Caste system must be abolished, says Dalit Professor

Despite the end of colonisation in India, the country continues to suffer from ‘internal imperialism’, an Indian professor said at a conference recently in Sydney. Dr Raja Sekhar Patteti, who was at the University of Sydney for a conference on Transcultural Mappings in April, told academics and students that Dalits, who constitute the fifth discriminated caste, continued to face rampant discrimination.

Presenting a paper titled Dissolved native/ aboriginal/Dalit bodies: The post human reading of glocal epistemology, Dr Patteti said the inhumane treatment against Dalits can cease only with the annihilation of the caste system. A Dalit professor from the Acharya Nagarjuna University in Andhra Pradesh, he told Indian Link that his research paper drew parallels between discrimination against the ‘bodies’ of Dalits, and the treatment meted out to the aborigines of Australia, Canada and elsewhere in the world.

“The bodily victimization of aboriginals of Australia began with British colonisation. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the colonisers appropriated the land and water resources of aborigines and converted them for sheep and cattle grazing,” he noted, tracking the history of victimisation against aborigines and Dalits to the history of colonisation.

He observed that “In ancient India, Dalits were forced to walk wearing an earthen pot around their neck, tying a thatch around their waist to clean their footsteps and they had to shout and warn of their entry into the village. Their presence, entry and even their shadow was considered a sign of an omen. They were forced to eat the flesh of the dead animals and depend on leftover food by dominant castes. They were prohibited and discouraged to think on their own,” he said, adding that the colonial rule which transformed every cultural facet of India remained helpless in abolishing the caste system and improving the lives of Dalits.

The English professor, who has been reading extensively on Dalit literature, asserted, “India’s attempt to annihilate the caste system is absolutely zero. It depends on globalisation and multiculturalism to lessen the influence of caste, rather than framing its own agenda to abolish this system on the been the victim of any discrimination himself, it was the history of violence against Dalits, specifically on their physical person, and the continuing human rights abuse and discrimination in India that became the source of inspiration for this paper. Historical injustices rendered against this section of society, stories recounted by people he knew and an increasing interest in Dalit literature lead to him researching physical violence perpetuated against Dalits, reiterated this staunch follower of Dr Ambedkar. Babasaheb Ambedkar, as he was fondly known, was one of the first Dalits to receive a college education in Hindu India, and dedicated his life fighting untouchability and social discrimination in the caste- dominated Indian society.

Even as Dalits are slowly occupying positions of power and intellect in India, Dr Patteti said that Dalits were also creating a place for themselves in the globalised world. However, he noted, “The space for existence and the opportunities for Dalits in institutions owned by the government are shrinking. The priority of the Indian government right now is only to provide basic amenities to millions and millions of Dalits lurking in inhuman conditions.”

When asked if India, with its changing economic and global landscape would eventually do away with the caste system, the professor said, “Caste is going to stay for a long time. With the spread of Indians across the globe it will soon become a major problem of the world. Under the blanket of capitol slogans, we cannot hide for a long time what is reality in India.”

Dr Patteti emphasised it was time that United Nations Human Rights Council, withstanding the heavy lobbying of the Indian government to exclude ‘caste’ from its draft, recognized that India’s caste system was responsible for high voltage violence against Dalits.

“This should be termed as human rights abuse, which would prevent and save 17 crore Dalits in India from experiencing this pathetic situation,” he asserted.