Dalit Movement and Dalit International Conferences Author(s): Vivek Kumar Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.

38, No. 27 (Jul. 5-11, 2003), p. 2799 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4413746 Accessed: 03/11/2010 07:33
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ming a government only. Butthe ironyis Dalit Movement and Dalit thatdalitson theirown do not havenumbersto forma government. theyhaveto So enterin alliancewith some otherpolitical International Conferences force,andit is difficultforthemto find a

letterandspirit,whichis possibleby for-

now Thedalitmovement presentsac evengreaterdiversity thanbefore and dalitwomen,who remaintriplyexploitedon the basis of caste, class andgender,largelyremainoutsidethe movement's fold.
VIVEK KUMAR

conferences,we can have an objective assessment of present nature, scope, suffered thedalit dalit con- successesandfailures eetanother international by Wecanalsolistchallenges in movement. faced ferencewas recentlyorganised whichhaveemerCanada,duringMay by the dalitmovement, Vancouver, to 16-18,2003,withthehelpofdalitdiaspora ged out of theseconferences assess the of dalitmovement. settledindifferent of parts theworld.This direction 21st century is the fourthsuch conferenceorganised by the dalit diasporasince 1998. The Challenges for the Movement firstone was organisedin Malaysia,by Dalit International Facedwiththeatrocities within Hindu the Organisationduring October10-11, 1998.It was followed by social order,at the very outset dalits in a two-day international conference on Indiaface a challengewhetherto remain dalit human rights in London during within the Hindu folds or convert to 16-17,2000 by Voice of Dalit Buddhismor to any otherreligion.The September International (VODI). VODI organised dalit leadershiphas failed to give any another internationaldalit conference clear-cutdirectionto their followers esin India during Feburary 19-20, 2003 peciallyin the wakeof legislationpassed stategovernments India. in assessingthe status of dalit and inter- bythedifferent national aid. the developmental Besidesdalits Further dalitmovementtodayfaces a in have also participated the world con- challengefrom the communalforces on ference againstracism, held in Durban whichthe conferences have only showed betweenAugust28 to September The theirconcernswithoutcomingout with a 7. dalitdiaspora remained that invisible till strategyto counterit. few years' back has all of a sudden The second challenge for the dalits, becomevisible.Todaywe areawarethat which has emergedout of these conferit is presentin big numbersin Canada, ences, is how to face the onslaught the of southAsia, SouthAfrica,West processesof globalisation, Malaysia, privatisation, information etc. UK, revolution, Indies,Germany, US andmanyother liberalisation, countries. It is a factthattherollingbackof thestate Three factors have contributedposi- in everysphere, making is reservations for tively in making the dalit diaspora dalits under article 335 of the Indian visible.One, the increasedcommunica- Constitution redundant. theother On hand, tion facility by the informationrevolu- withthecomingof MNCsthedemand for tion, as an integralpartof the process management, engineering, computerapof globalisation, through computers plication degree holders is increasing, andinternetservices. Log on to www. which dalits cannotsupply.It is not beambedkar.org, www.gururavidasssabha. cause they do not have meritratherbein org, etc, andyou can find all aboutthem. cause they were late starters the realm of Two, the strengthening civil society of education.Secondly,technicaleducawith the NGOs,both at the international tion is still very expensive which most and nationallevel and their keenness to dalits can't afford. in takeinterest the issues relatedto dalits There are two paths suggestedby the and othermarginalised sections. And fi- dalitsto tackletheaforesaid One, problem. of nally, the intervention United Nation capture political power by forming an Human Rights to Commission, World independent and the party implement dalit international national agenda.This is beingmootedon thebasis and Bank,andother institutionsfor maintenanceof human thatthe Constitution gives dalitsrightsat sections. par with othermasses includingrightto rightsof dalitandotherdeprived Against this backdrop,based on the vote.Theonly effort,whichdalitshave to issuesdiscussed thesedalitinternational make,is to gettheserightsimplemented in in

suitable atleasttillnow.Theotherpath ally, is thatof diversityin supplier, dealership, andrecruitment. recruitment The diversity will extendin private sectoras well, which is now restricted only in the government and public undertakings. Here, one can that if the rights enshrined the in argue Constitutionwere not fulfilled in last 52 years who can take the guarantee of the private sector. Together this is the threefacedby the dalit challengenumber movement. How to bringthe diversefacetsof dalit movementsin a state of dialogueis another challenge of the dalit movement. has Todaythe dalitmovement diversified its natureand scope. There is the dalit reform movepoliticalandsocio-religious of dalit ment,movement dalitbureaucracy, intellectual movement, which includes numberof magazines,journals,internet and like magazines sites,conferences dalit Sammelan dalithistory and conferSahitya ence, etc. Today we also have an international dalit organisationled by dalit who aretryingto raisetheissues diaspora the confronting dalits.Theyhavetakenup the matters dalitswith World concerning Bank, IMF, and UNHRC and MNC directly suggesting to them way and meansto take favourablesteps to safeguardthe rights of the dalits. Anotherchallengefor dalit movement is how to bringthedalitwomenin its fold. it that Generally is argued thoughthedalit women are triplyexploitedon the bases of caste, class and genderyet she enjoys to greatergenderequalityin comparison general caste women. Even then dalit women and their issues are absentfrom the dalit movement. To spread dalitmovement regions the in like, Orissa,Haryana,MadhyaPradesh, West Bengal, Bihar,to name Rajasthan, a few, and creating consciousness just castes,otherthanthe amongthe different 'mahars' 'chamars', arenotaware and who of the dalitassertion a biggerchallenge is the The confronting dalitmovement. international conferences havebeensuccessful in creatinggreatervisibilityto the plight of dalitsattheinternational yet it has level to addressthe challengesfaced the dalit movementback home. Unless the dalit leadershipis preparedto face all these challenges earnestly, the movement's developmentwill be crippled.13 2799

Economicand PoliticalWeekly July 5, 2003