Freedom of Expression and the Life of the Dalit Mind

Author(s): GOPAL GURU

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 48, No. 10 (MARCH 9, 2013), pp. 39-45
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 PERSPECTIVES

Freedom of Expression
sufferings of dalits. However, since the
concrete articulation of this expression
lies with the individual from its reference
and the Life of the Dalit Mind groups, the scheduled castes and sched
uled tribes (scs/sts), on moral grounds,
it gives the members of these groups a
GOPAL GURU kind of discretionary power to make
moral judgments and leave positivistic
Under what conditions does judgments to the respective judiciary,
cultural life of India have had a while availing of this legal intervention.
freedom of expression enable the
The recent
dalit to live a life of the mind?
events
compounded in the
impact socio
on freedom Moral judgment is informed by the
of expression. These events particularly credibility that a person from the other
Does the foregrounding of the
relating to dalit issues have forced a caste has shown through his or her con
section of the "socially vigilant and tinuous commitment to the social cause
body and the elevation of bodily
expression - whether it is in politically correct" elite to jump into the of the underprivileged. It is needless to
debate on freedom of expression. The point out once again that Nandy, through
spectacular consumption or
urgency and intensity in their response his predictable as well as unpredictable
corruption - really help the has
dalit
to be understood in terms of the creativity, has shown an affinity to the
struggle for dignity and invocation of the Scheduled Castes and dalit cause. Hence, any legal step against
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atroci him would be an unfortunate thing to
emancipation? This intervention
ties) Act of 1989 against one of country's happen. It is always important, at least for
into the debate which started
leading public intellectuals - Ashis the dalits, to engage with public intellec
after Ashis Nandy's controversial
Nandy. What upset these petitioners tuals publicly rather than legally. Debat
comments regarding corruptionmost was the use of the 1989 Act against ing Nandy publicly is important not for

and dalits made at the JaipurNandy. This deployment invoked a scoring rhetorical points through televi
Literature Festival seeks to
critique the very epistemological
calling it a "draconian Act". In such ahave with his recent expressions and the
and ontological foundations reading
on of the Act, what was being sugexpression of some of his defenders.
gested seems to be this - the power of
which Nandy's assertions were
based and whose defence legal expression has a suffocating imsee that the opportunistic intervention
provided an opportunity for the
elites to repeat the rituals of
humiliation and subjugation
of the dalits.
Gopal Guru (g0palguru2001@gmail.c0m)
teaches political science at the Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi.
range of reactions against this Act. Thus sion debates but to reason out with him
some of them went to the extent of the theoretical problems that one may
Dalits need to take a moral lead and
pact on the power of intellectual expresby interested parties does not short
circuit their discourse. From this van
sion. However, it is necessary to put the
entire debate around the Act into a tage point, we need to debate with
proper perspective. Nandy that his recent expressions have
Let me make an initial submission deep implications for the language that
where I would like to argue that it would
can be used to describe the quality of life
be unfair to evaluate this Act as "dracoof the dalit mind. Therefore, what is at
stake is the understanding and evalua
nian" particularly in relation to an indi
vidual case. Individualising legal tion
ex of Nandy's expression, particularly
pression is problematic as it tends in to terms of its role in linguistically situ
ating dalits either in the "ecology of
gloss over the collective relevance of this
argument" or in the domain of "social
particular Act. On the contrary, the rele
vance of the power of legal expressionecology".
as Second, and much more im
an interim arrangement has to be under portant, it would be quite interesting to
stood in terms of the failure of intellec
find out the quality of post-Nandy ex
pressions and their implications, both
tual power to tame the "recalcitrant caste
of mind" (my expression) which has
fora the promotion of a culture of public
debate and also for harnessing the life
deep contempt for the transformative
power of mind. Second, although the of the "dalit mind" (right to think, com
prehend, imagine, analyse, interpret
outer expression of this Act looks puni
tive, its inner dimension has a moral and
sig recommend).
nificance. That is to say, it has resultedIn other words, I would like to ex
from the need to minimise the collectiveplore whether these expressions by the

