Will Islam ‘liberate’ Dalits of Bhagana ?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

It was around 11 am on August 8^th when the ‘Bhagana Kand Dalit Sangharsh Samiti’ had called a meeting at Jantar mantar, in Delhi where they have been camping in protest against their boycott by the Hindus led by the Jats in their village Bhagana of district Hisar, Haryana, about 150 kilometer from Delhi for the past two years.  The message that came to me was to come in solidarity with the Bhagana’s struggling Dalits and express your solidarity. Due to my prior engagements outside Delhi, I had to skip the programme and thought would speak to friends about the outcome of it. Little did I realize that 150 odd families at Jantar-Mantar would take a religious route to get their ‘problem’ ‘resolved’ during the ceremony? In the evening, I saw a Facebook post of a friend who mentioned it to me but I was not sure whether the incident was from Bhagana but next day when I scanned various newspapers, I came to know about the ‘conversion’ of our friends to Islam on August 8^th which sparked a furious reaction from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindutva organisations blaming the Muslims for instigating the Dalits and convert to Islam.

Since 1981 Meenakshipuram’s conversion where Dalits embraced Islam to save themselves from the clutches of untouchability and caste atrocities, Bhagana’s conversion at Jantar-Mantar is a slap on the face of those who wanted to suppress Dalits at ‘home’ by denying even right to convert to the faith of their ‘choice’. I had visited Meenakshipuram and met the families of former Dalits who are now enjoying their lives as equal citizen of society. I asked one such gentleman as what does he think when Hindu organizations blame you converting for ‘huge wealth’ coming from ‘middle east’. He responded, ‘Sir, I can’t live life of humiliation on daily basis. What can be a bigger thing than this that we rejected your reservation and all the ‘allurement’ that you give us to be in the caste Hindu fold and face discrimination and untouchability. Frankly speaking sir, what is our value for them? Can there be any bigger sacrifice than this fact that we are not interested in any material monitory thing as for us the biggest thing of life is to get respect and live life of equality’. I could find the difference that the people are mingling and have no complain from what they have done. I wish to add here that I visited Meenakshipuram nearly 4 years ago and by that time those who were kids during this conversion ceremony have now grown up and living a life of satisfaction.

It is not my point here to discuss whether they should have converted or not. Given the nature of violence against Dalits in Tamilnadu, the result from Meenakshipuram actually did shake the Hindu fundamentalists all over the country yet they refused to change and violence against Dalits remained as usual whenever the Dalits asserted for their rights apart from their attempt to enter in any temples were resisted by them. Those of us who have seen the Bhagana’s struggle from close quarters and were associated with it in some way or others understand well how at each level the Dalits were betrayed by the forces who could have provided justice to them. First, the entire village of Jats turned against them since May 2012 when they were being threatened to move out of the Shamlat land i.e. village communal land. Over the years, Harayana’s powerful Jats have benefitted highly from the soaring land prices as agricultural land fast turned into booming real estate land. Therefore, the landshark in the villages, with active support of the powerful politicians were grabbing ‘Shamlat lands’ meant to be distributed to Dalits and other landless people of the region. Bhagana had over 250 acres of Shamlat land which was promised to the Dalits once upon a time but the Jats felt that once the land is gone to the Dalits they would assert and will not work on their fields as landless laborers. What can one do when none of the state apparatus ever ready to support when justice is needed. There are many implications of this including anarchy, disturbance and absolute cultural slaughtering of the community. For over two years the community living in camps at Jantar Mantar lost everything yet no tears for them. Government of India offered Kashmiri Pandits land in Jammu and in Delhi but Haryana government as well as government of India failed to make a promise to the Dalits of Haryana.  Where do people go when all the roads are blocked for them? Let us see the turn of events in Bhagana for the past three years.

In May 2012 the whole 450 odd Dalit families of Bhagana were forced to leave their village by the land owning jats who never wanted them at the first place. Most of these families were living at the Hisar’s mini secretariat while nearly 150 of them walked bare chested in the extremely difficult circumstances when the temperature was rising to nearly 45 degree Celsius, to Jantar Mantar, Delhi. That time, they were demanding redistribution of land and action against those who wanted to evict them. At Delhi, we were together and saw them meeting various leaders, ministers, Members of Parliament but nothing happened. Most of them remained at their tents and some time would go back to their place and work. Nearly one year later on March 23, 2013 four minor girls of the communities were gang raped in the village. They were abducted in a Maruti car when they had gone out to defecate in the evening, and taken to Bhatinda, a city in Punjab nearly 100 kilometer away. They were drugged and raped. As the community people came to know about it they approached one panchayat leader who happened to know about it and accompanied the families to Bhatinda. While coming back he threatened them not to reveal about the incident to the family. There was outrage in the village and families protested in both Hisar and Delhi. They met officials, NHRC, Scheduled Castes Commission and National Commission for Women and yet nothing happened. We protested in front of the Parliament so many times, we had candle light marches and whatever was possible to claim as a ‘peaceful democratic protest’ yet the end result was nothing. It became a good photo-op for many but others only lost their energy in the sloganeering. I have mentioned many times that Jantar Mantar is an‘illusion’ of ‘democracy’ in this country. It only gives a false image that our government is ‘ready’ to face ‘criticism’, but that does not hurt the government or those in power.

