Abstract Booklet REVISED

Identities, Mobility and Well-Being
National Workshop-cum-Orientation Programme for Members of Scheduled

Caste/Schedule Tribe and other Marginalized Groups
26th -27th September,2015
Venue: St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata
Organisers/Convenors of the Conference

Ms. Sarbani Bandyopadhyay,
Doctoral Fellow, H&SS, IIT Bombay
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), 30 Mother Teresa Sarani
Kolkata -700016
&
Dr. Shoma Choudhury Lahiri
Assistant Professor and Head
Department of Sociology
St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), 30 Mother Teresa Sarani
Kolkata -700016
(This conference was fully sponsored by the Eastern Regional Centre of Indian Council for
Social Science Research, Kolkata)
Contents
Programme Schedule PAGE NOS.
Concept Note
Note on Workshop and Panel Discussion
List of Resource Persons
List of Participants in Paper Presentations and Panel Discussion
Abstracts
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
DAY 1 (SATURDAY) 26.09.2015
9.30—10.00 AM: Registration and Tea

10.00—10.30 AM: Inauguration and Welcome Address: Fr. Felix Raj sj. Principal, St. Xavier’s
College, Kolkata; Manabi Majumdar, Chair, ICSSR-ERC; Workshop
Organisers/Convenors
10.30—12.45 PM: Session I: Papers on Workshop Theme: Speakers: Virginius Xaxa, Aseem
Prakash, Anand Teltumbde, Abhinaya Kamble
12.45—1.30 PM: Lunch
1.30—2.30 PM: Session II: Presentations by Four Participants
2.30—3.30 PM: Discussants’ Remarks on Presentations in Session II
3.30—3.45 PM: Tea break
3.45—4.45 PM: Session III: Two Parallel Sessions of Presentations: Four in each session
4.45—5.45 PM: Discussants’ Remarks on Presentations, Session III
DAY 2 (SUNDAY) 27.09.2015
9.30 AM—11.15AM: Session IV: Panel I: Discussion on Identities, Mobility and Well-Being:
Surendra Jondhale, Pradeep Shinde, Ramesh Bairy, Kushal Deb,
AnaghaTambe
11.15 AM—11.30 AM: Tea break
11.30AM —12.30 PM: Session V: Two Parallel Sessions of Presentations: Four in each session
12.30 PM—1.30 PM: Discussants’ Remarks on Presentations in Session V
1.30 PM —2.15 PM: Lunch
2.15 PM—4.00 PM: Panel II: Dialogue between activists and academics: Ramesh Kamble,
Benil Biswas, Anantya Acharya, Manoranjan Byapari,
Bijan Hazra, Manohar Mouli Biswas, Rup Kumar Barman.
4.00 PM—4.15 PM: Tea Break
4.15 PM—5.00 PM: Final session: Report on Proceedings of Workshop; Vote of Thanks.
5.00 PM – 5.15 PM: Distribution of Certificate of Participation
CONCEPT NOTE
We are, here, focusing mainly on the categories of caste and tribe and attempting to see social
mobility primarily through access to education and a shift away from ‘traditional’ occupations;
however, we are open to papers/ideas that look at the Workshop theme through other lenses and
categories as well. The practice of reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a
colonial legacy, has been officially incorporated as part of our national agenda after
independence. This has been the predominant way in which the State has tried to address the
question of welfare of these socially and economically marginalized groups. Over the years, the
legitimacy of this policy has increasingly been called into question, by the upper castes. The
middle classes, where upper castes overwhelmingly predominate, have most prominently
adopted this anti-reservation position on the grounds that the policy is in egalitarian and anti-
meritorious and therefore unfair; often it is condemned as being a divisive policy and a colonial
inheritance. This policy has not only been considered retrograde, the utility of these measures in
the long run have also been questioned. On the other hand, reservations in education and
subsequently in jobs have played an important role in giving these marginalized groups some
access to scarce resources which have for long been cornered by the upper castes. This has also
led other ethnic groups and communities now to look upon reservations as the only channel of
social mobility. But though reservations exist, the presence of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribe
and other marginalized people in higher education and in the coveted professions has never been
proportionate to their population. In many cases the quality of those involved in higher education
has been questioned in terms of the desirable standards in the field.
While the aim is not to discount this skeptical view about some reserved category candidates in
higher education certain things need to be borne in mind before we accept such skepticism. Let
us understand that social and cultural capital is vastly disproportionately accumulated with the
privileged upper castes. This accumulation is crucially a function of caste among other factors.
Tied with this is the idea of ‘merit’ which again seems to somehow ‘inhere’ in upper castes.
Hence, not only are reserved category candidates seen as ‘inherently lacking in merit’ but those
who do not fall within this understanding are treated as ‘exceptions’ which in turn reinforces the
casted/dominant common sense we just referred to.
Further, hierarchies of caste and its practices are major obstacles to social mobility for these
groups, even for ‘meritorious’ candidates from such categories which in turn have affected the
wellbeing of such individuals and groups. Institutional support to such candidates and
professionals has been rare as reports would indicate. Perhaps there is a need to take a fresh look
at what constitutes for instance, ‘merit’, ‘equality of opportunity ’, ‘social justice’ as well as
‘access’ to resources. Understanding of ‘access’, its nature, its problems, its possibilities may
become a productive concept or way through which to approach these contested notions of merit,
justice, equality of opportunity.
In this context the Workshop would like to foreground the issues that confront the contemporary
higher educational aspirations and the consequent well-being of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled
Tribe and other marginalized people; it would attempt to focus on West Bengal too, for this is a
state where caste is alleged to have been weak and almost inconsequential in determining the life
chances of the people. Besides developing critical approaches to questions of merit etc. that have
been mentioned in the foregoing paragraph in this Workshop we would also like to discuss for
instance what has been the role of institutions including the State in delivering to these groups of
people meaningful access to higher education; what has been their role in ensuring the wellbeing
of these groups? What has been the role of the Dalit/Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes
organizations in helping foster such access and also in initiating dialogues with the wider society
on these issues? How have the roles and activities of such organizations been perceived by
members of these communities? What alternatives to reservations or dependence upon the State
have been envisaged by Dalit organizations and individuals? 3 Along with these, this Workshop
has another central aspect: resource persons would be invited to review and comment upon
research proposals/papers that would be presented here by researchers/faculty members
belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and other marginalized categories.
The theme of this Workshop is broad enough to accommodate presentations on a variety of

concerns like stratification, identities, practices and contestations of hierarchies, understandings
of mobility and wellbeing. Such deliberations are aimed at enhancing the quality of research and
are therefore highly likely to be of benefit to these scholars; these presentations would also help
bring to light the various kinds of research work that are being undertaken by researchers from
these categories. The Workshop would be conducted over two days. The first session on the first
day would have paper presentations by resource persons addressing the themes and issues of the
Workshop. Four sessions over two days would be devoted to paper presentations by researchers
followed by discussions. The first session on second day would consist of a panel discussion on
the Workshop theme. The final session would bring together in a concise way the discussions
that have taken place over these two days. In the long run this Workshop also intends to bring
out a volume of the proceedings and think out ways of possible collaborations with institutions
and organizations for the long term benefit of those aspiring for higher education from these
disadvantaged categories.
Note on Workshop and Panel Discussion
Sarbani Bandyopadhyay (Doctoral Fellow, H&SS, IIT Bombay and Co-organiser of the
Workshop-cum-Orientation Programme)
The idea of ‘well-being’ forming the theme of this Workshop-cum-Orientation Programme

emerged from reading and learning about forms of discrimination leading to acts of suicide in
higher educational institutions. What acted as a catalyst for a Workshop on this theme were the
long discussions many of us from different departments of IIT Bombay had over the suicide of a
Dalit student of IIT Bombay Aniket Ambhore on 4th September last year. What perturbed us
most was the institutional silence on this incident and patterns of caste based discrimination in
this premier institute and the need to confront the varieties of institutional support that such
practices of discrimination draw upon.
‘Suicide’ takes students of sociology back to Durkheim and one of his masterpieces his theory of
suicide. ‘Solidarity’, its presence or lack of it is one of the central premises of Durkheim’s theory
of Suicide. Intimately related to that premise is the question of trust. I refer back to Durkheim to
make the point that the question about well-being is not exactly a misplaced or an illegitimate
idea in sociology. Taking cue from this classical insight one can move ahead to see the
contestations and ramifications of the concept and practices of solidarity in the quest for well-
being. Here, one of the interests could be to see how understandings and practices of ‘solidarity’
can reproduce inequality and ill-being for some groups and individuals belonging to such groups
and well-being for some others. Constructions and negotiations of identities and types and modes
of mobility and their relatedness for well-being of social groups and individuals form one
predominant feature of this Workshop. Besides the papers that are being presented here a
separate panel discussion on this theme is likely to map for us both a larger as well as nuanced
picture of solidarity, trust, their politics and their consequences for well-being of marginalised
groups and identities. Informing debates and discussions on these issues questions of
‘inequality’, ‘merit’, ‘reverse discrimination’, ‘politics of innocence’, ‘politics of recognition’1
become significant. These could form the basis for Panel Discussion I on “Identities, Mobility
and Well-being”.
Further, raising issues of discrimination against marginalised groups is seen as less academic,
more political and activist-like. The idea often propagated especially among academic peers is
that those who are incapable of doing good academics raise a humdrum over ‘discrimination’.
1
Taylor, Charles.‘The Politics of Recognition’ pp. 25-73
www.elplandehiram.org/documentos/JoustingNYC/Politics_of_Recognition.pdf (last accessed 2nd September
2014)
That, academics cannot be so neatly separated from politics or that explicitly political agendas
have shaped part of our academic heritage is something that is well-rehearsed and yet there
seems to be considerable amnesia about it. Following the Concept Note for the Workshop we
want to have a dialogue between activists and academics with the hope that such a dialogue
would considerably enrich our understandings of the politics of discrimination and
empowerment that have become so central to our lives. This dialogue, therefore, we believe is
crucial for understandings of not only discrimination and resistance but also over what
constitutes collective and subjective well-being2. Following Veenhoven, we can discuss why it is
important for sociology to interrogate how and what actors feel (for instance, feeling anger,
anxiety, and happiness) instead of merely studying what they do.
In the contemporary context it is crucial to bring in ‘well-being’ as a significant aspect in our