Economic & Political weekly Bid march 9, 2013 vol xlviii no 10 39

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PERSPECTIVES

intellectual elites have short-circuited Bengal...in the last 100 years nobody that they accommodate within their logic
public debate and distorted discourse by from obcs, scs and sts have come nearan element of creative predictability.
resorting to authorial expression? Sec power...absolutely clean state." The main However, the debate on the freedom
ond, what impact can this "authorita point which comes out is that while it isof expression in the recent context has
tive" expression have for the self-expres vulgar that most sc, st and obcs are cor provided us with an opportunity to dis
sion and self-realisation of the dignity of rupt, corruption is good for democracy. cuss at some length the notion of predict
the "dalit mind"? In the beginning let us As most defenders of Nandy have arability. Let me, using the normative rather
deal with Nandy's first order expression gued, irony as creative unpredictabilitythan rationality criterion that Weber
and the theoretical problems that are then becomes an organising norm withwould like us to follow (Heller 1999:
associated with such an expression. In in the ecology of argument and expres247), understand predictability in terms
order to have some grasp of Nandy's sion. Since irony is unpredictable butof its social and cultural impact on cer
expression, we would like to proceed creative and hence the placement or use tain groups, in the present case dalits.
through the construction of an unusual of words makes sense only in unpredict There could be two notions of predict
binary between the ecology of an argu ability, the advice that follows from thisability- repressive and oppressive. In the
ment and social ecology. appeal is the following: "Do not look forrepressive mode, for example, private as
predictability and for reason, as suchwell as public employers have denied
Ecology of Expression vs surplus expressions are ironically unique." dalits teaching jobs on the predictable
Social Ecology It was being suggested that the expresground that the latter are likely to "mis
One can grant Nandy the advantage of sion has to be understood not as a moral use" the 1989 Act against the institutional
locating the expression in an overall assault on dalits but a genuine attempt interest.1 One wonders whether these
ecology of argument and its resultant to replenish rather than destroy dalit employers are using rationally motivat
expression. In ecology of argument, it interests. It is possible to grant that ed predictability to keep the dalits out or
could be argued that the expression of a Nandy's expressions are pro-dalit. Yet are they motivated more by the unfair
particular idea (in Nandy's case the idea such expressions, howsoever creative prejudice that would deny even the
of corruption as collective entitlement) they may be, neither help dalits escape "competent" dalit entry into the institu
does not follow a predictable pattern their objectification, nor are they aimed tion. Conversely, from the dalit point of
and yet, in an ironic sense, they exist at promoting the well-being of dalits. view and experience deep-seated preju
side by side harmoniously. Nandy's ideas, Thus, one fails to understand how this dice of the employers becomes quite pre
so his defenders argue, are creative but expression would help dalits escape dictable. In the final analysis, mutually
follow unpredictable routes for their ex their social ecology. exclusive forms of predictability would
pression. Let us look at the route from Creative unpredictability is desirable become repressive to dalits who cannot
Nandy's perspective itself. His comment and is one of the formative conditions realise their self-expression.
in the discussion, as published in the for initiating and innovating emancipa Predictability could also acquire an
newspapers later (Indian Express 2013) tory ideologies, policies and strategies.oppressive form in that it would give
At the same time, it could misfire as well.dalits a low sense of their intellectual
Just a response to this part, very briefly, he's
not saying the most important part of the Human beings are creatively unpredictworth. This is clear when the non-dalit,
story, which will shock you, and it will be a able, because they often are moved to actcontrolling dalit cultural resources, ignores
very undignified and - how should I put it - by a sense of unrealised potential in dalits because, in the former's perception,
almost vulgar statement on my part. It is a
themselves or a sense of latent possibilithe latter are predictably emotional and
fact that most of the corrupt come from the
obcs and the scheduled castes and now in ties in their situation. Hence, suppreshagiographie and hence need not be in
creasingly scheduled tribes and as long sing
as freedom of expression could be vited, for example, to talk of Ambedkar.
damaging as far as the realisation of thisThis
this is the case, Indian republic will survive. denial is morally oppressive. More
And I give an example, one of the states with
potential is concerned. Thus, freedom ofover, using creativity to make certain
the least amount of corruption is the state of
speech and expression offers us an oppeople pathologically predictable is self
West Bengal when the cpm was there. And I
want to propose to you, draw your attention
portunity to realise this potential (literdefeating intellectual activism.
ary, artistic and philosophical, theoreti In the context of the dalit question,
to the fact that in the last 100 years, nobody
from the obcs, the backward classes and the cal), often through personal experimen"social ecology" in the specific sense,
scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes
tation. Experimenting with others, howand not in the established sense (Guha
have come anywhere near power in West
ever, is not without problems particularly1994: 5), is basically the politically struc
Bengal. It is an absolutely clean state.
form the Kantian perspective. Accordingtured conditions in which a particular
Now let us look at the way this isto the famous Kantian categorical im group is perceived as the "other" with a
structured, "...it will be very undigniperative, one refrains from using somedescription that belongs to the logical
fied... almost vulgar statement... most ofbody as a means to satisfy one's end. class of negative or grotesque language.
the corrupt come from the obcs and theHence, by and large, in revolutionaryIt becomes grotesque precisely because
scheduled castes and now increasinglypractice, theoretical moves acquire his it inhabits "deformed", degenerated,
scheduled tribes...an example...Westtorical significance only on the conditiondisgusting and dispensable objects and
40 march 9, 2013 vol XLViil NO 10 13253 Economic & Political weekly

