Are you fit for political power even though you do not allow a large class of your own countrymen like the untouchables to use public school? … the use of public wells? … the use of public streets? … to eat any food they like? 

These questions, raised by Dr Ambedkar roughly a century ago, still hold true. The prevalence of caste-based violence and rising Dalit assertion has led to a revival of the movement spearheaded by luminaries such as Phule, Ambedkar and others. To comprehend this rising revolution, it is important to trace writings of the public intellectuals and social scientists through history. The Past of the Outcaste brings together historical narratives of the ‘outcastes’, which together throw light on the economic, civil, cultural and political exclusion and discrimination that is caste-based.

This collection includes statements on untouchability by leaders of the freedom movement—for example, Gokhale, Lajpat Rai, Ambedkar and Gandhi; essays on the history of the outcastes in the pre-colonial period; on the beginnings of Dalit consciousness and organised resistance to caste oppression; on the relationship between the nationalist movement and Dalits; and finally, essays locating the Dalits in the post-independence polity in India. This carefully edited compendium will be of use to students and scholars of history, sociology and political science in general and those in the area of ‘exclusion studies’ in particular.

Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, former Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Chairman, Indian Council for Historical Research.

Yagati Chinna Rao is Professor and Chairperson, Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion, School of Social Sciences, JNU.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements

Introduction by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Yagati Chinna Rao

 Part 1 | APPROACHES TO THE ISSUE

1. ‘Turn the Search-light Inwards’ by G. K. Gokhale
2. ‘Humanity, Justice and Self-interest’ by Lala Lajpat Rai
3. ‘Nation-building and Social Equality’ by G. A. Natesan
4. ‘Address to Depressed Classes’ Conference’ by R. G. Bhandarkar
5. ‘Right and Might’ by B. R. Ambedkar
6. Statement on Untouchability by M. K. Gandhi
7. The Sociology of the Poor and the Pariah: The Pariah’s Contributions to Brahmari Flesh and Blood by Benoy K. Sarkar
8. Six Crore Untouchables: Their Place in Freedom’s Battle by B. T. Ranadive

 Part 2 | HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

1. Studies in Early Indian Social History: Trends and Possibilities by Suvira Jaiswal
2. Stages in the History of Untouchables by Vivekanand Jha
3. Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad by K. R. Hanumanthan

Part 3 | CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN COLONIAL SOCIETY

1. Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras in the 17th and 18th Centuries by Vikram Harijan
2. Outcaste Pasts: Rethinking the Boundaries by Priyadarshini Vijaisri
3. The History of Dalits in Pune by Eleanor Zelliot
4. Making Claims for Power: A New Agenda in Dalit Politics of Uttar Pradesh, 1946–48 by Ramnarayan S. Rawat

Part 4 | DALIT CASTE MOVEMENTS

1. The Dalit Liberation Movement in Colonial Period by Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt
2. Protest and Accommodation: Two Caste Movements in Eastern and Northern Bengal, c. 1872–1937 by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay
3. Rise and Growth of Dalit Consciousness in South India: A Case of Andhra and Hyderabad by Yagati Chinna Rao
4. Dalit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917–47 by Adapa Satyanarayana
5. Dalits and Cultural Identity: Ambedkar’s Prevarications on the Question of Culture by Valerian Rodrigues

Part 5 | DALITS AND THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT

1. Depressed Classes’ Uplift in the Gandhian Era: A Critique of Three Approaches by Atul Chandra Pradhan
2. Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building by Bhagwan Das
3. Autonomy and Organisation: Harijan and Adivasi Protest Movements by Stephen Henningham
4. Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s by Raj Sekhar Basu
5. Understanding Ambedkar’s Construction of the National Movement by Gopal Guru

Part 6 | LOCATING DALITS IN POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIAN POLITY

1. Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu: A Study of the 1995 Conflict by K. A. Manikumar
2. Social Exclusion of Dalit Women by Shura Darapuri
3. What if the Untouchables Don’t Believe in Untouchability? by Mark Juergensmeyer

Notes on Contributors
Index