Nowhere to Call Home: Dalits, Displacement and the Politics of Being ‘Unwanted’ in Post-Partition South Asia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66871/ihj.v1i1.017الكلمات المفتاحية:
Partition, Caste Politics, South Asia, Displacement, Dalits, Identity, Spaceالملخص
“Space acquires emotional and even rational sense by a kind of poetic process whereby the vacant or anonymous reaches of distance are converted into meaning for us.” This statement by Edward Said underpins an inquiry into the complex interplay between geography, identity and political structures in post-Partition South Asia. This study examines the persistence of caste identities among Dalits in both Pakistan and India, revealing how spatial transformations and historical occupations shape their status despite crossing national borders.
In Pakistan, Dalits — officially subsumed under broader minority categories continue to confront entrenched caste hierarchies despite the Islamic promise of egalitarianism. Their traditional roles as sanitation workers and manual laborers became indispensable in the immediate aftermath of Partition, yet the spatial reconfiguration of refugee camps, urban centers and rural enclaves blurred the boundaries between Scheduled Castes and caste Hindus. These contested spaces reveal the paradox of a society striving for modernity while clinging to age-old discriminatory practices.
Concurrently, in India, Dalits were actively recruited for their historical occupations, a practice that both acknowledged and exploited their expertise in tasks deemed essential to urban infrastructure and public health. However, crossing the border did not liberate them from the weight of caste identity. Despite India’s attempts at social and legal reforms aimed at uplifting these communities, the persistence of traditional roles in both occupational segregation and spatial marginalization have perpetuated their status as an enduring minority.
This study employs spatial analysis and archival research to explore how the reconfigured geographies of Partition mediated Dalit experiences and redefined their socio-political recognition in both countries. Through a detailed investigation of archival sources and policy documents, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how the interplay of space, identity and historical occupation continues to shape the contested terrains of post-Partition South Asia, ultimately revealing how Dalits in both countries were displaced but not desired.
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