WHO ARE THE DALIT?
In South Asia's
caste
system, a Dalit (Hindi:
दलित) — formerly known as untouchable or achuta
— is a person outside of the four Varnas, and considered below of all and
polluting. Dalits include people as leather-workers, scavengers, tanners,
flayers, cobblers, agricultural labourers, municipal cleaners, gymnasts, drum
beaters, folk musicians and street handicraft persons. Like upper castes, Dalit
are also divided into various sub-castes or jatis.
NON-DALIT MEANING
OF WORD DALIT
Word Dalit has been defined
differently by different people. Normally non-Dalit writers and intellectuals have
invented its root in Sanskrit and considered its meaning as broken, crack,
split and as adjective they have given this word the meanings of burst, split,
broken or torn asunder, downtrodden, scattered, crushed, destroyed etc.
DALIT MEANING OF
THE WORD DALIT
But for Dalits meaning of this word
is qualitatively different. The word was popularised by the Dalit Panther
Movement, when they adopted this term as an act of confident assertion,
rejecting Mahatama Gandhi's nomenclature of Harijan, children of God. Dalit Panthers defined this word in their 1972
manifesto as: "A member of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, neo-Buddhist, the
working-people, the land-less and poor peasants, women, and all those who are
being exploited politically, economically, and in the name of religion." Noted
Dalit Laureate Gangadhar Pantawane wrote: "Dalit is not a caste, Dalit is
a symbol of change and revolution. The Dalit believes in humanism. He rejects
existence of god, rebirth, soul, sacred books that teach discrimination, fate,
and heaven because these make him a slave." While the informed Dalit tend
to agree that the ancient beliefs of Hinduism (Brahmanism) are the root cause
of their sufferings, most accept a narrower view of membership than the above
definitions suggest. Both Dalit and non-Dalit Indians see the term relating
only to the Scheduled Castes (the untouchables of the past) and the Scheduled
Tribes (the adivasis or the indigenous people of
SCHEDULED CASTES
According to the 2001 Census, the Scheduled Castes population in
The highest percentage of Scheduled Castes population to the total
Scheduled Castes population of the country live in Uttar Pradesh (21.1 per
cent) followed by West Bengal (11.1 per cent) and Bihar (7.8 per cent), Andhra
Pradesh (7.4 percent) and Tamil Nadu (7.1.percent). In fact, more than 57 per
cent of total Scheduled Castes population inhabit in these five States.
Proportionately, the largest proportion of population of the Scheduled Castes
to total population of the State is in Punjab (28.9 per cent), followed by
Himachal Pradesh (24.7 per cent) and
As per the 2001 Census, there are 22 districts where the Scheduled
Castes population is 30 per cent or more. In majority of the districts (i.e.,
273 districts) the concentration of SCs population to the total population is
between 10 to 20 per cent. In Nagaland,
SCHEDULED TRIBES
According to the 2001 Census, the total population of the Scheduled
Tribes in
Madhya Pradesh accounts for the highest percentage of Scheduled
Tribes population to total STs population of the country (14.5 percent)
followed by Maharashtra (10.2 per cent), Orissa (9.7 per cent), Gujarat (8.9
per cent), Rajasthan (8.4 per cent), Jharkhand (8.4 per cent) and Chhattisgarh
(7.8 per cent). In fact, 68 per cent of the country’s Scheduled Tribes
population lives in these seven States only. The proportion of the Scheduled
Tribes to the total population of the States/Union territories is highest in
Mizoram (94.5 %) and
As per the 2001 Census, there are 75 districts where Scheduled
Tribes population is 50 per cent or more as per the 2001 Census. In majority of
the districts (i.e., 403 districts), the concentration of Scheduled Tribes
population to its total population is less than 20 percent.