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 PERSPECTIVES

dalit into the framework of a negative

objectified bodies. Further, social ecology right. Thus, expression as an individual
makes dirt and filth an existential com possession loses its grounds of validity
language but it also does not pay any at
tention to the congruence between self
panion of dalits who are at the receiving the moment it depends on another for its
end of condescending descriptionsperception
of and self-expression of thearticulation. The tradition of Rudali in
Rajasthan could be one tragic example
dalit. Second order explanations offered
the former across time and space. Hence,
dalits, whose existential companion byisNandy's defenders seem to be com of such expression. Since it depends on
pounded
"dirt" and "filth", are often the recipients with much greater ethical
the other for its articulation, it is morally
of condescending descriptions. mandatory to be sensitive to others'
problems. This problem could be defined
in terms of the dominant assumption
In the middle caste/class perception, moral/ethical well-being. To make one's
that seeks to individualise expression
dalits are accessed as a moving moral interlocutors an equal partner in the
menace. The grotesque nature of suchas self-possession. collective project of transformation, one
an ecological understanding gets fur needs to make sure that our interlocutor
ther accentuated when this urban mid Individualising Expression sees the world in the same way as we do,
as an Ethical Problem
dle caste/class perceives these locations so that our expressions do not stand out
as the source of physical dirt and moral In a liberal democratic framework,
as unpredictable (Durrheim 2012: 190).
It to
danger. Thus, in the social construction one is free to defend another's right is at this level that the individual tran

of ecology dalits become dirt and dirt is freedom of expression conditionallyscends

