Volume 4, No. 10, October 2003

In Netalpur village, just 20 kms from the Guna District Headquarter of Madhya Pradesh, a dalit woman was forced to drink pig excreta dissolved in water after the village declared her a witch...… Report July 22, 03 of The Hindu.

On Aug.13, 03 in Mayawati-land (Mau district) 70 dalits were injured, seven seriously, when a mob of Thakurs fired on them in the course of a struggle over the dalit’s right over a piece of land. Little action has been taken against the Thakurs.

These are just two extreme examples of the daily humiliation faced by dalits throughout the country, particularly in its rural areas. The so-called hi-tech modernity that has come with globalisation has had little impact on caste prejudices. On the contrary the brahminical essence in Hindu fascism (the twin brother of globali-sation), has gone to deepen such entrenched feudal values. ‘Untouchability’, a scourge prevalent in no other country of the world, continues to be deep-rooted. And even where it is apparently not evident, as say in Punjab or in cosmopolitan areas of the larger cities, you scratch the surface and we find it raising its ugly head — some times subtlely, at other times with crude venom. The recent caste riots around Jalandhar are said to be the worst ever reported from the Punjab.

The condition of Dalits is part of an even larger problem of caste-based discrimination. There are roughly 150 million dalits in India, or 14 % of the population. That such a large section of the populace should continue to face the scourge of ‘Untouchability’ is indeed a blot on the country. ‘Untouchability’ is not merely highly undemocratic; it is inhuman, degrading, revolting and one of the most evil practices to be witnessed on this earth. Yet, it does not get the attention it deserves from a sizable section of the progressive forces.

The reason often is that real politics, supersedes principle. With over 70% of the population practicing some form of ‘untouchability’ — though promoted by the upper-castes, it deeply envelops also the middle castes, often the non-dalit lower castes and even in some cases the upper sections of the tribals — it is more convenient to ignore it, in order not to ‘hurt’ upper-caste sentiment. Even the bulk of the revisionist-dominated trade unions, soaked, as they are neck-deep in economism, prefer to ignore it in the name of not breaking working-class unity.

Unfortunately the dalit political elite too, today have become one of the biggest enemies of the mass of dalits themselves, willing to sell their soul for a few crumbs from the brahminical table.

Real politics demands the interests of the 14% minority can be sacrificed at the alter of the majority. That the unity of the dalits and other oppressed castes must be based not only on the basis of some common economic interests, but also on the removal of casteist prejudices, is a matter of little concern, particularly to those in the electoral game, is now common knowledge. Even for those out of the electoral fray, within their unions/organisations, they often tend to compromise with caste prejudices due to difficulties involved in uprooting casteism from people’s (and even activists) thinking and also due to economistic and revisionsitic thinking of the leaders. For decades now, the so-called communists have taken an economic determinist approach to the caste question, pitting ‘class struggle’ (read struggle for partial demands) against ‘caste struggle’, not understanding (or deliberately distorting) the fact that in Indian society caste oppression and exploitation is intrinsically woven into the class struggle for the seizure of political power. Dogmatic and revisionist interpretations of Marxism have caused great harm to the Indian revolution, by not only ignoring (or paying lip-service) to such an abominable practice as ‘untouchability’, but even on most other issues concerning the Indian revolution.

While this is one aspect of the reality, the other is that dalit politics has become a highly salable commodity, to be traded for money, perks, votes, etc. It is lucrative business for a tiny section of this elite, who have gained knowledge, unavailable to their predecessors, and wield it, not for their emancipation, but as a tool to dupe the gullible dalit masses. The numerous outfits literally operate as petty shops dealing in dalit interests in the political super bazaar of India. Such ‘leaders’ are rarely to be found at the spot of atrocities, but more particularly in the confines of elite establishments promoting their wares for which they get accolades from the powers that be. With the rulers panic-stricken with the fear that the dalits may turn to revolutionary communism (not the parliamentary type), particularly after the radical Dalit Panther’s movement of the early-1970s, one of the chief wares in the dalit political elite’s armoury, that attracts applause from all reactionaries, is red-baiting. Notwithstanding the tragedy of the Indian communists {from the revisionist CPI/CPM to even some sections within the CPI (ML)} having neglected the caste question, the reality is that the ruling-classes of the cou-ntry fear like poison, the fusion of dalit politics with revolutionary Marxism.

