CASTE MOVEMENTS

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN FULLFIILLMENT OF THE COURSE SOCIOLOGY OF

DEVELOPMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF THE DEGREE B.A. LL.B (HONS.) FOR THE
ACADEMIC YEAR [2019-20]

SUBMITTED BY:
NAVEEN KUMAR PANDEY
B.A LL.B (HONS.), 3rd SEMESTER
ROLL: 1942

SUBMITTED TO:
DR. SHAKIL AHMED
ASST. PROFESSOR SOCIOLOGY

AUGUST, 2019

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE .......................................................................... 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................. 3
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 4
2. BRAHMANISM AS THE ROOT CAUSE OF CASTE MOVEMENT: A HISTORICAL
CRITIQUE ...................................................................................................................... 5
3. DALIT MOVEMENT ................................................................................................. 7
3.1. MAJOR CAUSES OF THE DALIT MOVEMENT .................................................. 7
3.2. DALIT MOVEMENT-THE STRUGGLE OF THE SUBMERGED COMMUNITIES .... 8
3.3. DALIT LITERARY MOVEMENT ......................................................................... 8
4. BACKWARD CASTE/CLASS MOVEMENTS ............................................................ 9
4.1. ISSUES ........................................................................................................... 11
4.2. PARTICIPANTS AND LEADERS .................................................................... 13
5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 16

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 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I, hereby, declare that the work reported in the B.A L.L.B (Hons.) Project Report titled “Caste Movements”
submitted at Chanakya National Law University, Patna is an authentic record of my work carried out under
the supervision of Dr. Shakil Ahmed. I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any degree and diploma.
I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

(Signature of the candidate)

Naveen Kumar Pandey
Roll: 1942
B.A L.L.B (Hons.), 2nd year
3rd Semester

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to sincerely thank Dr. Shakil Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Sociology for and guiding me
throughout the project. Through this research project I have learned a lot about the aforesaid topic and this
in turn has helped me grow as a student. I also thank my friends and all those unseen hands that helped out
at every stage of my project.

Thank You

Naveen Kumar Pandey

3rd Semester
CNLU, PATNA

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 1. INTRODUCTION

A social movement requires sustained collective action over time. Such action is often directed against the
state and takes the form of demanding changes in state policy or practice. Spontaneous, disorganised protest
cannot be called a social movement either. Collective action must be marked by some degree of
organisation. This organisation may include a leadership and a structure that defines how members relate
to each other, make decisions and carry them out. Those participating in a social movement also have shared
objectives and ideologies. A social movement has a general orientation or way of approaching to bring
about (or to prevent) change. These defining features are not constant. They may change over the course of
a social movement’s life.

Social movements often arise with the aim of bringing about changes on a public issue, such as ensuring
the right of the tribal population to use the forests or the right of displaced people to settlement and
compensation. Think of other issues that social movements have taken up in the past and present. While
social movements seek to bring in social change, counter movements sometimes arise in defence of status
quo. There are many instances of such counter movements. When Raja Rammohun Roy campaigned
against sati and formed the Brahmo Samaj, defenders of sati formed Dharma Sabha and petitioned the
British not to legislate against sati. When reformers demanded education for girls, many protested that this
would be disastrous for society. When reformers campaigned for widow remarriage, they were socially
boycotted. When the so called ‘lower caste’ children enrolled in schools, some so called ‘upper caste’
children were withdrawn from the schools by their families.

History testifies the presence of social cleavages in Indian society, in terms of caste, class, gender and the
like. Such cleavages has changed the entire social fabric of Indian society, whereby the exploited section,
be it the Dalits, adivasis or women, have been systematically pushed to the periphery by the traditional
Brahmanical structure of oppression. Dalits are the people who are economically, socially, politically
exploited from centuries. Unable to live in the society of human beings, they have been living outside the
village depending on lower level of occupation, and lived as ―untouchable‖ .This exploitation is due to the
discrimination followed by age old caste hierarchical tradition in the Hindu society. This hierarchy has been
the cause for oppression of Dalits in each and every sphere of society since centuries. It has subjected them
to a life of poverty and humiliation.

