Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం

Long Live Ambedkarism

2012-01-26T07:25:00.000-08:00

Long Live Ambedkarism

Dr.P.Kesava Kumar

Attack on Ambedkar statues in Coastal Andhra is a symbolic attack on dalit consciousness. This has to be understood in a social context of Andhra and emerging forces. The attacks are not spntaneous or emotional but systematically planned. It seems there is a conspiracy to get the political milege.In Andhra political situation is very unstable.Every political par...ty is uncertain about future elections . CM is already working out strategies to eliminate potential threats within his party. Jagan is putting all his efforts to consolidate dalit and reddy vote bank.He thought that only way to escape from multi crore scams is to get more visibility in public. Chandrababu wants to take advantage from the political unstable situation and preparing for elections with new image.All the political parties have an eye on dalit vote .Dalits are at cross roads.They lost even the bargaining capacity with mainstream political parties long back.The consciousness is fragmented to subcastes.The conscious in the line of subcastes helps them to conslidate community with reference to other community but lost the capacity to push any issue further or to kep pressure on ruling parties. The attacks are happening when dalits are not in a position to emerge as an autonomos political force.The situation demands that dalit is the better identity to inaugurate dalit self rather mala or madiga identity.By identification with a category 'dalit' their energies will be consolidated and provides the political direction.The installation of rajasekarreddy statues in dalit village rather in reddy locality or in the other public places reflects the submerged comnsciousness of dalits under hegemonic forces. This is one kind of surrender to dominant hegemonic ruling communities.Keeping the statue of Rajasekhar reddy along with Ambedkar, dalits lost the direction.They carried with a popularism that has constructed artificially.The need of the hour is to assertion of dalits in public space by protecting their symbols and at the same time differentiating from other imposed symbols.Interstngly dalits are responding to the cultural symbols emotionally but the same emotion is missing on many issues relating to dalit exploitation.Dalit masses are identified with Ambedkar statues but at the same we fail to see the same carrying further the spirit of Ambedkar's philosophy .Ambedkar is a symbol of protest that questining the upper caste hegermony in all forms.Rajasehkarreddy is a symbol of surrender to the caste hegemony.Organising politics in the line of Ambedkar will definetely keep check on these kinds of attacks on Ambedkar statues.We have to take up our struggles from symbolic to real life situations.Condemn the attacks on Dalit Consciousness.Long Live Ambedkarism!See More

Towards a Dalit Theory- VENOMOUS TOUCH

2011-12-18T02:34:00.000-08:00

Towards a Dalit Theory

Venomous Touch

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

Ravi Kumar’s recent book Venomous Touch Notes on Caste, Culture and Politics are compilations of essays that were published in alternate Tamil journals, such as Dalit, Dalita Murusu, Taaimann, Manusanga, Unnadham, Nirapirikai, Kalachuvudu in between 1993-2005. These selective articles are translated and compiled as a book by Azhagarsan , English professor of University of Madras , who is closely following the politics of Tamil society in particular and contemporary cultural studies in general.
The initial years of this millennium witnessed the violent political turmoil of Tamil society, especially in Northern Tamil Nadu. These articles are a response of conscious dalit scholar to this situation. This book is sign post in understanding alternative culture and politics of Tamil society. These are critical reflections on Dravidan and tamil nationalist politics from a dalit point of view. Ravikumar is an organic intellectual, civil rights activist, writer, poet, translator, journalist, book publisher and a political leader of different kind. He expressed effectively through all these forms. He becomes a member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (2006-2011) by representing the dalit political party, VCK.

As Susie Tharu in her foreword mentioned that these essays provide us with a rich feel for the political ruptures of the 1990s.It is post Mandal Phenomenon, in which dalit struggles against upper castes hegemony are prominent. It is the period of Political turmoil. The conscious educated dalits started asserting in public space. This is the time with the entry of dalits, one has witnessing the collapse of carefully constructed brahminical world in one hand, and on the other alternative politics that came in the form of Marxist and Dravidian ideology. This is the phase dalits of all walks got mobilized and consolidated to liberate themselves from the clutches of suffering, exploitation and violence that took place in the name of caste. Dalits are mobilizing towards the politics of power. In that process, they are searching for words, digging the past, inventing dignified life from the rich repository of their culture and history. It is an effort not to please theories of academics, and not to impress the existing polemics of alternative politics. It is dalit journey towards dignity, social recognition and social justice. Venomous touch is the critique of upper caste concerns towards dalit issues.

The Venomous Touch has its importance in many ways. First of all, this work is an authentic representation of dalit experience. This is not just articulating the feelings of suffering. It is also a voice against oppression. Moreover, it is theorizing about one’s own dalit self. It goes against the academic principle of dalit as empirical object and upper caste scholars as theoretician. If one believes authenticity and representation are important criteria in evaluating the knowledge systems, this work is a testimony of dalit knowledge system.
It is historically known fact that, for dalit writing, there is no space in mainstream media.
First of all who will publish the feelings of dalits? If any space is bargained, one has to compel to accommodate with existing dominant canons of political and cultural debates. In this context, the little magazines came with an idea of propagating alternative politics has a value in forcefully representing dalit writings. Ravi Kumar has deliberately chooses the little magazines of alternative political tradition. Mostly one has the feeling that dalit discourse is confined to vernacular and does not have national and international recognition as in the case of elite brahminical writing. By available dalit writing in English, this work got its importance as dalit scholarship in countering brahminical scholarship.
Ravi Kumar is fond of knowledge systems that liberate dalits. He had a strong conviction that dalit intellectual has to construct alternative knowledge system by critically evaluating existing systems of thought. It involves lot of labour, feelings, urge to change our lives. To fight against the system is not so easy, that too to fight against the caste hegemony of the nation one has to pick up courage and strength. He suggests that dalits need to develop a self critical attitude towards their own conceptions and activities. To understand, get more clarity and to provide proper direction for our struggles we need solid theoretical foundations.
Ravi Kumar looks at Ambedkar as not only a symbol of power but also a symbol of non power. Dalit movement must be willing to follow Ambedkar also in renouncing power. This alternative perspective on power can best be understood only when we understand Ambedkar and Tamil Buddhism from a foucauldian perspective. This shows that he borrows tools from scholars of the world to understand us in better way. ‘The strategic knowledge demands that our primary task should be to expose the forms of brahminism which offer ethical justification for all kinds of oppression in India. This is the role of organic intellectuals in the Indian context.’

Ravi Kumar is very much concerned with philosophical ideas that underplay politics rather mere politics. He declares, I give priority to philosophy rather than politics. He forcefully argues that ‘let us open the gates of philosophy’. He is fascinated with Gramsci, Althussar, Derrida, Bakunin and postmodernism. His fascinated with these theories is how to adopt in our social context. He believes that classical Marxism does not provide proper answer to resolve the questions related to power. To understand nature and function of power, Foucault seems to convincing to him. Foucault’s idea that power is all pervading in social relationship came as a critique of Marxism. Ravi Kumar reached Ambedkar in this backdrop. Apart from Marxism, he is equally critical about Dravidian ideology that practicing in Tamil society. As he says, behind atheistic ideology, communalism survives in the guise of caste majority. It is Hinduism in disguise. At the same time he argues that dalits need to develop a self-critical attitude towards their own conceptions and activities. Dalits have not only claims for sharing power but also have to learn to renounce power as in the case of Ambedkar. He proposes alternative perspective of power. Further he searched for alternative colonial modernity in Buddhism. He believes that the role of dalit intellectual is to expose the forms of Brahmanism and have to develop critical ability among the dalits. In other words, Ravi Kumar’s Venomous Touch is in search of constructing dalit theory. We may find his theoretical reflections on caste, literature, media, cinema, history, politics and human rights.
For dalit politics, the understanding of caste and its manifestations in various forms is central and crucial. Ravi Kumar explores the functioning of caste in all his writings. On the issues of caste, he is critical of both Marxist and Dravidian politics. As he puts: It is an important question whether the Marxists in India, can succeed in crossing caste barriers. Is it this barrier that has kept discussion of Ambedkar’s ideas out of Marxists circles today? The Dravidian politics has popularly known for anti-brahminical leanings by recognizing the issue of caste. Ravi Kumar observed that contemporary Dravidian politics are not critical of Hinduism. He points out that the same majoritarian Hinduism is surviving in the guise of Dravidian politics. Even in symbolic representation, the Dravidian politics are not critical about Hinduism. As he reminds that changing names in the campaign of Dravidian politics is remained at the level of anti-brahmin and anti-Sanskrit, but the attack on Hinduism never occupied a central place in such campaigns. (The Politics of Naming). For Tamil nationalists in Tamil Nadu regards Jaffna Tamils as role models. For any struggles in Tamil Nadu, Srilankan nationalist liberation struggle is inspiring force. Ravi Kumar is daring in questioning the caste of Tigers. He argues that these struggles are silent on the issue of caste. The wave of Tamil national liberation suppressed the voices of the dalits. For caste tamils in Srilanka are more Hinduistic than the caste Hindus in India. And the tigers are exception to this. To articulate his view, he borrowed the phrase from K. Raghunathan, Srilankan Poet, Caste lie hidden under the shadow of guns; they are not dead .(Caste of the Tigers). Ravi Kumar embraces the philosophy of Ambedkar in his struggle against brahminism, In understanding Indian society and readings its history, he believes that Ambedkar is appropriate. As he says: We can see in Ambedkar a continuation of Hegel’s study of social history. We can even say that what Marx did for Hegel in the economic sphere, Ambedkar did for him in the sphere of social history (The Shadow that cannot be Crossed). Ravi Kumar’s line of thought is clear by saying, Brahminism and its ‘counter revolution’ must be defeated. We must now think not of how to live, but how to die. He is equally critical about patriotism put forwarded by hindutva forces. What we need today is not the politics of patriotism, but a politics that articulates the singularity of the dalit question. (Is Sonia foreigner)

In State, Caste and Land, historically explores the relations of caste and land, from Chola, Pallava, and British period to contemporary times. He came to a conclusion that dalits are inextricably tied to land but do not have any right over it. The ownership of the land might change; but the coolie stays with the land. The landlords and rulers used the practice of untouchability to treat the dalits worse than slaves. In this context, he problematised the issue of Panchami land that given to untouchables in the time of British rule. This land has grabbed by upper caste and dalits have no claims on this at present.

Media plays an important role in imagining nation. It sets the tone for politics. Ravi Kumar’s articles on media are important in understanding history of media and the politics of media in relation to dalits. In Unwritten writing, explains the issue of dalits and media. he brings out the parallel between upper caste media, The Hindu and dalit intellectual Iyotheethas run journal Oru Paisa Tamilan(1907-14). He differentiates the difficulties in sustaining the dalit media even after their success, and sustenance of The Hindu(1905- till date) even after losses. He argues that caste makes the difference. He also demands for representation of dalits in media for effective functioning of democracy.
Further he argues that we have to understand the politics of media. He raises the questions: The caste system is preserved and reinforced even in media. How many dalits are employed in private TV channels? How many dalit issues have been highlighted on such channels?
Apart from the representation of dalits in media, he is ideologically explains the nature of media in his writings. As he says, television will not help to expand our knowledge; on the contrary, it dims our intellect. By limiting our thinking and throwing readymade solutions continuously before us, it turns us into fools and slaves. Worse still, it converts us into objects and commodities. Every thing, including sorrow, atrocity, destruction and death, has been converted into a commodity. (A Commodity called the Human being)

Dalit movements are aimed at annihilation of caste. The issue of caste has to be fought from many fronts and in many ways. Apart from political struggles, cultural struggles are equally important. For this dalits have to assert themselves by celebrating their own culture and history. Ravi Kumar argues that dominant history has excluded dalits, even in subaltern discourses. He is in favour of celebration of dalit history month in the line of black history month. Dalit history month is counter to dominant fabrications of history. The idea behind this acts is, invocation of dalit history. In the context where history has been subjected to planned erasure, events (Keezhvenmani, Tsundur, Kumher), institutions (Sakya Budhists Society) and names ( Jashuavea, Sankaranand Sastri, PR Venkatswamy, Iyotheethass) from the past century seem unfamiliar even to dalits. The subaltern studies group, which gained immense currency on academia, has systematically excluded dalits from their discourse .He believes that these kind of symbolic and semiotic representations have implication even for material plane. The violence against dalits in semiotic sphere must be met in the same sphere. It can not be fought on a material plane. This will be made possible only by turning the existing power equation in this system against itself. (Semiotic Violence of Independence Day). While recording the campaign of re-naming dalits by giving them tamil names, organized of Dalit Panthers of India of Tirumavalavan is considered as a protest launched on the semiotic plane. Rejecting hindu names and renaming dalits with caste-free names is part of the struggle to annihilate caste. This semiotic protest will destabilize the material plane too. Changing names is part of transforming society. we can name ourselves, seem also to say, ‘we can decide our own politics, and ‘we can secure our freedom. (The Politics of Naming).

In literature, Dalit literature brings into perspective the issue of authenticity and representation. The upper caste writers in general and progressive writers in particular are upset with charges of dalit writers. Ravi Kumar illustrates the upper caste writers view by reviewing Vaasanti’s short story Thinavu his article Venomous Touch, Untouchable People . He exposes the inherent vengeance and venomous literary touch towards dalits in the name of progressiveness. In another article Noon That Slaughters Shadow reads the celebrated Tamil writer Pudumai Pithan from a postmodern perspective. He reads the film Knockout as male centric text.
This book also contains the reports on ongoing atrocities against dalits. As a Civil rights activist he reports the Chidambaram poll violence in Dalits and Parliamentary Democracy. This article has not only provides the chronicle of incidents of caste violence took place in Chidambarm constituency located in Northern Tamil Nadu, but also provides the backdrop of rise of two political parties namely, DPI(VCK) and PMK.
As a Human rights activists and dalit intellectual, he is equally critical about some of the aspects of dalit movements and its concerns. In his essay On the Borderlines : Dalit Rights vs Human Rights points out that the cultural agenda seems more importantant than the issue of human rights violation. The major agenda seems to gain political power; the issue of human rights violations therefore becomes a matter of secondary importance. Though dalit oppression is itself a human rights issue and a part of the struggle for democracy, these two things are not taken seriously even within dalit movements. Why is it that the cultural sphere gains more significance than the killing of a human being? Ravi Kumar noted the contradictions within the dalit movements. Why there is no protest from dalits in case of dalit killings as in the case with demolition of Ambedkar statue by upper caste?

Ravi Kumar celebrates the dignity and freedom of dalits in every page of this book. He is in favour of insurrection of dalit history. In his own words, neither is our government stronger than the USA’s; nor are we less in number than the Blacks. It is for history to record how lambs become lions. (Celebration/Insurrection)

Venomous Touch
Notes on Caste, Culture and Politics

By Ravikumar
Translated from Tamil by R.Azhagarsan
Samya,2007
Rs.650

Who is the Criminal?

2011-12-17T03:16:00.001-08:00

Who is the Criminal?

Dr.P.Kesava Kumar

In our country, many myths are constructed around judiciary system. When Political structures are corrupt, people are looking at judiciary as a last hope to protect democracy. Judges are viewed beyond power structures. Another view is that Judges are uncorrupt, impartial and always stands for justice. Judgments of courts are ultimate. Any criticism against judicial decisions is viewed as contempt of court.
Interestingly common man is always afraid of courts. He wants settle any issue without approaching courts. He is not reliable on the logic of courts. He knows that courts prolongs even for small issue, which can be settled casually. Approaching courts is last resort.
Today almost all our news channels are filled with reporting of judicial inquiries of political class. Of course, Channels also selectively and systematically feed the information in this regard since they too are products of this corrupt money. It is evident that crores of public money has been swindling. The political regimes of Rajasekshar Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu are under public scan. In both the regimes, there is an overflow of global capital and large scale World Bank loans. It is amusing to watch the competition among politicians in committing corruption. Due to this competition, more misappropriation of public money came to limelight. Why do we fail to take the cognizance of these as serious crimes in comparison with petty criminal cases?
White collar crimes are mostly financial in nature. There are no serious laws to check these crimes. Obviously the rich class escapes from their crimes and found various ways to escape. If any law exists, it is an effective. Public also not bothered about these financial frauds. They believe that it is a common phenomenon. History reveals nobody convicted. Sukharam issue is symbolic and rarest of rare. Even for that courts feel embraced to honour a punishment to former central minister.
In financial frauds, courts play a game in the name of prolonged trails and remands. They believe that public memory is short and wait till that moment. Public are no more interested to listen the old story. They are in search of some more sensational and breaking news. There ends the story of financial fraud both in media and courts. In this mean time political settlement takes place. We should not forget that this money is responsible for all kinds of crimes in our society. In simple terms, our political structure is standing on this finance capital. It reflects in our value systems too.
Our Judiciary is more active on criminal issues. Criminal laws are very powerful. It believes that we have to protect from criminals. Special packages came with new names such as TADA, POTA, and Goonda Act. When society is more and more criminalizing, then we legitimize forcefully these criminal laws. But the point is who is identified and certified as criminal by court in all these six decades of independent India. The records are clear and the public (upper caste hindu middle class) have the same mindset. Actual facts are not under considerations. Social conditions and the Social process are not accountable in the court of law. The people/society behind the convicted criminals are nowhere comes into picture either in legal and public frames. It is evident that the criminals convicted in our country are mostly belongs to lower strata of our society. The dominant social groups and judges will always consider these groups as potential criminals. They even brand these communities as criminals, as in continuation with notified criminal tribes declared by British. Here not the particular individual who convicted is considered as criminal but impose on whole community, though they are no way related to concerned crime.
What kinds of crimes these so called ‘criminals’ from lower strata committed? They are convicted on petty crimes such as pick pocketing and small thefts. They usually convicted on the charge of rowdy sheeted. Who are beneficiary of these ‘rowdies’? It is known fact that these rowdies are instrumental for the cause of ‘Big people’ and ‘gentle men’.
Our judiciary is active on criminal cases in comparison with financial frauds. The reason is obvious. In cases of dalits and poor people courts are awarding maximum punishment without having any second thought or self introspection. But in case rich/upper caste/political class the punishment is minimal and most of the times misquotes/misinterpret the laws.
This is the time to review the judicial activism in our country. It is possible only through the check up on judiciary from the politicized public. Why there are no historic judgments on caste violence? The judgments and the duration of trails on cases of caste massacres such as kararmchedu, chunduru, kairlanji, Melavalupu are testimony for judicial attitude towards dalits. There is serious effort from dalit groups to even register cases against culprits. We may find deliberate liquidation of cases by police at the level of filing FIRs. Most of the cases are prolonged for more than one and half decade. Our judiciary tests the dalit solidarity till it disorganizes and has no strength to withstand. Any how, justice delayed is justice denied. Most of the culprits are acquitted on technical grounds or benefit of doubt.
We have to understand that Judges/judiciary locates in society. They too have caste. They too have their own politics. They are not mere spectators to the cases. Their subjective positions will definitely reflect in their judgments. The power structures will definitely influence judiciary. Ultimately it confines to ruling classes. By reflecting on the issues the concerned public can check this kind of judicial activism to an extent. We have to initiate public debate and a critical review of each judgment. It can not be considered as a contempt of court. The critical concerns will ultimately strengthen our democracy. For this we have to cultivate social morality from alternative cultural traditions.
In a caste and class ridden society, the victims of punishment are mostly happened to be poor/ dalits. There is a need to redefine justice as Critical Race Theorists intervened in the issues of race in America. The idea of social justice will come to rescue the victims of punishment/ victims of our judiciary. Rather looking for appropriate section for concerned punishment, our judiciary has to educate on the social conditions, and social process that motivate the lower strata towards crime.
Time has come to expose the nexus between ruling class-police- judiciary and media. We have to build up a pressure that financial crimes are most serious crimes than generally defined criminal crimes. We have to build our judiciary on strong ethical foundations for democracy to with stand.
Ultimately, who is the Criminal?
Corrupt politician swallowed crores of rupees of public money or Pick Pocketer tempted for hundred rupees!

2011-12-10T02:41:00.000-08:00

Ambedkar’s Conception of Equality

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

Equality is a central concept in a political thought. Democracy presupposes equality. The idea of equality viewed as fundamental value of life. It is an egalitarian principle. Historically, the demand for equality has its justification on many grounds. It came to forefront as the moral or rational critique of society. The political thinkers recognized that formal equality of citizenship is not enough for substantial and meaningful life. Dahl defines democracy in terms of substantial equality in political resources. Barber argues that democracy is the politics of equality. Democracy requires an equality of democratic agency Human history witnessed many struggles against existing inequalities. Equality remains as a moral ideal for realization of democratic political value, especially in a society where inequalities are inbuilt.

The philosophers visualized egalitarian society based on their conception of equality. In eighteenth century the intellectual scheme explains that the existing inequalities are experienced as an intolerable burden and struggles for equality develops. Society generates unfreedom and inequalities of power, status and wealth, thus destroys the natural state of freedom and equality. Locke came with a theory of natural rights. Thinkers of social contract, Locke and Rousseau believed that individual surrendered his/her natural freedom and equality to the state for the sake of economic cooperation and physical safety.. The thinking of social contract assumes that the accomplishment of common purposes necessitates the voluntary surrender of primary, natural equality and freedom to social inequalities. This ideological scheme underlies most modern thinking about equality and inequality. Against the rigid and hierarchical social structures and its inbuilt inequalities emerged equalitarianism, individualism and libertarianism as an egalitarian value system. They began as a phenomenon of change. The premodern societies characterized with unfreedom, inequality, suppression and restriction of individuals. The modern Western industrial society replaced ascription by achievement: differences were justified by the degree to which different individuals attained social goals and values. Achievement of economic success gradually replaced ascriptive salvation; economic performance became the source of individual worth. It is important to understand that this transition from an ascriptive to an achievement-oriented society took place hand in hand with the emergence of capitalism. Individualism, with its claim for equality and freedom is later historical phenomenon. There is a long tradition of combining the values of individualism with equality. Individualism is a doctrine which emphasizes the dignity and worth of each individual; Egalitarianism as a theory appeals to equality as a moral ideal represented John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, and Thomas Nagel.

Ambedkar’s theory of equality has its significance in larger debates of political philosophy. Like virtue theorists such as Kant, Ambedkar considers man as an end himself/herself and used as instrument of means. Ambedkar considers that equality has differently understood in applying for human societies in comparison with mathematical notion of equality. Equality has to be understood with the fundamental characteristics that are common to humanity. These characteristics may be named as primordial qualities or biological necessities. It is a fact that fundamental characteristics appear in all human beings. Their nature and manifestations are summed up in a phrase ‘moral equality’. By emphasizing on this moral equality, Ambedkar is critical about the supporters of inequality, who argues that in physical strength, talents, and wealth, human beings are not equal. Ambedkar holds that in essence the phrase ' moral equality ' asserts in ethical value, a belief to be sustained, and recognition of rights to be respected. Its validity cannot be demonstrated as a problem in mathematics can be demonstrated. It is asserted against inequalities in physical strength, talents, industry, and wealth. It denied that superior physical strength has a moral right to kill, eat, or oppress human beings merely because it is superior. To talents and wealth, the ideal of moral equality makes a similar denial of right. And indeed few can imagine themselves to have superior physical strength, talents and wealth will withhold from inferiors all moral rights… A society without any respect for human personalities is a band of robbers.

Ambedkar considers untouchability in has worst form of inequalities that no where finds in the world. The Hindu social order does not recognise the individual as a centre of social purpose. For the Hindu social order is based primarily on class or Varna and not on individuals. In the Hindu social order, there is no room for individual merit and no consideration of individual justice. If the individual has a privilege it is not because it is due to him personally. The privilege goes with the class and if he is found to enjoy it, it is because he belongs to that class. The Hindu social order is reared on three principles. Among these the first and foremost is the principle of graded inequality. The second principle on which the Hindu social order is founded is that of fixate of occupations for each class and continuance there of by heredity. The third principle on which the Hindu social order is founded is the fixation of people within their respective classes. The hindu social order is based on graded inequality. This scheme has designed and protected to maintain social inequality. The Hindu social order leaves no choice to the individual. It fixes his occupation. It fixes his status. All that remains for the individual to do is to conform him self to these regulations. Ambedkar observed that the principle of graded inequality has been carried into the economic field. Ambedkar concludes that inequality is the soul of Hinduism. Inequality is the official doctrine of Brahmanism and the suppression of the lower classes aspiring to equality has been looked upon by them and carried out by them, without remorse as their bounded duty. For in Hinduism inequality is a religious doctrine adopted and conscientiously preached as a sacred dogma. Inequality for the Hindus is a divinely prescribed way of life as a religious doctrine and as a prescribed way of life. Hinduism is inimical to equality, antagonistic to liberty and opposed to fraternity. According to Ambedkar, justice has always evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of compensation. Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value. If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of the same fundamental rights and equal liberty… in short justice is another name of liberty, equality and fraternity. For Ambedkar, the source for equality lies in dhamma of Budhism .Dhamma to be a sadhamma must promote equality between man and man. Religion must uphold equality. Further he maintains that state has to play a role through constitutional provisions to bring equality .Ambedkar firmly believed that political democracy cannot succeed without social and economic democracy. In his concept of democracy, he opined that political democracy is not an end in itself, but the most powerful means to achieve the social and economic ideals in society. Associated life is consensual expression of shared experience, aspirations and values.

This is to conclude that Ambedkar has not only philosophically conceptualized the concept of equality and also demanded and fought for equality. He has negotiated with western theories of equality from Indian social context. Like social contract thinkers Locke and Rousseau argues that by virtue of human beings, he/she has certain inalienable natural rights. All human beings are equal. He further carried with Kant by considering human beings are end in themselves and not used as a means. He upholds the notion of rationality that upholds the morality and dignity. Like in the west, Ambedkar too argues for individualism against orthodox religion and demands to recognize the worth and merit of the individual. He too combines the individualism with a sense of equality and freedom. But he goes beyond liberal theory of Rawls. For Ambedkar, liberty and fraternity are the other values to be realized along with equality.. His conception of individualism is more reflected and located in mortal community. His conception of equality ensures both material and spiritual values. Ultimately his sense of equality lies in democratic, ethical, rational and humanistic religious dharma. He illustrates that brahminism and capitalism are source of inequality and has to fight against it to have democratic society.

2011-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Interrogating Untouchability: A Cultural Discourse
‘whatever you touch, touches you too’

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

Untouchability is a peculiar phenomenon manufactured by Indian society. It is a social regulation and a custom that have been sustaining for many centuries. It is a collective cultural practice with many connotations. It has carried through caste system and immensely maintained through hindu religion. It has multidimensional features that have convergence of religious, social, economical, cultural and political systems. Untouchability has multiple functions and has a multilayered social principle that has manifesting in different forms. In simple terms, it is an institutionalized form of humiliation. Untouchability is both a condition of existence, as well as a violent expression of power. It is an inhuman social practice against human dignity. The issue of untouchability is central to the studies on Indian society. In modern times, untouchability has debated and opposed at various fronts ranging from social reformers to dalit movement with different view points. The approaches of Gandhi and Ambedkar are significant in this regard. After, independence, Indian state too has recognized this problem and made laws to abolish the practice of untouchability with influence of liberal philosophy. The problem of untouchability has revisited by the scholars in the wake of autonomous struggles of dalit that contesting the existing notions and theories of untouchability. The philosophical and ethical theories of contemporary times, throws a new light in understanding the untouchability. The value of well being, social good, dignity, and respect are helpful in interrogating the cultural politics of untouchability. This paper is an attempt to provide an alternative meaning to untouchability against dominant conceptions of it from a dalit perspective. The problem of untouchability viewed from an ethical point of view in a direction towards a casteless and classless democratic Indian society.

Defining Untouchability

There is no abstract and absolute meaning of untouchability. But there are different conceptualizations of this. Untouchability is the term in English first appeared in print in 1909 in reference to members of lower caste hindus. it isa literal translation of the term asprusya in Sanskrit appeared in Mahabharata and Bhagavata purana. Untouchability as a concept pertains to patterns of thinking and patterns of behaviour operating in the net work of hindu social relations. In its broadest sense untouchability could be used to characterize any interaction which brings one in association with a potential source of defilement. The set of practices engaged in by other hindus to protect themselves from the defilement of proscribed contact with untouchables is the practice of untouchability, as opposed to the status of untouchables. The ancient law codes and Dhramasastras declare that touch of an untouchable renders the ritual state of Brahmin impure.

