Dalit History Month: When Assertion Challenges Erasure

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), whose books are followed across the country in thousands of schools, continues to erase caste related content including poems on Dalit movements, excerpts from Dalit writers, sections highlighting caste discrimination and marginalization from their textbooks. Reminds me of an article that I had written for The Print in 2018 titled “Dalit history threatens the powerful. That is why they want to erase, destroy and jail it”.

Having studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya (where I spent the first ten years of my education) which predominantly follows the NCERT textbooks, I struggled to identify and relate myself or my community with the history taught in the school.

As a person born and raised in a household that followed the teachings of Ambedkar and the Buddha, I felt uncomfortable with the complete erasure of the struggles and resistance of our ancestors against thousands of years of oppression. Being a researcher and a trainer, my journey has been to constantly unearth and look for stories that have not been written down in the books. This journey got a shape and direction when a group of us (young Dalit women) initiated Dalit History Month inspired by Black History Month to celebrate, reclaim and own our stories of resistance and resilience.

Dalit History stands tall and long for anyone to erase. It gives hope and strength watching more individuals, groups, institutions and universities join every year to honor Dalit History Month across the globe.

“No matter how hard you try to erase our history and glorify your oppression, we are here to tell our stories of resilience even louder and with greater intensity.”

Wishing all community members, Ambedkarites, anti-caste individuals and groups, movements, campaigns a very Happy Dalit History Month.