The Dalit Women’s Movement in

India: Dalit Mahila Samiti

By Jahnvi Andharia with the
ANANDI Collective

from Changing Their World 1st Edition

Edited by Srilatha Batliwala
Scholar Associate, AWID

Building
Feminist
Movements and
Organizations

2008
This case study was produced by AWID’s Building Feminist Movements and Organizations
(BEFMO) Initiative
These publications can be found on the AWID website: www.awid.org

Changing their World 1st Edition

Contains case studies:

 Against All Odds: The Building of a Women’s Movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
By Homa Hoodfar  
 The Dalit Women’s Movement in India: Dalit Mahila Samiti
By Jahnvi Andharia with the ANANDI Collective 
 Domestic Workers Organizing in the United States
By Andrea Cristina Mercado and Ai-jen Poo
 Challenges Were Many: The One in Nine Campaign, South Africa
By Jane Bennett
 Mothers as Movers and Shakers: The Network of Mother Centres in the Czech Republic
By Suranjana Gupta
 The Demobilization of Women’s Movements: The Case of Palestine
By Islah Jad
 The Piquetera/o Movement of Argentina
By Andrea D’Atri and Celeste Escati
 GROOTS Kenya
By Awino Okech
 The European Romani Women’s Movement—International Roma Women’s Network
By Rita Izsak

Changing their World 2nd Edition

Contains four new case studies:
 The Seeds of a Movement—Disabled Women and their Struggle to Organize
By Janet Price
 GALANG: A Movement in the Making for the Rights of Poor LBTs in the Philippines
By Anne Lim
 The VAMP/SANGRAM Sex Worker’s Movement in India’s Southwest
By the SANGRAM/VAMP team
 Women Building Peace: The Sudanese Women Empowerment for Peace (SuWEP) in Sudan
By Zaynab ElSawi

Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation for Women’s Rights: Twelve Insights for Donors
By Srilatha Batliwala

Capturing Change in Women’s Realities: A Critical Overview of Current Monitoring and Evalu-
ation Frameworks and Approaches
By Srilatha Batliwala and Alexandra Pittman
The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) is an international feminist,
membership organization committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development
and women’s human rights. AWID’s mission is to strengthen the voice, impact and influence of
women’s rights advocates, organizations and movements internationally to effectively advance
the rights of women.

Author: Jahnvi Andharia with the ANANDI Collective

Editor: Srilatha Batliwala
Designer: Storm. Diseño + Comunicación

2008 This publication may be redistributed non-commercially in any media,

unchanged and in whole, with credit given to AWID and the author.
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 Introduction

The Dalit Women’s Movement in India:

Dalit Mahila Samiti
By Jahnvi Andharia and the ANANDI Collective1

 Introduction
Dalits are India’s former “untouchables”, so called because their touch was considered polluting due
to the work they did – handling dead matter (the hides of animals, tanning, cutting hair) or faeces. The
fight against untouchability is of long standing. The efforts of two great modern Indian leaders, however,
had the greatest impact in bringing public awareness of the need for eradicating this acute and particu-
lar form of oppression: Mahatma Gandhi – who called them “Harijans” or “children of God”, and B.R.
Ambedkar, a brilliant lawyer, himself from an untouchable caste, who led the drafting of India’s constitu-
tion. But although the Constitution of independent India outlawed untouchability and its practice in any
form, and directed the government to take affirmative action to compensate untouchable castes for
these historical wrongs, the stigma against them continues in both subtle and overt forms to this day.
Accordingly, struggles by the oppressed castes have also persisted through both militant movements
and advocacy.

 Historical and Political Context way. The word also inherently denies the notions of
pollution and karma that were used to justify caste
hierarchy and exclusion, and rejects the paternalis-
During the Independence movement Gandhi gave tic and charitable connotations of the term Harijan,
a call to end untouchability by raising the value of as well as the caste system as a whole. It is inter-
all work and removing the indignity attached to “im- esting to note that the original conceptualization of
pure” work. Ambedkar is still worshipped across the “Dalit” identity included all oppressed groups,
India for his mobilization and leadership of these particularly women. The Dalit movement thus
oppressed peoples against caste discrimination considered women of even the highest castes as
and all its attendant evils and cruelties, including Dalits, because of their oppression.
the unique strategy of mass conversion to Bud-
dhism. After India’s independence from British rule, Dalit assertions emerged at different points in
untouchable and other oppressed castes became different regions of the country. It was a combina-
known as the “Scheduled Castes” (SC) since they tion of mass movements, powerful writings about
were listed in a schedule, or annexure, by the first caste oppression, and electoral politics, with many
President of India under Article 341 of the Indian parties vying to woo Dalit voters. Strong Dalit
Constitution. Movements took root in several parts of Southern
and Western India.2
In the late Sixties and Seventies, vibrant mass
movements of these oppressed castes adopted Significantly, the National Federation of Dalit
the name “Dalit”, which derives from the San- Women (NFDW), formed in 1995, has forced
skrit root verb dal, meaning to crack or split. The women’s movements in India to address the caste
term Dalit refers to those who have been broken, question seriously. Dalit feminists have articulated
ground down by those above them in a deliberate the three-fold oppression of Dalit women as:

1. Anandi is a feminist NGO based in Gujarat, India, working on the empowerment of women through economic,
social, and political awareness and mobilization.
2. Particularly in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra

