The word "Dalit" does not appear in any sacred scriptures or historical texts of India.[citation needed] It is actually a word based on 17th-century European notions about the Indian caste system.[citation needed] The word is derived from Sanskrit, and means "ground", "suppressed", "crushed", or "broken to pieces". It was first used by Jyotirao Phule in the nineteenth century, in the context of the oppression faced by the erstwhile "untouchable" castes of the twice-born Hindus.[21] According to Victor Premasagar, the term expresses their "weakness, poverty and humiliation at the hands of the upper castes in the Indian society."[22] Currently many Dalits use the term to move away from the more derogatory terms of their caste names or even the term Untouchable. The contemporary use of Dalit is centered on the idea that as a people they may have been broken by oppression but they survive even thrive by finding meaning in the struggle of their existence towards human dignity. It is now a political identity similar to the way African-Americans in the U.S. moved away from the use of Negro to the use of Black or even African-American.[23][24] Other Terms Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi coined the word Harijan, translated roughly as "Children of God", to identify the former Untouchables. But this term is now considered derogatory[citation needed] when used to describe Dalits. In addition the terms "Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes" (SC/ST) are the official terms used in Indian government documents to identify former "untouchables" and tribes. However, in 2008 the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, noticing that "Dalit" was used interchangeably with the official term "scheduled castes", called the term "unconstitutional" and asked state governments to end its use. After the order, the Chhattisgarh government ended the official use of the word "Dalit".[8] "Adi Dravida", "Adi Karnataka", "Adi Andhra" and "Adi-Dharmi" are words used in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab respectively, to identify people of former "untouchable" castes in official documents. These words, particularly the prefix of "Adi", denote the aboriginal inhabitants of the land
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:49:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015