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Close on the heels of the barbaric Hathras incident, another case of discrimination against Dalits has come to light. Therku Thittai panchayat president Rajeshwari Sarvana Kumar was asked to sit on the ground for belonging to a lower caste. These two recent events once again have depicted a sorry but accurate representation of the lived reality for millions of Indian citizens who are deprived of their basic rights by virtue of caste or gender. More concerning is the fact that even after seven decades of independence and various government policies, the historically marginalised sections are still not safe from the violence inflicted on them by the elites belonging to the upper caste. While 2020 has seen global protests against systemic racism and police brutality, we need to recognise our failures in ensuring social justice and development. While discussions on social cleavages like caste, gender, ethnicity and religion have always been a part of elite academic circles, these issues seem to be neglected by the larger public.
Reflected in a large section of Indian society is the failure to understand the intersectional relationship between gender and caste discrimination. There has been a history of rapes and violence against women being used as an intimidation tactic by opposing groups. This was evidenced by the events of partition where women became the most vulnerable group as women of other communities were targeted. The fact that Indian society has failed to learn from its own past is the most concerning factor. While it’s impossible to stop every instance of discriminatory violence, as most of these violent incidents such as sexual violence against children & women, caste discrimination or racism occur within the private space of the family or community, it is here that the response of the society becomes crucial. Hence in these situations society at large needs to build solidarity and recognise these systematic issues that the Indian society faces, which is made even more essential due to the ineffectiveness of government policies. While on paper the various governments, irrespective of political allegiances, have tried to eradicate these systematic issues, these efforts have been subverted by the interest of the elites who have infiltrated the entire system. In the most simple term, any discrimination be it based on race, caste or gender, becomes systematic when these discriminatory tendencies infiltrate the system of governance which is meant to function on impartial rule of law. Indian society has failed to ensure the functioning of these agencies and hence the traditionally marginalised communities’ have had to pay the price for this failure. No one expects a magical solution to inherent methods of discrimination that have persisted over centuries but it would be a monumental failure for Indian society if we are unable to draw on the legacies of Savitribai Phule and Dr Ambedkar to start a fight against these deeply embedded social inequalities.