Vivekananda Jha (caste, untouchability and social justice), Untouchability meant permanent and hereditary pollution owing to physical contact with a section of Indian people and the group first identified for a purpose was the chandala. The Dharmasatras are unanimous in holding the touch of the chandalas as polluting and prescribe bath with clothes on as a means of expiation. The chandalas also cause pollution through proximity, sight, hearing and speech, entailing corresponding expiation. Physical association and commensal and connubial ties with the chandalas are completely prohibited and their segregation is legalized. What is significant is that untouchability developed in stages and the number of really untouchable castes at the bottom of society grew rather slowly. The cumulative evidence of the brahminical texts up to AD 200 does not add more than three or four such castes to the dharma sutra list of three. Caste actually solidified with the hardening of class relations in north India between 600 B.C. and 200 A.D, and untouchability, too, originated in pre Maurayan times, got accentuated by 200 A.D .since most of the castes which were initially reduced to the level of untouchables were those which had little share in the distribution of wealth, power or prestige, untouchability has to be viewed as the extreme manifestation of the institutionalized inequality of both caste and class structure. so far as early india s concerned, the expansion of caste and untouchability from 200 A.D to 1200 A.D was an uninterpreted and continuous process.
What ever its structural correlates, untouchability is essentially an experience of wounding, of willful hurt, through which the outcaste body becomes a stranger to itself, and is ever ready to fall off the edge, give into anomie and fragmentation. For Ambedkar, this system embodied the principle of graded inequality and for Periyar, untouchability was a norm that informed the caste system, at every level of its hierarchical existence. (P.96)

Socio-Ethnological Studies on Untouchables/Untouchability

Untouchable’s relationship to orthodox Hinduism is a debating point for many scholars. Dumount work on caste(1970) is a representation of Hinduism as a moral hierarchy deply accepted even by the most subordinated elements. Dumount reduced the hierarchy of caste system to an opposition between purity and impurity , citing the Brahmins as the pole of purity and untouchables as the pole of impurity.[1] Like wise Blunt speaks the inherent impurity of the untouchables,[2] while Stevenson argues that impurity absorbed through the untouchables traditional work.[3] In the line of Domount, Micheal Moffat too in his study on south Indian untouchability argued that the untouchables indeed belong to a single hindu community marked by a high degree of cultural consensus. There are scholars such as Berreman(1979) contested this view as a brahminical view of caste. He argues that the appropriate issue was not weather untouchables were part of and accepted the hindu order, but how an inhuman order of domination and subordination could be broken. Broadly one may classify the existing models of untouchability as follows suggested by Moffat:
1. Untouchables as an outcaste people possessed of a distinct culture and freer spirit ( eg.sexuality) than the high caste guardians of Hinduism. Berreman, Cathelene Gough and Joan Mencher belong to this group.
2. Bernard Cohn and Pauline Kolenda approach the untouchables through an emphasis on diversity. Like the earlier model, these scholars concentrate on contrasts between untouchables and the higher castes. But they differ in declining to posit an outright rejection of the dominant culture by the untouchables, and instead discern an adaptation of that culture to the particular needs of untouchable communities.
3. Domount ethno sociological approach followed by Marriot, Inden, Moffat and Nicholas are focus on ideology and culture and an insistence that these are not reducible to more universal phenomenon like stratification, power or oppression. Untouchables are a regular part of Hinduism and share in its common culture and ideology. Subordination and oppression of those at the bottom of the system should not obscure the essential unity of hindu society, which is to be viewed on its own rather than its comparative terms.
Deliege views untouchables beyond purity and pollution frame work. As he observed Untouchable castes lie at the bottom of Indian society. Their lowness is ritually explained by their permanent impurity which derives from their association with death and organic pollution. They thus fulfil an essential ritual function within Indian society: they remove impurity from the social world. However, their economic importance should not be neglected either: they work as agricultural labourers, servants, sweepers, scavengers, grave-diggers, dead-cattle removers, tanners, shoemakers, and so on. Economically, they live in dire poverty, and they are socially discriminated against as probably no other people in the world.[4]

The question of weather particular societies could be said to be marked primarily by consensus or conflict. Untouchability was not accepted without reflection or protest by its victims.
Ambedkar on Untouchability
Ambedkar’s theory of untouchability has its importance over other theories due to its his approach from a victim of the untouchability. Ambedkar observed that for the old orthodox hindu , observance of untouchability is natural and normal thing and finds it nothing wrong. As such it neither calls for expiation nor explanation. Though the new modern hindu realizes untouchability is wrong, but ashamed to discuss it in public for fear of letting the foreigner know that hindu civilization can be guilty of such a vicious and infamous system or social code evidenced by untouchability. He noted that it is strange that untouchability should have failed to attract the attention of the European student of social institutions. Further he is critical about available approaches on the study of caste and untouchable by both brahminical and oriental and colonial scholars. Ambedkar himself believes that the thesis on the origin of untouchability proposed by him is novel and scholarly and historically analyzed. The question of untouchability was dealt elaborately by Ambedkar in The Untouchables (vol.7).Who were they and Why they became untouchables? This deals about the origin of untouchability and the questioned connected with it. Why do the untouchables live outside the villages? Why did beef eating give rise to untouchability? Did the hindus never eat beef? Why did non-brahmins give up beef eating? What made the Brahmins becomes vegetarians ,etc?

There is no racial difference between the hindus and untouchables. The distinction between the hindus and untouchables in its original form, before the advent of untouchability, was the distinction between tribes man and broken men from alien tribes. It is the broken men who subsequently came to be treated as untouchables. Just as untouchability has no racial basis so also has no occupational basis. There are roots from which untouchability has sprung: a. contempt and hatred of the broken men as of Budhists by the Brahmins, b. continuation of beef eating by the broken men after it had been given up by others. in searching for the origin of the untouchability care must be taken to distinguish the untouchables from the impure. All orthodox hindu writers have identified the impure with untouchables. This is an error. Untouchables are distinct from the impure. While the impure as a class came into existence at the time of the dharma sutras the untouchables came into being much later than 400 A.D.[5]

It will be agreed on all hands that what underlies untouchability is the notion of defilement, pollution, contamination and the ways and means of getting rid of that defilement. There are no people primitive or ancient who did not entertain the notion of pollution. In the matter of pollution there is nothing to distinguish the Hindus from the primitive or ancient peoples. That they recognized pollution is abundantly clear from the Manu smriti. Manu recognizes physical defilement and also notional defilement. The idea of defilement in manu is real and not merely notional. For he makes the food offered by the polluted person unacceptable. For the purpose of purification Manu treats the subject of defilement from three aspects1. Physical defilement 2. Notional defilement or Psychological defilement, and 3. Ethical defilement. The rule for purification of ethical defilement which occurs when a person entertains evil thoughts are more admonitions and exhortations. But the rites for removal of notional and physical defilement are same.. They include the use of water, warth, cow’s urine, the kusa grass, and ashes. Earth, cow’s urine, kusa grass and ashes are prescribed as purificatory agents for removing physical impurities caused by the touch of inanimate objects. Water is the chief agent of removal of notional defilement. It is used in threeways1 sipping, 2. Bath and 3. Ablution.

Ambedkar went further in dealing the question of untouchability. Another form of untouchability observed by the Hindus which has not yet been set out. It is the hereditary untouchability of certain communities. Surely the phenomenon of untouchability among primitive and ancient society pales into insignificance before this phenomenon of hereditary untouchability for so many millions of people which we find in India. This type of untouchability among Hindus stands in a class by itself. It has no parallel in the history of the world. There are some striking features of hindu system of untouchability affecting the 429 untouchable communities which are not to be found in the custom of untouchability as observed by non hindu communities, primitive or ancient.
The hindu who touch them and become polluted thereby can become pure by undergoing purificatory ceremonies. But there is nothing which can make the untouchables pure. They are born impure, they are impure while they live, they die the death of impure, and they give birth to children who are born with the stigma of untouchability affixed to them. It is a case of permanent, hereditary stain which nothing can cleanse. The non Hindu societies only isolated the affected individuals. They did not segregate them in separate quarters. The Hindu society insists on segregation of untouchables. The Hindu will not live in the quarters of untouchables and will not allow untouchables to live inside Hindu quarters. This is a fundamental feature of untouchability.

Philosophical Discourse on Untouchability
The discourses about untouchability are mostly ethnographical, and sociological. Occasionally scholars approached the problem from politics. These approaches have its own strength from concerned discipline, but have its limitations to have comprehensive understanding of untouchability. It is realized by some of the scholars that philosophical approaches to the problem of untouchability provides new direction. Gopal argues that untouchability as a dynamic reality is bound to produce experience which is always in excess of its description. He considers philosophical and archeological frame works could reveal a much richer and nuanced meaning of the phenomenon of untouchability. Untouchability in modern times is forced to hide itself behind certain modern meanings and identities. Hence, a mere sociological or anthropological description does not seem to be effective enough to access untouchability thus located. Archeology as a method seems to be more effective in accessing this complex mind because it deals not so much with a need to invent but to discover an essence or truth of caste that gets covered with a subtle form of untouchability.[6] It is suggested that re description of untouchability that can have implications for the discourse on disability.

Sunder Sarukkai and Gopal Guru have an attempt to initiate a philosophical discussion about untouchability. Sunder Sarukkai views untouchability as the essential marker of brahminhood and Gopal Guru argues that one has to look into the latent structures in consciousness to reveal the practice of untouchability by differentiating ‘real untouchable’ from an ‘ideal untouchable’ (Brahmin is an ideal untouchable, in the sense of Sarukkai). However, Gopal Guru appeals that both these conceptions are complementary to each other in philosophically understanding untouchability. The metaphysics of the body becomes a central issue in understanding the untouchability as disability. Sarukkai and Gopal Guru are defining untouchability in relation to the body. Sarukkai maintains that untouchability is a matter of heredity and not one of impurity, whereas Gopal Guru sees a kind of ontological equality in an inversion of the same by saying that human body being a source of impurities can be considered the critical starting point for evaluating all.[7] Sunder Sarukkai approached the untouchability from a phenomenological view and provides new meaning for untouchability that carried by an ideal Brahmin. In response to this, Gopal Guru viewed the untouchability from an archeological point of view evolved from a dalit experience. Both scholars consider the importance of touch and ethics of touch.

Sunder Sarukkai in his paper Phenomenology of Untouchability explores the foundations of untouchability through an analysis of phenomenology of touch. He considers the sense of touch is unique in many ways and finds it essential relation between touch and untouch. He points out the importance of untouchability within the Brahmin tradition and attempts to understand the process of supplementation which makes untouchability a positive virtue for the Brahmins and a negative fact for the dalits.[8]
While there have been tonnes written on the sociology and politics of this practice, there is little of significance on philosophical foundations of this practice. The philosophical engagement with touch seems to always require the notion of the untouchable. In the sense then, the idea of the untouchable is at the core of the ‘touchables’- not so surprisingly then, we find that untouchability is actually an essential marker of brahminhood. He argues that the displacement of this characteristic of untouchability from the Brahmins to the untouchables illustrates no just the ‘outsourcing’ of untouchability but also a philosophical move of supplementation.
The idea of untouchable is essential to the notion of touch. Merleau- Ponty invokes the idea of the untouchable through an analysis of touching and being touched.. To touch something is also and necessarily to be touched by it. This model makes it possible to understand the relation between the self and the other. Just as much as there is a reversal in the roles of touching/touched so too is there a reversal between the self and the other.
Every touching is possible only if it first overcomes this potential untouchability. The primary sense that defines touch-particularly of humans- is not the capacity to touch but the potential of untouchability. This has profound consequence on the creation of the narrative of the self as well as on action…. Not touching another is actually a manifestation of the problem of touching oneself- this shift is precisely what makes untouchability in the Indian context unique. This is what differentiates it from other objects which are beyond the sense of touch. That is, in the most essential sense untouchability is actually about the always present, potential untouchability not of another but of oneself. This is most clearly manifested in the way the structure of untouchability unfolds in the hindu practice.
It has been argued that untouchability is a characteristic of the Brahmin community. He quotes Quigley who notes that Brahmins can be untouchables, and untouchables, as ritual specialists, are priests. His reading of caste critiques Dumont’s observation that the hierarchy in the caste system occurs through the opposition of the pure and the impure.
He argues that the notion of untouchability among Brahmins is not restricted only to priests in the acts of accepting gifts or ‘accepting’ death of others. The rituals concerned with impurity begin with daily acts.. it is also the case that there are states of madi when the Brahmin is ‘untouchable’ to others and thse states accrue even when not associated with impurity. Almost all the moments of auspicious worship, festivals, marriages, daily prayers have some rituals of madi associated with them.
Madi is a charecterestic of untouchableness. A common ritual associated with madi is, the person who is doing a ritual must first of all wash his clothes and hang it to dry. Once it is dry it cannot be touched by any other person. The person who is ‘in’ madi can not wear the clothes unless he or she has had a bath. If the cloth has to be moved, it is often done with the help of stick.
The Brahmins untouchability is that one oes not want to be touched and is not that one is refused to touch. The touched-touching dichotomy which informs this position is one that is characteristic of touch. I agree with Ambedkar that these transient, voluntary states should not be equated with the notion of being untouchable.. In case of Archaryas the permanent untouchables since their untouchability is already inscribed within the notion of superior untouchability they retain this superior nature. Untouchability for these people is hereditary, it is part of tradition and that they are in a permanent state of being an untouchable, even to their family and kin. Here it is not about purity and impurity but about a state of being. He suggests that the most dominant marker of being a Brahmin lies in the concept of untouchability, lies in the potential of an individual to become a untouchable. How so? A Brahmin is one who not only has access to temporal and potential untouchability but also to permanent, hereditary untouchability.

Gopal Guru consider the Sarukkai’s new understanding of untouchability as outsourcing and supplementation questions the existing sociological theories, particularly of Domount. He argues that Sarukkai’s position has not only provides counter argument to Domount but also opens up the possibility solving some of the “sociological puzzles”. Gopal Guru initiates his argument that every human body is impure, both materially and morally. All the organic bodies contain within them negative properties like sweat, excreta, urine, mucus and gases. In the material sense, they are the source of foul smell and unpleasant feeling. Thus, at the metaphysical level, the organic body as the source of impurities suggests a kind of ontological equality – that everybody is dirty, both in moral sense as well as material sense. Ontological equality suggesting equal distribution of these impurities or organic refuse sitting underneath the skin of everybody is supposed to bring out in every person a moral insight that in turn will compel him/her to acknowledge this ontological equality. He further proceeds that organic body is a constitutive of panchabhute, earth, water, fire, air and akasa (space). At the metaphysical level, these Panchamahabhute assign affirmative meaning to “filthy” body as mentioned above. These five principles, which are naturally endowed with internal purity, form the necessary physical conditions for the very organic existence of any body. It is in this sense Panchamahabhute establish an ontological unity among bodies across time and space. Ontological equality as an underlying principle, therefore, should make all the organic bodies worthy of respect without discrimination. Thus, any cultural construction dividing egalitarian bodies into pernicious gradation could be decisively refuted by invoking the metaphysics of body. Metaphysics of body, in turn, can create moral capacity among those who lack this capacity that is so necessary for assigning moral worth to everybody. Mutual affirmation of bodies becomes a possibility through acknowledgement of Panchamahabhute as an essential need of every organic body.[9]
Gopal Guru point out the modern scholars for their orientation towards sociological theories against the ecological ones. According to him, this structural device involves the conversion of the ecological (“five principles”) into the sociological (hierarchical). The sociologist assigns different, and perhaps, negative meaning to Panchamahabhute through deploying the ideology of purity-pollution, which is so central to the former. This conversion is sustained by the asymmetries of power that robs the Panchamahabhute of their positive meaning. People do not follow the moral basis of metaphysics of body when they act. They are not sufficiently motivated by the exalted, and therefore, the egalitarian meaning that is implied in the metaphysics of Panchamahabhute. In fact, their material interest and the cultural need to draw relative superiority over others seriously undermine the validity of metaphysics as the universal framework that provides moral orientation to social interaction among people.[10]
Gopal Guru argues that just imagine what would happen to the touchable, if the untouchable were to refuse to become the dumping ground for somebody’s moral dirt or refuse to illuminate the touchable. It perhaps would lead to the moral decomposition or atrophy of the touchables’ body or they would get crushed under the accumulated weight of these impurities. He concludes that the ideal untouchable and his/her attitudes towards the real untouchable confirms Sarukkai’s main argument, according to which the self-definition of the upper caste or the ideal untouchable becomes possible only in relation to the ascriptive identity of the untouchable. This sacred self cannot exist without the presence of other – the despicable untouchable. This tense coexistence becomes a possibility only through outsourcing untouchability to the other. However, those who supplement untouchability into others continue to suffer from endless anxiety.

Balamurali in response to this debate argues that untouchability (as social practice) to be really and truly addressed as problem in Indian society, the sociological inequalities must not only be redressed socially, politically, legally and economically (which is occurring in some sense everyday) but also be redressed through transformation on the moral and cultural terrain. He further critical about the privileges associated with brahminical self. A primary form of caste privilege (a group property adhering to individuals) is the privilege of living in a social environment where one’s inability is viewed as ability and other’s socially-imposed disability is viewed as inherent inability. This translates into social power and recognised authority to impose restrictions, discriminations, exclusions, limitations. And of course, perform violations. Annihilating caste then necessarily means annihilating privileges born of caste and this, in turn, means initiating a politics of dis-placement from the caste social order of separateness in addition to the ethics of touch. For an ethical “living together” (pace Derrida) always requires what Jean Luc-Nancy has called “being-in common” which forces the inter (or spatial gap) to be taken seriously.

Untouchability against Human Dignity

Both sociological and philosophical discussions are informs us to understand the problem of untouchability differently. But it is evident that political understanding of untouchablity provides a value to deal this issue. The culture of oppression and humiliation has to be assessed properly from the politics of liberation. Dignity, moral worth, respect, and recognition as values provides new insights in understanding the notion and phenomenon of untouchability. Even the liberal thought expressed a view that a person should be able to appear in public without a sense of shame (Adam Smith). Kant proposes that , “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means, and the dignity of the person lies hereby” (Kant 1963, p. 600). Dignity is violated when the victim suffers from an insult, which can be divided into an insulting action and an insulting state. An insulting action causes damage to the victim’s self or individuality, positioning him/her in the horrible state of being lorded over, wherein he/she has neither the ability to protect himself/herself nor hope of external assistance. It is not hard to understand that the idea of dignity has a special position in ethics: it embodies a core ethical concern and displays an important facet of human rights. ). Schaber points out explicitly that “Human dignity is a right, viz. keeping away from insult” (Schaber 2003, p. 119). “Human dignity is a right, i.e. keeping away from insult” [11]

In liberating the untouchable from the practice of untouchability, the scholars located the body as central to their discourse and argued in favour of touch. As Mary Douglas studied body as a narrative of social process and social structure. Bryan S. Turner in his work Regulating Bodies explains the frame work of sociology of body. As he argues that it is impossible to develop an adequate theory of social action without a conception of the embodied social agent. He considers social regulation of body and body as representation, of the fundamental features of society in his study. Body as a multi-dimensional medium for the constitution of society. The body is simultaneously, conjointly and concurrently socially constructed and organically founded. Body is a lived experience. Foucault considered body as the site of resistance. He advocates that the body as an especially vital site for self-knowledge and self-transformation. First, Marx, Durkheim and Simmel each suggest that the body possesses properties that are a source for the creation of social life. In contrast to post-structuralist views of the embodied subject as ‘a cultural artifact’ (Harré, 1983: 20), this recognition of the body as a source of society insists that our bodily being is an active, generative phenomenon not totally given by the properties of society. Second, the body also serves in part as a location for the structural properties of society. Marx focuses on the structural properties of the economy, Durkheim on the structural properties of cultures, and Simmel on the ‘structural’ properties that are social forms, yet they each examine how these structures locate themselves on the bodies of subjects. Nevertheless, it remains the case that each theorist views the body as a source of, a location for and a means by which individuals are emotionally and physically positioned within and oriented towards society. The notions of source, location and means are thus ‘umbrella’ terms, referring to a range of closely related concepts, but their general meaning and relational status are clear: they refer respectively to the generative properties of the body, to the social receptivity of the body, and to the body’s centrality to the outcomes of interaction between (groups of) embodied individuals and the structural features of society.

In this backdrop, to understand the cultural politics of body, Ambedkar and Gandhi provides some insights in dealing the problem of untouchability. For Gandhi, the problem of untouchability was increasingly coming to be seen as a problem of physical state (uncleanliness) of untouchables, and the practices available for signifying untouchability as a matter of dirt and hygiene. He argued for the physical body as a zone of discipline and control through which an ethical praxis might be formulated. gandhi’s satyagraha is a process of upper caste purification for the sins of untouchability . gandhi argued instead , for a form of upper caste self –purification, which would reveal to upper castes the evils of maintaining caste distinctions. Gandhi sought to control the understanding of untouchability as a problem for upper castes, as a religious problem , that required patience in effecting a change of heart. Gandhi also mobilized this discourse of body purification and labor to revalue untouchability, suggesting that it fit into the varna order, which was also a rational division of labor. Gandhi skillfully articulated the problem of untouchability as a hindu problem through his revaluation of varnashramadharma as a societal division of labour, emphasizing the centrality of untouchables’ labour in that schema.

In the struggles for self respect, dalits had demanded that untouchability be understood as civic disability that lead to inequality between ostensibly equal citizens. Ambedkar, announced that the whole caste society was governed by the principle of untouchability , and advocated its total destruction rather reforming Hinduism. Ambedkar strongly engaged with Hinduism as a oppressive religion, with politicization of hindu and untouchable identity, and with an elaboration of untouchability as civic disability. Ambedkar further began to realize the necessity of religio cultural alternative to Hinduism as practice in the immediate context of his experience with Gandhi. However, there is a necessity for purification of self of the upper caste by treating untouchability as a sin. At the same time, the dignity of dalit has to be recognized as a right against this inhuman and oppressive social practice.

Conclusion

The practice of untouchability is not only an in human and vulnerable act but also against the freedom and dignity of the individual. In other words the practice of untouchability had internalized the philosophy of violence. The practice of untouchability had in many forms. The intensity of this cruel practice may vary with changing social systems, but it had sustaining in different forms in contemporary times. The social relations are operating in hierarchical and unequal set up. The roots of this had lies in the in caste system. All these philosophical and political discourses realized the importance and the meaning of touch for a democratic and humane society. Touch plays a significant role in intimate communication, and requires freedom for a social agency to move away from this oppressive phenomenon. The freedom lies in a deliberate act of moving away from the untouchability. At the same time, it could be understood that overcoming untouchability is not just confined to invoking the practice of touch, but also involves questioning the privilege and power. The critic of untouchability has to be based on the principles of ethics and social justice by interrogating the cultural politics of Hinduism. As the medieval Bhakti poet Kabir asks, Pundit look into your heart for knowledge/tell me where untouchability/came from, since you believe in it/ mix red juice, white juice and air-/a body bakes in a body/as soon as eight lotuses/are ready, it comes/ into the world. Then what is/Untouchable?/eighty four thousand vessels /decay into dust, while the potter/keeps slapping clay/who are untouchables?/ on the wheel and with a touch /cuts each one off./we eat by touching, we wash/by touching, from a touch/the world was born./ so who is untouched? Asks kabir/only he /who has no taint of maya.

End Notes
[1]Dumont, L. Homo Hierarchicus. The Caste System and Its Working, Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1974
[2] Blunt, E.A.H. The castesystem of North India with special reference to United Province of Agra and Oudh (London, 1931)
[3] Stevenson, H. “ StatusEvaluation in hindu caste system” Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute, 198, Pp. 45-65.
[4] Deliege, Robert. Replication and Consensus: Untouchability, Caste and Ideology in India , Man, New Series, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Mar., 1992), pp. 155-173
[5] Ambedkar, The Untouchables (vol.7).Who were they and Why they became untouchables?
[6] Guru, Gopal. Archeology of Untouchability, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLIV No.37, September 12, 2009,Pp.49-56
[7] Cybil, K.V. Defining Untouchability in Relation to Body, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLIV No.51, December 2009.p.82
[8] Sarukkai, Sunder. The Phenomenology of Untouchability, Economic and Political Weekly Vol.XLIV. No.37, September12, 2009
[9] Guru, Gopal. Archeology of Untouchability, p.51
[10] Ibid.
[11]Schaber 2003, p. 119.

2011-11-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Telugu Muslim Literature: In Search of a Friend
Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

In post independent Indian society, the electoral success of BJP, demolition of Brabri Masjid and Gujarat massacre indicates the consolidation of hindutva forces that are challenging the secular India. In a strife ridden society, the Muslim community has compelled to lead insecure and uncertain life. The community become silent in public sphere, which is mostly dominated by caste hindus. There no clues about the creative thinking of the community except the occasional outbursts of self protective religious voice of Muslim clergy. It is visible that the Muslim community has lost faith in secular credential of state and started moving away from the congress. They started identifying with the dalit bahujan political forces that are promised to fighting against the caste hegemony and consequentially hindutva. In this backdrop, Muslim literature as a new genre emerged with a creative efforts of Telugu speaking conscious intelligentsia of Muslim community. They dared to articulate the anxieties and social aspiration of the community in literary front. Initially Muslim writers identified with Dalit literature as their fight against common enemy, brahminical Hinduism. It was even a debating point weather to include Muslim writers as a part of dalit literature. It is even argued by some Muslim writers that Indian Muslims are originally belonged to lower social strata and are converted into Islam. In due course, muslim literature has emerged as a distinctive literary genre by addressing the specific problems of Muslim community. Muslim literature has voiced not only against the tyranny of politics of majoritarian Hinduism, but also articulated the socio economic situation of Muslims. Jala Jala, the poetry collection and Watan, a collection of short stories are landmark in Muslim literature in Telugu. It has followed by considerable literary and political writing.
The Muslim literature reveals the ambivalent relationship with dalit literature. On hand, politically motivated to identify with dalit literature in their struggle against hindutva forces, and on the other hand it would like to maintain its autonomy by maintaining the specific identity of Muslim community. And another level, there is a debate within Muslim literature on ideological stand, weather to articulate the aspiration of community in terms of Islam or Muslim. Muslim represents the sociological community, and Islam represents the religious community of the same. The Muslim literature has largely expressing its loyalty to religion and Islamic tradition, which is committed to rational and logical rather dogmatic faith. Some of the muslim writers argued that muslim literature has to be founded only on Islam. Islam has seen as a liberating force in the contemporary context of ‘clash of civilizations.’ However, we may find complexity and ambiguity involved in Muslim literature on reflecting the issue such as fatwa, triple talak, Burkha. The Muslim writers’ powerfully depicted the socio, economic, educational and political backwardness of a community apartment from crisis and insecurity of religious minority. The literature wages a struggle for dignity of a community and social justice.

2011-10-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

K. Satchidanada Murty’s Approach to Indian Philosophy
Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

Introduction
K. Satchidananda Murty(1924-2011) is a philosopher, rationalist, humanist, liberal and free thinkers of contemporary times. His contribution to philosophy is remarkable in general and his approach to Indian philosophy is in many ways significant in particular. He is critical about dominant brahminical constructions of Indian philosophy. At the same time, his approach has marked difference with alternative approaches of Indian philosophy. The alternative approaches represented by M. N. Roy and Debiprasad Chattopadhya are critical about Indian philosophy from a Marxist and Indian materialistic/humanistic view points. In mainstream philosophy these kinds of approaches are either ignored or marginalized, and some times maintained deliberate silence about these positions. Sachidananda Murty’s approach seems to be a still discussing point since it has a potential to mediate both brahminical and Marxist/materialistic approaches of Indian philosophy. He is the internal critic of dominant Indian philosophical tradition. He tries to retain the core of Indian philosophy. At the same time he is critical about distortions of Indian philosophy made by brahminical class. It reminds the anger of Sudra intellectual, who is a victim of caste system and hindu social order. In the dominant philosophical discourse, the scholars of elite are mostly maintained silence about the issue of caste. Sachidananda Murty made it a point to discuss about caste in his own way with the influence of anti Brahmin movement of Telugu society. His reading of Indian philosophy provides the counter discourse in Hinduism. In other words, we may call it as alternative Hinduism. He succeeded in this regard through his philosophical method. His philosophical approach is rationalistic, historical, humanistic and hermeneutic. His philosophical method and the alternative constructions of Indian philosophy is evident in his early writings Evolution of Indian Philosophy (1952), Hinduism and Its Development (1947) The Spirit of India (1965) and the later writing Philosophy in India(1985).

