Dalit women from various fields gathered at the ‘Dalit Women Personalities Speaks’ event to share their experiences of struggles and challenges they have overcome.
The event which started with conferring the human rights activist 2023 award to Murugan Kanna of Tirunelveli for his contribution in bringing out caste-related violence to the public, was organised by Evidence, a Madurai-based NGO on Saturday.
Speaking to The Hindu, A. Kathir, executive director of Evidence, said the event would be an eye-opener to the audience to know about the struggles the Dalit women overcame to achieve such great heights.
“Unlike the previous years when the organisation and a few experts would be discussing various topics, this year it is only the women who will speak about their experiences they gained through their life,” he added.
Women from politics, education, business, medicine, sports, activism, and others spoke furiously about their battle they fought to win over the discriminations and dominations.
Shalin Maria Lawrence, writer, said, “Many parties in the State advocating for Dalit rights are hesitant to talk about the internal caste politics.”
The politics played by the parties affects women the most who are at the forefront of struggle for food and money, she added.
Thamizhini of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi said that Dalit women leaders should learn to exercise their power effectively as the reservation is only an affirmation of our leaders to the society and that itself is not a success.
“Women leaders should be educated to tackle and win over the challenges and discriminations they face in their own households,” she added.
A professor named Balasundari shared her experiences about getting beaten by the villagers of intermediary castes for wearing slippers in a rally. Remembering the incident, she said, it was the moment she got the determination to pursue education to the highest possible level.
“Working as a professor in a prestigious university is not an easy task for a woman like me from a particular community. I braved various challenges in the form of character assassinations and denial of rights and many things,” she added.
Such struggles motivated her to push many children who were unable to bear the experiences of caste-based discriminations in achieving their goals, said Ms. Balasundari.
She advised the Dalit women to educate themselves and their children against all odds to gain confidence in fighting the social disease called caste.
Many women leaders at panchayat and municipality level shared their experiences in overcoming the entrenched discriminations against them by officials, fellow villagers and other leaders.
“This demotivates us and makes us think at least thrice before taking each step. Each mistake committed by us will reflect on our whole society,” they noted.
