Wanted not Jati identity but Dalit identity
Dr. V. ANNAMALAI, PO BOX 842066, HOUSTON, TX 77084-2118, USA
DV Editorial on Tamil Nadu’s latest-caste war between the Backward Caste Thevar’s and the Untouchable Devendra’s was informative. As I myself come from that region of TN, I understand the situations rather well. The fact that the other main Untouchable “subcaste”, Pariah’s, are not supporting and fighting shoulder to shoulder with their blood-brothers in this struggle is troubling me a lot.
Your theory of “Jati identity” may be confusing to many, as it may lead to dividing or isolating those “subcastes” from one another. In my opinion, this is exactly what is happening and will continue to happen if we emphasis the identity of these subcastes. In your own article in the same issue, you say that “we have not become a community”. How can we become a com- munity, meaning a single entity, if we try to identify (meaning isolate) ourselves? If we want to become a community, we have to unite ourselves as a single community which | believe cannot be achieved if we emphasise our individual subcaste identity and isolation.
Pariah failure: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar did not fight only for his Mahar “subcaste”, but for the entire Dalit, Tribal and all the other persecuted communities including women without any discrimination and distinction.
So, why we are advocating now the “identity” of each subcaste? The only identification that should be advocated is “Dalit identity” and nothing more and nothing less. The word Dalit itself is a unifying word. If all the various subcastes of the Dalit community call themselves only as Dalits, where is the question of Jati identification, other than Dalit identity, Dalit consciousness and thus Dalit solidarity. if this were the case in TN today, do you think that only the Devendra’s will be fighting with the Thevar’s in TN today? Don’t you think that the Devendra’s and the Pariah’s will be fighting the Thevar’s shoulder to shoulder as Dalit brothers, not just Devendra’s alone and the Pariah’s hiding themselves somewhere far away without even giving their Devendra brothers the moral support they deserve and need?
Yes, there may be plenty of self-proclaimed leaders (many of them in fact stooges of our Enemy) in both these communities to keep these people divided as Devendra’s and Pariah’s, and not as a single Dalit people. But the fact of the matter is, for the rest of the caste-infested Hindus, these Devendra’s and Pariah’s are just Untouchables and outcastes. Until both these communities reach a point of calling and recognizing themselves only as Dalits and nothing more and nothing else, there will be no future for either of these people.
Unity first, sharing later: Yes, proportional representation has to be devised and enforced within the general percentage of political and other reservations for each of these segments of Dalit people, but they should first be united as one. Genuine leaders from both sides should come together so that the people in turn will treat each other as their own brothers and sisters. Then, there should not be any infighting between these “subcastes” on anything major. Nothing else, the caste-infested Hindus dare not antagonize either of these subcastes, as they damn well know that these “subcastes” are united and they are blood relations.
Until and unless unity among all the subcastes of the Dalit community is realized soon, the gulf between these subcastes will continue to grow wider and wider (and will be fuelled by the caste-infested Hindus), and your dream of “we have not yet become community” will not be a reality.
In addition, the gulf so created will help the caste-infested perpetrators of barbarity to suck the last drop of these poor people’s blood.
This analogy will apply equally in all different states of the country where the obnoxious caste-infested Brahminical Hindu religion has created similar subcastes among the Dalits and have brainwashed them to fight among each other, instead of joining hands together to fight the deadliest common Enemy, the evil Brahminical Hindu.