and his or hers individual boundaries
them. The upper caste imagination thus even unconditionally. Thus one mustand notbecomes social.
eliminates the fault line between dirt take any objection to the intervention
Good speech, therefore, would consti
and dignity on the one hand, severing made by others in Nandy's favour. This tute the corrective capacity that a speaker
quality from life on the other. Thus, the is the question of political solidarity
has to adopt. The moral need to correct
social production of such an ecology which is so important in the age of in speech is also the act to affirm the
one's
firmly establishes an ontological link be tolerance. However, freedom of expres
right to speak for another community
tween the dalit and the context (social sion becomes problematic once it isabout
con whom the speech seems to have
ecology) of grotesque description. Con verted into the matter of self-possession
taken a perceived grotesque turn. Expres
tinuous reproduction of this social eco or a semiotic property that has to besion
defas self-possession, if pushed into the
service of self-regarding intellectual
logy makes some of them sceptical about ended at any cost. This right to indivi
the suggestion made by de Souza (2013) dualise expression sometimes may create
interests, has a tendency to eliminate the
who has argued for delinking expression a tension between expression as possibility
self of inner legislation informed
from location. possession and its public articulation.
byAt
the historical need to think with those
In the dalit perception popular cul one level, expression does become a
in question. Internal legislation leading
to moderation in speech has a bearing on
ture,2 particularly music and literature, semiotic property inasmuch as it is taken
represents corruption as "moral dirt" to be a biological resource which has our corrective capacity. Similarly one
should not be averse to reflective expres
and hence a part of the social ecology its origin and sustenance in the corporeal
that surrounds dalits. Dalits themselves
individual. Expression also remains sion
indijust because it is likely to destroy the
have their own moral universe, hence vidual as long as one is talking to condition
one of the possibility of generating
they put a premium on the normative self, for example, in an isolated place knowledge (William 1999:186).
question: "what are they?" rather than like an island. On the decibel scale, one
Further, it is important to keep in focus
that for producing an ethically sound
"what do they have that counts"? Démo can also measure the individual's physi
cratisation of corruption or corruption cal power of expression. expression, it is necessary to privilege
as a collective entitlement, therefore, Thus, expression in itself maycollective
be stature over social status that
one has achieved through settled social
would be significant not in the first but powerful, but it acquires social power
certainly in the second instance. only when it is articulated in public.
confidence. Remember, reflective expres
Dalits have developed their own self Expression, in order to become sociallysion can unsettle social confidence and
description of being a morally integrated relevant if not powerful, has to have
can adamage social status. Reflective con
self: a Buddhist who follows the Bud reference point outside itself. Thissciousness
out necessarily generates within a
person, particularly those with surplus
side is constitutive of an ethically sound
dhist "Arya Astangik Marga" (The eight
social condition. That is to say, those
fold ethical path). Such self-description social confidence, a sense of humility (if
is based on values that are intrinsic to the
who are speaking or expressing need
notto
humiliation). Thus, it might adversely
affect
have listeners who are ready to listen
self. This is radically different from the to the social status of a person, par
even strident or grotesque speech ticularly
liberal notion of a "self-made" self. Argu that that status which is based on
self-obsession with one's own expres
belongs to the social ecology as defined
ably, the self-made self has an extrinsic
earlier. In short, ethics of ears or ethics
quantifiable, measurable value or price sion. Reflective expression, besides being
that can be gained by any scrupulous of listening is a precondition to the helpful
right in refining intellectual insights,
means. Thus, Nandy's prescription of to decent expression. It is here that also
theoffers a promise to elevate the social
freedom
corruption as ideal not only pushes the of expression becomes a social
stature of human beings. Social stature