studies of patterns of inequalities, discrimination and oppression. What are the determinants and
expressions of well-being? Do understandings and practices of collective well-being correspond
with those of subjective well-being? What are the consequences for groups and individuals when
there is a lack of correspondence between these two? How does attempted and successful,
intended and unintended ‘passing’ affect well-being, collective and subjective? ‘Passing’ even
when successful whether intended or unintended can be emotionally difficult or damaging for the
individual as well as for the community or group concerned3. Often members of marginalised
groups/communities have been accused of attempting ‘passing’ and ‘leaving behind’ their group
of origin once they succeeded in attaining upward mobility. Is it possible and/or desirable of
viewing this act of ‘leaving the fold’ also as an active choice4 on the part of these individuals,
rather than being seen only as attempts at ‘passing’? The two Panel Discussions could deliberate
on some of these aspects mentioned here.
Drawing on the Concept Note both the Panel Discussions could examine the role of institutions
including the State in delivering to marginalised groups of people meaningful access to coveted
resources such as higher education; it can reflect upon their role in ensuring the well-being of
these groups. The role of organisations of marginalised groups has become a central issue in
discussions over discrimination and distributive justice. This Panel could reflect upon what has
been the role of these organisations in helping foster such access and also in initiating dialogues
with the wider society on these issues. How have the roles and activities of such organisations
been perceived by members of these communities? What alternatives to reservations or
dependence upon the State have been envisaged by such organisations and individuals?
2
The idea of subjective well-being is taken from Veenhoven, Ruut (2008). Sociological theories of subjective well-
being inMichael Eid & Randy Larsen (Eds).The Science of Subjective Well-being: A tribute to Ed Diener, Guilford
Publications, New York.
3
David Moss (2010) for instance has noted this feature. See his chapter 'The Catholic Church and Dalit Christian
activism in contemporary Tamil Nadu.' In Robinson, Rowena and Kujūra, Josepha Mariyānusa, (eds.), Margins of
Faith. New Delhi: Sage.
4
This question is drawn from my fieldwork conducted in Calcutta and its neighbouring districts between May 2012
and June 2014.
Different, hierarchical and competing identities for instance of caste, class, gender, tribe,
religion, region, language often intersect to shape and make complex hierarchical practices and
forms of discrimination/oppression. Hierarchical and discriminatory/oppressive practices have a
structural and political tendency to accumulate at certain nodes in hierarchical systems. The
questions mentioned above would thus also raise issues of intersectionality of forms and
expressions of hierarchy, discrimination and oppression. Similarly they would also bring to light
the complex patterns and practices of contestations and resistance to hierarchy and oppression.
While many scholars and resource persons would bring in various empirical cases in their
presentations and discussions we have given special focus on the Eastern region, in particular on
West Bengal. For West Bengal makes the claim that discrimination along lines of caste, tribal
and religious identities have been of little consequence in determining the life chances and well-
being of the ‘people’ here. Yet, West Bengal is one state which has had only upper castes as
Chief Ministers. The first Left Front Ministry of 1977 was the only one in post-Partition West
Bengal which did not have a single minister from the Scheduled Castes. After persistent
petitioning by Scheduled Caste groups and organisations from the different districts of the state
Kanti Biswas was made the Minister for Primary Education. This in turn had an interesting
reaction. According to Kanti Biswas5 the state office of the CPI(M) in Calcutta received many
letters that condemned the nomination of Kanti Biswas, a Namasudra (formerly also known as
Chandals) as minister for primary education. One such letter from a Brahmin teacher wondered
how upper castes could accept a ‘Chandal’ as their minister for education.
This is just one instance among many I have come across during my fieldwork where being
Dalit/scheduled caste and becoming middle class continues to be seen as an aberration. Often
such presence of Dalit persons within the ‘middle class’ and its fields of distinction is explained
away in terms of ‘being exceptions’. On the part of upper castes this is also one way of coming
to terms with such a presence. In this way the dominant common sense not only remains
unchallenged but in fact gains greater force. Further, such a position seeks to consciously or
otherwise deny a Dalit individual her personhood. This is particularly the case with West Bengal,
a state where Left politics under bhadralok leadership had been in practice for many decades and
which has rather successfully kept caste ‘silenced’. West Bengal therefore becomes a particularly
fertile ground for intersectional studies of caste and other forms of hierarchy and oppression as
well that of the ‘silence’ and ‘silencing’ of/around caste. This Workshop should be able to open
up such fields of study here in West Bengal.
In the long run, besides opening up intersectional studies on caste this Workshop also intends to
bring out a volume of the proceedings and think out ways of possible collaborations with
institutions and organisations especially from the Eastern region for the long term benefit of
those aspiring for higher education and mobility from these disadvantaged/marginalised groups.
5
From my interview of Kanti Biswas taken in July 2012 at his residence in Calcutta.
LIST OF RESOURCE PERSONS
1. Dr. Ramesh Kamble

Mumbai University
CST Road, Kalina,Santacruz East
Mumbai, Maharashtra
Email: rameshabhinaya@gmail.com
2. Dr. Ramesh Bairy

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Email: rameshbairy@gmail.com
3. Dr. Anagha Tambe

Department of Women’s Studies
Pune University
Ganeshkhind, Pune, Maharashtra
Email: anaghatambe@hotmail.com
4. Prof. Anand Teltumbde

Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur 721302
Email:anand @ vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in
5. Dr. Pradeep Shinde

Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 1100067
Email:pradeepshinde@mail.jnu.ac.in
6. Dr. Aseem Prakash

Tata Institute of Social Sciences
S R Sankaran Block
AMR–AP Academy of Rural Development
RajendranagarHyderabad 500 030
Email:aseem.prakash@tiss.edu
7. Prof. Kushal Deb
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Email: kd@hss.iitb.ac.in
8. Prof. VirginiusXaxa
Deputy Director
Tata Institute of Social Science
Guwahati
Email:virginius.xaxa@tiss.edu
9. Sri AnantaAcharya
Editor- Chetana Lahar
DAFODWAM(Democratic action forum of Dalit women and minorities)
30-2 N.P. Road----Kolkata--700055
Email id- dafodwam.dafodwam@gmail.com
10. Sri ManoranjanByapari

4, Khudirabad Colony... P.O.-Dhalua
Kolkata-700152
11. Ms. Sarbani Bandopadhyay

Doctoral Fellow,
IIT Bombay, Powai
Mumbai 400076, Maharashtra
Email:sarbani.bandyopdhyay@gmail.com
12. Prof. Abhinaya Kamble

British CheveningHuman Rights Scholar
University of Lancaster
Email : abhira@live.com
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN PAPER PRESENTATIONS AND PANEL
DISCUSSION
1. Dr. Akhil Alha

Associate Fellow
Council for Social Development
53, SanghaRachna, Lodi Estate
New Delhi-110003
Email: akhilalha@gmail.com
2.Mr. Anup Hiwrale

Doctoral Scholar, Sociology
Institute for Social and Economic Change
Bangalore
Email:anupvimal.vimal1@gmail.com
3.Mr. Md. Dilwar Hossain

Department of English
West Bengal State University
Email: dilwarhossain01@gmail.com
4.Mr. Debashis Sarkar

Research Scholar
Department of Political science
Kalyani University
Email: debashissarkar88@gmail.com
5.Ms. Debarati Sarkar

M Phil Scholar
Delhi School of Economics Delhi
Email: debaratisarkar2006@gmail.com
6.Ms. DeepaTak
Assistant Professor
KSP Women's Studies Center
Pune University
Pune: 411007
Email: tak7223@gmail.com
7.Dr. E. Krishna Rao

Assistant Regional Director
Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU)
Regional Centre
Chennai
Email:estharlakrishna@gmail.com
8. Lekhraj Balmiki
Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science
Calcutta Girls’ College
3 - Goal Tuli Lane
Kolkata- 7000013
Email:lekhrajbalmiki19@gmail.com
9. Dr. Lianboi Vaiphei

Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Indraprastha College for Women
Delhi University
Delhi 110054
Email: lianboivaiphei@gmail.com
10. Dr. RatneshKatulkar

Research Fellow
Department of Dalit Studies
Indian Social Institute
New Delhi 110 003
Email: ratnesh.katulkar@gmail.com
11. Mr. Ramjit Kumar

Doctoral Research Scholar
Indian Institute of Technology Patna
Email: ramjithss@iitp.ac.in
12. Mr. Rahul Ranjan

Research Scholar
Centre for Political Studies
New Delhi India
Email: rahulranjan195@gmail.com
13. Mr. Bagavathi Raja. A

PhD Research Scholar
Department of Social Work
Pondicherry University, Puducherry – 605014
&
Dr. C. Satheeshkumar
Assistant Professor
Pondicherry University, Puducherry – 605014
Email: bagavathirajaa@gmail.com
satheeshsw@gmail.com
14. Mr. Sabir Ahamed

Research Coordinator and Fellow
Pratichi Institute
Email:sabir.pratichi@gmail.com
15. Dr. Samar Kumar Biswas

Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of North Bengal
Darjeeling 734013
West Bengal
Email: smrkbis@yahoo.co.in
16. Mr. Santosh Kumar

Research Scholar
Department of History
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University
Lucknow, India
Email: santoshbbau@gmail.com
17. Dr. John Breakmas Tirkey

Assistant Professor
Kalipada Ghosh Tarai Mahavidyalaya,
Bagdogra, Darjeeling, West Bengal
&
Dr. Sudash Lama

Asst. Professor,
University of North Bengal,
Dist. Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Email: tirkeybjohn@gmail.com
lamasudash@gmail.com
18. Mr. Thallapelli Praveen
M. Phil Research Scholar
School of Social Sciences
Email: industppk@gmail.com
19. Mr. Vimal Kumar

PhD Scholar
Mumbai-400088.
Email: Vimal_msw@rediffmail.com
Panel Discussion II : Academic-Activist Dialogue Day 2
1. Mr. AnirbanBandyopadhyay
JuniorResearchOfficer
EducationalMultimediaResearchCentre
St.Xavier'sCollege(Autonomous)
Kolkata-700017
Email:bandanirban@gmail.com
2.Mr. Benil Biswas

Assistant Professor
School of Culture and Creative Expressions
Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD)
Email: benil@aud.ac.in
3.Sri Bijan Hazra

Secretary,
BAMCEFWB Committee
Kolkata-77
Email:bijanhazra65@gmail.com
4.Dr. Kanishka Chaudhury

DAFODWAM (Democratic action forum of Dalit women and minorities)
30-2 N.P. Road----Kolkata—700055
Email: drchaudhurykanishka@gmail.com
5.Sri Manohar Biswas
651, VIP Nagar
Kolkata----700100
Email:manoharbiswas@yahoo.co.in
6.Mr. Nirupam Hazra

Research Scholar
University of Delhi
Email: hazra.nirupam@gmail.com
ABSTRACTS
Caste Identities, Labor Market Outcomes and Well-being of Workers: A Study of an

