(Image source from: indianexpress.com)

Rajasthan school education department decides to remove the word ‘Harijan’ from the names of 62 government schools.

The word Harijan became a part of the schools of Rajasthan as suffix and prefix mostly because of the locations of the schools in places like Harijan Basti and Harijan mohalla.

The word Harijan is used to identify the scheduled castes and became a part of these schools’ long back.

The primary education department has asked these schools to send the details along with the new names which have the locality such as sector, ward, or revenue names instead of something like Harijan Basti.

In September last year, the education department had asked the district officers to compile the list of such schools which have Harijan in their names and also asked to send the revised names.

The government had noticed that the name Harijan has been included in the names of schools after the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The government has deemed the word unconstitutional and said that it has negative connotations in an order it submitted to the Supreme Court.

A central government’s order also described the usage of this word in school names as derogatory.

Now, a fresh order from the Rajasthan government has asked for the details of such schools again so that the changed name can be registered in various records.

The new order from the Rajasthan government is also expected to serve as a follow up to check if the schools had really changed the names in accordance with the guidelines issued.

The word ‘Harijan’ has been coined by Mahatma Gandhi which also reads as ‘People of God’. The word was coined to identify the untouchables in 1933 but many Dalits then had seen the word to be derogatory.

When untouchability was outlawed in India, the usage of this word by the Indians till now to describe the lower caste communities is still prevalent in many areas of the country.

BJP’s prominent leader of the Scheduled castes said that the word itself is dirty and recommended people to stop the usage.

Some other members of the scheduled castes say that the word referred to monkeys, the children of Hanuman.

However, BJP Minister Maurya asked that if Harijans alone are the children of God what about the rest of the people in the country.

In early 2018, the central government too asked the state governments to avoid using the term in its official documents while representing the scheduled castes.

Mahatma Gandhi used to say that till the untouchability is completely abolished in the country, the use of this phrase to protect the dignity of the scheduled castes is required.

By Gayatri Yellayi