It is not that dalit politics is not hot topic. It is. The point is that it is concerned more with vote-banks, eclectical debates within the intelligentsia (both dalit and non-dalit), ‘Ambedkarism’ and statue-building, and now even the sanskritization of a section of dalits.

In this article we shall first outline examples of the growing trend of atrocities on dalits, the reasons behind it, the various trends in dalit politics today, the misconceptions within the camp of many a leftist towards this issue, and finally the way out.

Statistics on the registered atrocities on dalits indicate a consistent rise every successive year. It is pertinent to remember that owing to the dependency relationship of the dalits with the perpetrators of atrocities, not every occurrence of the atrocity gets registered. Rather, it can be safely assumed that behind each registered atrocity over ten atrocity cases go unreported. Still, as per the latest statistics, every day nearly 50 cases of atrocities are registered all over the country, over three dalit women are raped and six are disabled on each day round the year. The situation had reached such proportions that it was raised in the Lok Sabha, where Advani was forced to admit the growing incidents and make a show of concern. The National Commission analysed the causes of each of the atrocities in a sample of 45 cases. The analysis showed that out of 45 cases, 13 were clearly attributable to economic reasons. (1)

The balance of the cases could also be explained as nothing but pure casteist violence on dalits. This has increased due to the growing assertiveness of dalits, their refusal to submit to the casteist dictates of village lords, their defiant demeanour towards discriminatory behaviour, greater aptitude for education, rebellious consciousness acquired through growing assertion of one’s self-respect, a process of general awareness and above all the change in their mode of living. This growing assertiveness was found to be intolerable not only to the upper castes but also the middle castes.

Today there is a pattern in the more brutal acts of caste violence being witnessed throughout the country. As long as the dalits remain submissive, meekly accepting their ‘untouchable’ status, they are tolerated and used by the elite. It is once they show even the smallest assertion that the feudal elite turn mad with rage. Mere taking to education, or raising their economic level, is sufficient to rouse their anger. Most often, in the recent attacks, it has been this that has resulted in the more brutal cases of lynching, murders and rape of dalits. While normal cases of caste discrimination and atrocities go unreported, as they are age-old and accepted as the norm of life, it is only the more brutal acts that come to light — more particularly those acts where the dalits fought back.

Now let us look at just some of the prominent instances of dalit atrocities around the country.

Of late it is Haryana that has been in the lime-light for some of the most brutal atrocities on dalits with the Jhajjar incident showing the depths to which the Hindutva brigade can go, with full complicity of the entire establishment. Atrocities on dalits in Haryana have increased considerably since the last few years. False criminal cases instituted against various dalit organisations; the constant harassment of dalit women and safai workers by police officials; the denial of entry of dalits into the fields of landlords; the crushing to death by a tractor of a dalit Balmiki labourer, Hukam Singh, for organizing a movement against bonded labour in Karnal district; the gang rape of a dalit woman in Kjarkara village of Rohtak district; the beating up of dalits for their entry into temples by Jats and Gujjars in Jalmana village in Panipat — are just a few of the most glaring incidents.(2) Jhajjar, being a major incident we shall report this at some length.

On Oct.15, 2002 five dalits were beaten and burned to death by a mob of Jat peasants led by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists right in front of a police station. While three of the victims were dragged out of the police post and burnt to death, two were thrown into a burning hut located on the premises of the police post. The police (mostly Jat) were openly complicit in this gruesome murder. They were accused for cow slaughter. The five were brought to the police station at 6.00 pm and in front of the police a fanatic mob began to swell instigated by VHP activists. For over four hours, with full knowledge of the SP and District Commissioner, the situation began going out of control, yet the police did not intervene. Finally, at 10.10 pm, with mob frenzy at its peak, the five were lynched and brutally killed.(3) In North India, cow protection societies have been formed as the major plank of the Arya Samaj movement. The protection of cows became the center-piece of a Jat identity. The VHP, after being ineffective for long in Haryana, used the cow to mobilize Jats. Ironically the promoter of the so-called Dalit Agenda of the Bhopal Declaration, CM Digvijay Singh, has also, of late, been a major campaigner against cow slaughter. In Gujarat another Congress chief, Waghela, lunched an aggressive campaign against cow slaughter by taking out a high-profile Rath Yatra of Kshatriyas in the name if Bhatiji Maharaj —the ‘legendry’ protector of cows.