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 PERSPECTIVES

is much closer to human dignity than 2006). The word "Chandala" can still
context within which expression does
social status (Kateb 2011:9). Reflective
not acquire an offensive form, since it as a repository of the anger of the
work
expression, at another level, also per
assigns equal consideration to those with
socially dominant castes in India. To put
forms an important function inasmuch it differently, this word works as the
whom one is talking to. In this context,
mutual presence is a necessary require
as it tends to undercut the moral signifi shock absorber for the socially dominant.
ment. That is to say, one cannot "talk The
cance of the "unified expression", which to" speech that is laboured through re
in its drive for self-righteousnessthose
and who are absent from the context. peated expression, in effect, sends a con
rationality could be quite repressive.The absence thus creates the ground for stant reminder to its social target, thus
an act of "talking for". unleashing moral injuries on the latter.
Unified vs Emerging ExpressionSecond, "talking for" could have two The rituals of expression have the
intersecting routes. At one level, "talk function of hitting their social target ac
Interestingly the fall out of this "unified
expression" is the production of a ingnewfor" could remain a pure intellectual curately. The humiliating effect of this
act and would take the form of either
social identity, or in Bourdieu's language repetitive expression was visible in the
a "scholastic habitus" (B0urdieu20i0:81).
teaching or prescribing to others. But, itrelaxed body language of the adversar
could also be objectionable on moralies of the reservation system. The anti
This new social identity then, in a collec
grounds as one gets supplemented in reservationist would derive a designated
tive manner, produces a bogey of shared
expression that has a bearing on the latter,empowerment through these repetitive
complaints against dalits as emotionally
in the present context the dalit. For anti-reservation expressions. The power
intolerant, making them intellectually
example, an expression that sought toof dominant expression acquires sali
immature and hence infantile, epistemo
prescribe the "ideal of corruption" to theence because it reverberates each time
logically breathless; meaning those who,
dalit constitutes a morally problematicthe expression is repeated.
according to the former, lacked necessary
act as it does not respect the self-percep Third, an act of "talking about" seems
intellectual insight into understanding,
tion of those about whom one is expressto be morally problematic as it acquires
analysing and interpreting the creative
ing one's views. The third person expresa gossip mode. Of course, gossip in
unpredictability in Nand/s speech. Some
of his defenders, thus, have set new
sion is morally problematic as it treatsthe subaltern framework is among the
the first person as lacking expressive andweapons of the weak. In the present con
norms and, by implication, portray them
selves as the shared reference group,perceptive
par capacity to decide one's owntext, gossip is the weapon of the strong.
ticularly for dalits who, therefore, are
life plan. Moreover, those who are sugThe gossip discourse which is prominent
gesting this ideal of corruption to dalits,in some of India's metros does involve
expected to follow the norms of apprecia
tion and intellectual protocols of evalua
in fact, are indirectly suggesting that thisthe consumption of the dalit as the comic
tion laid down by the former. How ideal
does is not universally replicable, be figure in an in-house performitivity.
one look at the claims for freedom of ex the prescribers themselves mayFinally, at the last layer of this morpho
cause
pression made by such a new social iden
have fought against corruption both aslogy of expression it is an act of "talking
an idea as well as a specific practice. down". Many will not hesitate to accept
tity? Does this new social identity prom
ise us, as Charles Taylor suggested (1997:
Thus, it is quite discriminatory to suggestthat "talking down" is potentially autho
258), a positive conception of freedom of
to others something that one is not doingritative in nature. The perfomitivity of
expression that would open up spacesoneself.
for The bracketing of one sectionthis authoritative expression suggests
look the ideal that is not universally imithat dalits need to listen to the authorial
subaltern expressions? How can one with
table
at the role of this new social identity inconstitutes humiliation. voices without daring to lift their head
Similarly, rituals of repetition of expres and talk back. What is intended in such
terms of enriching the life of mind. In this
sion also involve humiliation. These rituals expression is to induce a repressive si
regard, it is necessary to theoretically
debate the question of the freedom of of
expression do make regular appear lence through deceitful prescriptions, if
of in Hindi films. For example, the not indictment.
ances
expression, particularly in the context
expression
the elite struggle for right to freedom of "Chandala" has so frequently Aggressive "talking down" can lead to
been
expression. As a part of this exercise, letused in several movies by directors a negative sense of self-possession which
me look at the role of the new eliteswho
in find no problem with such expresis qualitatively different from the one
sion. Similarly, in a Hindi movie Aarakmentioned above. By this term I mean
terms of the morphology of expression.
shan, many found the repetitive expres the awareness of oneself as susceptible
Talk-in-Action: Social
sions against reservation to be innocent. to intimidation and mental capture. One
Morphology of Expression But are these expressions in Hindi cine withdraws into oneself, if one is not
ma innocent? These expressions do notto confirm to the authoritative dictation
While talking about freedom of expression,
hang in the air. On the contrary, they are that was underpinning this "talking
one has to also take on board the morphol
ontologically anchored in the dalit as adown". It smacks of cultural coercion
ogy of expression that can be understood
concrete being. Similarly, the expression which, in an ironic sense, leads to the
in terms of an act of talking that plays
"Chandala" is genealogically related to denial of the freedom of expression
out differently. First, an act of "talking
to" assumes an ideal communicative the contemporary dalits (Parasher Sen to the underdogs. Surprisingly, in the
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 PERSPECTIVES

expressions that are available in thestruggle

pro fundamentally involves the hu There are already attempts in this
Nandy petition being circulated onman theintellectual efforts to restore a mor regard.4 Let us invite dalits, on a priority
therich expression to their actually basis, to intensify their intellectual
web such aggressive talking down toally
lived
dalit is very much louder. Let me cite a life. This struggle thus could be struggle to seek this break. I am already
few illustrations here. Some of these seen as posing a serious challenge to the suggesting that dalits do resist seeking
dichotomous construction of expression such a break from the "social". Social
expressions accused dalits of lacking the
capacity of listening or hearing. - thus prescribing to dalits their expres here has to be understood in terms of an
Dalits have been quite energetic insion through the body, while retaining inner dynamics of dalit intellectual life.
to themselves a more sacred or canon
reacting to the Nandy controversy. Nandy
ised expression through mind.
himself, may not have had much control Internal Censorship within Dalit
Intellectual Life
over the expression of his defenders. He To put it differently, such construc
tions of dichotomy suggest the followingLet me briefly unfold some of the
is aware about the surplus use of lan
- expressions produced through the
guage that is a part of his creative unpre internal challenges that dalits have to
body are specific to the dalit, while ex
dictability. But from this, it should not face while carrying out their struggle for
pressions produced through the mind
follow that his friends feel intellectually the life of mind. The first challenge that
and perhaps socially confident so as to are related to the urban elite. Those who dalits needs to take up is to do "moral

