Who All Are Labours and Why Are They So Powerless?

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the most anonymous section of the Indian society—Dalit labours. In addition, we deal with the most important question of whether the informal labouring sector consists of a majority of Dalits or not. While sticking to the basic definition of ‘Dalit’ From Untouchable to Dalit by Eleanor Zelliot in which she defined the consciousness developed into the minds of marginalized people for their rights, we ask whether Dalits really have sovereignty of their own thoughts. Or, they are the passive victims of the society. While dealing with the same question, we highlight the sub-caste stratification within the Dalits, and within the sub-castes, there is a hierarchy of class and an urge to be strong in the Brahmanical idea of superiority. We have taken three scenarios for this—Dalit indentured migration, Dalit partition refugees and Dalit labour migration during the tumultuous times of the COVID-19.

Keywords

Dalits labour indentured partition refugee COVID-19 corona migration

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