Dalit Visions: The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction of an Indian IdentityDalit Visions explores and critiques the sensibility which equates Indian tradition with Hinduism, and Hinduism with Brahmanism; which considers the Vedas as the foundational texts of Indian culture and discovers within the Aryan heritage the essence of Indian civilisation. It shows that even secular minds remain imprisoned within this Brahmanical vision, and the language of secular discourse is often steeped in a Hindu ethos. The tract looks at alternative traditions, nurtured within dalit movements, which have questioned this way of looking at Indian society and its history. While seeking to understand the varied dalit visions that have sought to alter the terms of the dominant order, this tract persuades us to reconsider our ideas, listen to those voices which we often refuse to hear and understand the visions which seek to change the world in which dalits live. |
Contents
vii | 25 |
The Dalit Radicals of the 1920s | 34 |
Brahman Socialism and the Hindu Rate of Growth | 63 |
The Dalit Panthers | 72 |
The Logic of Dalit Politics | 81 |
Sitas Curse Shambuks Silence | 92 |
Notes | 102 |
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Common terms and phrases
activists adivasi Ambedkar anti-brahman anti-caste movement argued Arya Aryan attack Bali Raja began Bombay brahman Buddhism caste system cent centre claim colonial period Communist conference Congress core critique cultural dalit dalit movement Dalit Panthers dalit politics dalits and non-brahmans Delhi dharma domination Dravidian Ekalavya elite exploitation feminists feudal fight forces Gail Omvedt Gandhi Gandhian hegemony high-caste Hindu nationalism Hinduism Hindutva Ibid ideal identified identity ideology India issues Jotiba Phule Kanshi Ram leadership low castes Mahar Maharashtra Mahasabha major Marathi mass militant Muslim Naxalite Nehru Nehruvian non-Aryan non-brahman movement NOTES TO CHAPTER Omvedt oppression organizations Pandita Ramabai party patriarchy peasants Periyar Political Weekly Punjab racial radical rakshasas Ram Raj Rama Ramayana reform religion religious Revolution Samaj secular shudras Sita social society struggle subcontinent symbol Tamil Nadu Tarabai Shinde themes theory tion tradition tribals untouchables upper-caste upsurge V.P. Singh Vedas Vedic village women