Dalit Is a 'Proper Noun', Not an 'Adjective': Prof Gopal Guru

The presidential election in the country became a Dalit vs Dalit contest after the Congress-backed Opposition pitted former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar against the BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate Ramnath Kovind. In an interview with NewsClick, Professor Gopal Guru, a political scientist, explains what does the word Dalit means. He says this category (Dalit) is being used as an "adjective" instead of "proper noun". It is a category, a word or a terminology which is very powerful and revolutionary. It cannot be collapsed in government allied categories such as Scheduled Caste or depressed classes. So, it has to be recovered and rescued from all these adjectives to restore its revolutionary meaning which is transformative.