1
 Historical and Political Context

1. Dalits oppressed by upper castes; In practice, this translates into strict rules and
2. Agricultural workers subject to class oppres- norms about purity and pollution, based on the na-
sion, mainly at the hands of upper caste land ture of their occupation. The lowest caste groups
owners; and are considered impure because of the work they
do and the materials they handle, and hence their
3. Women facing patriarchal oppression at the
living areas are located outside the main village.
hands of all men, including men of their own
They are not allowed access to water from the vil-
castes.
lage well, or allowed to worship at village temples.
Dalits today make up 16.2% of the total Indian The food they cook is considered impure and in
population, but their control over resources of some extreme cases, even their footsteps and their
the country is less than 5%. Close to half of the shadows are considered polluting, forcing them to
Dalit population lives under the official Indian Pov- keep away from the main streets of the village or
erty Line and even more (62%) are illiterate. In the town, lest they pollute upper caste pedestrians.
agriculture sector, most Dalits are landless or near
There is a crucial link between caste and class,
landless agriculture labor. The total household in-
and in the relationship between caste ideology
come for Dalits in 1998 was just 68% of the na-
and production relations. The upper caste Brah-
tional average. Less than 10% of Dalit households
mins (priests and scholars) and the Kshatriyas (rul-
have access to safe drinking water, electricity and
ers and powerful landowners) held the monopoly
toilets. Worst of all, Dalits are daily victims of the
over knowledge, intellectual professions, land, and
worst crimes and atrocities, far outnumbering other
political authority. The lower castes were banned
sections of society, despite the fact that many at-
from even basic literacy or the right to read and
tacks go unreported for fear of further retaliation.
write - and were severely punished if they violated
Between 1992 and 2000, a total of 334,459 cog-
the ban. Yet, they were the ones who laboured,
nizable offences against Dalits were registered na-
developed and preserved the knowledge of agri-
tionwide with the police.
culture, of plants, domestic livestock, carpentry,
Despite Constitutional guarantees to provide black smithy, fishing etc. Although these skills
social and political equality since Independence, were vital to the survival and comfort of the upper
the practice of discrimination against lower castes castes, there was no recognition of this fact - in-
– and particularly Dalits - is upheld as part of trad- deed their vital skills and knowledge were (and are)
ition. A reputed feminist historian, Uma Chak- denigrated as inferior and polluting as well. While
ravarti, elaborates on the relationship between the rigidity of the caste system has eroded over
caste, gender, feminism and politics in her recent the past half a century, the basic concepts of purity
work, Gendering Caste.3 The forms of discrimina- and pollution still have a strong hold in the culture
tion may have changed but the basic essence is of the subcontinent.
explained in Dr. Ambedkar’s4 formulation.
Caste is a system of graded inequality in which
castes are arranged according to an ascending
 History and Formation of the
scale of reverence and a descending scale of con- Dalit Mahila Samiti
tempt... i.e. as you go up the caste system, the
power and status of a caste group increases and
The Dalit Mahila Samiti (DMS) is the organizational
as you go down the scale the degree of contempt
for the caste increases, as these castes have no name for a movement of Dalit women in the north
power, are of low status, and are regarded as dirty Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). DMS is support-
and polluting. ed by Vanangana, a feminist NGO that has its roots

3. Uma Chakravarti : Gendering Caste through a feminist Lens; Series Ed:Krishnaraj M; Stree ; Calcutta;
India;2003
4. Dr. Ambedkar the chief Architect of the Indian Constitution adopted after Independence, was born a in a dalit
family. His role in challenging the caste hierarchies through the Independence struggle and providing alternatives
continues to provide inspiration to Dalits even today.

2
 History and formation of the Dalit Mahila Samiti

in the Mahila Samakhya (MS) program, which was these women simply to step out of their homes and
launched by the Government of India in the late demonstrate that they could handle technology. As
1980’s to empower women through the popular they gained experience, they developed the ability
education approach. The Mahila Samakhya staff to form a separate women’s movement with a clear
were given a firm grounding in feminist thinking, focus on Dalit women’s issues. Since 2002, Dalit
and trained in grassroots mobilization and leader- women leaders have engaged in the sharpening of
ship based on feminist empowerment principles. In their goals and structures, and the formal naming
the Banda District of UP, the MS program achieved of the Dalit Mahila Samiti took place in 2003.
effective mobilization of Dalit women, including
training Dalit women as hand pump mechanics to The area known as the Bundelkhand region
repair and restore the hand pumps of borewells, where the DMS is active consists of ravines, and
on which most of the local populace depended forests, and access to villages is difficult due to
for their water supply. In 1993, the leadership de- poor roads and infrastructure. Because of its in-
cided to form a separate voluntary organization, accessibility until very recently, this region has also
named Vanangana, to enable further work with been known as a safe haven for dacoits (armed
Dalit women. Over the next few years, Vanangana gangs). The Dalit communities there faced repres-
developed a strong presence in the villages in and sion not only from the upper caste state, but were
around the Chitrakoot and Banda Districts of UP. also often caught between the violence of the state
and the dacoits.7
The women hand pump mechanics mostly be-
longed to the Dalit or Adivasi5 communities. There-
fore, there was a lot resistance from the upper a) Organizational structure
castes and tension when the trained Dalit women
were sent to repair hand pumps in upper caste The Dalit Mahila Samiti is an organisation of over
localities. Since the mechanics moved in groups, 1500 women. They are organised in 7 different
they learnt to deal with issues of untouchability and clusters across two sub-regions of the Chitrakoot
were able to break these taboos. This had some District. Women are the primary members of the
impact on caste barriers, though not widespread. organization, though men can be enrolled as sup-
Madhavi, one of the founders of Vanangana, notes porters (sahayogi). Most DMS members are illiter-
that their focus was on the women who had gained ate, so they accept the support of the literate men
access to technology, how it had altered their own of their communities who are willing to support
personal identities, and how this was a source of their cause.
strength for them to take on other issues. 6
Membership in DMS is based on agreeing to
The roots of the Dalit Mahila Samiti lie in feminist give up untouchability with others through a for-
organizing. It has taken many years for Dalit women mal pledge, and paying a yearly membership of
to emerge as leaders of their own movement. In the Rs. 20 (about 50 cents). Each member is given a
late 1980’s and early 1990’s, it was a struggle for badge and a write up about pioneer Dalit leaders

5. Indigenous or tribal people

6. Madhavi Kuckerja founder member of Vanangana at the interview conducted in Lucknow on the 13th September
2007
7. Bundelkhand has strong feudal social and economic structures. The nexus between the upper castes, admin-
istration, and police, which has thrived on the exploitation of the lower castes, continue even after independ-
ence. One of the forms of rebellion that thrives in such conditions is dacoity. Sometimes, the thieves engage in
principled targeting of the upper caste, but they are definitely very violent. The dacoit gangs use force to get the
poor and Dalit communities to provide shelter, water, and food as they hide in the ravines. The police harass the
poor and Dalit communities to seek information regarding the whereabouts of the dacoits. Later in the narrative,
there is a reference to Dadua, who was a leader of a dacoit gang. He however had the blessing of the Dalits,
as he seldom used force against them and offered better support than the state administration when they had
problems.