Industrial Township in Rajasthan
Dr. AkhilAlha
Council for Social Development
Issues related to role of caste in labor market discrimination, after remaining largely neglected
for decades, have garnered a wide scholarly attention in the recent years. Most of such studies
conclude that Scheduled caste (SC) and Other Backward Class (OBC) workers are discriminated
against in the form of a constrained access to employment opportunities and differential wage
rates for the same work. In the above context, this paper attempts to address one major issue:
What are other ways apart from wage differential and restrained entry to job market through
which social identity influences labor market outcomes. The arguments in the paper are based on
a field survey conducted in an industrial township in Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan).
The findings suggest that caste disparities are clearly visible in the labor market on two accounts:
first, enterprises owned by SCs, OBCs, and Muslims are under-represented; and secondly, ways
of discrimination are not only confined to offering lower wage rates to the SC, OBC and Muslim
workers and restricting their entry to job market but it is also exercised through discriminating
SCs/OBCs/Muslims in terms of differential amounts of bonuses paid, lower rates of annual
increments and delayed upward movement within the enterprise. The study also finds evidence
of homophile in upper-caste owned firms, suggesting that the growth in Dalit entrepreneurship
may be decisive in increasing Dalit employment in the small business sector. The findings in the
survey belie the argument put forward by industrialists that it is only the efficiency of the labor
which determines his reward.
Email: akhilalha@gmail.com
The Mang’s in Maharashtra: The Politics of Mobility, Change
Anup Hiwrale
Institute for Social and Economic Change
Bangalore
Mang is one of the major castes, that ranks second highest as per the various census
enumerations of the population of the SCs in Maharashtra. Historically, they are regarded as the
untouchable caste and are also known as ‘Matang’. Amongst the untouchables themselves
Mangs happen to be the lowest ones in caste hierarchy. The present research analyzes the
position of the Mangs in caste system and how they have been discriminated on the grounds of
their caste position. Majority of the Mangs are illiterate and least mobilized community even
comparing to the other untouchable caste communities in Maharashtra such as Mahars and
Chambhars. The research examines the process of change and transformation of the Mang
community after the independence of India. After independence, the SCs became more mobile
and transformative due to the new opportunities made available to them through certain specific
constitutional provisions. However, many castes among SCs show a sort of lag behind situation
in the process of larger changes and transformations that occurred since independence. The
research analyze the de facto position of the Mangs in Maharashtra, where the Dalit politics
played an important role for the development of SCs notwithstanding the fact that not all the SCs
developed equally in their social, economic and political parameters of caste life.
Email: anupvimal.vimal1@gmail.com
Mobility and Identity: Aspirations and Limitations of the Kartabhaja Sect in Bengal
MdDilwarHossain
Department of English
West Bengal State University
The kartabhajas sect was among the minor sects (broadly classified as Vaishnava or semi-
Vaishnava, 13 to 56 in numbers) that had emerged in the post-Chaitanya period Bengal. This sect
had, by the beginning of 20th century, become one of the most well known and organized
institutions in rural Bengal. The sect had been begun by the Sufi saint Aul Chand by the
members belonging to the lower castes and classes among the Bengali Hindus and Muslims.
Later the authority of the sect bequeathed to his first disciple Ramsarn Pal, a Sadgop by caste,
and has since followed a dynastic succession. Though the sect had been begun to counter
hierarchies of status, it soon found to replicate the pre-determined Vaishnava hierarchy with
Karta at the top, the Mahashay at the middle and the Barati or the common followers at the
bottom of the pyramid.
With the collection of ‘corporeal taxes’ from the Baratis, mediated by the Mahashays in a chain
system which seems much like the feudal mode of income/exploitation, the Kartas moved up the
laddering economic rank. This has aided by the creation of some myths which indicate their
desire for recognition with the status of the Brahmins. While this may be seen as yet another
instance of following a ‘negotiated version’ of the hegemony of the elite by the subordinate
classes, the Kartabhaja sect has maintained its principle of nondiscrimination between castes. It
still draws its followers overwhelmingly from among the lower castes and classes, though the
class status of the Kartas has since drastically changed. My presentation will be an example of
how the less privileged classes may appropriate and use, to their benefits, the customs and the
rituals of the upper classes. What remains undecided, however, is whether these strategies prove
to be empowering or disempowering to the larger community of the lesser privileged people.
A small section of my presentation will also discuss the situation of the singers of the
BhaberGeet- songs from the Kartabhaja Bible, some of whom are being labeled/labeling
themselves as singers of Baul or Lalon songs so as to avail of the benefits stemming from these
aspects of culture which appear to have found a place in the official and elitist culture/discourse.
Email:dilwarhossain01@gmail.com
Partition and Decline of Scheduled Caste Politics in Bengal
DebashisSarkar
Dept. of Political science

Kalyani University
Scheduled Caste politics has not played any significant role in the West Bengal’s political
system. But in contrast to the state of West Bengal, the other states of India, have taken
significant part of schedule caste politics. If we take a look at the past, mainly the colonial period
in Bengal we could identify how the cast has played an important role in Bengal politics under
the leadership of JogendranathMandal and others. In the time of the colonial Bengal, scheduled
castes have resided basically in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). These Scheduled castes and their
politics has deeply affected by partition of Bengal (1947). After the partition of Bengal (1947)
scheduled castes of Bengal has migrated from East to West Bengal from 1950 and has continued
ever since. So all the scheduled castes of Bengal who were migrated from east Bengal to West
Bengal, with in this political scenario, the Dalits (schedule caste) of East Bengal became
refugees. Caste identity becomes refugee identity. My paper will try to analyze how the partition
of Bengal has affected the politics of scheduled caste. How the caste identity becomes refugee
identity and what was the role of partition to decline the caste politics in Bengal.
Email:debashissarkar88@gmail.com
Higher Education and Gender in India: A Sociological Investigation
DebaratiSarkar
Delhi School of Economics Delhi.
Women’s education occupied a central place from till to first decade of India’s independence and
although the participation of woman’s in higher education shows steady improvement and
tapering gender gap, growth of higher education demands to analysis gender perspective. This
paper includes National Sample Survey data to reveal the situation of higher education by gender
and social groups—caste and religion, by region—rural and urban and by economic groups of
population classified by monthly per capita household expenditure. This study recognizes that
disparities among women from different social groups are greater compare to men in the same
social group. It also reveals that a large gap exist because of practice of sex selection.
Email:debaratisarkar2006@gmail.com
Construction of Valmiki Community in Pune City: Gendered Analysis of Cultural and
Labour Practices
DeepaTak
KSP Women's Studies Center
Pune University
The proposed study looks at the construction of Valmiki/Bhangi community as caste group from
the occupational group. Labour and cultural practices of women have been central to the
formation of Valmiki identity. This study therefore will try to look at and delineate how, why
and when these distinctions are sought to be made and the ways in which gender figures in these
processes of identity formation. Within the Hindu caste systemValmiki community has been
marked as ‘untouchable’ community. ‘Bhangi’ is a term used to denote those ‘untouchables’ who
clean latrines and remove night soil. Officials in the 20thcentury have tended to use the term
‘Bhangi’ as a label for scavengers throughout the country. Because of their occupation and
stigma attached to it,Bhangis have remained untouchables. This occupation is hereditary,
because their tasks are seen as dirty, which constitutes their status as stigmatized and
permanently polluted. As a consequence Bhangis are treated as ‘untouchable’ even by the other
erstwhile ‘untouchable’ castes in the Hindu society.
In the colonial period the Bhangis migrated to the different parts of India from northern India.
They are known by different names in different states. As Prashad (2001) argues because of
colonization and urbanization, occupation based group take shape as a caste based group.
Therefore, the creation of village and urbanization are prominent contexts for the formulation of
the scavenger as the Bhangi caste. Thus, there is a need to see how the occupation based group
becomes closed caste group and the role stigma played in this process.
However, the community has tried to recreate their identity by marking themselves as
‘Valmikis’, claiming sage Valmikis their ancestor. This process was also linked to attempts by
Hindu reformist groups to ‘include’ the Bhangis within the fold in colonial India. However, this
category has also come to mark the politicized identity of the Valmikis in the present juncture,
where religion, economic status, culture and labour play an important role in the formulation of
this identity.
On this background the proposed study seeks to explore the complex process of identity
formation for the Valmikis, sometimes as a caste-based group, sometimes as an occupation-
based group mainly through ethnographic study of the community, through oral history as well
as through secondary historical and contemporary sources.This study therefore will try to look at
construction of Valmiki/ Bhangi community as caste group from the occupational group mainly
through gendered analysis of cultural and labour practices.
Email:tak7223@gmail.com
Dalitsin Andhra Pradeshand Telengana: Access to Education, Land, Labour and
Employment
Dr. E.KrishnaRao
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
Regional Centre
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) are socially, economically and politically deprived and Scheduled
Tribes (STs) are economically and politically deprived since several years. As policy of Indian
democracy to develop marginalized sections, the SCs and STs are explicitly recognized by the
Indian Constitution. The National Planning Committee (NPC, 1937) made detailed
recommendations on a whole range of social and economic issues particularly distribution, social
justice and social welfare. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar also had a vision for socially and economically
disadvantaged sections (APHDR, 2008). Keeping in the view of these marginalized and
vulnerable castes status, since Independence, several welfare programs, progressive legislations
and constitutional safeguards were enacted and implemented in India in favor of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But the vision of constitution and Indian democracy has not been
realized even after 67 years of independence. In this context, in this paper an attempt has been
made to analyses i) Socio-economic status of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana with
selected human development parameters ii) Dalit access to land in Andhra Pradesh and
Telengana during post-independence period iii) It also examines the implementation of land
reforms and its impact on Dalits land ownership in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This paper is
divided into two parts, first part analyses the status of Dalits with reference to population,
demography, education and health. The second part analyses the land distribution pattern among
different social groups and the implementation of landreforms with the help of primary data
(case studies)
Email:estharlakrishna@gmail.com
Migration, Minority and Marginalized: A Case Study of Balmiki Community
LekhrajBalmiki
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Calcutta Girls’ College
The Balmiki as a migrant community in Darjeeling is yet to be studied and documented. The
community adheres to the strict norms of the Caste ridden society. As migrants, the community
shows strong yet fused linkages to the roots of the community in north-western India. Over the
years they have become an urban community in Darjeeling and though represent a substantial
number of the migrant non-native Nepali speaking communities, still treated as minority in
comparison to the Nepali population. They are identified with the work related to cleanness and
associated with the Municipality labour works. The past experiences have paved the way to
dalitalization of Balmiki community.
The present study explores the issues related to this subaltern community in terms of migration,
being a minority community in Darjeeling, and also how they have always been marginalized
and treated as outcasts socially, economically and culturally.
Email: lekhrajbalmiki19@gmail.com
Negotiating ‘Identity’ of a Tribal Teacher in the Institution of Higher Education: A Quest
for an Equal World
Dr. LianboiVaiphei
Dept. of Political Science

