MY DALITALITY
Issue #13 — March 2021
Courtesy: Baffler magazine
Dear Friends:
Spring is here. The barren tree in the area is having some tweeting visitors and the streets are turning into a colorful spread with daffodils, magnolia, and a host of other flowers.
There was bright sun the other day and it continued for another two days. Didn’t really notice that the grass was so gorgeous in the bright sunlight. My study has 5 giant windows overlooking a medieval era, wheat colored stone building. The noon sunlight strikes it like a memory from the Greekland. The old architecture has a flavor for eyes and mind.
When Caste (2020) came out last summer I was asked to review for the New York Times Sunday magazine with broader commentary on the issue. I had already started to collect my thoughts and had penned an initial draft. This, however, never saw the light and the content changed. Baffler magazine was interested to work with a thoughtful reflection on the content and history of the terms. This also gave me over six months time to add and review some ideas. I argue in the review:
Caste is not a foreign, old, traditional Indian problem; it is as American as white supremacy. The policing of the conduct and biopower of marginalized bodies...To caste-ize the rest of the world is to add a voluble strength to the anti-caste struggle of people of different hues, colors, characteristics, and nations. But a global call to action cannot be simply Americanized from the Indian context.
Dalitality
This month’s Dalitality looked at the rapid privatization by the Modi government that is at the helm of denying constitutional protection such as reservation and quotas meant for the Dalit, Adivasis, and other backward classes. Modi has also passed a policy in the Parliament of India to privatize national banks. 1 million bankers hit the streets against this decision. This along with backdoor entry of Modi supporters into a higher level of bureaucracy and rising fuel prices is not encouraging. It is a pessimistic picture in India right now. You can read the complete article here.
Historian of South Asia, Ravinder Kaur took a stab at the ongoing farmer’s protest in trying to find reasons for anti-caste values in the theme of Sikh theology and the social protest culture of Punjab in general. Kaur argues in the article:
What has unsettled the status quo is the emergence of a new youth leadership alongside established farmers and workers unions. Key figures in this shifting landscape are Dalit labour rights activists like Nodeep Kaur and Shiv Kumar who early on articulated the logic of why industrial workers are joining farmers’ protests.
Other features
Shuddasar, is a magazine run by an exiled Bangaldeshi writer and editor Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury in Norway who was attacked by Islamic fanatics in his country. From his new home in Norway, Chowdhury continues to publish the magazine. I had the privilege to contribute to this magazine with an article entitled, “Color-caste dialectics”. It can be read here. In this article I look at the two prominent social themes that remained in news throughout the pandemic year--Race and Caste. This piece critically examines the position of the third world project as well as the limitation of twentieth century politics divided between communism and capitalism.
The fight [against racism and casteism] is therefore against ideologies that have been recorded into formalized decorums of knowledge, practice, policy, and nature of things.
Ratan Lal, a professor of history at Delhi University hosted me at his Ambedkar Nama channel to discuss “Bahujan Discourse”. We talk about diaspora and caste politics, the accusations of me being an anti-Hindu, my future plans with regard to the Bahujan community and politics of people and land. I argue that the Bahujan Discourse can be fulfilled only through assimilation of highly educated individuals. For this I have a plan to send 10,000 Bahujan students abroad to pursue Ph.D. You can view the video here.
In History
India’s first teacher is Savitri Bai Phule who along with her husband Jotirao Phule started education and social movement in the nineteenth century. It is to the credit of Savitri that untouchables and as well as women of any caste could be educated. Savitri was an educator, poetess, and an organizer. Her service to humanity was so true that she died on 10 March 1897 while serving the patients of pandemic bubonic plague. There is a picture that comes to eyes when thinking of Savitri Bai carrying a Dalit child to hospital who was infected with plague. She didn’t worry about her health but her devotion for children and society was so strong that she died in the service of highest responsibility. The Bahujan community and the country mourns the loss of their mother Savitiri Aai (mother).
Kanshiram (middle) with his associates of BAMCEF. To his left is D K Khaparde.