1.1. OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH:

 The researcher tends to analyse the reasons for caste based movement.
 The researcher tends to analyse the social changes associated with such movements.
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  The researcher tends to analyse the implications of such caste based movements.

1.2. HYPOTHESIS:
 Caste movement has led to the social changes which impacts the life of people.
 Caste based movement creates further expand the ridges between people of different castes.
1.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
The researcher proposed to undertake the doctrinal method of research which include documents,
articles, books, journals, and online research etc.
1.4. SOURCES OF DATA:
Primary Sources: Documents, Eye Witnesses’ accounts, statistical data etc.
Secondary Sources: Books, Articles, Journals, Magazines etc.
1.5. LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT:
Owing to the large number of topics that could be included in the project, the scope of this project
has been limited particularly to the caste movement particularly during Pre-Independence era and
less focussed on caste movements that took place recently. The researcher is also resource and time
bound.

2. BRAHMANISM AS THE ROOT CAUSE OF CASTE MOVEMENT: A

HISTORICAL CRITIQUE

Brahmanism as the Root Cause of Dalit Movement: A Historical Critique he Dalits and women in India
are, at present, categorized under the marginalized sections of the society. All these castes (Pariahs,
Chamars, Mahars, Bhangis and so on) share a common condition of exploitation and oppression by the so
called upper castes of the Indian society .If we trace back to the historical periods, it will be found that the
root cause is the formation of the ‘Caste System’ which actually led to the oppression of the other categories
of oppressed classes of India– the women. It was with the Aryans who entered the country from Middle
East and settled in the fertile land of the Ganges after a fight with the indigenous people of the civilization.
The people, well versed in the techniques as shown in historical aspects, were defeated by the Aryans. The
Minority Aryans defeated the majority Dalits by the use of their tactics of Divide and Rule, as assumed by
Braj Ranjan Mani because without doing so they won‘t be able to defeat the majority. The Brahmins had
retain this tactic even today .Later in the vedic period , the formation of the Rig Veda laid the foundation
of the oppression of the people in their own land , with the Purusha shukta in its tenth book . It was later in
the 5th century that people of Shudra Varna were transformed to untouchable. And this led to beginning of
the Brahmin domination accompanied by Dalit exploitation. A Brahman is a great God, whether he is

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learned or imbecile and the Brahmans should be respected in any way, even if they indulge in a crime 1
.These are the Religious texts of the Hindus, which strives for an unequal society, a society where a certain
group of people are given the status of God, in total contrast with the other group who are considered even
worse than animals. God who is considered as the Almighty do not exist, but is considered as the Supreme
power. Is it that the Arya-Brahmins, devised the institution of Varna and thereby caste, in order that they
consider themselves as the ‘Supreme’. By putting themselves in the supreme position, they actually wanted
to attain superior status, a life of dignity, and aspired to be obeyed by everyone in the Indian society. Caste,
the very creation of man and not God, is now rooted firmly in the Indian society, through the religion of
majority Hinduism. Gail Omvedt in her book ― ‘Dalit Visions’, equated Hinduism with Brahmanism.
Hinduism is constructed in order to hide the discriminatory laws of Brahmanism under a religion to be
considered as the religion of the country, and thereby obeyed without any question. 2 The caste ideology is
founded in the twin religious doctrines of Karma and Dharma. And that it was the basic duty of every
individual to maintain Dharma which was to retain the social structure based on the Varnasrama Theory.
Not only Manu, Kautilya , another Brahmin , also emphasized on retaining the Caste structure as the basic
structure of Indian society that cannot and should not be changed .The same was asserted by Gandhi, the
Father of the Nation ,to change is to create disorder3 . This means that the Brahmins should stay at the top
of the pyramid and the Dalits at the bottom. Even if the Dalits die under the situation, they should not be
uplifted. This is Brahmanism –believer of inequality, the roots of which lie in the ancient Vedas. Formulated
3500 thousand years back, the Vedas are ruling Indian society even now, through its instrument –Hinduism.
It is controlling the minds of the people, which made the minority groups –the Brahmins to be the policy
makers of the country. And in order to retain their position they have devised myths .For instance, they
devised the myth of ‘Punarjanma’ which explains the phenomena of ‘re-birth’. It explains that the activities
of our past janma, is responsible for our present status and the activities of present will decide our life after
re-birth. This myth has two connotations Firstly, the Dalits should accept the exploitation done against them
as the result of their own deeds of past birth. They should consider that they committed some bad deeds
due to which they are facing such kind of oppression. Secondly, even if they are exploited in this birth, they
should not protest, which will provide them a good life in the next birth after re-birth. That is with the desire
to get happiness in the next birth, they should cry. Because it is believed that, God will help them to come
out of distress, and that the Brahmins being Gods are the only solution for their distress. If these texts are
observed closely in socio –historical perspective , the aim to write these texts become clear ,which is to
establish and maintain Brahmanical hegemony , and exploit the non –Brahmins , basically the Dalits.