3
 Framing of the Vanangana and DMS agendas

Dr. Ambedkar, Savitri Phule and Jyotiba Phule. 8 In below provides some basic data on the distribu-
many villages, DMS membership is drawn from the tion of DMS members and their male supporters
Self Help Groups9 formed by Vanangana, though across the various clusters in Chitrakoot District:
non-SHG members are also members. The table

No. of villages Women DMS Male members

No. Name of the cluster
covered Members (Sahayogi)

1 Bhowri 30 484 69

2 Sariya 16 384 53

3 Manikpur 7 77 0

4 Unchadih 10 179 0

5 Markundi 8 125 0

6 Dadri 7 123 19

7 Asoh 10 293 54

Total 88 1665 195

Vanangana has its own independent organisational  Framing of the Vanangana and
structure, with the following units:
DMS Agendas
1. Manav Adhikar Ekai (Human Rights Unit)– in
Chitrakoot and in Banda
The relationship between Vanangana and DMS
2. Sangathan Ekai (Organising Unit), with three is intertwined in a way which is typical in many
sub units: feminist movements, and consequently hard to
a. Samudayik Sashaktikaran – Collective Em- unravel. Initially, Vanangana itself functioned as a
powerment grassroots organisation led by feminist thinking.
b. Bachat (Savings And Credit), supporting Although the formal structure of DMS emerged
144 SHGs10 much later, the principles of participation and voice
for Dalit women followed by Vanangana ensured
c. Natural Resource Management that Dalit women’s concerns were always cen-
3. Administrative team tral to Vanangana’s agenda setting process. At
4. A Natak (Theatre) team comprising some staff the earlier stage, there was little need to separate
from the three units. the middle class leadership from the grass roots
leadership - the structures and divisions were min-
Vanangana carries out programs in areas where imal. So in order to understand how the agenda of
the Dalit Mahila Samiti does not yet have a formal the Dalit Mahila Samiti has evolved, it is essential
presence. The DMS leadership looks to Vanangana to also understand how Vanangana set its agenda
for information, strategic guidance and support. with the Dalit women.

8. Famous 19th century Indian social reformers who preached against untouchability.
9. Savings and credit groups that are also involved in consciousness raising and political education.
10. Self Help Groups, a term widely used in India for savings and lending groups.

4
 Framing of the Vanangana and DMS agendas

Initially, Vanangana focused on the individual When the women who had been associat-
Dalit women who were the target of its mobil- ed with Vanangana heard about the crime, they
ization. As these Dalit women began working for rushed to the village and showed great courage in
change, they challenged patriarchal norms as well confronting the upper caste terror by registering a
as the caste structure. The women gained a lot of police complaint and bringing back the homeless
experience, and their interventions on cases of vio- Dalit families to their villages. They also informed
lence became sharper and more skilled. However, the Vanangana team about the incident, and the
the emphasis in analysis and strategizing at this case was taken up to ensure justice was done.
stage was still on the woman seeking justice, not Vanangana activists and the Dalit women leaders in
the caste to which she belonged. This was more or the villages played a major role in ensuring that the
less true for nearly a decade of Vanangana’s work culprits were arrested. Many in the village where
with women from Dalit communities. the crime took place reported that, “what the pol-
itical party to which the deceased belonged could
All this changed with anti-Muslim carnage that not do, these women have done.” This heightened
took place in western Indian state of Gujarat in the confidence and credibility of the Dalit women
2002, with Muslim women being violently targeted leaders associated with Vanangana among the
for the first time.11 Like the entire feminist move- general Dalit community.
ment in India, Vanangana was confronted with the
problem of how religious identity intersects with Meanwhile, Vanangana went through an organ-
the various other identities of a woman. As a fem- izational re-structuring process through the end
inist organization, Vanangana took this issue to 2001 and the first half of 2002. They re-examined
the women they worked with, in a conference that and reflected on their values, modes of organizing
brought together about 300 Dalit women in their and mobilizing, and beliefs about untouchability.
area. The discussion opened up the meaning of As a result of this process of self-reflection, they
and perceptions about caste, Hinduism, and the found that there was prejudice, even within the or-
relationship between Hindus and Muslims. Issues ganization, to some communities and some tasks
such as religious fundamentalism, and the position associated with untouchables. Gradually the team
of the Dalits and minorities, were discussed for the came up with strategies to change their own prac-
first time with community leaders. tices – such as giving their cleaning lady an off day
and taking turns doing the cleaning themselves
At around the same time, a political party with (task usually done only by Dalits).
a Dalit woman leader, the Bahujan Samajwadi
Party (BSP), was gaining power and acceptance These dynamic processes culminated in 2002
in UP. Bahujan literally translates as “the people,” in the padyatras – foot marches - which the Vanan-
or “the masses,” and Samajwadi means socialist. gana team undertook in all the villages where they
The political ideology of the BSP is to promote the worked. They conducted meetings with the Dalit
interests of Dalits, and their leadership is drawn community, and began the process of foreground-
from the Dalit community. There was a lot of op- ing Dalit identity issues. In each of these villages
position from the upper castes, which turned vio- there was already some form of Dalit women’s
lent in many places. The murder of the Dalit pol- leadership as an outcome of the previous decade’s
itical activist Harish Chandra, who was from one work. These meetings were essentially dialogues
of the villages where Vanangana works, proved to and debates about the women’s Dalit identity, its
be a catalyst in sharpening the Dalit identity of the meaning in their lives and practices, and what they
women at the grass roots level. The upper caste would like to change. This was the benchmark in
not only killed Harish Chandra, but they also burnt the framing of a joint agenda, and the recognition of
other Dalit homes in his village. the need for a separate structure for the women’s

11. When Hindu fundamentalist gangs, with the full support and collusion of the state government and police, at-
tacked Muslim homes and businesses, killing hundreds, raping hundreds of Muslim women, and displacing
thousands of Muslims most of whom are still living in camps, too afraid to return to their homes and villages.