The open butchery in Jhajjar is a direct fall-out of such subtle Hindutva campaigns.

In fact the situation, as presented in a report brought out y the AIPRF, was like this: A dead cow had been legally purchased from Farooqnagar and was being taken by dealers in cow-hides to Karnal for sale. As the stench in the van got unbearable they stopped the van to skin the cow at the road-side. Menwhile a tractor load of young Jats, were returning from Ram Lila celebrations and chanced upon the Dalits skinning the cow.

What is more tragic is that all the institutions of the state defended the lynching of dalits. On Nov.3, 02 Jats organised a Sarvakhap Maha-panchayat in Gurukul, Jhajjar district, where they warned the authorities against holding anyone for murder. The meeting was attended even by Jats of the peasant organi-sation, the BKU.(4)

Later, two reports were released, both of which defended the Jats, exonerated the police and de facto held the murdered dalits as guilty. One report was of the Inquiry Commision under Banswal, Commissioner Rhotak Range. The other was by the National Commission of SCs and STs. Neither was released to the public. Neither have gone into the conditions that triggered the mob violence nor the role of the police. Both reports specifically gave a clean chit to the VHP and Bajrang Dal. But, official sources say that two of the main instigators were from the VHP. The SC/ST report says that it was not a case of atrocity on SC/STs as it was not known they were SCs (they were initially thought to be Muslims). It also says it was not an attack on minorities as they were not known to be Muslims. The Commission also legitimizes the action, on the basis of respecting "public sentiment", and goes so far as to recommend that cows are not skinned like this, keeping in view the sentiment of the majority community. Both reports absolve the police of any complicity.

VHP leader Giriraj Kishore went so far as to openly declare that he had no regrets over the dalit killings. All those arrested were released on bail within two months to a rousing welcome!!

In this case all the five were from middle class dalit families who were reasonably well off. Four of them were traders in cow-hides, who are traditionally dalits, while the companies that process and export leather are from the upper castes. The fifth was the owner/driver of the van. A few days after the event, 80 dalits, including the relatives of the family of those killed converted to Buddhism at a mass ceremony. With no organised force to retaliate the killings this was all they could conceive of, as a form of protest. With an eye to the dalit vote-bank (Haryana has a 20% dalit population) both the BSP and the Congress handed out cash to the relatives of those killed. The state did not even take this nominal action. At the ceremony, Ajit Dhuiya fulminated "you value cows more than us, make us rake your latrines and never forget we are lower castes, even if we are educated and well off".

In yet another major case of dalit atrocity in Haryana 275 dalit families of Harsola in Kaithal district were beaten and driven out of the village by upper caste persons on Feb.10, 03. This happened in the presence of a large police force and was openly supported by the local MLA, Ram Pal Majra (who was the government’s Chief parliamentary Secretary). The dalits returned to the village on Feb.20, when their attackers were released from jail and were carried in a procession through the village and the dalit neighbouhood. Out of fear they once again left the village. The Deputy Commissioner of Kaithal also supported the upper castes and no criminal case was filed. He informed the media that dalits have not returned to the village as they are indebted to some upper-castes. The dalits approached the village panchayat, it refused to intervene.

The reason for this attack was that the dalits refused to vote for the MLA Ram Pal Majra. They said: "on Feb.11 we had quietly assembled to discuss the forthcoming Guru Ravidas anniversary, when hundreds of armed men attacked us. Our houses were ransacked, our shops vandalized, and household goods smashed. More than 20 of us were seriously injured. They were infuriated as these upper castes had asked us to cancel the celebrations of Ravidas Jayanti and we had continued with the preperations." Till mid-May the newspapers reported that the entire 275 families were camping around a "Harijan" colony in Kaithal. They dare not go home. They were wallowing in squalor on the verge of starvation. There were no basic amenities in the area — not even drinking water or power.

