What has made angry dalit protests increas ingly common in India? Have atrocities, like the one in Gujarat's Una, increased? Or are dalits no longer willing to meekly tolerate such atrocities as in the past? The answer lies somewhere in between. Resurgence of violent cow vigilantism and the uptick in anti-dalit rhetoric is the immediate trigger, coming as it did on top of relentless caste oppression in the form of untouchability, social and economic discrimination and violence.
But something deeper and more permanent is on, a coming together of sorts that is seeing dalits in various situations and different places - from research scholars to carcass-flayers, from activists to farm labour -vent anger in solidarity, and in extreme reactions: committing (or attempting) suicide and dumping cattle carcasses at government offices. After the una incident , where in a likely first, the culprits themselves uploaded the video of their crime, about 30 other dalits attempted to commit suicide.Add to the outrage that followed, the `connect' social media offers, whereby a Rohith Vemula suicide and the Una thrashing invite collective pan India anger, particularly among dalits.
But something deeper and more permanent is on, a coming together of sorts that is seeing dalits in various situations and different places - from research scholars to carcass-flayers, from activists to farm labour -vent anger in solidarity, and in extreme reactions: committing (or attempting) suicide and dumping cattle carcasses at government offices. After the una incident , where in a likely first, the culprits themselves uploaded the video of their crime, about 30 other dalits attempted to commit suicide.Add to the outrage that followed, the `connect' social media offers, whereby a Rohith Vemula suicide and the Una thrashing invite collective pan India anger, particularly among dalits.
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