Yashica Dutt is a New York-based writer covering gender, identity and culture. She was previously a principal correspondent with the Hindustan Times and is the founder of dalitdiscrimination.tumblr.com. Her work has been featured in Vice and HuffingtonPost, among other publications and she's also appeared as a guest on NDTV's Left Right & Center. We spoke to Yashica about her efforts to document personal stories of discrimination against Dalits.

Ms. Dutt, you run the blog called ‘Documents of Dalit discrimination’ (http://dalitdiscrimination.tumblr.com/). What was the purpose of creating this blog? Did you think that other existing platforms did not give you and others contributors a space for narrating these stories?

Documents of Dalit Discrimination exists because I failed to find any other platform to read about daily discriminations and inequalities that still exist in Dalit lives. I wanted to give our stories a safe space, where they are allowed to thrive on their own, just as what they are: real, heartbreaking, distressing stories of injustice. I didn’t want them to be overshadowed by the usual rhetoric of ‘reservation’ and ‘merit’ that has so far existed in the mainstream space. I wanted caste to be talked about as a people’s issue and not JUST as political issue. And most importantly, I wanted to share our pain, with each other and the rest of the country. So everyone can read, understand and feel what we go through.

How was the tragic death of Rohith Vemula a catalyst for this endeavor and your column 'Coming out as a Dalit’ which touched many hearts and went viral in cyber sphere?

Like I have written in my note, I hid my Dalit identity so far. But when I read Rohith’s last note, I felt like it spoke directly to me. Here was a bright, brilliant mind forced to extinguish early because of caste-based injustice. I knew exactly how it must have felt in those moments of hopelessness when one is being singled out just because one decides to not be quiet anymore. And then, when I realized he had tried to reach out to me via a friend request on Facebook, I knew I couldn’t be quiet any longer.

What are you hoping will come out of this effort? Other than documentation of personal stories which no doubt helps individuals who have faced discrimination, are you also hoping for solutions at an institutional level?

“Changes at an institutional level” begin with empathy and sensitization. If one doesn’t even know or understand how drastic certain discriminations can be, how can there be a bigger movement to change the status quo? Rohith’s tragic death, which has forced us out of our inertia, is also a story of discrimination, which echoes the same sentiment as the several stories I have shared through the Tumblr so far.

No one is denying that caste based discrimination did not exist or does not exist still in various parts of the country, but should we not have a conversation around biases and how to resolve them rather than taking a maximalist position on it like you have in this piece? http://www.huffingtonpost.in/yashica-dutt-/so-you-want-to-meaningful_b_9129308.html ?

I strongly disagree! By saying ‘no one’ is denying it, you are speaking for an entire nation. There are SO MANY (and you can check my Twitter mentions for proof) who either didn’t believe or weren’t aware how pernicious this discrimination is. And there are many others out there. And if ‘maximalist’ is a code for an extreme opinion, then, I must point out the erroneousness of that label. Specifically, in the piece you are referring to, where I have addressed things we must consider if we want to talk rationally about caste. It urges the citizens to perform their civic duty in understanding the society they live in and includes points like asking people to realize their own privilege and prejudices (all of which are facts and neither of them, extreme). 

If asking the privileged upper castes to merely acknowledge their privilege is extreme, then I would wonder what the blatant discriminations meted out by educational institutions, like denying students who avail the reservation the access to advisors, should be categorized under? What is in fact, extreme is how this discrimination has been allowed to continue in a society that’s been a republic for 66 long years. I could point out that your question itself, ensconced in the insecurity of being forced to examine your own position in the society, while assuming the NO ONE is denying discrimination, is also an example maximalist opinion and unchecked privilege. We as Dalits don’t have the option to ask questions like are we being maximalist in asking the society to stop insidiously or blatantly discriminating against or killing us. Also, I would like to understand what you mean by resolving biases, when that’s precisely what the article aims to achieve: Resolving the extreme bias that exists against Dalits.

The Indian society is changing and has changed from where it was 50 years ago. While it is true that discrimination exists, it is also true that economic empowerment is changing that albeit at a very small level. India is opening up. Indians are moving around more than they did 50 years ago, lot of engagement between castes is also visible. Does this give you hope? Do you think India will get rid of all caste based discrimination and prejudices in another 50 years?

People are certainly moving around between castes, and there are several positive stories that have emerged from the current discourse too. And of course, not everyone is casteist. In fact, an overwhelming number of non-Dalits have (in the past and even more recently) shown incredible support in addressing and opposing caste-based discrimination. Many are reflecting about the privileges they have inherited from their ancestors, and asking how they can help. The students protesting nation wide in solidarity with Rohith Vemula’s death, are not all Dalit but from a wide cross section of other castes.  But even then, they are the exceptions in a largely caste-discriminating society.

As far as ‘change’ is considered, I would like to point out that I am a storyteller and a journalist. I am highly uncomfortable with making broad statements like if the ALL caste based discrimination in India will disappear in the next fifty years. Which in my opinion, is a statement no one can make. We must take the strictest of measures against discrimination at an institutional level, and against the now-routine crimes against Dalit bodies, like burning of small children and raping young girls (who often don’t even have access to justice, and if they manage to complain, they are told by those in the judiciary to be glad to be raped by an upper caste rapist). And we need the society to think about caste differently. One of the ways that can happen is through a discourse focused on caste and discriminations of Dalits.

How do you view the efforts by Dalit Chamber of Commerce which was recently addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself? As we all know market discriminates against none, certainly not on the basis of caste. Do you think economic empowerment comes first before social empowerment and any economic success will wipe out all prejudices?

The market might not discriminate on the basis of caste (again a broad statement) but those who control the market often tend to. Surveys have repeatedly proven incidents of discriminations in the work place and it remains a fact that Dalits (ones who choose to reveal their identity) who hold top positions in multinationals and as heads of corporations remain shockingly few. So, to answer your question, economic empowerment alone can’t ‘stop’ discrimination unless it’s accompanied by social empowerment. In fact, it’s a crude assumption that wealth/economic empowerment alone will solve issues of shame, and the psychological scars that result from a lifetime of discrimination.

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