Congress’s Jat chief minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the real villain in this case as refused to take any action. The Dalit leadership in the party was absolutely weak. The other political parties rarely visited them. For some time a few of the ‘emerging’ leaders visited but after winning the elections in May 2014 they too disappeared. People felt that a new government that has taken over in Delhi would do justice to them. Both in Delhi and Haryana also had new government and Congress had lost the elections. Bhagana’s Dalit felt that a non-Jat chief minister would listen to them more carefully but alas their hopes were dashed to ground. None heard them. In the aftermath of the elections, we had an opportunity to meet a senior member of a National Commission in Delhi who hailed from Punjab and promised that he would take stringent action against the culprits.  In fact, the Member called the crew of local Punjab TV channel and spoke in front of them but still nothing happened.

The desperation was clear.  The villagers did not want to go back to the village where they are unwanted and their life security was threatened hence they called a meeting on August 8^th in Delhi and very few of us knew that they are embracing Islam.  According to Jagdish Kajla, nearly 150 people embraced Islam here at Jantar Mantar while others have done in Hisar though there is no independent verification of it as that is not a question for us to discuss here.  We defend people’s right to embrace the faith of their choice or have no faith even when we may disagree with their action. It is a political battle and have to be fought politically. When I ask Virendra Bagoria, the leader of Bhagana Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, who led the conversion movement, he said, ‘ What was left for us in the varna-dharma as we tried every effort to get justice through peaceful democratic means for the past three years. What else do you want us to do? We approached ministers, members of different political parties, social activists, lawyers, courts, media and yet we did not get justice that is why we collectively decided to embrace Islam and we realize what difference it makes in our life. After the conversion leaders are coming to us and asking for ‘gharwapasi’ but I asked them whether they are ready to hand over two of their holiest ‘mutths’ to us.

'Why didn’t you convert to Buddhism, as guided by Baba Saheb Ambedkar', I ask to Bagoria and he said,’ Baba Saheb might have done right thing that time but today after so many years we feel that Buddhism has not been able to protect the Dalits. It has failed. Only Islam can give a befitting answer to these caste forces.’ 

Bagoria’s apprehensions may not substantiate but there is definitely an important message in it. Buddhism has attracted Ambedkarites all over the world and many of them question those who do not embrace Buddhism as not really the followers of Baba Saheb but it is also a fact that a number of Dalits who have been victim of the caste violence feel that only Islam can protect them. Perhaps, this is because of the failure to protect by the state and any support from the Ambedkarite Buddhists. May be it is time to really analyse as why people embrace other faiths and still follow Baba Saheb Ambedkar.

When I speak to Jagadish Kajla who has been camping at the Jantar Mantar for the past three years along with his family member he says, ‘all the Dalit groups came to us, expressed their solidarity and we followed everything that is given to us under the constitution and at the end of it we get nothing. What should we do now’, All of us felt that Islam is the only way out to protect ourselves and fight against the injustice of the brahmanical forces. We want to make it clear that Buddhists cannot save us from the oppression. Muslims are resisting and we will fight our battle.’

Speaking to all those people here at the Jantar Mantar and remembering the cries of women who were here including young girls who have been violated against their will, it is no doubt a fact that the battle of the Dalits is not just for their dignity and self respect but more than that. It need to be understood why the people of Bhagana or Meenakshipuram opted for Islam when they wanted to give a slap on the face of caste Hindus? As Jagdish Kajla said that Buddhists and Christians were unable to take head on the caste Hindus, perhaps the sacrificial spirit of Islam became the biggest influence on the psyche of the Dalits who have been 

oppressed, humiliated and violated by the dominant castes.

It is a well-known factor that the issues of the Dalits of Bhagana will not die down with this conversion. Bagoria and others might feel that after the conversion they have slapped in the face of caste Hindus but at the end of the day the question to be asked is what are the Dalits of Bhagana getting out of it.  Bagoria and his team says that they have tried everything and now their limitation has crossed the limit hence they converted to Islam but the fact remain whether the social and economic isolation of the Dalits in Haryana will end? By converting to Islam they have already lost their right to get other benefits, which they know the people of the village and the state were not interested in providing to them. The VHP and other Hindutva organisations have already threatened them not to enter the village unless come back to Hindu fold.

