Fleshing Out Identity of Untouchables in Hindi Public Sphere: A Study of Chand’s ‘Untouchable Issue’ (May 1927)

Abstract

This research examines both privileged and underprivileged literati’s views on the representation of Dalit identity in the Hindi public sphere, specifically focusing on the Hindi magazine Chand (May 1927). This article investigates their response to the prevailing caste system and religious conversion portrayed in the Chand. It also inspects the conception of untouchability by examining the role of caste associations and social institutions in colonial North India, shaping Dalit identity. The special issue of Chand Achhut Ank (May 1927) played a significant role in establishing a new cultural identity among Dalits within the broader framework of Hinduism by redefining the problem of untouchability. It is essential to analyse the social discourse on untouchability that brings consciousness among marginalized sections to comprehend their identity. It had generated anxiety and social distress among the educated middle class as was seen in their active engagement in Dalit literary discourse within the Hindi public sphere. Ultimately, it is necessary to comprehend the sociocultural reform movements aimed indirectly to maintain the existing social structure and how it resulted in the anxieties expressed by middle-class intellectuals in their writings. This work goes beyond by comprehensively examining various crucial facets of the farming Dalit identity.