Murty’s Approach to Indian Philosophy
K. Satchidananda Murty observed that different conceptions of philosophy prevailed in India in different times and in some times found more than one conception simultaneously. He categorized these conceptions broadly into three: anviksiki, darsana and Luakika or popular philosophy. He prefers the first one: philosophy is rational, critical and illuminating review of the contents of theology, economics, and political science and also the right instrument and foundation of all action and duty, which helps one achieve intellectual balance and insight as well as linguistic clarity and behavioral competence.[1] He further believes that social and economic conditions and personality of a author plays a role in understanding philosophical ideas. In his own words, Not only is it necessary to study any theory in relation to the socio-economic structure in which it arises, but also it is necessary to pay attention to the character and personality of the man who puts it forth. [2] Interestingly, in also acknowledges that geographical conditions affect the thought.[3] Indian philosophy has evolved from a blending of heterogeneous stocks from time immemorial. In this he refutes the puritan/exclusive idea of Aryan culture and philosophy.
The philosophical ideas are presented ahistorically by dominant tradition. They gave more importance to principles than locating ideas in socio-cultural practices. But Murty is not only considering the evolution of ideas historically but also fascinated by historical method. The historical approach to ideas is evident in his writings on Indian philosophy.[4] His historical approach is different from Marxists’ economic reductionism, though he acknowledges Marxist approach in principle. In addition to social conditions, he believes that geographical conditions shape the ideas. He further considers the ones own psychological position and personality plays a role in presentation of ideas. As he maintains that under the influence of psychology, it attempted to briefly trace the development of philosophy in India in relation to socio-political conditions. It held that while, one hand, every thinker and philosophy are the products of their social milieu, and every man’s theories and beliefs are also influenced by his character, upbringing, personality and unconscious motives; on the other hand, thinking and knowledge influence and shape social organization and economic conditions. It also made it clear that psychological and sociological conditioning of thinking and knowledge, while not irrelevant to their validity, does not determine it. It considered a clear distinction between philosophy and religion as the necessary point of departure for a history of philosophy.[5] His historical approach to ideas has to an extent close to Hegelian method.
Murty is critical about dominant stereotype conceptions of philosophy and also the way philosophical ideas were presented to public. According to these histories, it was not possible to know when exactly the principal ‘systems’ began, how and under what influences they were originally formulated and through what successive stages they passed. Murty argues that no attempt has been made by our scholars to formulate a theory of philosophical development in India with an exception of M.N.Roy (Materialism), Chattopadhyayaya (Indian philosophy: A popular Introduction), Rahul Samkrutyayan (Darsan Digdarsan) , K Damodaran (Indian Thought : A critical Study) and Pundit Shuklaji (Indian Philosophy) His work Evolution of Philosophy in India places in this line of thought. These are the few works which adopted a non- stereotyped approach to the development of Indian philosophy, but which have not received much attention in Indian universities.[6]
It is observed that brahminical/ dominant writings on Indian philosophy have carried by certain myths and dogmas.[7] Indian philosophy is essentially spiritual one of the myths.The myth of Indian spirituality has been questioned by M.N.Roy and Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya argued in favour of Indian materialism. They had demonstrated that religious and idealistic perspectives in early Indian philosophy were in fact a minority one, rather than being dominant tendency through their writings. They showed that the major schools of Indian philosophy – samkhya, Nyaya and Viseshika were all essentially materialistic philosophies as well as expressing, like early Budhism , an atheistic view point. They thus stressed that these philosophical writings, together with those associated with Lokayata- the philosophy of people- were in their critique of religious conceptions and ritual, and in their defence of the reality of material world, essentially characterized by secularism, a rationalistic logic and science.[8] The method adopted by these thinkers is rationalistic and scientific. Murty’s admiration for M.N. Roy could be seen in his early work, the Evolution of Indian Philosophy.
M.N. Roy (1887-1954) is one of the important contemporary Indian philosophers belonging to an alternative tradition against dominant tradition of Indian philosophy. He believes that no philosophical advancement is possible unless we get rid of orthodox religious ideas and theological dogmas. He is critical about the identification of philosophy with religion and theology. According to him faith in supernatural does not permit the search for the causes of natural phenomena in nature itself. Therefore rejection of orthodox religious ideas and theological dogmas is the condition for philosophy. The function of philosophy is to coordinate the entire body of scientific knowledge into a comprehensive theory of nature and life. While Roy opposed the glorification of India’s so-called spiritual heritage, he favored a rational and critical study of ancient Indian philosophy. He unequivocally rejected the religious mode of thinking and advocated a scientific outlook and a secular morality. He believed that science would ultimately liquidate religion. M .N. Roy was a strong supporter of materialist philosophy. According to Roy, strictly speaking, materialism is “the only philosophy possible”, because it represents the knowledge of nature as it really exists—knowledge acquired through the contemplation, observation and investigation of nature itself. According to him, “the long process of the development of naturalist, rationalist, skeptic, agnostic and materialist thought in ancient India found culmination in the Charvaka system of philosophy, which can be compared with Greek Epicureanism, and as such is to be appreciated as the positive outcome of the intellectual culture of India”. [9]
In his evolution of Indian philosophy Murty too consider philosophy as a rational and comprehensive understanding of nature. He finds Carvaka and early Sankhya as the only rational philosophical systems. In his later writings such as Development of Hinduism, the idea of spiritual democracy of Upanishads is central concept of Hinduism. In Indian Spirit, he evaluates Indian ethics and culture based on humanistic approach. On commenting on his earlier position taken up in Evolution of Indian Philosophy: Now, of course, I would neither be able to agree with a number of its presuppositions and conclusions, nor wholly endorse its approach, method and treatment of thinkers and systems.[10]
Indian social Reality and Caste
The dominant writings on Indian are debated about caste though it conditions the philosophical thinking and everyday life activities in India. Murty is sensitive to social reality in exploring the Indian philosophical traditions. He is critical about the brahminical exposition of Indian philosophy. Historically, we find three positions in connection to caste in academic writings. The traditionalists are strongly supports caste system in their writings. The scholars such as Ambedkar probed the Indian philosophy from a point of annihilation of caste. The social reformers and thinkers such as Gandhi are critically appreciates caste system. Strategically, they argue that core philosophy of Hinduism doesn’t have sanctity for the practice of untouchability. Murty on several occasions brings the role played by caste in the writings of Indian philosophy. Only in the theory of brahminical books we find brahmana supremacy, but that was a dream which never came true, except in the decadent days of india. From his historical observation, he concludes that it was not caste, but power and money-the princes and generals and the merchants- that ruled India.[11]
Murty maintains that early in the history of hindu social organization, the four castes were linked up with four recognizably distinct socio-economic functions in the then existing state of society. For some time at least environment and scrupulous care to train a child in conformity with his supposed svabhava compensated for degradation of the original spiritual ideal. In the end however, the hereditary principle alone triumphed and the caste system, which still survives in deliquescence, based on hereditary specialization, hierarchic organization and a mutual exclusion of castes through compulsory prohibition of interdining and intermarriages, came into vague. As he put forward a view that caste system that has been existing now for centuries in no way corresponds to the chaturvarna described by the scriptures; it is almost a caricature of the spiritual ideal which once inspired the classification of all men into four types, based on their qualities and work, as determined by their svabhavas.[12] He further argues that the power of the theory of brahminical supremacy to tame people was first discovered by the patrimonial Hindu kingdoms. Ultimately, he argues that Hinduism or its scriptures doesn’t have any role for the contemporary inhuman social practice of caste system. This may put in other words that Murty favours Hinduism that doesn’t have sanctity for oppressive and exploitative caste system.
Politics of Exclusion
As against the western dominance, the social elite of early twentieth century powerfully established their culture, religion, philosophy and history as a common tradition of India. They had not only established their subjective continuity with ‘glorious past’ by selective invocation, but also successfully marginalized other knowledge systems of Indian society. The knowledge production is in tune with the political interests of this group. Murty is critical about the canonization of Indian philosophy at academic level. This may be attributed to the institutionalization of Indian philosophy by Brahmin scholars. It is evident that these brahminacal writings are culturally and socially blind to certain styles of doing philosophy. [13]The dominant discourse of Indian philosophy revolves around the Sanskrit texts as the only source of Indian philosophy. But one may find the philosophical churning in the religious and philosophical texts of vernacular languages. As Murty says it is prejudice to think that only works written in Sanskrit, Pali, Ardha Magadhi or Prakrit should be considered as having philosophical value, or that only works which pertain to the six darsanas, the Buddhist schools, Jainism and Lokayata could be philosophical.[14] Murty’s approach to Indian philosophy demands us to take note of diverse philosophical ideas of nation that are even contemporary relevant. The notion of Indian philosophy has changed by his position. He has forcefully argues that the acemic world has to consider the importance of the philosophical ideas expressed in Dravidian, apabramsa and modern indo Aryan languages in writing the history of Indian philosophy. In fact these having permeated various religio-philosophical beliefs and practices continue to dominate them in their contemporary forms.[15] These are not treated as rigorous or hardcore philosophy, but so is not much of what is found in the famous books on Indian philosophy by S. N. Dasgupta and S. Radhakrishnan, or in the works of swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, mahatma Gandhi, Iqbal and others, which are studied as ‘contemporary philosophy’ in Indian universities.[16] Murty evaluated the collections on contemporary Indian philosophy from mid thirties to mid seventies. He finds four major collections in this regard, including his own collection titled current trends in contemporary Indian philosophy.[17] The first book on Contemporary Indian Philosophy was compiled by S. Radhakrishnan and J.H. Muirhead in the year 1936.’ This volume included thirteen essays of this time and further included eleven younger philosophers in the next volume in 1952.[18] K. Sachidananda Murthy commenting on the collection of Radhakrishnan, that there was not a single atheist or materialist among its twenty five contributors, all of them except seven were predominantly influenced by Adavaita Vedanta, and nineteen of them were idealists of some sort or other. In the subsequent collections on contemporary Indian philosophy, Margaret Chattejee and N.K.Devaraja’s collections, Murty observed that no materialist or Marxist find a place. His collection, current trends in contemporary Indian philosophy has marked difference with other writings on the subject, in its approach. Among its twenty-two contributors there are an economist trying to understand the philosophical task, four humanists, a Marxist, an empirical atheistic dualist. It has an essay by DD Kosambi , the Marxist scholar and an essay on M.N.Roy. There is no doubt that Sachidananda Murthy and K. Ramakrishna Rao edited a book, ‘Current Trends in Indian Philosophy’ (1972) is different from earlier works and they made an attempt to provide new vision in capturing contemporary trends of Indian philosophy. They believed that social and political circumstance as well as legal and other institutions will influence the origins, shaping and growth of ideas. This is the time of influencing the radical politics in telugu society. Moreover these thinkers belong to non-brahmin community. As they mentioned in their introduction, Philosophy in modern India is closely related to politics and social conditions and these latter have been shaped by the new material conditions of existence that arose in modern India. He identified the political situation in modern India and mentioned the about communists, socialists parallel to nationalist movement under the leadership of Gandhi. The post independent India under Nehru achieved some progress failed bring the revolution and new society. A ‘dichotomy between ideals and reality’ and a combination of radicalism in principle and conservativism in practice’ has been ‘woven into the fabric of Indian political life.’ [19]
Murty questions the very approach taken by academic scholars in recognizing /excluding and institutionalizing the contemporary Indian philosophers, same as the case with classical Indian philosophers. As he says, it is difficult to identify the criterion by which the inclusion and exclusion of thinkers was made in these books. For example, Narayana Guru, J. Krishnamurti, B.R. Ambedkar and some others are not in any way less important than many of those included in these six books, and some included deserved inclusion in more than one book.[20] We may see the continuation of this institutionalized approach from late seventies to recent times.[21]
In Evolution of Indian Philosophy (1952), one may find Murty’s approach to Indian philosophy in subtle way. He argues that it is necessary to see weather a system of philosophy is in harmony with known facts. Unfortunately no history of Indian philosophy proceeds in this way. Further he believes that criticism is a test for consistency of particular philosophical systems. In words of Murty, usually histories of Indian philosophy have ignored criticism. To interpret is not appreciate rationally. Criticism which tests the consistency of the logic of a particular system of philosophy is to appreciate it rationally. He considers that to approach a philosophical system critically, is to appreciate rationally. He argues that the entire Indian philosophy except that of Carvakas and early Samkhya consists of dogmas and that knowledge which is claimed to have been got in an extraordinary way and which is and will never be verifiable in the ordinary way. According to him, Carvakas and early Samkhya system are strictly qualified as philosophy in Indian philosophical systems. Except his we don’t have any Indian philosophy exclusively based on reason. As per his philosophical scheme, Purva Mimansa and yoga have no right be classed as systems of philosophy though ancient Hindus may have done so. He was even critical about Buddhism and Jainism for their emphasis of bodhi and kevala jnana. Purva Mimansa is scriptural exegesis of the ritual portion. In the earlier stages of intellectual development, systematic thought and belief overlap. The point of departure for a history of philosophy is the distinction between the two. No history of Indian philosophy has done this so far. He points out another defect with traditional approaches of history of Indian philosophy that they confuse religion with philosophy, though the two are not identified. He equate this way of approach with scholasticism of western thought. The characteristic of both scholasticism and Indian philosophy is to systematize and rationalize religious dogma. Further, Murty contends that none of the scientific advances impel the Indian philosophers to make some creative efforts towards new cosmologies. [22]
In Hinduism and Its Development (1947), one may find counter discourse within Hinduism rather negating the Hinduism. Murty provides new meaning for religion in general and Hinduism in particular. He attributes all progressive elements to Hinduism by assimilating the other. On one hand, he is critical about brahminical priestly class for monopolizing religion and making Hinduism as their profession and means of livelihood and for keeping emphasis on performance of ritual and contemplation of sacrifice. He is critical of this kind of Hinduism which becomes mechanical, external and formalistic. On the other hand, he argues Hinduism concerned for ultimate reality, which is manifested in different forms. Religion is viewed as righteous living, and is practice of dharma, which means the inner law of one’s own being. He evaluates Hinduism from a rationalistic and ethical point of view. He is critical of degenerated Hinduism, which upholds the caste inequalities. He considers the true spirit of Hinduism in Upanisads and Bhagvat Gita and finds its continuity in Buddhism. Upanisads are essentially movements which were intended to free the individual from the shackles of external authority and the bonds of excessive convention. Their goal is the merging of the individual consciousness in the universal consciousness. Murty identifies that the establishment of spiritual democracy was the ideal of Upanisads. But this idealistic approach of Upanisadas did not make them blind to the world. They did not preach the unreality and negation of this world. Murty considers the philosophy of Upanisads forms the bedrock of Hinduism. He further argues that idealism of Upanisadas materialized in Gautama Buddha. He considers that Bhagavad Gita and Budhism are the movements of the same spiritual re-emphasis and revival which took place as a reaction against ritualistic religion. Both Gita and Buddha laugh at the idea of supreme by birth; and both care very little for authority of the Vedas. The difference is that, Buddha asks us not to think of transcendental reality and spoil our brain, where as the gita asserts the existence of such reality.
As Buddha attacked superstition and priestcraft and condemned metaphysical web spinning and theological codifying. His appeal was logical and his emphasis was on ethics. Murty views that budha’s teaching was nothing but the popularization of Upanisadic ideal of spiritual democracy. The cardinal tenets preached by the Buddha are the same that have been preached by the upanisads; and Buddhism merely represents a revival of the Upanisadic spiritualism and as such constitutes a new development of Hinduism, suitable for that age. Murty finds no differences between Upanisadic and Buddhist teachings but also finds similarity in religious aspects too, i.e. the Gita and the Mahayana. Further, he makes an interesting note that probably Budha was the forerunner of not only Gandhi but also Marx, and is it too much to say that his doctrine represents a desirable synthesis of Gandhian Idealism and Marxian materialism? Murty views continuity of the Upanisadic wisdom in Sankara with regenerating the spirit of Hinduism at national level. As he explained Sankara was the first who awoke to the national unity of India and the religious unity of Hinduism. He saw around him diverse currents of thought troubling India and disintegrating its harmony. His mission was to synthesis these diverse currents and build up a unity of outlook out of that diversity. Sankara represents the recreation of the forgotten body of knowledge found in the Upanisads.
The undue emphasis on the spiritual made succeeding generations forget the material aspects of India’s culture. The emphasis of the Buddha on sangha and the emphasis of Gita on karma were forgotten. The west due to its exclusive emphasis on the material culture has neglected the spiritual. Totality consists of matter and spirit, the eternal and momentary. The blind rejection of the west by India would make India lifeless. On the other hand, a complete imitation of the west will make her lose her soul. Either way lies unnecessary danger. ..the spirit of the age is represented by the west. India has much to learn from it- its technology, scientific method and industrial advancement. But the west is also in need of learning much and its advances in technology will give little comfort it does not learn the deeper lessons of life from India.

The Spirit of India (1965) is as introduced by Murty is a humanistic approach to Indian culture. This book assumes that it is a philosophical task to understand a culture, and scrutinize, justify and criticize the ideas, attitudes and cosmologies implicit or explicit in it. It attempts to do this not only by positively indicating certain Indian notions to the nature of things and events, but also removing asambhavanas and viparitabhavanas regarding the Indian mentality, found mostly in some western writings. Some of such ideas are: Indians have no conception of history, no awareness of personal god, and no sense of human dignity. They are other worldly, fatalistic, passive and uninterested in the pleasure of the senses, material well being, and progress.

Conclusion

Satchidananda Murty is reconstructed Indian philosophy from the social context of Telugu society. As the Telugu society influenced by anti- brahnminical, Hetuvada (rationalist), Nastika (atheistic), Royist movement (humanistic) and communist movements, Murty too has influenced by these movements directly or indirectly. In this backdrop, his approach to Indian philosophy seems to be radical in his book Evolution of Indian philosophy, which is written in early 1950s.This book provides an alternative approach to Indian philosophy against dominant idealistic/brahminical/spiritual , in the line of Marxist/materialistic approaches of M.N.Roy and Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya. He considers philosophical ideas are product of socio –economic conditions. He considers philosophy as rational criticism and evaluates philosophical ideas historically. In his later writings, we may find change in his philosophical position and the methodology in dealing Indian philosophy. In Evolution of Indian Philosophy, we find Sachidananda Murty as a radical critic of dominant constructions of Indian philosophy. In Hinduism and Its Development, he viewed the alternatives to dominant philosophy as integral to Hinduism through a method of assimilation. In The spirit of India, he defends the Indian philosophy against stereotype notions. It is observed that the tone of Murty differs in each of these texts. But he had an attempt to construct Indian philosophy rationalistic and humanistic way. Rather concluding that, he changed his position, we may say that he broadened the canvas of Indian philosophy and adopted new language to articulate his views on Indian philosophy. In Hinduism and Its Development, Murty adopted inclusive approach as he projected the Hinduism as assimilation of various philosophies at given historical times. In that sense even he included Buddhism as a continuation or part of Hinduism. In the Indian Spirit he took the defense Indian philosophy against the notions of western and traditional pundits of India. However, he was not totally deviated from the core assumptions about Indian philosophy. This changing position may observe in Development of Hinduism, Indian Spirit and consequent writings. Though he engaged with Hinduism, Vedas, advaita Vedanta as central to Indian philosophy against Indian materialism, we may find alternative reading of Vedanta from the social claims of non-brahmin. Murty had an advantage from changing his position from radical critic to internal critic of tradition in negotiating about Indian philosophy. His view on brahminical philosophy shares to an extent with non –brahmin thinkers such as Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Choudhary , Jyothibha Phule, Ramaswamy Periyar and Naryayana Guru than the thinkers inspired by Marxism. There is no doubt that his philosophical approach against dominant brahminical approached provided a ground for later political movements of the oppressed. But at the same time, we may find thinkers like Ambedkar, who took this argument further by critically evaluating Hinduism, reconstructed Indian philosophy on strong philosophical foundations.

End Notes

[1] Satchidananda Murty, K. Philosophy in India, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas and ICPR, 1985 p.VII
[2] Satchidananda Murty, K. Evolution of Indian philosophy, New Delhi: DK print world, 2007(revised ed.), p.23
[3] Ibid.p.30
[4] Satchidananda Murty, K. (Ed.) Readings in Indian HIstory, Politics and Philosophy, London: George Allen and Unwin, 1967. Murty’s interest in historical approach of philosophical ideas could be seen in this compilation.
[5] Ibid.49
[6] Satchidananda Murty, K Philosophy in India p.47
[7] Refer Myths of Indian philosophy by Dayakrishna, and Dogmas of Indian Philosophy by S.N. Dasgupta
[8] Brain Morris , Religion and Anthropology , A critical introduction, Cambridge university press, 2006 p.113
[9] Roy, M.N. Materialism, Delhi: Ajanta Publications, p.94
[10]Satchidananda Murty, K. Philosophy in India p. 99
[11] Satchidananda Murty, K. The Indian Spirit, Pp.14-15
[12] Ibid.Pp.196-197
[13] The prominent texts that informing the Indian philosophy are Surendranath Dasgupta’s ‘History of Indian Philosophy’ in five volumes, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s ‘History of Indian philosophy’ in two volumes, C. D. Sharma’s Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy’, Puligandla’s ‘Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy’, Jadunath Sinha’s Indian Philosophy, P. Nagaraja Rao’s Contemporary Indian philosophy, Introduction to Indian Philosophy, Hiriyanna’s Outlines of Indian Philosophy P. T. Raju’s ‘Structural Depths of Indian Philosophy’ J.N. Mohanty’s ‘Classical Indian Philosophy, An introductory text, Reason and Tradition in Indian Thought: An Essay on the nature of Indian philosophical thinking, and Dayakrishna’s ‘Indian Philosophy: A Counter Perspective’

[14] Ibid.91
[15] Murty argues Alvars and Nayanars 6th century bkati movement, saivasidhantins, sangam poets of tamil society, sahajiya and siddhas (Saraha) of 7th to 11 th century eastern bihar and northern bengal , vacanas of Allamprabhu and basava of 12th century and sarvajna(18th century) of Karnataka,, vemana and Potuluri veerabramendraswamy of Andhra , Mukundaraja, natha yogi(12th century), Chakradhara (13th century), Jnaneswara (13th century), Ramadas (17th century) Tukaram (17 th century ) of Maharastra., Lalla yogisvari (14th century ) Kashmir, kabir(15th century), Swami Ramananda of North India, Bhima Bhoi of Mahima Dharma of Orissa, are expressed their philosophical views in vernacular languages and these views are not considered in history of philosophy and demands for the inclusion.
[16] Ibid.p.91
[17] Themajor writings that are on contemporary Indian philosophy includes, 1.S.Radhakrishnan and J.H.Muirhead, 2. K.Sachidananda and K. Ramakrishna Rao, 3. Margaret Chatterjee 4. N.K.Devaraja,
[18] S.Radhakrishnan and J.H. Muirhead Contemporary Indian Philosophy (New York: Mac Millan , 1936,London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1952)

[19] Satchidananda Murty K, and K.Rama Krishna Rao, Current Trends in Contemporary Indian Philosophy, P.xii
[20] Ibid.p.101
[21] Raghuramaraju’s work on Indian philosophy (Debates in Indian Philosophy- Classical, Colonial and Contemporary, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006) is a recent one. This book even tries to read difference between Gandhi and V.D. Savarkar, but does not have place for Ambedkar. Further he is not considerate for materialistic and Marxist traditions of India.
[22] Satchidananda Murty, K. Evolution of Indian philosophy, New Delhi: DK print world, 2007(revised ed.),

Emergence of Dalit Novel

2011-07-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

EMERGENCE OF DALIT NOVEL:
Changing Notion of Freedom

P.Kesava Kumar

In Telugu society, one must accept that the new millennium started with the celebration of dalit novel. The birth of dalit novel has significance in many ways - culturally, historically and ideologically. Dalit novel emerged in a unique way by challenging and shattering the existing genres and canons of Telugu literary world. The novels of dalits are enriched with the content and descriptions of dalit struggles for human dignity. There has been a constant effort from dalit writers in translating the condemned life styles and practices of marginalized people into symbols of protest and pride. Altogether, these dalit writers gave the rich meaning to dalit life that brought respect for them. Dalit writers had a forceful attempt in constructing the social history of "an historical" people, whose struggles were not recorded in the so-called history texts. In words of a dalit writer, we have to dig more to unravel the past as well as to bury the constructed history of the dominant social groups. In the process of writing their own history, they thoroughly interrogated the existing histories of dominant caste/class groups in their literary writings. Their novels arc much more realistic and political in nature to overturn the hierarchy. Ideologically, they declared uncompromising war against brahminism /upper caste social and literary hegemony. At the same time, they are critical about other alternative political streams. The criticism reached a definitive stage and the political positions are getting consolidated. Dalit novel is culminating point of all these discourses that internalized all the arguments from the perceptions of gender, class, region and sub-caste.

In tact, Dalit life has been found its highest expression in folk songs and other mass per formative arts like street/stage plays. Most of their literature is in oral tradition. However, only in post independent period, considerable number of dalits got access to education, therefore were late to enter into the print mode. This gave the way to enter into the literary modes of dominant social groups. It took almost hundred years for dalits lo enter into the literary genre of novel writing.
The production of novel as a form of expression is obviously linked to the rise of middle class that happened only during colonial period and their need to articulate their problems and consequent social struggles they had to carry on. In the west, novel emerged as a new genre to represent the social aspirations of middle classes created by industrial revolution. In India, novel came into existence as a logical outcome of the colonial influence. The first novel in almost all the vernacular languages came into existence in last quarter of the nineteenth century. Western rational ideas influenced middle class, those who later played a major role in moudling the nationalist struggles, involved in the production of this new literary form-novel writing. It is obvious that only the educated upper caste perceptions and aspirations reflected in literature too. The social groups, which are acquired political and economic dominance, had also enjoyed the privileges creation of culture and cultural production. The other voices were existed less articulate.

Over the period, there was a significant change in themes and politics of novels with changing socio-historical conditions. There were only few novels to talk about dalits and their life. These novels came out either as a sympathetic treatment of upper caste writers or as a part of the class struggles. In most of the novels, the protagonist is from superior caste groups. He, therefore, shoulders the responsibility to reform/educate dalits. These kinds of novels lack the authentic dalit life and their experiences. In examining the novel, we have to see the connection between particular literary form and the consciousness of that particular social group associated with it. The ideological structure of social groups that give the birth to particular form has to be noted.

In post independent India with given opportunities, dalits too emerged as a middle class. This class started organizing the dalit masses and started questioning every sphere of the public activity, in which so far they were either humiliated or marginalized. Most of the questions raised through literature and constantly engaged in a dialogue with civil society. In late eighties, issue of caste came into the forefront in Andhra Pradesh. This can be seen symbolically in massacre of Karamchedu. As a consequence of conscious mobilization of dalits, the issues related to caste got articulated in literature in late nineties. Many anthologies of poetry came out in this period. In the initial days, the dalit literature mostly in the form of poetry came to limelight. The quest for the search of their own dalit identity makes them to broaden the literary horizons. As a result, dalit novel took the shape of serious existence reflecting the real dalit aspirations. When dalit novel took an upper hand, the dalit poetry writing started trickling down. Dalit writers questioned not only the basic premises of literature but also the epistemological positions of the existing writers. They supplied the new prism to perceive the crude reality of casteist society. With the well-debated question of representation and subjectivity, the upper caste writers were either silenced or sidelined. The death of upper caste writer coincided with the emergence of dalit novel in Andhra.
The dalit novels are not only of the authentic life experiences of dalits but also depict the agony of dalit by targeting the hegemony of upper castes in society. The celebrated novels2, which came in the year 2000 are ‘Antarani Vasantam’ of G.Kalyan Rao, Kakka of Vemula Yellaiah, and ‘Panchamam’ of Chilukuri Devaputra and ‘Khaki Bhatukulu of Spartacus (G.Mohan Rao) Though all these novels depict the dalti lives of Telugu society, there is a significant difference between the novels as they are set in different regions and context. These novels are underlined by different political lines within dalit literature.
Interestingly, the literary expression of dalit writers started with poetry, which has enjoyed the power over other forms. To suit the authentic expression of their lives they also selected the other forms like short story and novel. The inner urge or struggle within them has propelled them to write short stories and novels. This is a significant transformation of dalit writers. Of course, poetry had more emotional value and had the power to mesmerize the masses. However, the poetic form has its own limitation and become an escape route due to its nature as Meta language. Sometimes it could bypass the reality/history. It created confusion in locating the history. Novel and short story not only broadened the canvas of the writers and made them more accountable to history. The characters of the novel have to be situated in specific time and space. The dalit writers probed the history and brought into the literary world many things, which were not touched earlier by other superior caste writers. In fact dalit novelist narrated the submerged culture, philosophy and histories of dalits. The political discourses within the Marxian revolutionary and feminist movements also influenced the Dalit novelists. It made them sensitive to the struggles, while writing about Dalits. Wherever it is necessary, they deferred with revolutionary politics and its practices. After Dandora movement of Madigas, which basically came with the demand for categorization of dalit sub-castes to ensure the benefits of reservations to all the communities within the dalits. The rise of sub-caste consciousness among the dalits helped the writers to speak about the concrete life-styles of dalits sub-castes rather than political rhetoric and language of the given time. Dalit novel is culminating point of all the political movements since dalit novelists had internalized the essence of all these struggles.
During anti-impenalist struggle the nationalists constructed the Indians as a homogeneous community of same ancestry to turn them into nationalists against the British the ‘other’. There was a feeling of threat to Hindu social order by large scale conversion of Dalits in to Christianity. Malapalli of Unnava Lakshmi Narayana is an example of this trend. He tried to establish the ideal of concept of Ramarajya through this novel as a way out for dalits. The background to such need was the tendencies of disunity of various communities became acute in 1930s with surfacing of various identities. There was a considerable social change in socio-political life of Telugu Society with class/caste polarities that have taken place. Writers have started articulating individual problems as part of collective life. Viswanatha Satyanarayana in his celebrated novel Veyipadagalu expressed resurrection of dharma as an answer to this crisis. He tried to establish Hindu dharma as a solution for social problem through a leading character of the novel Dharma Rao. Negative character of the novel, Ranga rao represents a modern man in the 1930s, who opposes desiya vidhya and desiya vydyam (indigenous education and indigenous medicine). Viswanatha emphasizes the need to protect the Hindu family values where as another celebrated writer Chalam argued for a radically opposite ideal. Chalam identifies family itself as a constraint for women's freedom. He vehemently argued for woman liberation from the family and male dominated society. Chlam as a critical traditionalist offered a new conception of freedom that was different from western idea as well as from the Indian tradition. He desired woman to be an autonomous gender in the matters relating to sexual choices and family life. In all these novels, nationalistic hero has been dominant cultural ideal.

By the time, it comes to 1945 most of the novels became psychological in nature. They tried to probe into complexities of individual lives. The basic philosophical question they raised about was meaning of life and human existence. At this juncture society could successfully talk about modern cultural ideal of autonomous individual free from social constraints and traditions. While translating this ideal into practice, writers thought there was an existential crisis to individuals in terms of meanings of these ideals. This can be seen in Gopichand’s asamarduni jeevanayatra and Buchibabu’s vhivaraku migiledi. Butchibabu points out that human existence is based on lovelessncss. Foreseeing the ideals that are difficult to realize, they brought out a new language of humanism expressed through love and compassion for others.

Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao tried to portray the difficult process of realization of imagined cultural ideal of equality and freedom in all its variety and depth as they are practiced in specific cultures. He has x-rayed middle class life from multiple angles and presented realistically. By late 1960s institutionalization of writers took place in literature under the banner of communist ideology. The content of the novels of this are mostly of peasant/tribal rebellions. Prior to the formation of left writer’s organizations, there were novels like prajalamanishi of Vattikota Alwar Swami, Chillaradevullu and modugupulu of Dasaradhi Rangacharya from the Telangana region. In post-independence period, modern state was unable to uphold the promised ideals of good life and better society to the vast number of oppressed masses of the country. In the political novels of this time, there has emerged an upper-caste middle-class man as a protagonist sympathetic to lower classes, articulating and mobilizing the oppressed masses.

