Caste, in essence, is an individualistic attitude that constantly seeks to assert superiority.
Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh !
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
-Abel Meeropol
An infamous incident where a mother and her three children were raped and lynched, made a small place – Khiarlanji in Maharashtra known to the world, for all the wrong reasons..
The family, Bhotmange, was a dalit family living in a Hindu majority… Bhotmanges were independent, devoid of electricity and a pukka home, still surviving despite obstacles… The Bhotmanges were most educated and progressive among the entire village.
The book written by Anand Teltumbde starts with the factual description of the Khairlanji incident which happened on September 29, 2006 and continues to help us understand the social, political and judiciary roles in cornering the dalits to maintain the Hindu supremacy.
Among many things, insight to the various myths like capitalism could have eradicated casteism in India like it did in Europe; having more presence in the state machinery would help dalits in getting their basic rights; were the best take aways for me.
Books like these have to be read, to be aware and to sensitize..
Incidents like Khairlanji which led to country wide Dalit protests for months ; and the recent one where four Dalits were beaten by the Gau-rakshaks and in response, they pledged to stop picking up cow carcasses.. have to be talked about, spread across ,carried on till strict action is taken against the guilty.
We cannot allow Khairlanji to remain an unfortunate incident, an aberration, a forgotten case in some obscure court. The world needs to know the strange fruit that the tree of caste has borne…
Disha 