Caste oppression in India affects more than 16% of the population who are considered ‘subhuman’ according to the traditional Hindu Varna system. [1] Many gruesome acts of sexual violence against women of this community have been recorded in the 21st century owing to their vulnerability and limited access to civil rights protection. This article explores the dynamics which perpetuate such crimes and the ideologies which pose massive barriers to the security of scheduled caste women.
By Nishant Joshi
The Indian Constitution affords every citizen equal rights under national law. However, in practice, virtue of birth determines social acceptance within many communities. Harrowing narratives of class oppression still dominate popular discourse in society. In the specific context of the Hindu Varna system, the ‘untouchables’ fall outside of all social categorizations, meaning that their access to civil liberties remains problematic as per preordained tradition. Especially in rural India, the Dalit community bears the brunt of caste discrimination such as restricted access to water, land, trade, and institutions of worship. [2] Most of their business is conducted outside of normative physical boundaries. While caste oppression affects every member of the Dalit community, the heaviest brunt of retributory wrath is borne by women. Dalit women occupy the lowest position in society according to the archaic Varna system. [3] Due to conventional ideological perspectives on chastity and conformism, women are often victimised by virtue of being easy targets. Dalit activist and scholar, BR Ambedkar recognised women as being gateways to the caste system, regardless of the heirerchical positions they occupy within or outside the Varna system. [4] His belief was that control over women within a community translated into imposition of authority over that entire community owing to women’s adjudged vulnerability. In the name of preserving tradition and maintaining clear segmentation between social classes, upper-caste women as well as Dalit women have endured incessant subjugation.
Perpetual deprecation is essential for maintaining such hierarchies, which is why the dignity of Dalits is targeted whenever signs of revolt come to notice. In almost every regional language in India, the colloquial definition of ‘rape’ is equivalent to ‘tarnishing the honour’ of a community or family. Since by virtue of their existence, Dalit women have no ‘honour’ to begin with, their rights to preservation against sexual violence are met with limited redressl if any. [5] In pre-independence India, sanctioning of Dalit women as Devadasis (servants of Devas) was enforced by men of the upper-caste to perpetuate ritualised prostitution. [6] Women who were indentured into such servitude were considered shared property of the entire village. Unfortunately, in many rural communities this practice is observed to this day, but the stories rarely receive notice.
In September 2020, a surging media outcry highlighted a story of sexual violence perpetrated against a teenager belonging to the Dalit community, who succumbed to her injuries and lost her life. The incident came to light after reporters witnessed state police disposing of her body in the dead of night while family members were barricaded inside their house. [7] Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. While stories of sexual violence against women in cities manage to engage public attention, rural narratives fail to see the light of day. This recent incident can clearly be contrasted with the Nirbhaya incident of 2012, where a brutal assault on a woman resulted in national outrage and eventually the death penalty being awarded to three of the four perpetrators. [8] When compared with the incident involving the Dalit girl, abundant support in favour of the accused was vocalised within the upper-caste community, claiming that the story was fabricated and that a conspiracy against the Thakur community was underway. [9] This comes after concrete evidence, including medico-legal findings concluding use of force [10] and a dying declaration provided by the teenager confirming rape, had been widely circulated in the media. [11]
A common grievance amongst Dalit activists regards the media bias against the safety of women in their community. Outrage on the issue of caste-based sexual violence quickly becomes urbanised, leaving the original narrative behind. In India, the #MeToo movement took flight after Dalit Law student, Raya Sarkar, collated a list of sexual harassers in academia. The social media storm which ensued included scores of privileged urbanites narrating their stories while Dalit narratives quickly became side-lined in favour of Savarna and western feminist perspectives. [12] Activists have continually spoken out against such elitism, sometimes partly attributing subjugation to exclusivist feminism.