In addition there has been a report of a large number of bonded labour in Punjab and Haryana, the bulk of whom are dalits. This was brought to light by the case of the rescue of 37-year-old Bacchan Singh, a Dalit farm worker, by activists of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU).(5) Even more shocking was the attitude of the administration of Fatehabad district in Haryana, which not only refused first to believe the AIAWU members but delayed the rescue process. Cases were filed only after the release of the hapless Dalit, Bacchan Singh, who worked on the fields of Sukhdev Singh and his brothers. Sukhdev Singh, his brother and their two sons owned 150 acres (60 hectares) of land, three tractors and four tubewells. The treatment meted out to Bacchan Singh and his family became particularly cruel recently. Bacchan Singh kept away from work on June 30 to attend the wedding of his niece. On July 3, when he returned to the farm, Sukhdev, his brother and their two sons allegedly brutally beat him up. It has been stated that he was hit on the head and legs and then chained, even made to work with his left hand chained to the left leg. At night his hands were also tied. He was allegedly kept in this condition until he was rescued on July 9.

Some 200 cases have been identified and the affected people rescued by the AIAWU since 1994, when it came into being. They said that the majority of agricultural workers in the district were in debt and it was difficult to find a village where a landless resident was free from debts. Debts in some cases even go up to Rs.1 lakh. Other villages that faced the practice of bonded labour included Kamana, Bada, Hamzapur, Lamba, Airwa, Ratangarh, Chimon, Burj, Ratahera and Barpur. In one instance 13 persons, including four women, were rescued from a landlord. They had been made to work for long hours in the farms; they were fastened with long chains so that they could move around and work but not escape. The AIAWA claimed that the bonded labour system and bonded-labour-like conditions exist in parts of Fatehabad, Sirsa, Kaithal, West Jind, Karnal, Panipat and Rohtak. While the first four districts are characterised by the presence of big landlords and landholdings, the latter three have relatively smaller landholdings. The exploitation of workers, they said, is more in the former, where it is rare to find any worker getting the minimum agricultural wage of Rs.72.12 a day. Women workers are said to be exploited in more than one way. Rural indebtedness is very high in these parts.

The Dalit Mukti Sangathan has alleged that the cases of dalit atrocities had witnessed a spurt in the recent past. The situation has got so bad that even the National Human Rights Commission announced on June 6, 2003 that it would investigate the reports of growing atrocities on Dalits in Haryana.

Towards end May, early June 2003, Punjab witnessed the worst caste-related strife the State has ever seen. Jalandhar and the surrounding areas were under curfew for a fortnight. And this in the land of Guru Nanak who introduced significant social reforms into an oppressive/casteist Hindu religion. But here, though they faced opposition from the entire establishment (police, bureaucrats, political parties, etc) the dalits fought back violently and threatened greater "direct action" if remedial measures were not taken.

The dispute has been over the shrine of Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Samadhi in Talhan village near Jalandhar, built in the memory of the local Sufi saint. This village has a large dalit population. The problem arose when the dalits entered the annual fair of the Saint organised by the Jats of the village. Assisted by the police the Jat youths launched vicious attacks on dalits and destroyed their property. They tore down the photo of Guru Ravi Das placed in the ‘langar’ of the shrine. The dalits retaliated and attacked the houses of the managing committee members, the main instigators of the attack. The Jats demanded that the CRPF be called in. Infuriated by the police bias the dalits took to the streets inspite of the curfew smashing vehicles and shops. Curfew was declared and the police went on a massive rampage against the dalits, who were themselves victims of attacks by Jat youth. In the police firing that ensued one dalit, Vijay Kumar, was killed and a minimum of 24 injured. Many dalit houses were damaged. The clashes spread to over three localities of Jalandhar. Pitched battles took place between the police and the dalits and indefinite curfew was declared. The curfew lasted for a full fortnight.

The problem in Talhan has been festering for years for control over the managing committee of the Shrine, which has been in the hands of the Jats. Dalits began to assert rights over the Shrine as they claimed it was built on common land. The matter went to the court last January. The dalits obtained an order enabling them to participate in the elections to the managing committee. The Jats refused to respect the order. On Jan 14, 03 the dalits, armed with a fresh court order arrived to contest the elections. The Jats walked out. All the 13 elected were dalits. Later a fight broke out at the shrine and the police forced the dalits out of the shrine.

Since the last five years the Jats had declared a social boycott of the dalits for putting forward their demand. Now after the fight, the Jats declared that dalits cannot enter the shrine. On the same they declared an economic blockade of dalits, by refusing to buy their milk, sell them fodder and even denying them access to open fields to defecate. The Chief Minister refused to step in to settle the dispute. The administration and the police refused to implement the court order or even respond to the directives of the National Commission of SC and STs, which ordered the prosecution of Jat leaders.