At their tiny spot of protest in Jantar Mantar one can find the number of Muslim growing as they come to show their solidarity. I see bearded leaders taking selfies with the newly convert. A group of Muslims sits with them and discuss their issues and promise them that, ‘whenever they are in trouble ‘we’ are a ‘phone call’ away.’  One is amazed at this unity but as a human rights defender it is disappointing too. How many of these people were there in the past three years when the Dalits were at the receiving end. Did they ever participate in the protests?  Why is that the solidarity only coming when they have converted to Islam? There is no denial of fact that Islam does not have caste system in theory but the fact is that Indian Muslims have castes and there are Dalit Muslims like Hellas and Halalkhors who are treated as untouchables. When I ask this question to Bagoria, he says that he is not bothered about that and would fight back and that Muslims are ‘good’ people.

One is not sure how things will change for the people who are displaced and aren’t welcome back their home as Muslims themselves are a persecuted minority here and all reports suggest that in many areas their conditions are worst than Dalits. My point here is to just find out whether this conversion is going to help any one including the Muslims whose conditions are difficult and need not be mentioned here.

Religion is a personal faith and we defend the right to have faith as we will stand with people and would like faithful to side with those who don’t believe in God or any ‘Almighty’ in their fight for human rights. It is important to maintain unity of the movement and our faiths and change of faiths should not be allowed to divide the movement on the ‘religious’ lines now which is very much possible. We should not forget how the Hindutva gangs divided Dalits and Aadivasis in Kandhamal on the basis of their religious identities. It is easier to say that nothing would happen and we are ‘united’ but the ground realities are difficult. We know that division start creeping in with the faith when some people change while a number of others don’t and therefore dividing line are created.

The dust of conversion was not even settled that District Session Judge of Hisar, Alka Malik acquitted all the accused of the Bhagana Rape case on August 12^th. It was shocking incident but given the nature of police and investigating agencies, we know that caste card work and police let the case loose with enough gaps giving opportunity to the lawyers to misuse those and end of the day provide way towards ‘honorable acquittal’.  

There is no doubt that Indian state has miserably failed in doing justice to Dalits and aadivasis despite stringent laws for their protection in the form of ‘ Prevention of Atrocities on SC-ST Act’ for the past three decades. There are numerous stories of violence against Dalits and Aadivasis in the country, which cannot be narrated here for the paucity of time and space but not a single case of conviction so far from Bathani Tola to Shankar Bigaha, Kumher to Tsunduru which suffered due to Let the government’s agencies give us details of a single case of atrocity on SC-ST where a complete rehabilitation has taken place and culprits have brought to justice. We are celebrating how Lok Sabha has passed amendment and officers are congratulating but in a few cases of individual violence, I can bet this law will not be able to bring any justice to people unless India bring Communal Violence Bill to Parliament, discuss the whole issues of administrative failures and punish the officials as well as the communities which are engaged in violence. We know in the cases of group violence, which is majoritarian oppression of the minorities in the villages, you don’t find any culprit in the ‘absence’ of witness. Whether Khap killings for honor or witch-hunting or caste killings or communal violence, we have reached nowhere in taking on the mobs and telling them to behave through severe punishments.

How will Dalits of Bhagana get justice by converting to Islam, when Muslims in Mujaffarnagar and Gujarat waiting for the same, is a million dollar question, however one fact is simple, that Bhagana’s Dalits who embraced Islam may not know many things but the only thing they know is that perhaps through Islam they can fight back both at the personal level as well as at the constitutional level where they are already challenging the Session Court’s judgment. At the academic level, we may have our own understanding including biases but perhaps the most striking element for the millions of people tortured with caste violence seems to be the Islamic spirit of fighting back with their head high.  Its not for us to decide what is the choice of people as a faith but for people like us the fight for justice of Bhagana Dalits has not ended with the conversion and the movement for it should be prepared to accept all those people along with it who might not have converted. Religion has always divided people let the Dalits not divided by religious identities and respect people right to choice of their faith and fight back the battle with bigger vitality through constitutional means even when we all know that they have been failed by the Indian state controlled by the brahmanical forces. 

