“The
ideal is to be men, but to be men is to be oppressors”. – Pedagogy of the
Oppressed
As I was
reading Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, I came across a lot of
concepts some of which I wanted to analyse in regard to the Dalit Community I
was focusing on my last blog. When thinking about the difference between the
oppressor and the oppressed, the oppressor is always someone who has some kind
of power and control over the oppressed who are the subjects of exploitation, injustice,
and violence. According to its etymology, "Dalit" comes from the
Sanskrit term "Dalita," which meaning "oppressed." It does
not just represent the lower caste people, but includes all the people who are
poor, exploited, are subject to violence and are marginalised from the society
due to various reasons out of which caste is one of the important factors.
The oppressed as oppressors or sub- oppressors
As Freire
mentions that instead of working towards their own emancipation in the early
stages of the fight, the oppressed frequently wind-up becoming oppressors
themselves, or "sub-oppressors.” The Dalit community is split up into
numerous subcastes. Leather workers, street sweepers, cobblers, agricultural
workers, and manual "scavengers" are some of the Dalits' subgroups.
The latter group, officially estimated at one million people, is tasked with
clearing human waste from the streets, digging village cemeteries, and
disposing of dead animals (Hans,2016). Additionally, the Dalit women are the
most vulnerable as they are dominated and oppressed by the patriarchy outside
in the society as well as the patriarchy that exists within their own
community, they are doubly- oppressed and marginalised beings in the society.
“Fear
of Freedom”, Prescription and Internalization
Freedom is
not an ideal that exists outside of humanity, nor is it a concept that develops
into a myth. Instead, it is a prerequisite for the search for human fulfilment
(Freire, 1968). For so many centuries the Dalit community has been
discriminated, that over time they have internalized the rules forced upon them
by the oppressors. The situation of the community in the earlier times could be
compared to Apartheid in South Africa as the community was segregated, denied
their basic human rights, and dehumanized for belonging to a certain community.
They were denied education, work, access to healthcare services, housing etc,
they were known and called as the ‘untouchables’ which in itself explains the ill
treatment they were subject to. They were pushed into a liminal space where
they voice, and plea was unheard and ignored by the oppressors who held the
power for many years.
True
Solidarity
One of the
major figures that fought for the Dalit rights was Dr. B.R Ambedkar. There was
little hope for the Dalits’ situation to improve because they had no place in
politics. They continued to drudge through their dismal lives. Dr. Ambedkar
served as a symbol for the Dalits and their issue. He came from a class that
was oppressed and rebelled against a long-standing social structure. Hindu
imperialism, in Ambedkar's opinion, was to the untouchables what British
imperialism was to India. He opposed injustice and imperialism in all its
manifestations and across human society (Kumari, P., 2019). Ambedkar could be
called the symbol of true solidarity according to Freire as he resonated and
stood up for his people to improve their situation by bringing in various amendments
in regard to Dalit community in the Indian Constitution.
Today the
situation of the Dalit community has improved in many ways but still there are many injustices taking place against the community, especially the women
who are prone to abuse and violence which must be eliminated at all costs. The
community is still fighting for their rights to blur the line which kept them separated
from the society for so many years. Every human has the right to autonomy,
individuality, dignity and civility thus caste based inequality in India has to
eradicated in order to evolve as a society.
REFERENCES
Cherechés, B. (2023). Unveiling the
Oppressed Body: Female Dalit Body Politics in India through Baburao Bagul and
Yashica Dutt. Humanities, 12(4), 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/h12040063
Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed:
50th Anniversary Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Hans, V. B. (2013). Dalits in India:
From marginalisation to inclusion. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2323268
Kumari,P. (2019). A study of Dalit
consciousness of Dr. B.R. Ambadkar. IJAR, 5(7).
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