Reality Check of Bihar's verdict

Understanding Bihar’s verdict


By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Bihar polls have brought ‘smile’ to many faces on our TV channels. As Nitish Kumar romp through a landslide victory along with his ally in the NDA, the media started writing obituary of Lalu Yadav as well as Ram Vilas Paswan. I still remember a statement from George Fernandez not to make mistake of writing obituary of political leaders unless they are buried or cremated as they can always bounce back. There is no scientific methodology for people to vote. A middle class hero Man Mohan Singh could be defeated easily from a constituency like South Delhi which is considered to be ‘educated and well off’. Hence it is too much if we think that caste has been eliminated from the minds of people in Bihar in particular and India in general since our TV ‘experts’ wants us to believe so without changing their own caste mind.

Yes, Bihar’s results need more analysis and in-depth reading. Did Lalu and Ram Vilas’s arrogance hurt the voters? Did they take their voters for granted? Is corruption not an issue with the Dalit Bahujan communities? I think one will have to analyse the whole issue. Has Mandal failed or the forces of social justice let down the Mandal revolution in India with their continuously opportunistic and unholy alliances with the caste forces?

Coincidently, when Bihar’s Nitish Kumar government assumes office for second term, a new scenario has emerged for the forces of Social Justice which need to be understood. And it is post modern Mandalism now with most backward communities challenging the status quo and asking for the accountability. That you can not rule over them in the name of Dalit and backward without providing a space for them in the governance structure. If the political class in the name of social justice does not come out of the family business, they will be wiped out as happened in Bihar. The forces of social justice can not have Gandhi family as their idol.

However, these polls also show the inadequacy of political system where a party just getting 39% of the popular votes has got nearly 89% seats in the assembly. Most of the media termed that Bihar has now got rid of caste identities but the fact is that the Maha Dalits and most backward castes are seeking their space and Nitish Kumar should not feel that he can put the upper caste agenda on Bihar to term it as a ‘casteless’ state. How many of them are ready to leave their caste interest aside and speak for a casteless society. Will the forces of Hindutva work for a casteless society? If yes then the annihilation of caste is annihilation of Brahmanism in India which is not really the agenda of Nitish Kumar and his allies.

Nitish Kumar failed in implementing the Bandhopadhyay Commission report on land redistribution. Just a few days before the election results we saw violence against Dalits by powerful Bhumihar community which seemed to enjoy Nitish Kumar’s rule in Bihar. The violence by Bhumihars on the Dalits was because of the land issue in Pathua village of district Lakhisarai in which about 900 bighas of land declared surplus under Ceiling Act was being encroached by the goons of a particular Bhumihar leader as they wanted to uproot the Dalits and most backward communities living on the said land. Land will remain one of the most contentious issue and if Nitish Kumar in the din of the euphoria created by corporate media ignore this issue then he will meet the same fate as Lalu and Ram Vilas Paswan have met with. That the most backward communities and Dalits have signaled to Bihar politicians which largely revolved around powerful OBCs, Bhumihars, Brahmin, Kayasthas and Rajputs that they too are an important segment of state. The Pasmanda Muslims also joined hand with these forces and hence the expectations are high. However, an attempt is being made to convert the entire verdict into so-called developmental frame work. While it is true that people want accountability from their leaders and they want participation in power. They will not be satisfied with the rhetoric of development. We all know Bihar remain peaceful during the past few years as no displacement took place because of so-called industrialization as it did not happen. The first phase of Nitish’s rule was basically roads, electricity and water but big companies are eyeing Bihar now. Nitish Kumar should be careful enough to understand that he can not take away people’s land in the name of development. An image is being created for Nitish Kumar as if he is the replica of Naveen Patnayak of Orissa. Nitish should be careful enough in dealing people’s issues s Bihar is definitely not Orissa and any such displacement of people will come to haunt him and decimate him for ever. We know the media is very happy with ‘merit’ winning in Bihar because they want to push their own agenda and get land for a few corporate houses.

As Nitish takes over the reins of tomorrow, he would probably remember his colleague and senior leader V P Singh’s effort for probity in public life. It is important to understand the importance of VP Singh today and how Nitish could further that agenda of Mandal. The result in Bihar are not end of Mandal politics but as VP Singh often remarked that the Mandal forces have to capture the opposition space also. It is important for the forces of social justice to be free from corruption and family business. Nitish Kumar could do it. Bihar’s voter was very clear this time when they defeated all the major Bahubalis and those who thought politics as family domain. In the realm of social justice politics there are very few who did not leave behind any family legacy for the others.

