Soiled Tracks

Brings out the ideological hang-ups that encourage manual scavenging and needs to be read by every civilised citizen of India.

Kancha Ilaiah

Outlook
January 16, 2006.

Instead of creating a technology to remove human excreta from houses, the pandits took the easy way out by condemning a particular caste to do the job. Even when the technology was available, our Brahminical bureaucracy was unwilling to abolish manual scavenging. How the combination of caste and urbanisation has contributed to the persistence of the most inhuman of jobs is revealed in this small but significant book.

Gita Ramaswamy's book evolved out of her work in the campaign to demolish the infamous dry latrine system that still prevails in Andhra Pradesh, home to over two lakh dry latrines. Despite being banned in '93, manual scavenging persists even in the 21st century.

The book brings out the ideological hang-ups that encourage manual scavenging. It points out the limits of Communist ideology, so long as it remains caste-blind. It shows how this abominable system was allowed by every successive ruling party because of the Gandhian understanding that the Bhangis were born to do this work-just like a mother cleans her child's nappies. It cites Ambedkar's argument that if this work was/is so sacred, why don't the upper castes take it up? This book needs to be read by every civilised citizen of India.
View original article

A national shame
S.Viswanathan
The Hindu, 31 January 2006

Soiled Tracks
Kancha Ilaiah
Outlook, 16 January 2006

The other side of Life
Scharada Bail
New Indian Express, 8 January 2006

Tamil Nadu's Dalit saga
C T Kurien
Frontline, 18 November 2005

The caste struggle
Vijay Prashad
Biblio, Vol X, No 9,10, September-October 2005

Dalit situation in Tamil Nadu
K. Nagaraj
The Hindu, 23 August 2005

Reforms with a Dalit Face?
Arvind Rajagopal
Economic and Political Weekly, December 4 2004

An Honest Diary
Ramesh Bairy T S
Deccan Herald, 7 November 2004

Review of Chandra Bhan Prasad's book
Harsh Sethi
Seminar, # 539, July 2004

Touchable theories
Ramesh Bairy T S
Deccan Herald, Sunday, June 27, 2004

Provoking debates
Shanta Gokhale
Literary Review, The Hindu 7 March 2004

Of identity politics and caste
Gita Ramaswamy
Sunday New Indian Express 11 January 2004

Religious Fundamentalism and Science
Deepa Kandaswamy
www.oncewritten.com

Caste, and more caste
V. Padma
The Week, 18 Jan 2004

An emerging voice
Shonali Muthalaly
The Hindu November 10 2003

New publisher gives voice to Dalit literature
Papri Sri Raman
Indo-Asian News Service, Chennai Nov 10