Feminism in India has largely been shaped by elite, urban, u

Feminism in India has largely been shaped by elite, urban, upper-caste women. But for Dalit women and Adivasi women, survival has always meant working in the fields, on construction sites, in farming, and in households. Their struggles were never given the dignity of being called “feminism.” This is Savarna feminism, a feminism that thrives while ignoring the very women who face the harshest forms of patriarchy, caste oppression, and class exploitation combined. Even today, upper-caste women enjoy the rights and freedoms that came through Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Hindu Code Bills, yet his name is erased from their narratives. They rarely acknowledge his role in shaping women’s rights in India. At the same time, these women are often complicit in caste-based violence and exploitation against Dalit women, whether as employers of domestic workers, as landlords, or as silent gatekeepers of privilege and “respectability.” True feminism in India cannot ignore caste. True gender equality cannot exist without intersectionality. Without Dalit and Adivasi women at the center, feminism is not liberation, it is only privilege rebranded. —