Confronting Caste in the New Year: A Call to Prioritize Dalit Issues

Confronting Caste in the New Year: A Call to Prioritize Dalit Issues

As 2025 begins, it is crucial to confront the lingering issues of caste and the responsibilities of Dalit leadership in addressing the challenges faced by their community. Despite over a decade in academia and public life, consistently highlighting systemic inequalities, I am deeply troubled by the lack of progress on critical questions surrounding caste, even within the Dalit community and its leadership.

One glaring concern is the silence of Dalit leaders on the ethnic violence in Manipur. While this conflict may seem distant, its impact resonates across communities. When law and order collapse, Dalits often become easy targets for exploitation and atrocities. Yet, there has been little to no engagement from Dalit leadership on this issue, reflecting a worrying apathy.

Equally concerning is the muted response to the government’s promotion of anti-conversion laws. These laws, which infringe upon the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, undermine a historical tool of resistance for Dalits. Conversion has long been a means of rejecting caste oppression and negotiating against atrocities, exclusion from education, and unequal reservation policies. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar himself embraced this method in 1956 as an act of emancipation. The failure of Dalit leadership to challenge these laws raises serious questions about their commitment to the community’s struggle for dignity and equality.

The silence extends further—to hate speeches and communal slurs that fuel hostility against marginalized groups. Without a robust condemnation of such divisive rhetoric, Dalit leaders cannot hope to build alliances with other oppressed communities. Unity is essential for dismantling the caste system, and a failure to denounce these narratives only weakens the fight for social justice.

Adding to the list of concerns is the decline in access to quality education for marginalized groups. Affordable educational institutions, which have historically been a lifeline for Dalits, are being dismantled or rendered ineffective. India’s research output paints a grim picture. According to the “Scimago Journal & Country Rank” (SJR), India ranks outside the top 100 countries globally in terms of citations per document across disciplines, including sciences, humanities, and social sciences. The country averages just 12.7 citations per paper, far behind nations like the United States and Canada, which achieve over 25 citations per paper. Even smaller nations like Nepal (15.2) and Bangladesh (14.5) outperform India.

This academic exclusion hits Dalits particularly hard. In Haryana, a Dalit girl tragically took her own life after allegedly being pressured by college authorities to pay fees she could not afford. Shockingly, it was further alleged that she was coerced into inappropriate demands by the college administration as a means of settling the unpaid dues. Such incidents underscore the systemic barriers that Dalits face in higher education.

The duality in governmental priorities further deepens the crisis. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to Savitribai Phule on her birth anniversary, January 3, 2025, hailing her as a pioneer of education and social reform, the ground realities tell a different story. Hemlata Bairwa, a Dalit teacher in Rajasthan, has been denied her salary for ten months. During the Republic Day event at her school in 2024, she displayed a portrait of Phule and boldly declared, “The true goddess of education is Savitribai Phule.”

Even more troubling is the lack of outrage over the National Human Rights Commission of India losing its United Nations accreditation twice since 2014. This is not merely a lapse in political leadership but also reflects a failure of Dalit youth activism. The community’s silence on such critical institutional setbacks is baffling and counterproductive.

Interestingly, some sparks of resistance have emerged. Dalit youth activists have protested against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks on Dr. Ambedkar. Shah had criticized what he called the repetitive invocation of Ambedkar’s name, claiming it had become a trend. While his comments sparked backlash, they also brought attention to the government’s efforts in building memorials for Ambedkar. However, the question remains: Is this symbolic recognition enough?

Memorials, while important, cannot substitute for addressing the systemic issues that continue to plague Dalits. Why are Dalit students dropping out of higher education at alarming rates? Why do caste-based atrocities persist? Why are Dalit women subjected to heinous crimes solely due to their caste identity? And why do institutional policies remain exclusionary, pushing Dalits further to the margins?

These pressing questions demand introspection and decisive action from Dalit leaders. As the new year begins, silence is no longer an option. The time has come for bold, collective leadership that prioritizes the dignity, rights, and aspirations of Dalits and other marginalized communities. The questions of caste cannot be postponed any longer. They require answers—and action—now.

References

Prime Minister’s Office. (2025, January 3). Prime Minister pays tributes to Savitribai Phule Ji on her birth anniversary. Press Information Bureau. Retrieved from https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2089740

Pillai, G. S. (2025, January 3). Rajasthan Govt withholds Dalit teacher’s salary for 10 months after proclaiming, ‘Not Saraswati — The real goddess of education is Savitribai Phule’. The Mooknayak. Retrieved from https://en.themooknayak.com/women-news/rajasthan-govt-withholds-dalit-teachers-salary-for-10-months-after-proclaiming-not-saraswati-the-real-goddess-of-education-is-savitribai-phule

Haryana: Bhiwani police arrests accused in Dalit student’s suicide case. (2025, January 3). The Times of India. Retrieved from https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/haryana-bhiwani-police-arrests-accused-in-dalit-students-suicide-case-101735883493893.html

Alarming decline in quality of research & teaching in Indian universities. (2025, January 5). Justice News. Retrieved from https://www.justicenews.co.in/alarming-decline-in-quality-of-research-teaching-in-indian-universities/

By Krishan Kumar

Political Sociologist

Expert of Caste Politics in Haryana