Doms in Varanasi seek justice through honorable rehabilitation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Hundreds of pilgrims seek to see the sunrise on the bank of Ganges in Varanasi and the boatmen go on live commentary of these ghats narrating the mythological details and the most poignant moment come when you see the Manikarnikaghat, Dashashwamegha Ghat and Harishchandraghat reminding you the stories of Raja Harishchandra’s loyalty to his ‘profession’. In an indirect reference, these are the same ‘preaching’ which ask you to do thy duty while ‘result’ is not thy concern. Secondly, Raja Harishchandra is ‘applauded’ because he remained defiant in ‘asking’ for ‘money’ amidst a great human tragedy in which a helpless woman does not have the money to ‘pay’ the charges for funeral which the Doms performs. It means that we should not show any human spirit and value to any one when situation warrants and just be ‘committed’ to our ‘profession’. I think that is the most dangerous aspect of a philosophy which justified discrimination based on caste and gender.

The references to Domraj often come in these mythologies and they continue to do the task of burning dead bodies at the Ghats and cleaning human excreta in the city. Most of the land meant for them is already occupied and big ghats have erupted on the bank. Nothing has changed for them. In fact, they reflect the criminal civilization which kept them subjugated for thousands of years and the independence that we got in 1947 has no meaning for them as the community remains untouchables among untouchables absolutely ostracized and thoroughly disenfranchised in the holy city.

Officials in Varanasi claim that manual scavenging is absolutely abolished in the city and that there is not a single manual scavenger to be rehabilitated. It is strange and ironical. One would ask a simple question as where have the ‘manual scavengers’ gone? Is there any honorable rehabilitation done to them? Has untouchability finished from the ‘holy city’ and where does the ‘holy shit’ go if the city has become totally sanitized. These are some of the questions which need answer and introspection on part of the city which proudly claims to be the oldest city and a civilized one. Sorry, this is a city of Kabir, Ravidas and Buddha who revolted against brahmanical rituals and untouchability. So, attempt to show greatness of ‘brahmanical rituals’ in Varanasi need questioning.

It was on March 10^th that we had a gathering of Women Engaged in Manual Scavenging in Uttar Pradesh in Varanasi with the National Commission for Women. The local journalists had started coming in as one member of the Commission was visiting here. Some reporters had started coming before time and as usual show their ‘hurriedness’ to the organizers. Others started chatting with the women who had come from different parts of the state. One must realize that Women engaged in manual scavenging hail from Balmikis, Rawats, Helas, Bansfors, Halalkhors and Doms in Uttar Pradesh as well as Bihar. All these communities are the most marginalized and face the brunt of untouchability from within the Dalit communities too. Interestingly, so many of the civil society organisations, human rights groups sitting in Varanasi but none bothered about this issue. I was told by every one that manual scavenging is not prevalent in Varanasi. My only question to them is whether entire Varanasi is covered under the sewage system. If not then where does the entire filth go?

The fact is Varanasi has all forms of manual scavenging and we will come to the ‘original’ form of manual scavenging by hand later but first demythise the fact that there does not exist any manual scavenging. Most of the municipal areas now have flushed toilets with septic tanks which need to be ‘cleaned’ in a month, six months or a year. Now, who clean them? And how do they clean them? Is there mechanical cleaning?  No none is available. These ‘flushed’ toilets are cleaned by hand manually and the human excreta is unloaded through buckets by these communities. There is bargain for the money and the behavior of the people is not just being rude but also humiliating. It seems they all think it is the job of these communities alone.

It was interesting to see journalist speaking to these women and then turned to me in an attempt to dress me down. ‘What are the organisations doing for them? You have called a meeting for ‘manual scavenging’ and ‘these’ people are asking for ‘houses’. ‘They earn a lot. They ask for Rs 500/- for cleaning one toilet. Can you imagine how big is it when people engaged in MNREGA do not get that much, he said. Do you have any figures of these people and then made a statement that these people just get everything and are not keen to do any other work.’

I was listening to him patiently but my temper was running out of control. ‘ If I am coming from Delhi to tell you and the people in Varanasi that this heinous practice is still prevailing in this city then whose fault is it ? You people claim that there is no ‘carrying night-soil overhead’ and hence no ‘manual scavenging’ but the new act of 2013 define Sewage work, gutter, cleaning of septic tanks, work on railway platform apart from cleaning toilets is ‘manual scavenging’ and on that viewpoint itself the municipal authorities in Varanasi and elsewhere are on the wrong side and must be made accountable and answerable.

Varanasi is being cleaned these days yet you can see filth and garbage everywhere. The roads are dusty and over-crowded with chaos and anarchy on the roads. Everywhere, it is those who have served the city for centuries they are facing the trouble. Their locations are under the threat of eviction. Doms and Hellas have no place to go. In the ‘holy’ city their only duty is to keep the city ‘clean’ but not to ask anything for them.