We know it very well that the corporate run media is hell bent to undo the historical change of the post Mandal era. They do it with all their might. Using every thing under their belt to scuttle all the voices of social justice. It is not for the unknown reasons that V.P.Singh still remains one of the most hated politicians of the country. Lalu and Ramvilas must understand. Nitish and Sharad may understand it even when they are being glorified by the same upper caste media which villainised them in 1990. Is not it a fact that Sharad Yadav and
Ram Vilas Paswan were two most hated face along with V P Singh during those tumultuous years that India faced just because a government dutifully promised to implement the Mandal Commission Report.

It is time to revisit that. It is time for introspection. The political forces of social justice actually betrayed themselves. The issue of corruption may not look important to all those ideologues who are in a comparative mode but it affects the common people. It does not matter whether the corruption involve Karunanidhi, Lalu Yadav or Rajiv Gandhi. It simply means loss of generation for poor in India. It means denial of their right and basic facilities. And people today are judging their political leaders. They understand that the political class is corrupted by the power politics and that is why Lalu and Rabri might not have thought that she will face such humiliating defeat in her own den where Yadavas called the shot. The verdict is clear that you can not take your own community for granted. May be they could have learnt a few lesson from Kanshi Ram who had no family to place over the people. He created a Mayawati and a committed cadre in BAMSEF and among various Dalit communities and people accepted her wholeheartedly. Ofcourse, Mayawati too, should take a few lessons from Bihar verdict even when Bihar and Uttar-Pradesh are quite contrast yet none should take their own community as for granted. Mayawati will have to work for Sarvjan but not at the cost of the Dalits in Uttar-Pradesh otherwise the most loyal voter will ditch her. There is a limit to the people’s patience. That is one big lesson we get from the defeat of close relatives of both Ram Vilas Paswan as well as Lalu Yadav. One can not term mere representation of one’s family as the ‘voice’ of people. You will have to go beyond slogans and create a movement. People are not going to believe in your hollow secularism unless you launch an anti caste struggle. Unfortunately, anti caste movement was never on the agenda of those who claimed the legacy of social justice movement in India. Yes, we need people with clean image and clear ideology to fight against the brahmanical forces who are basking over the glory of Bihar’s rejection to ‘caste’. One hope Nitish Kumar understand that caste is the real cause of poverty in Bihar as well as in India. Mushahars, Dushadhs, Nishads, Chamars, Doms are not poor because of their class only but because they were born in these particular communities. So, he will have to reach them. He formed Maha Dalit to break the greater Dalit alliance and unfortunately none noticed it but the fact is these are the time of alliance building. Nitish’s alliance is still artificial as there can not be any alliance between the exploiters and exploited. Nitish Kumar’s upper caste vote bank will still not want that land reform be implemented and land be redistributed to poor. That Lalu too does not want.

It is important to break the myth of Bihar’s revolution. Bihar actually has little to offer to Dalits as the politics here is very much a domain game of powerful upper castes verses neo powerful OBCs. Dalits and Muslims are just an annexure to their broader agenda. It’s similar to what is happening in Tamilnadu in the name of social justice. It is actually the biggest failure of Ramvilas Paswan and Lalu Yadav as they failed to reach the poorest Dalit and economically backward communities who were feeling marginalized and left out. Nitish Kumar carefully cultivated them along with Muslims and succeeded. Those pretending to lead anti caste forces must unite all such forces victim of caste forces in Bihar in complete harmony and not mere followers of a few individuals and their families.

Caste and Land : Message from Chengara and Khagaria

Caste and Land : Message from Chengara and Khagaria

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat


At the United Nation’s Human Rights Council the member countries, much to the dismay of the faithful Babus of the government of India, passed a resolution terming caste system as a discrimination and violation of human rights. This is an important event though the Human Rights Council off late has become victim of religious right wing elements working in the name of multiculturalism. We all know this council has passed many such resolutions which violate fundamental principal of secularism, freedom of expression and life beyond religious values. However, in terms of issue of caste, one hopes that such resolution will at least force government of India not to oppose such things in future and accept the dark realities of castes in India.

