A Dalit man by the name of Sarvhit Pal Chamar is becoming an inspiration for thousands on Twitter after a video in which he describes why he named his home “Chamar Bhawan” surfaced on social media.
In the two minutes, eleven seconds long video, the man can be seen explaining why he had decided to be proud of his caste identity and not be ashamed of it.
Sharvhit has named his house ‘Chamar Bhawan’ and his son has named made ‘Chamar Bhavan’ the name of their wifi as well. Speaking about why he chose that name, the man said that just like persons from all other religions and castes such as Sikh, Muslim, Brahmin, and Jaats among others were respected in the community and are proud of their caste and religious identities, Chamars should also be proud of their name.
Due to caste discrimination, the word ‘Chamar’ has for centuries been used by members of the upper caste to denigrate the community, so much so that today it amounts to a slur among several sections of society. But Sarvhit wants to change that.
In the video, he urges those with Chamar surname to embrace their caste identity and be proud of it. When asked what his thoughts were on displaying his surname on his home’s facade, Sarvhit said that he that was his name and identity was his source of strength and that he was proud of it.
He went on to give an example of what the word Chamar could alternately mean in English.
“C is for Creative, H is for Honest, A is for Attractive, M is for Mastermind and R is for Responsible,” Sarvhit said, adding that these were the very qualities the embodied the mystic poet Sant Ravi Das.
Why this Dalit man wants to be called "Chamar"?
He named his house "Chamar Bhavan."
And his son named their Wifi Chamar Bhavan.
Listen to full form of CHAMAR. pic.twitter.com/ZkdIxzGMGO— Sandeep Singh (@PunYaab) December 30, 2020
The heartwarming video of the middle-aged man is going viral on Twitter with several netizens praising the man for attempting to reverse years of injustice by reclaiming his own name.
Respect ✊
— jashan (@jashan93083498) December 30, 2020
Proud of you sir for standing up to your beliefs and believing in your self🙏🏻
— Roopa (@Roopa13336731) December 30, 2020
Wow 🙏🏻
I’m sorry about my last post ,this is brilliant !as kids we were taught in society that the word Chamar was to be used as an inflammatory remark.— happinessdoctor (@NATURESMILE101) December 30, 2020
Some even mentioned how the video helped explain – and in turn end – the prejudice against the Chamar community. In fact, using the word Chamar in a derogatory fashion can land one in prison. Using caste and ethnicity-based slurs is a punishable offense under the IPC.
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