
1956). New Delhi: MD Pub. Pvt. Ltd.
Good history (consisting of oral interviews) and list of 155 dalit
leaders, including six females: Mrs. Jaibai Choudhari (1892-1964) was a
great educationalist and social worker among the Mahars (:197);
Shrimati Shantabai Dani (1918-) was involved in politics and education
(:201); Smt. J. Ishwaribai (1920-1991) of the Mala caste was involved
in social work and politics (:227); Minimata (1916-1973) was a
spiritualits and national politician (:270); J. M. Rajamani Devi (1920-
1985) of the Mala community was involved in the SCF (Federation) in
Andhra Pradesh and in politics (:304); and Smt Dakshayani (1912-1978)
belonged to the Pulaya caste in Kerala. She formed many dalit
organizations, including Bharatiya Mahila Jagriti Parishad, a dalit
women's group in Delhi in 1978 (:362).
Liddle, J., and Joshi, R. 1986. Daughters of Independence: Gender,
Caste, and Class in India. NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Manorama, Ruth. 1994. "Dalit Women: Downtrodden Among the Downtrodden.
in James Massey, ed., Indigenous People: Dalits - Dalit Issues in
Today’s Theological Debate. Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge (ISPCK).
Vice-president of the Christian Dalit Literature Movement (CDLM) and a
well known women's human rights activist.
Mann, K. 1987. Tribal Women in a Changing Society. Delhi: Mittal
Publications.
Female author, improved version of Ph.D dissertation.
Intro.; Theoretical Orientation; Women in Society: An Assessment of
their Status; The Bhils: A Social and Cultural Nexus; Status of Bhil
Women; New Programmes, Legislations and Status;; Finale. Bibliography.
Though she leads a hard life, the tribal woman enjoys freedom more than
her caste counterpart. She can roam about freely, visit market friends,
cut jokes with men without more of reservations and is usuually free to
select her mate. Some part of her freedom gets curtailed in post-
marital stage. She has the liberty to divorce her husband, and marry
someone else. However there is bride-price, and she cannot become
family, religious or political head of the community (30).
Massey, James. ed. 1994. Indigenous People: Dalits - Dalit Issues in
Today’s Theological Debate. Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge (ISPCK).
22 articles on Christian Dalit and other issues; includes three
articles on dalit women: Pawde, Kumud. "The Position of Dalit Women in
Indian Society"; Manorama, Ruth. "Dalit Women: Downtrodden Among the
Downtrodden; and Gnanadason, Aruna. "Dalit Women: The Dalit of the
Dalit."
Mitter, Sara S. 1991. Dharma’s Daughters: Contemporary Indian Women and
Hindu Culture. NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Poor urban women - construction crew laborers and illiterate domestic
workers - who like in shanties of Bombay (mosly Dalits).
Omvedt, Gail. 1995. Dalit Visions: TheAnti-Caste Movement and the
Construction of an Indian Identity. New Hyderabad: Orient Longman Ltd.
11 essays discuss hinduism as viewed by various Dalit leaders and
reformers, including the article "Hinduism as Patriarchy: Ramabai,
Tarabai and Others"
Omvedt, Gail. 1995. "Dalit Women and Communalism," in P. G. Jogdand,
ed. 1995. Dalit Women in India: Issues and Perspectives. New Delhi:
Gyan Publishing House in collaboration with University of Poona, Pune.
P. 135-145.
The dalit-bahujan traditions sees the cultural roots of communalism as
being in the brahmanic versions of "Hinduism" within India, and calls
for an out-and-out attack on the BSO or "brahmanic social order" as
part of the fight against communalism (:137).
The biggest polarization in India has taken place not between "rich
farmers" and poor and landless peasants in agriculture (here there is
often great inequality, but this inequality has not increased); but
between the organized sector and the unorganized sector. The organized
sector, employing ony about 10 percent of the work force, increased its
share of national income from 23.5% in 1960-61 to 38.8% in 1984-85;
organized sector incomes are three to four times Hinge than the incomes
the incomes of unorganized sector wage workers and farmers - and about
six times as high as incomes of agricultural laborers (see Centre for
Monitoring the Indian Economy, Basic Statistics on the Indian Economy,
1989) (142-143).
This organized sector continues to be dominated by uppercastes (as the
Mandal Commission has made clear, the top 15% of the population hold
nearly 70% of all public sector jobs and 90% of Class I positions)
(:143).
Phoolan Devi has become a symbol to women throughout the world for
revenge against rape - but the Indian women’s movement has ignored her.
Taking up the struggles and listening to the needs of dalit and bahujan
women is a crucial necessity for any women’s movement in India (:145).
Omvedt, Gail. 1991. Theories of Violence. New Delhi: Kali for Women.