We all know that UN resolutions do not work much. At the end the battle for dignity and equality has to be fought in India and by the people involved. Two important incidents happened in India with far reaching consequences. One was the killing of 16 farmers belonging to Kurmi community allegedly by the Mushahars in Khagaria, Bihar and second the ‘successful’ ‘culmination’ of Chengara land struggle in Kerala. Coming days would be important to understand the ramification of both the incidents.

Khagaria’s killings have been highly unfortunate and need condemnation yet if the reports of radicalization of Mushahars are true then there is a need of introspection.
They remain one of the most isolated and ostracized community in India and there are many such communities who remain completely marginal. They neither have political representation nor know anything of governance structure. The bureaucracy dominated by the caste Hindus do not even consider them as human being. India was among the first countries to have enacted some of the ‘change making’ laws, a secular constitution, equal rights but Indian villages do not portray the same reality of life. In fact, they remain caged in ‘different’ nations where each caste is a nation as described by V.T.Rajshekar, the formidable editor of Dalit voice. These castes do not even talk to each other and the talks of Bahujan and broader Dalit alliance is actually a political construct because very little has been done to culturally integrate with each other. A number of people feel easier to assimilate themselves with caste Hindus then to siding with the other marginalized communities considered to be below them.

And in such a scenario the votaries of Bahujan should understand that their work is much bigger than what they think. By merely chanting anti brahmanical mantra would not work as it has not worked in the absence of discussion the differences between the different communities. One has to understand that in the absence of an ideological clarity no coming together would succeed and would be easily co-opted and misused by the powerful. A mere political coalition would meet the same fate as happened to Mulayam-Maywati coming together and later the efforts by Nitish Kumar in Bihar, who created term Mahadalit to forge a combination with his power community of Kurmis. One need to understand that these political terminologies are more for the consumption of the political class and do not mean anything beyond electoral politics. When the Samajawadi party and BSP came together, it never meant that the Dalits and backward communities particularly the chamars and Yadavs would socialize more. Some people felt but it was not possible unless the backward castes debrahminise themselves. Similar thing happened in Bihar where the Kurmis first thought of Mahadalit as a counter to Muslim-Yadav-Dusadh politics of Laloo and Ramvilas Paswan. In his zeal to divide the Dalits and reap a good harvest, Nitish Kumar appointed a commission to assess the need of the Mahadalits in Bihar. The commission headed by One senior bureaucrat Mr Bandhopadhyaya has submitted its recommendation but the government of Bihar is not keen to present the report in the assembly. Now, the worst things are emerging after Khagaria killings. Initially, the government blamed it on the Naxals but later reports coming in the Indian Express suggested it was an intern caste land dispute and the Mushahars had been demanding land redistribution. The dark fact from UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu are that most of the village land, which is called as government land or Panchayat land in different states, is illegally grabbed the local powerful communities. Hence, when we talk of land reform and implementation of ceiling laws, how the farming communities go jittery and the fictitious unity in the name of Bahujan breaks. The Kurmis have now warned chief Minister Nitish Kumar not to ‘appease’ the Mushahars. ‘How dare they do it?’ The fear among them is that if the Mushahars start questioning about the land ceiling and other acts, then it would be difficult to contain their anger. So for the vote bank the concept of Bahujan bite dust. At the end, it is your caste that matter so if you lose the caste support then the human rights values and all the concerns for the ‘poor dalits’ disappear.

While reports from Bihar suggests concern, another report is emerging from Chengara, in Kerala where the movement for the land rights of the people has culminated in an agreement between the government and Sadhujana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi led by Laha Gopalan and one can understand how the pink dailies of the country had a sigh of relief terming it one of the biggest victory through Ahimsa in recent years. Even we all know that Laha Gopalan and his organizations had nothing to do with Gandhi, the authors were ready to propagate his movement as that of Gandhian struggle. ‘There is every chance of one getting carried away by the mannerisms of a loser expressed by Laha Gopalan after the discussion on Monday. But, in reality, it was the expression of success in a very peculiar way. Chengara struggle was fought on Ahimsa and won by Ahimsa. The portraits of Buddha and Ambedkar that were seen everywhere in the Chengara struggle heartland were the real driving force behind Laha Gopalan and team. After living in penury for 795 days and sacrificing 13 precious lives, the Sadhhujana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi could make the Government of Kerala bite the dust. The biggest difference between the Muthanga struggle led by C.K.Janu and Geethanandan and the Chengara struggle led by Laha Gopalan is the result. The Muthanga agitators are still fighting for their promised piece of land while Chengara strikers could fetch a timebound assurance from the Chief Minister that the promises will be fulfilled in three months’ wrote an ‘expert’ in ‘Financial Express’, yesterday.

