Editing Dalit (section)

== Terminology ==
The term ''Dalit'' is for those called the "untouchables" and others that were outside of the traditional [[Hindu caste]] hierarchy.<ref name="kaminsky">{{cite book |first11=Arnold P. |last1=Kaminsky |first2=Roger D. |last2=Long |title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVxlfDHGTFYC&pg=PA156 |year=2011 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-0-313-37463-0 |page=156 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Kanmony">{{cite book |first1=Jebagnanam Cyril |last1=Kanmony |title=Dalits and Tribes of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UfUYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |year=2010 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-348-3 |page=198 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Economist and reformer [[B. R. Ambedkar]] (1891–1956) said that untouchability came into Indian society around 400 CE, due to the struggle for supremacy between [[Buddhism]] and [[Historical Vedic religion|Brahmanism]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/article-in-rss-mouthpiece-misquotes-ambedkar-on-untouchability/article1-1338054.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416235122/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/article-in-rss-mouthpiece-misquotes-ambedkar-on-untouchability/article1-1338054.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2015 |title=Top RSS leader misquotes Ambedkar on untouchability |work=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> Some Hindu priests befriended untouchables and were demoted to low-caste ranks. [[Eknath]], who was an excommunicated Brahmin, fought for the rights of untouchables during the [[Bhakti movement|Bhakti period]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eknath {{!}} Marathi Poet, Bhakti Movement & Maharashtra |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eknath |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In the late 1880s, the [[Marathi language|Marathi]] word 'Dalit' was used by [[Jyotirao Phule]] for the outcasts and untouchables who were oppressed and broken in the Hindu society.<ref name=Robinson2003>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Rowena |year=2003 |title=Christians of India |pages=193–96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyU4nepW2xQC&pg=PA193 |isbn=0761998225 |publisher=Sage Publications|location=New Delhi |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> ''Dalit'' is a vernacular form of the [[Sanskrit]] दलित (''dalita''). In Classical Sanskrit, this means "divided, split, broken, scattered". This word was repurposed in 19th-century Sanskrit to mean "(a person) not belonging to one of the four [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]]s".<ref>"Dalit, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2016. Web. 23 August 2016.</ref> It was perhaps first used in this sense by [[Pune]]-based social reformer [[Jyotirao Phule]], in the context of the oppression faced by the erstwhile "untouchable" castes from other [[Hindu]]s.<ref name="mendelsohnvicziany">{{cite book|first1=Oliver |last1=Mendelsohn|first2=Marika |last2=Vicziany|author-link2=Marika Vicziany|title=The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=FGbp9MjhvKAC |page=4}} |page=4|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-55671-2}}</ref> The term ''Dalits'' was in use as a translation for the Indian census classification of ''Depressed Classes'' prior to 1935. It was popularised by Ambedkar, himself a Dalit,<ref name="katuwal">{{cite book |editor1-first=Panchanan |editor1-last=Mohanty |editor2-first=Ramesh C. |editor2-last=Malik |editor3-first=Eswarappa |editor3-last=Kasi |title=Ethnographic Discourse of the Other: Conceptual and Methodological Issues |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UfUYBwAAQBAJ |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-0856-9 |chapter=The Issues and Concerns of Dalit Labourers in Nepal |first=Shyam Bahadur |last=Katuwal |page=114 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> who included all depressed people irrespective of their caste into the definition of Dalits.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Independent labour party: 19th July (1937) in Dalit History – Dr. Ambedkar took oath as the member of Bombay Legislative Council |url=https://drambedkarbooks.com/tag/independent-labour-party/ |website=drambedkarbooks.com/ |publisher=Dr. Ambedkar Books |access-date=9 November 2018}}</ref> It covered people who were excluded from the fourfold varna system of Hinduism and thought of themselves as forming a fifth varna, describing themselves as ''Panchama''.<ref>{{cite book |first1=S. |last1=Sagar |first2=V. |last2=Bhargava |chapter=Dalit Women in India: Crafting Narratives of Success |page=22 |title=Resistance in Everyday Life: Constructing Cultural Experiences |editor1-first=Nandita |editor1-last=Chaudhary |editor2-first=Pernille |editor2-last=Hviid |editor3-first=Giuseppina |editor3-last=Marsico |editor4-first=Jakob Waag |editor4-last=Villadsen |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyEsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |publisher=Springer |year=2017 |isbn=978-9-81103-581-4 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In the 1970s its use was invigorated when it was adopted by the [[Dalit Panthers]] activist group.<ref name="kaminsky"/>