Most of the writers came from the Brahmin middle class family. Since they live in their respective caste styles they are constrained to perceive the lives of other communities. A writer and journalist Puranam Subramanya Sharma rightly pointed out that since most of the writers came from upper castes very particularly from Brahmin caste, as a result, only middle-class life of Brahmins reflected in their novels. The life of these Brahmins tough a minority in terms of numbers but become a prototype of middle class values. Thinkers like Gopichand came from non-rahmin family that influenced and led the anti-Brahmin movement. Writers like Chalam, Butchibabu and Gopichand, however, moved towards spiritualism in the latter part of their life. As they could not mobilize the support of their communities to their ideals, they got disillusioned and moved towards spiritualism. In the latter days the communist ideals too failed to capture the dalit imagination and caste pursuits. And thus the question of caste did not find place in their discourse.

Till the 1980s entire literary discourse centred around abstract human being evasive of all cultural markers like caste, colour, religion, region and gender. The radical contribution of entire dalit literary movement is to bring to fore the dalit cultural experiences characterized by humiliation, insult and suffering based on caste. By 1980s there emerged a considerable dalit middle class, which consists of small jobholders like teachers, clerks, constables, nurses and at tenders. Their exposure to education and economic security opened up new possibilities in politics and literature. In Andhra politics, dalit movement is known for the innovation of new category called dalit, making discrimination on the basis of caste explicit. In the left parlance, the amorphous landless masses were being replaced by category dalit, which actively captured the notions of self respect. The Gandhian term, harijan has been pushed aside. The conceptual innovation has opened up new ways of articulating dalit cause. This is clearly visible in every field of activity from theory to art. In literature the questions which are very well debated in telugu society are - who are dalits? And what is dalit literature?

It was defined that dalit constitute SC, ST, BC and other minorities. As per the other definition dalits primarly constituted of labourers who are socially politically, economically and culturally oppressed in the name of caste. Whatever has been written exclusively by dalits with dalit consciousness is considered as dalit literature that may be sympathetic to non dalits too. After a serious debate ensued for some time through literary writings and political debates, on the whole only the Malas and Madigas were considered as dalits. Writings by dalits are naturally considered as dalit literature since it has specific authentic life experience. Writings by non-dalits on dalits are considered as only sympathetic writings to dalit cause. The debate has spread to all forms of dalit literature. There has been an unended debate over the path to be followed for dalits liberation.

A view was presented, mostly under the influence of Marxisism, in the literature that liberation of productive forces automatically leads to the solution of caste problem which is considered a super structural phenomenon. Other perception felt the need to articulate the caste discrimination at various levels and capture the state power in order to democratize the social relations to abolish caste and discrimination. To put it in other words, it is to look at the state as an instrument to attain equality. Regarding the means to capture political power -one section argued that armed struggle of dalits as a means and others disagreed advocating a path of peaceful democratic means.

The dalit novel that came in to existence late the 1990s touches many facets of dalit life. It introduced new idiom and expression to the Telugu literature. The first novel in this period is Kakibatukulu depicts the dalit entry into modern administrative institutions created by the British, for instance Police Department. Kakka, another novel is about the life of Madiga labourers in Telangana villages. The novel Panchamam emphatically presents the view that the caste related problems persist in village life unless and until there is a change in the basic structure of society. In this novel though the hero becomes a deputy collector, problem of caste continue to haunt him. This novel is located in a Rayalaseema village. The novel Antarani Vasantam is an attempt towards writing history, philosophy, politics and culture of dalits in comprehensive form. The writer has succeeded in bringing all these aspects of life by depicting the concrete lives of dalits.

Antaraani Vasantam is a story of seven generations of dalits. This novel is of dalit history, culture and their living worldview. More than that, it is a struggle of dalits at different points of time. In this novel the lead character named Ruthu is a writer. The novel runs with the recollection of repeated memories. These memories are not simply of the past, they are living afresh in the present. The memories are loaded with suffering, pain, agony, anguish and struggle. This is the case with every dalit life. Precisely because of this, author hints that memories are of not the past but they have their continuity in present and also projected into future. The story of dalits narrated for the period of more than hundred years in the form of women's memories. Her memories go back to four generations before and two generations after her. This novel is a significant piece of dalit literature to trace back the dalit struggles to generations. Along with the explicit depiction of dalit suffering in contemporary dalits writings Antaraani Vasantam gives an excellent description of joyful moments as well.

Kakka is the novel about the Madiga community of Telangana region. In the history of Telugu literature this novel has multifold significance. This is the first novel on Madiga community as such by a Madiga writer Vemula Yellaiah. At his 40s Yellaiah stated writing dalit poetry in late the 1990s. The author's quest to capture dalit life as a whole he opted the form of novel as a medium of expression. This piece has been written in the backdrop of Madiga Dandora movement. This novel projects madigaisation (dalitisation) as an alternative to the predominant upper-caste ideology. It also opens up the internal contradictions and violence within the community. The other striking feature is that the whole story runs in Telangana dalit dialect. So far the dominant dialect of costal Andhra has been used in writing of novels. This novel came from the place where revolutionary struggles are prominently took place. The writer seems to be uncompromising with radical dalit identity and indirectly criticizes the prevailing left culture and tries to critically read the left tradition. This may be considered as both strength and weakness of his work. This novel ends up with conscious educated dalits along with civil-rights groups together fighting for the cause of dalit struggles of village.

The idea of freedom described in these two novels differs in a significant way. In hntaraani Vasantam, constraint to freedom of the dalits comes from an enemy who is an upper caste. The idea of dalit itself indicates for Kalyan Rao a perpetual flow of resistance by dalit community to an upper caste community. Dalit community has been described as a focal point of creativity, resistance to oppression and a character of purity. This is effectively indicated through central character Yellanna who eloquently represents a creative, upright and assertive individual. This is one way of expressing dalit freedom or a mode of being dalit. One of the characters, in difficult times of community life says, we have bom just not to be killed but to live too.

On the other hand the idea of being dalit in Kakka is different. It identifies that constraint to freedom to dalits is not just from an outsider but also from the very community. The central character kakka faces too many hardships from within community as well as outsiders. For instance, the mother of kakka was accused of an illicit relation and was subjected to social boycott by the community. Kakka was denied an opportunity to take up the duty to perform madigarikam (caste profession) that is considered a honour in the community. Thus, the constraint within the community that projects a different community and a different kind of self- awareness. And of course, he has to fight a valiant battle against the other communities, which has traditionally been dominant in the village. It is also shown that in times of struggle against upper castes, dalits came together and fought valiantly.
These two novels are significant because they involve a deep exploration into dalit culture. They tried to bring out various positive aspects of dalit culture to the fore. Antaraani Vasantam has celebrated rich and vibrant cultural traditions of dalit community by going to origins. The novel Kakka could effectively brought out some of the inhuman social practices of dalit communities, which may be helpful in reforming of them. Thus a deep exploration of dalit life through novel may result in strengthening of dalit cultural identity. There is a scope to come up with much more serious dalit novel in future by touching all aspects of dalit life.

2011-06-13T03:44:00.000-07:00

Women folk of Pedaravuru watching the programme of gaddar standing in rain

2011-06-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

Gaddar and Gorati Venkanna

2011-06-13T03:33:00.000-07:00

Gorati Venkanna with his popular posture

2011-06-13T03:27:00.002-07:00

Gaddar and Kalekuri Prasad

2011-06-13T03:21:00.000-07:00

Rain song by Gaddar at pedaravuru

2011-06-13T03:17:00.000-07:00

Gaddar unveiling the statue of Ambedkar at Pedaravuru, nearby Tenali

2011-06-13T03:09:00.000-07:00

With Gaddar and Sikhamani at Tenali

2011-06-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Seminar On Dalit Literature

2011-06-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Presenting a paper on Kalyan Rao's Untouchable Spring in the National Seminar on Dalit Literature organised by Dr. T.Marx

Moderating the panel discussion on Atrocities against Dalits in the National Seminar

2011-05-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

Voice of Protest: A Study of Dalit Song in Telugu

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pondicherry University

Introduction

Cultural performances involving music, dance, verbal art, and other aesthetic media serve both to formulate local knowledge and to communicate its shared under-standings in the total context of social institutions, relationships, and realities. [1] Song represents the voice of the people and is considered as a ‘local knowledge’ in which people make their own conceptions and perceptions in a given society through culture. Song is an effective, communicative, and powerful cultural form. Song establishes intimate relationship with its listeners. Song is a collective cultural form marked with a social character. It has evolved from life and labour of the people. All societies have relied on music to transform the experience of work as it is the cultural expression of labour. The cultural form song internalizes poetry, dance, and music. We could not analyze song from a mere analysis of text. For a better understanding of a phenomenon of any song, we have to read the text, texture and context of a song. Text, tone and tune are integral to any song. In assessing any song one has to keep in mind relations of these forms. The beauty of a song lies in its tune, music, dance and its performance in public.

The literary cultural form has undergone significant changes with changing social, economical and political conditions. Technology has a tremendous impact on the phenomenon of song. In modern times, technology brought tremendous changes in the cultural medium. The Gramophone record, Cinema, Radio, and TV facilitated this change and carried the song with it. The film music, not only popularized and democratized the music but also culminated both the elements of classical and folk. With further technological innovations, especially information technology, globalization has started influencing the culture. With rapid increase of satellite channels and digitalization, popular film music have total grip over its audience than any other cultural form. Music becomes a commodity than ever before. However, song is surviving as a medium to communicate the culture of the society. It is used as a cultural weapon by both hegemonic and counter hegemonic social groups to serve their political interests. History reveals that people many a time succeed in performing their lives through cultural forms against the dominance and exploitation. Dalit song is one such cultural expression of Dalit communities resisting caste dominance, discrimination and exploitation of Brahminical Indian society. Dalit song has to be understood as a self assertion of Dalit culture and political consiousness of Dalit masses. Dalit song has been used for the mobilization of dalits towards a dignified, democratic, humane and a caste free Indian society.

This paper argues that the tunes of dalits are having much worth as music, and the words are having more worth as literature. It is no way lesser than the Brahminical cultural tradition. In fact it is much closer to life and labour. It is more of a kind of orature than a written word. It is argued that the classical tradition has evolved from the cultural tradition of lower caste groups with some impositions. The classical tradition further moved away from its root and becomes reactionary and conservative in its form and content. In India, the lower caste groups have a rich resource of the performative culture. This cultural tradition has been invoked by the dalit movement of contemporary times. In literary and cultural debates of Telugu society, dalit song emerged as a much celebrated and distinctive cultural form. As the dalit movement aims to liberate the oppressed dalit masses by challenging the hegemony of brahminical class, dalit song too targeted at the same direction. Dalit song is the song of protest; the voice of the voiceless.

Culture, Music and Caste

In Telugu literary circles, dalit literature/culture has been ignored till recent times as folkloric, ritualistic, animistic, artless, crude and emotional. The written culture of the elite communities has been celebrated as literature, either classical or progressive. It is obvious that educated upper castes had a monopoly over this literary and cultural phenomenon. The written culture has established its dominance as the celebrated literary cultural tradition at the cost of either marginalizing or negating the oral culture. Velcheru Narayana rao broadly identified the telugu literary cultural tradition as aasu literature from likhita(written ) literature with respective social groups. As the oral tradition is the predominant feature of lower castes and illiterates, the written literature is of the literates- Brahmins and other upper caste groups. In aasu literary tradition the activity of singing and scribbling is spontaneous and unpremeditated. The poet writes while singing and sings while writing. The spoken language enlivens in literature. It is a spontaneous act. Till the advent of print, both literate Brahmins and illiterate dalits (mala and madiga) continued in the tradition of aasu sahityasm with a specificity of their own. However, historically, written tradition established its upper hand over oral tradition. Literature is standardized with writing. With written culture, the difference in social status is even extended to the production of knowledge. The literature of upper castes becomes hegemonic.[2] Though the literates /elites approached oral literature in the name of folklore, people’s literature, desi literature out of their concern but not inaugurated the real essence of this literature. The contemporary Dalit literature had changed the conception of literature/culture. It has changed the very conception of poetic and musical dimensions, with a committed ideology and a vision serving a social purpose. The conscious dalits have initiated a literary and cultural movement against the brahminical hegemony in all possible ways. It is the perception of these organic intellectuals shaped the literary and cultural expression. They started reinventing their own culture from rich resources of their culture.

For dalits, oral culture is the primary source of knowledge for them. The genre of song contains the culture, literature, music, life and struggles of dalit masses. Song is the living cultural tradition of dalits. Historically, song is central to most of the cultural forms marked with- Padas, Kritis, Kirthanas, Javalis, folk songs , bhajana, Harikatha, women songs drama music, film music etc. It had undergone a remarkable transformation. However, it maintained its social fabric. The music had distinguished and identified with a social category. One may find a lot of changes with the early decades of 20^th century to the second of the century. Broadly it is divided into classical and folklore. The former represents the elite brahminical class and came with the grammar of music and centered on temple. The folklore identified with the masses, the lower castes, and it is spontaneous act of labourers while engaging in the labour and entertains them in leisure time.

he differentiation of folklore and classical art has to be understood in terms of power. It is argued that the invention of the ‘classical’ performing arts in modern south India is recognized as rooted not only in the quest for authenticity and validation, but also in the play of power, and the politics of representation.[3] As Lakshmi Subramanian observed, ‘for the Brahmin community, consumption of classical music became an integral element in their cultural self definition, a marker of status and taste, and a cementing agent of a collective identity and presence that no longer had the same visibility in active political life.’[4] From the reformist/revivalist perspective, the dance and music of hereditary and other traditional communities were secret, idiosyncratic, heterogeneous, unscientific, non-canonical, hybrid, vernacular, and non-modern. They were transmitted and performed through oral, caste based, and practice-centred processes. The new classical arts, on the other hand, would be based on ‘ancient’ yet suitably reformed, modernized textual and theoretical canons, and the performers would be modern professionals, untainted by caste associations and non- scientific methods. … The major outcome of the reinvention of a classical tradition would be the displacement of the hereditary performers and the dispersal of their communities and knowledge bases. In both North and South Indian elite nationalist projects, the classical arts were constructed as the heritage of an ancient Indian civilization, redefined (in terms of the Orientalist genealogy of nationalism) as a specifically Hindu civilization.[5] The Karnataka music was reinvented as a ‘classical’ tradition by the Madras elites in the twentieth century, predominantly middle class telugu and tamil Brahmin communities. Karnataka music is a typical bramin enterprise. It is through this music they accessed the past and invoked it in altered socio-political landscape of early twentieth century south India. The invention of Karnataka music involved the erasure or devaluation of many earlier kinds of music, the co-option of some hereditary performers, and the marginalization of others.[6] Dalits are consciously resisting the dominant discourses of elite and asserting their identity. They use performance to wrest power to determine their own identity, and deliberately to engineer self representation in which a collective past mobilizes their community into a modern present.[7]

Dalit Song as a Protest

The changes in a society are always carried out by the political struggles. Politics as a value facilitate the understanding of the culture, history and politics of a social group. The power of politics is expressed through the social and cultural practices of society. In other words, culture plays a key role in upholding the hegemony of the particular social group or community. From late eighties onwards, with the Dalit movement came against the hegemony of the upper castes and argued in favour of a casteless society. It is very much evident that dominance of upper caste brahminical class is carried through their literature and cultural forms. Even today, the brahminical ideology sustains through its music in the name of classical, in the public sphere. It has been celebrated as elite culture and pure/real musical form. As a feudal cultural form it is loyal to God and religion, and confined to temple. In other words, it shows its loyalty to feudal lords or kings and helps maintaining the status quo of the system. This brahminical culture propagated through festive occasions of temple and especially in modern times through Ganasabhas. As Dalit movement came against this dominant brahminical ideology and tried to establish its distinct cultural forms and experiences of life in a celebrating way, the literature and culture of dalits emerged as a symbolic protest against dominance. Dalit song as a cultural genre made an attempt in resisting hegemony of brahminical class and in mobilizing dalits for a political purpose.

The rise of Dalit song may be viewed as a protest against the dominant upper caste hegemony. The dalit literary cultural struggles are against the feudal, capitalist and brahminical cultural forms in a process of self discovery and self assertion of their culture. Dalit song not only countered the brahminical culture but also made a difference with existing alternative cultural struggles as in the case of political struggles. In a cultural front there is a powerful tradition of capturing the peoples culture (folklore) and politicizing for the propaganda of political ideology. The cultural organizations like Praja Natya Mandali, Jana Natya Mandali , and Aurunodaya Samskritika Samstha worked with a mission in this direction. In their cultural production, there are many songs about the dalits in the name of workers, labourers, and agricultural coolies. They were tapped from their cultural repository and politicized with a social purpose. Dalit song, though it has not established its autonomy like existing ‘revolutionary song’, but it was forced to talk about caste, naked reality of Indian society in a much more concrete fashion. In comparison with other literary genres like poetry and story, Song is quantitatively less in production, though there is a conscious effort to build a cultural movement of dalits by establishing cultural organizations like ‘Dalita Kala Mandali’ and ‘Lelle’.

Dalit Literary and Cultural Movement

Dalit literary and cultural movement has its own significance in telugu literature. Though it has continuity with earlier alternative struggles on certain issues, it is radical in problematising the issue of caste in Indian society. Ideologically, it contests even the struggles influenced by Marxism. Dalit movement adds new dimensions in understanding the Indian social reality and in strategies of liberation struggle. It got reflected in literary and cultural movements too. In the 1950s, the literary organization Abhyudaya Rachayalala Sangham (Progesssive Writers’ Association) and cultural organization Praja Kala Mandali articulated the Dalit question in the name of class in support of communist party. In the 1970s in support of radical Naxalite movement, writers association, Viplava Rachayatala Sangham (Revolutionary Writers Association, RWA) and cultural association named Jana Natya Mandali (JNM) brought many artists of lower castes to the forefront. The JNM contributed a lot in reviving the tradition of song. The folklore of the lower caste groups got politicized and used for the purpose of spreading the revolutionary messages. These songs basically targeted labourers to join the armed struggle for classless society by keeping the differences of caste and religion. From the late 1980s with the rise of Dalit consciousness, Dalita Maha Sabha under the leadership of Katti Padma Rao and Bojjatatakam changed the political discourse of Telugu society by articulating the issue of caste explicitly as dominant social reality of Indian society. Many young Dalit writers started questioning the brahminical dominance and upper caste monopoly in the alternative movements under the leadership of B.S.Ramulu, Dalita Rachayatala, Kalakarula,Medhavula Iykya Vedika (Da.Ra.Ka.Me, United front of Dalit writers, artists and intellectuals) in the 1990s. At the same time under the leadership of Sikhamani, Dalit Rachayatala Sangham, (Darasam, Dalit Writers Association) was formed. Almost at the same time Dalita Kala Mandali , the cultural organization was also formed under the leadership of Masterjee. In the late 90s, Lelle, a cultural organization was formed with an initiation of Suresh and Mallepalli Laxmaiah, who are sympathetic towards the Naxalite movement. On the other hand, the JNM artists namely Gaddar, Vangapandu further contributed to the Dalit song. The influence of Dalit movements could be seen in these artists in their recent songs.

With the rise of Dalit movement, Dalit literature came to forefront in Telugu literature by questioning the existing canons of Telugu literary world. Dalit aesthetic creation mostly took the form of poetry with the newly emerged educated middle class. This is confined only to that section and generated a debate in literary circles of Telugu society. This form has its limitations since majority of Dalits are illiterates. With an intensified Dalit struggles, to mobilize the people they are forced to revive the tradition of song. The cultural phenomenon of JNM under the leadership of Gaddar and Vangapandu already established a powerful tradition of revolutionary song by exploring the folklore of the people. In a similar fashion, dalits are in search of song for the propagation of Dalit ideology. As a cultural and political tradition, it has a continuation with other alternative political organizations such as Prajanatyamandali, Jana Natyamandali, and at the same time ideologically breaks away from this kind. As a result, the cultural form significantly transformed itself quite politically and also aesthetically. Dalit literary and cultural movement gave a new direction to dalit song with the involvement of new composers, artists/performers and the formation of new cultural organization such as Dalita Kala Mandali. The dalit performers and composers of songs are widening their political canvass and also inaugurating themselves as the cultural leaders of ongoing Dalit and other alternative struggles of Telugu society.

Dalit movement brings the special recognition for Dalit song. Though there are a good number of songs about the life and struggles of dalits narrated by dalits, these songs are not identified with a name of Dalit. In academic discourse, they are known as folklore in contrast with elite culture/classical song. With the political intervention of left politics through Praja Natya Mandali and Jana Natya Mandali these kinds of songs are popularly known as people’s song (Praja pata) or Viplava pata. The folklore got politicized by them. The revolutionary song makes a conscious effort to enliven the people’s culture by destroying its anti- democratic elements. The song goes in the line of revolutionary politics. For them, song is the medium to propagate revolutionary ideas. The revolutionary song is not only entertaining but it also makes the song more meaningful for the people. They changed the song in many ways-in tune, dialect, sense and sensibility, content and conclusion. Most of the songs on dalits are written from the political perspective of class struggle. Dalits are viewed as labourers or working class. Still there is a debate going on whether the songs under the influence of revolutionary politics by the Dalit singers on the subject of Dalithood to be treated as Dalit song or not. This has to be understood in the context of assertion of Dalit politics in ideological differentiation with Marxist revolutionary politics of Telugu society. Dalit movement contributed significantly by pointing out the characterization of Indian social reality as casteist in nature. In defining the Dalit song, the literary critics encountered the situation same in the case of definition of Dalit and Dalit literature. This conflict reflected in the controversies centered around Chikkanavutunna Pata and Dalit Manifesto. Chikkanavutunna Pata proposes that SC, ST, BC and Minorities are to be treated as dalits and the literature written by them are Dalit literature. Ambedkar-Phule and Desiya Marxism should be the philosophical basis for Dalit movement. The other extreme considers the labourers those who are exploited by the caste are dalits. In course of time, struggles of identity politics further intensified and literature too identified with specific identity within dalit social groups.

In the year 1994, the first collection of Dalit literature came with a name of ‘Chikkanavutunna Pata’ (Thickening Song). There is a compliant about this book that it does not contain any songs though the title implies the genre of song. At the same time, another book named ‘Dalit Manifesto’ has a good number of songs along with poems. Of course, there are different viewpoints emerged on the questions of who are Dalits? What is Dalit literarure? However, everybody recognized the song as the powerful cultural medium to reach the Dalit masses. The debate went to the extent by telling poetry (vachana Kavita) is not a medium for Dalit literature.[8]Some Dalit scholars stretched the point by saying written culture is brahminical since it had predominantly helped to establish the elite brahminical hegemony by marginalizing the oral culture of illiterate dalits.[9] This issue got resolved by acknowledging both the forms and their contextual importance. One may argue that the form of song is better than poetry without bringing the distinction of Dalit or non- Dalit. It is not right indirectly negating the space for Dalit writers in poetry by branding that space as brahminical. Dalit poetry reflects the upward mobility of dalits and everybody has to welcome this trend. Song is the revolution of sound. Poetry is a silent revolution. Song, which has an immediate emotional effect and poetry, which has deep thoughts woven with feelings are weapons of dalits against social injustices. Both have to be employed effectively.[10]

Dalit Song: Recovery of Cultural Past

Dalit song is not a traditional folk song but it had roots in folk song. It is a continuation of orature of illiterate dalits against the written culture of social elite. Dalit song is a classic example of a performance of their social memory against the contemporary conditioning of dalits. It is a song of untouchable communities. In that sense it is a people’s song. It is an untouchable spring. Dalit song is a political song. It is a cultural expression of labour of dalit masses. It is an attempt not only to recover the cultural past of dalits but also a song of protest against oppressed and exploitative caste system. It is a song of liberation. It is a realization of dalit self. Dalit song is a significant cultural activity expressing and constituting people’s sense of reality. The song represents the culture of the society, but also used politically for realization of one’s social self and liberation of a social collective. Songs and singing are important within the dalit movement. Life, music and literature are inseparable in dalit song. Dalit song reveals the idiom of daily habits of speech of dalits. It is a continuation of cultural tradition of revolutionary song of Telugu society with different cultural meaning and ideology. Though dalit song has unwritten history it has got its recognition as a part of contemporary dalit literature inspired by ongoing struggles of dalit movement. The composers and performers broaden dalit literature and culture. Dalit songsters saw themselves as both recovering their cultural tradition and adding to it by writing lyrics that commented on current political issues and implicitly suggested visions of an alternative future. Dalit song keeps on emphasizing various forms of domination experienced, internalized and challenged by dalits. Dalit song is a cultural expression of a concrete, straightforward and much broader area of reality than the abstractions of social and economic experience.

Dalit Song as a Literary Production

Dalit song is as old as Telugu literature. It was mostly available in oral form. There is no recorded evidence for their songs. But one can listen to their songs by invoking the social memory of dalits. Though there are countless composers and singers, no name got celebrated or institutionalized in Telugu literary tradition. Written culture had succeeded in marginalizing the singers of lower caste groups since these groups are illiterate. Even after technological innovation, no voice of these singers got recorded. On the other hand the singers of brahminical culture like Kshetrayya, Tyagaraja, Annamaya, Ramadas are not only institutionalized and revered as legendary figures in the musical tradition. By overcoming the limitations imposed on the Dalit artists/writers, in Telugu history one may find some songs on the lives of dalits. With the rise of conscious educated dalits, there are attempts to record the every day struggles of dalits through literary and cultural performances. In written culture too, we find publication of some songs by dalit writers.

The first generation Dalit writers responded to the context of the nationalist movement. Nakka China Venkaiah, Kusuma Dharmanna and Jala Rangaswamy are prominent figures. Kusuma Dharmanna’s (1930s) song Maa Kodde Nalla Doratanam (We don’t want this native black hegemony) is popular at the time of Dalit consolidation under Adi Andhra Mahasabha. This song is a direct response to the celebrated Garimella Satyanarayana’s song of nationalist movement, Maa Kodde Tella Doratanam (We don’t want this white man’s hegemony). Dharmanna wrote this song foreseeing the plight of dalits in independent India under native Hindus. The legendary figure in Telugu literature, Jashua with the influence of Gandhi’s nationalist movement wrote many poems on the subject of Dalit life. Jaala rangaswamy, antarani varevuru, Malasudhi (1930) Kusuma dharmanna Harijanasatakam and Nalla Doratanam (1933) , Nakka China Venkaiah Harijana keertanalu (1935) are prominent songs of early dalit writers.

Under the influence of Dalit movement many songs are composed by the young artists and performed on many occasions. A few audio cassettes and compilation of books of songs have seen the light. K.P.Ashok Kumar and Jayadheer Tirumala Rao’s collected songs came with a name of Dalit Geethalu (Dalit Songs) in the year 1995.[11] This includes the songs of older generation Dalit writers, sympathetic upper caste writers, writers of progressive and revolutionary writers, and recent Dalit songs dated from 1985 onwards. The editors explain that these songs are included by locating the struggles historically as nationalist, progressive, revolutionary and Dalit movements. Karimnagar Dalita Patalu (1993), and, Dalita Geethalu (Dalit songs,1993) of Masterjee. B.S. Ramulu edited Pravahinche Pata-A.P. Dalita Patalu (1996), Vishala Bahujana Tatvalu , B.C., S.C Patalu (2004) are some of the anthologies of songs published. Dalit songs were included in most of the anthologies of dalit poetry. Dalit Manifesto(ed. Kesava Kumar and K.Satyanarayana), Dalita Kavitvam (ed. K.Lakshminarayana), Padunekkina Pata (ed. G.Lakshminarasaiah). In addition to this, there are quite a good number of dalit songs included in the other collections of songs- Prajakala Mandali patalu-2007, Prasad (ED.) Jana Chaitanya Geetalu (1992), dalita jana geetalu (1985) and S.V.Satyanarayana Telugulo Vudhyama Geethalu (2005).

There are some publications of individual writers with prominence of songs- Gorati Venkanna’s Ekunadam motha, Rela Pulu, Ala Chandravanka , Gaddar Patalu, Guda Anjaiah’s Oorumanadira, Dondapati Rama Rao Dalita Sakti (1987), Dalita kavita (1992), Vu.Sa. Patha Pata Sakshiga Kotha Pata Padatha (1993). Some of the songs are identified with writers- Sambhuka, kadalinamura from Poyedemilenollam, (1992), K.P. Ore ore ore Dalitanna from Dalita Kalamandali Patalu (1992), Donepudi Mohan Prasad’s Dalita Radham Kadilindi from Dalita Kavita (1992), Sunkam Oddayya ‘s Mekameram Baligakonno puli meram lechiraranno(1983) from Adiripadutunru (1985), Vu.Sambasiva Rao’s Yeto Telchuko, Dalita Natyam, Dalita Matha, Harijanulam Kadu (1991 , Yedureeta), Kamu Memu Hinduvulam (1993), Gaddar DalitaPululu, Mayamma Aalisamma, Rajyadhirakaniki Malanna, Desabandhu, NMR Malayevada Madiga Yevada (1995), Vangapandu , Malapeta (1990) ,Chunduru Pata, Agravarnala pani Ayindayyo, Janam, Sudrula Saval, Sakti Malolla Vedanna and K.Ram Lakshman Safayanna (Karimnagar Dalita Patalu)

B.S.Ramulu, dalit literary critic points out that after his collection of songs, Pravahinche ganam(1996), there are more than hundred books of songs published till today. But these collections of songs did not include the songs of writers those who are questioning the caste discrimination and demanding the political power for SC, ST and B.C people by idealizing Budha, Phule and Ambedkar. There is no place for the lyricists belonging to B.C , S.C writers and the members of DAFODAM in the publications of Communist, Naxalite, Atheistic, Rationalist and Hindu communal organizations…they are supporting caste system silently.[12]

Saga of Dalit Song

Dalit writer G.Kalyanarao keeps on emphasizing that dalits have a tradition of Allika samsrkriti (Netting culture ) in literature. As he says, What my father has narrated/His father hand written/Narration has become untouchable/The Writing had established as a Royal King. He further argues that dalit culture derived from folklore, where the other is fakelore. For dalits, literature, Music and dance are interwoven. Dalits, the lower caste communities communicated their lives and everyday struggles through a song culture for generations and has continuity till date.[13] It does not mean that folklore is the true representation of dalit culture. The folkloric tradition has undergone many changes with changing material conditions. For instance, under the patronage of feudal lords, the folkloric culture of lower castes was encouraged. But this has different meaning from the earlier. In other words, folklore is filled with reactionary content. Here we are using dalit culture or dalit song with a specific meaning and confined mostly with emergence of a cultural/literary genre dalit song in the backdrop of contemporary dalit movement. So this dalit song has certain marked features. For dalit song, caste oppression and the way out is the central focus. It has intended to raise the consciousness of dalits by questioning the brahminical culture. It has invoked the cultural past of dalits for a political purpose. In other words, it has politicized the folklore to meet their political demands and reach the people.

