Journal of critical reviews 651 Journal of Critical Reviews ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 4, 2020 Review Article DEFIANCE AGAINST THE ODDS: AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF SHARANKUMAR LIMBALE’S HINDU Yash Raj 1* , Dr. Siva Nagaiah Bolleddu 2 , Dr. P Venkata Ravi Kumar 3 , Kola Aravind 4 Dept. of English, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (Deemed-to-be University) Vaddeswaram, Guntur – 522502 Corresponding Author Email Id: itsyashraj@gmail.com Received: 19.12.2019 Revised: 21.01.2020 Accepted: 24.02.2020 Abstract Dalit women are awfully susceptible to violence mainly by the people from higher strata. Due to patriarchal status it effectively legitimizes upper caste men’s exercise power and force over women from lower strata. Exercise of power to dominate women is explicitly manifested in their attacks on Dalit women. The paper showcases not only the weaker side of the women but it also focuses about the upsurge from the women. Key words: - Untouchability, Dalit revolution, Dalit literature, gender, patriarchy, domination, societal hegemony, protest, freedom, respectability. © 2019 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.04.122 INTRODUCTION Before discussing about the major theme that I want to bring to the fore through this paper which is the situation of female character in the select text who belongs from lower caste, it is imperative to discuss in brief about the term Dalit and Dalit literature as it will help us to understand the paper in a better way. The word ‘Dalit’ symbolizes the pain and sufferings of people from lower caste which is inflicted upon them at the hands of upper caste people. Broadly speaking, the word ‘Dalit’ is a political term coined by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar which symbolizes the relatively new identity of a group of people who were earlier known as untouchables. Untouchability is the result of casteist society which differentiates people on the basis of their birth and religion. Untouchability is a hurtful social practice which was abolished when the Indian Constitution came into effect in 1950. In spite of its legal abolition, untouchability continues to be practiced in different forms and degrees in almost all parts of India even today. Thus, the term Dalit clearly suggests that caste as a social system is still prevalent in India. Dalits are struggling hard to reclaim their human dignity and self- respect. The etymology of the term ‘Dalit’ can be traced to the root word ‘dal’ in Sanskrit, which means to crack, split, be broken or torn. It was Jotibarao Phule, one of the pioneers of the non- brahmin movement in Maharashtra, who was supposed to have used the term ‘Dalit’ to describe the condition of the outcastes and untouchables as oppressed and exploited who were not treated well by upper caste people. After Phule, B.R.Ambedkar, the leader of the Dalit movement used this term in his Marathi speeches and in his writings. Ambedkar took the fight one step further by making it a national issue and dedicated his entire life to fighting against it. Whenever and wherever he smelt exploitation, he raised his voice against it. Ambedkar rejected the claims made by brahmins that the caste system was divinely sanctified by the gods. Instead, he offered new interpretations of these Hindu texts based on historical evidence. Ambedkar in his famous book, The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchable? (1948), states that the untouchables at one point of time belonged to Kshatriya communities. Since they carried out menial and manual labor, they were looked down upon by the brahmins, and were relegated to the margins and became the untouchables. Thus, Ambedkar’s life-long struggle was to fight against caste system to build an egalitarian Indian society. With the rise of Dalit movements across the country and the emergence of Dalit literature, Dalits started to protest against all the oppressions that they were facing. They became more organized and came together to demand their rightful place in Indian society. An early example of this was seen in Maharashtra when Dalit activists and writers came together in 1972 to launch a united Dalit movement famously known as the Dalit Panther movement. J.V.Pawar, Namdepo Dhasal and Raja Dhale were the founder- members of the Dalit Panthers. With the formation of Dalit Panthers the term ‘Dalit’ became commonly used in the public sphere, first in Maharashtra and later all over the India. Babasaheb has a definite life- affirming and realistic position on literature. Babasaheb believed that literature should not only promote social and human progress, but also foster values. A literature that supports inequality is not only unacceptable to him, in his view; there must be a mass movement against such literature. He took the position that literature must enhance equality and destroy inequality. Dalit literature conferences began to be held from 2 March 1958. Dalit literature has evolved through events such as Buddhist literature conferences, Dalit theatre conferences, Dalit literature conferences, Asmitadarsh festivals and many such more programs. Since the 1970s number of writers in the different genres from Dalit communities in various Indian states have been producing literary works which is enlightening and awakening people belonging from all the communities. These are broad themes which accommodate many other thematic categories Dalit writers are concerned with. SPEAKING ABOUT THE TEXT The novel which I have selected for the study incorporates the aforementioned themes and the same have been dealt lucidly. Sharankumar Limbale’s Hindu reflects modern conflicts in India. Hindu (2010), is set in a village in Maharashtra where Panchayat elections are due. Influenced by the new Ambedkarite jalsa, Tatya Kamble portrays the Dalits’ role in their own enslavement. Dalits stand up for their self- respect and turn to political participation. Under the rules of reservation of seats in politics, the post of the village sarpanch falls to their share, and a Dalit candidate is successfully fielded by his upper caste employers, leaving the upper castes frustrated and angry. What happens to caste relations, the new political consensus that emerges slowly, if violently, are delineated perceptively.