Manifold Forms of Oppressions: Reading select short stories from Poisoned Bread

In the hierarchical order of the caste-based Indian society Dalits are placed at the bottom and so they are deprived of the equal opportunities and rights enjoyed by the dominant upper caste people. Indian caste system has made them untouchable and compels them to remain silent and subjugated only to maintain the controlling power of the upper caste people. But the degree of oppression of the Dalit women is more intense than the Dalit men. If the causes of the Dalit men’s oppressions are caste and class, the issue of gender discrimination is added in the case of Dalit women. They are oppressed not only by the upper caste people but they are also subjugated by the Dalit men of their own community. So in every sphere of life the Dalit women have to remain silent to claim their rights. Their exploitations and sufferings are portrayed in Dalit literature. In the selected short stories published in the anthology Poisoned Bread (2009) edited by Arjun Dangle, the picture of their social exclusion is vividly portrayed. Dalit women are treated by both of the societies, Dalit and upper caste, like less than human. The present paper would like to look back at manifold forms of oppressions faced by the Dalit women of Indian society.