1
B R Mani, Debrahmanising History (Manohar Publishers: New Delhi,2005)
2
G. Omvedt, Dalit Visions: The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction of an Indian Identity (New Delhi: Orient
Blackswan,2006)
3
Supra note 1.

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 3. DALIT MOVEMENT

3.1. MAJOR CAUSES OF THE DALIT MOVEMENT

The Dalit Movement is the result of the constant hatred being generated from centuries in their heart from
the barbaric activities of the upper castes of India. Since Dalits were assigned the duties of serving the other
three Varnas, that is all the non– Dalit, they were deprived of higher training of mind and were denied
social-economic and political status. The division of labour led to the division of the labourers, based on
inequality and exploitation. The caste system degenerated Dalit life’s into pathogenic condition where
occupations changed into castes. The higher castes of the society looked down upon the Shudras. It was a
general belief that the Dalits are part of the lowest of low Varnas. Thus for centuries Dalits have been
positioned at the bottom of the rigid Indian caste society. People from other castes, who considered
themselves to be higher, believe that Dalits are impure by birth and that their touch or sheer presence could
be polluting. Hence, they are assumed to be untouchable. For centuries, Dalits were excluded from the
mainstream society and were only allowed to pursue menial occupations like cleaning dry latrines,
sweeping, tanning or working as landless labour for meagre daily wages. They were the people who
cultivated the land and worked as bonded labour, did the work of scavenging and did all types of manual
works. The most inhuman practice is that of untouchability, which made the Dalits to live in extreme
inhuman situations. In other words, they lived a barbaric life. Starving for food in their own land where
they themselves are the owner of the land, enraged the Dalits. This has made the Dalits to rise and protest,
against the inhuman practices of Brahmanism .Dalits were discriminated in every sense. They lived in the
Hindu villages hence did not have advantage of geographical isolation like tribes. They were pushed to the
jungles whereas, the mainland was occupied by the Brahmins. They were to serve all classes of people
around and had to do all the dirty jobs. They were barred from entering into those mainland areas in every
sense, they were prohibited to wear decent dress and ornaments besides being untouchable. Many of the
atrocities were committed in the name of religion. Besides, the system of Devadasi they poured molten lead
into the ears of a Dalit, who happened to listen to some mantra. To retain the stronghold on people,
education was monopolized. From the vedic age the Dalits began struggle against oppression and
exploitation. The most striking aspect of Manus formulations is in the sphere of punishment for breaking
law where the quantum of punishment for the offender increases as one goes down the caste hierarchy4
.From the classic instances of Shambuk who was killed for acquiring spiritual knowledge and Eklavya who
was forced to cut off his thumb for his prowess to archery,the Dalits were always punished. Their only fault
was that they are ‘Dalits‘, and that they did not have any right to attain knowledge. Dronacharya could not
take off the art of archery from Eklavya finally punished him by taking away his finger. The Dalits were
always been punished for the deeds that they didn‘t commit, just because it was coming in the way to the

4
U. Chakraborty, Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens (:Popular Prakashan,2003)
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Brahmins. Whenever they constitute a threat to the Brahmanic hegemony, the Brahmins would not leave a
chance to punish them .The Dalits were never placed in their rightful position, which they deserve. Today,
they constitute the marginalized section of society .The reason behind this is that they were denied access
to resources –material or intellectual as well as were exploited .It was thus the Dalits decided to stop the
following of such unequal practices in society where one group benefits stealing from the other and began
their movement due to the fact that they were denied equal status.

