Dalits of Dakshin - the lowest among the lowest

Dalits of Dakshin - the lowest among the lowest

Caste is a living reality in India. People are stripped, paraded naked, made to eat their own 

waste, killed in the task of sewage cleaning, gang raped and murdered by the virtue of the belief that 

people born in lower castes are destined to this fate and have no agency of their own lives, bodies and 

work. They are not allowed to speak, to mourn over the death of their loved ones, to speak of the 

discrimination they face, to educate, to organise, to agitate and take what is rightfully theirs. Especially 

women have been victimized in many ways in almost all times and places. 

The Black feminist writer Alice Walker and Dalit feminist writer Bama demonstrate through their 

novels how the material realities of both groups of women can lead the women to raise their strong

voices against the intersectional oppression of race/caste and gender. All the different groups of women 

in the world have their particular ways of fighting against oppression. In case of Black feminism or 

womanism, and Dalit feminism, the emphasis is on survival and wholeness, the full self-development of 

the marginalized subaltern women, and solidarity and resistance against racist/casteist and patriarchal 

oppression. Black women in America and Dalit women in India are more oppressed than the privileged 

women in both societies. In postcolonial terms, if the women are “double-colonized” by patriarchy and 

imperialism, the Black and Dalit women are “triple colonized” by double patriarchy of the privileged 

men outside and underprivileged men at home, and by the women of privileged class and imperial 

power in general. They have been treated as ‘other’ of the ‘others’. In America, the Black women are 

marginalized on account of being black by the white society and for being women by the patriarchal 

ideology outside and at home, and in India, the Dalit women are equally marginalized for being dalit by 

the upper caste people and for being women by the patriarchal attitude of men outside and even in 

their own homes by their own men. The Black feminist writer Alice Walker and the Dalit feminist writer 

Bama are the prominent figures who have portrayed not only the oppression of the subaltern women of 

their societies, but also presented their coping strategies of resistance, their spirit of survival and 

wholeness, and their awareness and solidarity to dismantle all kinds of domination and oppression.

In The Color Purple, Alice Walker presents the insightful and riveting portrait of black life, in 

particular, the experiences of Black women in a racial and patriarchal American society. It thus 

articulates the complexities of the struggles of black women in America. Walker is committed to explore 

the oppression of black women, racial and sexual discrimination against black women, and also the 

loyalties and triumphs of suppressed black females in a racial and patriarchal American society. 

Like the black women, the Dalit women in India appear to be shouting in the wilderness—raising 

voice for their social, political, economical, and cultural rights. Dalit women, like their American 

counterparts, are also marginalized on account of caste, gender and class. In a sense, they are ‘Dalits 

among the Dalits’ as they are doubly marginalized by the casteist ideology of the upper castes and the 

patriarchal ideologies of males both upper castes and Dalits. Dalit feminist writers began to raise voice 

for equal rights of Dalit women. Dalit feminism started in around 1990s emerging from patriarchal 

hegemony of Dalit literature, and casteist hegemony of mainstream Indian literature. Literature by Dalit 

women, like black feminist writers, is an attempt to articulate the unheard and unspoken voices of the 

oppressed subaltern Dalit women. Bama, a Tamil Dalit, is one of the leading Dalit feminist writers in 

India who has strongly raised the suppressed voice of Dalit women through her writings.

Bama, as a character in the autobiography, asserts herself as a Dalit Christian woman against the 

triple subjugation of Dalit women and their whole society. She wishes the survival not only of herself but 

of the whole society. Against the oppression and subjugation of her community, Bama’s anger is quite 

visible in these words:

“Are Dalits not human beings? Do they not have common

Sense? Do they not have such attributes as a sense of

Honour and selfrespect! Are they without any wisdom,

Beauty and dignity? What do we lack? They treat us in

Whatever way they choose, as if we are slaves who don’t

Possess human dignity.”

In Karukku, Bama depicts the wrongs done in the name of caste and the meaningless violence 

that it instigates. It is not Bama’s story alone but the story of a collective trauma of her community. It is 

a painful story that is open-ended, not like a complete successful story like a conventional 

autobiography. It is essentially cathartic in nature. Bama says, “This book was written as a means of 

healing my inward wounds. I had no other motive.” In this novel, one sees Bama’s quest to understand 

and present how her multiple identities as Dalit, woman and Christian have affected her oppression. 

Bama tells about when she was in high school, her elder brother helped her to understand the 

oppression meted to them and told her that education was the only way out of their miserable 

existence.

Like Black women, Dalit women show a sense of bonding, and also a spirit of survival and 

wholeness for the upliftment of their suppressed community. The focal point of the novel is the 

development of the protagonist’s mind and character from her childhood through diverse experiences, 

and the recognition of her identity and role in the world. It highlights Bama as a Dalit woman who moves 

towards self-discovery and self assertion. She has given her voice to the subaltern marginalized women 

of the society.

