Dalits in Dravidian Land

book synopsis/description:

Since the 1990s, India has witnessed a spurt in violence against dalits. This physical violence is perpetrated largely by the 'backward' castes, who claim victimhood under brahmins but also turn oppressors of dalits. Tamil Nadu, home to the nonbrahmin movement, has been projected by the political class, social scientists and policy-makers as fertile soil for social justice. However, the Dravidian movement’s empowerment agenda left the dalits - 19 percent of the population - almost untouched. In fact, the dalits have been subjected to the worst forms of violence, from being forced to consume human excreta to being murdered for contesting local body elections. S. VISWANATHAN has chronicled this violence over a decade in the pages of Frontline, the fortnightly newsmagazine.

In his introduction, RAVIKUMAR, activist - theoretician of the dalit movement in Tamil Nadu, offers a framework to understand this violence and suggests that more than being a consequence of the accumulation of power in the hands of the intermediary castes, such violence would be better understood as an attempt by 'backward' caste Hindus to test their newfound authority on those below them.