Dalit Organising in India

en

Bijay Singh

The Dalit and Adivasi Liberation Trust (DALiT) was established by a groups of dalit men and women in 1996. The goal of DALiT is to empower the dalit (so-called untouchables) and adivasi (aboriginal people) communities by initiating different development programs and peace-building measures in specific geographical area in a non-political, non-religious and nonviolent manner. At present, DALiT works in two Gram Panchayats (villages) of Kandhamal and GaJapati district of the state of Orissa along the Eastern Gbat Mountains about 3300 feet above the sea level. DALiT works with Panas, a sub caste within the dalit community and Kandhas within adivasi community. To date, DALiT has not received any foreign funding for its programs.

In general, dalit means the oppressed and suppressed people. They are the so-called untouchables. Although the practice of untouchability practice was formally abolished by India's constituion, it is far from over. The "touch-them-not practice" may have gone away in urban areas, but it continues in many rural areas. The negative impact of caste system on the dalits is so great that it is difficult to measure and explain, having penetrated the social, economic and even spiritual spheres of the dalit community for millennia. If we isolate and examine the poorest families in any part of the country, we will find at least 70 families out of 100 families belong to the dalit community. Space does not permit an exhaustive examination of the wretched condition of dalits in general or the Pana community in particular. So let me say something about the Pana community, who are the majority in DALiT's programs.

The traditional caste-based occupation of the Pana community is carrying dead animals and skinning the dead cattle. They were the part of scavenging community. But for some centuries, their traditional occupation has been a viable way to earn a livelihood. Because the community members traditionally did not possess property and had no other skills, the loss of their traditional occupation caused their entire social safety net to break down. Today, community members exist largely as agricultural laborers and subsistent farmers. About eighty years ago, European missionaries spread Christianity through the area where DALiT's projects currently work. Many believe that a desire to overcome poverty and relief from untouchability might have motivated the Pana community to convert to Christianity. Unfortunately, the two conditions did not change, rather they intensified and became complex. What we have discovered through the programs of DALiT is that one of the greatest problems facing this community is their own inferiority complex.

Another target group of DALiT are the Kandhas. In some ways, their condition is even worse than the Panas, even though they are do not suffer from untouchability. The main occupation of the Kandhas community is agricultural labor. Because most are illiterate and naïve, they are the targets of exploitation. Like the Panas, a major problem for the Kandhas is an inferiority complex.

In DALiT we feel that poor socio-economic conditions aggravate the dalits and adivasis lack self-confidence and self-reliance-factors that leads to a sense of inferiority. This inferiority complex is the major impediment to the long-term development of these communities. How does the inferiority complex manifest itself? It means not being able to feel good about our background and to hide it whenever possible. It means fear of being identified as dalits in the presence of others and fear of the suggestion that I got the job or entrance to the university because of a caste quota. It means hating oneself for belong to the dalit community and not being proud of the dialects we spoke. It means living with the fear of being identified at a temple or restaurant and hiding one's heritage by adopting the cultural traits of another group, even at the cost of our own (sanscritization). It means a deep-seated belief that nothing will happen through our efforts because we have been taught to believe that we have not accomplished anything historically.

In DALiT we believe that if members of the communities that we work with overcome their inferiority complex then we will be confident to do what others are able to do. While we think that the provision of material benefits and anti-discrimination measures (like reserving some jobs and seats in the schools and colleges for oppressed groups) might help in the short run, long term development requires that we see our own worth and potential. We need to see that we can develop on our own. To realize that dream, we need to overcome the inferiority complex.

We believe that inferiority complex is a deeply rooted problem in our communities. To root it out we need long-term programs and varied methods. One cannot simple develop a project called "inferiority complex removal program" or expect that a one-time training course will solve the problem. The change needs to take place not only at an intellectual level but also deep inside the heart. On a the programmatic level, our efforts to remove the sense of inferiority are interwoven with many other activities, such as the pre?primary school program, self?help groups, watershed committee meetings, village development committee meetings, and youth camps. In

these activities, we hammer out the same message again and again: we are not inferior even if we belong to lower caste. The caste system is not made by God, but is a system made by humans. We have the same human features and potential as anyone else, so let us take pride in our own identity and let us develop spiritual practices to strengthen our sense of self-worth. Let us promote a culture of our own.

To be more concrete, I will say something about my own experience and how I find my personal power. It is not easy for me to talk about myself-it feels like beating my own drum. But I decided to put on a brave face to share something because it is important to my community and the work we are trying to accomplish.

I am an Indian. I belong to the Pana sub-caste. I try to practice Christianity. I am 43 years old, married with two children. I have completed two post-graduate degree courses and worked with national and international development organizations inside and outside India. I am the founding member and president of DALiT. While I was growing up, I endured many humiliating experiences because of my untouchable background. As recently as ten years ago, I felt so badly about my social background that I rarely told anyone my correct caste and religion. If someone would ask, and people usually ask, I would deliberately lie. Many experiences haunted me and my lies began to pile up. At times, I would get caught in my lies and my sense of humiliation would only increase. I felt terribly bad. This is likely the reason for my high blood pressure.

Then, in 1985, I had the opportunity to attend a personality growth training course at Amadabad. At the beginning of the course, the trainer asked me about my caste background but I did not tell him the truth. Ironically, the course was designed to help remove inhibition. Only after several years did I realize the true impact of that training course. The source of my greatest inhibition was my caste-based inferiority complex. After recognizing that there is nothing is wrong with me simply because I belong to a particular caste or religion, I felt liberated.

Slowly my confidence grew and I felt that I could to do better and different things. I started talking to others about how they felt about their dalit background and I observed that their feelings and experiences were similar to mine. After that, I thought that I should do something for the member of my community to help them overcome our inferiority complex. It's not that I have overcome my inferiority complex entirely, but I feel quite alright about my background. Last year I left my international job and currently I am back in my village working with dalit and adivasi communities.

I have read some useful books including one by the Honorable Sulak SivaTaksa's called, Seeds of Peace, which mentions that to work through a difficult situation, we need to have personal power. It says, "We need to drink from our own wells." We need the power to endure suffering. This power is the moral strength of a person. From this power comes the legitimacy to lead an organization or a community. I believe that this power comes more from inside the heart than it does from the knowledge and skills a person has. To harness this power, we require constant practice for spiritual growth.

I am not good at consistent spiritual practice-it varies from time to time and has its up and down periods for me-but I attempt to do something to grow personally. Included in my usual routine are a few activities: I get up a little early in the morning, read a passage from the Bible (usually a daily reading book of scripture) and try to meditate on the words. I try to go deep inside to understand how my body feels and what my general emotions are in the morning. Then I plan the day's work. In the evening, before I go to bed, I try to reflect on the day's events-where I got positive energy and where I got the negative energy. Then I go to sleep with a short prayer. I have noticed that when my intentions are honest and efforts sincere, I felt more powerful. And I had the feeling that the power had a legitimate basis. This power gives me happy feelings and a sense of achievement that I am being true to myself. I have also noticed that when I dilly?dally, I feel weak and fake. So I want to gather more of the positive power so that I can be happy and go on as long as possible.

At the organizational and village or community level, I usually suggest beginning the group meetings with some silent time to discern the energy level of each individual and the energy of the group. If all the member of the group are Christian, we may read scripture and meditate. Sometimes we try to discern whether the energy flow is positive or negative and whether any negative energy might lead to violent action. I have noticed that if the group goes through this discernment exercise prior to any group activities, the results are usually more creative or less destructive. If each individual is full of positive energy, free from the inferiority complex and true to one's own identity, then the sense of well-being and power increases for the entire group.

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