Dalits mounted pressure with demonstrations and a hunger strike. Still there was no action. On May 27, 03 the Talhan Dalit Action Committee passed a resolution threatening more upfront means — warned of direct (no longer peaceful) action. They blamed the BJP and the Damdani Taksal for the violence. The Congress was silent. The ‘left’ and BSP, both of whom have a sizable presence in the State, were absent. The Chief minister blamed the violence on "trouble-makers from outside" — in other word dalit labourers. The 5-member Congress Group of Ministers to investigate the Talhan riots had not even visited the dalit victim’s families. So, the dalits stood alone in their battle.

As there is a deeper cause to the Jalandhar episode, caste riots in Punjab are likely to escalate. And given the SAD’s close alliance with the BJP such anti-dalit efforts are bound to escalate. The problem is that all other parties in Punjab are Jat-dominated and would not like to disturb their vote-banks. The BSP was as usual absent in the midst of the conflict, but now seek to use the issue to revive their lost base in Punjab — their only problem is that they were closely allied to the BJP/Akali Dal gang. Of late it has been reported that temples of Guru Ravidas have been selectively demolished by the respective governments in Chandigarh and Delhi.

Since 1995 there has been a virtual war against increased dalit assertion by the police and the upper castes — particularly the Thevars in the South and the Vanniyars in the north. These latter belong to the middle castes and have huge vote-banks. They are also the rising castes in rural Tamil Nadu and the main support base of the two chief parties — the DMK and the AIADMK. In the massive clashes that have taken place both these parties, while trying to use it for their political gain, have taken vehemently anti-dalit positions. These so-called Dravidian parties, with the long-lost Periyar traditions, have been seeking accommodation with the brahminical BJP, betraying their crude anti-dalit bias. The administration, as usual, has displayed its casteist fangs with venom rarely seen in such an overt manner.

Incidents that occurred in Kodiyankulam in 1995, Melavalavu in 1997 and Tirunelveli in 1999 stand out in the recent record of atrocities against Dalits in Tamil Nadu at the economic, political and social levels.

The police raid on the relatively prosperous village of Kodiyankulam in Tuticorin district appeared to have been motivated by a desire to undermine the local Dalit community economically and thereby strike at what was believed to be the support base of Dalit militants in the region.

The police attack on an all-party procession at Tirunelveli on July 23, 1999, held in support of the striking Manjolai tea estate workers, led to the drowning in the Tamiraparni of 17 persons, 15 of them Dalits, who were beaten up and chased into the river. Indications of a design to put down any Dalit attempt at political mobilisation were evident in this.

The most shocking among the three incidents was the murder of six Dalits, including the young president of the Melavalavu panchayat in Madurai district, Murugesan, allegedly by a group of persons belonging to the Thevar community. These incidents marked the beginning of a determined offensive by vested interests among casteist social groups in the State to frustrate efforts at Dalit assertion at the grassroots level.

From the day the State government notified in June 1996 elections to local bodies after a gap of over a decade and announced that the Melavalavu panchayat would be reserved for Dalits under the amended Panchayat Act, sections of caste Hindu people of the village began campaigning against the move. The threat of social and economic boycott was held out against Dalits, who are dependent largely on upper caste land-holders for a livelihood. When elections came, Dalits who had filed nominations had to withdraw in the face of upper caste terror and the election was rendered infructuous. When elections were held later with fresh nominations, booth-capturing necessitated a repoll. In the repoll Murugesan was elected the panchayat president but was reportedly prevented by upper caste people from discharging his duties. On Murugesan’s representation to the Chief Minister, armed security was provided to him at the panchayat office. He was, however, slain along with five others - one of them his brother and another the panchayat vice-president - while returning to the village after a meeting with the Collector in Madurai. Forty-three of the 44 persons, whose names figured in the first information report relating to the multiple murders, were arrested and released on bail after a month.

Dalits, mostly landless agricultural workers, complain that they are denied work by local land-holders. With upper caste landlords in neighbouring villages also refusing to employ them upon pressure from their Melavalavu counterparts, many Dalit youth are said to have left the village in search of livelihood.

