The Dalit discourse rejects the Varnashram system. Only by destroying this system can the lower class Dalits and women get social, economic and political rights and they too can live a respectable life in the society.
Dr. Priyanka Sonkar
The question of gender is a big question in the Indian social system on which the male class has remained silent for centuries. The talk of gender equality is neither seen in non-Dalit men nor in Dalit men. This is the reason why the feminist discourse emerged and after that Dalit feminist discourse also emerged with the question of caste, class and gender.
The patriarchal system is an oppressive system which was regulated by Manu and is still being nurtured by people suffering from Manuwadi mentality. The Varnashram system is also governed by this. The Dalit discourse rejects the Varnashram system. Only by the destruction of this system can the lower class Dalits and women get social, economic and political rights and they too can live a respectable life in the society.
But the Dalit movement and Dalit literature developed by rejecting the Manuvadi values, especially the way it rejects Manuvad on women’s issues, is worth considering. The question to the Dalit discourse in Hindi is how much it supports women in giving them the status of a human being and providing them all the basic rights?
How much freedom does it provide them as an independent being? Because the objectives for which the Dalit discourse is fighting also include the objective of liberation of the deprived, the exploited, women, and the tribals, but how much effort does it seem to make for women’s rights? This is an important question.
The biggest movements of the world also ignored the issues of Dalit women. Be it the movement of Marxists, the women’s movement or even the Indian freedom movement for freedom? As far as the Dalit movement is concerned, it derives its implications from the movement of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, therefore, more was expected from him for the liberation of the women of his community. But there was a great disappointment.
On evaluation from the point of view of Dalit feminist discourse, some questions arise whether he has given space to the exploitation of Dalit women on the basis of gender in his works? This is not the only question here.
The question is also whether the patriarchal system is not prevalent in Dalit society? If it is, then have Dalit male writers depicted the sexual exploitation of Dalit women inside the house in their works? Or has the sexual exploitation by non-Dalit castes in the outside world been depicted in a very exaggerated manner. Do Dalit women appear there as human beings or not? On going for the answer to this question, we realize a deep reality that patriarchy is prevalent among Dalit men as well as non-Dalit men. Dalit writers’ perspective
Shyoraj Singh Bechain does admit that Dalit women have been harassed by Dalit men, but he blames feudal influence for this, “If Dalit women have been harassed by Dalit men anywhere, they have been harassed due to upper caste-feudal influences.”
In his autobiography ‘Mera Bachpan Mere Kandhon Par’, while describing the atrocities committed on his mother by his stepfather Bhikari, he writes– “Amma used to remain troubled even in Pali. The saddest thing was that Bhikari used to beat Amma with sticks, Kalabut or Farhe.” Dalit men also beat their women thinking they have a right over them. “Bhikarilal and Amma often quarreled. They were husband and wife and each other’s need and helplessness, but there was no match in their nature and upbringing. Neither were they able to understand each other nor adjust. They used to quarrel six days a week. Being the breadwinner, the owner of the house and the man, Bhikari used to beat his mother with triple authority.”
Similarly, Tulsiram has also described the sting of Dalit patriarchy and its disgusting form in his autobiography ‘Murdahiya’. In Dalit society, the hideous form of patriarchy is seen in every house. The dominance of patriarchy has been explained in the right sense by John Stuart Mill.. ‘It exists in the form of a flesh and blood woman in the torso of every man. This power is as much with a cobbler or washerman as with a king or a Maharaja. And this is such a matter that the desire for power is the highest in it – because we enjoy the most in displaying power on those who are close to us and it is only their freedom that can interfere in our likes and dislikes.” More or less, Dalit women also fall prey to this tyranny and oppression. In Dalit society, Dalit men treat their women in the same way as upper caste men treat their women.
Rajendra Yadav believes that, “Woman is a part and extension of us. She is our birthplace, which we have turned into our colony. All the feudal and imperialist values ??of our thinking and culture arise from the mentality of justifying the domination and exploitation of colonies. Among the colonies that became physically and mentally independent in the second half of the twentieth century, there is also a colony called ‘woman’. Dalit is outside our homes and settlements. Woman is inside us, hence her struggle is more complex.”
