Question

What do you understand by the term ‘Dalit’?

Answer 1

Hint: Mahatma Jotiba Phule used the Marathi word 'Dalit' in the late 1880s. Dalit has regained its pejorative use as a neutral or positive self-identifier and as a political identity, similar to how the LGBTQ movement reclaimed queer as a neutral or positive self-identifier and as a political identity. According to India's National Commissions, the official word for Dalits is Scheduled Castes.

Complete answer:
Untouchable, also known as Dalit, and originally Harijan, is a term used in traditional Indian society to refer to members of a variety of low-caste Hindu groups as well as people who do not belong to the caste system. In the constitutions approved by the Constituent Assembly of India in 1949 and Pakistan in 1953, the usage of the term and the social disabilities associated with it were proclaimed illegal.

Untouchables were dubbed Harijans (“Children of the God Hari Vishnu,” or simply “Children of God”) by Mahatma Gandhi, who campaigned for their freedom for many years. This name, on the other hand, is now regarded as condescending and derogatory. Later on, the word Dalit came to be utilised, particularly by politically active individuals, albeit it can also have negative overtones. The official moniker is the phrase "scheduled caste" which is now widely used in India.

Note: Untouchables were subjected to numerous societal limitations until the establishment of new constitutions in independent India and Pakistan, which rose in severity from north to south in India. They were often segregated in hamlets outside of the town or village limits. They were barred from many temples, most schools, and wells where the upper castes obtained water.