The Dalits complained of lack of access to shops and wells in the upper caste areas and also of non-availability to them of essentials such as rice and kerosene in fair price shops. Three years after the murders, a memorial for the slain Dalits was raised at Melavalavu at a cost of Rs.5 lakhs, making use of free labour from Dalits in and around the village. Dalits of the village, however, continue to be victims of social boycott by upper caste people.

In Feb 2002 the police have been charged, yet again, with perpetrating excesses against Dalits at Sankaralingapuram and Challi-chettipatti villages in Tamil Nadu’s Thuthukudi district. The indictment of the police came this time from a six-member panel headed by Justice H. Suresh, former Judge of the Bombay High Court. The committee held a "public hearing" into charges of police excesses against Dalits at Sankaralingapuram and Challi-chettipatti villages in Thuthukudi district in November 2001. The "hearing" was arranged by a joint struggle committee. Although the immediate provocation for the police action was the death of a constable while handling a road blockade agitation by Dalits of the two villages on November 16, 2001, the genesis of the trouble lay in the panchayat elections held a month earlier. In a swoop on the villages following the policeman’s death, at least 180 persons, including a large number of women, children and even infants were arrested and allegedly beaten up. With virtually one-fifth of the Dalit population in police custody, the rest left the village fearing police repression.

In this particular case, during a local elections on November 15 2001, when a caste Hindu youth complained against Ponraj, the police registered a case. When Dalits of Challichettipatti protested against the police bias, caste Hindu groups threw stones at Dalit women and damaged houses. A Dalit and his young son were assaulted. When Dalits complained, the police intervened only to arrest the Dalits. Around 300 Dalits then blocked traffic on the nearby Vilathikulam-Pudur road to protest the police discrimination. A team of policemen from Pudur arrived and resorted to a lathi-charge. When a constable beat a Dalit youth, some of the demonstrators came to his rescue. Murugan, a Special Branch constable, who alighted from a bus, joined the police. The Dalits are said to have retaliated by throwing stones. In the melee Murugan and another policeman were injured. Angry policemen chased the Dalit demonstrators into the village and over 150 Dalits were rounded up. The age of those arrested ranged from 30 days to 90 years.

What followed was large-scale destruction of property in the deserted Dalit colony. Houses were damaged and ransacked. Almirahs, fans, mixies, grinders, television sets, tape-recorders, cassettes, bicycles, sewing machines, cooking vessels, wooden furniture, steel cots and bedding were damaged. Dalits who returned after a few weeks complained of property loss amounting to nearly Rs.45 lakhs. Even certificates and mark-sheets of students, employment exchange registration cards, land pattas and other important documents lay strewn. Gold jewellery and silverware were also missing, the locals complained. Four months after the incident, the Dalit houses in the villages bear tell-tale marks of the rampage. The police continue to patrol the area.

From the mid-1990s Tamil Nadu has witnessed a massive growth in the number of vicious attacks on dalits, with the upper castes and the entire state machinery ganging up. But what is encouraging is that they have not taken these attacks meekly and have been fighting back. An example of the State’s vehemence against the dalits was its attitude to a procession held in Chennai in August 1998. Several dalit organisations had decided on a procession to the Raj Bhavan to present a memorandum to the Governor "highlighting the sufferings of dalits in Tamil Nadu". It was organised by the Devendrakula Vellalar Federation (DVF). The then DMK government came down brutally on the procession. The procession was banned and roughly 1 lakh dalits were arrested in a preemptive scoop. Though permission was finally got through a writ petition to the courts, the judge passed such stringent conditions that it made a mockery of the ‘permission’.

The main conflict in South Tamil Nadu has been between the middle-upper caste Thevars and the rising Devendra Kula Vellalar (DKV) dalit community. Rising economic status has resulted in greater assertion, which has led to resentment from the land-owning Thevars, on whose farms the bulk of the dalits have to eke out an existence. Demanding equal treatment in temple festivals, the refusal to carry out ritually demeaning tasks, claiming an equal share in public goods, etc have become the new mode of assertion. The Thevars have responded by clinging more resolutely to their caste status as a way of affirming their superiority — so, the increasingly violent conflicts. As we go to the press reports of atrocities on dalits continue to come in.

