T he Mahad tehsil, in pre-Independent India, was a part of the Bombay Province and a significant economic centre, providing labour to the industrial sector of the Bombay Presidency. In Mahad, imitation of caste norms led to widespread acceptance of caste discrimination, with high-caste individuals treating Dalits with contempt. Untouchability, a result of casteism, represents systemic social exclusion that reinforces the hierarchical nature of the caste system. In Mahad, the exclusion of Dalits was evident in their denial of access to drinking water from public tanks, such as the Chavadar Tank.

Mahad was a key site for one of India’s first rights movements, which paved the way for human rights discourse and its lessons absorbed in constitutional ethics.

Understanding the legacy

The mov

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