90 days of Writing Caste

Here are links to the posts published over the past month. The eighteen posts on the theme of dalit panchayat presidents have been grouped first. The links to personal narratives, excerpts from other studies and other posts published over the last 30 days are below.

In response to the brutal attack on Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Krishnaveni, a series of eighteen posts have been carried about attempts on the lives of dalit panchayat presidents. This series is set to continue with occasional postings through the next month too. This attack has hospitalised an award-winning and popular elected leader and underlines the threat that caste poses to democracy. Here is a picture of Krishnaveni.

Here are the excerpts from the fact-finding report on the attack on Krishnaveni: Krishnaveni’s testimony, her daughter, Bhuvaneswari’s testimony, facts about the incident determined by the fact-finding committee (part one and two), followed by recommendations to prevent such murderous attacks from taking place in the future.

Ravichandran has written about the response of the dalit movements to the attack on Krishnaveni.

Here is a statement from the Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation on this incident and a poem by S Raj.

There are also excerpts from earlier fact-finding reports on the murders of Jaggaiyan and Servaaran – dalit panchayat presidents in the same district. From the fact-finding report into the murder of Jaggaiyan, there are excerpts titled ‘Announcing a Murder‘, ‘Pappa’s Testimony‘ and ‘Jaggaiyan’s Complaint‘.  Here is an excerpt from the fact-finding report on the murder of Servaaran.

There are also excerpts from other interviews with dalit panchayat presidents, detailing the continued and brutal suppression of dalit elected representatives within their own panchayats. There are also interviews with women dalit panchayat presidents, Jayanthi and Chellamma.

This discrimination against dalit panchayat presidents has been repeatedly documented but little action has been taken to protect these elected representatives who ensure that democracy thrives at the grassroots. Some excerpts from studies on discrimination against dalit panchayat presidents have been posted: Krishnaveni’s panchayat finds mention in this report. Here is an excerpt from a study on women panchayat presidents in TN and Gujarat.

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Both civil society and political movements seem to have become used to physical atrocities against dalits – the murderous attacks on three panchayat presidents within the same district in the last four years have scarcely received any attention.

This issue should be of concern to all those who believe in democracy.

Yet these attacks have been represented as ‘only’ a dalit issue on some platforms and as the outcome of ‘inter-personal conflict’ on others.

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Now, there are new examples of harassment and attempts to suppress dalit assertion. A case was filed against a dalit poet and translator, a dalit leader and a publishing house for ‘misrepresenting’ the caste of gods – here is a selection of writing on the case. Planning Commission member Gladson Dungdung was interrogated on suspicion of being ‘anti-national’ – his letter of protest to the authorities is here.

Temsula Ao draws from the beliefs of her people to write the Tiger-Woman’s Prayer.

In the Personal Narratives section: Adhimoolam describes his work of cleaning sewers. Namit Arora’s personal narrative expands to include a reflection on the nature of caste privilege and how blind dominant castes can be to their own privileged location on the caste hierarchy. Kancha Ilaiah’s interview describes how his childhood and family background have shaped his political project. Reds Raj writes about how he became an author – part one and two.

In the Research Excerpts section: An excerpt from a study on dalit children and access to healthcare demonstrates how and why ‘dalit children routinely die due to discriminatory practices by ‘merit’ doctors’. Here is a survey of caste in South Asia. There are excerpts from articles on caste in children’s literature.

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There are earlier round-ups of posts published during the first 30 days and the subsequent list marking 60 days of Writing Caste.