While the AIADMK fully backed the Thevars, the DMK gave them tacit support. The so-called left felt it better to ignore the conflict. So the dalits were left to fight on their own with the only support coming from the weak revolutionary groups in the State. Today there is a proliferation of dalit groups at the local level, fighting militant battles, with one, the Dalit Liberation Party of Coimbatore, even calling for armed struggle.

In Rajasthan, even in traditional marriages the upper-castes have vehemently objected to dalits conductiing the ceremony in the style of the caste Hindus with the bridegroom on horseback. Numerous incidents of attacks on such ceremonies have come to light. An example was on May 4, 03 in village Eklara of Rajasthan. Five dalits were injured when the upper-castes objected to the bridegroom of the Jatav community riding a horse. A huge crowd of Jats and Rajputs thrashed the members of the marriage party and prevented it from proceeding to the bride’s house. They forcibly dismounted the bridegroom, snatched the ceremonial garland, the gold chains, etc. The police remained passive observers. A similar case was reported against the family members of the Bairwa caste in March in the Tonk district of Rajasthan. Many other such cases have been reported, as also the right of dalits to bathe in the public tanks/lakes.

In August 03, the State Government closed down a premier institution for the coaching of SC and ST students for competitive exams. This Centrally-funded B.R.Ambedkar Pre-Exam Coaching Centre has been lying in disarray for the past three years. Its 20 odd dalit students remaining in the hostel were evicted.

In March this year a memorandum was submitted demanding the tabling, on the floor of the Assembly, the report of the Justice K.S.Lodhi Commission of Inquiry, which had probed the infamous Kumher carnage. About 20 dalits were lynched and their property and houses set on fire in Kumher, near Bharatpur (stronghold of Congress spokesperson, Natwar Singh) in June 1992. Dalit organisations have been demanding since 1996, when a report was submitted, that it be made public, so that the accused be identified and punished. The Rajasthan High Court had even directed the state government in Sept.02 to table the report in the Assembly as early as possible.

The CDHR has been active in bringing issues of dalit atrocities to light. In Sept. 2002 they took out a 2-day rath yatra to Chakwada, where the dalits continue to face acute social and economic boycott. Chakwada has a history of revolt by dalits against untouchability — as far back as 1935 they revolted against a ban imposed on them by upper castes on the consumption of ‘desi ghee’. On March 22, 03 activists of the CDHR staged a demonstration outside the Rajasthan Assembly to protest against the increasing atrocities and caste-based discrimination on dalits and against upper-caste bias.

It is ironic that in Maharashtra, while on the one hand there has been a spurt of attacks on dalits, on the other a number of dalit leaders and intellectuals are flocking to the Shiv Sena at the call of Bal Thackeray for the unity of Shiv-shakti and Bhim-shakti. Forgotton are the facts that in the past the main battles for dalit assertion was with the Shiv Sena,; from the days of the Panthers to the Namantar issue to the issue of the movement against the banning of the ‘Riddles in Hinudism’ book of Ambedkar.

In Maharshtra the recent sitting of the Assembly was rocked by the presentation of 27 cases of dalit atrocities. An example was the dispute over the use of common water in a village in Aurangabad district; the victims being the Matang community. After all recourse to justice failed the Matangs went on a rampage. Ironically the dalit organisations were silent, as they primarily represent the Mahars, who are considered slightly higher in the caste hierarchy — though both are dalits.

To take just some examples:

* On Feb 9, 03, RSS hoodlums burnt free books distributed to dalits at the government student hostel in Aurangabad.

* In April 2003, in a land dispute 22 dalit houses were burnt to ashes.

* In Nadurbar district a dalit youth was burnt alive.

* In Kolhapur, when dalit youths entered a temple they were attacked, a case foisted on them and one was beaten to death.

* In Konkan district, in dalit-OBC clashes, over taking water from public wells/lakes, there has been a social boycott on dalits and poison thrown in the dalit wells.

In a recent fact-finding report by the CPDR (Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights) entitled "Violence against Dalits in Marathwada – the Caste Cauldron of Maharashtra", outlines details of the growing attacks of dalits in the region. It investigates three gruesome examples, of the 46 cases of atrocities against dalits in Marathwada in just the first six months of the year. According to the report there is a pattern in the attacks: they are primarily against those dalits who have bettered their living conditions and tend to be more assertive; there is invariably a upper-caste police nexus, wherein the victims become the accused; the main political parties side with the upper-castes; and the dalit parties are invariably silent or offer mere lip sympathy. On the three examples the flash point was against the dalits asserting the right to common water.

