Given different socio-economic structures, and acute landlessness among the Dalits of East Punjab, the agendas of conversion to neo-Buddhism and sanskritisation, the two most popular Dalit social mobility models in India, have failed to strike a cord among the Dalits in this border state of northwest India. But that does not imply that Dalits of Punjab have failed in improving their social status. On the contrary, they have been very vocal in their assertions for social justice and dignity, and pressing for a due share in the local structures of power; a clear indication of a significant surge of Dalit social mobility in Punjab. The question that still remains largely unexplored, however, relates to the patterns of Dalit social mobility in Punjab that have emerged independently of the agendas of conversion to neo-Buddhism and sanskritisation. The study aims to map out the contours of an emerging alternative Dalit agenda in Punjab, which is conspicuous by its absence in existing Dalit studies, and examines its catalytic role in enhancing the legitimacy and effectiveness of increasingly visible Dalit social mobility in the state. The paper concludes by visualising the possibility of an articulation and assertion of a similar alternative Dalit agenda through highly contentious democratic politics in other parts of India, where the archetypical agendas of conversion and sanskritisation have either failed to deliver social justice and dignity or could not simply appeal to the local Dalit population.
目次
Abstract 639 Introduction 640 Conversion and sanskritisation problematique 643 Conversion and sanskritisation in Punjab 648 Buddhist conversion 654 Contours of Alternative Dalit Agenda 658 Caste in Punjab 658 Alternative Dalit agenda 664 Ad Dharm versus conversion and sanskritisation 668 The Ravidass phenomenon and an alternative Dalit agenda 670 Bhakti, social protest and the alternative Dalit agenda 673 The agenda and the resistance 676 Begumpura: Utopia of the Dalit Raj 678 Chiselling the alternative agenda 680 Babu Mangoo Ram Mugowalia: the key architect of the alternative agenda 682 Spiritual regeneration, cultural transformation and socio-economic emancipation 684 Ravidass Deras, alternative agenda and conflict formation 689 Ravidass Deras and a separate Dalit identity 692 Ravidass Deras and conflict formation 696 Conclusion 700
