New Delhi: Ambedkarite scholars and activists on Monday opposed the government's advisory to TV channels to shun the term "Dalit", saying the word symbolised not just an oppressed community's pride but its unity and self-assertion.

On August 7, the I&B ministry had written to associations of broadcasters conveying a June 6 directive from the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court asking the government to direct the media not to use the word "Dalit".

Dalit activists believe that the government should challenge such court orders but does not because it fears Dalit self-assertiveness.

Avatthi Ramaiah, who teachers at the Centre of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, underlined that "Dalit" is a generic word that does not distinguish between the sub-castes under the Scheduled Castes.

"The term has the potential to unite all people belonging to the Scheduled Castes under one umbrella, which no government wants. The term is popular all over the world," he said.

'"Scheduled Caste' is a constitutional category while 'Dalit' is a political category signifying oppression and assertion. There should not be any restriction on the use of 'Dalit'. Every government should help the oppressed community come together and deal with their oppression."

Kesav Kumar, a Delhi University professor of philosophy, stressed that the word had provided a "cementing force" to unite an oppressed community and express its anger at an unjust society that follows the Hindu caste system.

A Dalit activist, who has been fighting for reservation in faculty posts at the Indian Institutes of Management, said the word "Dalit" carried a sense of pride among the community.

"The word was evolved when Dalits started the Dalit Panthers Party to identify themselves and assert their voice. Dalit Panthers, Dalit Sahitya, Dalit Ashmita ---- all these expressions create a sense of pride," the activist, who wanted to remain unnamed, said.

"Whatever alternative word is used for Dalits, it will have negative connotations because of its association with the lower caste people."

In April, the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment had written to state governments and other central ministries not to use the word "Dalit" in official communications, provoking furious criticism from activists.

That directive had come after the Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court banned official use of the word in January since it "does not find mention in the Constitution of India or any statute".

Dalit activists and academics had then said the Centre's move stemmed from fear of a word that symbolises oppression, unity and self-assertion and therefore implies the threat of rebellion.

"This ban is part of the Hindutva agenda; we'll resist it," C. Lakshmanan, associate professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, had told The Telegraph.

He had said the government should have challenged the high court order.

Gurinder Azad, a Dalit activist, had said the word "Dalit" suggested that a part of the population was being oppressed, thus implying that another group was the oppressor.

Fellow activist Paul Diwakar had cited how the Khatiks were a Scheduled Caste in Uttar Pradesh but not in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka or Maharashtra. The Mahars are a Scheduled Caste in Maharashtra but not in Madhya Pradesh.

"But 'Dalit' is a common identity," he said.

Vivek Kumar, professor of sociology at the School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the government feared the word "Dalit" because it had the potential to galvanise the oppressed.

"The word 'Dalit' gives a pan-India identity to the community, making it a single homogeneous group, and carries the potential to inspire a national movement, as the Dalits' movement earlier this month showed. The government is scared of this word," Kumar said.

In 1990, too, the Centre had asked the states to use the constitutional term "Scheduled Caste" and its equivalent in other languages but not explicitly banned "Dalit". This order was reiterated in 2012.

Lakshmanan said the Scheduled Castes had themselves coined the term "Dalit" while words such as "depressed classes", "outcast", "Chandal", "Atisudra", "Mlechchha" and "Harijan" were devised by others to describe the untouchables.

B.R. Ambedkar had used the word "Dalit" in a pamphlet in 1936. But the label acquired popularity only after 1972 when the Dalit Panthers of India, a social organisation, mentioned it in its manifesto.

Since then, the word has received acceptance from the Scheduled Castes across the country, Lakshmanan said.

Y.S. Alone, a professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics in JNU, believes that "Dalit" has become a unifying word for Scheduled Caste communities, whether Buddhist or Hindu.

"The word 'Dalit' is used as a cultural term for assertion and change," he said.

Diwakar said: "The official term is 'Scheduled Caste' and can by all means be used in official records but the term 'Dalit' is here to stay."