On every anniversary of Rohith's murder Brahmins-UCs circulate words from his suicide note. Reminded of Nidhin's excellent essay that sees Rohith's note as inseparable from Dalit-Bahujan histories of reading & writing, always at odds with ours: roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?opti…
"We can ask several sociological & historical questions to a piece of writing– Who wrote it? Who read it? Why & when was it written? Where was it written & read? Who were/was the intended audience? How has it been written? How was it read? In which language was it written? "
"In the case of literature produced in & around diverse Dalit-Bahujan mobilizations, one needs to be mindful that the 'written word' was/is produced by castes and communities who were viciously kept away from formal education & reins of power."
"Does this mean that Dalit-Bahujans have a different history of reading and writing? Yes, indeed. Their history is sharply different (and at odds) with the history of reading and writing among Brahmins and Savarnas."