5
 Phase 1

struggle. The need for a separate local women’s working to seek justice in a particular case. For
organization, with a clear Dalit identity, and a struc- example,
ture different from that of Vanangana’s emerged,
resulting in the formation of the Dalit Mahila Samiti. Cases of violence against women were usually re-
ported after a group of rural Dalit women attended
The women leaders were involved in several a Vanangana training program on gender justice,
rounds of training and exposure to other Dalit or- citizen rights, legal awareness, health care, or an-
ganizations in Gujarat. An exposure trip to Gujarat other such issue. When they went back to their
to a well-established Dalit Organization opened up communities and spoke about what they learnt,
the possibilities they could explore as DMS. Vanan- some woman either came forward after hearing
that there is a way out of her violent or exploitative
gana consciously moved into a facilitator role and
situation, or the trained women decided on their
the primary leadership and strategizing role fell on own to speak to women they knew were suffer-
DMS’s shoulders. The DMS leadership laid down ing. Thus a woman (“case”) came to the office of
the norms for their organization. They decided that Vanangana and a strategy would be worked out
the primary members would be Dalit women, and to seek justice and remedy the situation. The pro-
that men would be given a space as supporting cess included analyzing her situation and seeking
members. A membership fee was established, other local women to support her as she took legal
and over a period of time, they determined that measure or filed a complaint with the police. Thus
Self Help Group membership was not necessary the relationship was built around the woman who
to become a member of DMS. This was based on sought justice and those who stood by her. There
the fact that SHGs filled a specific economic need was no formal support group that lasted beyond
the resolution of the case.
for those who had surplus cash to engage in sav-
ing and lending, while DMS offered much broader
When Vanangana was founded, there was no
support to uphold the dignity of the Dalit women.
quota of places for women in the elected village
council,12 so they had to function in a very feudal
system where the same person had been the vil-
 Initial Strategies lage head for 10-15 years. In order to handle cases
of women being exploited or ill-treated, Vanangana
As explained earlier, the Vanangana and the Dalit leaders also had to learn how the village system
women’s constituency were not very distinct until works, how the police function and so on, and this
the creation of the formal DMS structure in 2002. was a process of learning by doing. Madhavi and
The discussion of strategies is therefore divided into other leaders of the organization ensured that all
two phases of development: Phase I looks at strat- the information was made available to the local
egies that emerged out of the interface between women’s leadership. It was a phase of applying
feminist thinking and principles and the issues and their feminist ideology at the grassroots level in the
problems raised by rural Dalit women, where the context of a very feudal part of rural India.
lead organization was Vanangana. Phase II pres-
ents the strategies adopted in the years after DMS In the first 7-8 years, violence cases took up a
emerged as a separate identity. great deal of the time and energy of the organiza-
tion. Everyone had to understand the case and ana-
lyze it in detail. The women who sought justice went
 Phase 1 through their ups and downs and went back and
forth -- when they felt it was taking too long, and
Initially the mobilization done by Vanangana was when there was too much pressure, they would say
around individual women’s struggles, with 10-12 they did not want to pursue the matter. Often, how-
Dalit women from a village and Vanangana staff ever, they would come back after a new incidence of

12. See Annex 2 for an explanation of the Decentralised Governance System for Rural Areas in India.

6
 Phase 2

violence. Although Vanangana also took up issues first to the leaders of DMS in the community/clus-
of wages on government work sites and housing ter level meetings.
rights, their identity was primarily that of a group
of women working for justice for poor women. It For Vanangana, individual cases of violence are
was not seen as a movement, although this early now located in the context of Dalit exploitation and
work was clearly the foundation on which the DMS dealt with in a different manner. Among women as
movement rests. Vanangana supported issues that well, there is greater willingness to report cases of
were raised by the women and the community and violence, and the organization has developed such
then developed the response and strategy. credibility that women feel they will get justice with
Vanangana’s support. Now, Vanangana does not
Finally, in this initial phase, Vanangana focused take up issues as they arise, in a reactive mode,
entirely on women and strengthening their capaci- but based on a strategy and an annual plan: they
ties and awareness, but once a cadre of grass- pick the villages where they will work in advance,
roots Dalit women were established in leadership and then go about mobilizing and deciding on the
positions, they began to work with some men as issues they will take up. This may seem a top-down
well. Madhavi notes that in the initial years, there approach, but they ensure a space for issues to
was a need to “create time and space for women” be raised at the grassroots level. Vanangana does,
- the entire effort of taking feminism to poor rural however, strategize about which issues will be
women was new, there was no road map, and given more attention and focus in a given year.
anxiety that involving men would dilute or subvert
the fragile process. There are some important shifts and features
to the strategies that came into place in Phase II,
In summary, Phase I strategies were essentially after the birth of DMS:
about building from individual women’s experi-
ences of oppression and creating collective power
for the fight for justice. Translating feminist ideology  Alliances Built by DMS
into practice also meant dealing with other vulner-
abilities that poor women faced in their day-to-day Over the past five years, Vanangana and Dalit
lives, like non-payment of wages, harassment by Mahila Samiti have been engaged in a process
forest guards, lack of access to water, and so forth. of developing distinct identities. For instance, Dy-
It was through these struggles that they eventually namic Action Group (DAG) is a network of organiz-
came to the understanding that there is a need to ations in UP that work on Dalit issues. Dalit Mahila
look at the larger culture that promotes inequality. Samiti is a member of this network in its own right.
Nevertheless, the alliance between DAG and Van-
angana is still stronger than with DMS, although
 Phase 2 DAG has as much to gain from working with either
group, as both provide the female balance to their
This phase is marked by the establishment of otherwise primary male membership.
DMS as an organization with a separate identity
in 2002. In this phase, the strategies used worked Apart from this formal membership, many vil-
to highlight the Dalit identity and its significance lage level members of DMS have alliances with
in the overall fight for dignity and justice. This the local workers of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party
involved a series of dialogues at the community (currently in power at the state level) who support
level to see the linkages between the women’s the women’s cause. However, so far these alli-
struggle for justice and a life of dignity, as well ances have been informal and there are no formal
as the larger social inequalities in which the cast ties between the DMS and the BSP. Vanangana
structure and the concept of untouchability cre- has played a crucial role is negotiating the basis on
ating conditions of indignity and injustice. Out of which the local workers of the BSP protect DMS
these dialogues a Dalit consciousness – and a from being fully co-opted by the party at the local
Dalit feminist consciousness - was created, as level or district level. For instance, BSP leaders are
well as the ability to take leadership in the cases invited to DMS rallies or conferences, but they are
of violence. In fact, cases are now being voiced asked not to bring their party banners. In this man-

7
 Goals of the movement

ner DMS is in control and not the political party. ing capacity of the DMS leaders and maintaining
The local non- party based alliance with the male boundaries as separate organizations. At times it
Dalit leaders ensures that DMS too retains its au- is a challenge as informal relationships, especially
tonomy and gets issue-based support. Thus DMS personal friendships and familiarity, can make it dif-
has built effective local level alliances with larger ficult for both DMS and Vanangnana to maintain
political and civil society forces. very clear boundaries.

