outcaste
At this year’s Jaipur Literature Festival, as India commemorates 60 years of being a Republic on 26 January 2010, the focus is on Dalit writing. The panel discussion on Outcaste: The Search for Public Conscience featured S. Anand, publisher of Navayana which focuses on dalit literature, P. Sivakami, novelist and political activist from Chennai; Omprakash Valmiki, author of the bestselling Joothan; and Kancha Ilaiah author of the best-selling Why I am Not a Hindu. Chairing the session, S. Anand said that despite the Constitution being piloted by Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a Dalit and one of the architects of modern India, Dalits seem to hardly figure in sectors where there is no affirmative action. Consequently, beyond representation in jobs in the government sector (which too is begrudged to them) and in politics, they continue to be shunned in the realms of culture, literature and the arts. Invoking Ambedkar's 1952 speech, Anand wanted the speakers to examine the “absence of public conscience”, especially among the Hindus. Ilaiah said the caste system made the brahmins, kshatriyas and vaishyas caste-proud and they therefore did not believe in introspection since they believe dalits and sudras have no right to write forget even speak. The Hindu public has no conscience, he said. Valmiki said that there's segreagation in every village in India, and the dalits are forced to live in ghettoes to the West of the village or near gutters. Caste envelopes every aspect of life in everyday India. Valmiki said even in Rajasthan today dalits face discrimination. In the vilage Chakwara in Rajasthan, after dalits managed to gain access to the lake, the caste Hindus started defecating there and polluting it, Anand pointed out. Sivakami said that upper caste Hindus have only a caste conscience and not a public conscience; they lack a human conscience. All the writers agreed that there was no reason they would call themselves Hindu since Hinduism offered them no dignity or respect. Valmiki earlier said that it was wonderful that the DSC Jaipur literature festival in its fifth year has welcomed dalit writers.
