Many accounts are tweeting about #PaatalLok showing the rape of a Sikh woman, from an oppressed caste community, by a Sikh man who strongly identifies with being Jatt. You all seem to disagree with this scene because of it’s ‘over the top’ portrayal of rape (??) without having >>

any real awareness on the lived experiences of the women it happens to. Where is her voice? Did she have one in the show? Upper caste men decided her fate on screen whilst upper caste men continue to debate her representation & portrayal off screen. Do we see the problem?

If that scene shocks you, god help you if you actually study the experiences of dalit women in Panjab or the subcontinent. Rape cases against women from caste communities considered lowly are brutal. How many of those cases are logged? How many await justice? How many are heard?

Is the voice of the women, that so many upper caste men take the liberty of speaking so freely on, frequently heard?? Keep your unsolicited, male-led, upper caste narratives on the projection of Dalit women where it belongs, on the wrong side of the caste debate.

If, however, you want to *genuinely* engage with the discussion on caste & women’s rights & representation in tandem to that, then look to dalit women, allies & dalit historians & writers of caste studies. Informed speakers & researchers of caste are here, if you bother to look!