Indraprastha College for Women
In an ideal world, a teacher is synonymous with knowledge and wisdom and the art of teaching is
seen as transferring knowledge to the taught, i.e. the students. However, in today’s world where
“ideal” is also an idea that needs to be implanted to create a socially just world, a teacher is often
seen with the background that he/she comes from. In such a context, how important is a teacher’s
identity before he/she’s seen as a harbinger of wisdom and knowledge amidst the taught
communities. Education has often been seen as an important categorical and symbolized as agent
of change for the better in the society. It is in these regard that affirmative actions has been
heralded as creating incremental changes that would aright the wrongs of the society as
conceptualized and therefore adopted in our Indian Constitution through the policy of reservation
for the weaker sections of the society namely Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes (SCs & STs)
and marginalized groups. The policy of reservation has been instrumental in the creation of
educated class among the weaker sections of the society which has helped them get gainful
employment for their livelihoods. However, amidst these progress and upliftment what has not
been addressed is the question whether the ‘identity’ has attained fluidity in the face of social
mobility achieved due to education. As the identities are now address from the prism of
administrative denominations such as SCs & STs, it is bound to produce fragmented identities of
being a ‘meritorious’ to ushering a ‘socially just’; thereby creating an antagonism among the
sections who receive affirmative action and who need not, are seen as being deprived of the
affirmative action.
It is in these context, that the paper seeks to study the construct of identity how it get negotiated
in the work place of learning institutes such as institutions of higher education among the teacher
and its taught. Does the ‘tribal’ identity become negligible and relegated in the background of the
teaching profession for the taught or the identity of the teacher coming from weaker sections
comes in the way of meeting the learning needs of the taught? These are some of the pertinent
questions that the paper seeks to address especially with regard to teachers coming from tribal
communities as they are in the periphery of ‘caste’ Indians and how these identities are
negotiated in the institutions of higher education’s first, among their own teaching communities
and secondly, among the student communities would address in our quest of creating a ‘just
world’ in our country which is already fragmented with multiple and complex identities which
are hierarchical in its lenses of understanding.
Email:lianboivaiphei@gmail.com
Suicides of Dalit Students in Premier Educational Institutes: A Perspective from Below
Dr. RatneshKatulkar
Research Fellow at Department of Dalit Studies
Indian Social Institute
New Delhi 110 003
In recent years there have been number of cases reported of the suicides of the Dalit students in
studying in the premier educational institutes. These cases have been widely covered by the
media; a few civil society groups came forward with their protest against this. There has been an
attempt by the UPA government to bring a bill against this in the parliament.
In all these deaths, the Dalit organizations and civil society usually focuses their attention on the
external factors such as prejudices of the general castes and their feeling of hatred towards Dalits
and reservation policy and the lack of support system for the Dalit students. On the other hand
there are few who questions on reservation policy and the merit of these students.
However, between these two extremes there is an important dimension that drives a young Dalit
student to opt for ending his life which is often untouched and ignored in the discussion. This
paper proposes to look into these responsible factors which are internal in nature and to a large
extent its responsibility falls on individual Dalit students and wider Dalit community.
The finding of this paper is based on the analysis of the cases of the suicides of prominent cases
raised by Dalit organization. The main argument of this paper is that despite prevailing casteist
behavior in the premier educational institutes, the immediate cause of the suicides lies with
individual Dalits. The reason for this conclusion is based on variety of factors which came out
after finding a commonality in all the cases. Such as a Dalit student is completely unaware on the
issue of caste and lack of Dalit consciousness, pride on meritocracy of an individual with in local
community, class difference and family background. Lastly paper argues that with the presence
of multiple factors the last and immediate cause of these suicides could be traced in Durkheim’s
Le Suicide where he discussed on anomie.
The points raised in the paper is based on mainly on primary data as I have been a part of
campaign “Death of Merit” carried against the suicide of Dalit Students.
Email:ratnesh.katulkar@gmail.com
Subalterns and the Politics of Knowledge Production in Neoliberal World
Ramjit Kumar
Indian Institute of Technology
Patna
The decision to define the legitimate form of knowledge across all nation-state is vested with one
who has the power and space in the civil society. Whether in the domain of political process or
knowledge production, it is essentially about maintaining power relations. It implies that whose
knowledge and what knowledge is constructed as part of the syllabus is political and not neutral
choice. Since educational institutions help, as research suggests, in controlling, preserving and
distributing what is perceived to be official knowledge, it is at the helm of the centre of politics
of the pedagogy of mainstream hegemonic knowledge production order.
In this paper, author locates and unravels the politics of mainstream knowledge production that is
essentially masculine, colonial and oppressive and argues that to counter such hegemonic control
by elites it is essential to develop an alternative pedagogy based on the lived experiences of
marginalized people and enriching knowledge from periphery. Standpoint theory offers such
emancipative space and critical imaginations to discuss and dialogue among what is considered
as the binary opposition of have-haven’t, urban-rural, rich-poor so on. The logic of neoliberal
capitalism is transforming the society into the ‘market society’ and put the private concerns prior
to public. But paradoxically it also drove the demand for the democratization of knowledge and
knowledge production. Knowledge society has globally reduced time and space distanciation as
a factor in the production of knowledge while added the same in the localized production of
knowledge.
In this context, third world politics and postcolonial theory has to devise new idioms and orders
of knowledge production to de-center the current politics of public knowledge, science, and
social theory. As Foucault has rightly said the micro-sites are essential to dissents, disobedience
and non-conformism that confer sites to agency and hope even in terrifying and subordinating
situations. In the end, the paper takes the cognizance of the spatial politics of/in educational
institutions where the hegemony of dominant classes in pedagogy, curriculum and classroom,
operates but often go unnoticed and unquestioned.
Email: ramjithss@iitp.ac.in
The Politics of Landlessness: A Case Study of Tribal Population in Jharkhand
Rahul Ranjan
The trajectory of postcolonial India is marked with many ideas and concepts which were
orchestrated during colonial era for sustaining the hegemonic structures of power. These ideas
had often been formalized through legal apparatus which furthered the social cleavage. One of
such site was the construction of Adivasis or tribal as a category carved out painstakingly by
deploying census as a mechanism. The census not only enumerated population into segments but
marked bodies with some or other form of identity and in this process 'Aboriginal' people or
tribal were clubbed under the Criminal Tribe Act that allowed the use of impeccable level of
abuse and violence on them. Against this background, I want to locate Jharkhand movement
which was carried out primarily for schedule Tribe or Adivasis as we know. The way Jharkhand
movement had been constructed in the popular imagination, as the mobilization of bottom up
fraught with demand of people mostly from Southern Bihar, some part of Bengal and Orissa who
were dispossessed of their property and had perpetual enemy as 'other', which often helped in
overlooking the internal fractures within movement.
In this paper, I argue that Jharkhand movement represents a face of what Aloysis calls
'hegemonic movement'. I argue that Jharkhand movement failed to address the issues central to
schedule Tribe, mostly the dispossession and the unemployment. The report published by Arup
Maharatana and Ruchika on the 'demography of tribal people' clearly indicates fall in the
employment of tribal in the formal sector. Besides, the problematic of the movement, I would
look at the way 'tribal' or Adivasis had been circulating at the discourse level in an uncritical
fashion, as if these categories are ahistorical and timeless. The rupture in my would probably the
way I would conjoin the argument about the co-option of such uncritical understanding of tribal
in the movement which supposedly represented them.
The methodology induced in the paper would largely be qualitative, which primarily includes a
list of literature published on Jharkhand. I would however, also look at the statistical data sources
published by different govt. and Ngo agencies. The paper in its entirety represents an
amalgamation of theoretical surface on which the category of tribal is understood and their
unitary narrative that flows in the policy.
Email: rahulranjan195@gmail.com
Educational Status and Exclusion of Non-Scheduled Tribal Communities in Puducherry:
Generational Timeline Analysis
Bagavathi Raja. A,
Department of Social Work, Pondicherry University
&
Dr. C. SatheeshKumar,
Department of Social Work, Pondicherry University
The present paper reports the existence of tribal communities in Puducherry region who are
identical with the tribes living nearby south Indian states where they are recognized Scheduled
Tribes and enjoying constitutional provisions, affirmations and welfare measures for their
development. Tribes in Puducherry are excluded in not getting due constitutional recognition
which resulted vulnerable, impoverished and to the most underdeveloped in all the aspects. In
this juncture an empirical study was conducted to analyze the educational status of Non-
Scheduled Tribal Communities living in a PalangudiyinarMakkal Nagar, Puducherry and the
patterns of exclusion. By adopting census method all the 59 households are taken up and the
major findings of the study expose the pitiful and pathetic condition of the tribes with respect to
their social, economic and in particular the educational status. Alarmingly, the tribes located in
the above said area fairs very badly in comparison to the national and state average. This calls for
the immediate action on the part of the government to devise appropriate strategies for their
development
Email:bagavathirajaa@gmail.com
satheeshsw@gmail.com
The participation of Muslims in Higher education in West Bengal
SabirAhamed
Research Coordinator and Fellow
Pratichi Institute
Muslims in West Bengal constitute one –fourth of the total population, but they lag significantly
behind the other Socio-Religious groups in social and economic indicators. Education ensures
the expansion of human capabilities, education till secondary or higher secondary may serve the
some practical necessities in lives, and but higher education provides the scope to lead a
dignified life. Higher education significantly contributes for the national development, and
correct the imbalance endures among the various socio-religious groups.
Despite the fact there has been some significant improvement in enrollment and retention of
Muslim children in primary, post –primary and secondary education, but their participation of
Muslims in higher education is abysmally low. There is paucity of data on the representation of
Muslims in the higher education in West Bengal. Drawing on the unconventional data, for
examples information collected through the Right to information Act, will draw the real picture
of participation of Muslims in the higher education in West Bengal. This will also will be
supported by the recently release 71 Round data of NSS and a primary data collected for the
purpose of preparation of Public Report on the Socio economic status of Muslims in West
Bengal( Jointly Published by the Association SNAP and Guidance Guild, 2014) . The paper also
aims to explain what the major stumbling blocks for the Muslims to attain the higher education.
The papers will take into account the following hypothesis to explain the general backwardness
of Muslims in higher education in West Bengal: a) Muslims does not value the higher education
as there is little prospect for employment this is evident from the lower representation of
Muslims in formal job sector, b) examine whether the available infrastructure are adequate for
the Muslims conducive for higher education, for example the distance of colleges and
universities are far from the Muslim localities, this is particularly disabling factor for girl child,
and finally, as we know the urban centers are always the hub for the higher education, in West
Bengal Muslim mostly lives in rural areas, and disconnect from urban areas could be another
limiting factors for the Muslims. The paper will also interrogate the question of girl participation
in the higher education. Finally the papers will offer some recommendations for inclusive
higher education for the Muslims.
Email: sabir.pratichi@gmail.com
Tribal Identity is on the Cross-Roads: A Study on the Totos,
A Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Group
Dr. Samar Kumar Biswas

