“My Land is Like My Native Family”: HRI Grant Recipient Studies Land Rights for the Indian Dalit Community
The 240 million Dalits in India make up one of the largest marginalized communities in the world. Formerly known as the “untouchable” population, Dalit people are embedded in the lowest echelons of South Asian societies. The majority, around two-thirds of rural Dalits, suffer from historic landlessness and forced dependency on landlords, rendering them vulnerable to violent crimes such as murder and sexual assault. Chronic landlessness has exacerbated a variety of injustices and inequalities that impact all areas of Dalit life, including access to education, healthcare, and upward mobility, and most importantly, dignity.
Vishal Jamkar, a PhD candidate at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs (HSPA), has undertaken a bold research project to tackle the issue of landlessness in the Indian Dalit community, with the guidance of Professor Ragui Asaad (HSPA) and Professor Milind Awad of the Campaign for Human Rights India (CHR) and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His research project, titled, “Land Rights as Human Rights: Struggles and Resistance of Landless Dalits in India,” is supported by grant funding from the Human Rights Initiative (HRI), a collaborative effort of the College of Liberal Arts and the HSPA promoting interdisciplinary engaged research and teaching in the field of human rights. With HRI backing, Jamkar seeks to illuminate the devastating effects that inequitable land access wreaks on lower-caste communities— while also critically analyzing how grassroots anti-caste movements contest and reimagine land rights.
The Ties that Bind People and Land
Widening global land inequality and insecure land rights leave one-third of the world’s population vulnerable to dispossession. However, India is unique: “No other country has 120 million people– two third of rural Dalits– who are landless because of casteist practice,” says Jamkar.
While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) considers access to land to be covered under property rights, there is still no codified universal right to land in international human rights law. Jamkar aims to embed land rights as human rights. “Land is not only an economic term,” Jamkar states firmly. “We are related to land; land is a source of dignity and self respect. And marginalized communities have been robbed of this for centuries. Having access to land for marginalized communities equals having agency and the ability to assert their voices. Even marriages happen based on how much land one has.” Besides an intergenerational effect, land has a deeply gendered impact. “What I’ve found in the field is that women from marginalized communities and even the upper castes have a unique relationship to the land,” Jamkar reports. “Many women have said to me, ‘My land is like my native family. When I have altercations with my husband, it is the land where I go to cry and shed my tears.’”
The urgent need to reshape our limited understanding of land use and access holds particular meaning for Jamkar, who comes from a lower-caste Dalit community. “I used to see my upper-caste classmates talking about their land and visiting their agriculture field. I used to ask my mother and father, ‘Where is our land?’ I wondered, ‘Why does my community not have land?’ What I’m doing through my doctoral work is finding answers to my own questions that I have been carrying with me since my childhood.”
“A Turning Point”: Receiving HRI Grant Support
When he started graduate school, Jamkar knew that he wanted to explore the intersection between land and caste. His desire to conduct fieldwork increased the size and framing of the research, necessitating additional support and resources. “The Human Rights Initiative mini-grant was a huge turning point in my research,” says Jamkar. “For a grad student, $10,000 is a very significant amount.” With HRI funding, Jamkar traveled to India for fieldwork. Critically, the HRI mini-grant also opened up pathways for other valuable funding avenues. “Once I had that support, I had the opportunity to apply for more grants. I was able to receive another prestigious grant for doctoral students doing research in India,” he says. “It all started with HRI funding, and I am so grateful.”
With support from HRI funding, Jamkar studied the Dalit land rights movement in western India, Manavi Haqqa Abhiyaan (Campaign for Human Rights). The founder of the movement, the iconic Dalit activist Eknath Awad (1956-2016), would often appeal to the dignity of his brethren with his fiery speeches: “If you can’t be the master of your landlord, it is alright; stop being their slaves.” The movement operated on the dual principles of the annihilation of caste and economic empowerment of landless Dalits. In short, land rights should not only be honored because land is a source of livelihood for marginalized communities, but also because it is a source of dignity and emotional support. Jamkar is using this research to inform policymakers how grassroots movements' broader definition of land should be considered to advocate for land rights as human rights.
One of the major achievements to come from the months of ethnographic research and archival work is a repository of photos, videos, long interviews, and paper archives that will remain available for future study. The materials in this collection are an essential addition to anti-caste work, providing a database of resources that can be used to advance the Dalit land rights movement in the future.
“The Opportune Moment”: Institutionalizing Land Rights as Human Rights
As Jamkar’s work takes off, with several international actors and donors sitting up and taking notice, he intends to keep reaching out to his community amidst his efforts to implement anti-caste-focused policy reform. “Something that started with $10,000 is going to go a long way,” he says with a smile. “The things that I’m sharing at different conferences and with various funders are receiving support.” When considering the future, Jamkar knows that anti-caste advocacy will remain the core tenet of his work. “Publishing evidence for the policymakers and theorizing on these issues is something I am very excited about,” he says. “Recently, we have written a policy brief on why land rights should be seen as a human right. We are pitching it to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNCHR). This is a very opportune moment.”
As the push to re-think the meaning of land gains traction in the international human rights field, Jamkar’s work on land rights for marginalized and lower-caste communities will undoubtedly provide a vital point of reference and inspiration for decision makers and human rights advocates alike. Meanwhile, his research invites us all to take part in advocacy efforts in our own small ways. By reflecting on the challenges faced by the Indian Dalit community, we might better understand the significance of the land beneath our own feet—a source of life, freedom, and dignity.
