Almost eighty years after Independence, Dalits in India remain shackled by caste-based violence and systemic oppression. From brutal murders and sexual violence to everyday humiliations, the atrocities continue unabated. Nearly every day brings a reminder that the horrors of the past persist in our present — like Nilesh Rathod, a Dalit man in Amreli, Gujarat, beaten, ultimately to death, for addressing a teen from a higher caste as ‘beta’ (child); a Dalit man’s wedding party attacked by upper-caste men over music and riding a mare in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh; and Jitendra Ahirwar, a Dalit groom in Madhya Pradesh’s Tikamgarh, pelted with stones for refusing to walk barefoot through an upper-caste neighbourhood.
Caste Never Went Away: Violence, Humiliation and Resistance Still Shape Our Lives
In our 75th Independence Day special issue, Outlook examined how the caste system endures—and what it will take to finally break it. Plus, more from archives.
In our August 2023 special issue, Outlook India confronted these harsh realities—not only to expose them but to ask how we might dismantle the caste system itself, seventy-five years after Independence. We explored the contested meanings of liberation, the dangers of allowing the present to be imprisoned by past identities, and the many forms resistance takes—social, economic, and political. Ultimately, it was a call to action, a reminder that change is possible, and that everyone has a role to play.
In that issue:
Anand Teltumbde on why smashing the caste system is hard—but not impossible—and why modernity, not mythology, holds the key.
A deep dive into Bhima-Koregaon, exploring how history is being reclaimed as resistance in the face of Hindutva politics.
A look back at Daya Pawar’s Baluta, the first Dalit autobiography, and its raw portrayal of caste and survival in post-Independence India.
YS Alone on a museum of untouchability to confront practices we relegate to crime pages, only to forget soon after.
While Dalits face the sharpest edge of caste oppression, the system of graded inequality affects many communities across India, with women frequently bearing the heaviest burden of violence and discrimination. This layered hierarchy influences the lives and struggles of countless people. Here's a look at some of the coverage Outlook gave to the issue in recent times.
Rakhi Bose on the caste conundrum related to weddings.
Avantika Mehta on the lack of justice in India when women bear the double burden of vulnerability on account of gender and belonging to a non-elite caste status.
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