Now, we all know the Dalits and tribal have been treated worst in the so called left governments whether it is West Bengal or Kerala because they say that they do not belive in caste system hence it does not exist. If people remember well, the way CPI(M) government in Kerala had gone overboard on this issue to avoid a replication of Nandigram. Discussion with activists and friends in Chengara suggest that the government and political parties have done every effort to divide the Dalit movement which was growing and Chengara’s land struggle actually changed the entire situation. For the first time, we witness the Dalits, tribal and other community’s landless people fighting together. They have been altogether these years but now the government’s decision to distribute land has to be seen from a different angle. When everybody of the 1400 odd families fought together for their land right, why is that the compensation is different for different communities. Clear enough, the government and political parties in Kerala are afraid of an independent Dalit-tribal unity. The mainstream political parties always want the Dalits and tribal to be their tail-enders.

Laha Gopalan himself admitted that he was forced to compromise. One has to understand the psychology of the powerful communities in India. All the upper caste forces united under different names in Kerala against Chengara struggle. Even the Christian upper castes of Kottayam and Pathannamitththa were not interested in the struggle. Trade unions ( and our revolutionary friends are very much in owe with the dirty politics of trade unions) joined hand and created a blockade against the people of Chengara. If the Hindutva and Congress created a Salwajudam to get the tribal fight each others in Chhatishgarh, the government of Kerala used trade union of all political parties to create an unlawful blockade against the people of Chengara. One need to see the similar situation which existed in West Bengal when the Sweepers of Howrah municipal corporation, who used to live in 200 years old Belilius park, were thrown away by the state police and none of the political parties in Bengal came in support of these people. Over 7000 families are living in utter humiliation in West Bengal. Every time, one visit to such a state, it does not look different then Gujarat if you want to speak a language different than the CPM people.

Hence the newspapers may write about a victory of Chengara struggle but it is a careful manipulation by the government. It has already asked three months time to give the Dalits and tribal some land. Problem arise, when they are already occupying land which is actually government land as the state must redistribute the ceiling surplus land, where else they can send these people. The land supposed to be given to these people in lieu of leaving the Harrison Plantation would be abysmally low and will not alter any power equations in Kerala. Moreover, activists doubt the availability of land in Kerala. If government is really bothered it must redistribute land in Kerala. Lot of talks about redistribution and ‘progressive’ ‘communist’ government in Kerala but the fact of the matter is the Dalit-Adivasi assertion in Kerala has been successfully countered by the mainstream political parties. First they sidelined Gauri Amma, a powerful backward caste leader and now Laha Gopalan has been successfully brought to the so-called negotiation table to give them peanuts. Perhaps, the Marxists are full of new ideas where they can send these people to different locations and destroy the movement. Activists are fearing that a police action is eminent as there are different fractions in Chengara and not all would like to leave the place. Secondly, none of them know where they will get the plot of land. It is unlikely that people would leave the place without getting rehabilitation.

Both the Bihar and Kerala experience shows how the governments which are in power have used particular ideological formulations to build their own political empire and how they manipulate people’s sentiments. Such stories are emerging from everywhere and they will always happen as long as the movements are not democratic and their leaders embedded with a particular formulation dictate their fancies to the people. The condition of both the Dalits and Adivasis remain a matter of concern in all these states whether they come to power in the name of social justice or Marxism.

When those who claim to stick to the values of social justice and power to proletariat find it difficult to implement land reform and succumb to big industrial houses, hand over state forest, land and water to these big companies without asking the local people and their Panchayats, the impact would be wider and people are not going to sit silently. Governments over the years, have flouted norms developed by them including famous Samatha Judgment where the Supreme Court fixed up guidelines to take permission from the local tribal Panchayats. Yet, the political class continues on selling spree without any shame.