Socio-legal scholar Oliver Mendelsohn and political economist [[Marika Vicziany]] wrote in 1998 that the term had become "intensely political&nbsp;... While the use of the term might seem to express appropriate solidarity with the contemporary face of Untouchable politics, there remain major problems in adopting it as a generic term. Although the word is now quite widespread, it still has deep roots in a tradition of political radicalism inspired by the figure of B. R. Ambedkar." They went on to suggest that its use risked erroneously labelling the entire population of untouchables in India as being united by a radical politics.<ref name="mendelsohnvicziany"/> [[Anand Teltumbde]] also detects a trend towards denial of the politicised identity, for example among educated middle-class people who have converted to Buddhism and argue that, as Buddhists, they cannot be Dalits. This may be due to their improved circumstances giving rise to a desire not to be associated with what they perceive to be the demeaning Dalit masses.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dalits: Past, present and future |first=Anand |last=Teltumbde |author-link=Anand Teltumbde |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-31552-643-0 |pages=10–11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZXgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT10 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

James Lochtefeld, a professor of religion and Asian studies, said in 2002 that the "adoption and popularization of [the term ''Dalit''] reflects their growing awareness of the situation, and their greater assertiveness in demanding their legal and constitutional rights".<ref>{{cite book |first=James G. |last=Lochtefeld |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC&pg=PA168 |year=2002 |publisher=The [[Rosen Publishing Group]] |isbn= 978-0-8239-3179-8 |page=168 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

=== Other terms ===

==== Official term ====
India's [[National Commission for Scheduled Castes]] considers official use of ''dalit'' as a label to be "unconstitutional" because modern legislation prefers ''[[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|Scheduled Castes]]''; however, some sources say that ''Dalit'' has encompassed more communities than the official term of ''Scheduled Castes'' and is sometimes used to refer to all of India's oppressed peoples. A similar all-encompassing situation prevails in Nepal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-09-05 |title=Why Dalits want to hold on to Dalit, not Harijan, not SC |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/research/dalit-scheduled-caste-information-and-broadcasting-media-5341220/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-09-05 |title=What's in a name?: on the use of the term 'Dalit' |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/whats-in-a-name/article59780463.ece |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

''Scheduled Castes'' is the official term for Dalits in the opinion of India's National Commissions for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), who took legal advice that indicated modern legislation does not refer to Dalit and that therefore, it says, it is "unconstitutional" for official documents to do so. In 2004, the NCSC noted that some state governments used ''Dalits'' rather than ''Scheduled Castes'' in documentation and asked them to desist.<ref name="express2008a">{{cite news |url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Dalit-word-unconstitutional-says-SC-Commission/262903/ |title=Dalit word un-constitutional says SC|date=18 January 2008 |newspaper=[[Express India]] |access-date=27 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922060507/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Dalit-word-unconstitutional-says-SC-Commission/262903/ |archive-date=22 September 2009}}</ref>

Some sources say that ''Dalit'' encompasses a broader range of communities than the official ''Scheduled Caste'' definition. It can include nomadic tribes and another official classification that also originated with the [[British Raj]] [[positive discrimination]] efforts in 1935, being the ''Scheduled Tribes''.<ref name="zelliot">{{cite journal |last=Zelliot |first=Eleanor |author-link=Eleanor Zelliot |year=2010 |title=India's Dalits: Racism and Contemporary Change|url=http://www.worlddialogue.org/content.php?id=490 |journal=Global Dialogue |volume=12 |issue=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430015723/http://www.worlddialogue.org/content.php?id=490 |archive-date=30 April 2013}}</ref> It is also sometimes used to refer to the entirety of India's oppressed peoples,<ref name="kaminsky"/> which is the context that applies to its use in Nepalese society.<ref name="Kanmony"/> An example of the limitations of the ''Scheduled Caste'' category is that, under Indian law, such people can only be followers of Buddhism, Hinduism or Sikhism,<ref name=2011Census/> yet there are communities who claim to be [[Dalit Christian]]s and Muslims,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Kerala Christians and the Caste System |first=C. J. |last=Fuller |author-link=Chris Fuller (academic)|journal=Man |series=New series |volume=11 |issue=1 |date=March 1976 |pages=53–70 |doi=10.2307/2800388 |jstor=2800388}}</ref> and the tribal communities often practise [[Tribal religions in India|folk religions]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/india/57.htm |title=Tribal Religions |work=U.S. [[Library of Congress]] |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies |access-date=23 July 2017}}</ref>