privileged the mind over the body, or

overstep and condemn dalits as beyond violence" with the self to empty out all
reason over emotions, need to appreci
any hermeneutic redemption. Put rather the inhibitions that prevent the internal
harshly, in such a reading the dalit gets growth of their self-confidence. Self
ate what the dalits have to say about this
mind-body dichotomy. Paraphrasingconfidence is key to taking the rights of
projected as an emotional self who then
becomes pathologically predictable. Dalits the mind seriously. Lack of self-confi
Ambedkar, they would then say "It may
have been trying to fight this humilia dence or the possession of symbolic
be in your interest to prescribe to us an
expression through the body, but how
ting description. On a positive note, they social confidence would lead to an elim
can it be in our interest to deny theination of the possibility of authentic
have been fighting the intellectual battle
to gain hold of their self-description. expression through the mind"? The self-expression, which in turn is based
on the ethical stamina to remain avail
prescription that dalits should not lag
Dalit Moral Struggles for behind in reaping the benefits that able to self-interrogation.
the Life of Mind
accrue from "leakage democracy", if not In the Indian context the "social" does
corrupt democracy, would push the dal
The dalit moral struggle therefore is to not limit itself to a particular communi
negate this social ecology and move ty. It covers an entire range of social
its to express themselves only through
the body, leaving the life of the mind to
away from it to join the public sphere, groups that are constitutive of different
the urban elite. However, it is erroneous
where they can realise the life of the castes groups. But this ethics of listening
mind. Their struggle is to move away forms only half the condition of good
to treat social ecology as the location of
from the sensational to the intellectual speech. It does not follow that these con
the body and the ecology of argument as
sphere. To put it differently, their strug the sphere of the mind. ditions are enough for good speech. The
gle is to move away from the real to the other half of the conditions that are nec
Taking a cue from Bourdieu (xvi) we
ideal. This journey was one where we need to make an argument in favour of essary for good speech are the ethics of
would hear, in college, the story thatthe life of the dalit mind, which is inti speaking. Causing violence through neg
Ambedkar felt upset after listening to mately linked to the epistemologicalative attribution violates the ethics of
stories of corrupt dalits.3 The "ideal ofbreak from social ecology. In fact, it speaking.
is This is true across castes and
within the caste. Hence dalit castes are
corruption" denies dalits access to this itself an epistemological break from this
moral history. social ecology. An autonomous and non no exception to this. Even Ambedkar
was himself the recipient of such bad
We need to acknowledge the struggle objectified life of mind provides dalits an
of such dalits, who refuse to acquire opportunity to seek this epistemological mouthing by his opponents from his
status through corruption which destroys break. To put it simply, dalits need toown immediate caste - the Mahar caste.5

their moral stature, as the intrinsically make more efforts to come out from the In contemporary times, some dalits,
valuable being. Corruption might help a Platonic "dark hole" and enjoy the sun
on a number of occasions, actively sup
few dalits express themselves in the shine as offered by the intelligible
press the expression of their own caste
sensible world through bodies that are world. It is in this sense that an episte
brethren. Such incidence of suppression
is often subtle but recurrent within the
externally augmented through the mar mological break is also a social break.
ket - gold and diamonds and other assets. They should assert that their life ofdalit community. The dalit public sphere
However, this material conception of the mind is much richer and, ironically, lacks confidence and hence it channel

ises certain expressions and ignores

body would necessarily prevent them more enduring as they are pushed into
from expressing their mind in the intel this social ecology continuously. Hence
certain others. The dalit community is
building internet communities that are
ligible world - the world where one can it is in their interest to debate the ques
enjoy the life of the mind. The dalit tion at a much higher level. hospitable to non-critical identity-based