India’s power politics goes via land and participation in power. Land is the most important tool in bringing radical changes in our social structure based on hierarchical values. Historically Dalits have been denied right to own property and access to land. Adivasis had their land in the forest yet isolated and illegally grabbed by local feudal castes. Now the companies have their eyes on it. The political class is using the majoritarian parliamentary system for the benefit of its use, making leaders as messiah who distributes hard cash and liquor during the polls. The depressing scenario is that most of them have billions of rupees to use foul practices to get elected. The democratic system has failed resulting in utter chaos. If those in power use ‘sama, dama, dand, bhed, to destroy people’s movement, there will be further chaos as people are not going to leave their places and it will be a leaderless condition everywhere, very difficult to contain. Hopefully, those who believe in social justice and power to the people, would do the needful, at least justifying their ideology when they are in power. Both Bihar and Kerala need to act immediately, implement land ceiling laws fairly. There will be opposition to it by powerful communities, political interest groups but then international and national laws can not be circumvented to make a few communities and their political leaders happy at the cost of social justice and human rights.

Forgotten Hero : Dashrath Majhi

A legends family languishes in Hunger

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat


Almost three years after the death of legendary Dashrath Majhi, a visit to the landmark created by the ‘Pahad purush’ i.e. mountain man in Dashrath Nagar, Gehlaur (Gaya) in Bihar makes one wonder how the government’s forgets their promises? The man who hailed from Mushahar community is today revered as Pahad baba. Those who have seen the primitive conditions of Mushahars and their persistent marginalization, they would certainly vouch that the recognition and acknowledgement of the work done by one among them, will go to rejuvenate the community and bring it to the life back. One does not know these facts but Dashrath Majhi’s work might make a fascinating story for young minds and the importance of commitment for a cause.

On August 17th, 2007, when Dashrath Majhi, 70, died of a prolonged illness and the Nitish Kumar government of the time took care of his treatments in AIIMS, Delhi, it looked that they would honor the words given to Dashrath Majhi and his villagers. Not only this, Baba, as Dashrath Majhi, is reverently addressed in the entire area, was asked what should be done for him. ‘Yes, we will provide 5 acres of land to your family’, the chief minister had promised. Baba that time said he did not anything for him but ‘build’ a hospital for the village. After the death of Baba, the government named the road that Baba cut through the huge mountain as Dashrath Majhi Road and the village as Dasharath Nagar. A temple is being constructed in the name of Baba which is called as Ghat.

Born in a deeply poverty entrenched family of Mangaru Majhi and Pattiya Devi in the Gahlor Ghati which was surrounded by the mountains and no connectivity of roads to the nearest town, Baba saw the difficulties of people living in Gehlor Ghati. His wife would go along with others to get water mounting the difficult terrain. He saw tremendous pain of inability for those who needed medical aid and old folks who found it difficult to climb the hill to reach the other side. The other way to reach the nearest town was by road which was about 75 kilometer. It was nearly impossible. Baba decided himself that they need some one way to reduce this and it was only possible if he would cut through the mountain and will make way for every one. While the governance was absent in the village and there was no way for the community to speak to political class to provide them roads and infrastructure. And one can understand what would have been the situation in 1960 when there were not much money and political power was still in the hands of dominant communities. So Dasharath must have felt that the only way to overcome this hurdle was to take some initiative and do the work. Hence then one fine day in 1960 he started his work. The pains and agony of people strengthened his determination particularly as his wife too had to face tremendous problems during these days. With shovel in hand, he started digging the mountains. Actually, Mushahars of the region depended a lot on stone cutting as it is their main source of livelihood. But Baba was not much doing it for commercial gains as he was keen on reducing the difficulties of his fellow villagers. It was a herculean task. The family never liked, the villagers called him mad. ‘How will this man cut such a rocky mountain? Has he gone mad? Does he has no other work to do? What is he doing”, were the scornful questions thrown at Baba. But Dasharath Majhi was determined and just did not care for these remarks. It is not that he was cutting the mountain from morning till evening. Actually, for him it was an additional work, as he had to support his family and it would have been impossible if he was not working on land or cutting stone for his survival. Whenever, he was without work or holidays, he would start cutting the stones himself. No body came to support him. He did not have the tools to cut big rocky stones; neither had he had money, the only thing that was with him, ‘courage and determination, against all the odds which exist in our communities. It was a complete madness towards his work and to relieve people from hardship.

