In South Asia's caste system, an untouchable, dalit, or achuta is a person outside of the four castes, and considered below them. Untouchables include such people as leather-workers. There are various subcastes or jati within untouchable, the lowest ranking generally considered to be the Bhangis. At the 1991 census, Dalits constituted more than 16% of India's population, [1] (http://www.censusindia.net/scst.html) with the greatest numbers living in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. Nepal and in Pakistan (http://www.pakdalits.tk), more than 60% of total Hindus is Dalit population.
Harijan was the polite form for untouchable coined by Mahatma Gandhi which means "Children of God" (Hari is another name for Vishnu, a Hindu God). Untouchables generally consider this term to be condescending and prefer the name dalit, variously translated as "crushed", "stepped on" or "oppressed". The term scheduled castes/scheduled tribes (SC/ST) is also used in the Indian legal system to refer to this group along with other non-caste tribes.
Mari Marcel Thekaekara. 1999. Endless Filth: The Saga of the Bhangis. London: Zed Books. ISBN 184277266X.
Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 817036809X (India HB) ISBN 0761993444 (U.S. HB).
External links
Untouchable @ National Geographic Magazine (http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/feature1/index.html)
Dalit (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/India/Society_and_Culture/Communities/Dalit/) - links at Open Directory Project
Hiding the pathetic condition of Dalits in West Bengal and particularly that of the scavengers is the bigger shame for India
As Dalits organize themselves and begin to challenge caste based rule in India, it behooves all people of good conscience to start to find out what the Dalits and their leadership are fighting for.
An important Dalit leader L Elayaperumal died at the age of 82 on September 9 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu.
Dalit Theology therefore, has to give expression to this experience of dalitness of the people and respond positively to their need, which is their main concern--how to earn their daily bread, how to overcome their life situations of oppression, poverty, suffering, injustice, illiteracy, and denial of identity; in short a question of survival.
Dalit theology is a systematization of the critical reflection on ortho-praxis which the oppressed generate dialogically in the light of their faith.
Dalit (the term in the Indian context denotes those oppressed on the basis of caste) theology is a theology done by and for the dalits in India.
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