UPSC Mains 2015 GS Paper 1 Q13: model answer

Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste (1936) called for the end of caste. Contemporary Dalit movements pursue dignity, rights and power in many forms.

Forms of assertion

• Political mobilisation (the Bahujan Samaj Party), Dalit literature and the Dalit Panthers (1972), Ambedkarite Buddhism, Dalit entrepreneurship (the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and social media activism.

How they work towards annihilation

• They challenge the ideology of purity and pollution, demand equal rights and expose atrocities.
• Education, reservation and economic mobility weaken caste hierarchies.
• They build pride and dignity in place of stigma.

How they may reinforce caste

• Mobilisation on caste lines keeps caste identity central in politics.
• Sub-caste divisions within Dalit groups.
• Backlash from dominant castes.

Verdict

• Dalit assertion is a necessary step: it destroys caste hierarchy even if caste identity persists for now.

Examples

• Una (2016): Dalits refused to dispose of cattle carcasses after a flogging incident, a powerful assertion of dignity.
• Bhima Koregaon commemorations and the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations show symbolic assertion.
• Dalit literature (Namdeo Dhasal, Om Prakash Valmiki's 'Joothan') recorded humiliation in public memory.
• Reservation has created a Dalit middle class that funds and leads these movements, from Pune to Lucknow.

These movements may not yet annihilate caste, but they are dismantling its hierarchy, which is the precondition for its end.