Love failed to conquer caste barriers in Uttarakhand

Ketan Lal's brutal murder reflect caste realities of 'Devbhumi'

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The state of Uttarakhand which is known as 'Devbhumi' too means abode of gods, saw a brutal and barbaric murder of a Dalit youth who was in a relationship with a girl happened to belong to a dominant caste girl which is strictly prohibited according to traditional customs and practices. A young boy Ketan Lal aged about 18 years, from Shilpkar community, yes it is the known name for the Dalits in Uttarakhand, was called by his girl friend who happened to belong to a Rajput community, to her home in the middle of night, in Tehri town. Ketan's brahmin friend Diwakar Dimri took him to girl's house on his bike where both were caught by girl's father Yashvir Singh Panwar and his father and locked up in the room. Both were beaten up but the main beating was kept for Ketan. After the brutal and merciless beating. According to a report in the Hindustan Times five important find out of the Ketan's report.

Deep bruises on victim's body, covering his back, chest, and limbs.

Pliers were used to pluck the teenager's fingernails and toenails.

Nails were driven into his feet.

Severe injuries were caused to his genitals.

Both victim and his friend assaulted with sticks

There is outrage everywhere due to the amount of brutality in this case. The police as usual has arrested the accused Yashvir Singh Panwar and his father. It is reported that Ketan's friend Diwakar too has been beaten mercilessly and admitted to the hospital in Rishikesh though many people have doubt about it as they feel Diwakar might have been a conduit of Yashvir Panwar to bring Ketan to his home. Sad part is that caste polarisation is so much that people have lost all their senses. Let the police investigate the case honestly and look at all the angles in it. Diwakar should be provided protection as he is a crucial witness to the incident and must be knowing details of the case.

The problem in Uttarakhand is that the cases filed under the SCST prevention act rarely go till the final stage. This is actually the situation in most of India. I have seen some of the cases in Uttar Pradesh where the attempt of the government and the so called lawyers is to get the family 'compensation'. As the cases move slow the people lose interest and families are destined to accept the dirty reality that everything move slowly.

The violence against Dalits or the caste discrimination in the so called Devbhumi is extremely high and need special attention. I have always mentioned that if Uttarakhand can get rid of the criminal and monsterous caste discrimination, it could really become a 'Devbhumi' but as long as it function proudly on brahmanical docterines of hierarchical system, it would be heading for social unrest in future.

The main issue is how far the Uttarakhand politicians and civil society take interest in it. Will they stand up with candles and come in the street to decry this criminal and barbaric act. We know that violence against Dalits never make a main news in Uttarakhand. Many temples in Jaunsar still dont give entry to them. SC ST act is never implemented in the district as technically entire Jaunsar region is declared as Scheduled Tribe area. So violence in this region against Dalit is extremely high and most of the time never reported in the media.

Political activist Jagadish Chandra who belonged to a Shilpkar community, was murdered by his father in law in Almora who was against his relationship with daughter. The brutal murder took place around 1st September 2022 in Almora but so far we dont know where is the case. This is absolute criminality that there are no special courts in Uttarakhand. It is time government form special courts in the state and give a time frame to finish these cases.

While these cases are not new or surprising as India has not yet become a casteless society. Caste has become the easiest tool for moblisation and the political class find it easier. Inter caste marriages are highly unwanted and most of the time a challenge to purity of the caste system. Baba Saheb Ambedkar actually felt that intercaste marriages could be a way out to strengthen unity among people but today the governments are making laws to ensure people dont challenge caste hierarchy. All laws are being made in such a way that individuals dont have the right to decide about their future. Our marriage system is highly hypocratic and never respect the individuals and their choices.

Ketan is murdered. This is not the first murder for loving a person and it will definitely not be the last. It is not the only case in India. Right from Himalayas till Bay of Bengal and deep down Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu, India has one biggest unainimity in the caste crime against Dalits. I call it hate crime.

The problem is that one is not sure whether the girl loved him or not as callling him to her house in the mid of night was definitely a trap so she must be investigated. I have seen many places where girls actually compromise with their families. I have tremendous respect for Kowsalya, the brave woman from Coimbatore whose husband Sankar was brutally murdered by her parents because he was Dalit while Kowsalya belonged to powerful backward community. Kowsalya decided to stay with her parents in laws and strengthen them. She fought valiantly and ensured that her parents get the death penlty. She faced ostracisation from society but she challenged the brahmanical patriarchy. Today, she has dedicated her life for the cause of women's rights in Tamilnadu.

Uttarakhand has seen several cases of violence against Dalits in the past too. I mention a few of them here.

1.     1. Jagadish Chandra was a political Activist who married to his friend who was in love with. This is the case from Almora and happened on around September 1^st, 2022. Nobody knows as what is the status of the case in the court and where is the woman who loved him ? You dont hear anything from her.

2.    35 years old Sohan Ram, a Dalit was beheaded by the Brahmin teacher Lalit Karnatak on August 7, 2016 in Pithoragarh. It more than 10 years and we need to know what is the final outcome of this case. Also important to know what rehabilitation methods were adopted for the family of late Shri Sohan Ram.

3. 3.      A Dalit man Jeetendra was murdered in Shrikot Tehri Garhwal for simply eating food at a wedding along with otherupper caste invitees on May 6^th, 2019. It was reported that 7 persons were booked under the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities act. Where is the case today ? What is the condition of Jeetendra’s family.

Interestingly, a case had come to the Supreme Court last year related to insulting a person from Scheduled Caste community. A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Hemant Gupta actually declared that if a person from SC community is 'insulted' inside a houses or in the private domain which no outsider has seen or not at public place then it is not fit to be called a caste crime and can not be filed under SCST Prevention of Atrocities Act. The cases popularly known as Hitesh Verma verses State of Uttarakhand, in which the court actually quashed the FIR filed against the accused by the person belonging to the Scheduled Caste community suggesting that a case of insult or intimidation against Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe  cannot be made unless committed in a public space and in public view. The crisis in India is getting much deeper as neither the media nor the judiciary seems to feel the urgency to address the issue of social justice and caste discrimination.

Hence it is important to understand and see whether the girl who called Ketan to her house stand up and speak ? Will the Uttarakhand police act honestly in this case and take it to a logical conclusion. It depend on how Uttarakhand's political parties, civil society and media act on this issue and does not forget it after some time. So far the record of the state apparatus in the matter of violence against Dalits in the state has been extremely poor and does not reflect any hope but we must put pressure. Devbhumi must become an insanbhumi and should not remain caged to the narrow confines of the brutal brahmanical hierarchical caste system. It is time to hit at it and follow the constitutional morality where each individual has a right to have his or her own choice. Will India ever allow this ? Talks of 'biggest' 'democracy' sound too hollow. Let us see how the administration and state government act on this case. Ketan must get justice and we must not hide the names and jaatis of people who do it. If we dont want jaatis to be generalised then the time has come for these jaatis to speak up against this culture of violence and disown such criminal minds from the community.