Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards…

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Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Contemporary Dalit assertion weakens caste as a ritual hierarchy through dignity, political power and rights, but often hardens it as a political identity and splits Dalits into jatis. The IHDS (2011-12) found about 27% of households admitting untouchability and only about 5% of marriages inter-caste.

**Introduction**

Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste (1936) held that caste would die only when its religious sanction broke and inter-caste marriage became normal. Contemporary Dalit assertion, from Una (2016) to the 2018 Bharat Bandh, both advances and complicates that goal.

**How Dalit Assertion Works Towards Annihilation**

SKETCH: spectrum | Does Assertion End Caste?
left: Hardens caste
right: Annihilates caste
- Jati vote banks
- Sub-quota rivalry
- Rights litigation
- Dalit enterprise
- Dignity movements
- Inter-caste marriage

1. **Dignity over stigma**: Lakhs gather at Bhima Koregaon every 1 January, and Dalit writing such as Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan (1997) turns an imposed label into chosen pride.
2. **Power over patronage**: Kanshi Ram's BSP turned numbers into office, and Mayawati's 2007 majority inverted the ritual order.
3. **Rights over charity**: The 2018 Bharat Bandh forced Parliament to restore the Atrocities Act after the Subhash Kashinath Mahajan dilution, giving Article 17 real teeth.
4. **Ownership over hereditary work**: The Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2005) and the Una call for land push Dalits from stigmatised occupations into ownership.

**Where Assertion Can Harden Caste**

1. **Identity entrenchment**: Anand Teltumbde's Republic of Caste (2018) warns that identity politics keeps caste alive as a vote bank, and Dipankar Gupta shows castes now compete as separate identities.
2. **Internal fragmentation**: Madiga-Mala rivalry and the Davinder Singh verdict (2024) on sub-classification split Dalit unity into jatis.
3. **Backlash over erosion**: The 2016 Maratha morchas sought changes to the Atrocities Act, and IHDS (2011-12) found about 27% of households admitting untouchability and only about 5% of marriages inter-caste.

**Conclusion**

Dalit assertion weakens caste as a hierarchy but not as a boundary, often reproducing it as a political identity. It becomes annihilation only when it widens into Ambedkar's inter-caste fraternity, the fraternity the Preamble promises.

Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.

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