Basanti Devi is from Manduwadih and along with 70 Dom families they are living on the one side of the railway track. An oral notice has been given to them to evict the land. ‘We have been living here for over 40-50 years without any facilities. We have served people but we have no place to go? Where will our children go’, she says. Others like Mehangi says that the community is in deep trouble as alcoholism is killing the community youths and hence they are unable to speak of their rights.

“I am 20 years old but we have been staying here since my grand- parents’ period. I have no children. I do clean toilets, wash it, pick up the latrine, clean septic tanks etc. I have to get into the septic tank and supply the ‘maal’ i.e. garbage of human excreta upward to throw it away. It’s a kind of daily wage work which we do regularly though not really able to get it daily. We do all kind of work related to sanitation. If the latrine is choked then we have to do it manually by pushing through hands’, says Sanjay.

The work is tough, filthy, dangerous and not a single persons job. It takes 12 hours to clean a septic tank and threat perception is very high. The total number of people engaged could be as low as 5. When I asked them about how a reporter of a leading daily was mocking at them claiming that there charges were very high, Sanjay responded,’ Sir, it is full day work and if there are five persons engaged in it and sometime more than that, then how much one earn in a day. Most of the time, we get between Rs 50-100 and they claim it is too much. It is more humiliation. People don’t even want to pay money for the work we do’, he emphasized.

Initially, I thought that the work may be just of cleaning the septic tanks and of males alone but to my utter surprise and shock, Varanasi’s Doms children and female wards too are engaged in the work. Sehjanti and other women go to nearby areas to clean the latrines and get Rs 50/- for their work for a month from one family. They too are engaged in cleaning of septic tanks and big pits which fills in regular intervals in a month period to a year’s period but work is coming daily.

Look like we are talking in the 16^th century when laws of Manu were prevalent and there was no constitution. Can you imagine people not getting access to water and being threatened with Rs 2000 fine for getting access to water? The people who clean the city, pick our garbage, cremate our dead ones are treated as untouchables and do not have a space to live. Can we imagine people not having access to water for a fortnight? Can we imagine people not able to take bath for a month? It is easier for us to claim that Doms or Mushahars or Bansfors are ‘dirty’ but have we asked a simple question as why do they remain unclean? They clean your city, burn your dead ones but have no right to life. No right to live in dignity. Moreover, we do not feel offended to see their condition. We assume that if it is their ‘fundamental’ duty to do this work. Isn’t it utterly disgraceful? When I asked Sanjay, a local youth as why they continue to do this work? ‘What do we do’? ‘Our parents did it, our grandparents did it. My mother did it. We never went to any school’, he reply. ‘We too want to see our children becoming officer but how do we do it? Unless government help it is difficult. At this moment, the untouchability and caste system is so powerful that none will give them any other ‘job’, Says Sanjay.

‘Who will give us job other than this? If we don’t do this than what is the source of our survival? Even this money does not come with respect. There are so many questions with contempt. For small money people think they are doing a great favor to us’ he says.

Doms face untouchability at all level. Their children are not allowed to enter in the school. The other caste children keep a distance from them. Vikki inform me that he went to school for a few days and then when they came to know about his father, work and caste he was sent back. ‘ you don’t need to study, he was told. A child who is not even 10 years of age, Vikky looks older than his age. He now help his family in the ‘work’. He clean the latrine and also goes into cleaning the septic tank. It is so painful to see the children being taken for the ‘work’.

It is our combine failure. Whether it is Varanasi or Mumbai, Delhi or Hyderabad, Chennai or Banglore, Tirpuati or Madurai or Hawarh, manual scavenging is a shame, a blot on Indian nation. Unless, we are determined to abolish it from the root, it would not go away. It need strong and unambiguous national resolve as well as honorable rehabilitation of the communities engaged in manual scavenging, will ensure its complete elimination.

It is not that the Doms don’t want to come out of this filth but as a society we need to do make them feel that they are part of our society. We need a comprehensive package for them so that they are honorably rehabilitated and their children go to school.

Varanasi Municipal Corporation has denied that manual scavenging does not exists there and that they do not need to rehabilitate it. According to the 2014 Act, the government was supposed to identify people engaged in manual scavenging and honorably rehabilitate them. Through this note, I am asking a few things and hope authorities will respond to it and act on it.

1.     If manual scavenging is absolutely abolished in Varanasi then where are the people who were engaged in it ? How many of them have been rehabilitated by the government. Is there any record of related to their honorable rehabilitation?