Department of Anthropology
University of North Bengal
The tribes of India occupying 8.6% of total Indian population mainly have been living in the
isolated, hilly and forested areas since long. They are the first to clear jungles and made the areas
cultivable and livable. Their life and livelihood primarily depend on nature, land, forest and
river. However, with the passage of time many non-tribal entered into tribal areas; many
developmental activities have been initiated by many agencies in the tribal areas for their
development. As a result, the prime livelihood resources of the tribal have been shared among
the non-tribal and many changes have been occurred in their life and livelihood.
The Toto, one of the 75 Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of India, live in Totopara
village of Alipurduar district, West Bengal. This village was mostly covered by jungle and
previously the Totos occupied all the areas of this village. They are deeply attached with the
nature, land, forest and river resources for their culture and livelihood. But over the time many
non-Totos have entered in this locality; many developmental activities like education, transport
and communication, health facility etc. have also been initiated for their development.
Moreover, the sharing of economic resources, land alienation, deforestation, and overexploitation
of hill and river resources etc., interaction with other communities, and effects of consequent
changes have been reported in the context of Totos. Thus, the Totos may face several problems
in respect of maintaining their livelihood, culture, language, identity and education.
Presently the tribal are worst affected due to several reasons. Thus, the main aim of this study is
to find out whether the problems related to education, economy and identity are faced by the
Totos.
Email: smrkbis@yahoo.co.in
Dalit Women and Social Exclusion: A Study of the Chamar’s in Post-Colonial Eastern
Uttar Pradesh.
Santosh Kumar
BabasahebBhimraoAmbedkar University,Lucknow
Social Exclusion is defined as a multi-dimensional process, in which various forms of Exclusion

are combined: participation in decision making and political processes, access to employment
and material resources, and integration into common cultural processes. When combined, they
create acute forms of exclusion that find a spatial manifestation in particular groups. The
invention of the term Social Exclusion is usually attributed to Rene Lenior, then Sacre’ taire d’
Etat al Action Social in the Chirac government, who published LesExclus: Un Franciassur dix ,
in 1974. In India, Social exclusion has been predominating used in understanding Caste based
discrimination. Exclusion happens in time, in a time of history, and determines the lives of the
individuals and collectivizes that are excluded. Exclusion has its own gravitational field of
interacting regimes along the caste/class/gender axis to situate the consequent contestations.
Dalit women have been oppressed, culturally subjugated, and politically marginalized. Women is
the half of population human world but she is facing discrimination, known as second sex at
international, national as well as state level, compounding this is a fact that groups working on
rights generally fail to recognize the triple jeopardy faced by Dalit women. According to 2011
census, the total population of Uttar Pradesh is around 20 crores in which SC’s and ST’s
constitute around 21% and within this Chamar women constitute its 28%, but they are socially
excluded from the society. Lack of education to these Dalit women and specially the Chamar
women is one of the factors for their Social exclusion and underdevelopment. This paper will
track the unequal distribution of opportunities and to explore the symbolic as well as very
material meanings of inequality among Chamar women. It will explore the educational condition
of Chamar women who are facing double discrimination, being a Dalit and being Chamar
women in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and provide new dimension for their social development in
present time and space.
Email: :santoshbbau@gmail.com
Academic Performance and Achievement of Scheduled Tribe Students
In Higher Education in West Bengal.
Dr. John BreakmasTirkey

Asst. Professor in Sociology
KalipadaGhoshTaraiMahavidyalaya,
Bagdogra, Dist. Darjeeling, West Bengal
&
Dr. Sudash Lama
Asst. Professor, Dept of History
University of North Bengal,
Dist. Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Education is a powerful agent of change in social, cultural, ideological and economic spheres. It
is necessary for attaining higher goals of life of individuals and collectivity. The progress of
education depends on both endogenous and exogenous forces. The Scheduled Tribe (ST) people
in this respect are facing various constraining factors historically which act as stumbling block
for their educational progress. The STs continue to be backward in terms of attainment of higher
education which has a larger implication for social, economic and cultural spheres of tribal
society. The present paper attempts to look deep into various issues, aspects and concerns that
either promote or impede the attainment of education at higher level in the State of West Bengal.
The study is a part of the research project commissioned by the ICSSR New Delhi which was
undertaken during 2012 -14. The study was based on empirical data collected from the six
sample districts, namely, Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur in North Bengal, PaschimMedinipur and
Hooghly in the southern part and the State capital, Kolkata. The data for the present paper relates
to the performance and achievement in higher education among STs of West Bengal. The data
for the purpose were collected from school and college students (Govt. and Private), located in
rural and urban areas. For comparative analysis data were also collected from non- ST social
groups of students and households. The finding of the study reveal that a very large section of
the ST students studying in Higher Secondary and college level educational institution belonged
to household having cultivation, agricultural wage labour and non- agricultural wage labour as
their main occupation. Illiteracy among parents of ST students was higher than Non- ST at all
levels. Variations of educational attainments were also found within ST parent of rural and urban
student. Distinct variations were found in the academic performances and achievement between
ST and Non-ST Students and within ST students of rural and urban areas. The ST students had
better academic performance in urban areas than rural. It was also found that the ST students
continue to struggle against various odds of invisible inequality within educational institutions
and larger society outside. Positive discrimination needs a new approach to meet the educational
need of ST students in the West Bengal.
Email:tirkeybjohn@gmail.com
lamasudash@gmail.com
Caste and Being
Thallapelli Praveen
Caste binds social beings hierarchically. The beings in caste are unequally structured in three
folds i.e. the Brahmin, Non-Brahmin and the Untouchables. For the Brahmin caste is a means of
being i.e. in rural areas the Brahmins earn everything despite not contributing in any manners.
For Non-Brahmins being anti-Brahmin and pro-untouchability makes it possible to earn a living.
The non-Brahmins are anti-Brahmins but not anti-caste. So is caste all about Brahmins? For the
untouchables caste is infinity and totality; i.e. despite availing higher education many Dalits use
reservation policy and many Dalits do not seem to think beyond caste. However for Ambedkar
and Kanshi Ram caste is an event. When Ambedkar was refused water in his school he makes it
an event in his life and leads the Mahad Satyagraha for the rights to use water by the
untouchables. After reading annihilation of caste, Kanshiram decides to transforms the
untouchables in many fields and binds them into one fold to make a political event.
For the second and third generation Dalits caste is time. The second and third generation Dalits
use caste only in times of crisis. DevyaniKhobragade used her caste identity only when she was
arrested by United States law enforcement. These Dalits neither identifies their caste in their
daily lives nor mingles with poor Dalits.
Caste decides the time and being of the village. For example agricultural labourers work only for
caste Hindus leading to the mismanagement of Dalit farmers agricultural activities. For Dalits
caste is nothingness i.e. Dalits do not try to think beyond their caste identity. Dalits do not think
of mobility in their lives due to caste identity. For example in many universities despite
constitutional law many Dalit students have committed suicide because of discrimination. These
students did not create their time by not fighting against discrimination. The non-registration of
protest is nothingness. In some states like Tamil Nadu, the nothingness of caste has to be
maintained both by the Brahmin and the untouchable. The idea of caste is for the wellbeing of
someone and for the depreciation of someone’s capabilities and standards of living. Dalit
students are awarded low and caste Hindus are given marks in viva-voice examinations.
Who decides the caste? Who is the being and non-being in caste? How does the being and non-
being respond to each other in the caste system? Can the being in caste be called human? There
is not a unified phenomenon and archaeology of caste and untouchability. So in this context how
do we understand the idea of being, nothingness and event of caste? With these few questions
and ideas in mind I wish to address the idea of being in caste.
Email: industppk@gmail.com
Caste Violence in Higher Education
Vimal Kumar
Mumbai
The famous phrase of Haryana “JiskiLathiUskiBhais” which means “people who have power can
do whatever they want” is still fit with the land owning community, which holds highest land in
Haryana. On the other hand Scheduled Castes in Haryana are most deprived and oppressed on
various socio-economic grounds. The only way to come out by this caste trap is education and
the way suggested by the Dr. B.R. Ambedker is education. Therefore, after crossing the many
hurdles in school life very few Scheduled Castes students reach till higher education. But the
problem of caste in higher education is worst and increases high dropouts of Scheduled Caste
students. They also face various forms of violence from the dominant castes particularly, the Jats
in collages. Caste violence is the violation of human rights and human rights is everyone’s
birthright.
The objective of the present research is to present a qualitative exploration of the issues facing
Scheduled Castes students in educational institutes by the students, administration and even by
the faculties. The particular focus of research is on caste violence and its role to increase the
dropout rate and spoil the career of Scheduled Castes students in education. The project will
involve a case study of various colleges under Kurukshetra university of Haryana. The data was
collected through in-depth interviews of Scheduled Castes students facing violence during
education.
Politics of Haryana is dominated by Jats and they control the media, administration and police.
Land ownership, social status and the dominant culture in Haryana is more powerful than the
Brahmanical Orthodoxy and the caste system. The paper argues that the frequency of changing
position increases the problems for scheduled castes and the frustration of dominant castes bursts
out in the form of violence.
Email: Vimal_msw@rediffmail.com
The Vulnerable Literati and the (Im) possible Dalit: Peculiarities of Caste Discourses in
Bengal
AnirbanBandyopadhyay
EducationalMultimediaResearchCentre
St.Xavier'sCollege (Autonomous)
Kolkata
The paper argues that politics around the emergence of an inclusive ‘Bengali’ identity
constitutively inhibited the possibility of an autonomous Dalit identity. Recent research has
established that dominant discourses around the Bengali identity have privileged the hegemonic
voice of the upper caste male. There are several ways in which this hegemony has been found
inscribed in popular and academic discourses. The hegemony is embodied in an externalization
of responsibility for the marginalization of Dalits beyond the control of upper castes. The
nationalist scholarship tended to attribute the inferiority of Dalits to social and cultural
distortions caused by Buddhist, Muslim or Colonial interventions. Strands of liberal Marxist
scholarship has focused on longer term dynamics facilitating calibrated assimilation of non-
Brahmanical elements within a composite Bengali culture in which public practices of
discrimination are seen to give way to complex prejudices limited to the domestic and the
familial domains. Postcolonial scholarship explores strategies of selfhood formation among the
Bengali Hindu literati which underplay the vices of caste based discrimination as part of a
valorization of a lost past characterized by harmony and plenitude. The prejudices against Dalits
or ‘lower’ castes are often found disguised or mixed up with other concerns, such as health,
hygiene or sanitation. The paper argues these either make caste discrimination invisible or
attributes it to external forces beyond the control of the literati. The ‘Bengali’ therefore emerges
in these discourses as constitutively vulnerable and the Dalit as an externality. In response, a
Bengali Dalit selfhood can only emerge as an aberration or a threat to the unity of the ‘Bengali’
self.
Email: bandanirban@gmail.com
Vivekananda’s ShudraJagaran: A Myth
Dr. KanishkaChaudhury
Present paper will discuss Swami Vivekananda (henceforth SV)’s thought on shudra rule or
shudra awakening or shudrajagaran. It is commonly known that SV was a strong believer in
power of daridranarayana (poor god, precisely subaltern classes). Besides, he did welcome the
shudra rule (for official Marxists SV meant working class or proletariat). The followers of this
notion frequently refer SV’s article ‘ModernIndia’, ‘a letter to Mary. Hale (1.11.1896)’ to prove
that SV was a theorist of shudra rule. In order to support their view, very often they quote from
ModernIndia: “… a time will come when the Shudras of every country … will gain absolute
supremacy in every society.” (Vivekananda.2012:6:468). According to another popular belief, he
was against the caste system, an evil practice connected to the Hindu socio-religious system.
Point is, he uttered a lot against the practice of untouchability, but, virtually said/did nothing
against the anti-humanitarian caste system. Did he believe in caste system? Once
Nevedetiawrote,” SV seldom criticized, constantly investigated it.” The present paper aims to
carry out a survey of his works to give a clear picture about his confused view of Shudra rule and
the caste system.
Email: drchaudhurykanishka@gmail.com
Caste Identity and Politics in West Bengal
NirupamHazra
Research Scholar, Department of Social Work

