To Haati Chai & to Everyone Else: Pass the Goddamn Mic!

Kamna Singh

PASS THE GODDAMN MIC!  

I ended my last post with this statement and I am here to reassert this. The narratives of people from marginalized communities are consistently erased.  

People from Dalit castes have been deliberately silenced for generations and now when they are speaking about their experiences, silencing our narratives and locking us out of the conversation about casteism and oppression is not only problematic but UNACCEPTABLE. 

It is okay to show solidarity and empathise with people from such backgrounds but it is not okay to speak on their behalf. Just like you will not approach a White person to know what feels like to be a Black person or about what is it like to experience the trauma of slavery and the burden of race, you MUST not speak for them or narrate our issues on our behalf. 

You should not be writing about Dalit issues while you silence and ignore their perspectives and lived experience. If you want to come up with a project, DO NOT CAPITALISE, STEAL EXPERIENCES to show how WOKE YOU ARE without having ANY representation from the marginalised group itself.  You must NEVER dismiss the narratives that come from the Dalit community if you are talking about caste issues in any fashion.

WE ARE DONE WITH THE SAVIOUR COMPLEX. 

This post is addressed to every person, platform, and organisation which has at some point of time presented Dalit narratives without including even ONE voice from the community itself. This post is specifically addressed to MEDIA HOUSES and other SOCIAL MEDIA platforms who have tried to defend themselves by saying “OH!, IT IS JUST A BRIEF REPORT”. Even when there are people available to interview and give their perspectives.

More than ten platforms have talked about this in the past two-three days and the voices quoted there are all from the outside. But not even one mentioned how this issue got escalated. 

Please note all of this is happening when several Dalit killings got reported in a short span of four days across the country for reasons like WEARING SHOES, FALLING IN LOVE WITH AN UPPER CASTE, ENTERING THE TEMPLE, HAVING A MOUSTACHE, EATING INFRONT OF AN UPPER CASTE, HAVING A DESIRE TO GET EDUCATED OR FOR SIMPLY EXISTING. AND THIS IS NOTHING NEW. It has always been existing, you CHOSE to keep shut about it. 

LET THAT SINK IN. 

Now imagine appropriating such histories to sell a ring WHICH REPRESENTS THESE NARRATIVES AND NOT JUST THAT BUT GOES ON TO FETISHIZE ON PEOPLE BELONGING TO THE COMMUNITY. ALSO, IMAGINE PEOPLE TAKING AWAY THE VOICES OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND CHOOSING WHAT “ALLIES” ARE SAYING. 

Let me burst your bubble of privilege by saying that CASTE IS MUCH MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EYE. 

The Dalit ring has been in circulation since 2017. There is clear evidence that other people from the Dalit community had alerted this designer that the ring was problematic, but those voices were ignored because they were not upper caste people with influence. Only when upper caste people with influence started taking issue with it, did the designer even consider it as an issue and then made a fake apology which deflected blame and continued to tokenize the Dalit community for profit. And yet again, all the Dalit voices, including mine, were blocked and silenced.

And when the reporters caught wind of this recently, not even a single outlet highlighted Dalit voices, and instead continued to get quotes and centre other people’s perspectives who have no idea about the lived experiences of a Dalit.

FOR PEOPLE FROM THE MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES IT IS EQUALLY HURTFUL. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE WHEN BRANDS APPROPRIATE THEIR STORIES AND WHEN PEOPLE BLOCK AND SILENCE OUR PERSPECTIVES AND FAVOR OUTSIDER’S SPEAKING FOR US – A BRUTAL REMINDER OF OUR CONTINUOUS OPPRESSION.

I CAN SPEAK FOR MYSELF, MY STORY IS IMPORTANT AND I WILL NOT BE SILENT WHEN I AM CONTINUOUSLY SIDELINED EVEN IN MY OWN STORY. 

WAKE UP AND DO BETTER.

Kamna Singh is a research scholar, teacher English literature and is a model. You can write to her at [email protected]