The parallels between Dalit movement in India and US’ Black movement
While tracing the existence of untouchability in Indian social life, Suraj Milind Yengde’s book unveils the caste-based divisions that persist in societies worldwide.
Dalit, in its prevalent meaning, is a caste-specific term of assertion for those once called untouchables and now officially designated the Scheduled Castes. When it first emerged in Marathi in the 1920s, “Dalit”—literally, broken people—was reserved for the untouchable castes, but the word has taken on a wider meaning over time.