Patel, Sujata. 1988. "Construction and Reconstruction of Woman in
Gandhi," EPW, Feb. 20th.
Pawde, Kumud. 1995. "The Position of Dalit Women in Indian Society," in
Bhagwan Das and James Massey, eds. Dalit Solidarity. Delhi: Indian
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK). p. 145-164.
Professor of Sanskrit at Nagpur University.
The Dalit women are being raped because in the opinion of the high
caste society, they have no morals and they deserve it. Our women are
slain for even fetching drinking water from the wells... for defecating
in the fields owned by higher caste landlords (:145). The Dalit women
are living under the horrific tension of being burnt alive or their
husbnds and children slain for either violation of eccentric inhuman
rules made by the upper caste people or for any other trival cause...
they are bound between the inhuman rules and dependability on high
caste agriculturalists or industrialists which has no alternative. To
be a Dalit woman is a great calamity in Indian society (:145-6).
Today also the Indian women in general, seem to be illiterate, drowned
in superstitions, and victims of social torture. In the family she is
always a subordinate person. Wife beating is a common practice in India
because religious law books have approved the torture given by the
husband (:150-1). Against this background, a Dalit woman is downtrodden
among downtroddens. She suffers in the family, first, because she is a
woman; and then she has to face the society as she is a Dalit (:151).
From 6th to 10th of February, 1993, I surveyed seventy urban Dalit
women from these sub-castes: Matang, Mochi or Chamars, Mang-Burad, Mang-
Garudi, Bhangi, Neo-Buddhist, Satnami, Muslim Dalit (Khatik-Butcher)
and Christian Dalit (:151).
Position in the Family:
What is the position of the Dalit woman in the family? Of course, it is
subordinate like other women in India. For every decision, she waits
for the man's opinion (he might be a father, brother, husband, a son or
even a male friend)... In a family, there is paternal domination even
though a woman may be an earning member, she cannot feed or allow her
maternal relatives to stay in her family. On the contrary, the
relatives of her husband are hailed warmly. To serve them is her most
important duty. To earn for the family is another essential duty.
Moreover, she has to give money to her alcoholic husband to satisfy his
addiction. Thirdly, she has to do all the domestic work. She gets up
early in the morning at 4 o' clock and goes to bed at 11 o' clock at
night (:152).
Male members in the family do not help her for they think it is
degrading for the male to do such work. The result is that she has to
expect help from other female members and this evokes a quarrelsome
response in the family. Otherwise she has not only to forget the very
thought of educating her female child but also to deprive the child of
her childhood rights (:152).
In illiterate Dalit families a woman is always treated with such low
esteem that she has a status of nothing more than a mere slipper worn
by the men (:153). She also regards herself as inferior to a man. She
has to tolerate suspicion about her character and wicked mental
torture. There are traditional concepts that if a woman is given
freedom there is a possibility of her being spoilt. Yet she has the
freedom to remarry. Originally there was no dowry system for women
among Dalits, but the impact of other non-Dalit communities has
introduced this system. The importance of a woman in the family was
taken for granted by Dalit communities. So the people from the
bridegroom's side go to the girl's parents to ask whether they are
ready to marry their daughter to their son (:153).
Only 25% Neo-Buddhist women accept intercaste marriages. Christian
Dalit women mostly try to hide their previous castes. Only one or two
percent women have admitted that their forefathers were the Dalits.
Among the Christian Dalits also, women are treated traditionally. ...In
general Dalit women in every religion are traditionally religious and
worship their gods, adhere to their faith in religion and culture. They
are superstitious also. They believe in witchcraft, black magic,
haunted spirit, evil eye, etc. (:153).
Financial Position:
A Dalit woman is financially deprived. ...They were compelled to work
at less wages. They were never permanently appointed. No protection to
their wages is rendered (:154). ...They cannot purchase medicines for
themselves and for their children too (:155). Five to ten percent of
the women live a middle class life. ...there is a lot of difference
between the pre-independence and post-independence eonditions (:156).
The Political Awakening:
The political awakening is difinitely more among Dalit women as
compared to women of the higher castes. They are very conscious in the
matter of their right to vote (:156). Some Neo-Buddhists women said
that politicians had a hand behind all these riots (:157).
Education:
As per the educational survey by the Government of India in 1981 the
literacy rate among Dalit women is 35.91 percent. As per my personal
survey, they usually study till the primary level and gradually drop
out from high school. Still 2 to 5 percent of the Dalit women students
prefer to enroll for university education. They are very conscious
about their children's education, especially converted Dalit women like
Buddhists and Christians (:157). The other Hindu Dalits are not so
conscious about education. There are many reasons for this attitude.