University of Delhi
India is quite undeniably one of the most stratified societies in the world and hence among the
most curiously studied. Caste has been an immensely significant and most enduring marker of
social stratification and it becomes more evident from the importance of ‘caste-factor’ in the
political landscape of the country. The relation between caste identity and politics has been
vigorously exploited by political parties and painstakingly studied by social scientists. With the
rise of caste-based parties, the traditional hegemony of upper-caste dominated political parties
stands challenged and it is not only in the regional level, caste-based political parties gradually
emerged to play crucial role even at the national level. The political assertions of so-called lower
caste eventually reconfigured the entire political landscape. The backward-class movement
further reinforced the caste-calculus. This phenomenon has almost a pan-India presence from
Tamil Nadu in the south, to northern states such as Uttar Pradesh. But West Bengal emerged as a
notable exception, in spite of having significant number of scheduled caste population. The
absence of explicit reference to caste-group in politics of West Bengal has given the state a
progressive image as it has been apparently successful to overcome the parochialism of identity-
politics. The ‘primordial loyalties’ of caste, ethnicity and religion appear to be a residual
category, without much political relevance. In this paper an attempt is made to re-examine the
apparent insignificance of caste in the politics of West Bengal. Taking into consideration of the
huge scheduled caste population of the state, the paper seeks to critically analyze why West
Bengal did not witness any large-scale caste-based mobilization and how the caste is turned into
a politically irrelevant category in the political landscape of Bengal.
Email: hazra.nirupam@gmail.com
Panel Discussion II:
Caste Class Relations
AnantaAcharya
Editor- CHETANA LAHAR

Chief Spokesperson- DAFODWAM
(Democratic Action Forum of Dalits Women and Minorities)
We do not know any name of economists who studied India and denied the fact that Indian
society was and is class divided. Economists seldom use these words such as proletariat,
bourgeoisie, haves, have-nots, working class, capitalists etc. Their apathy to those words does
not matter much. But there is much confusion within the social scientists whether Indian society
is caste divided or not. Even some of the social scientists say that casteism in India is super
structural phenomenon and it has no relation with economic structure or base, but it is connected
with residual part of feudal system. This paper will deal with class-caste relations in West
Bengal, mainly Kolkata, from an activist point of view. For overcoming primary level of
ignorance of such people, who say that casteism is not an important factor in West Bengal, we
request them to have a look in matrimonial pages of newspapers.
DAFODWAM (Democratic Action Forum of Dalits, Women and Minorities) made a survey on
footpath dwellers of Kolkata with assistance from CMDA (presently KMDA) and the report was
published by CMDA in its Bulletin on February, 2004. That report said that there was only one
Brahmin among 10000 (ten thousand) footpath dwellers of Kolkata. Mani Mohan Chakraborty
was staying in a jhupri near 4 no. Bridge, Park Circus. He was a mentally challenged person and
had the habit of begging in front of Big Mosque of Park Circus on every Friday (Zumma Bar)
and in front of Park Circus Market on every Sunday. His family resided at two storied building at
Netaji Nagar, Tollygunge, Kolkata (South). Rest of the footpath dwellers were either from the
S.C. community or from the Muslim community. All of them were evicted from villages as they
did not get any kind of job there. Landlessness pushed them into the state of homelessness.
DAFODWAM worked on child labourers of Kolkata who are usually called TENIA. Usually
they work at car repairing shops, tea stalls, bread and biscuit making factories, small restaurants
(bhater hotel) etc. All of these child-labourers are from SC, OBC and Muslim families. UNYAN,
a funded NGO somehow managed to get that report and published in their magazine in May,
1999.
In a magazine named NabaUdyog, published from Shibpur, Howrah in February issue, 2005,
BilyadalMukhopadhyay wrote an interesting thing about beggars of Kolkata. After a long
interaction with beggars of Kolkata his surprising reaction was like this: “Brahmin beggars earn
twice, sometimes thrice in comparison with other beggars.” (ibid).
According to the report submitted by Mass Education Department, Govt. of West Bengal on the
success and setback in SarvoSikshaAbhijan, May, 2011 Project, it was found that among the
drop-out students, most of them were either from SC/ST community or from Muslim
community. Do we see any class caste relation from the report mentioned here?
If not yet, let us discuss about BPL card holders of families residing under Dumdum
Municipality, North Dumdum Municipality, South Dumdum Municipality and Rajarhat-
Gopalpur Municipality which are situated in the north-eastern part of Kolkata. Among 3000 BPL
card holders (at random survey report, published in Deshkal, June, 2013) only 12 families were
identified as upper caste Hindus.
Now let us look at the top-listed income-tax payers of Kolkata as reported by an RTI activist of
DAFODWAM. From topper of that list to the 104th person all tax-payers are upper caste Hindus.
The 105th person one is a Muslim and the 112th person is a Scheduled Caste person. Then why is
Bengali “BHADRALOK BABUS” being pampered by rest of the Indian people for not allowing
practices of casteism or discrimination based on caste, religion or gender.
There are three (3) layered reasons behind this kind of chauvinism. The reasons are stated here in
the following manner:
a. Myth of Bengal renaissance.
b. Hegemony of phony socialist and phony communist.
c. Weakness of non-Brahmin movements.
a. Myth of BENGAL RENAISSANCE:

It is a fact that the pioneers of Bengal Renaissance had no motive to mislead the people of
colonial Bengal. But as BinayGhosh, a well-known sociologist and SarojDutta, a Marxist literati,
wrote that Bengal Renaissance was limited to a radius of 20km within Calcutta (now Kolkata).
As conditions of Enlightenment were almost fulfilled in Europe and as that could not be
implemented in colonial India an aborted form of Renaissance took position of the mid wife to
give birth to some “BHADDARLOK BABUS” who were and are defenders of the status quo.
b. From late 1920s to present day many communists and socialists tried to fight casteism in their
own way.
SingraveluChelliar (1860 – 1946), first generation communist of South India was one of them.
He was with E.V. RamaswamiPeriyar in the self-respect movement and against untouchability.
Ram MonoharLohia, a socialist leader, worked against casteism in his own way. Damodaran (of
undivided CPI) wrote in New Age (January, 1960), party organ of undivided CPI, against
casteism. D.V.Rao (CPIML) wrote in their Telegu/English magazine, FORWARD (special issue,
1982) which contained the method of eradication of caste from Indian society. Even from last
three decades different activist- writers from Marxist-Leninist camps like AnuradhaGandhy,
RangaNayakama, AlokMukhopadhyay, Devnathan, GovindKelkar, Debi Chatterjee,
SantoshRana, Thomas Mathew have proved by their action that they are determined to build a
classless and castefree society. It should be noted that there are personalities from democratic
arena such as Arundhuti Roy, AnandTeltumble, KanchaIllaia, Gopal Guru, Babaia, Gail Omvedt
who think that Dalit right is an important part of human rights. But phony communists (Kosambi
called them OfficialMarxist) never took program against casteism but they considered the
marginalized people as vote bank. Moreover, a section of them has used the word subaltern very
carefully. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word subaltern means a person or groups who
are in subordinated position for several reasons. During the SepoyMutiny, British Government
named the rebellions as subalterns because rank of the rebels within the army was in the lowest
stratum. Antonio Gramsci whose famous ‘Prison Notebooks’ was written in Mussolini’s jail
added that those forms of subordination were manifestations of consequences emerging from the
victims’ place in the hierarchies of race, class, professional strata, gender, language, religion,
skin color etc. Prof. RanajitGuha introduced subaltern studies following Gramsci. He did not
object to the word “NIMNABARGA” in the translation of his articles in Bengali. He wanted to
mean the word BARGA (in Bengali) as tier of society which is neither caste nor class.
But after RanajitGuha the school of subaltern studies has now become the hunting ground of
some pseudo democrats. Some of these Trojan horse have brought in to subaltern studies a
dangerous aspect, that of identity movement, as an alternative to class based movement. So their
“subalterns” are either outclassed from class or outcaste from caste. Post-Modernist writers have
also used the word (subaltern) to dilute the significance of it. Allan Sokal correctly unmasked
these unscrupulous thinkers in his book, PostModernism:FashionableNonsense. This type of
intellectual bankruptcy will destroy the anti-caste anti-class movement.
c. Partition (1947) and Bangladesh War (1971) are main reasons, though other factors are there.
In the 1950s refugees from upper caste families somehow managed to settle near Calcutta or
suburbs. But refugees from Dalit communities (mainly Namasudras) who migrated around that
war time are now facing insecurity due to Amended Citizens Bill (2003), passed in both Rajya
Sabha and LokSabha without any opposition.
There was not a single leader of West Bengal from SC/ ST/ OBC/ Minority who had the courage
and capability of organizing all discriminated people based on identity. There were some
regional leaders and community leaders but that could not make any effect on Bengali society as
a whole.
MATUA, a folk religion based on non- Vedic and non- Brahmanical philosophy was founded by
Harichand Thakur and strengthened by his son Guruchand Thakur, lost its potentiality when
P.R.Thakur, grandson of Guruchand Thakur surrendered to Brahmanical political clique. Now
MATUA’s position is almost similar to other traditional religious sects. For that reason anti-caste
movement faced a major setback.
JogendranathMandal who after tedious effort succeeded to send B.R. Ambedkar in GANA
PARISHAD, had to leave East-Pakistan in the year 1950. He had to fight in defense of himself
till his death (1967) for his attempt of Dalit minority unity. His wide vision was misrepresented
not only by hindutwadi leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee but also by his own associate like
ApurbaLalMajumder. His name is still being sarcastically called as ‘Jogen Ali Molla’ by those
who do not want Dalit minority unity.
In the decade of 50 when communists and socialists of different camps were being strengthened
and abolition of caste system was not the agenda of those political groups. Ambedkar’s idea
could not reach to those people for whom Ambedkar spent his life. All marginalized section of
people became silent vote bank of different ruling parties or seeking to be ruling parties. Truly
speaking this fragmentation is still going on.
Now it should be concluded here that there is no Chinese wall between those dreamers who are
seriously working for annihilation of caste and those who are committed to abolish the class
exploitation.
Now, the call of the day is