Though dalit song has continuity with cultural organizations such as Jana Natya Mandali and the phenomenon of Gaddar in its form, but it has consciously kept ideological difference with it. The liberation of dalits could be seen in the philosophy of Ambedkarism rather following Marxism. Indeed, dalit literature and its writers have influenced Telugu literature in general and progressive writers in particular. The language and idiom has changed significantly. It is evident that the legendary revolutionary figure Gaddar’s tone and tune has changed with the influence of ongoing dalit movement.[14] Dalit writers and artists have bridged the oral and written cultural traditions through their publication and performance of dalit song. Dalit song mostly focused on the questioning of existing caste hierarchy and exploitation by dominant caste. There are innumerable songs on the ideologues of dalit movement - Ambedkar, Phule, and Periyar. The large mass of dalit songs comprise of songs of dalit assertion. This prominently includes voicing against the caste atrocities. Apart from this, dalit song propagated the alternate symbols and myths that are submerged in dominant culture. The celebration of Sambuka, Ekalavya are examples in this regard. The dalit writers through their songs have transformed the condemned and demeaned life styles as the symbols of protest. They present themselves as productive castes against the exploitative castes. The writers highlight the dalit involvement in labour and project them as the real makers of history. The musical instrument of dalits, Dappu becomes the emblem of dalit movement. The Dappu music has reverberated the song culture of dalits.

Dalit song is a collective political song born out of dalit culture. It might have many unknown others and they may have continuity from past to present times in various forms. The lyricists, writers, singers, musicians, artists and performers collectively enriched the dalit song. Moreover, song has a life only in its performance in public. Reception of a song is equally important as the tune and content of the song. Dalit song has accompanied the dalit movement. Dalit songs are performed in all its political meetings to emotionally carry forward the ideals of the movement. Many songs go unpublished but they are very much circulated in dalit sphere. There are a few songs which are published, though it may not reach its targeted audiences. Most of the times, songs are popular through the singers, but the general public are not aware of its lyricists and composers. However, there are some prominent signatories of contemporary dalit song. As there are different ideological and strategic positions within dalit movement, so it has reflected in dalit song too. One stream reflects the influence of Naxalite movement. According to this, Dalit liberation is linked up with armed struggle and considers Dalit issue as a part of class .The liberation of Dalit struggle has been linked with the struggles of land. The songs of Gaddar, Vangapandu, Guda Anjaiah, reveal this position. However, one finds significant change in their political orientation on the issue of caste after Karamchedu massacre (1985). The other political stream counters this position and treats Dalit question differently from the position of Naxalite movement and argues in favour of autonomous dalit struggles with an inspiration of philosophy of Ambedkarism. It forcefully argues that laborers liberation is linked up with Dalit liberation and struggles of land liberation linked up with caste annihilation rather than the other way. It argues the necessity of taking note of where the Dalit song differs with the revolutionary song in understanding the autonomous political stand of dalit.[15] They explore the other alternatives to capture the political power rather than armed struggle. This position could be seen in Masterjee and others. There may be many other positions. In understanding dalit song we may broadly identify the four streams with respective dalit balladeers- Gaddar, Masterjee, Gorati Venkanna and Andhesree .

Gaddar: The Trumpet of Dalit Tigers

In song culture, Gaddar is a phenomenon and a legendary figure. He has a commanding influence on both revolutionary and dalit song. Being a dalit, Gaddar is an internal critique of Maoist party on the issue of caste. Being nurtured in Maoist political struggle, he is critical about the Dalit movements and its strategies to reach out to the powers. Gaddar emerged as a link between the Naxalite party and Dalit movement, not only as singer but also as a theoretician with commitment. In comparison with the language of political rhetoric of Marxists, Gaddar’s cultural language comes close to the life styles of toiling masses. In the backdrop of dalit movement he too changed his language from identifying people earlier with ‘coolie’ and ‘labourer’ to Malas and Madigas. The significant transformation can be seen from his earlier songs calling with coolanna (Coolie brotherhood) to his songs of eighties with ‘Dalita pululamma’(Dalit tigers). It is true that his early songs centered around coolies and peasants. He sings for ‘Coolie Rajyam’. It does not mean that, Gaddar is not sensitive about issues of caste. Even prior to dalit movement, he came with a song ‘Yelaro ee Madiga batukulu/ Mottukunte dorakadura methuku’. In the song ‘Rajyadhikaraniki Malanna’, he categorically explains there will be no change in the lives of dalits unless and until they get political power. Even if dalits change their caste or religion, there will be no change in their lives .For them, armed struggles is the only way:

‘Bhanchan bhanchanantu

Guloponni dora antu

Yennalu bhatukutavu Malannaa

Yeduru tiragavemiro Madiganna

…..

Rajyadikaranki -Malanna

Neevu riflundunkovaro- Madiganna’[16]

In this song he appeals to the Dalit community of Andhra especially Mala and Madiga caste groups saying that converting into different religion won’t change their lives, and their fate won’t change.

Gaddar’s Dalita Pululamma (Dalit Panthers) is a powerful song that reached the people. This is about the courageous struggles of dalits of Karamchedu :

Dalita Pululamma/Karamchedu Bhooswamultone/ kalabadi nilabadi poruchesina / dalita pululamma. Dalits’ undeterred struggles against the upper caste Kamma landlords and their sacrifices in the struggle form the pedestal of the song Dalita pululamma. This song bears testimony to the dalit struggles and has the power of fuelling the dalit community against the landowning gentry. In continuation with this, Gaddar composed many songs on the lives of dalits. He translated the condemned life styles as symbols of protest: Yenta Chakkagunnado Naa chettakundi..[17]

In the same line of Gaddar, Vangapandu is known for his songs in the dialect of northern coastal Andhra. Like Gaddar he too belongs to JNM. He composed songs on miserable lives of dalits, and their role in knowledge production, and against the atrocities against dalits. His popular song Vundarra mala peta, Kaastalunna chota’ depicts the miserable conditions of dalits. The song explains: Dalitwada(hamlet of Malas) is there, where the problems are there. In another song he sings that Knowledge is nobody’s property, It is the wealth of all jatis. (‘Jnanokadi sottukadanna/adi sarva jatula sampadoranna’). He composed this song in response to anti- Mandal agitation on the question of reservations for backward castes. In this song, he vehemently opposes the fake meritocracy and attacks the false notions of the upper castes on reservation policy. His song Gandara ganda, yendaka chuddamuro invokes the feeling of revolt of dalits against the upper caste hegemony. This is the song of revolt came out in the backdrop of ongoing atrocities against dalits.

Another popular lyricist Guda Anjaiah too see the question of dalit as a part of larger class struggle. His popular song Ooru Manadira fills the confidence of dalits by declaring this village is ours by questioning the Dora (landlord) of villages:

Ee vurumanadira/ee vada manadira/palle manadira/ prati paniki manamra/ sutti manadi!katti manadi! Palugu manadi/paara manadi/bandi manadi/ bandedlu manayira/dorayendiro/vadi peekudendiro/…sanghapolla jendakinda-sangamokati pettale/ manila doche ee dorala-makkeliragadannale[18]. In this song, he urges the dalits to remain resistant towards the landlords who do nothing for the village but claim superiority in the village. When the dalits toil in the fields, produce the essential implements of the village, where from this invisible dora enters and tries to dominate and exploit us. This way, the song creates the sense of attachment of dalits towards their village in which they are segregated and demeaned. In an another song Dalitulanaga Yevarura tries to define dalits in a class frame work.[19]

Charabanda Raju’s Yekulamabbi .[20] and B.N.B’s Pedollarajyam [21] are sympathetic to dalits cause by considering dalits as a part of working class. They questioned the caste discrimination and appealed the toiling masses to come together. Another writer K.C. sings for Dalita Rajyam: Ore ore ore dalitanna inkalevaro-mayannalevaro

eedopdi dongala gulcha-parugu deeyaro….dailajana rajyamkoraku porujeyara

Masterjee : Salutes to Ambedkar

Masterjee is a unique phenomenon in dalit cultural politics. His political position too differs from the earlier noted singers. He is the founder of Dalit Kala Mandali and composed number of songs exclusively Dalit in nature. He gave many performances and worked as a cultural force for Dalit movement. He even tried to change the attire of dalit performers. Mastarjee-Anduko dandalu baba ambedkara, manamenabaiayudu satam, edemi dharmamanna!sambhukuni tala narikesi. His song on Ambedkar is popular all over Andhrapradesh: ‘Anduko dandalu baba ambedkara.. ambarana vunnatti’. His song goes with the political arithmetic of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to capture the power, as he sings in Manamenabaiyadusatam (we are eighty five percent): Padihenu mandi leni-dopidi agrakulamu/desanni dostavunte-sustetlavurukundam/ kusundimestavunte-kastetla vurukundam[22]. He propagated the principle of Mulavasi (dalits as sons of soil). Ee Desavasulam sings as: Eedesavasulam-eebhumi putrulam/memu aadi jatulam-asalu mulavasulam/ batukochina badavaryulu-brahmanagra kulamantoo/bharatadi mulajanula-banisalu meerantoo[23]

Gorati Venkanna : Pastoral Rustic Cries

Gorati Venkanna’s voice is very distinctive and celebrated dalit poet and performer among all those poet-performers who came after Gaddar in Telugu society. It looks as if Venkanna’s voice is fractured – as it combines two distinct tones and pitches. As he sings in this shifting and a distinct voice his songs and tunes rock the hearts of the audience. The range of Venkanna’s themes overlaps with that of Gaddar’s – although Gaddar’s range and orientation are wide and deep. [24] He emerged as a literary cultural figure with the contemporary dalit movement of nineties. He published Ekunadam Motha (1994), Rela Puthalu (2002), Ala Chandravanka (2010). Most of these songs have been cut into popular albums. He is a poet, philosopher, performer and a serious representative of dalit cultural traditions. His songs are philosophical and very much rooted in dalit cultural life. In other singers such as Gaddar, Masterjee and Vangapandu, politics dominates the song, but in Gorati Venkanna, philosophies and life has cutting edge over politics. He builds powerful imageries that are enriching dalit aesthetics. His tunes are very much rooted in dalit cultural tradition.

Yenninallu ee goralu, Madi dharmam manadi kadu

Yenninallu ee goralu/yenta mandimi orugudamu/dalitanna dandu kattakunda bratakalemu/dalitanna berisalethakunda niluvalemu[25]

This song reflects the self respect and dalit anger against upper caste landlords in the wake of Karamchedu and Tsundur massacres. This is a popular dalit song. The song sounds rebellious as it sings: How long can we subjugate ourselves to the atrocities of the upper castes and the vicious circle of caste discrimination. Without collective and organized resistance, we cannot survive anymore in this caste ridden society. He also has written the mesmerizing lines Madi dharmam manadi kadu in which he projects the democratic and radical tradition of the dalits contrary to the brahminical tenets.

His celebrated song Palle kanneru pedutundi (Tearful Village) is a powerful pastoral song. The song starts singing that the countryside is crying due to invisible conspiracies. This explains how the communities lost their livelihood in the changing economic context. The song doesn’t explicitly imply the victimization of dalits but quite implicitly it addresses the plight of the community life of the lower castes. Here lies the magical rebellious effect of this rustic singer.

The village is weeping.

In unknown plots, the mother is being bonded

Thumma [thorn] trees have grown in the potter’s furnace

Dust is covered in blacksmith’s chimney

The big barisa [chisel] has gone rough

The weaver’s shuttle is broken

The hands of the artisans are broken in my villages

The village’s freedom is drowned in the Ganges (Translated by Kiran Kumar)

In yet another moving song, he portrays the pathetic, inhuman conditions of dalits in terms of their shelter, poverty, and starvation. There is a descending degree of deprivation in the lives of dalits-

Galli sinnadi garebolla katha peddadi (this lane is narrow)

The lane is small but the story of the poor is large

The houses they live in are smaller than a Pan shop

Phaikhana houses (toilet) are better than these houses

Why are they abandoned like old railway compartments? (Tr. Kiran Kumar)

The following song satirises rhetorically the real and reel heroes driven by factional politics and how dalits sacrifice their lives for the glory of faction leaders and how it becomes an idealistic portrayal of real heroes in the silver screen. Ultimately, the dalits in both real and reel are made scapegoats for the vested interests of the upper caste. The last two lines mark the ironic comment of the singer against the victimization of dalits.

Samara Simha Reddy babu you should be cool and happy

Indra Sena Reddy you should rise higher and occupy the chair of Indra

Bharatha Simha Reddy you should give bombs and our people should blast them

Chennakeshava Reddy you wave your fingers and we all should dance

We are like umbrellas on your head

We are knives in your hands

If you say something to us

We run like your hunting dogs

If you want to kill some one

We kill them, we kill them

[… … …]

We should rig the votes and you would chair the power

We should sit at your feet when you’re in power

By becoming the leaders of our state, you will be praised

We should be blamed as the killers

The heroes should take your role and give the hit movies

By watching the movie our people should shout and encourage them

Your statues must be placed after Gandhi and Nehru

Our photos should be pasted in the police stations (Tr. Kiran Kumar)

Andesree : Jaya Jaya Jayahe

Andhesree ( Ande Yellaiah ) is a well known dalit poet and lyricist born in madiga family of Telangana region. His life itself is a representative of dalit song. He lived as an orphan, Shepherd, mason and construction labour for a survival. He does not have formal education and self educated in later days. His voice is prominent in dalit literary cultural movement and separate Telangana struggle. His songs are revolving around nature and nostalgia of village life from the backdrop of dalit life. His songs are humanistic in nature. The most celebrated songs of Andesree are Palle neeku Vandanamulammo, Maayamai potunnadamma.. manishannavadu, Gala Gala Gajjalabandi, and Komma chekkite bommara.. kolichi mokkithe ammara .yelaro ma batukilitla…yevaru chesina mayaro. Palle vandanamulammo reflects his life experiences as a shepherd. This song is a representative of any ordinary dalit labourer (paleru). Mayamai potunnadomma manishannavadu is a typical humanistic poem in search of humanness which is vanishing in the corrupt, mechanized life. His song Jaya Jaya Jaya Jayahe is considered as the anthem of Telangana by the agitating masses. He is a lyric writer for Telangana based films named Ganga and Bathukamma. He also published song collections Patala pudota and Andela sandadi.

Against Brahminical Hegemony

Apart from these streams of song culture of dalits, we find powerful lyricists of dalit song. Kalekuri Prasad, Sivasagar (K.G.Satyamurti), Vu.Sa, Kathi Padma Rao are dalit leaders and ideologues. They are prominent Telugu literary critics and powerful dalit writers. Kalekuri, Sivasagar and Vu.Sa came out from the literary and political parties representing the revolutionary ideology. They are negotiating with Naxalite politics from a dalit perspective. In Telugu literary landscape they forcefully argued for politics of caste and class reconciliation. The Kathi Padma Rao is a leader and founder of Dalita Mahasabha, came from a background of rationalist movement. Unlike Gaddar, Venkanna, Masterjee, Andesree they are not performers but are well known dalit writers. As leaders of dalit movement, to mobilize the dalit masses they attempted to pen down some songs. K.G. Satyamurthy known as Sivasagar, once the secretary of Peoples War Group and a legendary figure in revolutionary literature came out of the party and actively engaged in Dalit politics and Dalit literary movement. In revolutionary politics, he is a trend setter. His songs are bridging the oral and written culture of revolutionary literature. In dalit literature too he changed the idiom and aesthetics of Telugu literature. His song Nallati Sureedu (Black Sun) highlights the Dalit aesthetics:

Nalla nalla sureedu/nallati sureedu/Nalupu nalupu sureedu/Gelupu dari sureedu/Andala sureedu/Andamaina sureedu/Andamaina sureedu/Aaku seppula sureedu.[26]

Kalekuri Prasad (Yuvaka ) is a major dalit poet, literary critic and a lyricist. He is a poet raised for fistful self respect. The popularity of his songs even reached the Telugu screen. Palle Pallena Dalita Koyila[27], Chunduru Gundelo Gayam.. Dalita ,Bhoomiki Pachani Rangesinatlu, Karmabhoomilo pusina oo puvva are some of his popular songs. His song Chunduru Gundelo Gayam is in response to Chunduru massacre and reached the dalit masses with its tune invoked from a celebrated Christian song. Since most of the dalits in coastal Andhra are affiliated with Christianity over a period of time, he adapted the Christian tune to politically mobilize the dalits. His song Palle Pallena Dalita Koyala is a celebration of dalit struggle with a pride and respect.[28]

Vu. Sambasiva Rao known as Vu.Sa is prominent Bahujana intellectual and lyricist. Along with K.G.Satyamurti, he initiated dalit revolutionary politics and edited a magazine Yedureetha. He is known for his songs in both revolutionary and dalit literature. In the light of Dalit movement he argues for rewriting history: Tiragarayora mana charitranta/ tiragarayaro mulla charitranta/ manaku teliyani mana charitra/musipettinodevado-dachipettinodevado/ pusa guchinatuu rayi, malle rayi. tiragarayora mana charitranta. His other songs include patha pata sakshiga kotha pata and Mahatma Phule.

Kathi Padma Rao, the dalit leader and writer made an attempt to write songs too .Dalita Yugam and Dalita Pata are worth mentioning. His Dalita Yugam is a song of awakening of dalits and gives confidence to the dalit life and his struggles: lera lera dalitula yugamidira, dappulu mrogina gudem neede/gudem neede/patalu puttina gundeyara. gundeyara/kala tallivi neevoyi.nevoyi/tambura nadam totira.[29] Music evolves from the dalithood through the traditional drum –dappu and songs emerge from the struggles of dalits. And also dance and performance. Hence, the life of a dalit is the motherlode of cultural art forms and he asserts that this era is ours.

The song culture has continued by many singers, composers, lyricists, and organizations and individuals. After Dalit Kalamandali, Lelle is the foremost cultural organization that emerged along with the dalit movements. Mallepalli Lakshmiah and Suresh played a pivotal role in the activities of Lelle. They even experimented with the dalit songs by making a perfect fusion of black music and dalit music. Chandra Sree, Dalit women singer produced Ambedkar Suprabatham and formed a dalit women theatre. Sivasagar’s Nalla Nalla Sureedu is popular all over Telugu society through the voice of Chandra Sree. Dappu Prakash of Dalita Kala Mandali is known for a rhythm of dalit song on Dappu. Rasamayi Balakishan is a dalit artist and organizer of Telangana cultural life through Dhoom Dham. Udaya Bhaskar’s Bahujana Kala Mandali is popularizing the ideology of Ambedkar in North coastal Andhra. In any of the cultural front organizations of Naxalite parties, dalit artists are the prominent ones. Ramarao of Arunodaya and E.V. of Praja Kalamandali are leading figures in this regard.

Jayaraj (Vasanta Geetham), A.Y.Prabhudas ( Yevarikundi Pratibha, Chindindi Raktam Chundurulona), Nernala Kishore, Suddala Ashok Teja have contributed for establishing the dalit song in Telugu society.

Conclusion

Though Dalit song got variegated forms and different streams over a period of time, it has emerged as the voice of the voiceless. Dalit song is regarded as a song of protest against the hegemonic and hierarchical caste system that relegates the dalits to the margins. At the same time, it helps dalits to liberate themselves from the chains of caste boundaries and euphemistically becomes a vehicle of celebration of dalit culture and aesthetics with pride. It serves as the medium to recover the cultural past of the dalit self. The strength of Dalit song lies in countering the brahminical culture and in celebration of Dalit culture in public. Dalit song is a turning point in articulating the life of dalits in a concrete form than the earlier as it was in the name of ‘class’, and ‘labourers’. Dalit song is at low phase today due to the weakening of Dalit movement in Andhra pradesh. It implies that the Dalit song won’t survive without a strong Dalit political movement. In this situation, interestingly many of the young singers identified with Dalit movement contributed later to Telangana Pata. In articulating the wish of Praja Telangana, dalit bahujana artists and writers are in lead role. The dalit writers and artists got much more visibility and acceptance with intensified Telangana struggle. As the Telangana bahujana intellectual observed: in a span of ten years from 1994 to 2004 roughly 400 songs were produced. Nearly 250 songs are in the form of cassettes. More than 10 books are published in the name of Telangana song. But the saddening thing is that not even 10 songs out of 400 are concerned about problems related to cultural, political and social power of B.C, S.C, S.T and minorities living in Telangana.[30] The situation demands the strengthening of dalit movement by negotiating the alternate socio-political movements such as class, gender, region and ecological oriented. Dalit song can be rightly exploited effectively by bringing in new insights from other terrains but more seriously without losing its autonomy, its focal point and the essence of dalit life and culture. Dalit song should be the rhythm of dalit life.

End Notes

[1] Coplan, David B. Musical Understanding :The Ethno aesthetics of Migrant Workers’ Poetic Songs in Lesotho, Ethnomusicology, Vol.32 No.3 , 1989, p.337

[2] Narayana Rao, Velchuri Telugulo Kavita Viplavala Swarupam, Illinois: TANA publication, 2008, p.16,18

[3] Peterson, Indira Viswanathan and Davesh soneji. (ed.) Introduction In Performing Past, Reinventing the Arts in Modern South India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.32

[4] Subramanian, Lakshmi. Embracing the Canonical, Identity, Tradition, and Modernity in Karnatak Music, Peterson, Indira Viswanathan and Davesh soneji. (ed.) Introduction In Performing Past, Reinventing the Arts in Modern South India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.67

[5] Peterson, Indira Viswanathan and Davesh soneji. (ed.) Introduction In Performing Past, Reinventing the Arts in Modern South India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.7

[6] Ibid.p.14

[7] Ibid.p.31

[8] Mo. Dalita Kavitvaniki Vachana Kavita Vahika Kadu. Andhra Prabha Sahiti Gavaksham September 14, 1994

[9] Surendra Raju, Iliah refered in HRK

[10] HRK. Vachana Kavithakoo Samajamlo Space vundi. Aa spacelonoo dalita kavulaku chotundi Sunday Andhra Jyothy ,25 May 1997 p.7

[11] Thirumala Rao, Jayadheera and K.P.Ashok Kumar (Ed.), Dalita Geethalu, Hyderabad: Sahithi circle,1995.

[12] B.S.Ramulu (Ed.) Vishala Sahiti- Bahujana Tatvalu, B.C, S.C la Patalu Hyderabad: Vishala Sahitya Academy, 2004, p.37

[13] G.Kalyana Rao is the author of a celebrated dalit novel Antarani Vasantham (Untouchable Spring). Kalyana Rao, G. Telugu Natakam Mulalu, Andhrapradesh: Viplava Rachayathala Sangham, pp.25-33

[14] Kesava Kumar, P. Popular Culture and Ideology: The Phenomenon of Gaddar, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. No. February 2010

[15] Laxminarasaiah, G. , Charitralo Nilichipogala Dalita Geethalu , Aadivaram Andhrajyothi, October 29,1995.

[16] Gaddar (Ed.) ‘Rajyadhikaraniki Malanna’ Jana Natya Mandali Patalu JNM: Secunderabad, 2001 p.71-72

[17] Gaddar, Gaddar Galam Audio CD

[18] Anjaiah, G., Ooru Manadira, Ooru Mandarin (patalu) , Hema Sahiti publications: Hyderabad,1999 p.1

[19] Ibid.

[20] Cherbandaraju is an important literary figure in Digambara Kavitvam and revolutionary literature. Cherabandaraju . Ye Kulamabbe , Dalit Manifesto, p.2

[21] B.N.B. Mallollamantavu, Dalit Manifesto, P.9

[22] Masterjee. Manamenabaiayudu satham , In Jayadheera Tirumala Rao and K.P.Ashok Kumar (ed) Dalita Geethalu

[23] Mastejee Ee desavasulam , Dalit Manifesto p.32

[24] Kiran Kumar, G. Songs of Tears and the Forces of Voice: A comparative Study of Gaddar and Gorati Venkanna, M.Phil thesis submitted to English and Foreign Languages niversity(Unpublished),2009 , p.46

[25] Venkanna, Gorati. Yenni Sarlu Ee Goralu In K.lakshminarayana ( ed.) Dalit Kavitvam-2 , Anantapuram: Rama Publications, 2003 , p.56

[26] Siva Sagar, Nallati Sureedu In Siva Sagar Kavitvam (1968-2004) , Swecha prachuranlu: Khammam , 2004 . p.268

[27] Prasad, Kalekuri. Palle Pallenaa Dalita Koyila In B.S. Ramulu ( Ed.) Bahujana Tatvalu. BC, SC la Patalu, Hyderabad: Visala Sahitya Academy, 2004 p.50

[28] Prasad, Kalekuri. Palle Pallena Dalita Koyila In K.Lakshmin Narayana (Ed.) Dalita Kavitvam-2, Anantapuram: Rama Publications, 2003, p.59

[29] Ibid. p.26

[30] Ramulu, B.S. Vishala Sahiti- Bahujana Tatvalu, B.C, S.C la Patalu Hyderabad: Vishala Sahitya Academy, 2004, p.34

Political Philosophy of B.R.Ambedkar : A Critical Understanding

2010-10-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar:
A Critical Understanding

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar

Abstract
The political philosophy of Ambedkar may help in renegotiating the crisis of western political theory in particular and leading the struggles of the masses in general. One can see Ambedkar’s association with the grand political streams such as liberal, radical or conservative through his writings. At same time he differentiates himself with these three dominant political traditions. Ambedkar’s philosophy is essentially ethical and religious. For him, social precedes the political. Social morality is the central to his political philosophy. He is neither fierce individualist nor conservative communitarian. His conceptions of democracy internalises the principles of equality, liberty, and fraternity in its true spirit. Though there are many attempts but one may find difficulty in locating him in dominant political traditions. Often this may leads to misunderstanding of the essence of Ambedkar. Ambedkar’s political thought demands new language to understand the complexity of his thought.
Key words: Moral community, Caste system, Democracy, Liberalism, Marxism, Conservatism, Liberal Bourgeoisie, Social Democrat, Progressive Radical, State Socialism

Introduction

Ambedkar has emerged as a major political philosopher with the rise of dalit movement in contemporary times. There are several attempts to understand Ambedkar and his philosophy. Confusion prevails among scholars due to the existence of diverse, and sometimes, contradictory theoretical assessment of Ambedkar. The social context of the scholars and their subjective positions play major role in the assessment of the thinker and very often the opinions of scholars evoke extreme reactions which either elevate or demean Ambedkar. Though he had a great influence on Indian politics from the nationalist movement onwards, till eighties, there has been not much academic debate on Ambedkar. The communities of knowledge and centres of power either ignored or deliberately marginalized him as a thinker and social scientist. Ambedkar is nowhere mentioned in the contemporary Indian philosophy and the philosophical discourses of India. This exclusion of Ambedkar has to be understood with the implicit politics of the writers on Indian philosophy. Very interestingly, the masses /communities of under privileged of Indian society brings him into the forefront. It is not exaggeration to say that there is no major village in the country without the statue of Ambedkar. He is the most celebrated symbol of the contemporary times. Due to the masses/Dalit communities symbolic association with Ambedkar, political parties and academics ranging from conservatives to radicals, are forced to look at Ambedkar. The celebration of Ambedkar has the undercurrent of failure of Indian democratic State to reach the majority of this nation and the assertion of these ignored communities. In other words, Ambedkar’s philosophy is a search towards the theories of social reconstruction of Indian society.

