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In the beginning of session, Pratishtha mentioned, “Ever since Dr B R Ambedkar drafted constitution the practice of discrimination is so prevalent in society that intentionally or unintentionally we do somewhere brings in the question about it.” When asked about what lead her towards Dalit rights activism, Kiruba shared, “I was born in a slum and I had seen so much before I could even know the actual society. So these experiences shaped my life. My parents faced so much hardships in their lives that they wanted their children to be educated. Every time a child was born my father would say they would become a professional. My parents had to face struggle for their commitment to give us education with no money.”
Kiruba pointed out, “The sacrifices by my parents gave me a lot of courage. In Madras High Court when I started practicing either I had to choose money or what I dreamt of. I had the liberty to choose what I had been dreaming of. When I took the case of a transgender, the judge had a very prejudiced behavior. He would consider me incapable of arguing for the case. His behavior made me leave my practice and get into the Supreme Court where the environment would be pushy and I would have no other option but to survive.”
Speaking further on the discrimination faced based on skin tone the Supreme Court advocate once said, “This country is racist. The online abuses are on how ugly Dalit women are. Relating us to pigs, buffaloes or things which are dark in color, is common. Because of my dark skin people presume that I belong to SC/ST community and I don’t deserve the privilege that other people deserve. Highlighting the biased attitude in judiciary Kiruba shared, “Every time I was arguing the matter in the court I would be asked to come with better preparation. But I’ve seen many junior lawyers who have come from high profile offices of former judges; there has been a difference of treatment on part of the judges.”
She also highlighted the social inequality in the Supreme Court and stated, “When I started in the SC, a senior counsel from Tamil Nadu did not take me in the court because I went with an open hair that day. For this reason I look dark and don’t appear as any elite. They expect me to come as an ugly person that would suit my social background. And when I violate all it is directed towards bad behavior because of my looks. One senior counsel once told me I’m not suited for the court and I should rather get married, produce children and settle my life with them.” Sharing her story she asserted, “Law profession is already a male dominated casteist profession. Most judges and lawyers come from a very privileged Brahmin dominated caste. And there are very few lawyers who belong to my background. So, we’ve no choice but to practice independently which is being affected due to the racist and casteist attitude of the judges.”
Often isolated by colleagues in SC because of her social identity, Kiruba said, “I’ve been practicing in the Supreme Court for six years now but every day I eat my lunch alone. I have no friends to sit in the canteen. Even during tea time I sit alone in the corridor and all those who would pass by won’t bother to have a conversation with me. This is the kind of treatment persons like me face in and outside courtrooms and even by clients. Because I don’t come from a high profile background so I’m given diverse cases and not criminal cases. There are multiple discriminations that lawyers from Dalit communities face in the courtrooms and outside.”
Kiruba still faces a lot of online abuse for being dark skinned. She said, “Even today dark skinned women are trolled online for wearing western clothes. Independent India is still practicing caste prohibitions. In 2013, I was abused online for wearing sleeveless. Whereas fair skinned women are appreciated for their beauty.” Sharing her sexual harassment experience, Kiruba revealed, “I called out a person for harassment working as a student volunteer in Law College. And when that post became viral the first comment that came was that she’s too ugly to even blame. These abuses are accompanied with my beef eating habit. Since most comments were in Tamil so I came to Tamil Nadu to report my complaint. The inspector and constable were advising me to not lodge a complaint because being a SC lawyer I’ve a reputation and I have to maintain my respect in the society. And they haven’t registered a complaint till date.” She further added, “There have been many Brahmin women who’ve filed a complaint when faced with such situations and police have also taken action.”
Talking about online and offline abuses, Kiruba explained, “Nothing has changed since Independence and since this lockdown there has been innumerable caste based discrimination which can’t be reported even. Even if the victim is willing to report, most of the police force is deployed in maintaining the lockdown and other pandemic related emergency tasks. Online space has actually enabled perpetrators for frequent caste based discriminations. If you block one account they will block another account, if we report we’ll get the response that this is within social media platforms.” Pointing out at the socio – political aspect, the SC advocate shared, “These are sensitive times where the BJP has been trying to influence the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections. We like it or not, they own the media houses. We’re in a very dangerous era where we’ve to choose between democracy and our personal lives. Fascism is prevailing all over the world. The Internet and smartphones have given everyone to exert caste violence. Derogatory and casteist slurs are available online on a day to day basis.”
Kiruba feels although social media enables the Dalits to raise their voices, it also encourages online violent behavior. She stated, “Despite the upper caste dominance in mainstream media houses, social media platforms are the only medium where we can raise our voices. I have raised funds for Dalit manual scavengers and students through my tweets. Social media is a powerful platform where you can have your own network. But the only disadvantage is when you’re abused no one will come and support you.” Kiruba further added, “If Dalits are not taking part in social media platforms then we’re doing injustice to ourselves by letting the casteist forces to become more powerful which will be a disadvantage for us.”
The SC lawyer feels the need to bring an international law against online abuse. She opined, “UK government brought a law criminalizing forced marriages and honour killing and in India we have not been able to bring a law on even honour killings. The migrant Tamils have been practicing serious caste discrimination among the Indian communities. In Malaysia there’s a neighborhood for a particular caste. In the US also there’s an only Brahmin neighborhood for that country’s internal peace. In the UK and Netherlands if a non-Brahmin is not allowed to be a priest in a Hindu temple, they can register a complaint there. According to Kiruba, “It’s becoming a global issue. There should be an international IT law which would govern online violence.”
The lawyer – activist feels the law and order needs to be implemented more seriously by the government. According to Kiruba, “India has all the power to handle online violence but it’s the willful commitment that matters. Our constitution says ‘Right to Life is Right to Dignity.’ But the law enforcement agencies do not even know what dignity is?! So, the only way forward is to bring more stringent provisions on online violence.” She further added “The government’s duty is to protect me from anyone who could violate me on the basis of what I post online. IT law is a powerful act but the government of India is not using it enough. Celebrities supporting Black Lives Matter do not support Dalit Lives Matter.”
When asked about inspiring leaders to use twitter for social change, she mentioned, “We need to raise our voices. Our voices will be dumped if we don’t come online.” Pratishtha also opined, “We need more people to come forward to raise the issues for discussions. Be it young leaders or experts. This needs discussion and focus.”