Banish these terms

It is profoundly troubling to see that despite their intrinsic violence and bigotry terms such as “low caste” and “untouchable” continue to be used while describing a vast section of Indians in many respectable forums.

While reading Wendy Doniger’s review of William Dalrymple’s book ‘Nine Lives’ in The Times I was struck by how even some of the most enlightened and thoughtful people keep using these terms. It is true that they do not use them judgmentally or out of any personal prejudice but only as a reflection of how society continues to do so. Even then, there is something deeply abhorrent about perpetuating these terms. Low-caste and untouchable (Dalit) are terms that need to be erased from societal lexicon.

As long as we continue to use labels and nomenclature for fellow human beings that directly or indirectly underscore and keep alive cruelties and indignities we will not be able to move beyond precisely the cruelties and indignities that we seek to remove. I grant that merely discontinuing the use of these terms is no guarantee that we will eliminate the embedded millennial prejudices. But it is certainly a start.

In her review of Dalrymple’s book Doniger, who is a highly respected scholar and writer herself, says “Dalrymple reveals these tragedies to us, leaf by leaf: Hari Das, a Dalit (or Untouchable), works as a well-digger…” or “Mohan was a low-caste singer of the epics…”. I understand that she is merely trying to contextualize the terms for her readers and not adding any value judgment of her own. I am making a larger point about banishing these terms altogether.