Slowly some of the people realized that he was really into it, so they would help him with voluntary work for time to time. It is rather strange that the government and its authorities were completely unmindful of his work. It shows why a major part of India is still out of governance and people have to depend on their own self for their development. Such a major work was done by a man and his community and yet it remained unseen, unheard, unreported and unchecked. Yet, Baba completed his task by 1982 by cutting about 300 meter long and 25 ft wide mountain and therefore converting the distance of 75 kilometer to just 1 kilometer and it became easier particularly those on cycles and motor bikes to take their elderly people to the nearest town for medical aid. Today, you see streams of people using the way. Women going to forest, getting grass for their pets while motor bikers, cyclists and other villagers are using this path. And this has reduced their burden and pains. Today, Baba has slipped into folklore as a folk hero as people are constructing a temple for him. A local organization has painted the rock on the way saying that legendary Dashrath Majhi completed this herculean task of linking Ghivra mauja of Dashrath Nagar, in Gehlaur Ghati to Atara Prakhand, Wajirganj by reducing the distance from 75 kilometer to just one kilometer, in 22 years.

But after three years of death, none of the promises made by the Bihar government have been fulfilled. Baba’s lonely son Bhagirath is a physically challenged man. His daughter in law, Basanti Devi suffers from physical disability. Baba’s daughter Lavangi Devi too lives in the house along with others as they have a small semi constructed house. Daughter in law Basanti Devi cook mid day meal in the nearby primary school while her husband Bhagirath get Rs 200/- pension every month but not because of any love for Baba but for ‘disability’ reasons. The total land they got was about 1.5 acre which they got along with other villagers long back.

While the family now knows that their Baba was not just a useless mad man but did something for the society yet Basanti Devi was not amused, ‘He did nothing for us. What have we got from his work? Our children are starving and no way to educate them. The government promised us 5 acre land but it never came’. One can understand the frustration of the family members as for them the issue of the survival of their children is more important. Though they know that Baba did wonder yet they feel that the government has not really honored its words. Somewhere they feel that Baba would have asked more from the government so that they could have lived a better life.
Their Indira Awas is still incomplete. The huts are not enough to keep the family better. In one side, the family keeps the photographs of Dasharath. His son and daughter and their children live together though cook separately. Yet, they are hoping against hope as people come and seek their interview.

The situation is pathetic and though the area is open and wide yet a community can not live on ‘fresh air’. It needs work. The road network is now being developed in the area. But one wonder how long will it take. Not many efforts by the government to change the life of the people. No medical assistance, no proper school for the children.Baba’s grand daughter Lakhsmi who is nearly 15 ( I could say less than that) is a married girl. She could not get admission to Kasturba Balika Vidyalaya. She does not know why but most of the children complained about that. She can just read and write and perhaps completed her Vth standard.


The children are hungry and asking for more. The mother beat them for lack of food and virtually annoying. The house is incomplete and in a mess. Tears rolls down from Basanti Devi as she starts talking about Baba and narrate their own plight.’ People come here, ask about Baba, his work and passion, but we remain the same’. We have nothing to eat. I do not know what to tell people about Baba but if they want to see how government honors people, they can see our conditions.’ Actually, after Nitish Kumar government honored Baba, a lot of media hype was created added with Maha Dalit slogan of Bihar government. Nitish had actually called Dashrath Majhi to Patna and asked him to sit in front of him said his son Bhagirath. They were elated at this respect shown by the most powerful man of Bihar but then little did they know that politicians will do everything to gain political gains. Mushahars may not matter as voters for them but honoring Dashrath Majhi gave tremendous good will of the Dalit communities in Bihar.

The village of Dashrath Majhi need a facelift. It need not only electricity and proper road network which is coming up but also development of the community. Often, social activists working among Mushahars, blame them for their laziness and social attitude, but a man called Dashrath Majhi has given example how legends can come from any community. It is time that Bihar government honor its promises made to Dashrath Majhi, take care of the entire Mushahar community, provide them alternative livelihood and make life of Dashrath Majhi as part of the school text books. If the government of Bihar is really sincere towards its promises, it should initiate special schemes for Mushahars in the name of Dashrath Majhi and create more schools with special reference for the poor children, apart from a full fledged government hospital. That would be the best tribute to the man who moved mountain for the benefit of fellow human being and epitomize the tremendous will of human spirit.

Bihar's Anguish, Orissa's Pain

Anarchy and chaos in the East India

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

East India Company started from the Eastern Coast of India which is Bengal to do business in India but the main aim of the company was to control India and its natural resources. The company succeeded in spreading their empire all over India using all the tricks of the governance.

In the post independent India, the Eastern Sector continue to be a tough challenge for the new avatar of the company i.e. Sangh Parivar. It is an upper caste limited company where the shudras and Adivasis are kept as foot soldiers. Having won the western and northern frontier, the Parivar know it well that it would be difficult to stake a claim for the throne at Indraprastha unless the Patlipatra comes under its full control. And hence the tandava in Orissa were essential part of the entire exercise.