Those who have engaged themselves in traditional work like sweeping,
nursing, etc., say their only aim is to earn a livelihood. Secondly,
unemployment is a grave problem (:158).
The education of girls is a common problem among Dalits except among
the Buddhists and Christians. If at all some of them try for higher
education they are detached from their caste brethren. There are very
few names of Dalit women who work for the upliftment of women of their
caste and their education (:158).
Being uneducated, the Dalit women, in general have the least sense
about health and general hygiene. As a mark of respect to Babasaheb
Ambedkar guidelines for the welfare of the society, majority of them
(Neo-Buddhists) have accepted the programme of family planning. Neo-
Buddhist women are well oriented with regard to immunization and
infectious diseases, nutrition and sanitary reforms, through they may
be illiterate (:158).
The Position of Dalit Women in Rural Society:
The life of Dalit women in rural areas is full of hardships and
misfortunes. They have to face the problem of hunger almost daily. Due
to extreme poverty they have to go to collect fuel for cooking and
while doing so listen to the curses and abuses of higher class
Hindus. ...She has to tolerate the injustice and torture of the higher
caste masters when she goes out to work in their fields. Even then she
lives to fight them back and does not surrender herself to the wretched
system. While doing so she becomes vociferous and cannot speak in a
refined manner as other class Hindu woman can. The rural Dalit women
have to face the adversities of the caste system much more than the
urban Dalit women (:158).
She becomes smart enough to handle her own problems independently. If
the husband does not take the responsibility of giving her share of
meals then she goes to the "Panchayat" (i.e. people's court in
villages). If he is impotent then also she seeks the advice of
the "Panchayat" or if a helpless widowed mother who is ignored by her
son she demands for justice from the "Panchayat." (:159).
The Dalit women, both urban and rural, are more conscious of their
legal rights. They are frank and brave in asking for justice. They have
become intolerant about the various prohibitions. They work and
economically are more independent in comparison to the other Hindu
women. Dalit women are more free, liberal, or conscious of their rights
of justice and equality. After independence, the position of the Dalit
women has been remarkably good and her status has improved as compared
to the pre-independence period (:159).
Summing Up:
1. As women they are under male domination both in the family and in
society.
2. Though they are earning members they are subordinate in the family.
3. The Dalit males are refuters of Manuism, but are followers of
principles of Manu in the matter of women.
4. Being low caste people, the Dalit women have to tolerate inhuman
humiliation and adversities due to the caste system.
5. The caste system is much more wretched in the rural areas than the
urban areas. The rural Dalit women have to face more atrocities from
the upper caste people.
6. Both urban and rural Dalit women have no safety, security and
adequate protection (:159).
7. These women are sufferers of the heinous caste system, still they
are rigidly following the taboos of their own sub-castes. They do not
allow their family members to marry a person out of the sub-caste.
8. The financial position of Dalit women is very adverse. The rural
Dalit women have to face more hardships than the urban women.
9. Majority of the Dalit women are manual workers in urban and rural
areas.
10. The political awakening is found both in urban and rural Dalit
women. Through they are mostly illiterate they have knowledge of party-
politics and party symbols.
11. They are commonly followers of the Congress (I) except Buddhist
women.
12. The social awakening has also left its mark in the minds of Dalit
women. Moreover, Buddhist Dalit women are more forward than any other
Dalit women.
13. Education of Dalit women is again a matter of great concern because
even to this date more than 60% of the women are illiterate.
14. It seems that being uneducated they have no sense of general health
and hygiene.
15. But as per the guidelines of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, most of them
have accepted the programme of family planning.
16. The converted Dalit women (Buddhist and Christian) are more
conscious than Hindu Dalit women in every stream of awareness (:160).
Why do people easily breakk the existing constitutional laws in the
matter of dalits and women? Why does unlawfulness became lawful? For
this it is essential to study the structure of Indian society which had
been erected on the pillars of the four classes and stages (:161).
Dalit women are also no exception... they rebuke a person for breaking
the taboos of their sub-castes. Moreover, the traditional culture is
always maintained by the women. Generally, Dalit women are more rigid
in following all these senseless customs and traditions as they are
uneducated. They think torture given by a husband is his right (:162).
The de facto position of Dalit women shows all the symptoms of being
faithful followers of Manuism. But after independence there are some
hopeful indications of the fundemental changes in the position of Dalit
women brought about by the Indian Constitution and the Hindu Code Bill,
a revolutionary creation of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (:162).
message snipped here...
http://www.tribuneindia.com/99mar16/haryana.htm#9
Rape of Dalit woman decried
http://www.sandeshindia.org/indiarapevic.htm
India
COMPENSATE 4 DALIT RAPE VICTIMS: NHRC PTI
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