Half of India’s Dalit population lives in four states and the fourth one is Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu 

once gave birth to the self-respect movement aimed at social emancipation of the socially backward 

communities. That project has been perverted, with Dalits facing the brunt of caste exploitation from 

Other Backward Classes. Certain caste politics continued to be played in a State where the Dravidian 

movement took root in the 1930s in order to empower socially backward communities through the ‘selfrespect

movement’ – and where inter-caste marriages, organised by mainstream political parties , 

became a vehicle for social emancipation in the 1960s. That movement initially started off as an effort to 

break the stranglehold of the “upper castes” – principally Brahmins – in the administration and in 

politics. It proved enormously successful in that endeavour, with the other backward classes becoming 

politically empowered and securing access to education and employment on the back of affirmative 

action programmes. But that political mobilisation project was far from complete, since the fruits of its 

effort appeared not to have percolated to the Dalits.

Although the other backward classes and the Dalits were once united in their opposition to 

Brahminism – and Brahmins – in Tamil Nadu, that opportunistic alliance appeared to have become 

fractured over time, since they are competing for the same pool of entitlements. That all this should find 

tragic traction in Tamil Nadu, particularly given the roots of the self-respect movement is doubly tragic. 

That social revolution, which began well but lost well its way, was till incomplete. It has, if anything,

been hijacked and perverted by the newly empowered other backward classes, which practice the 

worse forms of caste bigotry that would have shamed the founders of the Dravidian movement.

In an era when upper caste women were beginning to find their feet in public life and 

participating in politics, a young woman from the Depressed Classes was a pathbreaker and opened the 

doors for Dalit women in politics. She was Sathiavani Muthu, who participated in electoral politics for 3 

decades, from the 50s to the 80s, served as Minister in the Tamil Nadu Government twice and served 

the country as a Rajya Sabha MP and as a Union Minister. She has the unique distinction of being 

probably the first Dalit woman in India to start and lead a new party, Thazhthapattor Munnetra 

Kazhagam (Depressed Classes Development Front). In spite of Dravidians being in power, she realized 

that Scheduled Castes were still no better placed in terms of empowerment. She already had faced the 

bigotry of EV Ramasamy, when he wrote in his periodical Nasthikam of 2 March 1963 – “Pariah women 

wearing jackets led to increased prices for clothes and Pariah men becoming literate led to increasing 

unemployment”.

In her autobiography “Enathu Porattam” – My Agitation, she writes:

“Periyar conducted an Untouchability Eradication Conference in which I was invited to speak. I said

You have told us that when we encounter a snake and a Brahmin, the Brahmin must be struck first since he is more 

dangerous than a snake. You were able to say these words and these Black-Shirted Self-Respect Activists here have risen in life 

through you. I have to place on record that the situation of our people from the Depressed Classes has not improved in any way.

The Depressed Classes face no trouble from the Brahmins. On the contrary, the information I have is that it is non-Brahmins who 

are responsible for many of the atrocities against us. The situation today is such that there is a greater need for Shudra and NonShudra

based politics rather than Brahmin, non-Brahmin polarization.”

How about the Dalits being killed or murdered so brutally and barbarously? Most of ‘honour 

killings’ reported in our newspapers are caste killings, or killings in the name of caste. The Kherlanji 

massacre (or Khairlanji massacre) is the murders of four Scheduled Caste citizens by villagers of 

Khairlanji in September 29, 2006. The killings took place in a small village in India named Kherlanji, 

located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra.

On 29th September, 2006 in the Khairlanji village of Maharashtra, four members of the 

Bhotmange family—mother Surekha, daughter Priyanka (19), son Sudhir (17) and other son Roshan (18) 

who was visually challenged, were pulled out of their home after some women from OBC/Peasant 

families burst open their doors, which eventually led to the infamous Khairlanji Massacre against Dalits. 

They were brought to the center of the village and tied to a bullock cart, and were stripped and beaten. 

Their genitals were injured. The sons were asked to gang-rape their mother and sister in front of the 

entire village to which they refused. They were subsequently mutilated. Four of them died on the spot 

and their bodies were dumped in a nearby canal. Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange who was the lone survivor of 

the family tried to inform people of nearby village but no body came to rescue. The Dalit families of the 

village realized what has just happened, but didn’t come out of the fear. This was just an issue on 

concerns of a neighbouring land. Such a brutal massacre in the name of land ownership !

You might have looked at the news headlines on these matters at a glance. But you might have 

looked deep into the films that portray Dalits as may be the villains or the heroes. Filmmakers have 

changed the portrayal of Dalits in Tamil cinema, from being submissive characters to becoming assertive heroes, over the course of the last 10 years. The emergence and success of filmmakers belonging to the 

Scheduled Caste has created an irreversible change in Tamil cinema. At least three filmmakers — Pa. 

Ranjith (Attakathi, Madras, Kabali and Kaala), Gopi Nainar (Aramm), and Mari Selvaraj (Pariyerum 

Perumal) — have had an unprecedented impact on the film industry. They have managed to raise critical 

questions on representation of oppressed and minority castes on screen, effecting a lasting change on 

stereotypical representations in the last few decades.