Crisis of Western Political Theory

Let us have a brief look at major philosophical traditions of politics before we proceed into the political philosophy of Ambedkar. Political philosophers sought to explore social phenomena and political behavior, (often in a historical context) as well as to clarify problematic concepts, evaluate existing institutions, and argue for social ideal. Political philosophy is about the critical reflection of politics and its practices. It is about the understanding of the governing principles of a society in a much more critical fashion. It tries to philosophize the values, principles, practices and institutions, which govern the society. Philosophers gave different interpretations about the meaning of public life and governing principles of good society. Morality of the society and the ways of functioning of institutions serve as source in deriving political theory. Socio-economic developments and the ensuing conflicts in society provide conditions for the emergence of new social and political theories. Political thought seems to spring from the political experience of both the thinker and his society. Political theory is nothing but the systematization of moral and political judgments of our activities.
Historically, Greek thought followed the Christian natural law. In the west, Christian natural law was undermined by the individualism of seventeenth century. Relationship between individual and god was replaced by the relationship between individual and individual as the foundation of social enquiry. This individualism becomes the basic characteristic of the subsequent liberal tradition. The idea of social initiative and social control surrendered to the idea of individual initiative and individual control. In simple terms, new material conditions gave birth to new social relationships and new philosophy was evolved to afford a rational justification for the new world which had come into being. This new philosophy became known as liberalism. Liberalism acquired different flavors in different national cultures. The difficulties in liberal theory lie in its basic foundations of seventeenth century individualism and its quality of possessiveness. The possessive quality lies in the conception of the individual as essentially the proprietor of his own person or capacities owing nothing to society. The individual was seen neither as a moral whole, nor as a part of a larger social whole, but as a proprietor of himself. The basic assumption of possessive individualism –that man is free and human by virtue of his sole proprietorship of his own person, and that human society is essentially a series of market relations, were deeply embedded in seventeenth century foundations. The inconsistency lies inherently in the market society itself. Market society automatically brings the class differentiations. The propertied class would like to hold power over the subordinate classes. Men no longer saw them selves fundamentally equal in an inevitable subjection to the determination of market. Alternatives emerged for the market system. Articulation of proletarian politics gave a serious blow to the liberal politics. There are altogether different assumptions about man and society. The community has replaced individual. Marxist theory aims at the radical change in society and its human relations. Human society has seen from the perspective of the class considers human being as primarily a producer. His relations are determined by his involvement in social production. Other than the Marxist notion there is a conservative political theory would like to see society from the point of view of community. Conservatism has reverence for tradition, religion and age old custom. Edmund Burke is the one of the examples for conservative tradition. Burke more than any thinker of eighteenth century approached the political tradition with a sense of religious reverence. The conservative view of politics is known as politics of tradition. The state in particular and society in general must operate with respect to traditions and customs. The rights of the groups are acknowledged in that particular society. Conservative perspective works within the limits of the given order accepting forms of political action within the structural framework of existing institutions. Conservative theory of politics is known as politics of imperfection. It finds limitations with human beings and believes that human beings will be unable to create a social order through their own spontaneous efforts. People are inherently greedy and selfish. To restrain them there is a need for a state. The power is state. State plays a central role in conservative thought. It is the backbone of social order and authority, the guarantor of social hierarchy. As per the conservative views, the inherent imperfections of human nature make a strong state necessary. It is needed to control the anti-social impulses of the individual. As per the traditional conservative perspective, social order is not and can never be achieved spontaneously by the free play of individual activities as claimed by liberals and anarchists. Social order has to be maintained through the strong leadership of those who hold positions of political responsibility. It does not mean that state is the only agency which maintains social order. Conservatives stress the importance of tradition, custom and of network of longstanding groups and associations, all pre- requisites of social order.

In the late1970s political scientist Fred R. Dallmayr reiterated the statement of Peter Laslett, “the great tradition of theoretical literature stretching from Hobbes to Bosanquet had been broken and that for the moment, anyway, political philosophy is dead.”[1] The crisis in political philosophy may be understood with the changed socio- economic developments and the unrelatedness of intellectual to the politics. In twentieth century, western political philosophy is marked with its defense of liberal democracy and legacy of civil rights against totalitarian or repressive forces. The economic practices and scientific rationality of west got different meaning in the developing nations. In recent times, the culmination of western science and economics leading towards dominance over other parts of the world invites competition and confrontation at global level. This situation has compelled the west to rethink and reformulate its central premises of its philosophy, and its conception of ‘reason’. And at the same time, there is a need to critically understand what constitutes ‘subjectivity’ and its cognitive activity. This dilemma seems to be aptly captured by Fred Dallmayr, ‘In the domain of political thought, the contemporary dilemma can be phrased broadly in terms of the relationship between ‘contract’ and ‘community’.”[2] Society is of collectives and generates political community. Far from involving only the aspect of inter subjective or inter individual contracts, a revision or modification of individualism in the light of communal bonds necessitates a general reconsideration of man’s relation to the world and nature-a reconsideration that inevitably conjures up the peril of objectivism and naturalism. Contemporary political theory appears precariously lodged at the cross roads of liberal individualism and post individualist communalism.[3] Christian Bay elaborates this in his article ‘From Contract to Community’, he links up the major predicaments of post-industrial society with the basic assumptions and preferences of ‘individualistic contract liberalism’ as inaugurated by Hobbes and Locke and it manifested in different forms. He notes that, liberals have ‘persistently tended to cut the citizen off from the person’, putting on their pedestal ‘a cripple of a man’ without a ‘moral or political nature’ and without ‘moorings in any real community’[4]. However, the debates of political philosophy in later days tried to articulate from the point of community or individual in relation to community.

Ambedkar : Social Precedes Political

Ambedkar’s thought, as reflected in his writings and speeches has great importance in tracing the history and growth of social thought in India. It is necessary to understand the philosophy of Ambedkar which is the theoretical foundation for the Dalit movement. The core of political thinking of Ambedkar is contained in two of his statements- the rights are protected not by law but by social and moral conscience of society, and a democratic form of government presupposes a democratic form of society. He considers democracy essentially as a form of society of a more associated living and a social conscience is the only safe guard of all rights. The roots of democracy are to be searched in social relationships, in terms of associated life among the people who form a society. For him, social relationships are the key to democracy. Ambedkar is a social democrat in spirit and practice. His special contribution to political thought lies in his linking up liberty, equality and fraternity to the concept of social democracy, which in turn, he relates to democracy as a form of government. He further reminds the limitations of social democracy in everyday functioning. As he categorically stated while addressing the constituent assembly (November 25, 1949), ‘Political democracy can not last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy’ which means, a way of life which recognize liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life.’ In this sense he defined democracy as a form and method of government whereby revolutionary changes in the economic and social life of people are brought about without bloodshed.
In most of the speeches and writings of Ambedkar, the central theme is social reformism. He often debated and confronted on the issue of precedence of social over political issues. Politics have to be necessarily connected to the social issues. The very foundations of democracy lie in associated living in society. On the issue of giving primacy to social over political, he differs with congress and socialists. This is well reflected in all his writings in general and his writings ‘Annihilation of caste’ and ‘What congress and Gandhi have done to untouchables’ in particular.

In contemporary times, once ‘caste’ got theoretically recognized and established as the Indian social reality, the established political and social theories got new meanings. Ambedkar as a thinker got prominence because of his scholarly conceptualization of the institution of caste and its functioning in Indian society. He interpreted the Indian social world in order to change the lives of the Dalit masses who are the victims of caste system. The situation demands proper assessment of Ambedkar’s political philosophy in relation to other prominent political streams of the time. Ambedkar is a real philosopher in the Marxian sense. He has interpreted the Indian social reality in order to change it.

In estimating Ambedkar’s political philosophy, the study will consider the following questions: What is his conception of the human being and society? What are his conceptions of rights, freedom and justice that flow in both his thought and action? What are the cultural and historical roots of these conceptions in his thought? In what way does he connect democracy and social inequality? How does he resolve the question of individual and community? What kind of theory does he propose in bringing out the relationship between State and religion? How did he perceive the role of Dalit movement (Depressed class) in India’s democratic future?

Political Philosophy of Ambedkar

Ambedkar is influenced by all the major political traditions of his times. His political thought has emerged from the three grand traditions of political thought, i.e. liberal, conservative and radical. The unique feature about him is that he has transcended all these traditions. He was influenced by the ideas of John Dewey, the pragmatic American and the teacher of him. The Fabian Edwin R. A. Seligman had considerable impact on his thought. He often quoted Edmund Burke, the conservative thinker of British, though we can’t brand Ambedkar as conservative. Ambedkar’s notion of liberty comes close to T.H. Green.

Ambedkar’s philosophy is primarily ethical and religious. He thoroughly explored the Indian traditions and its philosophical systems in a unique way. He developed political concepts like democracy, justice, state and rights from his understanding of Indian society and the functioning of its institutions on the moral grounds. He is very critical of the institution of caste, which influences all the spheres of individual’s life and the Indian society as a whole. He further discusses how individual is related to society and how individual’s freedom is limited by other social forces. He is critical of authoritarian Hindu social order and argued in favor of democratic society. He probed into the moral and social foundations of India and gave new meaning to the lives of disadvantaged people. His was a rationale approach. Reason plays a role in his writings and speeches. The methodology he used is very scientific rather speculative. He was influenced by the assumptions of modernity. He is well informed in many areas of Indian history, polity, culture, anthropology and philosophy. He quotes many thinkers in his writings those who are influenced him.

The notion of community is central to his thinking. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; society is always composed of classes. It may be exaggeration to assert the theory of class conflict, but the existence of definite classes in society is a fact… an individual in a society is always a member of a class. A caste is an enclosed class. Brahmins created caste and it is extended to other servile classes. Caste is endogamous unit and also a communal unit. His political theory was premised on moral community. It was as an ideal to be realised. He was very much critical about the Hindu social order. He argues that Hinduism is not qualified to be a community. Buddhism was projected as the ideal having the value of community grounding on morality. He considers that Buddhism attempted to found society on the basis of ‘reason’ and ‘morality’.
His conception of community is very novel. He does not confirm to either Hindu ideal community or Marxist conception of community based on participation in production process. His conception of community is moral and ethical. It is not automatically available for participation in common affairs. His idea of community has to be created through hard and torturous process of moral transformation.

On Democracy

Ambedkar had a lengthy discussion on democratic form of government in his writings. His conception of democracy is different from the parliamentary democracy of Western Europe. Democracy came with the principles of liberalism. His conception of democracy makes different with parliamentary forms of in a significant way. Parliamentary democracy has all the marks of a popular government, a government of people, by the people and for the people. Ambedkar considered the problems and expressed discontent against the parliamentary democracy in the nations like Italy, Germany, Russia, Spain and some other European nations in proposing the parliamentary democracy in India. Ambedkar finds reasons for the failure of parliamentary democracy that ‘parliamentary democracy gives no free hand to dictatorship and that is why it became a discredited institution in the countries like Italy, Spain and Germany which readily welcomed dictatorships’.[5] The nations that are opposing dictatorship and pledged to democracy too find their discontent with democracy. First, the parliamentary democracy began with equality of political rights in the form of equal suffrage. There are very few countries having parliamentary democracy that have not adopted adult suffrage. It has progressed by expanding the notion of equality of political rights to equality of social and economic opportunity. It has recognized that corporations, which are anti-social in purpose, cannot hold state at bay. With all this, ‘the reason for discontent is due to the realization that it has failed to assure to the masses the right to liberty, property or the pursuit of happiness. The causes for this failure may be found either in wrong ideology or wrong organization or in both.’[6] He elaborated this point by pointing out the fault with both wrong ideologies and the bad organization in carrying the ideals of democracy. The idea of freedom of contract is one of the responsible factors for parliamentary democracy in terms of ideology. Parliamentary democracy took no notice of economic inequalities and didn’t care to examine the result of freedom of contract on the parties to the contract, in spite of the fact that they were unequal in bargaining power. It didn’t mind if the freedom of contract gave the strong opportunity to defraud the weak. The result is that parliamentary democracy in standing out as a protagonist of liberty has continuously added to economic wrongs of the poor, downtrodden and disinherited class.’[7]The second wrong ideology which has vitiated parliamentary democracy is the failure to realize that political democracy can not succeed where there is no social and economic democracy’.[8] He illustrated this point by comparing the collapse of parliamentary democracy in the countries of Italy, Germany and Russia with England and USA. He felt that there was a greater degree of economic and social democracy in the latter countries than existed in the former. ‘Social and economic democracy are the tissues and fiber of a political democracy. The tougher the tissue and the fiber, the greater the strength of the body.’[9] Democracy is another name for equality. Parliamentary democracy developed a passion for liberty. It never made even nodding acquaintance with equality. It failed to realize the significance of equality and didn’t even strike a balance between liberty and equality, with the result the liberty swallowed equality and has made democracy a name and farce.
More than the bad ideology, bad organization is responsible for failure of democracy. All political societies get divided into two classes-the rulers and the ruled. This is almost stratified that rulers are always drawn from ruling class and the class that is ruled never become the ruling class. This happens because generally people do not see that they govern themselves. They are content to establish a government and leave it to govern them. This explains why parliamentary democracy has never been a government of the people or by the people and why it has been in reality a government of hereditary subject class by a hereditary ruling class. It is this vicious organization of political life which had made parliamentary democracy such a dismal failure.’[10]It is wrong to believe that democracy and self government is automatically became realities of life. In fact, the existing governing class is inconsistent with democracy and self- government and made all its efforts to retain its power to govern. Ambedkar felt that self government and democracy become real not when the constitution based on adult suffrage comes into existence but when the governing class loses its power to capture the power to govern. In some of the countries the servile classes may succeed in ousting the governing class from the seat of authority with just by adult suffrage. In some other countries the governing class may be so deeply entrenched that the servile classes will need other safeguards besides adult suffrage to achieve the same end[11].

Ambedkar accused the western writers that they are superficial and not provided the realistic view of democracy. They superficially touched the constitutional morality, adult suffrage and frequent elections as the be-all and end-all of democracy. Ambedkar proposed a written constitution for the effective democracy. The habits of constitutional morality may be essential for the maintenance of a constitutional form of government. He puts more emphasis on moral society and its custom than the written legal law in governing its people. He heavily invested on social morality for effective functioning of the democratic form of government. He reminds us very often, in devising the constitution one has to keep in mind that the principle aim of constitution must be to dislodge the governing class from its position and to prevent it from remaining as a governing class forever.[12]

Assessing the Political Thought of Ambedkar

About Ambedkar there are diverse opinions. Upper caste Nationalists has tried to brand him as a ‘British agent’. For instance, Arun Shourie, the Hindu nationalist and the “intellectual hero” of the upper castes at the time of the anti-Mandal agitation and the Minister for Disinvestment in one of the BJP-led government, puts all his efforts to depict him as an antinational collaborator with British imperialism in his book Worshipping false Gods, Ambedkar and the Facts which have been Erased (1997).[13] He charged that in the 1940s, Ambedkar never took part in any freedom movement. Instead, he was collaborating with the British. The motive of the Brahminical Hindu nationalists is quite clear. They want to prove that Ambedkar does not have any political credentials to be worshipped as a god of ‘social justice’. This attitude has to be understood in the wake of a strong Dalit movement and their confrontation with Hindu nationalism and caste hegemony. Ambedkar is the symbol and source of philosophy for Dalits in pursuit of their struggles. In response to this, the upper caste Hindu nationalist thinker Arun Shourie, through his writings, consciously tried to neutralize the influence of Ambedkar in post-independent Indian politics in general and among Dalit masses in particular.
Naxalite party like CPI (M-L) Peoples War tries to place him as a liberal Bourgeoisie/ democrat.[14] Ranganayakamma, identified as a Marxian writer, argues in her book that neither Ambedkarism nor Buddhism has the real potential to liberate Dalits. Only Marxism has the capacity to liberate them totally.[15] Some would like to see him as a conservative, because of his leanings towards religion, Buddhism. However, there is an immediate emotional response to all the above remarks from the conscious Dalit scholars and masses. On the other side, Dalit parties like Bhahujan Samaj Party, or some Dalit scholars, argue that Ambedkar is the only radical thinker of the nation. For liberation of the Dalit masses, Ambedkar is the only solution. They took him to the level of a god. In this regard, Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde comments, in making Ambedkar as a demigod, we are missing his essential message.’[16] One may encounter similar kind of problems in theorizing Ambedkar’s philosophy.

K.Raghavedra Rao, well-known political scientist made an attempt to caricature social, political and religious philosophy in Sahitya Academy produced a monograph, Babasaheb Ambedkar (1993)[17]. He characterized his political thought broadly as liberal. In the liberal tradition, he tries to find out Ambedkar’s version of liberalism to suit Indian context. He argues one may find in Ambedkar, a liberalism that has transformed into a version of neo-pluralism in the context of the new liberal theories of modernization and development. According to this, liberal state is conceptualized as a focal point for bargaining and relationship of exchange between associational groups of which a society is supposed to be made up. It is a shift from individualism towards group- based politics and collectivist goals. Raghavendra Rao identifies that Ambedkar seems to be more inclined towards a neo- pluralistic theory of state, and this is astonishing because he took this position as a liberal even before liberalism itself took a pluralistic turn, especially after the Second World War and under the impact of American capitalist ideology.[18]Further he argues however for Ambedkar this operational notion of state structurally geared to humanistic ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. His ideal state was one, which all the three values converged under conditions of equilibrium. He is not a dogmatic in this venture. In Ambedkar’s version, a liberal democratic state is the political system that can best tackle this issue.’[19] Raghavendra Rao further explains how Ambedkar’s liberal democratic state came close to Marxian and Weberian conceptions and how he differs from these conceptions. The liberal democratic state itself is not an isolated category and it requires an appropriate context of society, culture and religion to become a functioning reality. Ambedkar would argue that state is in fact a superstructure of a more fundamental structure- society. The economy, too, is a superstructure of this fundamental category. It means society is the base and primary, State and economy emerges out of it. He is in favour of normative society. Society rests itself on the foundations of normative order, which is religious order. To argue this way, of course, is to strike the liberal political theory itself at its roots’[20]. For Ambedkar, as for the Marxists, the State cannot operate independent of society in any significant extent. But while the Marxists foreground society strongly in the economy, Ambedkar evolved a theory of State with culture as its base. This may look like the Weberian notion but it is not. This is for the reason that Ambedkar attaches far greater importance to the economic structure of a society than a Weberian would. To that extent he is closer to Marx than to Weber. However, it has to be recognized that Ambedkar distances himself from both Marxian and Weberian positions in his political theory.’[21]

Gail Omvedt, well known scholar in social movements assesses his political thought in search of new vision for India. Her interpretations of Ambedkar’s ideas as enunciated in a memorial lecture, “Liberty, Equality, Community: Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Vision of a New Social Order”[22], will be discussed here. Ambedkar, like Marx, is against exploitation, but not against development and accumulation. At a social level, he believes in progress in history, and at an individual level he gives legitimation to honest and energetic efforts of ‘householders’ to work and earn. While he doesn’t fit clearly into a historical materialist position, his writings show an evolutionary and ‘stagist’ view of history. This social evolutionary model differed from the more economically based versions offered by Marx or more conventional sociologists. History then, does show progress. What plays the basic role in determining social structure and conditioning human actions? This is the great question of sociological and historical materialism versus idealism (pluralism). Was Ambedkar an idealist because he gave so much importance to the role of religion and ideas in action?

Gail Omvedt finds difficulty in fixing him to a particular political and philosophical position. At the same time she makes an attempt to develop Ambedkar’s political thought. She notes that Ambedkar doesn’t spend any time developing or explicitly stating his methodology. She identifies different phases in Ambedkar and also tries to provide a comprehensive and coherent thought of Ambedkar as a whole in the concrete situations of India. She observes that in his early essay on Russell, he projects the economic interpretation of history and at the other end of his life he seems to have moved towards idealism. He argued against the basic theses of Marx that the economic interpretation of history is the only explanation of history. In Buddha and his Dhamma, he gives clear priority to ‘mind’ as a determinant. He recognizes mind as the centre of everything. Mind precedes things, dominates them, creates them…. Mind is the chief of all faculties… The first thing to attend to is the culture of the mind. His study of Indian past in religious terms can be seen in his ‘Revolution and Counter Revolution’. He reads the stages in history as Brahmanism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Gail Omvedt characterizes Ambedkar’s view as pluralistic.’[23] She considers that Ambedkar has a significant sociological theory though he was not a trained sociologist or historian. Ambedkar does show a concern for a logical and a scientific method. Though he stresses ‘mind’ as primary in his final work, the orientation is very much towards the material world. Ambedkar’s philosophy of history is consistent with the pluralistic explanation of history, though not of a purely materialistic one. This would be a Weberian position. Even in his rejection of Marx, Ambedkar, who was never one to use words sloppily, rejects the ‘economic interpretation’ as the ‘only explanation.’ He never denies the role of material factors and economic impulses as a necessary part of any overall historical and social explanation.’[24] In spite of these shifting phases, there is no doubt that Ambedkar’s political-economic philosophy was a form of liberalism. He was an individualist and rationalist, returning always to the basic enlightenment values linked to Indian tradition.’[25]Further, Gail Omvedt elaborates the liberal position of Ambedkar in the light of many shades of liberalism. She considers Ambedkar as representing the ‘social liberalism’. According to this, the State will intervene in resolving the contradiction between inherited inequality and human rights. In this sense, it is different from classical and neo-liberalisms.

The Naxalite Party (CPI (M-L) (Peoples War) locates Ambedkar theoretically as a liberal bourgeoisie reformer’[26] in their document ‘Caste Problem in India: Our Point of View’ (Bharatdesamlo Kula Samasya- Mana Drukpadham). Further, it had a critical attitude in understanding or estimating Ambedkar’s philosophy and his politics. The Naxalite party considers Ambedkar as Anti-Marxist philosophically. Because of his leanings towards liberal bourgeoisie philosophy, he opposed the Marxist understanding that the social change through revolution and the development through class struggle. He brings non-violent Buddhism parallel to Marxism, to counter the Marxian revolution through violence.’[27] The Naxalite party finds problems in fixing his political position. It explains that though essentially Ambedkar is a representative of petty bourgeoisie, his life may be divided into two phases. The first phase is till 1941 and the second phase is after 1941. Till 1941, all his activities are pro-people and played an active role in consolidating and running the peoples’ movement. Initially the struggles are for social and civil rights and later it is for the democratic rights of peasants and labourers. He led the movements of anti-caste that are part of anti feudal struggles. In the latter phase, he served the British imperialists and Comprador bourgeoisie and feudal classes by involving in the Viceroy’s and Nehru’s cabinets and drafting committees, he helped forces of anti democratic forces of his times. He limited his struggles to reform and thus indirectly helped the undemocratic forces. The document is marking Ambedkar as an idealist. Philosophically, Ambedkar accepted idealism by rejecting materialism. This ultimately paved the way for him upholding Buddhism as an alternative to Hinduism. This idealism is reflected in the problem of Annihilation of Caste. Under the influence of idealism, he argues that caste came into existence from Hinduism, instead of explaining its origin from the ancient productive relations of India. As a result he believed that reforming Hinduism instead of changing the social system could annihilate caste. He has not realized that without attacking the social and economic foundations, caste could not be annihilated. The same idealism made him depend on the British political machinery in his struggles against caste hegemony. He thought that the British Government could be against caste Hindu ideology, since they belonged to the religion of western Christianity. He didn’t consider the British as imperialist. He didn’t recognize that the intention of British imperialists is to protect caste rather than waging struggles against caste. The Party believed that the liberal bourgeoisie thinking of Ambedkar lead him to a wrong conception of the nature and function of State. By believing the State as a neutral agent, he ignored the class character of the State. He created an illusion among the people that law and constitutional reforms could bring changes in the very nature of State. He is unable to find out the anti democratic attitude of the bourgeoisie dictatorship. In essence though, he got inspired from the bourgeoisie democratic revolutionary principles like equality, liberty and fraternity. He didn’t recognize imperialism and its class character. As a result, he was deeply involved in reformism in bringing out social change by depending on law, judiciary, Parliament and constitution. This justifies his position ideologically as a liberal bourgeoisie reformer.’[28]

Dr. Anand Teltumbde, a Dalit scholar sympathetic to both the struggles of Dalits and Naxalites, considers Ambedkar as a radical thinker. In his monograph ‘Ambedkar’ In and for the Post-Ambedkar Dalit Movement[29] he points out that many students of the Dalit movement are influenced by the post–Ambedkar reflections in characterizing Ambedkar as a bourgeoisie liberal democrat….The folklore is that ‘Ambedkar’ needs to be replaced by the radical ‘Ambedkar’, who would inspire people to claim the whole world as theirs and not to beg for petty favours from robbers.’[30] He made an effort to highlight the radical image of Ambedkar from the very implications of his thought. He considers locating Ambedkar’s thought in liberal and Marxist traditions. One has to understand him in a social context he is operating rather fixing him in a particular position. He notes that Ambedkar in his first essay on caste, a Marxist orientation inspired by his supervisor Prof. Seligman is visible. In his later works, Ambedkar is more close to the liberal tradition than Marxism. However, consciously he never identified himself with liberalism. Being aware of its pitfalls, he needed to declare that he was not a liberal reformist, although while having reservations with the postulations of Marxism he could never hide his attraction towards him. The influence of liberalism on Ambedkar is more pronounced after he accepted the role of the chairman of drafting committee for the Indian constitution in collaboration with congress. Teltumbe explores Ambedkar’s thought in the light of failure of the liberal democratic State of India. He felt that liberal democracy might appear better than the decadent Hindu caste system but it is incapable of bringing any real change in favour of Dalits. It muffles the tension of the exploitative system and kills the revolutionary motivation of its victims.[31] Further, he argues that Ambedkar was misunderstood as a liberal because of upholding the ideals of equality, liberty and fraternity. In fact, he denies that he had adopted them from the French revolution. He said he had derived them from the teachings of Buddha. These principles were the clarion call of the French revolution but later became the ideological props of the liberal bourgeoisie in Europe. Since Marx had ridiculed these principles as the fantasy of bourgeoisie society, many people tended to stereotype Ambedkar as a petty- bourgeois liberal democrat. According to Ambedkar, the source of these principles is different from the French revolution. So Marx’s ridicules don’t apply to him and it is substantially different from that associated with the liberal bourgeoisie. For Anand Teltumbde the basis for projecting Ambedkar as a radical is that his philosophy of the annihilation of caste is in the direction of the goal of liberty, equality and fraternity. Ambedkar clearly understood that caste stood on multiple props in Indian society. That is, the religio-cultural relations, feudal relations in the village setting of which land relations constituted the crux and the socio-political nexus with the State. Annihilation of caste thus needed destruction of all of them. He rightly diagnosed that caste system is basically sustained by the peculiar economic constitution of the Indian village of which the land relations was the main feature. This kind of understanding of Indian society is unique to him and no others had identified this in the politics of his times. The Reformists, the Congress, Territorial nationalists, Communists and the Muslim league who were active in the politics of his time had not bothered to think in this direction.

Further, Ambedkar realized the necessity of political power for the attack on caste system. Even to bring about residual change in the belief system either through the cultural or religious route, he stressed the necessity of political power. At the same time, in the given time, he was not prepared to confront the State. As an alternative he proposed, feudal relations in the village could be destroyed only if the private ownership of the land is abolished and co-operativisation of farming is introduced. He thought this structural change could be effected through the constitution.

It is clear that every one has his/her intentions and motives in attributing particular political positions to Ambedkar. Along with the Brahminical Hindu writers, the nationalist congress also calls him a British agent. With this, it is easy for them to exclude him from the pride of the nationalist movement. Naxalite party calls him a liberal democrat. Their intention is to show that he is not a radical thinker. As said earlier, they believe that the liberation of Dalits is only possible through a sound philosophy like Marxism-Leninism and Maoism.’[32] According to them, class politics can accommodate more political space than caste. In this country, through democratic means people could not achieve anything. Only through armed struggle, the Dalit masses can get real political power. The Naxalite party expects Dalits to be in their fold rather getting attracted towards existing Dalit political parties based on Ambedkar’s philosophy. The party considers only the liberal face of Ambedkar and it doesn’t want to see the radical implications of Ambedkar’s thought. It would like to consolidate its base by promising the most radical agenda in the context of a large number of Dalits leaning towards Dalit political parties centered around Ambedkar.

The action of Ambedkar embracing Buddhism is a complex act. This gives a chance for the Left-wingers to call him a conservative, since any identification with religion, in any form, is seen to be the opium of the masses by them. In a completely different move, the Hindu political parties may get theoretical advantage by Ambedkar’s advocating of religion. They conveniently forget that he proposed Buddhism in place of Hinduism. In fact, this action can be used against the radical spirit of Ambedkar’s philosophy by groups like the BJP/Shivasena to portray Ambedkar as a conservative and appropriate his philosophy to their ends. They would also have the added advantage of keeping the Dalits away from other radical struggles.

Ambedkar: The Progressive Radical Thinker

Many thinkers and radical political parties made an attempt to project Ambedkar as a liberal thinker. Liberalism, as a political theory developed in the west has a theoretical basis and reflection of modern industrial capitalist society. It implies individual rights as natural and absolute. Ambedkar seems to reject the liberal notion of society as an aggregation of individuals related to each other as individuals in terms of the goal of promoting individual interest. He has given importance to justice than utility. According to him utility is only a secondary criterion for judging right or wrong. That is, primacy of justice over utility is axiomatic for him. By subordinating utility to justice in his philosophical analytical scheme, Ambedkar departs from the very first tenet of utilitarianism in particular and liberal philosophy in general.

Another question that can be raised is weather Ambedkar is an individualist in his social and political philosophy? Does he follow the liberal thought regarding this? The liberal thought maintains that essence of the individual is economic satisfaction, i.e. consumption. For the Marxists (radicals), individual is essentially a producer, and since production is essentially social, the individual evaporates in the realm of social. But for Ambedkar, individualism means transcending ones individuality through the exercise of ones capacity for moral responsibility. The locus of moral responsibility is the recognition of an objectively existing moral law or dharma. It is an ideal which Ambedkar considers central to his version of Buddhist religion.

Ambedkar’s accepted many of the basic assumptions of Marxism. Its most important aspect is the identification of economic exploitation with private property. His understanding of Marxism was used in an attempt to formulate a historical theory of caste and social struggle in India. Ambedkar criticized Marxism on the basis of ethicality. He questioned the basic tenets of Marxism, that the ‘end justifying the means’ and ‘religion as the opium of the masses’. Ambedkar considers that for both Buddha and Marx the end is common but the only difference is the means that they professed. The means adopted by communists are violence and dictatorship of the proletariat whereas for Buddha, it is love and compassion, conversion of man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily. Ambedkar considers Buddha as first revolutionary since he rejected caste system and social inequality and for his idea of Sangha. He comments on the issue of religion, that communists have carried the hatred of Christianity to Buddhism without waiting to examine the difference between two. Ambedkar also believes that humanity does only want economic values, but also wants spiritual values to be retained. Ambedkar tries to see the similarities between Buddhism and Marxism and also differences. Ambedkar argues that in India there is not only division of labour but also division of laborers exists. He also felt that economic interpretation of history is not the only the explanation of history. Buddhism for Ambedkar stands for reason. In fact, for both Buddha and Marx the ends remain same but the means differ. For Marx, the means are violent take over of the State through dictatorship of proletariat. For Buddha, it is conversion of man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily. Ambedkar put the question to Marxists, what will takes place of state when it whether away. He expressed the doubt that the anarchic situation may take place. Ambedkar proposed Dhamma in place of it. However, Ambedkar developed his own version of socialism. He termed it as state socialism, which emerges from his interpretation of democracy. Ambedkar very much emphasized that caste is not only the division of labor but also division of laborers in India.

