Dalit History Month: How Indians are using social media to raise awareness

Since April 1 Instagram almost feels like a research journal of Dalit history DalitAmbedkarite and Bahujan artists have been posting their own anticaste work as well as that of their peers All in a bid to document what todayrsquos youth from the community have to say about whatrsquos going on in the city state and countryA significant chunk of contributions have come from artists based abroad who have posted art to honour their people in the homeland urging them to keep fighting the good fight Interestingly April has always been a significant month for the community anticaste icons and social reformers Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar April 14 1891 and Jyotirao Phule April 11 1827 were both born this month However the call to action in 2015 was born out of the heartache experienced by Dalit women activists living in the US where they were inspired by the Black History Month observed in FebruaryArtists like Rohini Bhadarge have been putting out their art on social media and want to contribute to the DalitAmbedkarite movement by documentating their own struggle PicAnurag AhireWe ask Shrujana Niranjani Shridhar an artist and illustrator who goes by the handle srujangatha on Instagram why she thinks it originated outside the country ldquoThe women probably felt that they needed to stay connected to their roots and go beyond just that They recognised the need to document and build an archive of our lived experiencesrdquo she saysShrujana who is now pursuing a Masters degree in New York was one of the first to interview the collective of women Christina Dhanuja Thenmozhi Soundararajan and Maari ZwickMaitreyi who started the hashtag DalitHistoryMonth on social media ldquoIt is amazing how the movement has gone beyond the superficial it has become a living breathing thing now Itrsquos something else to see how we are talking about our history through multidisciplinary art across the world and of course our homelandrdquo she addsPercy Kakirsquos bookSo why is documentation via artmdashbe it a painting play or an illustrationmdashso important for the community ldquoBecause our art has been hijacked for far too long plays are written and performed about our story paintings are made awards are won for telling our stories But now we are finally telling the storiesrdquo says Rohini Bhadarge who is pursuing her Masters in Fine Arts at the JJ School of Arts The 25yearold multidisciplinary artist nili_chimani pulls no punches and her unapologetic rage seeps through the phone call with us ldquoWe do not have a problem collaborating with Savarnas but what todayrsquos Ambedkarites and s are crystal clear about is that you Savarnas will not be our leader Unfortunately this does happen which is why you see our stories are being told by people looking at our experience from the lens of an observer using our tools and our artrdquo she explains ldquoWhich is why I put my work out on social media Here too of course we have to make sure that our rage is not in your face But at least itrsquos been a channel for us to tell our story rather than someone elserdquo she addsOne of the most fearless artists on Instagram is probably thebigfatbao her legal namemdashBao a decision that many from the community take to assert themselves She tells us that trolls have christened her as an ldquoangry personrdquo Bao has been one of the most consistent participants in the movement posting an illustration every day in April for the last five years This year she embraced her anger through a series that documents the rage of Dalit Bahujan Adivasi and Vimukta denotified and nomadic tribes women She kicked off the series on the first day with an illustration of Nangeli a woman who cut off her breasts to oppose the breast tax imposed on Adivasi women in what is now Travancore ldquoI try to talk about and illustrate all the women whom I have learned a lot from whom I have taken inspiration fromrdquo she saysIllustrations of DBAV women by the artist BaoldquoNobody likes an artist who expresses rage The world expects us to be extremely sanitised in our approach and output I didnrsquot know what to do with all of this anger I have So I chose to present these women on matchboxes which for me symbolises firerdquo Bao saysActivism through art can often result in shadow bans or limited reach for artists on Instagram ldquoI have never felt that social media is a conducive or democratic platform to begin with Itrsquos specifically meant for the urban elite Englishspeaking peoplehellip In the Indian context anticaste work is very dangerous we have to censor ourselves a thousand times before we even post something It does bring us visibility but itrsquos not a source of income for most of usmdashcommercial work is very difficult to come by when you are a political personrdquo she addsPercy Kaki and VamsiFor the community itrsquos more about making the best of social media Take documentary filmmaker Somnath Waghmare a mill workers son who has documented stories from the DBAV community such