Dalit Movement in Karnataka: An Overview

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The present treatise on Dalit Movement in Karnatake was chiefly based on secondary source and which was substantiated by empirical study. It focussed mainly to bring into the various aspects of Dalit Movements and their organisation. It becomes a written document which in primarily intented to help and inspire young scholars and government officials to initiate further studies at the local, state and National levels in order to understand the basic tenent of social agony and grievances which in turn will help for initiating any proper will development programme among them.

S. G. Morab (b. 1932) joined Anthropological Survey of India in October, 1959 at Central Regional Centre, Nagpur. He had the good opportunity of working under the personal and professional guidance of eminent scholars like Prof. Nirmal Kumar Bose, Prof. S. C. Sinha, Prof. A. K. Danda and Prof. P. K. Misra. He was awarded Ph.D. degree form Ranchi University under Prof. L. K. Vidyarthi. He has published three monographs viz. (i) Chamundesvari Temple in Mysore City, (ii) The Solige of Biligiri Rangan Hills and (iii) The Killekyathe: The Nomadic Folk Artists of Northern Mysore and published several research articles in various reputed journals. He is superanuated as Superintending Anthropologist during 1990 from the Southern Regional Centre, Mysore.

Since I joined the Anthropological Survey of India, in 1959, I have been working, chiefly on communities of weaker sections and Scheduled tribes. Thus, I had grown up with the problems and prospects of 'Dalits' in a limited broader sense of the term. In fact, when one saw the problems of the 'Dalits', in a definition to describe the "untouchables" and "oppressed classes" some kind of differential perception is needed in order to understand their socio-economic secnario. Mean- while, the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti had come to stay and its impact was growing day-by-day. I was very much interested in reading Kannada literature, especially on the Dalit and Bandaya. With all these fectors added, I had a stimuli to make a study on Dalit Movement. Fortunately for me, I was given a Senior Research Fellowship by the Anthropoligical Survey of India and I found it a godsent opportunity to take up a project on the subject of my interest though the time for this particular project available for me was only 15 months, i.e., from March, 1993 to July, 1994.

It is common knowledge that as one goes by the enormous literature that exist in social science research, the studies concentrated on caste, kinship, family and village in the case, specifically of Sociology whereas the focus of attention was, by and large, on tribes in the case of Anthropologists. This does not, however, mean that there were not studies across the disciplines of Sociology and Anthropology. After Indian Independence, and during 1950-60s, the emphasis shifted to the processes of social mobility, socio-political movements etc. due to the changing scenario in socio-economic development and in political interactions. Even while studying villages, tribes or castes, the aspects of mobility and movements among the different segments of Indian society were emphasized.

The focus of sociological and anthropological studies was turned to social movements during 60s and onwards, laying specific stress of inter- ethnic relations and processes of socio-cultural and political dimensions and numerous studies on this subjects were published by eminent scholars in Sociology and Anthropology. Surveys on social science research show the wealth of literature existing on the subject of caste, tribe and village, and also on a few significant studies on social movements. The subject of social movements, especially of castes and classes, finds its priority among Sociologists, and that also with reference to Maharashtra, the reason being the impact of late Shri Jyotiba Phule and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's ideological thought an caste, and Delits' liberation, and also due to the emergence of republication and Dalit Panther Parties.

**Contents and Sample Pages**