 Leadership Structure and  Goals of the Movement

Levels / Layers of Leadership
The current goals of DMS are as follows:
The leadership of Dalit Mahila Samiti is still evolv-
ing, and the demarcations of leadership and deci- 1. To change caste equations in the area/region
sion-making are not very clear. DMS leaders have where they work
developed the ability to respond to problems on 2. To promote the leadership of local women
their own to a large extent, and seek support from 3. To protest against all forms of violence against
Vanangana only when necessary. For example, women and men
primary decisions about which cases to take, and
the strategies to be adopted, are taken by DMS 4. To negotiate their terms with members of the
leaders - Vanangana members are kept informed, upper caste during elections
and when required, called upon for help. 5. To ensure that the benefits of government
schemes announced under the new Dalit-run
In every village, two women are selected by the regime, and that power flows to all eligible
local DMS members to represent them at the clus- Dalits.
ter level. Each cluster has an Adhyaksh (President),
Koshaadhyaksh (Treasurer) and a Sachiv (Secre- The strategies used to reach these goals are var-
tary). Similarly, at the block or multi-cluster level, ied. Vanangana has had several public meetings
there is a President, Treasurer and Secretary. The wherein they have had ceremonies to burn effi-
cluster leaders meet once a month to share their gies of untouchability as well as “chua- achut13,”
experiences, take decisions collectively and those or untouchability. Dalit Mahila Samiti now has a
issues that need further discussion are taken to strategy of going from village to village to perform
the block level. Representatives from Vanangana a play, “Jhootan,” that brings out the issue of un-
attend these meetings and offer information and touchability. They then seek women members who
guidance as required. agree to work and struggle to end untouchability
and invite the men to become sathi dars, givers of
Three years ago, Madhavi and Huma, femin- support. The women are given a badge and write
ists providing leadership to Vanangana, moved to up about Ambedkar, JyotiBa Phule and Savitirbai
the capital of UP, Lucknow, from their earlier base Phule – icons of the Dalit Movement in the western
in Karvi town, in Banda district, where the main parts of the country.
office of Vanangna is located. Vanangana is also
experiencing a change in leadership and is dealing Along with making public statements, the Dalit
with a separate and formal structure of DMS, with Mahila Samiti is working on changing practices at
women holding formal positions and roles for the the household and individual levels. There is an
first time. For the local Vanangana team this has insistence of drinking water and eating together,
involved valuing the independent decision-mak- and thus getting families to change untouchability

13. chua-touch comes from chua: touch, achut: untouchable, a phrase to describe a whole range of do’s and
don’t’s about touching, cooking, eating, etc., dictated by location of the person in the caste hierarchy.

8
 The role of Vanangana

practices based on their new understanding of the community about power, and inclusive power. The
concepts of purity and impurity (which tradition- leadership model promoted in both Vanangana
ally reinforce untouchability). The women are using and DMS is based on collective power. Although
nuanced but powerful strategies to challenge un- the word empowerment is easily used to describe
touchability and concepts of impurity. Many Dais women’s journeys from domestic to more pub-
(Traditional Birth Attendants) are from Dalit com- lic domains, and from submission to assertion,
munities, but they are called for deliveries by upper there is a hesitation to recognize the word and the
castes. The dais are paid in kind or cash for their meaning of “power”. As a facilitating organization,
work. In order to break the untouchability stigma, Vanangana had to demonstrate how power could
they attend to the birthing process, but refuse to be used differently - not a top down authorita-
discard the placenta and to cut the umbilical cord. tive model of power, but rather one that respects
These tasks were traditionally done by them and the power that each one in the collective has to
seen as impure tasks not done by upper castes. achieve common goals – i.e., inclusive power.
The Dalit women have identified some key activ-
ities which they refuse to perform as a strategy The leaders are encouraged to use their power
against traditional norms regarding untouchability. for change, to take risks, and to involve others
in the decision-making process. The organiza-
Most violence related cases come through tion went beyond representational participation,
the Dalit Mahila Samiti, although some victims but invested in a process of putting women in the
approach Vanangana directly.14 From 2002, Dalit leadership of building the movement. In terms of
Mahila Samiti has a membership of 1600 women leadership, it meant taking risks, which shook the
from a certain set of villages. However, the violence core by putting the larger movement at risk on vari-
cases are from all over. As mentioned earlier, in- ous issues - big and small-- particularly when it
stead of treating each of the cases as standalone came to taking up individual cases. There are two
cases, the DMS leadership adopts a strategy of significant instances that led to a lot of pressure on
scrutinizing the various elements at play in the Vanangana and the DMS. One was the child sex-
case. These are discussed in their various forums ual abuse case in 1999 and the case of Sohagiya
- at the cluster level, and if required, at the regional in 2003.
level. By sharing information on the cases, DMS
builds solidarity and communicates the support of i. In 1999, Ila Pande approached DMS to take up
a larger movement to the victim. This builds larger the case of her daughter who had been sexually
stakes and strength beyond caste and class bar- abused by the father. This was the first case of
riers. an upper caste (Brahmin) to come before them.
The father was of course denied the charge.
In addition, the movement is working on a gov- This was at a time when child sexual abuse was
ernment scheme of Midday Meals in schools to yet to emerge in the public realm in India. So
ensure that Dalit children are fed alongside children local society was completely shocked, and the
of other castes and not discriminated against. father, who was also a government employee,
fought hard to keep the truth hidden. He gath-
ered support from his colleagues and the lo-
 The Role of Vanangana cal upper caste leaders of the Bharatiya Janta
Party.15 The accused and his supporters used
Vanangana’s role has been to lead by example, the media to viciously malign the character of
keeping up the discussion within the team and the Vanangana activists, and threatened to kidnap

14. The rule is that DMS will only take up a case of someone who will drink water from a Dalit; meaning she truly
does not practice untouchability.
15. Bharatiya Janta Party – BJP – is the political wing of right wing Hindu nationalist organisation which largely
serves the interests of Upper caste Hindus. In Uttar Pradesh they are positioned in opposition to the BSP
– Bahujan Samajwadi Party.