as witchhunting in the Adivasi community or the the annual gathering at BhimaKoregaon or his 2023 movie Chaityabhumi that is being released on the OTT platform MUBI on MondayWaghmare while familiar with the pitfalls of social media chooses to look at the good such platforms can do ldquoThe Internet is democratic and has given voice to the marginal media The mainstream has had to wake up and listen because of the Internet They had to write about it because it was being discussed on various platforms The Guardian UK news publication wrote about me and soon the Indian mainstream media had to followrdquo he saysThis is also one of the reasons why his movie has been picked up by an OTT platform ldquoItrsquos one of the first documentaries which is about the Dalit conversation through and through going to release on MUBI Therersquos no roundabout approach to caste in it this is a testament to the fact that we are heading to a time where our stories are going global The world will come to know that Bollywood has zero diversity and the industry is headed for a reckoning globally where the lack of representation in our art and movies will no longer go unnoticedrdquo he addsFor many like Bengaluru theatre artist Vamsi visibility is why he posts his work on social media ldquoI am doing this so that I am heard I am seen and people like me are heard and seenrdquo he tells us his voice radiating anger ldquoArt reflects oppressive structures When people talk about caste it is always about somebodyrsquos death or some violent brutality Therersquos no conversation around emotional violence Irsquom much more interested in articulating the fact that we have happiness and joy and celebrate toordquo he saysldquoSocial mediardquo he says ldquoallowed us to connect Someone like Bao sitting in Mumbai is able to not just interact with me but we can learn work and build together Every other institutional space are gatekept by savarnasrdquo he addsVamsi has announced that he will be launching his play Star in Sky on Instagram srivamsimatta on April 26 The play is inspired by Aakasam Lo Oka Nakshatram a Telugu story penned by M Suguna Rao on the life and death of Dalit scholar Rohith VemulaVamsirsquos set designer Percy Kaki percykaki is a trained architect and a multidisciplinary artist who is working on a photobook about the coverage of the DABV community in newspapers Kaki and Vamsi too connected via Instagram The gateway to forming connections is a boon but the price these artists pay is high ldquoI am facing a social media burnoutrdquo says Kaki ldquoTherersquos a lot of pressure to keep posting to ensure visibility and followers It feels like we are constantly performing online You always have to put yourself out there make yourself marketable but also ensure political correctnessrdquoThe upside The recognition and work ldquoMost of my work comes from social media People call and message asking me to take up projectsrdquo she addsEvery DBAV artist believes in the power of social media when it comes to the documentation of their collective lived experience But Shrujana questions if the reason Dalit History Month predominantly exists online is because most of the youth in the community have no offline organisations left to turn to ldquoThe Dalit Panther movement 1970s80s was heavily monitored and its leaders were closely watched thatrsquos how they powers that be were able to slowly eradicate their presence So the youth from the community used whatever was within their meansmdashthe Internet and social mediamdashto organise and connectrdquo Shrujana explains ldquoWe are seeing events screenings all through Europe and the US Back home as well we are seeing this wonderful documentation online But for most of us the question now is how to take this effort offline How should we make this something tangible and bring in true changerdquoThese are tough questions for the future of the movement For now though Shrujana recognises the impact it has on young community members who may feel alone or vulnerable ldquoWhen I see young AmbekaritesDalits assert their identity through art it feels like a warm hug from the communityrdquo2015The year in which Dalit History Month was foundedThis Dalit History MonthWhats happening in the online world1 Stream the documentary Chaityabhoomi that talks about reclaiming public spacesmubicomeninfilmschaityabhumi2 To watch for free log on to YouTube Dr Ambedkar Thoughts Movement ATM NetworkDrAmbedkarThoughtsMovement3 Delve through multiple resource materials from articles to podcastsLog on to velivadacom4 This one is for the readers Mavelinadu is a publication house and cultural platform with its pilot project being a magazine that will publish the work of marginalised caste creators both digitally and in printmavelinaducollectivecomOfflineFind Ambedkar in DharavigohalluhalluApril 14 marks a convergence of Ambedkar Jayanti and Tamil Puthandu the Tamil New YearOn this powerful overlap come to witness the culturalpolitical unityRegister at httpsformsgled8rHAyZGs1hxQXhE9atOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params