In Bhutegaon village a dalit, Dilip Shengde, was attacked by a mob of upper-castes when he fought for his right over water at the hand-pump; the entire family was beaten and, in front of all, kerosene was poured on Dilip and he was set afire. On 14, May 03, the dalit youth was burnt to death and his mother suffered serious burn injuries. The person leading the mob was the most ‘educated’ man in the village and a professor of the local Jalna college!! In the other incident investigated by the CPDR, in Sonna Khota, one Dadarao Dongre, the most well off dalit in the village was hacked to death. For the last few years they were being continuously harassed and over a minor dispute over water the entire family was savagely attacked by a mob of Marathas. The attack went on for three hours with Dadarao being killed and other 13 of the Dongre family seriously injured.

The list is endless. These mentioned are just a few which have come to light in rural Maharashtra. But it gives a picture of the growing intolerance of dalit assertion throughout the State.

In those states where feudal oppression is strong, like UP, MP, Rajasthan the bulk of such cases go unreported. Even in other states where there is no major conflagration and the humiliation continues to be meekly accepted there is no notice taken. It is only when dalits cease to accept the centuries-old humiliation of untouchability that it becomes an issue. Yet numerous cases have come to light in the Hindi belt of young girls and boys being lynched and brutally killed when a dalit marries a higher caste.

In Mayawati homeland in February of this year the police brutally lathi-charged the dalits in Meerut. Over 100 dalits got together and formed a "Police Atank Virodhi Samiti". In another case in the same district two upper-caste elements stripped a 35-year old dalit woman naked and paraded her around the village, while 40 people watched. Her crime: upper-caste resentment against her for using the lake. For two days the police sat on the compliant; later she was threatened and even beaten to withdraw the case. Yet again in March this year panic struck 6 villages, just 50 kms from Aligarh, where a mob of upper-castes killed two dalits, with the police looking on.

In Madhya Pradesh, on Sept 2, 02, the police fired on a crowd of dalits protesting against a government doctor who refused to do the postmortem on a dalit youth killed under suspicious circumstances. The doctor even abused the people. In the police firing 3 dalits were killed and 20 injured.

Thousands more cases exist around the country, but the above-mentioned cases would sufficiently reflect the gravity of the situation of increasing caste discrimination with full complicity of the powers that be.

But, before ending this section we present one more insidious example of this degrading phenomenon called "untouchability".

Caste discrimination has its limits. It is being inculcated in tiny children by the parents in a most crude form by opposition to the mid-day meal scheme. This has come to light in Rajasthan and Karnataka; and probably also exists elsewhere, either subtlely or overtly.

During a recent survey of the mid-day meal scheme in Rajasthan by the Centre of Equity Studies, it was discovered that dalit children have been asked to drink from different pitchers. The report says: Upper-caste parents were often skeptical about the scheme and even tacitly opposed it. Or they did not allow their children to eat that food. More important, there was strong resistance to the appointment of dalit cooks. In fact, it was noticed, that dalit cooks were confined to schools with no upper-caste children.

In ‘hi-tech’ Karnataka the situation was even worse. The Government’s ambitious mid-day meal scheme, which has spread throughout the State, has come under increasing attacks from the upper-castes. One head cook and two assistants have been appointed for the over 30,000 kitchen centers in the 20 districts. Of the three jobs, one post is reserved for the SC/STs. Parents of the dominant Vokkaliga caste would simply not allow their children to eat food cooked by a dalit woman. Several villages in Mandya district even went so far as to boycott the programme, protesting against the appointment of dalit cooks. In many places only dalits eat the food. In one incident even the non-dalit assistant cook refused to work, as the head cook was a dalit. In another village the dalit cook was kept out of the kitchen and only made to do the cleaning work — here, the school-in-charge stated, "our teachers have assured the village that there will be no caste contamination".

1) Globalisation, assessing the impact on dalits in India, by Anand Teltumbde

2) The Hindu; Nov. 18, 02

3) Frontline; Jan. 17, 03

4) Outlook; Nov 18, 02

5) Frontline; July 25, 2001

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