July 23, 2011
A relentless crusader
Sudha Umashanker
Ruth Manorama started her work with the urban poor in her youth; there
has been no turning back ever since. She is the powerful voice of
Dalit women today.
Is it easy being a Dalit in India? And a woman at that? Have things
changed for the better for the Dalits who constitute roughly 16.23 per
cent of our population, since the Constitution of India "cast a
special responsibility on the State to promote with special care the
education, economic interest of the Scheduled Castes and promised to
protect them from all forms of exploitation and social injustice
(Article 46)"?
Ask Ruth Manorama, relentless crusader and rallying point for Dalit
women, and she tells it like it is, without mincing words, in a
no-holds barred conversation.
"Dalit women in India are the Dalits among Dalits and suffer from
three-fold oppression — on account of gender as a result of
patriarchy, caste 'the untouchable', and class — as they hail from the
poorest and most marginalised communities. Eighty per cent of
Scheduled Castes live in rural areas, are dependent on wage employment
and have to contend with high rates of under employment which results
in greater incidence of poverty," argues Manorama forcefully.
A grassroots person with her ear to the ground, Manorama is well aware
that discrimination is indeed a regular and daily experience for Dalit
women. "Less than equal wages at the workplace, being forced into
dehumanising jobs like manual scavenging and garbage picking, pushed
back by the gruelling cycle of generational poverty, landlessness and
hunger, facing threats to their personal security and a lifelong cycle
of indebtedness including religious prostitution and the Devadasi
system, are the major hurdles. It is this linkage that makes Dalit
women a vital and special concern for the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN
Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Human Rights
Council."
Silent abuse
Yet another issue that deeply angers her is incidents of violence
against Dalit women and the silence that surrounds this. "Studies have
shown that rape against Dalits and tribals are among the highest.
Structural violence like caste and communal violence are deep-rooted
in our psyche. It is often used to suppress women. Violence against
Dalit women in countering Maoist attacks, organised rape and sexual
violence (she refers to the Uttarakhand State rape) wherein police
suspected women to be informers, are all such inhuman acts."
Her work has not gone unnoticed at the global level. Manorama was
awarded The Right Livelihood Award in 2006. Considered the alternative
Nobel Prize and the world's premier award for personal courage and
social transformation, it got her the recognition as the
sub-continent's most effective organiser and advocate for Dalit women.
She was also one among the thousand nominees for the 1,000 Peace women
for Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
Besides her focus on Dalit women, the urban poor and their problems
also consume a great deal of Manorama's time.
As General Secretary of Women's Voice Karnataka, an organisation
working for the rights of women of poorer sections, women living in
the slums and working in the unorganised sector, she has never
hesitated to take up their issues. During the 1980s and the 90s, she
was in the forefront of mass struggles against eviction and Operation
Demolition by the State Government of Karnataka and organised massive
processions and fought legal cases on their behalf. She also enjoys
the distinction of establishing the first trade union in the country
in 1987 for domestic workers in Bengaluru and strived for inclusion in
the Minimum Wages.
One among the numerous key offices Manorama holds is president of the
National Alliance of Women. Pointing to the fact that it all begins at
home, Manorama believes that the situation in some families is not a
very happy one, with a level playing field still a distant dream.
"Many women do not enjoy autonomy. They are vulnerable and dependent
on male partners who make all the decisions. Although it looks as if
women are progressing on many fronts, in terms of power relations, it
is still unequal. Our law application is unequal and our laws are
patriarchal. Once women become widowed, they are left to their own
defence. Property is taken away. This scenario extends to public life
and politics."
If one is looking for solutions, Manorama spells out a blue-print for that.
"How do people gain power? It is political power that gives you social
power and economic power. Women must get into politics in order to
acquire power not for themselves but for a whole lot of people. It was
thought that through the Constitution women will automatically get
power and men will be out. The Panchayati Raj system, no matter
however flawed, has its merits. Women make decisions and offer
resistance. Democracy without women is no democracy. I am not talking
of politics for making money. Our struggle is not for garnering wealth
but for reclamation of the human spirit. Women have better brain
capabilities and if it is put to use for national building,
considering we have such bright women, imagine what can be achieved."
Manorama's vision for the future is to start a Political academy. She
has already prepared the ground through specific capacity building
exercises and has been instrumental in training around 300 women in
the country to equip them for community action and leadership
positions at the Panchayat, Zilla parishad and State level.
According to Manorama, what compounds the problems faced by Dalit
women and hampers their progress is the fact that Government funds
earmarked for Dalit welfare remain unutilised or are improperly
utilised.
Manorama is the president of the National Federation of Dalit Women.
She "grew up in a fairly progressive atmosphere with Christian values
where you gave freely and treated people with respect." Theirs was an
open house and her parents extended all kinds of support to visitors
from helping to fill out job applications, money order forms and for a
consultation on sundry matters. Her parents' lifestyle and dedication
inspired Manorama, and the upbringing she received reminded her that
whatever she did, she had to serve the poor.
Early days
Initially Manorama wanted to become a doctor or a collector. While in
Chennai she worked in slum, squatter settlements and realised that
working for the urban poor could be her vocation. At her father's
suggestion she enrolled for a Masters in Social Work. Later she moved
to villages, understood caste structures, land patterns and the
problems of Dalits.
Right from the beginning of her foray into the social sector she set
about organising oppressed people, getting them to claim their rights
and become stake holders in development. "I grew up on that kind of
pitch," she says.
Manorama closes with a pointer. "The situation of Dalits can't be
changed by Dalits themselves. Dalits must lead and other progressive
people must join in this struggle. As Indian citizens we have a role
to play in transforming pains into power."
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