2.     Can the government inform us the exact number of Hellas, Rawats, Bansfors, Doms, Halalkhors are living in Varanasi. They are living in slums, in the outskirts and what is the status of their citizenship? Do they have right to vote and identity cards etc.

3.     If Varanasi is Manual scavenging free then I want to ask how many areas are covered under the sewage system. If the entire city is not covered under the sewage system then what happens to the other areas outside the sewage areas. Can we get some data regarding the same?  Who clean the sewage lines in Varanasi? Does the municipality has any record of people being killed during cleaning process. If yes, how many and what was the compensation. Does the Corporation know that Sewage workers too come under the manual scavenging act after the definition was broadened?

4.     There is a fact that most of Varanasi is not covered under Sewage system and hence people have made septic tanks and pit latrines which are cleaned by the people from these communities we have mentioned above. According to the Elimination of Manual Scavenging Act 2013, cleaning the septic tanks or pits etc too falls under the category of manual scavenging. Hence, we would like to know the exact number of persons engaged in this work and what action the municipal corporation plan to take in this regard? What will be your rehabilitation policy for these communities?

5.     Doms are on the verge of eviction from Madudih and Sunderpur areas. There is a threat. They have not got any alternative place to live. None of them have identity cards and other facilities which government should have provided to them. We demand immediate action in this regard.

6.     There is manual scavenging prevalent in Varanasi even according to old pattern of carrying nightsoil in buckets and baskets. When will government identity the exact number of people and rehabilitate them. Will it take action against people who are compelling people into it.

7.     What is number of people employed by Varanasi Municiple Corporation ? How many of them hail from the manual scavenging communities? Are there any Hellas, Halalkhors and Doms in any of the Corporation’s public work ? If not then why? Which communities are ‘technically’ recruited for ‘sanitation work’ in the corporation?

These questions came in my mind when I glanced through government information that no manual scavenging exists in Varanasi. Social activists, organisations as well as media had no clue about it which is more than shameful. I was determined about it that it exists as the abovementioned questions were there in my mind. Being an old city, Varanasi could not have changed over night to become Scavenging free. Hence, I had send a team to investigate the matter and visit these busties who reported to me about septic tanks cleaning. None was clear about the manual scavenging act which includes all these practices into the definition of manual scavenging.  That apart, all these people I mentioned spoke to me and as well as in the Conference called by the National Commission for Women on March 10^th in Varanasi. Later, I visited the Manduadih basti and have recorded the statements of the people. Right now, we hope that Uttar Pradesh government will take immediate action on it and not through denying the very existence of it but by the honorable rehabilitation of the people and fix accountability of the officials who have no clue about it.

Bhagana's daughters too are India's Daughters

Is ‘India’s daughter’ a victim of corporate media war ?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

A few days ago our finance minister and the legal brain of the current government Mr Arun Jaitley spoke in a conference and said that ‘you can not ban anything in the current age of information’. ‘How can any government ban any thing when the flow of information is so far and vast he said’. It is not more than a month when the government was seen hiding itself in the war cries of nationalism and arrogance of ‘we will see’ and ‘India’s reputation is being targeted’. It look childish when our lawmakers speak such a language in Parliament where a number of politicians are sitting who have publically supported khap Panchayats as well as killings and rapes too for political purposes. A video online on the Indiatimes website reported that some of the supporters of a rabble rousing BJP MP’s supporter openly asking to rape even the ‘dead women from Muslim community’ and it shamefully does not outrage us. When Hindutva lunatics are roaming free and seeking revenge, the ‘conscious keeper’ of this country, in the ‘Times Now’ does not feel comfortable to carry a campaign against it. Our ‘conscience’ does not wake up when Maya Kodnanai and all the accused from Gujarat have been released by the ‘courts’ and when Teesta Setalwad face charges because she fought against the communal violence and the political which was party to it.

It is strange that ‘Times of India’ which has always stood for ‘freedom of expression’ and has not shied away from publishing naked and titillating photographs of ‘famous’ people including film stars to the extent of even violating their privacies, is campaigning this time, through a megalomaniac called Arnab Gosami who think that except ‘him’ none think for India and none has a right to claim propriety on Indian nationalism except him. Women activists have given a call to boycott him but I would say all the politicians and activists should boycott Arnab and his ‘Times Now’. It is a channel of the corporate, for the corporate and by the ‘Corporate’, which massages the Indian egos through tainted ugly nationalism.  Sadly, when we want public opinion be developed against the mindset, which the rapists are having, Times of India has come for the rescue of such a mindset. I always say that India has enough laws but it does not has the capacity to introspect. It is simply living in denial mode and Arnab Goswami and Times of India are exploiting that mindset in India.

