The struggle to break free
Speaking out against anti-Dalit atrocities
BY BHANWAR MEGHWANSHI
I t is
sometimes claimed that the practice of untouchability in India’s
villages is declining, that Hindu society is becoming less hierarchical
and that as people become more educated, they are becoming less
prejudiced against Dalits. But all this, I have to say, is empty talk.
In actual fact, there has been hardly any change in the attitude of the
‘upper’ castes towards the Dalits. In fact, ‘upper’-caste communities
have devised new methods of oppressing Dalits because of which even
today Dalits in rural India continue to lead harrowing lives, being
regularly subjected to insult and torment. However, at the same time,
Dalits are bravely reacting, in a non-violent manner, against the
treatment meted out to them. This is certainly an indication of Dalit
awakening and also quite possibly the beginning of a future caste
struggle.
Bhilwara district in Rajasthan tops the country’s charts
in terms of atrocities against women and is also regarded as very
sensitive in terms of the communal situation with Muslims living in
great fear of Hindu chauvinists. Moreover, Dalits and Adivasis, who form
a large proportion of the district’s population, suffer all sorts of
indignities. In most cases, Dalits and Adivasis who, subjected to
atrocities, dare turn to the police for succour are turned away, with
the police refusing to entertain their complaints. And in the relatively
few cases where the police do register such complaints, they
deliberately do not do so under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act so that the
perpetrators of these crimes are easily let off. This is because of the
feudal-minded elements in the police force who believe that Dalits and
Adivasis are habitual liars and that they are easily provoked to
register false cases against others. Naturally then, under such
circumstances Dalits and Adivasis have little hope of securing justice
from a hostile administrative machinery. That is why most cases of
atrocities against Dalits do not even reach the level of local police
stations, let alone the courts.
In this grim situation, some Dalits have determined that
the only way to secure justice is to boldly assert themselves. That is
precisely what an intrepid man from Dhunwala village in Bhilwara’s
Mandal tehsil recently decided to do. Chhagan Lal Dhobi, a denizen of
this village, is a government schoolteacher and a committed Ambedkarite
activist. He returned to Dhunwala after working elsewhere for 20 years.
Once back in his village, he devoted himself to helping others, having
had a rich activist experience earlier as a teacher in Gangapur, also in
Bhilwara, through the Ambedkar Vichar Manch. After much struggle, he and
his colleagues were able to get a statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar installed
at the main crossroads in Gangapur. When he returned to his village and
continued with his social activism there, the conservative elements in
the village were enraged. They simply could not tolerate the sight of a
Dalit acting in this way. And so they began plotting a way to ‘show him
his place’ and demean him.
It so happened that the village’s middle school decided
to celebrate Republic Day and for this purpose, it sent out a note to
various notable people in the village requesting them to sign it and
signal their willingness to participate in the function. Some Hindutva-minded
savarna (upper-caste) Hindu village youth spotted the note and
noticed that at the top of the list of names mentioned therein was the
name of Chhagan Lal Dhobi. This sent them into a frenzy of anger. How
could a Dalit’s name top the list? At once they went to the headmaster
of the school and expressed their anger. “Why have you mentioned the
name of a Dhobi at the top of the list? Are we upper-caste people lower
than him?” they asked. They told the principal that there was no need at
all for Chhagan Lal Dhobi to grace the dais during the function.
Thereafter, this band of anti-Dalit youth met the woman sarpanch of the
village and registered the same complaint.
An ex-member of the district council, Hardev Jat,
echoing their view, thundered: “Until now, no low-caste man has sat
together with us. Nor has any low-caste person entered the village
temple. But now this Dalit teacher is being made to sit above us! It is
preposterous that a Dhobi will sit on the stage while [a Rajput] Kunwar
Sahib will sit below him! We will not let this happen. Our village must
continue in the ways of our ancestors.”
The team of ‘brave Hindu’, pro-BJP and anti-Dalit youth
announced that if their demand was not met, they would create trouble.
They left no stone unturned in stirring tension in the village. In the
face of these developments, the village sarpanch called Chhagan Lal
Dhobi and explained what had happened. Chhagan Lal Dhobi was saddened
but he was also determined that keeping quiet was not an option. He was
sure he had to respond boldly. He told the sarpanch that whether or not
he was invited to the function, he would certainly participate in the
event commemorating Republic Day which he said signified the enforcement
of the Indian Constitution which had been penned under the chairmanship
of Babasaheb Ambedkar. More than that, he also insisted that he would
sit on the dais, adding that if anyone objected to his being on the dais
or speaking on the occasion, he would take stern legal action against
him under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act for violating his civil rights.
