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Dalit Oppression and the Clay Cup The term Dalit is an ancient Marathi (a west Indian language) word may be defined as "ground" or "broken to pieces." It refers to people who have been broken, or ground down by those above them in a deliberate and active way. As a result, the word Dalit came to be the definition for a state of degredation. Dalit usually refers to the portion of the population falling outside of the Indian caste society; those who are traditionally known as "outcastes" or "untouchables." Clay cups are commonly used by the establishments in India and are provided exclusively for Dalits. The purpose is to destroy the cup, breaking it to pieces, after each use so that no upper caste customer will ever use it and risk "contamination by a Dalit's uncleanness." Dalit Freedom Network has chosen the clay cup as a visual representation of the Dalits' brokenness and oppression. . |
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