In a historic and landmark proclamation, British Columbia’s NDP government under Premier John Horgan has officially declared April as Dalit History Month.
This proclamation was decreed in the name of Queen Elizabeth II, and is signed by the provincial Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor. It recognizes “the strength and resiliency of the Dalit community in overcoming hardships and advocating for social justice and equality for all”.
This is another step taken by the NDP government to fulfill their promise of tackling racism in a nuanced manner that benefits the multicultural mosaic of the province. The government took the opportunity to address their motive directly by stating, “Indigenous people, Black people and people of colour in British Columbia continue to experience systemic racism, injustices, discrimination and hate and the government of British Columbia is committed to address all forms of racism.”
Dalit History Month is observed globally in an effort to recognize the turbulent history of Dalits and other Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India. These minority groups are heavily marginalized and face many forms of discrimination and violence.
The proclamation is a response to an application moved by an online, alt-political magazine called Radical Desi who wanted the BC government to recognize Dalit history and join others who have done so around the world.
“Dalit” means “oppressed”, “broken”, or “crushed” but this term has been reclaimed by the minority who were previously referred to as “untouchables”. It is a term that has come to symbolize a calling for change and a movement to dismantle the Hindu caste system which has osterized and oppressed people for centuries.
The Hindu caste system assigns the fate of a person at birth based on which social group they are born into. This fate determines their socioeconomic status and job for generations to come.
There are four primary castes in descending order: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and royals), Vaishya (farmers, merchants) and Shudra (servants). The “untouchables” are those who do not fit into any of these categories and must perform “unclean” and “impure” tasks such as preparing bodies for funerals, tanning hides, and killing rats or other pests. This group’s association with such tasks deemed them unfit to even touch other castes and therefore making them “untouchable”. People are simply born into this caste and have no say in the matter and cannot change their status. Followers of the Hindu caste system believe that being born an “untouchable” is punishment for sins in a previous life, and therefore justified.
Before globalization, when the caste system was the only system in place in India,“untouchables” couldn’t seek education, enter a temple, or utilize any public resources. They were ostracized to live outside villages and away from everyone else. So much so that “If a Brahmin or Kshatriya approached, an Untouchable was expected to throw himself or herself face down on the ground to prevent even their unclean shadows from touching the higher caste.”
The Indian Constitution abolished “untouchability” in the eyes of the law, after independence in 1947, which was considerably not that long ago. The Indian government has affirmative action based special programs and subsidies in place for Scheduled Classes such as Dalits in order to level the playing field. Even so, Dalits have to face heavy scrutiny and work tirelessly in order to break out from the shackles of oppression and archaic thinking. Society has not caught up to the law, and there is a heavy lack of implementation which makes progress difficult still.
Furthermore, Dalit women get an even shorter end of the stick (if that’s even possible) because they are marganilized not only for their caste, but also their gender. Countless allegations made by Dalit women regarding rape and mistreatment often get lost in bureaucracy.
This unfair treatment is apparent and heavily documented here:
This is why such proclamations and recognition are important in order to bring awareness to social issues that plague our world.
April is a significant month for Dalits around the world because it marks the birth and death anniversaries of various important Dalit leaders. The BC government pays respect to influential and brave social reformers and leaders such as BR Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule, Manhu Ram Mugowalia, and Sant Ram Udasi by marking April as Dalit History Month.
British Columbia even celebrated the 130th birthday of BR Ambedkar on April 14th last year by declaring it “Equality Day”. BR Ambedkar is arguably the most influential Dalit leader. He played a huge role in creating the Indian constitution, and basing it in equality for all. He stood up for women’s right, fought against caste-based discrimination and challenged Hindu supremacy all his life.
Oftentimes, the “West” is seen as the forefront of progress and equality. Many immigrants, including Dalits, come to Canada because of these reasons so it is nice to see British Columbia upholding that standard. There is a lot more work to be done but small victories are still worth celebrating.
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