The entire issue of anti woman mindset that starts from the birth of a girl has been hijacked in the jingoism of ‘nationalism’ by these media thugs and the lobby of the government which is forcing the media to create an impression as if ‘rapist’ has got a ‘platform’ to project his view point. The fact is that all court proceedings are already completed and the convicts have already been sentenced to deaths, which will need Supreme Court’s scrutiny. So, it is really not the case of trying to influence the courts, which ‘Times Now’ and many others do everyday without fail. The entire ‘News hour’ is nothing but a public ‘lynching’ of the ‘opponents’ done by a rabble rousers who is enjoying the support of hyper ‘upper-caste middle classes’. The way some of them carried ‘news’ of ‘government’s ‘notice’ send to BBC as if it is a very great act of the party with ‘transparency’.  At the end of the day Arnab had egg on his face when BBC rescheduled the broadcast of the film four days earlier and the film, thank to Arnab Goswami and his foolishly negative campaign became a big hit on the youtube. The question is why the ‘Times of India’ allowed its channel to carry this utterly disgraceful propaganda which ultimately hurt the ‘freedom of expression’ and creativity.  I wish we had a Ramnath Goenka today who lead ‘Indian Express’ from the front and did not succumb to the dirty tricks of the government during emergency when the rest of the media in India was ‘crawling’, the ‘Indian Express’ kept the voice of the people high. Today, it pains to see the pathetic condition of the media lampooning itself and championing the cause of censorship on behalf of the government. During emergency the entire media was one even when we saw many fought openly while others surrendered yet they did not carry sinister campaign against each other. Today, media PR forgot its ethical duty and unfortunately supported such censorships, which are unwarranted in this age.

It is equally painful that the ‘Times of India’ and ‘Times now’ was picking up small issues like ‘revealing’ the name of the victim. We must understand that original name of Nirbhaya  is revealed by her parents and there is nothing unusual of that. It is not for the first that a film is being made on rape victim. In 1994, Shekhar Kapoor made film ‘ The Bandit Queen’ on the life of ‘Phoolan Devi’ and though there were charges of ‘commercialism’, the film was accepted by the people. The issue of not revealing the name of the rape victim comes through a ‘mindset’, which considers sexual violence as ‘end of life’ for woman. It is important to reemphasize the fact that a woman does not become ‘jinda laash’ as Sushma Swaraj, now our honorable external affairs minister, claimed in Parliament in 2012. A woman neither loses her identity nor dignity just because she has been violated or raped. It is important that society changes its attitude and it wont be possible without taking the issue head on.

To make the issue as an issue of ‘Indian’ verses ‘foreign’ is simply farcical. In reality ‘Times Now’ can at most be compared to ‘Fox News’ in United States where ‘loudspeakers’ sensationalise the issues on daily basis. The fact is that BBC has a longterm relationship with India and has been acknowledged as more credible source of information in far rural India than the government owned Doordarshan and Aakashwani during the emergency days. We all got the tuned to BBC London to get the factual information on ‘operation Blue Star’ or the death of Indira Gandhi through BBC when the government radio had blanked out the entire news. The news channels in India are not doing a great service to their credibility through such disinformation campaign.

One must ask the question as how many Indian News channels allow the individual filmmakers this liberty.  Let them reveal as how much money are they ready to put in for such stories, which need time and investigation. Most of them have ‘slaughterhouses’ in their TV studios, which is the easiest and safest way to carry their prejudiced agenda and disinformation campaign on important people’s issues. So, as far as credibility and quality is concerned, BBC remains far ahead of any Indian news channel.

So, for me, it is important we defend this right of the filmmaker to make a film. No filmmaker or writer will surrender her or his right to write a story to the jailer or authorities. We take permission to follow security procedures and once they are followed, it is not the concern of the authorities as what did the accuse say or what is the script of my film or story. It will be a dangerous sign if such thing ever happens than it would be impossible to expose the corruption and break many stories that have so far come out in public domain. The judicial process is over and the fact is that the case against the accused will be more stringent with this. So, to say that attempt has been made to ‘influence’ the case is highly contested and untrue.

Much noise is being made on the statement of the accused Mukesh Singh in the film. I can bet that it is making mountain out of a mole. For me, that only show what ails our society. Mukesh Singh remain unrepentant and is actually speaking what his ‘lawyers’ have told him. The biggest interviews of the film are outside the Tihar Jail where no ‘security’ is violated. They are the lawyers of the accused who have taken oath to the constitution of India and to defend it. Yes, all the accused are already sentenced and we know Supreme Court too will upheld their sentences as there is so much public outrage on the issue but what do you do with the mindset of those who are ‘suppose’ to ‘defend’ the constitution. So the most unfortunate, unethical and outrageous statement that has come out in this documentary is not really from the precincts of Tihar Jail but outside it and by the lawyers of the two accused. Indian judiciary and Bar has to think as what can it do with such people and whether they deserve to be in the profession or not.

