Highlight the consequences of Dalit movement.

The Consequences of Dalit Movement:

1. We use the term dalit (the oppressed or the SCs) movements for all types of movements which are primarily based on issues concerning dalits. These include anti-caste movements, non-Brahman movements and social movements against untouchability led by M. K. Gandhi.

2. Dalit movements emerged during the pre-independence period. These movements have been examined keeping them under broader categories-(a) non-Brahman movements and (b) Dalit movements. While the anti-caste non-Brahman movements were strong in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Dalit movements were spread all over the country.

(i) The Act-Dharam movements in Punjab,

(ii) The Satnami movement in Uttar Pradesh,

(iii) Narayana Guru’s movement in Kerala and

(iv) Adi-Dravidas movements in Tamil Nadu have been some of the main Dalit Movements of our country.

3. The large anti-caste movements were led by prominent figures like Jotiba Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar and E. V. Ramaswami Periyar. They all attacked the system of exploitation at all levels.

4. Nevertheless, the dalit movement is necessarily linked with the name of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. He was a historical leader and the founder of the ideology. In beginning the dalit movement was confined to Maharashtra, but during 1930s and 1940s it spread to different parts of the country.

5. Although the organisations, such as the Scheduled Caste-Federation and its successor, the Republican Party, formed by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, never attained all-India status, but their ideas has an impact on various local level dalit movements in different parts of the country.

6. The growth and spread of all dalit movements reflect the increasing self-consciousness of the group.

7. Through these movements dalits have emerged as a distinct political group. They are no longer political dependent upon the upper castes. Eventually, they have made an impact on the structure of power of India.

8. Another important trend in the dalit movement is mainfested in the emergence of the Dalit Panther Movement which was launched by dalits of Maharashtra in the early 1970s. It was initially confined to the urban areas of Maharashtra but later on spread to several other states of the country.

9. The Dalit Panthers denounce the dominant culture and attempt to articulate an alternative cultural identity of the oppressed classes.

10. To propogate their ideas they have been publishing poems, stories and plays, which are now popularly known as dalit literature and are used to challenge the intellectual tradition of the upper caste Hindus.

11. The most important result of dalit movement has been the conslidation of dalit identity. The pressure created by the mobilisation of the dalits has led to amelioration of their social condition.

12. If we compare the present conditions of the dalits with the conditions a decade ago, we definitely find that the social and economic position has relatively improved a lot.

13. The emancipation of dalits is essentially linked with their freedom from the bondage to the existing economic systems. As the economic system is still monopolised by the upper castes, their position in the caste as well as class system continues to be at the lower end.

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