3.2. DALIT MOVEMENT-THE STRUGGLE OF THE SUBMERGED COMMUNITIES

The Dalits-the submerged communities of India, began their movement in India with their basic demand
for equality because they struggle to combat inequality in society as having firm belief in the ideal of
‘equality‘. The inhuman and barbaric practices committed against the Dalits, led them to protest against the
caste –based hierarchical system of India, that has divided Indian society on the basis of caste (based on
Varna system), class (Brahmin haves and non– Brahmin have nots) and gender. The Dalit movement that
gained momentum in the post independence period , have its roots in the Vedic period . It was to the
Shramanic -Brahmanic confrontation and then to the Mukti Movement (term given to Bhakti Movement
by G.Alosius). The Mukti movement was led by very poor Dalits who fought against the saint - poets of
the time. With the introduction of western language, and with the influence of the Christian missionaries,
the Dalits began to come across the ideals of equality and liberty and thus began the Dalit Movement in
modern times. The frustrated Dalit minds when mixed with reason began confrontation against the atrocities
of Brahmanism. Educated Dalit , gradually begin to talk about the problems of poor and about exploitation
and humiliations from the upper castes without any hesitation educated Dalits tried to explain to the other
illiterate brothers about the required change in the society. Dalit Movement gave rise to the birth of many
writers and journalists. A new group of thinkers emerged among Dalit community. Many writers through
their writing made the people to be aware of exploitation carried on them by the elite section of the society.
In the 1970s, the Dalit Panther Movement began in Maharashtra. The most fundamental factor responsible
for the rise of Dalit Panthars was the repression and terror under which the oppressed Dalits continued to
live in the rural area. Inspired by the Black Movement, the Dalit Panthers was formed by a group of
educated Mahars in order to lead the movement . The Dalit movement cannot be understood without the
Dalit Literary Movement.

3.3. DALIT LITERARY MOVEMENT

At a time, when there was no means of communication to support the Dalits, pen was the only solution.
The media, newspapers were all under the control of the powerful class –the Brahmins. Given that the
Brahmins would never allow the Dalits voice to be expressed, as it would be a threat for their own survival,
the Dalits began their own magazine and began to express their own experiences. Their pen wrote not with

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ink , but with blood, of their own cuts –the cuts being basically mental , with instincts of physical in them.
Dalit literature, the literature produced by the Dalit consciousness, emerged initially during the Mukti
movement. Later, with the formation of the Dalit Panthers, there began to flourish a series of Dalit poetry
and stories depicting the miseries of the Dalits the roots of which lies in the rules and laws of Vedas and
Smritis. All these literature argued that Dalit Movement fights not only against the Brahmins but all those
people whoever practices exploitation, and those can be the Brahmins or even the Dalits themselves. New
revolutionary songs, poems , stories , autobiographies were written by Dalit writers . All their feelings were
bursting out in the form of writings. Writing is not simply writing , it is an act that reflect ones continous
fight against evil. It seemed as if the entire Dalit community found the space to break out their silence of
thousand years . Such effective were the writings that each of its word had the capability to draw blood.
The songs were sung in every village , poem and other writings were read by the entire community.
Educated Dalit and intellectuals begin to talk about the problems of poor and about exploitation and
humiliations from the upper castes without any hesitation educated Dalits tried to explain to the other
illiterate brothers about the required change in the society. Dalit literature, try to compare the past situation
of Dalits to the present and future generation not to create hatred, but to make them aware of their pitiable
condition. It is not caste literature but is associated with Dalit movement to bring about socio – economic
change, through a democratic social movement.

4. BACKWARD CASTE/CLASS MOVEMENTS

It is difficult to give any precise acceptable definition of caste. The task becomes all the more difficult when
we try to define ‘backward castes’. Most of the scholars consider all the castes other than the dwija (the
twice-born who have the right to wear the sacred thread) backward castes. But there are several castes in
different parts of the country which are not dwija (though many of them aspire to achieve dwija status), and
yet they do not consider themselves backward castes. They enjoy control over economic resources and
political power. They struggle for power among themselves or against the Brahmins, and hence they cannot
be considered deprived groups. The Brahmins and the Kayasthas of Bihar, the Jats of Rajasthan, and the
Patidars of Gujarat, organised and mobilised themselves for asserting their political power. Their
mobilisation was aimed at consolidating their social status (Bose 1985). They can also be considered upper
castes/classes. The rest of the castes are considered ‘backward castes’.

