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The Dalits
With India's notable history of social action, Leela Kumari's struggle to emancipate the Dalit people from the crippling bonds of an ancient Caste system is a powerful example of what is happening in India today.
In the Indian caste system, a Dalit, is a person who is considered an untouchable or an outcaste. Being an outcaste defines a person's social status with regards to issues such as who they can marry and what jobs they can do. Traditionally, they were treated as pariahs in South Asian society and isolated in their own communities, to the point that even their shadows were avoided by the upper castes. Discrimination against Dalits still exists in rural areas in the private sphere, in ritual matters such as access to eating places and water sources.
Leela Kumari is the head of the Dalit Women's Federation and has made lifelong commitment to the bettermenet of the Dalits' lives. I met Leela at the World Social Forum in Kenya. It was there that she invited me to visit her in India. She took me on a whirlwind tour of sites of the historical struggle and the contemporary struggle near her home in Hyderabad .
Leela told me that the struggle for the Dalits is one of consciousness and they must overcome the internalized oppression of three thousands years as the lowest of the low. Her message is that "change begins within".
WEB LINKS
Dalit Definition on Wikipedia
Dalit Freedom Network