UNITE DALITS UNITE WITH DALITS
Email:dafodwam.dafodwam@gmail.com
Performing Fragmented Identities: Bengali, Dalit, Indian, Matua, Namasudra
BenilBiswas
School of Culture and Creative Expressions
Ambedkar University Delhi
New Delhi
This paper will attempt to delineate the impetus in the identity formation of Namasudra
community in relation to the politics of Casteism, reservations, boundaries within minority
categories. One would contextualize the ritual and mythological dimensions of the Namasudra
performance practices in relation to the complex articulation of the self and the community and
also the modes of communication in and through art in the contemporary milieu. One would also
keep in mind their diasporic cultural dynamics. The study is not limited to colonial Bengal, but
cuts across two other major historically discursive junctures i.e. 1947- India’s Independence and
1971- formation of Bangladesh. The first rupture in the history of the Indian sub-continent
propelled PromathaRanjan Thakur (PR Thakur), son of Guruchand Thakur, to migrate and
establish a base at Thakunagar, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, in India after 1947. The next
rupture-formation of Bangladesh consolidated the community in terms of its present articulation.
The above mentioned articulation can be read in terms of how a community now performs its
existence in absentia, as a mooring and as a sense of rootlessness. It’s articulation is reiterated in
the sign displaying the words ‘THE EXILE’ engraved above the entrance of the house at
Thakurnagar, Bangaon, West Bengal. It is not irrelevant to examine these words as a
‘performative’: Binapani Devi sits directly under the sign blessing all the Namasudra devotees
who attend the BaruniMela every year. One would need to minutely study these details and
substantiate them alongside the performative practices of the Matua. The question of
performativity will be a key point of analysis in understanding the complexity of identity
formation in the community being discussed. By casting light on the genres of performance
practices by Matua/ Namasudra community, this study seeks to propose a bottom-up model of
aesthetics that might lead us to an alternative mode of imagining mainstream Dalit aesthetics in
contemporary performance practice in India, specifically relating to caste oppressions. This
emergent way of looking at aesthetics will not only interrogate the mainstream Dalit canon, but
will also open up new frontiers of understanding the dynamics between class and caste, art and
politics in contemporary times, which are far too obsessed with either the elimination or
rationalization of religious structures. Mode of Presentation: Lecture with lots of AV
illustrations, interaction invited.
Email: benil@aud.ac.in
BijanHazra
Secretary
BAMCEF WB State Committee
Kolkata
I am from BAMCEF Organization;the full from of BAMCEF is the All India Backward and
MinorityCommunitiesEmployers Federation. BAMCEF thinks of the socio economic cultural
developments of the Dalits of India and act strongly as a nonpolitical common platform amongst
the Dalits. The term Backward has reference in the Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India.
The SC.ST, OBC have been jointly referred to as Backward because all these castes falling in
these categories of backward, but the degree of backwardness varies. This is due to doctrine of
graded inequality professed by Brahmanism. The Scheduled caste, scheduled Tribes and other
backwardclasses’ people are all aware that they are historically one class of people, the original
inhabitants of India. As far as the term Minority in India is concerned. It refers to the religious
minorities in India. Many Social Scientist have proved that during the course of history, some of
the Mulnivasis, that is indigenous people, got converted to different religions at different point of
time. These mainly include Muslims, Sikhs,Christians, and Buddhist etc. Our BAMCEF
established to propagate the philosophy and vision of Dalit icons, Dalit messiahs namely
RastrapitaJyotiraoPhule, Rastranirmata Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, PeriyarRamaswamyNaicker,
SahujiMaharaj, BirsaMunda, Hari Chand Guruchand Thakur, JogendranathMondaletc etc. The
Mission of BAMCEF is the Mission of these forefathers, that is for establish casteless and
classless society, eradication of untouchability and achieving social justice for Dalits and to
uproot Brahmanism, the spirit of inequality and to preserve a new social system based on
humanity and the principal of equality liberty fraternity and justice. India was a country of
equality fraternity brotherhood, love respect. Before Aryan Invasion, these were the Buddhist
philosophy. Humanism is the main philosophy of Buddhism. Brahmanism has destroyed
Buddhist philosophy. Now we call Hindu but in no religious books there is aword on Hindu.
This is ridiculous. Brahmanism has divided us in more than six thousand seven hundred castes
from upper to lower, not equal.
As per Govt. of India, UGC News, Vol-3, March ‘98 issue says that India has 4,694
Communities and 324 Languages. We demarcated the line between the oppressor and exploited
people by adopting ideology of 15% vs. 85% in which 15% people of India are beneficiaries
and 85% are victims of the Brahminical social systems. In India the population of Brahmins is
only 3.5% but they have captured 70% Government Services. As per the news report
published in the Times London DV 16-30th Jun 1991, it reveals that in India there are 19
No’sBrahminSecretaries out of total 26 Secretaries, 13 Brahmin Governors out of 27 Governors,
116 Brahmins out of 330 Chief Secretaries, 50 Nos. Brahmin Vice Chancellors out 98 Vice
Chancellors of Universities, 258 Nos. Brahmins Distract Magistrates out of total 348 District
Magistrates, out of total 3300 IAS Officers there are 2376 Brahmins, 90% NRI are Brahmins,
Since independences, our India has been ruled by upper castes, still now the Government of
India is being led by Brahmanical forces and the opposition party is also led by Brahmins
Political Leaders.
Brahmins are parasitic and they reap benefits of others labors. Brahmins mention that Vedas
give what an ideal society is, the society that is fragmented into four castes. i.e. Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. There are huge differences between these castes in the field of
social status or respect, social rights and privileges. The higher castes enjoy more benefits than
the lower castes. Brahmins are above everyone and Sudras are in the lowest rung. The job of
Brahmins is to receive and give education and conduct all religious functions and rituals like
priests, Kshatriyas had to take-up arms and weapons and fight. Vaishyas were to be engaged in
trade and commerce. Sudras are at the lower level and were the slaves who had to work for the
three other higher castes. A person of one caste cannot enter into the livelihood of other castes.
Caste is not according to one’s work but according to one’s birth. A person of lower caste not
entitled to do the work of another caste. This is Vedic Society. GautamaBuddha hadcriticized
this social structure very strongly. The basic policy is that of inequality, Brahmins have created
this unequal social framework to keep the others under them as slaves. Buddha proved thatall
reasons given by Brahmins as wrong. Buddhism is the original religion of India. Brahmanism
or Vedic religion or Hinduism is the religion of Aryans who were foreigners who made 90% of
the indigenous population as slaves. Tribal peoples were the worst sufferer of the Brahminical
social order. In historical point of view Aryans are not indigenous people of India. It has been
proved beyond doubts that Aryans are foreigners and they do not belong to our land. They are
Brahmins who invaded India. See the recent research on DNA, it proves that Dalit and
Minorities DNA are same but the upper castes DNA does not match with us. It matched with
western countrymen’s. That Aryans under-took a continuous and prolonged attacked on the
culture and civilization ofMulnivasis of India. As a part of the strategy of battle,
someMulnivasis went to jungle and continued to stay in jungles, they are called Adivasi;they are
scheduled tribes today. The Adivasi society is based on community living co-existence with
nature collative decision making nonprofit and equality for all. Now a days the world is heading
towards a critical situation and the life and mission of these tribal may show a road map of the
inclusive development of the so called development theories which are based on exploitation
injustices and against nature. Friends remember the sacrifice of our great ancestors and recall
the single handed fight of Dr.Ambedker. Grateful to the Dalits and people of Khulna, Barisal,
Faridpur, Tangail, Rangpur etc. districts who send Dr. Ambedker in the constituent Assembly to
write the Constitution of India and Dr. Ambedker gave us the reservation for SC/ST/OBCs.
Although reservation in Govt service demanded 1st by upper castes people in British period and
the Govt of British gave reservation quota for IAS services. The SC/STs had the right of
reservation in the field of (1) advancement (2) profession and (3) representation in Government
programswith quota of 15% as well as 23% for SCs 7.5% as well as 5% for STs in Central and
State Government programs since 1950 and 1976 respectively. This was a fundamental right.
During the first two decades of its origin in 1950 the so called Mannvadi or Brahminovite
political leaders of India gave a deaf ear to the hue and cry of the SC/STs and consequently they
did not apply the right of reservation at all. A little bit emphasis was given by the rules for
application of reservation in the 70s and 80s decade. As a result of which a few SCs and STs
could be aisle to reach to the arena of higher education and Government service .So reservation
is the only key of the present progress of SC/STswhich is seen today in India. But the progress
of the SC/STs were checked rather stooped at the outset of the 1990 decade due to unwillingness
of the planners administration and politicians backed by the Supreme Court of India vide its
famous Mondal Judgment dated 16th Nov 92 and so on. All of you know that India entered in
the era of LPG that is Liberalization Privatization and globalization, in 1994 the GATT
arrangement kicked off the Dalits from behind and as a result of which Dalits are about to be
drowned into fathomless depth of the poverty of ocean. Government of India changed the
Patent Act. Government departments were sold out to the inland and foreign Multi-National
Companies at nominal costs. As a result of shifting of the Gov. owned and managed
enterprise to the private sectors the hard earned right of reservations of the SC/STs started
vanishing and today a large number of Government enterprises have gone to the private sectors
and SC/STs are deprived of their rights. Moreover Government of India, time to time issued
five anti-reservation orders. During 1990s decade the Supreme Court of India over-exercised its
power other than laid down in the Constitution by issuing various verdicts against the reservation
policy of SC/STs and the Gov. of India was keeping mum. The apex Court could notsuppressthe
Parliament but the same was repeated in several times. Dalit political leaders and their parties
were also voiceless in the law making house . During the ruling of National Democratic
Alliances (NDA) Government led by the BJP at the CentreMr. AtalBehariBajpaiye as the Prime
Ministers declared one judicial commission of 11 members headed by Justices Mr.
Venkatchellaiya on 13th Feb 2000 for rewriting the Constitution of India. The aim of the attempt
was to change the mandate of equality and social justice followed by dilution and abolition of the
right of reservation and safe guards of the minorities. The Dalit peoples started strong
movements and as a result of which these all attempts was dropped. In India, Jobs in the Govt
sectors are shrinking fast and eligible educated Dalit boys are not getting employment. More
jobs are being created in the private sector where our entry is banned. So long as reservation is
not extended in private sector, situation will become bad to worst. After putting so much effort
we realized that Manuvadi Govt and Industrialists are not going to give reservation in private
sector. So we had to rush for international support for our just cause. The foreign Government
controlled business in India; there the concerned foreign Government may pass law to provide
reservation and job quota and can ensure participation of Dalits in projects sponsored by World
Bank etc. If manuvadiindustrialists are not ready to share their wealth with Dalits, let them share
with foreign business and other International bodies.
Today India is a factory of manufacturing beggars. Dr. ArjunSengupta’s report shows, 77% or 80
to85 crores of people are living below the poverty line. Though India is a very resourceful
country but we have the greatest numbers of poor people in the world. We have to exert our
rights that the remedy. Least but not last point I want to add that the Govt of India amended the
Citizenship Act 2003 where in Bengali Refugees cannot get Citizenship. In West Bengal, there
are about 14% Mahishayas, 6% Namasudras, 4% Bagdis, 5% Goalas, 7% Rajbanshis, 5%
Poundras, 3.5% Bhangris, 7% ST, 4.5% are belongs to other SCs, 21% OBCs, 16% Muslims,
Brahmins are only 2%, Kayasthas 4%, Baishyas 1%. Before conclusion I want to state some
facts of Dalits in India which is as follows:-
In this computer era casteism prevails everywhere India. The PTI News published on 31st may
1997 that a newly appointed principal in a collage of BiharMr. KameswarJha washed his chair
by holy Ganga water as the earlier principal was a Dalit.In the year 1997 at Vill.Gopinathpur PS:
Narayangar, Disit. Midnapur West Bengal the Hari Communities fought for getting permission
to worship puja at local Mandir. In Kolkata also in the Durga puja of Dompara the Dom people
are not allowed to participate in the Puja. In the birthplace of Raja Ram Mohan Ray the pioneer
of renaissance movement he stopped Satidaha. Satidaha means after death of husband living
wives was cremated along with the dead body of her husband and during that period one man
had many more wives. Village: Khanakul, the birth place of Ram Mohan, there are two separate
burial grounds.ShaswanGhat one for Brahmins and another for non-Brahmins.Few years ago, in
the District Ganjam of Orrisa, village: Dhunburi the upper caste people charged fine of Rs1.5
Lakhs to Dhopa Community against charges that they want to increase Rs. 50 per year instead
of 20 for washing clothes of upper caste .For this absurd demand they not only fined for Rs.1.5
lakhs they stopped to takes crops from their fields and physically assaulted also.Also, Napit
people also deniedcutting hair and washing the leg of upper caste in that area. In the District
Shibganga of Tamil Nadu State one Dalit women PanchayetProdhan was stabbed by knife by an
upper caste man when she hoisting flag in India on Independence Day.
On 28th July 2001 in Mou city, the birth place of BabasahebAmbedkar some Chamar people
went to shaswanGhat/Burial Ground forcremation of a dead body, when suddenly began heavy
rain, and there was no shed in the burial ground marked for lower castes, finding no way out
they brought the dead body to the sheded area marked for upper castes. After this, the upper
caste people vehemently attacked with strict and sharp weapon to the Chamar Basti and
destroyed the JhuggiJhopris of chamars. In villageDudasDistt : Debas of Madhya Pradesh,as
per the Govt. Reservation policy the Panchayat post declared reservation for Scheduled Tribe
womanin Panchayat election 2001. . There was only one Tribal family in that village but they
also went to another area due to torture of the upper castes, then the upper caste people prayed to
Govt for DE reservation butGovt did not agreed. .Then the Muslim people of that village
brought thattribal family and one woman from that family become PanchayatPradhan but she
have to do work by the instructions of upper caste peoples. Similar fact happened in Manasha
Gram Panchayat. Wherein upper caste people forcefully or by showing threat of murder they
used to take sign of ST illiterate woman PanchayatPradhanand by that papers the living man
showed dead and siphoned Govt money.Once it came to the notice of the D.M., the facts were
revealed.
After the earth quake in Gujarat and after Tsunami in South India during the distribution of relief
materials, Dalit peoples were discriminated and deprivedbadly. Govt constructed some
temporary shelters where the upper caste people refused to stay with Dalit people. So, Govt. had
to makeseparate shelters for Dalits. Celebrated economist Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen’s
report shows the dismal condition of Dalit students in primary education system. The Telegraph
dated 11.6.14 tells that in Sept-12 a Dalit Government Employee in Ahmedabad committed
suicide in his Office toilet after he was badly humiliated by his seniors and harassed by his
colleagues many years. In recent past on 20.6.15 Ebela Newspaper and on same day in 24
Ghanta News Channel reveals that one Doctor Professor in Kolkata Medical College and
Hospital has been harassed for a long period by some upper caste Senior Doctors in his
Departments. Many political parties making Dalit issues and shed crocodile tears. There are so
many organizations and groups working for the upliftment of Dalit and to change the social
system, few of them are BAMCEF, Bharat MuktiMoreha, All India confederation of SC/STs.
Depressed Classes Lcague, Ambedkar Missions, HariGuruchandMatuaMahasangha,
Prometheous . DalitSamajMahajote, Guru RabidasSevaSangha, MulnibasiSamajSanghaetc and
different caste based samities like NamasudraSamity, KoibartaSamity .etc There are many
cultural groups also like Santikunja in west Bengal etc. There are various types of divisions and
ill coordination amongst the groups and there are also leadership problem. Now some Dalit
leaders introduced a new policy to arrange puja, marriage sarads etc. without Brahmans. The
DravirMahasangha is trying to form religious Parliament to make the new system of puja and
other religious ceremonies avoiding Brahmins and Sanskrit mantras they prepared new
mantras/chants by citing the name and mission of Dr. Ambedker and other Dalit messiahs.
Email: bijanhazra65@gmail.com
MatuaCult: An Anti-Vedic Religious Dictum of Dalits
ManoharBiswas
In Bengal a religious guru named Sri-Sri Harichand Thakur was born in 1812 in the village
Safaldanga of Faridpur district now in Bangladesh. He could have diagnosed inherent kind of the
ways to exploiting larger section of people who are untouchables in Hindu society. Harichand’s
son Sri-Sri Guruchand Thakur, born in 1846 took the cause of his father as a socio-religious
activist and politico-reformist; and had consolidated the marginalized which we may term
‘community consolidative’. These people, it is of course a big history of the socially
marginalized, had given a historic call of ‘General Strike’ in 1872-73 not to provide any manual
service to the Bhadralok in their daily need in family life, in protest of hate and neglect from
them. They could not continue it for a long time due to poverty and ultimately they had to
surrender to them. Sri-Sri Harichand Thakur’s noted religious dictum: ‘Naamaani Veda,
naamaaniBrahman’, it means, ‘we do not obey the Vedas,we do not obey the Brahmin’. This
Matua religious movement has barred the appointment of Brahmin purohit in different sorts of
ritual observances in their society. And they politically believe, unless you become political
power you cannot change your fate. Guru Chand himself is a Dalit definitive political entity
status: ‘Je Jatir Raja Nei, Se JatiTajaNei’, means, the nation which has no king cannot be
freshened up. This sort of movement based on identity ventures to mobilize to the way of self-
lifting and befitting themselves. This is the phenomenon seen among the scheduled castes of
Bengal to happen in the pre-independent era of the country. In the postcolonial days, as soon as
the ‘Joint-Electorate’ plan and demand of M. K. Gandhi had been accepted constitutionally in
contrast to the demand and struggles of Dr. B. R. Ambedker’s ‘Separate-Electorate’ for reserve
quota-people. It has caused the envisagement this time these people have lost their identity voice
and demand.
Email: manoharbiswas@yahoo.co.in

