Dalit (English: / ˈdælɪt / from Sanskrit: दलित meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. [1] They are also called Harijans. [2]

Jan 26, 2025 · Dalit, term used to refer to any member of a wide range of social groups that were historically marginalized in Hindu caste society. The official designation Scheduled Caste is the most common term now used in India for people in these groups, although members of the Scheduled Castes often prefer the term Dalit.

Feb 4, 2020 · Dalits, also known as "Untouchables," are members of the lowest social group in the Hindu caste system. The word "Dalit " means "oppressed" or "broken" and is the name …

Dec 20, 2023 · India's 200 million Dalits find themselves among the nation's most marginalised citizens, condemned to the lowest echelons of society by a rigid caste hierarchy. Quotas in state institutions for...

In legal and constitutional terms, Dalits are known in India as scheduled castes. There are currently some 166.6 million Dalits in India. The Constitution requires the government to define a list or schedule of the lowest castes in need of compensatory programmes.

Dalit (from Sanskrit ‘dal’ which means to split, to crack, to break) is the name given to a group of people who have been historically considered outcasts in Hindu societies from South Asia (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh) [source?] and Eastern Africa (Somalia) [source?].

Jun 11, 2018 · Dalit is the word most commonly used for India’s untouchables in the early twenty-first century. Its basic meaning is “broken, ground down,” but “oppressed” is the best translation for its current use. It is a self-chosen word, made popular by the Dalit Panthers in Bombay (now Mumbai) in the 1970s.

3 days ago · Omprakash Valmiki describes his life as an untouchable, or Dalit, in the newly independent India of the 1950s. "Joothan" refers to scraps of food left on a plate, destined for the garbage or animals. India's untouchables have been forced to accept and eat joothan for centuries, and the word encapsulates the pain, humiliation, and poverty of a community forced …

untouchable, Former classification of various low-status persons and those outside the Hindu caste system in Indian society.

Apr 19, 2021 · As a member of the Dalit minority in India, Beena Pallical knows the meaning of descent-based discrimination. The Dalit, commonly known as the ‘untouchables’ in India and other South Asian countries, are born into a lifetime of marginalisation, exclusion and human rights violations.