But all the backward castes do not enjoy a uniform socio-economic status. In his study on the backward
caste movements, M.S.A. Rao divides non-upper castes/classes into three categories. The uppermost
category of the backward castes consists mostly of landowners. There are several such castes in different
parts of the country, such as the Jats, the Ahirs, the Gujjars in Punjab, the Marathas in Maharashtra, the
Vellalas in Madras, the Kammas, the Kapus and the Reddis in Andhra Pradesh, the Vokkaligas and the
Bants in Karnataka. Ranking below them are tenant cultivators, artisans and other service castes. They
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include the Ahirs and the Kahars in Bihar, the Kolis in Gujarat and the Vaddars in south India. 5 They are
considered caste-Hindus, above the pollution line. They have not enjoyed political power in the recent past.
Most of them are smalt or marginal farmers, tenants, or agricultural labourers. They were under the
economic and political control of the landowning castes. The latter often extorted forced labour from the
former as domestic servants and palanquin-hearers, and expected several customary payments (free gifts)
on various festivals’. At the bottom are the untouchable castes who are designated Scheduled Castes under
the constitution of India. The socio-economic conditions of most of the Scheduled Castes and other
backward castes are qualitatively different, though some of the non-upper-caste movements, known as anti-
Brahmin movements, included untouchables. Most of the studies on the untouchables’ movements do not
include the movements of the other backward castes. However, M.S.A. Rao includes the untouchables in
other ‘backward castes’. Christophe Jaffrelot (2003) also clubs dalits and ‘other backward castes’ together
as low castes. For the purpose of this essay, we exclude the Scheduled Castes from the backward caste and
treat them separately. The Kaka Kalelkar Commission, appointed by the Government of India, identified
more than 3,000 castes or communities as ‘other backward castes1 (OBCs) in 1956. The Mandal
Commission (1980) calculated that 52 per cent of the population—including non-Hindus—constitute
‘Other Backward Castes’. Besides, a number of state governments appointed commissions for identifying
those castes which can be called socially and educationally backward castes/classes. Almost all the
commissions except the Rane Commission in Gujarat (1983) used social, educational and economic criteria
for identifying ‘backwardness’. We are concerned here with the movements of some of these castes. There
are a number of studies on movements launched by different castes for improving their caste status. Many
of them aimed at social reform and did not enter the political arena to struggle for power. In this essay we
do not deal with the studies which are primarily concerned with social mobility. However, the studies on
political movements of the OBCs are very few. Most of these studies are confined to non-Brahmin
movements in south India. M.S.A. Rao classifies backward-caste movements in India into four types on the
basis of structural cleavages and manifest conflicts. The first type is that of the movements led by upper
non-Brahmin castes such as the Vellalas, the Reddis and the Kammas of old Madras Presidency, the
Vokkaligas and the Lingayats of Mysore, and the Marathas of Maha-rashtra. Ramaswamy Naikar of Tamil
Nadu launched the ‘SelfRespect1 movement in Madras in the late 1920s to perform marriage ceremonies
without Brahmin priests. The non-Brahmin movements in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu raised cultural
issues. The leaders of non-Brahmin movements attacked caste and condemned it as a tool of Brahmin
oppression. These are known as non-Brahmin movements against the Brahmins. Such movements are not
found in north India because ‘the Brahmins were generally backward with regard to modern education and
government employment. The second type of backward class movements hinge on the cleavages within the

