November 2011 
Year 18    No.161
Dalit Drishti


 

The struggle to break free

Speaking out against anti-Dalit atrocities

BY BHANWAR MEGHWANSHI

It 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.)

 

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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