Educate, Agitate and Organise: The Start of a Conversation About Inequalities on Dalit History Month 2024
How is Dalit History Month relevant for people residing in the United Kingdom? And why should someone inform themselves about caste and its role in social justice?
According to the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India, the Population of Overseas Indians is close to 64.6 Million, with 3.5 Million living in the UK (including non-resident Indians and People of Indian origin).
As reported by to the 2021 census, they comprise 3.1% of the population of England and Wales. According to the Dalit Solidarity Network in the UK, 4.5 million South Asians and other communities living in the UK belong to or are attributed to a caste. They define:
“Caste systems are a form of social and economic governance that is based on principles and customary rules. It involves the division of people into social groups (castes) where assignments of rights are fixed by birth, often includes an occupation and are hereditary. In simpler terms, caste is where society is divided up into different groups, with those who have more power at the top and those who have little or no power at the bottom.”
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, a man who is often referred to as the father of the Indian constitution at the All-India Depressed Classes conference in July 1942 in Nagpur, India called for people to “Educate, Agitate and Organise!”. He was the head of India’s Constitution drafting committee, the first law minister of India, an eminent economist, and social reformer amongst other titles, and is remembered as a champion of social justice and equality. April is celebrated as Dalit History month and the 14th of April is celebrated as Ambedkar Jayanti (Birthday of Babasaheb Ambedkar). He dedicated his life in the struggle against caste discrimination.
Babasaheb makes a case for social reform being necessary for political reform by countering a speech delivered by Mr. W.C Bonnerji. The below excerpt is taken from the speech included in his book, The Annihilation of Caste:
“Are you fit for political power even though you do not allow a large class of your own countrymen like the Untouchables to use public schools… public wells… public streets? Are you fit for political power even though you do not allow them to wear what apparel or ornaments they like? Are you fit for political power even though you do not allow them to eat any food they like?”
While this speech is from 1936, According to National Crime Records Bureau of India data, there were 33,719 cases of crimes against Dalits in 2011, and this figure rose to 50,291 in 2020. Consider an incident from 2022 where a 9 year old Dalit boy was beaten to death for touching a waiter pot in the Jalore district of the Indian state of Rajasthan.
As recent as 2023, a man of Indian origin in the United Kingdom was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail for threatening and abusing Dalit women in a TikTok video. Santosh Dass who is the chair of Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance explained how the man was charged under the Communications Act and could not be charged under the provision of the Equality Act 2010 as caste is still not recognised as a protected category.
Even though caste is included as an aspect of race, the enactment of the law is left to the discretion of the judge handling the case. As it stands now, there is no surety on whether the courts will interpret caste as part of the Equalities Act 2010 as it is a case law and not a legislative duty. So far, there has only been one case in the UK that has specifically mentioned caste. One can read more about the reason why caste cannot be covered under the category of ethnic origin here.
What do Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google; Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft and Shantanu Narayen of Adobe Inc among many others have in common? They all belong to upper caste communities, demonstrating the relevance of the topic to most people in the world and also the power of the caste privilege from social-caste-family connections and networks.
Sumit Samos, the author of Affairs of Caste, an anti-caste scholar, rapper and graduate from the University of Oxford talks about his observations of caste in the South Asian student population in the UK in his article on Round Table India. During his MSc in Modern South Asian Studies, he notes that the upper caste identity of most students from South stirred the topics of discussion away from awareness and discussion of the question of caste and its role in society. This reveals the reproduction of upper caste driven discourses even in prestigious spaces like the University of Oxford. Another key aspect of his observation is the close-knit replication of caste-mediated social and cultural capital that dictates opportunities for South Asian students in the UK.
Right at the end of Dalit History Month 2024, we want to leave you with an excerpt of Professor David Mosse’s speech addressing the relevance of his work today and in the wider world, at a 125th birth anniversary celebration of Babasaheb Ambedkar in 2016:
“Addressing the needs (of) the marginalised is a commitment of the International Sustainable Development Goals to ‘end poverty in all its forms’, to reduce inequality of opportunity, to provide decent work for all, ending modern forms of slavery and discrimination. I have noted three ways in which Dr Ambedkar can lead the approach to this global challenge: First, policy makers need squarely to face the social realities of continuing inequality, discrimination and marginalisation of certain groups in society, especially on the basis of caste; second, they need to listen to the experience of these groups themselves, and make their concerns part of national priorities; and third, policymakers need to understand that the conditions of the marginalised and exploited are not the result of their individual capacities but the working of social systems that allow discrimination and exclusion of certain categories of people. Dr Ambedkar points to caste as one such system, not only in India but internationally.”