5
M.S.A. Rao, Social Movements and Social Transformation: A Study of Two Backward Classes Movements, vol. 1, (1978
Delhi, Macmillan).
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non-Brahmin castes, mainly led by intermediate and low castes such as the Ahirs and the Kurmis in Bihar,
the Noniyas in Punjab, the Kolis in Gujarat, and the Malis in Maharashtra. The movements by the depressed
classes or untouchables against upper and other backward castes are the third type of backward caste
movements. The fourth type is that of the tribal movements. We have treated the third and the fourth types
of movements separately. Gail Omvedt argues that the non-Brahmin movement in Maharashtra included
both an elite-based conservative trend and a more genuine mass-based radicalism. It attained conservative
goals, but radical goals have not been attained. ‘The Maharashtrian Brahmin intelligentsia, though still
dominant in educational and cultural institutions, has been swept from political power by a rich peasant
non-Brahmin elite, with strong roots in the villages and with an institutional basis in rural cooperatives and
educational societies’6. The Rudolphs consider the backward classes (castes) of the northern, western and
upper-southern states ‘bullock capitalists’. In the last two decades, they argue, The mobilisation of bullock
capitalists as an economic class has been reinforced by the simultaneous mobilisation as a status order of
the ‘other backward classes’, a euphemism for castes who by their own and the state’s reckoning are socially
‘depressed’ or ‘backward’. This layering of status and class interest enhances the political significance of
both7.

4.1. ISSUES
With the change in the agrarian structure, the advent of the market economy, the growth of urban centres
and the spread of liberal education under British rule, a few of the backward castes improved their economic
condition. By the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of this century, they aspired to rise in
the caste hierarchy. As a first step they followed the path of Sanskritisation, adopting the rituals and the life
style of the upper castes. They invented legends about their ancestors and demanded higher social status.
The Marathas, the Mails, the Sagar Dhangars of Maharashtra, the Kurmis and the Yadavas of Bihar, the
Kolis of Gujarat, the Kaibarttas of West Bengal, the Lingayats of Karnataka, and the Telis of Orissa
followed the path of Sanskritisation in the first quarter of the twentieth century. However, the upper-caste
non-Brahmins of Tamil Nadu did not follow this path for attaining higher status in the caste structure. They
challenged the higher status of the Brahmins. In the case of the former, the upper castes were the reference
group for the backward castes, whereas in the latter case, the non-Brahmins preferred to consider
themselves Dravidians, i.e., natives of the area, and considered Brahmins alien intruder^. There was a
widespread belief at the turn of the century that the Brahmins were racially different from the non-
Brahmins. The non-Brahmins believed that they were the creators of ‘southern Tamil’ culture, whereas the
Brahmins were the guardians of the ‘northern Sanskrit’ culture. The Ahirs (Yadavas) and the Kurmis of
Bihar opposed the begar (forced labour) system in the 1910s. They collectively refused to perform begar

6
Supra note 1.
7
Rudolph, Lyod I, and Rudolph, Sussane, The Political Role of India’s Caste Associations, (1960, Pacific Affairs) at 33.

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for landlords and also opposed taxes imposed by the landlords. The Ahirs refused to sell cow-dung cakes,
curds and milk to landowning upper castes at concessional rates. This refusal to follow customary laws
resulted in clashes between the upper and the backward castes. The upper ‘backward’ or non-Brahmin
castes of south India, particularly the Vellalas, the Reddis, the Kammas, the Lingayats, the Vokkaligas, the
Marathas, resented the dominance of the Brahmins. They raised the issue of exploitation and oppression,
both economic and cultural, by the Brahmins. The non-Brahmins of Tamil Nadu demanded a separate state
for the Dravidians. They opposed the nationalist movement dominated by the Brahmins in the 1920s and
declared their allegiance to the British government. They declared: ‘It is a misrepresentation to say that
Brahmins belong to the same Indian nation as the non-Brahmins while the English are aliens... Indian
Brahmins are more alien to us than Englishmen’8. During the first quarter of this century, they demanded
political representation in the State Legislative Assembly. Some of the backward or non-Brahmin castes in
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu demanded separate electorates, so that they could elect their own
representatives. The demands for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions continued in
the 1980s. One of the reasons for the non-Brahmin movements in south India was that the Brahmins took
more advantage of modern educational and employment opportunities than the upper non-Brahmin castes,
secured government jobs, and thus tried to maintain Brahmin preponderance in government service. The
Yadavas of Bihar demanded reservations for themselves in the army and other government services. The
demands for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the backward castes began to
be raised repeatedly in the post-independence period. The main form of political mobilisation is the
electoral process. Because of their numerical strength they have successfully increased their position in the
state assemblies. Christophe Jaffrelot calls their rise ‘India’s silent revolution’ (2003). The backward castes
rarely resorted to large-scale direct action for asserting their demands. Many of them undertook social
reform which generally did not involve confrontation with the higher castes, though in a few cases social
reform did lead to clashes with the higher castes. They asserted their demands for higher social status by
submitting memoranda and petitions to the census commissioners. The non-Brahmins of south India formed
a political party to capture political power. Many others took part in election campaigns on a massive scale
in order to get candidates of their castes elected. In this sense, their mobilisation has rarely led to struggles.
During the last two decades (1980s onwards) different individual castes submit petitions and organise
meetings demanding some welfare programmes for their caste members. But studies on such mobilisations
are not available.