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PERSPECTIVES

matters. They circulate those expres

compromised and compressed expres transformative possibilities. It has to
sions that are based either on the narra
sion, undermines their social stature as be further acknowledged that the ex
tives of dalit victimhood or of caste self-respecting persons. pression of creativity with humility
atrocities around which the narratives In fact, experience shows that for some (vidya vinayena shobhate, a sanskrit
of victimhood are built. Such expression dalits bodily expression can acquire the vachana) has the promise to route ex
is important, but they are wanting in power of subversion through performi pression in the realm of civility rather
their theoretical elevation. Unfortu tivity, thanks to consumer markets than that of legality. In other words,
which makes acquisition and adoption humility can prevent serious discourse
nately, such critical expressions get sup
pressed under the weight of the logic to various technologies possible. Thus, a from getting short-circuited by inter
of a paternalistic morality. This gets diamond-studded body of a dalit would ested parties, including the authorita
played out in a subtle manner in the certainly
ex annoy the upper castes. For tive expressions that were voiced
clusive dalit seminars and conferences. want of space, I would not go into differ nationally and internationally.
One often hears the following paternal ent aspects of this question of annoy In the present case, what was starkly
istic/patriarchal voice "Do not criticise ance. But let me quickly add here that evident was the authoritative expres
our own people, it is an internal matter, this annoyance has a social purpose, in sion that was processed through the act
others will take advantage of our dis as much as it subverts the normalised of talking down. The dominant has its
sent". Such a regressive communitarian social relationship. This act of sanskritisa origin in the act of individualising ex
ethics and morality provides the basis tion tends to create within the victim a pressions. In the ambition to achieve
for the "overlapping consensus" among negative consciousness of the self that and maintain the dominant status, it
some dalits who seek to insulate dalit would annoy those who seek to denigrate becomes necessary to treat expression
practice and thinking from any validthe dalit bodies in the first instance. as self-possession.
internal criticism. But at the same time, this resignifica Expressions with authoritative power
Good speech and the resultant exprestion also assigns a flipside to bodily ex have the ambition to remain dominant.
sion as a virtue cannot be taken as a pressions, in the sense that it can They can retain their discursive domi
moral resource that is naturally avail
amount to the colonisation of the body. nance only in the company of a mass of
able to any caste group. In fact, it has to And
be this very body, for its very subver ordinary or insignificant expressions, or
sive articulation, has to depend on the suppressed and subdued expressions in
acquired through a robust process invol
imitation of another idealised body. the public sphere. In order to remain
ving inner legislation and self-reflection.
Similarly, in everyday social life, the dominant they need to either suppress
In the political field, dalit leaders often
process of sanskritisation necessarily or subdue others' expressions (of argu
have to supress their expression. This
produces an incongruence between mentative ideas, creative imaginations,
auto-suppression results from the need
self-perception and self-expression. The etc) that are constitutive of the rights of
to tailor their expression in ways that do
need to imitate others necessarily pro mind. One needs to defend this right
not expose the conceited expressions of
duces coercive expression. Conversely, through an onslaught of "talking down".
their party bosses. Ductility and adjust
it can lead to the containment of a more
ment thus form the basis of the subjec Talking down necessarily involves a
tive reason which these dalit leaders authentic expression which could be coercive pedagogy. In the recent case
defined in terms of the congruence bet the unified expression produced by the
then put to profitable use. They can con
ween self-perception and self-expres urban intellectual elite did involve such
tinue to be recipient of their party's
sion. The source of this expression is a coercive pedagogy which taught,
patronage. Such suppression of expres
sion involves a double escape for the
in the ideal of being simple. The Bud particularly the dalit, how it is in their
dalit - while escaping from freedomdha,
of M K Gandhi, Jyotirao Phule and interests to resolve problems through
expression they actually intend (the to later) Ambedkar expressed them the power of the mind and not just
selves primarily in the simple and not in through legal power. The advice to the
escape from the wrath of party leaders.
But in doing so they also escape with the spectacular.6 dalits that they should deploy discursive
authentic expression that is so necessary or intellectual resources in dealing with
Conclusions
to the definition and realisation of a self contingencies of different kinds may
respecting being. In conclusion, we need to once again
Of course there are a few notableunderline a few points that are neces
Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
exceptions, but the larger argumentsary for the radical reconfiguration of our
holds. These auto-suppression points tothinking
a about freedom of expression available at
difficult dilemma - the transformations and its implication for the rights of the
Oxford Bookstore-Mumbai
at the subjective level within the dalit mind of dalits. As mentioned above, in a
Apeejay House
oppositional consciousness are much liberal democratic system such as India, 3, Dinshaw Vacha Road
slower than the changes in their material freedom of expression as an individual Mumbai400020
position. Their body may express their right has to be accepted as a necessary Ph: 66364477
high social status but their mind, with condition for creativity which has

