The other side of life.
Schrada Bail
New Indian Express
January 8th, 2006.
'Dalits in Dravidian Land'
portrays such spirited actions with rare understanding, bringing a depth to
Dalit studies that goes well beyond mere reportage.
Dalits in Dravidian Land: Frontline Reports on Anti-dalit Violence in Tamil Nadu (1995-2004)
S Viswanathan.
Continued hostility towards dalits by powerful backward castes is widely
reported from the Northern states, with each fresh carnage of burnt homes,
looting, and rape reinforcing the image of a violent countryside. In Tamil
Nadu however, Dravidian politics has successfully marginalised Dalit
concerns in such a way that readers of the news and intellectuals outside
the state may well imagine that Dalits and BCs co-exist peacefully. This,
along with Tamil Nadu's comparatively clean record of communal clashes,
gives the state its reputation for calm and peace.
S Viswanathan has been reporting for Frontline for over ten years on Dalit
issues and this book is a compilation of the eventful decade of 1995 to
2004, when violence against Dalits has been on the rise, and their
political organisation and articulation has also been more evident. Through
reports that examine the geographic spread of anti-Dalit attacks, from the
southern districts to northern and western Tamil Nadu, Viswanathan looks
closely at the issues that define the Dalit experience in modern
independent India. Police brutality and the use of excessive force against
legitimate popular demonstrations by Dalit groups, including the infamous
incident on the banks of the Thamiraparani river in Tirunelveli in 1999,
when 17 workers were beaten and killed, has been narrated in report after
report. Attacks to prevent Dalits from exercising their votes, and
appalling incidents like the Thinniyam instance when dalits were made to
eat excreta have been written about in detail, with close interaction with
the principal characters. But what brings cheer is the documentation of
courage and resistance among Dalits, whether it is the emergence of Puthiya
Tamizhagam, or the efforts of an individual like Yasoda Ekambaram against
illicit liquor trafficking in Tiruvallur. 'Dalits in Dravidian Land'
portrays such spirited actions with rare understanding, bringing a depth to
Dalit studies that goes well beyond mere reportage.
Gita Ramaswamy's book is a well-argued case for the engagement of the
larger community with the issues that plague the lives of safai
karamcharis.
India Stinking: Manual Scavengers in Andhra Pradesh and Their Work
Gita Ramaswamy.
Institutionalised indifference to fellow human beings as represented by the
caste system is unique to India. This assumes a particularly stark form
when one considers the practice of manual scavenging - the daily picking up
of human excreta by hand from public 'dry latrines', as described in this
book, or from alongside town roads, as shown in 'Pee', R P Amudhan's film
that won first place in the inaugural 'One Billion Eyes' documentary and
short film festival held in Chennai recently.
India Stinking focuses on the practice of manual scavenging in Andhra
Pradesh, but brings to the fore many issues that bear discussion at every
level and region in our society. For instance, in profiling the activities
of the Safai Karamchari Andolan or SKA led by Bezwada Wilson, the book
demonstrates conclusively that nothing short of abolishing the 'dry
latrine' system can bring about a change in public sanitation and a
restoration of human dignity. In addition, from Bezwada Wilson's spirited
rebuttal of the Gandhian approach of calling scavenging a 'noble'
profession, and from the Appendix of Gandhi and Ambedkar's differing views
on scavengers and scavenging, it is evident that untouchability as it
translates into actual modern town and urban practice has to be vigorously
examined and overcome.
Gita Ramaswamy's book is a well-argued case for the engagement of the
larger community with the issues that plague the lives of safai
karamcharis. How can we allow what goes on to go on? How can we reinforce
ritual discrimination with State support? What are we doing with the laws
and legislation that was meant to end such practices? Through its
documentation of the efforts of the SKA, the book asks such tough questions
and more.
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