“The word ‘Dalit’ is a very substantive part of the consciousness of this pan-Indian movement, and cannot be excised from it without causing great harm and damage to it,” the petition reads.
The national coalition of Dalit rights groups has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court for quashing the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s recent circular banning the media from using the word ‘Dalit’.
The petition, which came up for hearing on Wednesday before Delhi High Court Justice Vibhu Bakhru, said that Dalit is a ‘self-chosen name, a positive identifier and a political identity’ of those at the receiving end of the caste system and the centuries-old practice of untouchability. It outlines how the use of the word began in the 19th century with its origins in the Sanskrit word ‘Dalita’ meaning broken and scattered and has over the years evolved as an anchor for the Dalit movement. “The word ‘Dalit’ is a very substantive part of the consciousness of this pan-Indian movement, and cannot be excised from it without causing great harm and damage to it,” it reads.
The petitioner, V A Ramesh Nathan, general secretary, National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) has stated in his petition that the I&B order is an attempt to erase the identity from public consciousness and is in violation of the right to freedom to form associations as guaranteed under Article 19(1) (c) and right to self-expression and self-determination under Article 19 and Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Ministry had, in its August 7 order, directed the media to “refrain from using the nomenclature Dalit” and use “Scheduled Caste” instead. It had cited a month-old order of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC which had asked the government to “consider the question of issuing such direction to the media and take suitable decision upon it within next six weeks”.
Nathan has stated in his petition that he identifies himself as ‘Dalit’ and that he has filed the plea on behalf of a coalition of Dalit rights activists and civil society organisations committed to ending caste-based discrimination in India.
“Before ‘Dalit’ came into the public consciousness, persons belonging to these communities were known through various names imposed upon them. These identities were not chosen by such persons themselves, they were imposed and enforced upon them in order to conform to the prescriptive caste structures. The embracing of the word ‘Dalit’, by the community…is also an explicit rejection of the identities imposed by the caste system,” the petition states.
It adds that the usage of term “Scheduled Caste” is for administrative ease but it is inadequate for describing the “rich history of the movement for equality and the self-assertion that is inherent to the word ‘Dalit’”.