My new book on Dalit Literature has been released

This book is a worthy collection of articles compiled and edited by me along with Dr.Sundara Babu, Former Director, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai.  

My Preface to the Book:

PREFACE

I believe that all writing is-by nature-political. And yet there is too much of politics in writing itself. As an academician who grew up seeing virtually zero representations of Dalits on bookshelves, it is impossible for me to ignore the larger social and cultural context in which Indian literatures are produced in. I understand that things become far more complex when we begin to place cultural products like literatures that represent a society’s values and social structures within the context of the larger society in which they are consumed. Within a cultural, social and economic structure that advantages and privileges some over others, there is no way to make writing a non-political act. The very existence of “others” shows that some perspectives are put forward more frequently and more consistently to create a dominant narrative.


A piece of art is not autonomous or self-explanatory but exists in dynamic relation to the society which produced it, influenced it and is influenced by it. Harry Levin [“Literature as an Institution”, Accent Spring 1946] rightly says that, “The relations between literature and society are reciprocal. Literature is not only the effect of social causes it is also the cause of social effects.” Alberto, in Demeterio (2001), also suggests that “Literature is a social institution: it is created by the writer, who is a member of the society. Its medium is language, which is a social creation. It represents life, which is a social reality. It is addressed to men who form a social body. It is centrally conditioned by social and other forces and, in turn, exerts social influence” (11) Dalit literature constantly reflects an attempt at narrating the Dalit experience, the struggles associated with Caste based discrimination and its relics of denigration and oppression which seem to remain visible even in post-independence India.

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To read more, get copies from Vikas Adhyayan Kendra.

http://www.vakindia.org/shop-online.html

Vikas Adhyayan Kendra 
D-1 Shivdham, 62 Link Road, Malad (West), Mumbai 400 064 INDIA 
Tel : 022-2882 2850 / 2889 8662. Fax : 022-2889 8941

E-mail: vak@bom3.vsnl.net.in   

Let us awake to smell the stigma of this rotten society!!

As a socially sensitive person, I express grief at the tragic death of the victim of gang-rape in New Delhi and seek the most stringent punishment to the accused except death sentence. While expressing my heart-felt condolences to her family, I strongly believe that her death will mobilise the demand of all rational men and women to strengthen our laws against rapes, ensure the dignity and safety of our women, the struggle for gender equality, and the need for justice.

On one side, the sight of thousands holding candles and paying their last respects to the rape victim moves us and pricks our conscience as civilized human beings. On the other side, I could find multi-colour advertisements in all the leading newspapers and other media inviting the the prosperous sections of our society to usher in the New Year with parties and revelry.

I pledge on the eve of this New Year that I will struggle to make this nation an egalitarian society. I also make it a point not to celebrate this New Year not just for the death of the rape victim but for the simple reason that this nation has continued to ignore the marginalized sections. Let us introspect, at the stroke of midnight, on how (on an average of 16000 farmers every year) our poor farmers committed suicide, our Dalit and Tribal women were raped, sexually assaulted, and paraded naked, our poor wretched people (without shelter)died due to cold weather and how many thousands are still homeless, jobless and die of starvation.

I don’t want my grief for the victim’s family to be a fleeting shadow but a real one. Let us all hope that the death of this gang rape victim sows the seed for a revolution that would bring gender equality.  Again I have no right to infringe upon your right to celebrate the New Year. Yet, kindly think for a while before you gear up for the New Year bash!!  

Who is to blame?

Where were these protesters when thousands were raped and paraded naked in this 'shining' nation?

It’s disgusting because what people fail to realize is that New Delhi’s Gang rape case is a painful reminder that we people are responsible for such crimes and we always blame the police and the government. Over the past two weeks the Indian community has been swept up in a wave of emotions over the gang rape of a 23-year old girl in New Delhi. Even as the brutal crime shocks the nation, and public discontent grows, there starts the blame game. It is abdicating our own societal responsibility when we try to pin all the blame on our self-serving politicians and police machinery rather than examining our rotten social system that allowed regressive ideas and criminal behaviour to flourish.

We should look at our society's past of oppression based on gender and caste, and the history of rape being used by men to instill fear and inferiority in the women. The idea of women being blamed more after a rape thus silencing them is still very apparent in our society. How can we expect a transformation without understanding the fact that change must come from society, but sadly, the rot in the government emanates from the decay in Indian society? For centuries, our women have been killed for ‘disgracing Indian culture’, attacked over their attire, and assaulted for having the temerity to turn down a flirting young man. Thousands of disenfranchised tribal and dalit women are routinely paraded naked and the society remained mute. As a patriarchal society, we never bothered to question the erotic stereotypical images and porn stuff disseminated through various technological devices, to prevent young adolescent boys from watching it, to curb the menace of Khap Panchayats of Haryana which favoured child marriage as a possible step to prevent rape. Ironically we never even think about the miscreants who attend a rally calling for justice for a rape victim, and take advantage of the crowds to sexually assault women.

The system may have failed but blaming the government solely would be futile as the rot goes deep into our society. As a community, we need to ask not only why this has happened, but how we can prevent it from occurring in the first place. Eradicating violence against women like rape in India is a socio-cultural shift that will take time and requires support from the entire community to make a real sustainable change. The best solution to the present crisis is to change the narrow-minded male mentality that considers women to be inferior. The media is the most important tool to change the way women are viewed in our society and to combat the stereotypical images of women as inferior to men. Action is not solely up to governments, organizations or groups but should start with us. We need to harness the shock and sadness over the New Delhi gang rape to demand a society that will not tolerate violence against women in any form. Severe laws and castration debates alone cannot stop rapes but only a change in the social psyche can effect a positive change.