Sub-caste Rivalries and Negotiating Dalit Unity in Varanasi Mandal: Identity Fragmentations in a Monolithic Term ‘Dalit’

Abstract

Socially marginalized and economically vulnerable castes who consolidated for a collective identity and face similar discriminations are known as Dalits. They have asserted for decades to gain social and political upliftment in the mainstream society. This article is part of my PhD thesis, which is based on the narratives collected while having extensive conversations with the local people from two villages, each of Varanasi Mandal (Varanasi, Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Chandauli), based on the conglomeration of multiple castes. The politicization of caste identities has distinctively affected the varied caste groups across regions. The lower caste groups who have benefited from the affirmative policies are among the creamy layer and thus do not allow other marginalized sub-castes to benefit in the same way, thus leading to the formation of sub-caste identities and fragmentations in the monolithic term ‘Dalit’. This article considers three castes, that is, the Chamar, the Dhobi and the Musahar.