44 march 9, 2013 vol XLViii no 10 0323 Economic & Political weekly

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 PERSPECTIVES

have some relevance. However, at theIn this regard, for the urban
isolation. 6 This argument is based on a personal commu
nication with Arindam Chakravarty, who
same time it is necessary to offer the are interested in making ex teaches Indian philosophy at the University of
elite who
same advice to dalit adversaries who are pression egalitarian, Kierkegaard is not Hawaii, Honolulu.
found tormenting the former morally, an ideal reference point. If he is, then
through the rituals of repetition of thethey, like him, would necessarily choose
REFERENCES

humiliating expression. to walk alone without the need for a Aloka, Parasher Sen (2006): "Naming an
Exclusion, The Outcaste and the Outsid
Resorting to the legal remedy is concerned
a interlocutor. Let us hope that Patrick Olivelle (ed.), Between the E
necessary but not sufficient condition they, in the future, will walk and talk(USA: Oxford University Press), 415-55.
for dalits who are interested in the reali Bourdieu, Pierre (2010): Distinction, trans b
together with the dalit, in fact with the
ard Nice (London: Routledge).
sation of the life of the mind. They can rest of the subalterns. D'Souza, Peter (2013): "Compelling Compr
take the rights of the mind seriously editorial page, Indian Express, Delhi, 11 Feb
Durrheim, Kevin (2012): "Implicit Mind
only in the condition where they put teraction" in John Dixon and Mark Levine
greater premium on the expression of NOTES (ed.), Beyond Prejudice, Extending the Social
Psychology of Conflict, Inequality and Social
the mind and not the body. Bodily ex 1 Personal communication with Sundar Sarukkai. Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University
pression may help raising their social 2 There are several songs recordings in CD Press).
and widely circulated in the dalit Marathi
Indian Express (2013): "Our Corruption Does Not
status but certainly not their human public sphere in Maharashtra which will Look Corrupt, Their Corruption Does", 31 Janu
stature. This is not to suggest that they substantiate this. ary, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/our
cannot speak through the power of 3 This is the public memory of Nagsevan, Au corruption-doesnt-look-that-corrupt-their-cor
rangabad Maharashtra, where different educa ruption-does/1066398/0 accessed on 21 Febru
mind; they do. The elite with their tional institutions founded by Babasaheb ary 2013.
dominant expression need to acknow Ambedkar are situated. Guha, Ramchandra, ed. (1994): Social Ecology
(Delhi: Oxford University Press).
ledge this. Similarly it is also necessary 4 This is a big list but prominent among them are
Heller, Agnes (1999): Theory of Modernity (Oxford:
Kumud Pawde, Urmila Pawar, Pradnya Pawar,
for dalits to engage with others more Blackwell).
K Satyanarayana, Sanal Mohan, Ramesh
with the power of argument or discur Kateb, George (2011): Human Dignity (Massachu
Kamble, Anand Teltumble, Umesh Bagale
setts, Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
sive power and less with legal power. (dalit by conviction), Partha Sarathi Mandai,
Taylor, Charles (1997): Philosophical Argument
and Laxmanan.
Dalits do require interlocutors for (Massachusetts, Cambridge: Harvard Univer
5 The late Ravi Ranade, who taught at Pune has sity Press).
the realisation of the life of the mind. shared the information that G M Thaware from William, Bernard (1999), Ethics and the Limits of
They should not be left alone to their Nagpur used to do this. Philosophy (London, New York: Routledge).

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