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Identities, Mobility and Well-Being

National Workshop-cum-Orientation Programme for Members of Scheduled

Venue: St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata

Organisers/Convenors of the Conference

Programme Schedule PAGE NOS.

Note on Workshop and Panel Discussion

List of Resource Persons

List of Participants in Paper Presentations and Panel Discussion

DAY 1 (SATURDAY) 26.09.2015

9.30—10.00 AM: Registration and Tea

DAY 2 (SUNDAY) 27.09.2015

The theme of this Workshop is broad enough to accommodate presentations on a variety of

The idea of ‘well-being’ forming the theme of this Workshop-cum-Orientation Programme

In the contemporary context it is crucial to bring in ‘well-being’ as a significant aspect in our

1. Dr. Ramesh Kamble

2. Dr. Ramesh Bairy

3. Dr. Anagha Tambe

4. Prof. Anand Teltumbde

5. Dr. Pradeep Shinde

6. Dr. Aseem Prakash

10. Sri ManoranjanByapari

11. Ms. Sarbani Bandopadhyay

12. Prof. Abhinaya Kamble

1. Dr. Akhil Alha

2.Mr. Anup Hiwrale

3.Mr. Md. Dilwar Hossain

4.Mr. Debashis Sarkar

5.Ms. Debarati Sarkar

7.Dr. E. Krishna Rao

9. Dr. Lianboi Vaiphei

10. Dr. RatneshKatulkar

11. Mr. Ramjit Kumar

12. Mr. Rahul Ranjan

13. Mr. Bagavathi Raja. A

14. Mr. Sabir Ahamed

15. Dr. Samar Kumar Biswas

16. Mr. Santosh Kumar

17. Dr. John Breakmas Tirkey

Dr. Sudash Lama

19. Mr. Vimal Kumar

Panel Discussion II : Academic-Activist Dialogue Day 2

2.Mr. Benil Biswas

3.Sri Bijan Hazra

4.Dr. Kanishka Chaudhury

6.Mr. Nirupam Hazra

Caste Identities, Labor Market Outcomes and Well-being of Workers: A Study of an

Dept. of Political science

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Dept. of Political Science

Dr. Samar Kumar Biswas

Social Exclusion is defined as a multi-dimensional process, in which various forms of Exclusion

Dr. John BreakmasTirkey

Vivekananda’s ShudraJagaran: A Myth

Research Scholar, Department of Social Work

Caste Class Relations

Editor- CHETANA LAHAR

a. Myth of BENGAL RENAISSANCE:

Now, the call of the day is

MatuaCult: An Anti-Vedic Religious Dictum of Dalits

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