Kancha Ilaiah accepts the existence of Dalitbahujan patriarchy in Dalit society. He considers it to be the exact opposite of Brahminical patriarchy. In the patriarchy that exists among Dalits, women play the role of both production and reproduction. Whether it is home or field, there is no difference between the work of men and women. Kancha Ilaiah considers patriarchy among Dalitbahujans to be democratic. He believes the reason behind this is the democratic nature of political relations within the family and community among Dalits.
He says that ‘the form in which politics works here in the form of the relationship between parents and children can be called patriarchal democracy.’ Apart from this, he does not find anything like ‘individual’ concept among Dalitbahujans. For this reason, the household there is not necessarily individual. Nevertheless, he considers patriarchy among Dalits to be inevitable because even there Dalit men oppress their women. He writes that ‘in these castes, the home is a social unit. This is an accepted belief. Beating one’s wife is a patriarchal behaviour, which is prevalent in almost all castes. Dalit Bahujan is also not free from it.” What do Dalit women writers say? In her autobiographical novel ‘Dohra Abhishaap’, Kausalya Baisantri has not only described the cursed and terrified life of Dalit society, but has also depicted the horrific atrocities committed against Dalit women. She has also exposed domestic violence, caste discrimination, social violence and the ugliness of Dalit patriarchy prevalent in Dalit homes. It is often seen in Dalit homes that the husband beats the children and wife after drinking alcohol. He always hurts her self-respect, while the wife tries to run the house smoothly by working hard. In ‘Dohra Abhishaap’, the writer exposes the false progressiveness of her husband Devendra and describes his feudal and patriarchal mentality, the victim of which was the writer – “I and Devendra Kumar did not get along. Devendra Kumar is a man who lives only in his own circle. Hot tempered and stubborn. He says that I am a very naughty man. He never respected my wishes, feelings, happiness. He used to abuse me on every small thing, that too in dirty language and used to raise his hand. He used to beat me very cruelly. Devendra Kumar wanted his wife only to cook food and to satisfy his physical hunger. Office work and writing were his only concern. He never paid attention to whether I needed anything else.”
It is true that women alone are oppressed by the exploitation based on gender. Sharan Kumar Limbale in one of his interviews expresses his opinion in favour of the oppression of Dalit women that “Just as a Dalit woman is a slave of the caste system, she is also a slave of male power. She is exploited doubly. A Dalit woman is fighting against the caste system and a Dalit man is fighting against power. A Dalit man is a slave of this system and a Dalit woman has become a slave. We support equality and social justice. We are against the injustice meted out to a Dalit woman. Not only this, we are not in favour of injustice against any woman. Dalits have a revolutionary mindset. This mindset cannot support any kind of slavery.”
Be it mainstream literature or Marxist literature, Dalit writers themselves did nothing to free Dalit women from the triple exploitation they were cursed with. Dalit women writers were deeply hurt by this kind of neglect by their Dalit male brothers. Dalit poetess Rajni Tilak exposes the truths of Dalit patriarchy in her poem ‘Mere Bhai’, in which they (Dalit men) want their freedom but when it comes to their own families (Dalit women), they see cracks in their movement. Rajni Tilak writes –
“You are my national brothers!
You demand your freedom
You tell us and explain to us
It is the freedom of the entire community!
Is the freedom of the community
the slavery of women? Those who grew up under the umbrella of motherly love
Why did you become men, shadows of guns and swords as soon as you grew up?
We bore your pain, disappointments, ambitions and irritation
Then why do you treat us like this?
You need democracy, don’t we?
Isn’t this the ideal for which you became Bhim Sainik.”