The major shift in thinking has been the fact that the Dalits —who were represented as passive 

victims for long in cinema — have become assertive heroes. Many critics feel that the success of 

Ranjith’s films has resulted in a situation where ‘assertive’ Dalit characters in movies such as 

Vetrimaaran’s smash hit Asuran, featuring Dhanush, are here to stay. Ranjith has faced much criticism 

that he is trying to create a certain narrative of ‘assertive, heroic Dalit’ characters simply to suit a 

commercial film narrative rather than reflect the actual reality. 

Acknowledging that the emergence of filmmakers from Dalit backgrounds is a significant 

change, director Gopi Nainar is not very sure that it points to democratisation of Tamil cinema. “Karl Marx 

has already expounded this issue: if there is a book speaking about the perils of capitalism, the capitalists themselves will sell it. 

If Dalit cinema is winning, it means there is a market for it. But, this is also its fall,” he argues. Gopi laments that the 

capitalists in Tamil cinema have always been focused on ‘commercialisation’ of cinema — dictating 

content and reorganising certain aspects of film narrative to maximise profits — and raises concern 

about ‘Dalit cinema’ getting trapped into this circle of commercialisation. 

“Puranas were made into movies because people already liked it. Then, Dravidian movement resulted in lot of movies 

with social awareness. Then slowly, they were thrown out too; the market began dictating where songs should come, where a 

raunchy item number should come. All this was not done by artistes, but the market. What do we do if Dalit cinema also 

becomes compromised like this?” he asked. 

“Does Dalit cinema needs a star to speak its politics? Who will see it? Who will act in it? What is the point 

in such a Dalit cinema which is severely marketised? In Dalit cinema, we are talking about a story of liberation. 

When I think that it needs a star, I am polishing my story accordingly. The story will slightly deform. If Dalit cinema 

is subjected to market pressures, then it won’t be speaking the language of liberation,” Gopi explains.

Coming to this God’s own country, Malayalam films were a celebration of Brahminical 

characters. The whole plot leaned towards higher caste masters. There are instances in Malayalam films 

in which actors from Dalit community in real life are totally rejected by the glamour of cinema. They will 

always remain either as a friend of hero whom he always mock or as someone to show his arm strength. 

And thus, when a Dalit actor, Kalabhavan Mani, became an upper caste character in the film Aaram 

Thampuran, he is presented merely as a stupid brahmin. Kammattipadam, director Rajiv Ravi has tried 

to copy the life of subaltern. Apparently, the film says the political issue of a group of people regarding 

their land ownership. But it shows the exact sufferings and life of Dalits. Here the Dalits, belongs to 

certain criminal groups were trickily used by the upper-class for murder and robbery. Although the film 

shows a progressing period of Dalits, it is not at all succeeded completely in portraying their real life. 

New generation films proclaim that they are exact celebrations of realism. But even in 2019, the films

Njan Prakashan and Argentina fans kaattoorukadavu show that Dalits have no role in mainstream social 

system. In Njan prakashan by Sathyan Anthikkad, it says that the son of a coconut climber always needs 

to hold that tradition even though he has well educated. In ‘Argentina fans katturkadavu’ directed by Midhun Manual ,the central character Vipinan played by Kalidasan has a strong affection with Mehru, 

the heroin character played by Aiswarya Lakshmi .But she is in love with another man named Ajayghosh 

who belongs to Dalit community .Vipinan argues himself that why doesn’t she prefer him even though 

he is rich and having an upper class background and also he cannot find any reason for her love with a 

Dalit. The film ends by portraying Ajayghosh as a joker and thereby Vipinan got his love fulfilled.

Caste consciousness is always a part of Malayalam films. The central characters are always the 

upper caste. It needs a revaluation that how the films are accepted by the viewers when it had central 

characters as Kalabhavan Mani and Vinayakan. Skin colour also has much importance in film. White is 

always dominant over the black. Such films got more acceptances. The fact is that the black characters 

were played by white people by changing their colour through makeup. This is the existing caste 

consciousness. Most of the Malayalam films depicted Dalits as stupid, unemployed, black, uncultured, 

and without having any intelligence. The film Karumadikkuttan by Vinayan in 2001 is a best example for 

this. It describes the worst part of a Dalit’s life. Here the heroine decided to live with Karumadikkuttan 

only because she lost her virginity and became homless.

It’s now dalits and non-dalits; and they’re the lowest of the lowest ones !!!

References:

Bama. Karukku. Trans. Lakshmi Holmstrom. New Delhi: Oxford University Press,

Second Edition, 2012.

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt. 1982.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2455328X19898418

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/opinion-thepatronising-dravidian-movement/article30972937.ece/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/www.firstpost.com/politics/khairlanji-massacre-on-10-yr-anniversary-ofbrutal-attack-on-dalits-maratha-agitation-gains-momentum-3023870.html/amp

https://www.epw.in/journal/2012/29/editorials/dalits-tamil-nadu.html

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/malayalam-films-bury-dalit-issuesfilmmaker/article24354740.ece/amp/

-Fathimathul Shaharban