Caste-based humiliation of Dalit agricultural labourers is a serious issue in India. It has affected not only the socio-economic status of Dalits but also their mental health. It has somehow become the reason for their alcohol and other abusive substance addictions like Tobacco, Bidi, Gutka etc. This humiliation deteriorates their dignity and identity, as they face mental and physical harassment often.
The National Crime Records Bureau’s annual report 2020-2022 Volume II “Crime in India” under the Crime/Atrocities against Scheduled Caste(s) – 2020-2022 highlights that the total number of crimes/atrocities against Dalits, year-wise, has increased from 50202 in 2020 to 50744 in 2021 and 57428 in the year 2022.
To get away with trauma and issues caused due to these humiliations, they start to consume alcohol, as they find no other easy way to cope with this issue. Significant increases in alcohol addiction among Dalit agriculture labourers can be traced back to their socio-economic backwardness. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)’s global multidimensional poverty index (MPI), 2018, every third person belonging to the Scheduled Castes remains poor.
They cannot afford psychiatrists and other means of medical help, so alcohol becomes the easy and prevalently accessible choice. It helps them release or cope with humiliation and trauma. On 10 October 2024, India Today reported humiliation and assault in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. A Dalit man was humiliated by his father and son for demanding his pending wages. The same news was reported by The Hindu, a Bihar Dalit man assaulted, urinated and spat on for asking his wages. This was a police-registered report, we cannot assume how many reports are going unregistered. Sometimes, the oppressed do not report to the police or move the court, as they are often unaware of rules and regulations. This year in June, caste-based humiliation of Dalit labourer was registered in Uttar Pradesh, which was reported by several Indian newspapers.
Who are Dalit agricultural labourers?
Dalit agricultural labourers are the people from the Dalit community who live in rural India and work in the agricultural field of landlords on daily wages. But, if we explore its historical meaning, it differs from person to person and from society to society. Historically, It is debatable as, some historians like Suvira Jaiswal consider Dalits, as those who belong to Shudra varna in the Varna system, but some consider erstwhile untouchables or those who are out of the Varna system i.e ‘Pancham‘ varna as Dalits. For B.R. Ambedkar, Dalits are all those who are victims of caste oppression, economic exploitation and social marginalisation.
India is an agrarian country and most of the economy depends on agriculture. Most labourers, who work in agriculture on daily wage, come from the Dalit and marginalised community, As Census of India, 2011 data shows, 71 per cent of Dalits are agricultural labourers in India. In the histories of feudalism debate, Historians like R.S. Sharma highlight that Dalits are most likely to work as agricultural labourers or landless farmers across India since the early medieval period.
So, Dalits have made a great contribution to the Indian economic system. But, on the other side, they have become a continuous victim of caste-based discrimination, atrocities, and humiliation in the workplace and society.
How does this caste-based humiliation impact their mental health?
According to Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to a standard of living, adequate for their health. But, in the case of Dalit labourers, they get no respect instead they are being abused in society. Caste becomes the biggest hurdle for them to get respect in society and at the workplace. Often, they are disrespected, abused, excluded, and discriminated against because of their caste. This caste-based humiliation, discrimination, abuse and exclusion from society gives them mental trauma.
There are several reasons for this, the most important being that they do not have enough access to healthcare, as per the Untouchability in Rural India survey found that Dalits were denied entry into private health centres or clinics in 21.3 per cent of Indian villages. Research also reveals that healthcare workers do not go into 65 per cent of the Dalit community, thus leaving Dalits without any choice but to go without healthcare.
In today’s world Mental issues have arisen as a severe problem, but in the case of Dalits, it has a magnified effect. Most of them are not even aware of mental issues such as stress, overthinking, etc, due to lack of education and poor access to information. As per the Asia Society Mental Health: The Spectre of Caste | Asia Society people from lowered castes tend to experience depression 40 per cent more than the national average in India. Dalit agricultural labourers’ depression and anxiety relief source is alcohol, not a psychiatrist, as they can not afford treatments and do not have access to healthcare like forward caste people.
Mental issues in itself are very complicated and need an expert to be understood. For poorly educated Dalits, to understand mental issues is like breaking the stone with cotton. They consume alcohol because it gives them temporary relief, and also it is easily accessible. According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) 2019-21, Alcohol consumption is higher in rural India than in urban India. As we know almost 80 per cent of the Indian population lives in rural India, and most of them under alcoholism belong to Dalit communities.
Kalika, a Dalit agricultural labourer from a village in Bundelkhand says, ‘It becomes easy to get a sound sleep at night after a harshly tiring work,’ when asked why he drinks so much. It shows that they are not even aware of mental and psychological issues. They only want a sound sleep and forget their mental trauma by consuming alcohol.
Yet, another reason for consuming alcohol is to cope with problems such as social exclusion, embarrassment, and humiliation felt by them, which is only because they belong to a certain caste. In several places, they cannot become a part of social gatherings or visit temples because of discrimination and fear of humiliation and disrespect, which may increase their mental trauma. In some places, they cannot organise their family functions or social events without the forward caste leader’s or village Mukhiya’s nod. In 2021 Frontline reported, that Dalit elders were forced to prostrate before an Un-constitutional body consisting of so-called forward caste for conducting a temple festival without their permission. For all these reasons, they prefer alcohol for the short-term relief from all mental trauma.
Addiction to alcohol makes their mental health worse.
According to the World Health Organisation, alcohol contains ethanol, a psychoactive and toxic substance, that can make people addicted. Not all, but most labourers drink at night daily to reduce physical and mental stress, but they have no idea of the harm caused by alcohol. As per Mental Health UK, alcohol can sometimes be used to mask or reduce symptoms of mental ill health, which can lead to dependency and cause further mental health problems. According to this report, it can be seen how alcohol is harmful to mental health. As alcohol affects how we feel and think, it can alter our behaviour and increase the feeling of harm. Alcohol can reduce a person’s inhibitions enough for them to act on suicidal thoughts.
Regular drinking is very common among the Dalit agricultural labourers in rural India. The Hindu reports, that one-third of all 2022 suicides were of daily wage earners and farmers, and the most common causes for suicides reported in 2022 were ‘family problems,’ and ‘illness,’ which together accounted for almost half of all suicides in the year; this was followed by ‘drug abuse,’ ‘alcohol addiction,’ etc. All this shows how alcohol consumption led them to alcohol addiction and sometimes became the cause of death.