One of India's most successful organizers and politicians, Kanshiram was born on 15th March 1934 in Punjab. Kanshiram’s life remains one of the significant moments in the politics of Dalits, Tribals, and other backward castes. Kanshiram founded BAMCEF, an organization that united central government employees to fight against caste discirmination. They eventually started organizing cadres who can work as missionaries in the movement against Brahminism. I had written a piece on Kanshiram. Replugging it here. Also, I am under discussion to bring out an anthology of writings and speeches of Kanshiram. More on this later.
Things to look out for
An article depicting the condition of caste in the tech industry, especially overseas, is worth reading. Bloomberg Businessweek carried a reportage and its subsidiaries highlighted on its platforms. The article talks about the stories of Dalit students Mahesh Kumar and Amit Jatav, first gen Dalit student at the prestigious IITs and their heart wrenching story of being singled out. They were held in contempt for their caste and declared as unmeritorious by the privileged castes. After getting into the institute Dalit students face mental harassment by cohorts and faculty. Kumar ended up becoming depressed due to lack of support. He returned to his home and applied for a job as a manual scavenger. This is the blot on such institutions who feed the American tech-enterprise. There's blood on those fingers smashing on the keyboards. The article can be read here.
Courtesy: Bloomberg News
Speaking of Bloomberg, the media organization did another coverage of an able Harvard educated bureaucrat on his strides to bring education to the most marginalized. Dr R S Praveen Kumar doesn’t just bring the education but it makes the experience of school and learning more appealing. He has taken students from the slums of Telangana state whose families could barely afford a single day’s meal to now aspire to become doctors, scientists, scholars, sports people and artists. If you’re looking for some motivation, the piece profiling the sobering work of Dr Praveen can be accessed here.
Gajendran Ayyathurai’s excellent paper on caste in Guyana and Suriname is the latest of field works that reports on the caste condition in the Caribbean. Perhaps the first Dalit scholar to have conducted a field work and published in this domain, this paper certainly is first of many scholarly works to unfold in that direction. My current book project, incidentally examines caste in the Caribbean. I had a plan to travel to Trinidad and Guyana last summer but owing to the pandemic that plan was halted. Ayyathurai’s paper offers a nuance to the Brahminical regime existing in the diaspora nations.
On institutional racism in Britain a report found no substantial proof of such and claimed that Britain is a role model for other white dominated countries. The report stated:
We found that most of the disparities we examined, which some attribute to racial discrimination, often do not have their origins in racism.
The BLM, UK replied:
[I]t fails to explore disproportionality in school exclusion, eurocentrism and censorship in the curriculum, or the ongoing attainment gap in higher education. We are also disappointed to learn that the report overlooks disproportionality in the criminal justice system – particularly as police racism served as the catalyst for last summer’s protests. Black people in England and Wales are nine times more likely to be imprisoned than their white peers.
Courtesy: HBR / Ponomariova_Maria/Getty Images
A new colleague on the project at the Harvard Kennedy School, Morgan Brewton-Johnson has written a thoughtful piece on being a black professional and the ramifications of operating in the elite white spaces. Morgan is a graduate of Princeton and went to work with a consultancy firm. She provided an engaging analysis through her story.
I thought that if I suffered in silence and worked twice as hard to succeed, one day all of my hard work would magically pay off and no one would notice I’d even broken a sweat.
She has striking suggestions. The three points that took her time to come to an affirmation and self-confidence and not burning out are: 1. To be your own champion and advocate for what is right for you, 2. Ask help when needed from colleagues and peers, 3. To think of self beyond work and not simply burn out in the process of thinking self-care as a luxury. We all know this, we’ve been there. The mantra I have come to realize is to do the things you enjoy even if it means there are delays on other deadlines. Life after all is an exercise of dodging the deadlines. The piece published in the Harvard Business Review can be read here.
I present to you another rap from the talented Rap Toli—a dalit youth band that is making waves in the slums—where culture is created. This one has a beat featuring Kadubai Kharat’s vocals. It’s a primer to the upcoming Ambedkar Jayanti (birth anniversary celebrations) on April 14. The song can be heard here.
Rapper VIP
#JaiBhim #DalitLove
suraj
Jai Bhim g jai bharat g jai KANSHI RAM g
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