Caste-based discrimination continues in universities, State Assemblies and other spheres of society even as we celebrate 75 years of Indian Independence, Marathi writer Sharankumar Limbale has said.
“There are a large number of people who remain in social slavery. Caste system existed in slums till yesterday. Today, caste-based discrimination has spread its wings in universities too,” he told The Hindu after speaking on ‘Dalit Identity: Past and Present’ as part of a lecture programme organised by the department of Hindi at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, on Tuesday.
Maintaining that Dalits have been speaking for themselves and their community till today, Mr. Limbale said everyone had to speak for the rights of Dalits. “The fight to end caste system and caste-based discrimination should continue. It would not end, if the fight is being waged by Dalits alone. It should be a common fight that should be undertaken by all,” he said.
Winner of the Saraswati Samman in 2020 for his book Sanatan, Mr. Limbale said it was painful to see that such a fight was not taking place in society. “The issue faced by Dalits is political. Mahatma Gandhi spoke for Dalits and placed his perspective on Dalits as a political question. Except for Gandhi, no other leader in India has made the Dalit issue a political question,” he said.
Mr. Limbale said caste had spread its claws deep into national politics after Independence. “It continues to remain a vote bank that has only strengthened over the decades. Caste-based discrimination should have ended long ago,” he said.