One wonder why people are fighting in Orissa, a state in news for all wrong reasons all the time. With enormous resources at hand, Orissa is one of the richest state of India, with similar story of poorest people in terms of economy. The rich cultivable land is in the hands of powerful companies. Therefore, right from Posco to Tatas, every one has ventured in Orissa. While the people die of hunger and starvation, it is Posco and Mittals which make news from Orissa. And chief minister Naveen Patnaik gets appreciation and acknowledgment from his supporters in the pink sitting at the India International Centres and deciding about the fate of millions of people. Yes, when the land of the poor from Orissa was being snatched there was no one except the poor themselves. When the issue of fighting against this iniquitous system came the ‘god fearing’ Sangh Parivar kept quiet. Perhaps that is not an issue for them. The issue for them is ‘conversion’. And often repeated charges of missionaries converting the people. What is wrong with that? If the RSS and Sangh Parivar want to give a better idea, let them do the same. But how are they doing. Full state patronage in Orissa. The Sangh Parivar’s goondaism has been exposed in Orissa. The multi headed monsters in the form of Bajrang Dal, VHP and others and language of Togadia who has been exiled from his own state of Gujarat, Orissa is a grim reminder of the divisive politics of the Sangh Parivar.

Of course, this is not to exonerate the Christian Missionaries who are despite all the protest take shelter under the garb of freedom of choice of religion. How would a starving and hungry person has a choice to select a religion. And why do they starve even after coming to your place. It is absolutely no control when the goons and thugs of Sangh Parivar are forcing people to reconvert to ‘Hinduism’. One does not know where will these Swayamsewaks place the new converts but one thing is sure, that there caste remain unchanged. They can not be the upper caste Brahmins or Patnaiks of Orissa.

This is the most unfortunate side of Orissa when the country should have been concerned about the incident; we hear nothing of that short since Christians in India are no Muslims. For the Sangh’s regular nautankis Muslims are terrorists, now they can not blame the Christians to be terrorists hence the charges of conversion. Orissa’s Dalits and tribal have been pushed to each other. They have been made to fight against each other in the name of Hindu and Christian. At the end of the day it is these people who are killing each other, burning the property of each other. The religious thugs will ultimately survive but the loss of livelihood of the poor will haunt them always. That the goons of Hindutva have not cared to burn a young woman who tried to save the orphan children unmask the demonic face of the Parivar. They have no time to take care of the orphans and tribal. And those who are at least trying to do some work for them are being threatened. Naveen Patnaik will always get the best chief minister’s prize from his friends in Delhi for inviting all big companies to loot Orissa and rape its natural resources. It is also important to understand that both the Dalits and tribals are made to fight each other in the name of religion. At the end of the day, a Dalit and tribal remain with in his community despite his conversion. However, my point is not to equate the Christian groups with the fundamentalist Hindu groups which have got full protection from the state police and state government. The question here is the role of state government and how come it surrendered itself to the Trishul wielding Hindutva fanatics. That Swami Lakshmananda was killed by the Maoist who have openly blamed him for spreading communal poison in the area. But the Sangh parivar refuses to buy the argument that the Hindu Maoist could kill a Hindu fanatic and hence they rioted and destroyed the houses of the Christians Dalits. It is reported that the Christian Kandh tribals were not attacked in their own village. It looks that the Hindutva gangs can not take on the Maoist head on. They know well that fighting against Maoist or the Naxal is a lost battle as even the state police are unable to do so hence the Christian become easy target for them. Here the police and administration also become their favorite choice. It also reflects a bit about Orissa’s social relations where the Sangh Parivar and its wings have carefully infiltrated among the tribal and Hinduised them completely. On the other side, the Dalits seems to have been converted to Christianity. And in this football game of religious identities the end result is that both the Dalits and tribals destroying each other. What an irony that in Orissa where both the Dalits and tribals are facing assault on their livelihood they have become pawns in the hands of religious organization to champion their cause. The government must work hard to restore normalcy and rule of law. They can not absolve themselves from the duty of protecting the people. Orissa can not be allowed to become another Gujarat just because Amarnath’s drama has failed to take notice of the country. Ofcourse, it has helped the communal fanatics in Kashmir Valley. All such organizations and political parties should be banned from contesting elections which raise the majoritarian communalism. I am particularly referring to Hindu communalism because the law is already punishing the others, it is these perpetrators of communal riots who have not been punished so far and need to be punished at the earliest.

