‘Likha hai logon ne hamara yeh itihaas, likhna hai humko bhi hamara yeh itihaas...’ (People have written our history; we too want to write our history), sang Manisha Mashaal, activist and lawyer and founder of Swabhiman Society in Haryana, at the 17th national conference of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS) at Government College for Women, Vazhuthacaud, here on Thursday.
Ms. Mashaal, a powerful Dalit voice, spoke of discovering her Dalit identity first and then of a Mahadalit. The Dalit struggle was one for dignity, self-respect, and identity, and till that was achieved, their struggle would continue, she said.
She spoke of a Dalit woman’s struggle starting right from school up to university, even facing caste discrimination in buses and autos. “We know we have to fight for our rights, but how do we fight? Where is the space for that?” she said.
“The moment one talks of caste, people become uncomfortable. They wonder how dare a Dalit woman speak like this. But it is important to make them uncomfortable. We will continue to speak out, again and again. This is our fight.”
There was talk of women’s studies and gender studies but what about Dalit studies, she asks. “Who will study about our pain and write about us?”
Teacher’s taunts
She recalled that she did not know what caste she hailed from when she was very young. “One does not know which caste or religion they are born into. It is society that imposes these restrictions on us, tells us that if we are born into the so-called lower castes, we should remain there all our lives. It was my schoolteacher who told me I was a Dalit.”
The teacher, she recounts, wanted her to sit at the back of the class. “I had to face discrimination because I would sit in the front.”
The teacher, she says, would taunt her regularly saying she would not amount to anything despite getting an education. “I knew I was one girl in the class who could achieve a lot, though I knew that with how things were at home, I could not come back and study. This is the challenge of being a Dalit woman.”
Mother’s grit
She talked of how her mother, an uneducated single woman, took her from their village to the city to admit her to school. “I was very clear I would not drop out of school or end my life owing to pressure from the system or as a result of social discrimination. If I had dropped out or committed suicide, I would not be standing here addressing this audience.”
She called for accepting the challenges posed by society. “Till then, one cannot think of change. There is need to understand the problems of all sections, gender, and relation in society. Unless we learn to respect one another, how can we expect to earn respect. Social change is not possible unless every one of us decides they need to change.”
“Going by my experience, I do not know if will be alive tomorrow. But I want to die not like an exploited person but as a leader. We should fight this battle as many other women are not alive to do so.”
