The 'Invisible' Dalits

The debate over sub-categorisation of castes is likely to shape the political discourse in the upcoming state elections

- Abhik Bhattacharya

VEERAN, a boy from the Arunthathiyar community Vi in Tamil Nadu-considered the lowest rung among Dalits never knew what his 'offence' was. He fell in love with a Paraiyar girl-a dominant caste among Dalits named Parimala-and eloped. Her family never accepted the marriage. The consequences were gruesome. The entire Paraiyar village attacked Veeran's family, allegedly violated their women and hurled abuses like: "keeljathi Sakkili payan" (lower-caste Sakkili boy), "Keeljathi naaye" (lowercaste dog) and "Sakiliveetu pengala karpa-lika vendum" (we should rape women living in Sakkili households).

Arunthathiyars are also called Sakkili. This incident from 2003, which was barely reported in the mainstream media, was neither an isolated incident nor the last one that showcases the impossibility of inter-caste marriages among Dalits. It also highlighted social cleavages that make dominant Dalit castes perpetuate similar violence that they have been fighting against. The internal caste divisions among Dalits came up again in the political discourse recently when a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court overturned the E.V. Chinnaiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh (2005) ruling that considered all the Scheduled Caste groups under Article 341 as homogenous. The CJI-led bench permitted the states to subcategorise SCs and STs (following empirical data and other relevant yardsticks), paving the way for sub-classification in reservations. Citing varied levels of discrimination faced by different groups within the SC communities, the bench said: "There is heterogeneity in terms of past occupation... social status and other indicators may be different for different castes inside the Scheduled Castes. So, the degree of social and economic backwardness may vary from one person or caste to another."