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A comment on the post-Durban challenges for the dalit movement

by Teesta Setalvad of Sabrang Communications

Dec 2001

Durban and Thereafter

The systematic data collection and campaign mobilization that marked the collective effort to make the issue of Caste become a live one at the WCAR, Durban Aug 01 was noteworthy. Networks and alliances got formed and it is to be hoped that the joint endeavors would be lasting. Especially in the south of India, the entire campaign was a cohesive and concrete one reflecting a deepening of existing work on Dalit human rights, Dalit women’s rights etc. The clarity and depth of articulation reflected itself in media coverage of the issue of Caste. This had never received such full-fledged attention before.

One of the issues that received attention was the fact that this campaign formation was not necessarily uniform all over the country. In the north and west (Maharashtra especially) there was a more limited knowledge and involvement in the campaign around Durban. This needs to be kept in mind for future collective action.

Another issue that formed a consistent criticism was, after Durban what? The energy spent to mobilize for Durban needs to accrue long-term and substantive benefits for the movement, too. In an entirely individual and analytical capacity I have assessed this favourably and have even actively campaigned. I do feel however that now that Durban is behind us and that the Campaign raised and put forward substantive issues of data and policy we need to see how much of the facta/data that emerged out of the data collection around WCAR should

• Result in concrete and lasting public discourse within India;
• For example, the fact that SC/ST Commission reports are rarely, if at all, discussed in the Indian Parliament and never in the State Legislatures;
• The fact that we have as many as 138 Dalit Members of Parliament across party lines and yet, proportionately Dalit issues do not figure in mainstream political discourse at all;
• Violence, especially against Dalit women remains a peripheral and much-ignored issue;
• Violence and Humiliation Against Dalit Women elected to positions is a non-issue for the political parties to which they belong;
• Caste-based violence and Investigation Reports (Judicial Commission Reports) are rarely if at all made public: guilty are not punished; lessons are not learned: the lives of Dalits are accounted as less or not at all important.
• I would like to make a comment on the issue of Gender and Caste through my intimate associations with the Campaign Around Durban. To strengthen and embolden the movement, I feel that a stronger and more committed gender-sensitive perspective needs to be imbibed within the movement. There were two separate comments made by senior campaign representatives at Durban that do not bear repetition but need to be remembered in as much as we need too be conscious of how we have internalized gender insensitive language and discourses too.

  Most movements today suffer the same fate; this is not exclusive to the Dalit movement. Due to the inherent strengths, powers and emancipation within however I feel it is important to be alive and sensitive to the gender question so that it does not become a hindrance in the future.

Teesta Setalvad