One has to understand the political philosophy of Ambedkar in the context of his life and struggles. For instance, in the initial stages he took the programme of temple entry. Later, he didn’t consider Hinduism as having the potential for inclusion of Dalits. Also, he experimented with Marxists and organized joint agitational programmes of Marxists. After some time he formed an independent political party for Dalits. All these phases provide an understanding of the enormous dynamism of Ambedkar. It is wrong to consider him as ‘liberal bourgeoisie’ or ‘social liberal’. All this criticism came from a universe alien to Ambedkar and the community for which he was fighting.

It is very difficult to fit him into dominant political traditions like liberalism, Marxism and conservatism. He himself finds difficulty in explaining his political position. It doesn’t mean that there is no consistency in his political thinking. The problem lies only in explaining his thought in existing political vocabulary. He critically engaged with liberalism, Marxism and Gandhism. He describes himself as a progressive radical and occasionally as a ‘progressive conservative’. One thing is clear that he would like to be a progressive, and distinguish himself from liberals and communists depending on the case.

Conclusion

Though Ambedkar was nurtured in the liberal tradition, he makes a difference from it. On many issues, he differs from liberal thinkers like Nehru. While embracing Buddhist religion, he seems to be conservative, but it is clearly evidenced that he is not conservative by his attack of Gandhi and the Hindu social order. At certain points, he seems to be radical (Marxist). But, he throughout his life, he maintains his differences with Marxist thought, particularly in understanding Indian society. However, the primary concern for Ambedkar is liberation of Dalits, the people of the lower strata of Indian society. He approached any political tradition from this point only. This has implications in providing the principles of reconstruction of Indian society. In other words, one feels that Ambedkar’s political thought demands a whole new language and the existing political language fails short in assessing or understanding his philosophy.

More over, Ambedkar’s political philosophy has a great potential in mediating both liberal and communitarian traditions of the west. He connects the individual and community based on morality. He proposes the democratic, humanistic and rationalistic religion such as Buddhism is the source for morality and associate living. When Ambedkar criticises Hindu community for its oppressive nature, he does it with a standard of individual liberty and freedom. When he is talking about suffering of individual members of Dalit community he is projecting an ideal moral community based on equality, liberty and fraternity. So it is not correct to call Ambedkar as either a fierce individualist or as a strong communitarian.

(This paper was published in International Research Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.1 No.2, 2008, pp.193-210, Pondicherry University)

End Notes
[1] Dallmayr, Fred R. ‘Political Theory at Cross Roads’ in From Contract to Community, Marcel Dekkar, Inc, New York, 1978. p.1
[2] Ibid.p.9
[3] Ibid p.9
[4] Bay, Christian, “Thoughts on Liberalism and Post- Industrial Society” in From Contract to Community. P.29-45.
[5] Roudrigues, Valerian (Ed.) The Essential Writings of B.R.Ambedkar, New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2002, p.61
[6] Ibid, p.62
[7] Ibid,p.62
[8] Ibid ,p.62
[9] Ibid,p.62
[10] Ibid, p.63
[11]Ibid, p.63
[12] Ibid. p .64
[13] Shourie, Arun. Worshipping False Gods: Ambedkar and the Facts which have been Erased. New Delhi: Harper Collins, 2000.
[14] At present the party is known as CPI (Maoist) Party.
[15] Ranganayakamma. Dalita Samasya Parishkaraniki Budhudu Chaladu! Ambedkaru Chaladu! Marx Kavali!( For Resolving the Dalit problem, Neither Ambedkar nor Buddha are Solutions. A Marx is Required). Hyderabad: Sweet Home Publications, 2000.
[16] Teltumbde, Anand. ‘Ambedkar’: in and for Post-Ambedkar Dalit Movement. Pune: Sugawa Prakashan, 1997.
[17] Raghavendra Rao, K. Babasaheb Ambedkar New Delhi: Sahitya Academy, 1998.
[18] Ibid. P.35
[19] Ibid. p.35
[20] Ibid. p.36
[21] Ibid. P.36
[22] Omvedt, Gail. Liberty, Equality, Community . Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar’s vision of a New Social Order 2000. in www.Ambedkar.org/Research
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Bharata Desamlo Kula Samasya-Mana Drukpadham (Peoples War Document) , 1996 .p.25
[27] Ibid. p.24
[28] Ibid. p.25
[29] Dr.Anand Teltumbde. ‘Ambedkar’ In and for the Post-Ambedkar Dalit Movement, Pune: Sugawa Prakashan, 1997.
[30] Ibid. p.40-41
[31] Ibid. p.48
[32] Bharata Desamulo Kula Samasya: Mana Drukpadham (Caste Problem in India: Our Point of View) CPI (ML) Peoples War Document, 1996.

2010-03-07T03:09:00.000-08:00

Media and Marginalization of Dalits

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar, Assistant Professor, Pondicherry University

Abstract
Dalits are marginalized in media from the very inception of the media, either in print or electronic media since majority of them are poor and illiterate. My paper makes an attempt to understand the marginalization of dalits in media in contemporary times by looking at the recent controversy of Andhrajyothy vs Dalit leadership. The write up titled as Baduga Netalu (May2008) in Andhrajyothy daily aims at demeaning dalit leadership for its own political purpose. The immediate attack of dalits on the office of the daily triggered a debate on freedom of press on one hand and on other democratic representation of the dalits in media. The paper will examine the complexity and context of the issue by focusing on marginalization of dalits in mainstream media in the times of neo liberalism. The very understanding of nexus between capital, media and hegemonic politics will help in theorizing the marginality of dalits in media rather than looking at media as an organ of democracy.

Baduga Netala or Baduga Ratala ?

The write up titled Baduga Netalu in telugu daily Andhrajyothy (May26, 2008) generated debate on attitude of media towards dalits. This news story is deliberately intended to target dalit leadership and their politics. It points out that dalit and backward caste organizations are sold out to ruling congress party for their selfish interests. Though it was not mentioned the names of the leaders, but easy to readers to mark the names of the leaders. The story depicts dalit leaders as corrupt, opportunistic and works against their own ideology. The language it used is highly objectionable and the allegations are baseless. In response to this, the Madiga Dandora activists are attacked the Andhrajyothy office for its alleged news story against their leader Krishna Madiga. The journalist organizations condemning this act as against the freedom of press by organizing demonstrations all over the state. The so called democratic organizations and progressive individuals supported the idea of freedom of press at the cost of condemning undemocratic attack of dalits against the office of the daily. This includes Ranganayakamma,K.Venugopal, Maharathi, Duddu Prabhakar of Kula Nirmulana Porata Samithi, Mallepalli Laxmaiah, Gaddar. Andrajyothy continued its attack on dalits with its special titles kalam pai jhulum and aksharayudham. Surprisingly, in the main stream media, there is no dissent on the way the news story written by Andhrajyothy. The only news paper Surya came in support of dalits by initiating column Bagugula Pidikili and some articles in edit page. This may be read it as the Surya is owned by Backward caste leader and had his own political aspirations. Moreover at that movement he had a soft corner for congress. The other journals of alternative media taken side of dalits is Bahujana Keratalu and Veekshanam . Bahujana Keratalu a dalit magazine came out with a cover story Baguna netalu kadu, Baduga ratalu. It had out rightly opposed the upper caste media and its political interests. Veekshanam is an identified as progressive journal run by K.Venugopal. Though it had published some articles of dalit scholars, the editorial goes in the line of dominant opinion. This carried the articles of dalit scholars and activists such as K.Satyanarayana, Krupakar Madiga and G.Sambaiah. However, dalit scholars have expressed different opinion about mainstream media in particular Andhrajyothi episode in particular in available space of media. The daily Surya facilitated the space for dalit intellectuals such as Kanche Ialiah, Katti Padma Rao, Kesaraju Komranna, Vu.Sa., Sreerama Chandramurti, Pratyusha Subba and also carried the views of Krishna Madiga, R.Krishnaiah and so on. Later the issue took different turn with the arrest of the editor of news paper K. Srinivas along with two of his associates under SC/ST act based on the complaint of Krishna Madiga.
This episode opens up the debate of representation of dalits and issues of dalits in mainstream telugu media and the hollowness of freedom of press. The journalists and their associations are trying to project the issue as an attack on freedom of press by concealing the nexus between their owners and hegemonic politics. The paper reading public very much aware that the story targeting the dalit leaders has written in the context to fulfil the interest of one hegemonic group against another.

Media and Market
Dominant mass media is the product of capitalism. A revolution in Indian language newspapers began in 1970s. From 1980s one can witness the significant change in mass media in its technology and expansion. Robin Jeffrey in his book explains the relation between print and capitalism and its role in producing political identity and public sphere. Media is a weapon in capitalist class plays a role in mediating ruling classes and people in its own style. In the changing political and social context, people’s struggles are influencing the news in one hand, simultaneously on the other hand ruling works out to mould these struggles in their favour with the mediation of media. The investments for mainstream telugu media is from capitalist class such as real estate business, liquor business and big contractors who got profit in recent times illegally. They are looking for the political power to secure their business interests. In other words, the investments in the media will help in extracting profit from other spheres. For the people, it is only the newspaper is visible but not its proprietors and investors. Only on the occasions, when the conflict between the ruling classes took place, there we used to witness the issue of investors in media. However, it appears that the ruling classes compete with each other but they are unanimous in controlling the democratic struggles. In the times of globalization, market forces are dictating every thing. The neo liberal ideology is spreading to every sphere of life.
As Adorno argues culture industry works in tune with political economy of the capitalist class. Noam Chomsky argues that capitalist class uses media to manufacture the consent. He explains in his book Manufacturing consent how the corporate companies and forces of imperialists effectively uses the big media organizations propagates the news stories to get the consent of the people for their market ideologies. He further explains the filters in making the news. Chomsky Their primary function of media is selling audiences to advertisers. They don't make money from their subscriptions. CBS news doesn't make money when you turn on your television. They make money when an advertiser pays them. Now advertisers pay for certain things. They're not going to pay for a discussion that encourages people to participate democratically and undermine corporate power. The people in the media have no concerns for democracy or freedom or anything else. What they're concerned with is protecting power from people. Robin Jeffrey, who worked extensively on Indian vernacular media explains how the interests of capitalist class and media are intertwined. The newspaper revolution is part of capitalism, but it is neutral in struggles between ‘liberal democracy’ and ‘religious majoritarianism’. He further points out the exclusion of dalit representation in Indian media, both English and vernacular. P.Sainath, the noted journalist of india observed that journalism largely a stenography to the powerful. For Media leaders the lives of ordinary people make no sense in their economic calculation and rationale. Further he argues the priorities of our media and marginalization of certain issues and groups in media. We don’t have full time correspondent to cover poverty or a beat to cover labour. There is no special reporter to cover atrocities against dalits in our media.

Dalits and Media

To the mainstream media dalits are not a news till they organized from eighties. Dalit entry into modern public sphere with the rise of dalit movement has created disturbance in media too. Till then any reference to dalits in media is either from the humanistic ideals of upper caste or from Gandhian model of reform of untouchable. The write up ends with moral teaching that dalits have to be educated to overcome their ignorance. The progressive intellectuals occasionally reflected on dalit issues as part of the class class struggles with the identification of them as poor people or coolies. Most of these discourses took place in media without having any involvement of dalits in expressing their views. From eighties onwards, literacy rate among dalits got increased and a small intellectual class emerged from the community. But their role is crucial in interfering the literary, cultural and political debates. The self respecting conscious dalit youth emerged from the struggles of Karamchedu and Chunduru massacres. Dalits got space in main stream media to the extent from the acceptance of upper caste or to make it use for the political interest of hegemonic class. In contrary to this, any attempt to question the very hegemony of ruling upper caste, even the available small space will be emptied. In this backdrop , there is a need to study the evolution of telugu media, from which social group the capital came into media and the corresponding ideology that it representing. More than we have to take note of politics of media, the way it reflected on the dalits and its context.

In search of Dalit Journalist
In his article "In Search Of A Dalit Journalist," B. N. Uniyal writes that when he undertook a survey of national newspapers and magazines to see if any media house employed a dalit, the figure was an astounding zero (Uniyal, 1996). In fact, he reports that editors and senior staffers became angry at him for carrying out this exercise. Among 686 journalists accredited by the government, 454 were upper caste. The remaining 232 did not carry their caste names and in a random sample of 47, not one was a dalit.[i]
CSDS survey notes that Dalits and Adivasis "are conspicuous by their absence among the decision-makers. Not even one of the 315 key decision-makers belonged to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes." [ii]
Political scientist robin Jeffrey says : in more than ten years studying Indian language newspapers, including twenty weeks of travel in which I stayed in twenty towns, visited dozens of newspapers an interviewed more than 250 people. I did not- so far as I know- meet a dalit journalist working for a mainstream publication, much less a dalit editor or proprietor.Despite the fact that dalits constitute one fourth of India’s population, we find no dalit today working as a reporter or sub editor. Jeffrey continues: there were no dalit editors and no dalit- run dailies. Dalit periodicals, where they existed, were fringe publications, often with a literary emphasis and with limited influence beyond the circle that produced them. The most senior journalist I met in more than ten years of studying Indian newspapers had never worked for a commercially run daily.’[iii]
Shivam Vij There are not even half a dozen Dalit journalists in Lucknow, most of whom do not handle the political beat, and no Dalit journalist works for an English paper.Discrimination manifests itself in the form of marginalisation. Backward caste journalists say they are marginalised not only in places like the Press Club but also inside the newsroom, where upper caste journalists may form a closely knit community. [iv]
Ravikumar argues that The Hindu celebrated its 125th anniversary on 13th September 2003; where as not a single issue of Parayan, which was started about the same time as the hindu, has survived. The Hindu has grown into a Rs.400 – crore empire, though founded with just Rs. 1 and 12 annas. In such context, a critical assessment of the newspaper is necessary, not only from a general perspective but from a dalit perspective as well.[v] Running a magazine is not similar to owning an industry. Since the press is regarded as one of the pillars of democracy, it plays a significant role in shaping democracy. Therefore, demanding the inclusion of dalits in the media should not be merely regarded as a plea for jobs. It is a demand for democracy, like that of the demand for representation in the assembly and parliament. In fact, it is equivalent to seeking due representation in judiciary.
If television and newspaper coverage of the anti-reservation agitation was indulgent and one-sided, the lack of diversity in the newsroom is surely a major culprit. In an ideal world where professionalism is paramount, the caste or religious affiliation of a journalist should not matter. But journalism that has little or no space for the majority of citizens is bound to end up missing out on the complexity of the society it seeks to cover. Story ideas will not be taken up, or if taken up then covered only from a particular perspective. To be sure, many of the negative trends so evident in Indian journalism — the shrinkage of space, the lack of coverage of rural India or of the problems of poor Indians, the episodic, frenetic nature of news, the cult of the Sensex, the preoccupation with trivia and sensationalism — will not be cured by newspapers and TV channels hiring more Dalit, OBC, and Muslim journalists. But greater workplace diversity will certainly infuse a greater degree of vitality in the newsroom as wider varieties of lived experience intrude upon and clash with the largely urban, rich, forward caste Hindu certitudes of the overwhelming majority of journalists.[vi]
To see the transparency of the news the representation of dalits too considered an important issues. How much space is available in media and what way the news related to dalits are projected too are important in understanding or assessing the media. Most of the times, the everyday ongoing atrocities on dalits is not an issue for media.It occupies thenews only with the struggles of dalits. Even that news pushed to district or mandal page. In some times, though the local stingers reported the news, this will not be published.Even it is published the mainpoint misses in the editing. Moreover the language and adjective selected to project the story is framed within the allowed language of upper castes. On the stories of atrocities against dalit we often find the view point of police or upper caste but we don’t find the view point from the dalit victims.

History of Telugu Media and Exclusion of Dalit Interests

Telugu press is started in Madras around1830, and established in delta region of Andhra. The towns like Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Bezawada, Machilipatnam, Amalapuram, Narsapuram and Tenali are established as centres of Telugu press. Mostly, the telugu press in initial days came up with initiation of English educated upper caste middle class and religious organizations. The social reform movement has influenced the press to an extent. The journal named Vrutthantine (1838-42) published from madras is considered as the first telugu journal. It has followed by Vaartha Tarangini (1842), Tatvabodhini (1863), Hitabodhi (1864), Sujanaranjani (1872), Andhrabashasanjeevani(1871), Purushardha Pradhayini (1872), Veeresalingam’s Vivekavardhini(1874), Andhrapatrika (1885), Satyasamvardhini(1891), Sasirekha(1894), Desabhimani (1896) and so on. Though these journals came up with the influence of modernist and social reformism, but they are overcome the brahminical hindu ideology. At the beginning of the twentieth century, sudra communities become caste conscious and started caste organizations for the welfare of respective community. From this backdrop, with the initiation of Anjaneya chowdary, the magazine named Chowdary from Eluru and with Vekanna, the magazine setti balija from Amalapuram have published. The non Brahmin movement which came in response to Brahmin dominance in education and employment has confined to peasant communities such as kamma and reddy. They fail to incorporate dalits and other backward castes into their fold. In this context, early dalit movement came in the form of adiandhra and adihindu movement by claiming the idea of sons of the soil. In the colonial times, dalit journalism got flourished with journals such as Kusama Dharmanna’s Jayabheri (1937), Jala Rangaswamy’s Veerabharathi(1933, Rahmundry),Vundru Subbarao’s Harijanulu (1944, Razole),Geddada Brahmaiah’ Adi Andhra(Amalapuram), Pamu Ramamurty’s Adi Hindu ( Rajahmundry), B.S.Murthy’s Navajeevan and Bhagyareddy Verma’s Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad).

The nationalist struggles against colonialism and harijanodharana vudhyamam aspart of nationalist movement under the leadership of Gandhi has how far influenced the media has to be studied. And what extent our media has compromised with British rule too has to be studied. It is debatable point how far the alternative dalit journals got succeeded against the dominant media. In following days media took the lead in negotiating or bringing together the Brahmin and non Brahmin communities in the pretext of separate Andhra movement.

In the post independent india too, there is difference in the attitude and ideology of telugu press. It has deliberately works for the interest of ruling class. In 1955, the prominent telugu dailies Andhrapatrika, Andhraprabha in support of congress they had systematic attempt to manufacture the consent against alternative communist politics. They aimed their criticism against Sree Sree and Abhyudaya Rachayitala Sangham by propagating literature should not have politics. For more details one may go through the Sahiti Mitrulu of Vijayawada edited a book Donga Dadi which illustrates the manufacturing of the consent in favour of ruling class by media (telugu dailies) in mid 50s. In the post independent Andhra, as a result of green revolution the feudal lords extracted the surplus and got investing the agro based industries and culture industry such as cinema and print media. The newspaper Eenadu(1974) has totally changed the discourse of press. It has coincided with political aspirations of his kamma community. It works for NT Ramarao’s Telugu desam to come into power. The news paper has its phenomenal growth with rise of Telugu desam party. On one hand it had inseperable link of capital, politics and kamma social community and on the other with market strategies, classified ads, district supplements, editions from each district and sophisticated technology revolutionized the telugu print media.As a result it had established the social and cultural hegemony of the kamma community and Telugu Desam Party. To counter this hegemony, film director Dasari Narayana Rao’s Udayam, and the industrialist Girish Sanghi’s Vartha came forward. Both of them become elected to Rajyasabha from congress party. The other dailies Andhra prabha of Indian express group, and Andhrabhoomi of Deccan Chronicle group presence is nominal and are not opinion makers in telugu society. The Prajasakti and Visalandhra confined to their respective communist parties. Andhrajyothi is protecting its importance though the ownership changes very often.

Rajasehkar Reddy who has consolidated the Reddy community under congress party realized the importance of the media after he got elected as chief minister against Telugu desam. In that process from the day one he started targeting the Eenadu largest circulated telugu daily and Andhrajyothy which is believed that Chandrababu had investments in the daily. Later he himself launched a daily sakshi by getting the investments from big contractors and industrialists. The news paper came in support of Rajasekhar Reddy rule openly. It is known fact that business class invested in the paper to get the other business deals from the Rajasekharreddy. On the other hand, Eenadu and Andhrajothy claims that they are targeted for exposing the misdeeds of the government. But one has to think about all these news papers, the main stream media in general how far they supported the people’s rights and democratic movement against the wish of ruling class ideology?

Against the mainstream media, alternative media too emerged in telugu society from progressive and dalit movements. Though they confine to small sections but are effective in exposing the mainstream media and its ruling class ideology. Left wing magazines such Srujana, Arunatara, Janasahiti and dalit journals such as Nalupu (1989-93), Yedureeta (1990-94), Ekalavya, Dalita Rajyam , Kula Nirmulana (2001)and Bahujana Keratalu (2001), Samantara (2005).Most of these journals are short lived. Bahujana Keratalu is the only dalit magazine represented the dalit view point in the controversy of Andhrajyothy and Madiga Dandora. It posed a challenge to main stream media and its apostle of freedom of press.

Politics of Media

There are many efforts to attack the dalit movement and its leadership. The upper often depicts dalits as jokers, fools, criminals, violent and corrupt. These stereotrype images are popularized by the media. The dominant caste often negates dalits and its leadership on moral ground. Morality is weapon used by the upper caste to punish dalits. Their moral teaching is confined to only dalits but not to them. Andhrajyothy’s attack on dalit leadership is on such attacks. It is known fact that Andhrajyothy too has its own political agenda than its claims of political innocence in the guise of freedom of press. The ruling congress party has managed to get the support of both dalit sub castes through its own tactics. There is an urgency to bring these groups from the fold of its leadership by creating some kind of dissent against its leadership. Ultimately this may help in strengthening the oppositional political force. To fulfil this Andhrajyothy took the lead by manufacturing the consent in favour of other ruling class. The media is in make up of image for main political parties. For this has added some facts with fiction.
The Andhrajyothy and Dandora episode reveals that the nexus between media-capital –politics in one hand in addition to historically marginalization of dalits in mainstream media. To theoretize the marginalization of dalits, one has to taken into consideration the role of capital and its political ideology. In Indian context, one should not forget that capital has also its caste character. The mainstream media makes systematic attempt to protect the upper caste ruling classes’ interest. Dalits are forced to sacrifice in the competitive struggles within ruling classes. For mainstream media though Dalits are not significant constituency of market. But dalits are crucial in political constituency. Media by taking the role of negotiating the capital and politics of ruling class forced to drag dalits to its fold to serve its interest. In the controversy of Andhrajyothy and dalit leadership, the convergence of capital, politics and media is very much visible. In this situation, the politically consolidated dalit movement not only protects its leadership but also checks the dominant ruling class and its media. In that process, it has to create alternative media on its own and also learns to read the politics of mainstream media.

End Notes
[i] Uniyal. B.N. , In Searchg of Dalit Journalist, 1996
[ii] CSDS, Upper caste dominate National Media, published in The Hindu June 5,2006. The survey was designed and executed by Anil Chamaria, freelance journalist, Jitendra Kumar from the Media Study Group and Yogendra Yadav, senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi. A survey of the social profile of more than 300 senior journalists in 37 Hindi and English newspapers and television channels in the capital has found that "Hindu upper caste men" — who form eight per cent of the country's population — hold 71 per cent of the top jobs in the national media.
[iii] Robin Jeffrey, India’s Newspaper Revolution: capitalism, Politics and The Indian Language Press, 2nd Edition (New Delhi: Oxford University Press,2003), p.161
[iv] Shivam Vij, Media, Discrimination and Marginalization posted in m must read
[v] Ravi Kumar, The Unwritten Writing : Dalits and Media . D. Ravikumar is presently the M.L.A. belonging to Dalit Panthers Party of Tamilnadu Assembly. This article is originally published in Tamil in the journal Dalit in February 2004 and translated into English by R Azhagarasan and published in Nalini Rajan (Ed.) 21st Century Journalism in India.
[vi] Siddharth Varadarajan, Caste matters in Indian Media, The Hindu ,June3,2006

The Autobiography of an Unknown Rebel

2009-11-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

The Autobiography of

An Unknown Rebel

Jandhyala Ravindranath

Why do I write?
Something perishable
Is pen still mightier than the bomb in this turbulent age?
Many prefer pottery to poetry
Giver of subtle pleasure and wisdom
It may be read or killed by negligence
It may break into shreds on the rocks of time or silence
It appeals to mind, heart and soul eternal
Is it local or global?
Is it essential and consumable like bread?
***
What does a writer want?
Fame, manifestation of innate urge or meaning of an experience?
Hopkins’ poems and Kafka’s stories
Have seen the light after their death
The memory of a dead writer seems momentary
But an anonymous reader from a far-off corner
Pays homage to a writer cutting across time and place
Orhan Pamuk, Margaret Atwood and Doris Lessing
Wrote for decades for bread and beauty
They craved for creativity but not popularity.

