The Process of Dalitization: A Brief Socio-Cultural Reading of Kancha Ilaiah

The Process of Dalitization A brief Socio-cultural Reading of Kancha Ilaiah Anil M. R. Research Scholar, MG University, Kottayam Kancha Ilaiah is a passionate thinker who is well known for his passion and commitment for raising the issues related to the dalits in India. Why I am not a Hindu and Buffalo Nationalism are his two important works through which he identifies himself as a dalit bahujan, a member of the exploited and suppressed community of Indian majority. Dalitization is a process. Indian social system is again and again being cursed by the caste system through the Brahminical religious books and their practices. The present situation of our country warns us of the need for a thorough evaluation of the past social and religious views and indeed there is a renewal of thought in all spheres of Indian life. Ilaiah mentions the fact that it is because of the process of institutionalization, major religions started establishing authoritarian tendencies and engaged in inhuman practices. He further explains a fact that India as a nation lost its scope because of Brahminism. Brahminic philosophy itself makes others believe that God created human beings unequal. In India Dalitbahujans have been sufferings for many centuries. The kurumas have kept relation with Muslims and Christians. They mingle in the fields and touch each other and together celebrate festivals. The Brahmins and Baniyas made a kind of difference by not co-operating with Kurumas. Ilaiah expresses the shock that now his people have been told that they have common religious and cultural relationship with Brahmins and Baniyas. It shows the fascist nature of Hinduism. The historical essence of Hindu fascism has been operated with the formation of modern Brahminic organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajarang Dal, and so on. Here the youths belonging to Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are organized to provide the Brahminic muscle power for their programmes by giving them trishuls (tridents), chakras (sharpened throwing discs), bows and arrows (these two weapons are used by Brahmins to kill Dalit Bahujans in Ancient Hindu myths and legends). In the same way the children belonging to the lower castes are being forced to learn regional languages. Thus they become the modern slaves. The Brahminic aim is simple that the Dalit Bahujans are made not for themselves. Instead they are being used for the cause of upper caste education, enjoyment and wealth. (Why I am not a Hindu. XI-XII). A number of atrocities and attacks being carried out in India by Hindu Brahminic society. The Indian Constitution is one of the glorious constitutions in the World. On 26th January, 1950 the constitution of India came into force and declared India as a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. According to the Constitution the state has no official religion. The most important component of secularism is equality. Kancha Ilaiah uses the term Dalitization not in the sense of Hinduization. Hindu thinking and the ways of Dalitbahujans are different from each other. The environments created by both cultures are specific and distinctive as they have been considered in the two developmental processes. Hindu thinking is set against the interests of Dalitbahujan Castes. As an example we can raise the strategy in the way Hindu mythology is established to destroy the Dalitbahujan ethos. The culture maintained by the upper castes is hegemonic and violent, and they always keep the superiority complex. They sought to destroy Dalitbahujan productive structures, culture, economy and its political institutions. They attacked everything which they have felt challenges to their supremacy. This process is still continuing in present India in various forms. It is vivid to note that the Brahminical leaders never tried to build an anti-caste egalitarian ideology during the anti-colonial struggle. Postcolonial development has been systematically reached into the hands of upper castes. The Brahmins have focused their attention on politico-bureaucratic power. The Baniyas established their hegemony on capitalists markets and Neo-Kshatriyas establish their control over agrarian economy. Alienation and Marginalization of the productive people played a major role in the process of Dalitization. The social context of dalitbahujans is productive and distributive. In the current repressive social structure of the village, it is only the Dalitbahujan masses that have had the strength to survive as productive beings. Here human beings relate to each other basically on humane terms. The material basis of the society is rooted not in wealth but in labour power. But the labour power of dalits earns unsatisfactory returns. Such diminishing returns have the effect of completely alienating them. Three ways of alienation happened to their lives such as alienation from village production and marketing, alienation from main v