Confronted with Chhagan Lal Dhobi’s firm resolve, the
manuwadis (brahmanical order) of the village had to shut up and
could do nothing to stop him. Not only did Chhagan Lal Dhobi attend the
function but he also ascended the dais and even delivered a speech.
The opposition of the savarnas had stirred
something deep inside Chhagan Lal Dhobi. He regarded it as an insult to
the entire Dalit community and not simply a personal affair. Hence he
mobilised all the Dalit castes living in Dhunwala village, including
Bairwas, Raigars, Balais, Khatiks, Dhobis and Valmikis, and these people
collectively decided that they would not help the other castes of the
village in any way. They also decided that henceforth the different
Dalit castes in Dhunwala would solve their problems among themselves,
that they would consult each other and decide whom to vote for and that
they would rely on themselves for their own development.
The conservative elements in Dhunwala are naturally
incensed with this decision of the Dalits. It is said that they are
waiting for an opportunity to teach them a lesson. But at the same time,
the local Dalit youth are elated, for Chhagan Lal Dhobi’s bravery has
enabled them to experience for the very first time what it might mean to
break free from centuries of slavery.
(Translated from the Hindi by Yoginder Sikand.)
(Bhanwar Meghwanshi, a social activist from Bhilwara,
Rajasthan, edits the Hindi monthly Diamond India, a journal that
deals with grass-roots social issues. He is also associated with the
Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. Yoginder Sikand works
with the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy
at the National Law School, Bangalore.)
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Beyond justice
High court judge alleges caste discrimination
A judge of the Madras high court – Justice CS
Karnan – has complained to the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes (NCSC) chairman, PL Punia, that he was being “harassed” and
“victimised” by some ‘brother judges’ just because he was a Dalit.
Justice Karnan has asked the NCSC to “constitute an inquiry” to go
into the “atrocities against me ]Justice Karnan] by most of the
honourable judges”. He claimed that he would present further
substantial evidence to the commission during the inquiry. The judge
has marked copies of his complaint to the president and the chief
justice of India (CJI).
Mr Punia told The Hindu on November 2 that
the NCSC had examined the case and decided to refer it to CJI Justice
SH Kapadia for appropriate action, “as the CJI is the ultimate
authority in the judiciary”. He hoped that the CJI would give it
“serious consideration”. Asked whether the NCSC was planning to take
any other action other than forwarding the complaint to the CJI, Mr
Punia said: “This is our action. We felt that the CJI was the right
person to look into the issue and forwarded the complaint to his
office about 10 days ago.”
He said that when Judge Karnan met him on September
26, 2011, he mentioned that he was being discriminated against by some
colleague judges just because he was a Dalit. He also gave a written
complaint to him, Mr Punia said.
Justice Karnan, who was appointed judge on March
31, 2009, in his complaint, said: “After duly assuming
responsibilities as a judge and taking on litigation in an independent
way, I found that this was not to the liking of a few judges who were
expecting a type of groupage or coordinated consultation, which I
consider unfounded and not conforming to decorum, which are the
principles of the courts.”
“The obvious intention is to reduce the role to
subjugation and make a scapegoat, which I vehemently abhor”.
He alleged that on two occasions he had been
deprived of a chance to participate in functions in his native
district, Cuddalore, as a special guest. He added that he was not
given an opportunity, except once, to participate in programmes at the
National Judicial Academy.
Justice Karnan alleged that at a marriage function
in Chennai a judge “who was seated to the right side of me crossed his
leg deliberately touching mine” and “at the Republic Day celebration
the same judge again seated next to me slyly removed the name slip
which was attached to the arm of my chair with a string and stuck it
to the bottom of his right leg where it got crumpled.” At another
public celebration “one of the brother judges behind the row of mine
kept on shaking my chair repeatedly with the intention to annoy [me]”.
The judge’s allegations that he was subjected to
humiliation and victimisation by his “brother judges” caused a stir
among lawyers. A group of agitated lawyers met (Madras) Chief Justice
MY Eqbal and raised the issue. They wanted to know what action would
be taken against judges who had humiliated Justice CS Karnan. Two
senior judges and office-bearers of the Madras High Court Advocates’
Association and Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Association were present at the
meeting. The association office-bearers were of the view that nothing
should be done to impair the dignity and decorum of the judiciary.
November 3, 2011
Courtesy: The Hindu; www.thehindu.com
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