9
 The role of Vanangana

or physically harm them and their families. It was founder member of Vanangana says that con-
a tough time for the Vanangana activists as they sciously foregrounding the Dalit identity was an
were completely unprepared for such reactions outcome of several years of experience. All the
from the upper castes. No one in the community women they worked with were Dalits, so talking
had heard of the incest either. Hence a lot of en- about Dalit identity at the community level was not
ergy had to be spent with the village community a problem. But many of the slightly educated Dalit
to first explain why they have taken up the case women who became community mobilizers, and
and fight the barrage of false allegations made later part of the leadership, initially did not want to
on the team. For almost six months all other call themselves Dalit. Finding strength in the ex-
work of the organization was stalled, because perience of overcoming socio-economic, cultural
the entire team was working on different fronts and educational hurdles was something that is be-
on just this one case. ing provided by Vanangana. However, Madhavi is
ii. In the Sohagiya case, the police were involved in quick to point out that given the stand the organiza-
beating up a kol (Dalit) woman in 2003. Vanan- tion adopted, some of the Brahmin team members
gana and DMS suddenly found that there was also did not like to flaunt their upper caste identity,
no support from within the law enforcement implying a larger change in attitudes towards caste
machinery. Even those officials who had played and socio-economic status.
an unbiased role and till then had supported One of the constraints that a local organization
women’s struggle for justice, turned against or movement faces is its inability to communicate
Vanangana and DMS. Vanangana was accused in the language of the larger donors, which is usu-
of being supported by the dacoit Dadua, since ally English. In addition, their articulation of issues
he also belonged to the Dalit community. The will come from their lived experiences and may
two organizations had to rethink all their strat- not fit into the frameworks and strategy plans of
egies to ensure that the focus remained on the the donors. Thus DMS needs the support of an
injustice to a Dalit woman, rather than being organisation like Vanangana that is able to fill the
derailed by the subversive tactics of the police gap. Therefore, Vanangana raises financial support
force to demoralize their organizations. for capacity building within DMS. The latter simply
takes care of the costs of the travel of their leaders
In both these cases, the responsibility for emerging for meetings and campaigns. Due to the fact that
victorious lay largely on the leadership of Vanan- most of the DMS leaders are illiterate or neo-literate
gana. Their grit and firmness, along with the sup- at most, fund-raising responsibility will continue to
port of the local Dalit women, ultimately strength- remain largely on Vanangana. Vanangana will also
ened the movement, but these were trying times. continue to play a critical role vis-à-vis DMS in the
The leaders were seen as troublemakers in a so- following areas:
ciety that had so far functioned smoothly within
feudal norms and traditions. The DMS leadership  Proposal-writing and fund-raising;
played a crucial role by gaining community support
by unravelling the interconnections between upper  Dealing with state, legal and judicial systems,
caste leaders and the state, and the implications of which requires not just literacy, but a strong fem-
this nexus for the struggle for Dalit rights. inist perspective;
 Contributing to knowledge building – trained,
While taking on the legal aspects of the violence
educated middle class women can provide the
against woman cases, working with a community-
link between the contexts in which the Dalit
based approach meant investing in communicat-
women create a movement and the questions
ing to other women the various elements of injus-
confronting a feminist scholar; and
tice at play, and then to demonstrate strength in
negotiating with the combined power of the state  Managing accounts and audits, mostly to meet
and local elites. legal / statutory requirements, given that num-
eracy and accounting skills are still poor, if non-
On speaking about the relationship between existent, within the DMS.
Vanangana and Dalit Mahila Samiti, Madhavi,

10
 Lessons for Feminist Movement Building

 Achievements so Far tion, and had it not been for the women’s resolve,
they would have been buried and forgotten due
to the nexus between the accused upper caste
The achievements of the Dalit Mahila Samiti move-
people, the police, and the local administration.
ment are many. The fact that the DMS movement
has matured through a process of consistently In addition, the fact that Dalit women are pro-
being grounded in the reality of Dalit women is in viding leadership and are a voice for the women
itself a unique achievement. In addition, surviving from their area in national meetings on women’s
beyond their fight against state and upper caste rights is strong evidence of the shift in leadership in
violence, which involved work done on a case-to- the women’s movement. As a feminist movement
case basis, and evolving to the formation and de- they are also building alliances with other groups
velopment of a Dalit women’s identity, is providing working on Dalit issues, including Dalit groups that
strength to further expand their movement. The are led by men. Thus DMS does not rely entirely on
women are aware of the political shifts occurring traditional feminist allies.
at the state level with a woman Dalit Chief Minister
in place, but are also alert to the local challenges
at hand.  Lessons for Feminist
The collective nature of the movement leader- Movement Building
ship is also a strength, since it is not based on one
or two charismatic leaders. The leadership of Dalit What makes the DMS movement
Mahila Samiti also comes from a large geograph-
feminist in character, approach, and
ical area, and draws on the long years of activist
experience of many of the women. strategies? Feminist organizing involves:

The formation of a separate Dalit Mahila Samiti  Giving time and space to women
has taken place simultaneously with the success-
ful entry of Dalits in formal electoral politics. This  Providing for rotational and shared leadership.
recently culminated in the appointment of Ms. This necessarily requires a consensus-building
Mayavati, a Dalit Woman, as the Chief Minister of process.
the state of UP. For those who have experienced  Going at the pace of women and being flexible–
centuries of indignities at the hand of upper castes, sometimes quick and sometimes slow
having a representative among them in a seat of  Working on issues of sexuality
power is in itself a great source of pride. There is
much rejoicing and hope that things will improve  Reiterating that the personal is political, and
for their localities. However, there are sceptics who bringing what you practice to the movement and
feel that it will be a long time before real benefits making the values of the movement your own.
flow to those in remote villages.  Recognizing individual journeys

