Annotated Source Caste

I read an interesting research paper a few weeks ago that explores a growing participation of low-caste Dalit (this is another name for the untouchables, it means "oppressed")women in politics. Many of these women are refusing to identify themselves as Dalit despite the separatist pride in the label. This refusal may seem counterintuitive to their cause as a part of the BSP party. The BSP has mobilized lower castes for equality and empowerment. Further complicating their choice is the government program, scheduled caste, which provides aid to lower-caste individuals. The article asks the question, how does the activism of low caste women affect female political participation? This has yielded the startling revelation that these women view their political participation as unrestricted by caste.

This case study provides an interesting insight into women political participation. It is interesting to observe that although the Indian government has outlawed caste, it still uses a system called scheduled caste to allocate resources to low caste individuals. Despite their good intentions, label oriented welfare may be a significant factor in the resilience of the caste system and failure to attain equality. Exploring how these government policies have unintentionally hindered equality could be a fascinating. It would have been interesting if the article explored the women’s material sacrifice and effect to their health (not benefiting from the affirmative action programs) in refusing the Dalit name.