The press, in a modern society, plays a crucial role in articulating the opinion and demands of social groups it represents. It moulds public opinion in a direction seen as favourable to these groups. The Indian press, both English and language, is to this day controlled by the brahminical social order. This is so because the caste system ensured it a virtual monopoly over learning, leaving the “lower” castes bereft of education. As a result of this, the “backward communities” were without a press of their own.
With the spread of literacy. the Increasing politicization of the masses and the growth of social awareness, things are now beginning to change. A number of periodicals have now appeared to fight for the Dalits and the Backward Castes. The growing backward caste press has come of age.
Periyar’s Writings in Tamil: The seeds of Dalit journalism were sown by the greatest revolutionary of Maharashtra, Mahatma Phule. Dr. Ambedkar (through his Bahishkrit Bharat, Mook Nayak and Janata) at the turn of this century improved upon it. They wrote extensively in Marathi, and the latter also in English. Periyar EV Ramaswamy with his profuse and profound writings in Tamil laid the ideological foundations of the “Self-Respect Movement” among the Dravidians. Since such revolutionary movements have been particularly strong in Maharashtra and TN, it is not surprising that today a disproportionately large number of Dalit-BC periodicals are brought out from these two states.
The BCs have a low literacy rate and a standard of living lower than the national average. As a result, English – the language of the Indian elite – is not much known oven among its intelligentsia. However, there has been a considerable growth in Dalit-BC English periodicals which serve to link the various SC/BC and religious minority movements in different parts of India.
Of the better-known Dalit English periodicals is the fortnightly Dali Voice from Bangalore, it was started in 1981 by the Dalit Sahitya Academy with the noted English writer, Dr. Mulk Raj Anand as Adviser. His novel, The Untouchable did much to create racist discriminations against Untouchables.
Brahminism not Brahmin is the enemy: Dalit Voice articulates the demands of what it describes as the ‘Bahujan Samar – the 85% of the Indian population comprising SC (20%), ST (10%), BC (35%) and religious minorities (20%) as well as those upper castes Interested in human rights. It does not attack individual Brahmins and other upper castes as such but the brahminical ideology of high and low, which it concedes, has to a great extent also been internalised by the backward castes themselves. It seeks to dispel the inferiority complex injected into the minds of the deprived SC/ST/BCs by challenging the legitimacy of caste itself. In its place, it exhorts the SCs and BCs to take pride in their identity. just like the US Blacks who having acquired pride in being Black are today challenging the western white racism in a big way.
Dalit Voice, now completing ten eventful years, comes out in several Indian languages too – Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam and has a circulation all over the world. There is even a Japanese edition, edited by a Japanese from Nagoya. As a press of the persecuted DV has made history, say its readers.
The monthly Voice of the Weak in Hindi and English is brought out by the All-India Federation of SC/ST/ BC Minorities Employees Welfare Association, New Delhi. It advocates the caste-cum-class approach to mobilise the toiling masses for their socio-economic emancipation. It does not, however, appear to be too popular outside the limited circle of the federation membership.
BSP journals: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) propagates its message among the BCs through several periodicals – Bahujan Voice (English), Bahujan Chetna (Marathi), Bahujan Jagriti (Punjabi) and Bahujan Sangharsh (Hindi). They give greater stress to the party’s political fortunes. BAMCEF, originally a part of the BSP, experimented with an English paper. The Oppressed Indian, which has now stopped. Its place has now been taken by the Bahujan Sangalang; a Hindi weekly published from New Delhi. Another English periodical which now appears to have closed down is the Shivalik Bani from Jammu which focussed on the problems of the SC/ST/BCs and minorities in North India.
Christian press: The Jesuits for centuries have been engaged in the social uplift of the downtrodden. The Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, publishes the Hindi monthly, Hum Dalit, which besides focussing on Ambedkar’s, provides its largely rural-based readers with Information on law, their fundamental rights, health etc., with short-stories – each with a social message. As a result of the growth in the popularity of Ambedkar’s, many Christian theological schools have now opened departments of Dalit Theology, which bring out literature on the plight of Dalits within the upper caste-controlled Christian church. Prominent among these are the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, the Dalit Education Liberation Trust”, Madras, and the “Dalit Open University”, Phalangium (Andhra Pradesh), which also conducts free correspondence courses on Dalit history and Ambedkar thought.
Dravidian press: The monthly Modem Rationalist is brought out by the Dravida Kashagan, Madras, and seeks to promote the ideas of Periyar. It however, is virtually unknown outside South India. Sharad Palil’s Satyashodak Communist Party brings out a Marathi monthly from Dhule seeking to promote the triple alliance of Marx, Phule and Dr. Ambedkar. Besides such BC periodicals that cater almost exclusively to these communities, there exist several “radical marxist” periodicals representing various CPI (ML) formations that seek to present the issue of caste exploitation “in a more balanced manner” to the public at large.
Nazism main threat: Most of these BC and CPI (ML) periodicals project the rising Hindu fundamentalism as a fascist strategy of some sections of the upper castes/classes to divide the working classes. Many go so far as to assert that Hindu fundamentalism aims not so much at attacking the minorities as at suppressing the human rights struggles of SC/ST/BCs. In addition, all these periodicals take a pro- Mandal stand as the “national” dailies were anti-Mandal during the peak of the controversy surrounding job-reservation for the BCs.
With the upper caste/class- controlled press having taken up the cudgels on behalf of the anti-reservationists, the BCs realise the urgent need for an independent press of their own. For, it was in the columns of the press that the battle over Mandal was been won by the anti-reservationists, at least for the time being.
An independent backward caste press is also felt necessary so as to convince the upper castes of the just demands of the over 85% of the India’s persecuted people. Since the “national press” is suppressing the truth, only a BC press can do the job of spreading truth.
The BC press has to grapple with several immense hurdles. For generations these castes had been kept bereft of education and a tradition of learning, and so the very number of potential subscribers is limited. Their culture has all along been transmitted orally through songs, plays and dances. Recognising this, some groups have sought to transmit the Mandal message through media other than the press. For instance, the lecture- tours in Eastern UP and Gujarat conducted by some students of the JNU under the banner of the ‘Dalit Shiksha Andolan’ and through the Mandal audio-cassettes prepared by the Samaj Nyaya Morcha.
Lack of funds: Since these communities are rather poor, their periodicals lack adequate funds to stay alive. Consequently, many periodicals are short-lived. They receive few, if any, advertisements, being without wealthy patrons.
Another serious lacuna in the BC movement is the relatively much smaller number of periodicals being brought out by the tribals and the BCs. Most backward caste periodicals are in fact brought out by the Scheduled Caste organisations.
Perhaps this is because of the fact that the social oppression that the SCs have to contend with is much more severe, and therefore, in greater need of being articulated through the press. This could also be seen as a product of the neglect under the Congress. In addition, the cow-bell’ states of Northern India 2 have a proportionately much smaller number of BC periodicals than the South, as the struggle against the caste ideology and caste-exploitation is still in its nascent stage in the North.
Despite the immense hurdles that Dalit journalism had to contend with, its future does not appear entirely bleak. The growing social awareness, coupled with the increasing politicisation of the masses, will help pave the way for the Dalit press to establish itself as the voice of India’s toiling millions.