8
Irschick, E.F. 1969, Politics and Social Conflict In South India: The Non-Brahmin Movement And Tamil Separation, 1916-
29, Berkeley University Of California Press.
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4.2. PARTICIPANTS AND LEADERS
As mentioned earlier, the number of backward castes is very large, but only a few of them have launched
movements for political power. Numerical strength is an important factor for a caste which attempts to
organise itself politically. Backward castes which are relatively small and scattered in different parts of the
country have less potential for launching political struggles. Those who organised movements secured the
support of various sub-castes. The Yadava and Kurmi people of Bihar are two examples. The non-Brahmin
movement in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu initially encompassed various castes including the
untouchables, but in course of time the untouchables were excluded from the movement. The leadership
for the Yadava movement in Bihar and the non-Brahmin movements in Maharashtra came from the well-
off stratum of the castes concerned. Businessmen and large farmers supported the Yadava movement. Gail
Omvedt, in her study on the non-Brahmin movement in Maharashtra, observed that initially the movement
received the backing of well-to-do non-Brahmins, primarily contractors and a few professionals, and moved
fairly quickly to establish a peasant base. The studies on the non-Brahmin movements in Tamil Nadu do
not adequately examine the participants and their leaders. Jotirao Phule was the ideologue of the non-
Brahmin movement in Maharashtra. By now, quite a few interesting studies are available on Phule’s
ideology and his life. Phule rejected the Hindu scriptures and the caste system. The Hindu religion, as
interpreted by the Brahmins, was both the ideological means of suppression and the cause of poverty of the
low castes9. The peasants and untouchables together constitute the oppressed classes. Under British rule,
‘Brahmins used their secular powers to protect the orthodox religious values with which they identified, or
to aggrandise their own personal positions in some more material way’ (O’Hanlon 1985: 11). Gail Omvedt
(1976) observes that Phule’s theory of exploitation was focused on cultural and ethnic factors rather than
on economic or political ones. According to Phule’s ideas, education and organisation were the means to
create unity and a sense of identity among the non-Brahmin castes by returning to pre-Brahmin religious
traditions. Through this the Brahminical ideological chains could be broken and a caste-free and just society
be created. Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 which initiated the non-Brahmin movement in
Maharashtra. Shahu Chhatrapati, the Maharaja of Kolhapur, was an important leader of the non-Brahmin
movement in Maharashtra. Ramaswami Naikar founded the Dravidian movement to fight Aryan
‘domination’ which to him was synonymous with Brahmin domination and Brahminism. He remained the
central figure of the Dravidian movement from the 1920s till his death in 1973. Various backward castes
organised caste associations for social reforms and the struggle for political power. The Yadavas formed
not only district-level but also state- and all-India-level caste associations (Rao 1979). It was the same with
the Marathas and the Malis of Maharashtra, and the Kolis of Gujarat. These associations were loose and ad
hoc. They organised conferences, passed resolutions and occasionally submitted memoranda. The

9
Gail Omvedt, Economic Political Weekly ‘Jyotirao Phule and Ideology of Social Revolution In India’, at 6, sept. 11, 1971.
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backward castes of south India formed political parties—first the Justice Party, and later the Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam. The backward castes of Bihar also planned to organise their own party, but failed to
put it into practice10. The nature of the backward-caste movements appears to be, from available literature,
different than that of the dalits and the tribals. There is also a qualitative difference in the backward-caste
movements in north India and south India. The movements in north India are within the caste framework
and confined to Sanskritisation. This has not been the case in Maharashtra under the leadership of Phule
and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam movement in Tamil Nadu. They revolted against the caste system.
But in course of time, their opposition against the caste system fizzled out. The reasons for such diversion
need examination. The backward caste movements in post-independence India are mainly confined to
electoral politics. They function as pressure groups to seek reservations in jobs and educational facilities.