***
I am tempted to attempt a long poem in praise of peace
Now real wars replaced the cold war
violence possessed the souls of the rulers and the ruled
indifference hovers like a cloud
Beasts and birds are bewildered by the brutality of human being
Peace and justice are human
war and injustice are inhuman
yesterday’s victims of holocaust
Have become persecutors of the Palestinians
The lone super power continued its ravage
Civilians turned the lambs of the butcher’s army
Is this century imitate the last one
That was a synonym of naked violence?
In the name of lofty ideals
Justifications jillion offered
To be insensitive to the sight of mutilated humanity
war and devastation embedded in the system
This free verse is not chained to Reason or Treason
A thousand reasons for violence
Can’t negate life/ non-violence.
Nuclear threat has been haunting
Self-control has gone with the wind in the pursuit of territory and technology
The sane voice of Sen falls on deaf ears
The impulse for violence bursts into many Hiroshimas
***
In this age of rat race
Practice is preferred to thinking
“Think until it hurts”
What is there to write about?
Broken hopes, hopeful breaks,
Lost memories, memorable losses
Wild promises, mild performances
Goalless efforts, effortless goals
History erased, humanity eroded
Mental conflicts and conflicting minds
Nourished bodies and cynical souls
Tales untold, truths unfolded
***
If you want to write, do it now
“Ideal” conditions are a pie in the sky
Remember Michael Phelps
Go on weaving stories ceaselessly
Not noise alone, stillness too speaks
When strife was there, you were restless
When peace reigns, You are complacent
Writing is as essential as eating and mating
Live in and grip the present
Wisdom tells past and future regrets are futile
Is it imperative to understand past
Either your own or that of your country?
From being a lover of history, I turn skeptic
As questions change in the course of time
***
“Market is an evil” averred Marxists
who had to live and die under its rule
Market fundamentalists marveled at the existence of Marxists
Although revolutions apparently disappeared
We still think in traditional grooves
The emotional mind annihilate
Things built in patience
Should man leave for other planets?
Should universe be left at the mercy of trans- planetary humans?
They failed the earth through their greed and thoughtlessness
In our penchant for the projects
What about the tribals of Papi hills?
***
While China that knows discipline wins many medals
India, A collection of individuals has one or two Bindras
***
The rebellious we thought Shakespeare was not for people
Not dwelling on why Marx read him time and again
Him I read initially with the help of Raghukul Tilak
After a while Shakapearean language became familiar
He touched the strings of harp of human heart
We also thought why should not he be called “Kalidasa of England”?
Antony’s honour, Othello’s fall due to green-eyed monster
Hamlet’s dilemma and Macbeth’s ambition
Are unforgettable tales of the bard of Avon.
Under the grip of dialectical materialism
We showed contempt towards bourgeois artists
Art was an indulgence, politics was human essence
forgetting that the artist influences subtly but deeply
As memories pale
The “heroic” deeds of the past seem quixotic
Commitment seems distraction
Social Concern seems paucity of career consciousness
But there is no need to whip oneself
Quixotic acts were testing of one’s limitations
Concern for change was the sign of the ideal youth
With age comes understanding
That change one must
Before demanding others
Deep changes takes decades
Let people know through suffering- a better teacher

***
Now some say Marxism is moribund
The passionate prophet who foresaw the fall of capitalism
Churned and stirred many hearts and souls
Many leapt into the fire of revolution
Marx’s bright ideals turned the feet of the Rightists cold
The ruthless genius of Lenin
Had drawn the censure of irreverent Russel
Who earlier taught me rationalism and the value of knowledge
His powerful language and works moulded my thought
Where have they gone?
The undaunted practical maturity of Mao,
The tenacity of Ho-chi- Minh
And the immortal intransigence of Guevara and Castro
The dogmatic language shackled the fresh ideas
Humans have been sandwiched between godless communism and
God-damn-it capitalism
Rigidity killed creativity , cat killed curiosity.
The computer revolution has demolished the wall of communism
The specter of Consumerism has been haunting the globe
A hungry dog in a remote corner
A poor soul in search of job
A passionate heart in search of justice
Would still swear by Marxism
***
Art flees when politics dictate
Gorky, Orwell, Koestler, Howard Fast and Solzhenitsyn
Suffered from the ravages of bureaucratic Socialism
Gorbachev effected the market mode
Maverick Yeltsin continued the stride
Many small states spelt the doom of the USSR
It took the iron fist of Putin to bring order out of chaos
People desire freedom
The unleashing of controls heralded independence to satellite states
The Eastern Europe embraced market
Globalization has come to stay
With all its pros and cons
The west wind became stronger
***
People want bread as well as freedom
Freedom and Equality are Siamease twins
They prefer love to war, life to strife and soul to material comforts
Humanity will reach its destiny of happiness
Neither ration shops nor shopping malls would bring cheeriness
Environment is as vital as development
The evacuees must be rehabilitated
Poverty is the foe of humanity
Profit is the opponent of equality
Technology must serve the common people
Terrorism needs to understand its folly
State terror must cease its assault on democracy
Nation must learn discipline and the value of time and cleanliness
***
Urban areas are concrete jungles
Highways are gateways to death
The weavers are withering and the farmers are falling
The students are slaying themselves on the altar of corporatism
Education becomes a farce
Industries want readymade students to use and throw
Health and wealth are costly and inaccessible
Society is waiting for glamorous Godots
***
When I think of my youth
I don’t know whether to praise or despise my efforts
I felt volcanic emotions
That made me non-conformist
Frustration born of terrible economic conditions
Caused ennui, anger , a rebellion of mind
I spurned academics
I devoured all kinds of books
I roamed pasting posters, waging struggles, collecting funds
All those ‘significant’ acts
Now appear naive
A few years passed energetically
Asthma made me writhe in spasms of pain many days and nights
I began thinking
Who will cry when I die?
I didn’t relish becoming statistics
Rest made me think of alternative path
Tianman square incident
Turned me a journalist for a while
Soon my zeal turned in to restlessness
I felt that there was much to read and do
The lonely nights spent on the terrace
Increased my anguish
I took French leave
And later resigned the job
Then passed one and half year of anxious period
My attempts to restore law or journalism failed
After a painful gap I rejoined another university
That helped me regain my academic interests
***
Reading has become rare and a ware in the market
The pleasure of meeting an advanced mind
Became conspicuous by its absence
Prosperity or promotion alone justifies it now
An English teacher in an engineering college
Is always an aberration
When utility substituted beauty
I remember Narain’s failed English Teacher
The painter of ironies of love versus duty
***
Think and act creatively and
Know that interpretation makes
or mars an experience
SF and Technology show future
She sells sea shells on the seashore
He sells samosas in the shopping malls
Values were not fixed just in the past
They are for now as well as for tomorrow
***
Some times I wonder
Whether I did what I wanted to
Can you decide your time and context?
Attain deeper peace
That unites fermenting ideas
In to a wholesome dish
To serve the hungry and the needy
Give up your illusion of grandeur
Give into that goddess of art
Who gives the milk of creativity , sustains your patience
***
The blade of grass that swings to air is a dancer
The wayside forest fire that arrests your feet is a painter
The cloud- capped hills too capture your heart
The dogs which bear their pain in isolation
Teach you the art of life
Their faith is your substance of soul
Understand the joyous devotion to the divine
Art and history lie in the daily chores but not just in cataclysmic events
***
Life gives no zeal or glory
When we fight the mother earth
And forget the “inconvenient truth” by Al Gore
It is time to make peace with the planet or perish in pain
Shun the path to perdition
Stand before the posterity
With moral authority
We have to wage peace but not war
The rival is blamed and the self is exonerated
For the crime and sin of war
NOT stopped by the UNO
The rich nations may better share their prosperity
But not their penchant for violence
***
Who moved your cheese?
Is it changed times or outworn ideals?
Why is there so much reluctance
To desert the melting ground
My mind enjoys the zone of comfort
Has the joy of learning has yielded to
the drudgery of earning?
***
To be creative means permanent amateurism?
In my dictionary of life
Decades have sped by
In converting my destructive impulse into
A harmonious one
One letter separates Revolution from evolution
Change must come by compassion
Bayonet begets revenge
The eternal battle rages between love and hatred
History need not adore hatred
Since love has won once in a bluemoon
Peace precious, War vicious
Tolstoy tells futility of war
The dreams of glory are wrecked with a shot
The carrier of ensign and the soldier
Lying wounded dead with open eyes on the battlefield
staring at the azure sky
Knows war is Mutually Assured Destruction
Think , live and use words new

***
Outside the market
Human feels worthless
Do other creatures have market?
Do they measure their worth in rupees?
We ignore the
The real gods of truth, beauty and bliss
A Moses should come and chide these folks
Who wallow in the filth of wealth
A Gandhi should come and teach
LOVE TO THE LOVELESS CROWD
We need prophets not for a millennium
But for every decade
As our forgetfulness is infinite
Martin Luther and Mother Theresa
Are forgotten in favour of
Movie stars
We are senselessly sensuous
And irrationally irrational
Are war mongers but not peace mongers?
Let spiritual spring banish nuclear winter
***
When human acts like a super human
He may turn into a hunted animal like Saddam
when super power shuns superior reason
and reach the end of imagination
when people submit to savagery
when they lose the respect for life
civilization and barbarianism are synonyms
should India become a super power
like Britain, Germany , Russia or America
in enslaving the hapless nations?
India should be strong sans aggression
It should show super spirit of peace and nonviolence
Nuclear nightmare is no substitute to the sweet dream of life

***
The villages are perishing
The cities are bursting at seams
Jobs are as rare as white crows
Will kalam’s vision be realized or etherealized?
Cars are produced in plenty
Public transport is neglected
Rice is scarce
***
Our attitudes are downbeat
Our aspirations are upbeat
Our capacity for risk is minute
The youth of India can rejuvenate the nation
They can write prosperity
On the face of our country
Time and Synergy are theirs
They can rewrite our priorities
They can reinvent the lost fiber
They are heroes of the present
They only need encouragement

***

Love for life will win
Lust for death will bow its head
The spirit of man will and shall rise
The earth and the universe would outlive
The foolish man who plays God
The Scientists must show restraint
and avoid postmortem over death of compassion
***
Some times I agonize
Whether I have squandered my energy
The tussle between potentiality and possibility
Is not absolute
Conditions draw our boundaries
Your life energy flows in bounds
You feel freedom only in thoughts
The irrationality of life stares at you
The budding technologist becomes a victim
To mysterious force in the land of promise
Violence explodes in markets
What is the meaning of life?
What is the meaning of my life?
***
the till you live
work till you rest
the notorious history eats one and all
who miss the meaning of experience
the journey to Eldora do
is not a National highway
crisis means an opportunity / calamity
Be a wave in the sea of happiness
And cease to see duality between life and you
Live your life but not your job
A wave that breaks away from the sea
batters its head on a boulder
This compassionate universe is ever changing

***
See yourself as a part of nature
Never pollute yourself
See no difference between you and god and dog
See the entire world in you
Never send missile against your innate sky
The death of a single ant is equal
To Your death, not a disaster to nature
O Human! You lost your way
In your search for power
See, listen and think with your heart
Find a way out of labyrinth
Do not reach the end of your imagination
***
Why should a small girl
Jump from the terrace
For the sake of education
That promises rosy job?
Why stress, distress and depression
In the name of corporate education?
No other creature dies
For want of prosperous life
It is the privilege of corporate creature
***

Move from extravagance to prudence
Mediocrity to excellence
Corruption to honesty.
---

Balagopal at Pondicherry University

2009-10-13T04:20:00.000-07:00

Dr.K.Balagopal addressing on the theme of 'Philosophical foundations of Human Rights Movement' at a seminar organized by Department of Philosophy, Pondicherry University on 3 september 2005

Faculty and Students of Pondicherry University expressed their deep condolence to the great Human Rights Activist,Social Scientist,Literary Critic and mathematician, bold voice of the voiceless , K.Balagopal.

Against Brahminical Tradition: A Dalit Critique of Modernity

2009-08-16T03:13:00.000-07:00

Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం

My Mother

2009-08-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

My Mother
Nagendramma

Tapi Dharmarao: A Telugu Cultural Anthropologist

2009-08-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Tapi Dharmarao: A Telugu Cultural Anthropologist

P.Kesava Kumar

Tapi Dharmarao is the one of the founding fathers of telugu modernity through his distinctive writings of social sciences He is an eminent modern scholar, writer, literary critic, journalist, rationalist (hetuvadi) and a social scientist. Tapi dharma is a progressive non-brahmin intellectual. One of the founding members of Abhydaya Rachayitala Sangham (Arasam) He had reinterpreted the rituals and religious beliefs from the view point of modern social sciences, exclusively from anthropology. Through his writings he made an attempt to expose the superstitions and popular beliefs base on reason. He tried to provide scientific explanation to social and cultural practices.
He was a native of a village in Sreekakulam, and born in Berhampur on 19, September 1887. His father Tapi Appanna Naidu was a medical practitioner and mother’s name was Narasamma. His early education was in Sreekakulam till 1900. (till third form) and continued further in Rippan High school of Vizianagaram. He did his F.A. in Parlakhamidi. He was a pet student of Gidugu Ramamurthy at Parlakhamidi. He had completed his B.A. graduation from Pachayappa College, Madras.

Tapi dahamarao was a self made scholar. Initially to compete with Brahminical scholars, he was excelled in classical literature and Prabandhas and started writing in brahminical dialect called grandhikam. In the meantime he got in opportunity to read the world literature, while working as a tutor to the sons of zamindars. By that time west is marching ahead of modernity by questioning the religious authority and its practices. For the modern western philosophy, doubt becomes the source of knowledge. They adopted scientific approach to understand the social traditions and customs. In the early decades of 20th century social sciences got its prominence. In order to understand the religious and social behaviour of modern times, they started searching clues by exploring the primitive societies. Though the colonial scholars had certain prejudices against the colonized or primitive societies, but produced significant knowledge about earlier human societies. Tapi dharmarao got inspired by this social science method and started introspecting about telugu society. In the light of available anthropological writings of the west, he started analyzing the institutions such as marriage, sex and kinship; and religion and temple, which plays the crucial role in human civilization. Though his writings contain commentaries and social explanations of the continuing traditions, but had great political implications. To share his modern views to larger public, he adopted spoken language and changed his style. However, his writings were a serious blow to religious world view in general and brahminical ideology in particular. His writings are popular and path breaking in telugu society.
The prominent writings of Tapi Dharmarao are ‘Devalayala Meeda Bhutu Bommalenduku?’ ‘Pelli- Dani Puttupurvotharalu’, ‘Inupakatchadalu’, ‘Pathapali’, ‘Kotha Pali’, ‘All India Adukkutinevalla Mahasabha’, ‘Sahityamormaralu’. ‘Rallu-Rappalu’ is a biography of Tapi that covers from 1887 to 1908.Apart from this, he was the trend setter in telugu journalism. He introduced the spoken language in journalism. For some time, he worked as an editor for telugu magzines ‘Kondegadu’ and ‘Janavani’. In 1940, he was established a popular weekly named ‘Kagada’. Tapi Dharmarao was the founder of book publications named Veguchkka Grandhamala.
.

The essays containing Devalayameeda boothubommalenduku were first published in prajamithra edited by Gudavalli Ramabraham. This book deals about the sexual performances in temples as a part of religious reverence. He provides many anthropological details about the nude sculpture of temples as a part of carrying tradition. In contemporary times, these nude figures have symbolic meanings and reveal the cultural and sexual life of earlier societies. This reminds the free sex in society in general and sexual performance in the temples to please the gods in particular. In this way, Tapi Dharmarao as a social scientist directly hits the claims of so called morality and regulated sexuality of contemporary hindu society.

Chastity Belts are the symbols of patriarchal society. Patrirachial society is well equipped with various social conventions and religious practices to control women. The chastity belts are the brutal expression of male power over women. Where as the other means are cultural and religious, and the chastity belt is the physical assault over women’s freedom. Tapi Dharmarao’s Inupa katchadalu (iron Chastity belts) is the direct attack on feudal and patrirachial ideals, which are continuing one form or other through custom. He gives an historical note about this. He illustrates this point through the available literary and cultural narratives. He got fired over siggubilla samskriti.

Pedda Puli

2009-05-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

2009-05-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Of Satyam and Asatyam

Patibandla Srikant
Research Scholar
Institute for Social and Economic Change
Nagarbhavi, Bangalore – 560072.
Email: psrikant@isec.ac.in

As the New Year celebrations were continuing, B. Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam shocked everyone by announcing that, ‘profits were inflated’ to a tune of Rs. 7,100 crore. The immediate reaction was very sharp from various sections of the society. Scathing remarks were made saying that this is ‘shameful’, ‘cheating’, ‘instance of human greed’, ‘horrifying event’, ‘India’s Enron’ and many other such statements were made. While such scams have been common in India, uncommon was the severe reactions that evoked in the aftermath of Raju’s resignation. Even when the Global Trust Bank (GTB) also inflated the profits in the past, the reaction and resultant criticism were not as sharp as in the case of Satyam.

There were similar scams in the industrial sector in the past and there will be so in the future too. What makes the Satyam scam so significant is that – first of its kind by an IT company. However, one is not aware whether this money has been swindled or it has been really faked. Either way the news came as a severe shock to many in the industry and also the general public. The scam has hit the belief of the investors and shareholders alike in times of recession. Further the morale of the IT workforce, clients and IT industry as a whole received a severe set back.

Ramalinga Raju founded Satyam in 1987 and ever since there was no looking back for Satyam under the leadership of Raju. He received many awards with regard to business and leadership skills. Similarly Satyam too received many awards as a role model company. Currently, Satyam is the biggest IT firm in India with more than 50,000 employees and worldwide presence. Satyam has a certain image among the IT workforce, investors and shareholders that Satyam stands for transparency, accountability and efficiency. Such was the trust on Satyam that even when the World Bank banned Satyam of any future transactions with the bank, shareholders still stuck to Satyam.

Now there is a general mood that people have been cheated. Hence, the New Year scam has evoked sharp reactions from various sections of the society. Why did the general public felt that they were cheated, particularly ignoring other similar scams? This sense of betrayal has its roots in the manner in which the media, industry and policy makers generally projected the IT industry. Ever since the growth of information technology the IT industry was projected as an example of corporate governance – transparency, accountability, efficiency and non-corrupt. This had a spillover effect on governments with many arguing that the same should be adopted in governing people. The czars of the IT industry – B. Ramalinga Raju, N. R. Narayan Murthy, Azim Premzi – were projected as the trinity of the industry and the new poster boys of the middle class dreams.

IT was also projected as the one time solution to many problems that country is facing. As a result working in companies like Infosys, Satyam, Wipro was regarded as a status symbol, where a job in one such industries was perceived to be more prestigious than a gazetted officer in the government. Thus a certain kind of aura was spin-doctored around the IT industry and its top leadership.

The Rs. 7,100 crore scam only shattered those myths. As a result, a heavy dose of criticism is being aired out against B. Ramalinga Raju, not because of the scam but for bursting the myth surrounding the IT industry. Meanwhile, the IT industry would recoup the economic loss as and when the recession ends, but what is at stake is the non-corrupt, transparent, accountable and efficient image of the IT industry.

2009-05-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Potatoes: My First Introduction to Politics

Patibandla Srikant

Thinking of potatoes and politics, one might question the link between both apart from both the words beginning with ‘p’. I was under the same impression until one day I bumped in to the inextricable political link between potatoes and politics. In the hostel mess of our University campus they serve potatoes for lunch and dinner on all seven days of the week. After a point of time this became unbearable and all the students took our plates and barged in to the kitchen to catch the cook (after the incident some say we rushed in to thrash him, others say we just wanted to question). Cook reasoned it out to us saying whatever the mess manager supplies he cooks, thereby implying that he is only a weapon, while actual culprit is the mess manager. Immediately we barged in to the hostel office. By this time the crowd has sobered down a little bit. The manager pushed the accounts book towards us and told us with the money being allocated only potatoes would come (apparently potatoes are cheap in this part of the world). Some raging students asked him who is allocating the money. Finance officer, came the reply.

Just when I thought the saga is complete, as no body may be interested in questioning the finance officer. But the enthusiastic students wanted to find out the potato culprit and get rid of him/her along with potatoes. Little did we know, at that time, that we are heading for a long journey. By this time we were already in front of finance officer’s chamber. The finance officer – middle aged lady – listened to our potato problem with patience. After everything was done from your side, she just washed away her hands saying the allocation of funds is actually decided by the vice-chancellor. That’s the moment – any single issue against the VC we are always to take him on directly. With increasing excitement at every step, some of us felt like detective a la Sherlock Holmes with nobody playing Dr. Watson. When we heard VC’s name, we thought we had the potato culprit finally in our hands. The poor VC showed us all the accounts with total amount received from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and total expenditure under various heads. He had to cancel all his appointments for the day and he sat with us nearly for three hours and explained with enduring patient levels to all the questions that we rose.

We came out of the VC’s chamber with a sense of triumph. But then the story does not end here, because the VC named UGC as the culprit. Apparently it is the UGC that decides which university gets how much amount and all that related. So straight we got in to the campus bus and bullied the driver to drive down to the UGC bus. The bus was fully packed with some sitting on top of the bus. Some other promising detectives took city bus to the UGC office. Finally, with all the sloganeering on the way we reached UGC office with much fanfare and excitement. We reached the UGC office and raised our voice demanding the UGC Chairman to come out and meet us. After ten minutes or so the UGC Chairperson emerged out of the building with a genuine smile. Immediately our detective skills came out and we started grilling him for giving us potatoes. He told us that the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) only grants UGC a certain amount and in turn UGC distributes it to all the universities across the country accordingly. The same base that we came from campus was still there and this time the driver was much cooperative and drove down to MHRD. When we reached the MHRD, we found that only the Deputy Minister was present in the office. When he came out we pleaded to him our sad story of potatoes and coming from south India, he seemed to be sympathetic to our story. But when it came to taking the responsibility he was helpless. He told us that the MHRD is restricted on its expenses by the World Bank and the IMF as a part of the structural adjustments programme. That is when we understood the real potato culprits are the World Bank and the IMF

We realized that we cannot ferry the same bus to New York or Washington and we started thinking the reasons behind the restrictions of the World Bank and the IMF with regard to the government’s expenditure on higher education. Somebody in the crowd commented, “shit man! as long as we remain apolitical we will suffer the onslaught of the World Bank or the IMF either in the form of potatoes or in some other form. Lets protest against the World Bank and the IMF.” We all agreed with him realizing that we are not eating ordinary potatoes…but with under currents of politics.

This whole process of finding out reasons for our daily potatoes actually opened our eyes in the manner politics operate. That is when we felt although we maintain our distance from politics be being so called ‘apolitical’, still politics influences our day-to-day activities. Thus it is better to choose the right kind of politics so that we can have right kind of policies for our future. Choose correct politics for a better future, because it is politics that decides our future.

A Taste of Group Politics

2009-05-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

A Taste of Group Politics

Patibandla Srikant

Some time back I was sitting in the balcony of my friend’s apartment and sipping scotch on one rainy evening. Naturally the talk shifted to the day of college and University. My friend narrated a story from his university days, which exemplifies the significance of group politics in India. He None of the 80 students knew each other, but they have only one unifying force that is they are all students. Secondly, they have strong unwritten rules like trouble for one is trouble for all; trouble for all is trouble for none. That is how they all got down in Bellary station even though not everybody knew the student caught by the TC. That is the strength of group politics. That is how the poor and suppressed groups, in spite of being powerless, still assert themselves in groups within the public space.studied in SK University, Anantpur and was a hostelite. The students in this relatively unknown university have a tradition of traveling in groups by train. If somebody wants to see a place they will simply put up the notice in the hostels and the train timings along with the time to assemble at the railway station. At the prescribed time around 75-100 students would assemble at the railway station and they will board a general compartment (if it is too packed) or at times in to reserved compartment without tickets. Once they reach the destination they part their ways and decide on return date and time. Thus, they used to travel free of cost by trains without any hassles. However, once they did encounter a problem…

One fine morning there was a notice inviting students for a trip to Hampi along with the date and timings. After one week around 80 people assembled at the Anantpur railway station at the assigned time. When the train came, all the 80 students boarded in to reserved compartments and they decided that they would stick to two compartments and they should go beyond those prescribed two compartments. Everything was going on well, when a TC spotted one among them and started hunting him. The spotted one tried to evade the TC by repeatedly changing places, going to toilet and all that. Finally the TC caught him in Bellary station and pulled him out of the train.

However, the remaining 79 students too got down from the town in solidarity with the lone student. They surrounded the TC and started requesting and demanding the lone person be released. TC did not listen to them, assuming train would start at any moment and all of them would board the train. As the TC thought, the train started moving and with lightening speed all the 79 students ran along with the train, got in to the train and pulled the chain. Train stopped with a loud keeeccch sound. After the train stopped again all the 79 students came back and surrounded the TC to release their comrade. TC, realizing, that the students would not allow the train to move, finally he succumbed to their demand and let off the student. All the students gaining victory finally boarded the train. Meanwhile TC called up the Hospet railway station and updated with the happenings of the day and added that 80 students traveling without tickets.

So the Hospet railway authorities posted railway police and some reserve police in order to handle the students as soon as they get down from the train. At the other end, not knowing all this students were happily coming in the train singing and dancing. Morning when they were nearing Hospet, one among them shouted saying this is the way to Hampi. Immediately another fellow pulled the chain and thus they got down at the outskirts of Hospet and proceeded to Hampi. While the students were enjoying in Hampi, the reserve police along with the railway police were waiting for the action of the day on the platforms of Hospet railway station.

Finally, in the evening all the students reached Hospet railway station for their return journey. One of them was approached by a TC and asked him if they were students from Anantpur. With curiosity this person nodded in affirmative and asked the TC why he was enquiring and how did he know about them? Then the TC narrated the entire story from Bellary and the railway police along with reserve police waiting for them whole day in the station and returning with disappointment.

None of the 80 students knew each other, but they have only one unifying force that is they are all students. Secondly, they have strong unwritten rules like trouble for one is trouble for all; trouble for all is trouble for none. That is how they all got down in Bellary station even though not everybody knew the student caught by the TC. That is the strength of group politics. That is how the poor and suppressed groups, in spite of being powerless, still assert themselves in groups within the public space.

Inaugaration of Dalita Vudhyamam-Velugu Needalu

2009-04-18T02:08:00.000-07:00

Vidyasagar, I.A.S, Chief Guest

Dr.K.satyanarayana, Dalit Scholar and Activist

Kalekuri Prasad, Eminent Dalit Poet

Juluri Gowrishankar, Eminent Poet,

Secretary, Telangana Writers Association

Palnati Sreeramulu, Founder of Bahujanakeratalu, Dalit Magzine

Kesava Kumar, author of Dalita Vudhyamam-Velugu Needalu

Mahe Jabeen, Poet

Darla. Venkateswara Rao, Dalit Writer and Scholar

Challapalli.Swaroopa Rani, Editor, Bahujanakeratalu

Dalit Writer and Scholar

Varavara Rao, Revolutionary Writer

2009-04-18T02:05:00.000-07:00

Bojja Tarakam, Dalit Leader

Inaugaration of my book 'Dalita Vudhyamam-Velugu Needalu'

2009-04-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

Juluri Gowrishankar

2009-04-18T01:47:00.000-07:00

Inaugaration of my book Dalita Vudhyamam-Velugu Needalu

కలేకూరి , దార్ల, విద్యాసాగర్ , కేశవ కుమార్ , జూలూరి, బొజ్జా తారకం , కే.సత్యనారాయణ

CV

2009-04-18T01:22:00.000-07:00

CV
(14.01.1930- )

We Too Need a Cultural Revolution

(Manakee Kavali O Samskritika Viplavam)
Cittajallu Varahala Rao is popularly known as CV in telugu society. CV is one of the prominent thinkers in initiating the debates of alternative culture in Andhra. He is a culminating point of rationalist, atheist, Marxist and dalit movements. He is a cultural warrior and wrote many books in propagating alternative culture to brahminical culture and philosophy. His views on caste, class and religion are novel and remarkable. He got influenced by Jashuva and Ambedkar.
CV was born to Laxmidevamma and Venkata Chalapathy on 14.01.1930. He belongs to Guntur town of coastal Andhra. His father is a freedom fighter and painter and participated in non –cooperation movement.He finished his SSLC in 1947, inter and B.A in Andhra christain college, Guntur, he is classmate of the famous revolutionary dalit poet sivasagar and complted his master’s degree in economics in madras Christian college in the year 1953.while his stay at madras, most of his time spent in Kannemera library. The notes he had taken there are useful in writing books on alternative culture, in later days.
He is actively associated with Marxist movement of fifties. To express his views he selected initially the medium of poetry and later prose. He defines kavitvam in his own words, Brain typhoid vedi + hrudayam baddalayye badha= trinetram lanti kavitvam. Satyakama Jabali, Narabali , Yedukondala vada Govinda.. Govinda are popular books. Apart from poet, he is researcher, historian and philosopher of subalterns. Manakee kavalo Samskritika viplavam (We Too Need a Cultural Revolution) is an important intervention in Marxist revolutionary politics of telugu society. He reminds the Indian Marxists, the need of culture change simultaneously with political change. His ideas are even relevant today. Even prior to contemporary dalit politics, his ideas on Indian society and caste system are worth considering. His writings created a ground for later dalit movement. He introduced the Kusuma Dharmanna, the submerged dalit leader of 1930s, to the larger public. Kusuma Dharmanna led the Adi Andhra movement and voiced against the dominance of upper caste. CV’s books are popular among the youth of alternative thinking. Indeed, his provocative books make the readers to question the system and its inhuman practices in the name religion. He wrote nearly 30 books and published on his own. For this he faced lot of difficulty in publishing the books. Some of the prominent books are Vishada Bharatam (1955-60), Karuchhekatlo Kanti Rekhalu (1960s), Narabali (1970s, 12 editions), Satyakamajabali (1972), Paris commune (1975),Vulloki Swamuloru Vemchesaro, Yedukondalavada Govinda ….Govinda, Sambhuka vadha, are in the form of poetry. Varna Vyavastha 3vol., Manakee Kavali O Samskritika Viplavam, Rama Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masid, Darwin Prinamavadam, Sindhu Nagarikatha, Bharata Jateeya Punarujjevanam, are in prose.His Narabali is translated into Kannada by Narayana Swamy and Karucheekatlo Kanti Rekhalu into English by Vegunta Mohana Prasad.
His writings are always provocative and aimed to question the dominance and exploitation. For him, message is important and ideas must reach the toiling masses. He wrote even with some other names to protect himself from the state and brahminical society. Because of his radical spirit, some believe that he is a Naxalite. He wrote uncompromisingly against the inhuman Hinduism and exposed its irrationality by using the method of reason. Hindutva forces attacked him for his writings, Vulloki Swamulu Vemchesaro and Rama janma Bhoomi -Babri Masjid. To observe closely the activities of Sringeri pethadipathi on his visit to Bezawada, CV attend as devotee by wearing sacred thread. From this observation of swamiji wrote a critical note titled Vulloki Swamulu vemchesaro. His book Yedukondalavada Govinda Govinda is a powerful critique of suprabhatam. He believes that religion is more dangerous than any liquor (Sara in telugu).Brahmins could capture any thing and destroy it. The alternative religion such a Budhism is corrupted and destroyed by them. In Andhra, Buddhism ends with lanjadibbalu. On commenting non-brahmin moment, he says that there is no significant change took place. In place of Brahmins, Kamma Brahmins came to the front. The dalits are carried tags such as sastry and sharma to their names.
CV is very critical about Indian Marxists. CV has a courage enough to criticize the communists in a place like Vijayawada , which has the stronghold of communists. He felt that communists in this country are thieves, but the communism is great. In this country the exploited people/poor people (peedita prajalu) are nothing but dalits. CV observed that Marxists were never thought of dalit even a single minute. Dalits are moved towards dalit movement, it is precisely because of the communists, who are not bothered about the caste. CV has the strong conviction that no revolution in this country is successful without awakening of dalits.
CV recollects his days that marxits are not only bothered about caste but also not allowed to read the books of Ambedkar. Marxists often treated Ambedkar as casteist (Kulavadi).Not only about Ambedkar, the communists are monitored to see that no literature is available about the people who are fighting against the caste system. Nothing is informed about Kusuma Dharmanna o the larger public, who is committed for the cause of liberation of daalits till the CV written book about him. In later days, it is happen in case of CV’s writings. They are not allowed to keep the books in the book stalls like prajasakti.
CV and his writings are known for his nastikatvam (atheism) and hetuvadam (rationalism).He is actively involved in both the movements and propagated these ideals all over Andhra. In his speeches he keeps on emphasizing against the caste and religion .He observed that the even rationalists are not concerned to talk about issues of caste. CV is critical of those people.
CV has responded the many debates of his times. His intervention is considered as crucial and worth noting. In his reply to noted Marxist Ranganayakamma’s comments on the movements of Hetuvadam and Nastikodyamam, without simultaneous Cultural Revolution, the problems will not resolve against the view of Ranganayakamma, with socialism all the problems will resolve.
CV is the great admirer of Sree Sree. He wrote a public letter to Sree Sree, Makakaviki Ekalavyuni Bahiranga lekha, in the context of post 1955 elections. CV claims that Sree Sree wrote Khadga Srusti, after his criticism.
CV introduced the alternative cultural symbols such as ekalavya and sambhuka. He wrote a piece on Sambhuka Vadha. Sambhuka was not known popularly to telugu society till CV writes. Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary wrote after him on sambhuka. The contemporary dalit movement appropriated these symbols in their struggles against brahminism.
CV wrote many books and put forward many arguments from dalit bahujana perspective/subaltern perspective. He wrote three volumes on varnavyavastha and a book on Manu Dharma Sastram-Sudra Dalita Banisatvam. Some of the important pages are deleted from this book.
Though CV is not much aware of the dalit writings came after Karamchedu, but his writings have laid foundation for contemporary dalit movement and literature. CV made a point that today we could not talk about dalit movement, without considering the critical views on caste by carvakas and lokayatas about two thousand years back. In other words, dalit movement must build on the solid foundations of Indian materialism.