We are living in a time where the world is now a global village where one can connect with anyone, anytime and anywhere. What is said or done publicly in one corner of the world is perceived by people around the world, and nothing seems to be hidden. In such times as these, we should be very careful with our words and actions if they are offending to a person or a community. 

In some instances, one's customs can be offended knowingly and unknowingly, using a derogatory word or a word that hurts the feelings of other people to the extent that it hurts their self-esteem. Even if they do not intend to offend others, this may happen due to a lack of knowledge, lack of information, or misunderstanding of the social, and geographical history and many other sensitive aspects of the people of a particular region.

“Pariah” is a word that is widely used to denote an outcast or when a person/group is not accepted by society and is shunned by everyone. According to Oxford Dictionary Pariah word is a noun that means an “outcast” and historically it is the name of an indigenous people of southern India originally functioning as ceremonial drummers having a low caste in the community. 

Paraiyar is a caste in Dalit community in Southern States of India who were identified as sub-humans by the Hindu caste system who could not find place in this fourfold caste system. The people of this community are considered as untouchables, not provided access to sanitation, drinking water, Hindu temples and also were not allowed to be educated and were not provided proper jobs.

Thanks to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who was crucial in abolishing untouchability legally in 1950, when India became a republic. However, caste-based discrimination still exists in different forms even in the so-called modern society.

Jean-Antoine Dubois, a French missionary who worked in India between 1792 and 1823 and had a Brahmin-centric outlook, recorded the community's name as Pariah. He described them as people who lived outside the system of morals prescribed by Hinduism, accepted that outcaste position, and were characterised by "drunkenness, shamelessness, brutality, truthless, uncleanliness, disgusting food practices, and an absolute lack of personal honour". Moffatt, Michael who wrote a book on “An Untouchable Community in South India: Structure and Consensus” says this led to Pariah word entering the English language as "a synonym for the socially ostracised and the morally depraved person or people". (Source: Wikipedia). The term is widely considered a casteist slur and as derogatory to Dalits in the Tamil Nadu State.

Despite being rejected and ostracized for hundreds of years, the people of this caste are coming out of the niche of caste system and standing as giants in various sectors. But use of Pariah word to denote outcast or morally depraved person by some individuals knowingly or unknowingly can hurt their sentiment. This word continuously reminds of their low-position in the caste system which is actually a hypothesis and far from truth. 

Even we see our global leaders like Joe Biden, President of United States of America and Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of United Kingdom use Pariah word which is a noun to describe countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia respectively as an adjective while imposing sanctions on these countries. 

In India calling someone from the lower caste as 'Pariah' is abuse and therefore, a criminal offence in India under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine. 

Despite this act very recently one of the Indian political leaders like K Annamalai, former IPS officer and the Tamil Nadu BJP president was criticized for using Pariah word in one of his tweet, who is well aware of Indian society and law. 

So, we request Merriam Webster​, Oxford​, Harper Collins and other English dictionaries to remove the word “Pariah” from their list of words. 

We also request to all the internet search engines to properly display a disclaimer discouraging people in using this word as a synonym to outcast or a morally depraved person. 

We trust that you would definitely consider removing Pariah word from English dictionaries to defend dignity of millions.  In one instance Merriam Webster has changed the meaning of word “Feminity” on the tweet of a writer Ali Steele and not only that you corrected Kellyane Conway, Senior Advisor to Former President Donald Trump regarding the usage of word “Feminism”. 

We hope that Merriam Webster, Oxford, Harper Collins and other English dictionaries would also remove the word “Pariah” from dictionaries and take an initiative for change to defend the cause of millions of Pariayars.