The students’ movement, AICUF (All India Catholic Universities Federation), follows a philosophy, namely, the society we are born in is not a just society. But we should not leave it as we find it – We should make it more livable for others, where one should find peace and justice leading to harmony in the society.
The word ‘Subaltern’ actually means an officer in the British army below the rank of captain, especially a second lieutenant. In the postcolonial era, the term subaltern implies populations who are socially, politically, and geographically outside the recognized hierarchy of power. Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), an Italian Marxist philosopher and a communist politician, coined the term ‘Subaltern’. And in the 1970s the concept gained currency to identify the social groups excluded and displaced from the socio-economic strata of the society in order to deny their political voices.
There is hierarchy in all spheres and phases of life one encounters: Economically seen – the Have’s and the Have-Not’s, socially perceived – the pure and the untouchable, religiously understood – the faithful and the pagans, politically explained – the powerful and the powerless, industrially differentiated – the affluent and the unserved. But is it so from the beginning? Or, who brought in the difference? Theoretically we agree that all are created the same: Whether the person is white or black based on his/her colour of the skin, the blood is red – There is no green-blood or white-blood or yellow-blood. When a person puts in hard work, whether rich or poor, his/her sweat is salty – Just because someone is a millionaire his/her sweat is not sweet. Similarly, just because some is a pauper, his/her sweat is not salty. But then, there are socio-politico-religious cum economic hierarchies and differences.
You, as experts as well as seekers of solutions, are gathered here to identify the root causes, however subtle they are, and to look for viable solutions. This is the mission, more than 2000 years ago, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus of Nazareth, thundered in the wilderness. He said: Every valley of need should be filled in and every mountain of riches and power should be leveled; winding ways need to be straightened and rough roads should be made smooth so that all humanity will be on the same boat (Lk 3: 3-6) sailing towards progress.
In our context, the subaltern are silenced and there is no one to listen to their cries of need. The political and economic systems, even the academic framework, make the powerful become more powerful and the helpless become more hopeless. Those in political or economic power are either do not understand the plight of the subaltern or they are not capable of taking steps to address their needs. In history we hear of Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France, on the verge of the French revolution, who said: ‘Let them eat cake’, when she was told, the peasants did not have bread to eat. The world is on the fast track of digital race but the poor are there without any food, shelter and rights as well human dignity and today without citizenship as well.
We need to immerse in their milieu. In the novel Deep River (published in 1993), the author Shusaku Endo (1923-1996), describes a young man who seeks peace of mind: He visits churches and monasteries; he meditates in caves and mountains; he moves around half the globe but he is not able to find what he wants. Finally he reaches the river Ganges. As he stands on the bank of the river, he is wondering how people could take the sacred dip in the polluted river and the holy sip of the contaminated water. But someone already in the water below, invites him to come down. With hesitation he goes down and with a feeling of discomfort he stands there in the water. After a couple of minutes, to his own surprise he takes a holy sip of the water. What looked unholy, after his immersion, becomes sacred. You need to become part of the reality or system to understand the intricacy of the actual needs.
Leo Tolstoy in his novel War and Peace would say: “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. For sometime we have used this dictum to benumb the frustration of the subaltern without any concrete action as solution. But we need to do something tangible – Every day matters and every bit of our good work brings effective alleviation to the suffering of the broken and discriminated. In the edited volume Reflections on the History of an Idea, the editor Rosalind Morris has included the essay of G.C. Spivak ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ The speaking has to be two fold: from within and from outside. Those who are oppressed should realize their infinite potential, individual as well as collective. And those who work for their liberation and empowering must become the voice of the voiceless and the address of those who have no identification. In our context, the subaltern are the economically poor, the socially marginalized Dalits and the Tribals, the humanly exploited migrants etc.
Todd Henry in his book Die Empty gives the formula for any development or empowerment. The three-step formula is: Mapping – Making – Meshing. Our strategic planning, scanning through the pros and cons, is the mapping. Our actual steps taken are the making, where our concept becomes concrete action. And networking with like-minded groups and activists is the meshing. If all the three could converge, the economic development and the political empowerment of the subaltern people would emerge visibly and strongly.
A slight modification of Dr Ambedkar’s commandments could be adopted. Instead of Dr Ambedkar’s Educate – Agitate – Organize formula, we could think of Educate – Organize – Agitate. Education imparted to the subaltern, whether formal or social or political, gives them insight. Organizing them brings out the collective strength of them; and then sustained agitation could bring about the desired fruit of empowerment. We could start it, apart from educational institutions, in rural and village scenario. We could start with their getting elected as village Panchayat or Municipal ward members. And they could go up the ladder of political administration. We could bring cooperative systems.
We need to know the subaltern well; we need to understand their pathetic plight; we need to be convinced of their legitimate right for their human dignity and equality; and we need to stand with them on their forward march to freedom and liberation. Their wings of dream and aspiration should be propelled by their individual and collective motivation. And we, as catalysts of change, need to get immersed in their milieu and need. By mere watching their suffering sympathetically and talking with a spirit of solidarity are not going to bring in any change for the better. We need to get into action. As Albert Einstein says: “The world would not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything” – We need to decide whether we are onlookers or whether we are the companions of the subaltern in their combat for meaningful life.
I am sure this national conference on ‘Peace and Justice: A Subaltern Perspective’ would be an eye-opener leading to concrete action plan with realistic timeline. I appreciate the concerted efforts of the Department of Social Work in Loyola College in collaboration with Subalterns’ Alliance for Peace. Wish you all the best.
Francis P Xavier SJ