Swabhimani Dalit Shakti (SDS), an organization fighting against the brutal caste system in Karnataka, began its work in 2007. Initiated by a small team concerned about caste discrimination, SDS took its first step by documenting Dalit movement in Karnataka.
The team under the guidance of S Sivalingam , who has been in the anti-caste struggle in Karnataka for 25 years, set out to interview Dalit leaders and people involved in anti-caste movements in nearly 12 districts. Besides, few Dalit leaders in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were also interviewed. The organization now possesses a collection of 150Hrs of video recording of more than 200 hundred interviews.
Meanwhile, the team in the name of Ambedkar Study Circle visited villages where caste atrocities were reported earlier. Thereby, the team also took up the first struggle against caste atrocity in Nagamangala in Mandya District. A Dalit family in that village was facing atrocity for three generations and they managed to fight and file a complaint in the nearby police station for the first time in 2007. With the success of the struggle, the Ambedkar Study Circle took the form Swabhimani Dalit Shakti and moved on to take up struggles against caste atrocities and discrimination in districts like Kolar, Chitradurga, Shimoga and Anekal.