How much opposition has the voice of Dalit women faced in Dalit literature? This can be known by reading Dr. Dharamveer’s review on Kausalya Baisantri’s autobiography ‘Dohra Abhishaap, how much dohra?’ ‘Ek Dinosaur Aurat?’. It is worth noting that even when a Dalit woman writes herself, the Dalit man is ready to rebuke her. We can know this from the review done by Dr. Dharamveer and his writings as well. Ramanika Gupta believes that the same moral values, beliefs and patriarchy that have been present in the upper caste society have infiltrated within the Dalit society itself. The autobiographies of Kausalya Baisantri and Sushila Takbhaure make it very clear that the Dalit society and men exploit their women in the same way as the upper caste society. The more self-reliant, conscious and independent a woman is, the more she will be able to resist her oppression and being domesticated. Dr. Ambedkar believed that- ‘Man has dominated every society, his prestige has been higher. Due to the traditional superiority of man, his desires have always been respected. On the other hand, woman has always been a victim of religious, economic and social inequalities.’
In Hindi Dalit literature, whether it is Kausalya Baisantri or Sushila Takbhaure, they have depicted the deep penetration of Dalit patriarchy inside the house in their autobiographies ‘Dohra Abhishap’, ‘Shikanje Ka Dard’. Marathi Dalit women writers have also openly described the oppression of Dalit men in their autobiographies, prominent among which are Babytai Kamble’s ‘Jeevan Hamara’, Urmila Panwar’s ‘Aaydaan’. Sushila Takbhaure’s husband Sundarlal Takbhaure is a highly educated person and a social worker too, but his ability is doubted when he commits domestic atrocities on his educated wife. Being a social worker, such behavior by him reveals an inhuman act.
In her autobiography ‘Shikanje Ka Dard’, Sushila Takbhaure describes the violent incidents of atrocities committed by her husband, which is very shocking- “I was beaten up at home, abused, everything happened to me. Pulling my hair, kicking me, punching me on the neck, punching me on the back. I endured everything. The marks of the cane would remain on my body for many days. After being beaten, my condition would be like this – my head would spin for hours, as if I was flying in the air. I was slipping from the ground, big stones were rolling towards me, as if a running elephant had suddenly come and crushed me by placing its foot on my head.” In the homes of Dalit Bahujans, you will find oppression, harassment and this kind of double exploitation of Dalit women in abundance.
Violence against Dalit women in Dalit homes is not less. Dalit women have to face atrocities and oppression by Dalit men even though they are financially self-dependent. Even if the husband is educated, he considers it his right to inflict violence on his wife. If seen under Dalit discourse, the denial of the existence of patriarchy by Dalit male writers reflects the patriarchal mindset prevalent in them. Dalit women writers in their writings depict every exploitation of women in their society in a realistic and poignant manner. In this context, Kingson Patel writes that “Dalit discourse wants to end caste-based domination, but it also agrees with upper caste men in the matter of keeping women as second class citizens.” If seen from the perspective of Dharamveer, it is even more dominating and controlling: “If Dalit men want to avoid the slavery of Aryan men, they will have to keep their women under control.”
This kind of thinking is seen as the process of Dalit women starting their discourse and a strong struggle for their issues and rights. In this regard, Bajrang Bihari’s comment seems appropriate – “The vigilance of the supporters of patriarchy has increased. The truth of the conspiracy between the upper caste and Dalit camps of patriarchy is also being exposed in the writings of Dalit women.
The dual character of the Dalit movement, which considers Dr. Ambedkar’s movement as its energy, becomes clear when it does not include Dr. Ambedkar’s women’s liberation movement in its ideology. It is completely true that Dalit women were greatly oppressed by their national brothers. They treated their wives in a feudalistic manner at home and snatched away their right to freedom. Dalit women writers mention in each of their writings where and at what stage Dalit men behaved in a discriminatory manner with them.
It is true that Dalit women are today resisting any kind of atrocities on them. If a non-Dalit man exploits them outside the home, they do not shy away from giving him a befitting reply and inside the home they take revenge for the atrocities of Dalit men by fighting against injustice. She has understood how to slowly break through the powerful chakravyuha of patriarchy, for which she has taken up the pen.
Dr. Priyanka Sonkar is an Assistant Professor at BHU.
Courtesy: Hindi News
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