5. CONCLUSION

The Brahminism is a mental state which accepts superiority of one man over another man. It gives more
respect and profit for the caste which is up in the ladder of caste system, and as it goes down the ladder,
resources and respect also decreases. It‘s contribution for the Dalits which is lowest of all the castes is
nothing but exploitation, jeering and slavery. This mental state of Brahminism not only exists in Brahmins
but also in Shudras, who simply shape the ideas of Brahmanical practices without testing them with
scientific temperament and reasoning. India got independence but the Dalits are humiliated even now.
Untouchability is abolished but injustice practices are not. Today to wear good clothes is not forbidden, but
to get good job is. In the name of reforms and social uplift, today's political and social systems are pitting
one group against the other, sowing hatred and perpetuating a sense of rejection from the past. Education
is the only remedy for such discrimination. Thus the Movement for social change will succeed only when
all the Dalits unite together to fight for equality. However they should accept that caste that is deeply rooted
in peoples mind cannot be erased. So here social change would mean to get rid of discriminatory practices
and get rights, necessary for the upliftment of the backward section of society-the Dalits.

Justice of the commons is not the edifice on which the anti-caste movement stands today. Unless justice
becomes its central focus, persistence of caste is inevitable. What is needed is the go back to the origin of
anti-caste movement, which clearly addressed the different formats of injustice. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
had strongly voiced against this. He said, “If consciousness and reason can be insinuated into the resulting
struggles they can only qualify, never abolish the injustice. If injustice is to be abolished it must be

10
N. Arvind Das, Agrarian Unrest and Socio-economic Change in Bihar, 1900-1980, ( 1983, Manohar, New Delhi).
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resisted and when injustice proceeds from collective power, whether in the form of imperialism or class
domination, it must be challenged by power. A class entrenched behind its established power can never be
dislodged unless power israised against it. That is the only way of stopping exploitation of the weak by
strong”. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar categorically narrates what he means by Justice. There are two aspects
he had often referred to; one is justice for all and the other is justice to the untouchables. He remarked,
“Justice has always evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of compensation.
Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in
value. If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of
the same fundamental rights and equal liberty... In short justice is another name of liberty, equality
and fraternity”.

”Justice is a concept of moral righteousness based on ethics, rationality, relationship with nature, balance
of culture, equity, fairness and natural law along with law, administration based on law, taking into account
the inalienable and inborn rights of all human beings and citizens, the right of all people and individuals
to equal protection before the law of their civil right, without anydiscrimination on the basis of race, class,
caste, origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, colour, religion, disability,
age or other characteristics, and is further regarded as being inclusive of social justice. The vantage point
of the anti-caste movement has to be justice; otherwise any process could have a natural death

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

 M.S.A. Rao, Social Movements and Social Transformation: A Study of Two Backward Classes Movements,
vol. 1, (1978 Delhi, Macmillan).

 B R Mani, Debrahmanising History (Manohar Publishers: New Delhi,2005)

 G. Omvedt, Dalit Visions: The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction of an Indian Identity (New Delhi: Orient
Blackswan,2006)
 Ghanshyam Shah, Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature, (SAGE Publications India, 2004).

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:

 Gail Omvedt, Economic Political Weekly ‘Jyotirao Phule and Ideology of Social Revolution In India’, at 6, sept. 11,
1971.

WEBSITES:

 https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Vs6GAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=GURU+2001A&source
=bl&ots=aZ4UMw8_y9&sig=ACfU3U17KLmCFAQdlPZvk453ufmeuA8DGw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq4
ubMg8bkAhVMb30KHUrfCOAQ6AEwAXoECAgQAQ
 https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/102442/purvim_1.pdf?sequence=1
 http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/lesy208.pdf
 http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/movement-shah.pdf
 https://www.academia.edu/3808801/Challenges_before_the_anti_caste_movement_in_India

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