Several important cases clearly establish that  Celebrating strength in being a survivor
the Dalit Mahila Samiti will fight until justice is done  Using symbols, especially local symbols and ex-
to the Dalits in UP, including two incidents that amples, and
took place in 2003, one of which was mentioned  Using public spaces for celebrations
earlier—the murder of Harish Chandra in Bhowri.
In this case, women from Dalit Mahila Samiti inter-
vened to get complaints registered and compensa- Feminist Leadership, in turn,
tion for their losses when their homes were burnt.
Another incident involves the role played by DMS  Has multiple identities (e.g. the identities of Dalit,
in achieving justice in the case of an expecting woman, poor);
Dalit mother, Shanti, who was beaten up by three
women (a mother and her two daughters) belong-  Requires mental preparation and awareness of
ing to an upper caste. Both these cases were fol- the risks they are taking; and
lowed closely by the local media and administra-  Is always challenged and subject to slander, so

11
 Conclusion

the movement has to have the strength to sup- perspectives. For instance, in the organizing of the
port its leaders in difficult times. national autonomous women’s movement events,
DMS and Vanangana leaders participate but with
One important factor in looking at the nature of some level of disconnect. Issues of identity are dif-
the DMS movement is the definition of Dalit and ficult to incorporate into the national movement,
its relation to the movement. DMS is composed and mainstream Indian feminists need to bring in
of women and men who have faced discrimina- the politics and priorities of other identities. For
tion and want to fight it, and has a strong fem- instance, when national women’s groups would
inist perspective. This means that there is a clear determine that the focus of Women’s Day events
representation and predominance of women in would be violence against women, but for the local
decision-making positions, and their work-spaces women, the critical issue was access to water.
are women-friendly. When prioritizing within issues
that have several aspects that could be challenged
simultaneously, they have enabled women to use How movement members define
a feminist perspective, and provided opportun- “movement building”
ities for women to develop and test their leader-
ship abilities. DMS has also undertaken fact-find- Some key elements of how DMS members define
ing missions to investigate issues, and conducted movement building are worthy of note:
training that involves a combination of theory and
practice.  Internalizing the goals of the movement
DMS has adopted process-oriented perspec-  Being able to generate mass mobilization when
tive building, which may be slow, but is important required
to go through before issuing a manifesto or mak-  Having strong leadership
ing decisions. This is important because a feminist
perspective necessitates balancing many issues. The activities or actions that DMS members con-
DMS mentors and supports changes in the per- sider movement building initiatives include the fol-
sonal lives of the women and men who join the lowing:
movement. In addition, the movement provides
 Holding public events to denounce untouch-
training on the law and focuses on how they can
ability
deal with the law enforcement machinery and
otherwise strengthen their struggle for justice.  Generating public debate in the community on
the issue of untouchability, e.g. regular perform-
ance of the play “jhootan“ to raise conscious-
Critiques of the mainstream feminist ness against the practice of untouchability and
movement what it does to human dignity
 The play also provides some pointers towards
Initially the DMS team was mixed, with many for- the way out i.e. through education and making
mer activists of the Mahila Samakhya program who courageous changes.
came from lower-middle class backgrounds, and
who took a long time internalize feminist values.
There were many tensions that the leadership had  Conclusion
to deal with – such as gender trainers who came
from cities, and raised issues with the grass roots When we began this assignment we were sur-
women related to very personal matters (such as prised with the title and wondered “Are there any
sexuality), whereas the women were still dealing movements left?” When the team was asked the
with basic problems such as lack of access to re- same question, their response was telling: “When
sources. The local leaders had to deal with these you say “movement” the image that comes to
issues and balance the different views. ones mind is of large numbers of women, sitting
on Dharna (strike) or marching in the streets on
The agenda of the women’s movement at the a regular basis. And therefore we hesitate to call
national level is still framed by middle class women’s ourselves a movement.” This tells us something

12
 Timeline

about the images and the meaning that the word to building a movement of Dalit women. In build-
movement has created in our minds. We then ex- ing an understanding of feminist movements in the
plored why our organizations - DMS, Vanangana 21st century, the partnership of DMS and Vanan-
and ANANDI (which prepared this case study) - gana offers critical insights. The road to equality,
hesitate to call ourselves a movement, we realized justice and peace with dignity will be a long one,
that a feminist perspective has meant dealing with but the fact that today 1600 Dalit women from
a very wide range of issues, while our image of a remote area in a very feudal part of India have
a movement is quite narrow. The ‘enemy’ (patri- set out on that road is evidence of a movement.
archy) manifests itself in many ways, and is there- This ‘movement’ sometimes takes physical shape
fore everywhere. It is not a monolithic structure to and is visible, and sometimes it is in the mind and
be overcome or brought down. Hence the mean- therefore invisible. Those who are oppressed have
ing of what is a movement needs to be expanded to first walk a long path in their own hearts and
to integrate the whole range of activities and pro- minds, in order to realize that there is a way out of
cesses, which a feminist organization working for their oppression. To enable this, organisations like
fundamental change has to undertake to build a Vanangana are required to change peoples’ con-
movement, as explained in this case study. sciousness and to provide opportunities to think
and act differently. Trainings, interactions, and ex-
There are many things that DMS does today posure all form an integral part of building a femin-
with the support of Vanangana that is contributing ist movement.

 Timeline of Key Events and Evolution of the Movement since its

Inception
1990-1993  he first phase of mobilization- critical analysis of issues, collective reflection
T
and action by women. The issues were taken up at the village level, or within
a cluster of villages. There were sporadic cases of individuals/ hamlets around
land that were taken up by the Dalit women's leadership.
Issues such as eviction of Dalit families from the lands that they were residing
on which legally belonged to the landlords. The actions were to implement gov-
ernment orders, which stated that the lands where Dalits had resided for over
10 years had to be turned into gram panchayat lands and that they would con-
tinue to have the right to residence. Sporadic demonstrations and struggles in
villages- women speak up and resist the evictions.

1990-1995 Individual cases fought between 1990-1995. The case of Semia: In the village
of Suvargada, four sisters who were kol tribals16, claimed that 40 bighas17 of
land should be in their name. A bania (upper-caste merchant) had captured the
land, pushing the women to fight. DMS fought the case with individual lawyers
and well as simultaneously engaging with the state. Support from the women’s
collective to enable Semia to till her land and resist the bania on the ground.
 truggle in one cluster around wages for work done on road construction-
S
Women recover lost wages.

