[alisamma women’s collective was started in March 2002 as a dalit feminist challenge to the caste blind perspectives of upper-caste feminism.  Some of the issues that led to its formation can be traced in Swathy Margaret’s contributions in “Charting a History” in this volume.

 

University of Hyderabad, 8 March 2002
Statement of Dalit Women
Non-dalit women!  Caste Matters!

Dear sisters,

We wish you happy women’s day.

There are many reasons for us, dalit women to raise our voice on this particular occasion.  Given the class-caste variations of patriarchal practices and their diverse histories, it is important to think about difference and spaces, in order to construct an adequate possibility for traversal politics.  We, dalit women want Hindu women and other non-dalit women to recognize that Indian female community is stratified by castiest patriarchal system.  Caste system, both as hegemony and political structure works against the unity of Indian women.  For centuries this scene is not altered.  For instance Human Rights Watch, 1999  observes “Singularly positioned at the bottom of India’s caste, class and gender hierarchies, largely uneducated and consistently paid less than their male counterparts, dalit women make up the majority of landless labourers and scavengers, as well as a significant percentage of the women forced into prostitution in rural areas or sold into urban brothels. As such they come into greater contact with landlords and enforcement agencies than their upper caste counterparts.  Their subordinate position is exploited by those in power who carry out their attacks with impunity.”
We, dalit women, therefore request you to recognize that it is not just male domination but castiest patriarchy which is at force in India.  We ask you to rethink.  We want you to acknowledge the political importance of ‘difference,’ i.e. heterogeneity that exists among Indian female community.  That you are made whereas we are mutilated.  You are put on a pedestal, whereas we are thrown into fields to work day and night.  You were made Satis, we were made harlots.  Dear sisters, do not take this as an emotional, parochial supplication made by a few privileged dalit women.
Recognition of difference is fundamental to any democratic politics. Our subordinate positions are constituted and represented differently according to our differential locations within casteist patriarchal relations of power.
Within this structure we don’t exist simply as women, but as differentiated categories such as scavenger women, peasant women, “professional” women etc.  Each description reflects the particularity of social condition.  And real lives are forged out of a complex assertion of these dimensions.
The objective of any stream of democratic  feminism is to change the social relations embedded within all dominant power structures like gender, caste and class to mention only a few.  Dalit feminism obviously belongs to this stream of thought.
Democratization of consciousness is necessary to make this world an amicable place to live.  We, unhesitatingly claim that dalit feminism has already started its voyage towards this direction.  We do heartfully admit that a considerable number of dalit men and non-dalit women and men have been making concrete efforts to talk and rethink about differences and alternatives.  We hope that this wonderful occasion of women’s day would further bring us closer to initiate a dialogue about both commonalities and also differences.
Apart from dalit women, alisamma women’s collective welcomes dalit men and non-dalit people, both women and men to come and join its politics.  It is premised on dalit feminist-centered theory and practice.  We have named ourselves in memory of Alisamma, the witness and subsequent witness of Karamchedu dalit massacre, and her glorious struggle.

Thank You,
For alisamma women’s collective
Sowjanya Raman, Ratna Velisela, Swathy Margaret Maddela, Indira Jalli.