==== Harijan ====
{{Redirect|Harijan|the weekly founded by Gandhi|Harijan (magazine)}}
The term ''Harijan'', or 'children of God', was coined by [[Narsinh Mehta]], a Gujarati poet-saint of the Bhakti tradition, to refer to all devotees of [[Krishna]] irrespective of caste, class, or sex.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ramabadran |first1=Sudharshan |last2=Paswan |first2=Guru |title=Makers of Modern Dalit History |date=2021 |publisher=Penguin Random House India |isbn=978-0143451426 |page=xv}}</ref> Mahatma Gandhi, an admirer of Mehta's work, first used the word in the context of identifying Dalits in 1933. Ambedkar disliked the name as it placed Dalits in relation to a greater Hindu nation rather than as in an independent community like Muslims. In addition, many Dalits found, and still find, the term patronizing and derogatory, with some even claiming that the term really refers to children of [[devadasi]]s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/stop-calling-dalits-harijan-sc-calls-term-abusive-we-remain-ignorant-and-insensitive-59315 |title=Stop calling Dalits 'Harijan': SC calls the term abusive, as we remain ignorant and insensitive |date=27 March 2017 |work=The News Minute |access-date=8 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Omvedt |first=Gail |author-link=Gail Omvedt |title=Ambedkar: towards an enlightened India |year=2008 |publisher=[[Penguin Random House|Penguin]] |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-0143065906}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2017}} When [[untouchability]] was outlawed after Indian independence, the use of the word ''Harijan'' to describe ex-untouchables became more common among other castes than within Dalits themselves.<ref>{{cite book |last=Perez |first=Rosa Maria |title=Kings and untouchables : a study of the caste system in western India |year=2004 |publisher=Chronicle Books |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-8-18028-014-6 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDRWAglUumEC&pg=PA15 |access-date=25 July 2017 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

==== Regional terms ====
In Southern India, Dalits are sometimes known as ''[[Adi Dravida]]'', ''[[Adi Karnataka]]'', and ''Adi Andhra'', which literally mean First Dravidians, Kannadigas, and Andhras, respectively. These terms were first used in 1917 by Southern Dalit leaders, who believed that they were the indigenous inhabitants of India.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India |first1=Oliver |last1=Mendelsohn |first2=Marika |last2=Vicziany |author-link2=Marika Vicziany |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1998|isbn=978-0-52155-671-2 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGbp9MjhvKAC&pg=PA3 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The terms are used in the states of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Karnataka]], and [[Andhra Pradesh]]/[[Telangana]], respectively, as a generic term for anyone from a Dalit caste.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}{{clarify|reason=Andhra has now bifurcated – does it apply in Telangana also?|date=July 2017}}

In [[Maharashtra]], according to historian and women's studies academic Shailaja Paik, ''Dalit'' is a term mostly used by members of the [[Mahar]] caste, into which Ambedkar was born. Most other communities prefer to use their own caste name.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mahar–Dalit–Buddhist: The history and politics of naming in Maharashtra |first=Shailaja |last=Paik |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=217–241 |date=September 2011 |doi=10.1177/006996671104500203 |s2cid=144346975}}</ref>

In Nepal, aside from ''Harijan'' and, most commonly, ''Dalit'', terms such as ''Haris'' (among Muslims), ''Achhoot'', ''outcastes'' and ''neech jati'' are used.<ref name="katuwal"/>