Despite issues of complicit attitudes of upper-caste women towards the oppression of Dalits raised by activists and academics, upper-cast women do not hold total emancipatory power. While the honour of Dalit women is perceptually an expendable resource, the chastity of upper-caste women is considered sanctimonious. Sexual purity is still enforced by banning inter-caste marriages, imposing lifelong widowhood, and encouraging pre-pubescent marriages. [13] The ritual of Sati is apparently extinct due to its grim nature of burning widows alive with their husbands’ funeral pyre, but systemic oppression in many other forms still prevails within the upper-castes. Ideals of preservation of the family line remain strictly directed towards women and their reproductive capabilities. The conservative morality of ‘respectable, chaste, and devoted women’ is visceral to the sustainability of the Varna system. Rewards for compliance include protection and permission to raise offspring within the community and thus gain honour. [14] ‘Honour’ is considered to be such a powerful social construct that some people would choose death as preferable to living without it. [15]
The Dalit community has reiterated their observation that Western and Savarna feminism is not the best model for their emancipatory requirements. Along with threats to personal security and the struggle for opportunities, they have to face subjugation and silencing on a deeper level. Historically, female empowerment in India has always followed an elitist narrative. 19th century feminism in India was almost entirely Anglo-centric, as witnessed by Josephine Butler’s review on the empowerment of Indian women. Seen from her perspective, emancipation meant taking power away from Indian patriarchal structures and embracing British imperial social structures. [16] Despite biases and apparent superiority complexes in both imperial and upper-caste feminism, it would not be fair to lay the blame on factional feminist ideologies alone. Choices within the constructs of such ideologies are limited by the conundrum between standing up for strangers and being loyal to one's ‘own people’. [17] It is folly to perpetuate women’s security by popularising a narrative repeatedly until it makes sense. It is important to ensure that the identities of Dalit women are not whitewashed and their voices are not muted by the volume of the non-Dalit women speaking on their behalf. [18]
Sources
[1] “Topic: Dalits And Adivasis In India". Statista, 2020, https://www.statista.com/topics/4946/dalits-and-adivasis-in-india/.
[2] Gorringe, Hugo. "Afterword: gendering caste: honor, patriarchy and violence." South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal 19 (2018).
[3] Patil, Prachi. "Understanding sexual violence as a form of caste violence." Journal of Social Inclusion 7.1 (2016).
[4] Ambedkar, B. R. "Caste in India." Caste and democratic politics in India (2002): 83-107.
[5] Rege, Sharmila. "Caste and gender: the violence against women in India." (1996).
[6] Patil, 2016.
[7] Story, Cover. "Rape, Torture, And A Hurried Funeral: Hathras Victim Cremated In The Dead Of Night With No Family Participation". Mumbai Mirror, 2020, https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/cover-story/rape-torture-and-a-hurried-funeral/articleshow/78417269.cms.
[8] Bansode, Rupali. "The missing dalit women in testimonies of# MeToo sexual violence: Learnings for social movements." Contributions to Indian Sociology 54.1 (2020): 76-82.
[9] "Hathras Case | Upper Caste Group Holds Meet In Support Of Accused". The Hindu, 2020, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/up-police-lathi-charge-sp-and-rld-members/article32765023.ece.
[10] "Exclusive: Aligarh Hospital MLC Report On Hathras Victim Shatters UP Police's 'No Rape' Claim". The Wire, 2020, https://thewire.in/women/aligarh-jnmch-hathras-victim-mlc-report-up-police-rape.
[11] Hathras Gangrape पीड़िता का आखिरी Video आया सामने, मौत से पहले किया बड़ा खुलासा। Rape Victim Video. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj1-frRpbHY. Accessed 19 Oct 2020.
[12] Bansode, 2020.
[13] Rao, Anupama. "The Sexual Politics of Caste Violence and the Ritual Archaic." 2019.
[14] Dutta, Debolina, and Oishik Sircar. "India's Winter of Discontent: Some feminist Dilemmas in the Wake of a Rape." Feminist Studies 39.1 (2013): 293-306.
[15] Gorringe, 2018.
[16] Burton, Antoinette M. "The white woman's burden: British feminists and the Indian woman, 1865–1915." Women's Studies International Forum. Vol. 13. No. 4. Pergamon, 1990.
[17] Rege, 1996.
[18] Guru, Gopal. "Dalit women talk differently." Economic and Political Weekly (1995): 2548-2550