Abstract
Recent Dalit assertion in Punjab ought to be traced back to the Ad Dharm movement of the 1920s, which emerged along with several similar movements in a number of regions in India. The movement aimed at carving out a distinct identity for the untouchables, independent of the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. What made this movement particularly important was its purely low-caste character and the vehemence of its struggle against the structures of social domination. The only movement of its kind in the Northwestern region of the country, Ad Dharm aimed at securing a separate and respectable space for the Scheduled Castes through cultural transformation, spiritual regeneration and political assertion, rather than seeking equality within the Hindu fold. Curiously, this movement, which laid the foundations of Dalit consciousness in Punjab, has failed to gain serious scholarly attention, Mark Juergensmeyer’s pioneering work being the only exception.
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