Just near to Orissa is another legendary state of India named as Bihar. Today, it is passing through another anarchy, which is man made. While in Orissa, the religious goons played the tandava, in Bihar, it is river Kosi which has destroyed the livelihood of millions of people. If reports are to be believed an estimated 5 million people have been displaced in this Tsunami which has uprooted people from their places and rendered them homeless. There is not even a vacant space where people can hide themselves. In past 14 days people of Bihar have been left to fetch themselves. A state which proudly can proclaim an example of how different communities live together, Bihar is today seeking national attention. Unlike Orissa, Bihar has not seen communal disturbances in past 20 years. That Sangh Parivar and its monsters find it difficult to enter Bihar. It is to the spirit of Bihar’s people that such rabid rabble rousers remain at the outskirt of politics, even when the BJP is sharing power in Bihar yet it has to change its rabid anti Muslim rhetoric’s.

Apart from the communal politics, so called capital also has not reached Bihar. In India it is the cocktail of capital with religion which become the toast of the states. We have seen it happening in Gujarat followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra. Now it has found it way in Orissa which is attracting not only investment but conversion and reconversion, but people remain hungry and starving. Bihar’s people are known to work hard and migrate. It is not that they are not religious. They are religious and perhaps have focused too much on politicized version of Chhuth in Delhi and Mumbai which has become a bone of contention for the local politicians. Chhuth is fastly becoming a festival of unity of all Biharis world over very much similar to what Ganesh Chaturthy was meant for Maharastrians. Of course, so far Chhuth has not been communalized and it remains true to its roots and the commercial interest has not yet taken over it.

But a national tragedy of this quantity which the prime minister himself referred as unprecedented, has not attracted nation’s attention is a matter of great anguish. Except for The Indian Express, none of the private organizations have so far taken up the cause for relief. During Tsunami and earthquake in Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Kashmir, the civil society organizations led from the front, news media, electronic channels lent their support but this time it does not look so. One does not know what are non resident Biharis doing? Is it because Bihar’s over assertion of its politics has damaged its cause? Is it because Bihari politicians have failed their own people? Where are they? Well, Ram Vilas Paswan is busy with his party’s meeting in Rajasthan, BJP and its hero Lal Krishna Advani does not take much interest in Bihar, Togadia and other Hindus perhaps do not think that Bihar’s Dalits and backwards too are Hindus or not. Neither Dalit organizations nor human rights groups seem to think of it. The only visible face at the moment is of Laloo Yadav, whose Ministry of Railways has been pumped into service in Bihar.

Actually both Orissa and Bihar give striking similarities. Both face natural calamities. But this time both faced man made calamities, whose impact have been enormous. It will take years to rebuild the lives of those who have lost everything, as Kosi’s fury is still on rampage. Orissa is burning. The chapels, the churches, the Bible, the houses of poor Dalits and tribal are explaining the enormity of this man made tragedy. That both Orissa and Bihar have some of the poorest regions yet they all have been living life of their own in these areas. These rural poor, the Dalits and Adivasis always had lived together in complete harmony of nature till one fine day the outsiders preach them and use them in their hatred and the result is destruction. This destruction of life and property in both Bihar and Orissa reminds us the madness of human being, madness of religious thugs and the madness of politicians who are ready to sacrifice people for their own political agendas. Bihar’s politicians failed to see that Kosi’s embankment was not repaired and still unable to respond to this catastrophe, the chief minister of Orissa has yet to visit Kandhamal and assure the Dalits, mostly Christians, that their life will be safe and that they will not become stranger in their own land just because they are not reciting Gita and Ramayana. State has to act. In the both the places it has failed. The poor Bihari is running to save his/her life from the villages as over 800 villages have been completely destroyed in 15 districts. More than 5 lakhs have been evacuated. Similarly, in Orrisa the Christians have migrated to the forest to save them from further assault from the rampaging Hindu goons. One hope that the state, civil society and other local organizations will not remain mute to such threats and work for unity among people so that all these migrants from both Bihar and Orissa, whenever they return to their roots, do not feel stranger and isolated in their own villages. If state fails in its duties then it will clearly be meant that it has succumbed to the forces of divisiveness and destruction and that would be the worst day for all of us who feel human endeavor to live a purposeful life with freedom and dignity is the essence of any successful democracy.