16. One of over 500 tribal (or indigenous) communities in India historically oppressed and excluded in ways similar
to untouchables.
17. A bigha is roughly equivalent to a third of an acre of land, thus 40 bighas is about 13 acres, a very large holding
in rural India

13
 Timeline

 endu leaf (leaves used to roll tobacco) collectors (forest dwellers) struggle
T
sporadically to get the wages set by the Forest Produce Corporation - women
find voice and assert their rights collectively. Limited agency since Dadua ( a
dacoit who had the sympathy of the lower castes) set the price and took part
of their wages.
 ater campaigns- 1991 drought year. 1992 The Vidhan sabha (State As-
W
sembly) inquiry highlighted that 90% of hand pumps in that area not working.
 992-1994: Training of hand pump mechanics. Water was an issue that brought
1
people together, forcing government and local village leaders to become ac-
countable

1994  ake-over of the block of Manikpur for maintenance. Only Dalit women trained.
T
They became technically savvy, gaining them status and money for their
work.

1994-1998  aintained the hand pumps handed over to local village councils; Trained
M
women mechanics to become entrepreneurs.

1994-1997  0-80 Self help groups were formed in order to get out of the hands of money-
6
lenders. They gained access to the bank, and the identity of poor Dalit women
was now more formal compared to earlier times. Some of them gained skills in
dealing with banks, accounting, and book keeping. They now had an alterna-
tive source to fulfil their credit needs.

1997  case of violence against a dalit - kurmi woman was taken up by the Dalit
A
women's group which later participated in the formalizing of DMS. They organ-
ized a silent rally in the town to ensure that the police acted upon the com-
plaint. This was an early case of taking a public stand as Dalit women.

1999  he campaign "Mujhe Jawaab Do”- “Answer Me” - was launched to highlight
T
the causes of violence against women. A study of 30 cases showed that:
 50% of deaths were either recorded as suicide or murder
 Domestic violence was taking place across all castes
 Dalit women started taking up cases of violence against women of
other castes as well. They began responding to news appearing in
papers or on hearing from others.

1999 June  case of incest was reported to the Dalit women’s groups by an upper caste
A
woman. The case drew a lot of attention as child sexual abuse and incest were
supposedly unheard of in that sector of society. For the women it became a
rallying point not just to fight for justice for the girls, but because the supporters
of the accused were the same Brahmins who kept them as bonded labour. The
women’s groups had to put up a huge fight for a very long period, there was a
lot of media attention, and political pressures through right-wing Hindu funda-
mentalist parties like the Shiv Sena18 and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad19.

18. Shiv Sena is a political party of influence in the state of Maharashtra, and it draws its ideology from communal
identities.
19. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad – a students group associated with the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janta
Party

14
 Timeline

National Commission of Women member, Ms. Sayeeda Hamid, came to the

district through the efforts of the women’s groups as part of the investigations
and heard the women’s case. The case took an incredible amount of energy
and the organization was not prepared for what unfolded. But it played the role
of highlighting many aspects of the struggle of Dalit women. The case has only
now come up for hearing.
 his was also a time when the Chamars (also a Dalit caste- those engaged in
T
leather work) decided that they will give up their traditional occupation. When
an auction for leatherwork was held by the government, it was members of the
upper caste who filled up the tenders to do the leather work. The link between
caste and work that was seen as impure was beginning to be challenged in
that area.

2002  ujarat lived through horrible communal carnage, which led to Hindu-Muslim
G
tension in U.P. Some Vanangana members went as volunteers to Gujarat and
returned to discuss what had happened in communities. They held a peace
march in their area to bring out the role of upper caste in supporting Hindutva
(Hindu Fundamentalist) forces in fostering religious divides.
 nother incident took place that year - the killing of a Dalit man, a worker of
A
the (BSP) party who openly challenged the upper castes and was seeking an
electoral mandate to power. He was killed by upper caste men, who also looted
other Dalit houses in the village. The Dalit Mahila Samiti leaders of the nearby
village came to support and ensured that police recorded their complaints. A
rally to highlight Dalit Manav Adhikar Hanan (abuse of Dalit’s Human Rights) was
held. An enquiry was ordered by the State Commission of Scheduled Castes,
arrests were made, and due compensation was paid. The communities and the
women began to understand the nuances of electoral politics.

 he rise of BSP- the Bahujan Samaj Party and several smaller examples show-
T
ing Dalit power in the area and Dalits choosing to give up tasks associated with
their caste because of notions of “impurity”. Mayawati, a woman leader of BSP,
came to power for a short while.
 reflection process was initiated to examine where the Dalit women’s groups
A
and leaders that later took on the formal DMS structure had come in their jour-
ney- they looked at caste identity. They began reflecting on the forms in which
they are still oppressed as Dalit women and worked to understand caste and
untouchability within Dalit castes. They looked at external as well as internal
processes. They made rules to reflect their understanding.

Formal naming of Dalit Mahila Samiti.

2003  ohagiya - a kol (Dalit) woman was beaten up. The police did not take action.
S
The Superintendent of Police (S.P.) was involved in the cover up. A Delegation
from DMS and some Vanangana leaders went to the state capital, Lucknow, to
highlight the biased attitude of the police. They also initiated a legal process. An
enquiry was instituted, and eventually, the S.P. apologized to the community.
Instead of conducting a demonstration in block or district towns, the women
held demonstrations at the village level to enlist the solidarity of the women.
While large numbers of village women joined the protest, most of the men
stayed at home, reluctant to challenge the police in this way.

15
 Timeline

2004  public hearing was held in partnership with Dynamic Action Group on vio-
A
lence against Dalit Women and violations of Dalits’ rights. A joint fact finding
team from Vanangana provided feminist leadership to the larger Dalit move-
ment.

2006  alit Mahila Samiti event involving a ritualistic burning of symbols on a mock
D
funeral pyre after raising consciousness about the symbols that promote un-
touchability.

2007  here is a an ongoing campaign at the village level to mobilize women mem-
T
bers and create an understanding that Dalits are not just victims or survivors,
but have positive agency, embodied in the struggles of women and men who
have experienced indignity and fought against it. It is about building a positive
identity.

16