There is no big deal about the film except the fact that it is not preachy in nature and try to address the issue through social prism unlike most of our ‘activists’ who give us ‘laws’ to resolve a crisis which we all are facing. That the film does not have many ‘experts’ is better side and left many of them ‘bitter’ but then you cannot expect a documentary to cover and resolve all the issues that women face in India. It fall short on many account but it is not giving the accused a ‘platform’ to propagate their views. It has succeeded in bringing the issue back to the forefront but it fails on many counts and the biggest irony is that the filmmaker was in India for two years to make the documentary and did not have time to visit rape victims of Bhagana’s Dalit families who have been sitting on Dharna. It failed to capture the imagination of Dalit victims of upper caste violence where rape is a tool to assert your caste supremacy and hundreds of such cases have been reported. The film make a case that India’s youth are ‘asserting’ against rape violence but it is a crude joke that the same caste mind does not come forward and speak the same language when the victim is a Dalit. If Indians have woken up against rape culture, we would have seen much more politicized protests all over the country but the fact is that those rape protests though might have been spontaneous outburst but there is a fact that Hindutva element infiltrated into these movements and gave it a shape as if this culture of rape and impunity was started with the government of the day. None spoke of social violence and hidden apartheid existing in this country and the filmmaker needed no permission from Tihar to visit Jantar Mantar and speak to these victims of Jat caste violence. It would have done much better help to international community and expose the hypocrisy of the upper caste Indians as why India does not respond to the cases of rape violence Dalits in the villages and Muslim victims during the so called communal disturbance. Why our heart does not beat or why we do not come to the street listening to painful and traumatic conditions of rape victims of Mujaffarnagar violence 2013 or those faced similar trauma in Gujarat 2002. Clear enough, a ‘rape’ stirs our ‘conscious’ when the victim is from among ‘us’ and accused the not like ‘us’.

Blood relations and caste identities are most important in India so someone may be criminal for ‘others’ but become my ‘hero’ if the caste matches. Your brother cannot do anything. My husband is the best one. My father is the best one in the world are the often-repeated excuses when the criminals are saved. The statement of the wife of accuse Mukesh Singh reflect the ‘dilemma’ of an Indian woman who is framed in the perception of ‘my husband is my God’. ‘ What will I do, if my husband is no more’, she says. And then pure generalization as what happened to ‘others’ and that this is not the ‘only’ case and why her husband is being targeted. Sadly, this is the problem as I mentioned with this ‘cultural’ society where all the ‘wrongs’ are ‘done’ by ‘others’. This is acute because this woman without any fault of her will now face ostracisation and isolation of an absolutely Hippocratic society where the punishment is much severe.  So, Mukesh Singh will get whatever punishment for his act but his wife is getting much harsher punishment and we do not know how people will behave with her and the children ?   A society based on prejudices will not treat them kindly for sure.  That is why this issue is much larger and just does not revolve around poor as being described. We have seen the wives of senior officers and Ministers whose husband were caught and sentenced for ‘murder’ and rape standing with their husbands and accusing the women. This culture of male impunity in society needs a big assault from the right thinking people.

At the end a lot have been spoken about this film and how it failed on many things. Our leaders were ‘saddened’ that Tihar Jail was ‘breached’ and it provided the convict a platform to justify his ‘act’. Lawyers have written that they ‘oppose’ ban but it ‘violate’ Indian law and administration. Arnab Goswami is already angry with it and many other thing.  After watching it, I can say, if the producer director had not used the Tihar footage and instead of added to Sushma Swaraj’s not only ‘Jindalash’ speech in Parliament but also her famous of ‘tonsuring’ her head and living like a ‘widow’ if Sonia was made Prime Minister of India once UPA came to power in 2004, the film would have exposed the mindset and the political class that we have. India have all the great laws in existence but it does not have a will power to fight against this patriarchical brahmanical structure which is the root of violence against women. We live on constant denial and are blaming the people from outside to defame us. Don’t we know that after the Nirbhaya incident countries world over issued particular guidelines for their female citizens regarding safety measures and precautions to be taken in India. Why didn’t we get offended when media was shouting and exposing each thing in 2012. The fact is we are now in 2014 and a different government at the centre whose leaders used all the protest movement and projected as if those problems are created by that particular government. Arvind Kejriwal too used the opportunity to further his political agenda and in the din of righteousness we ignored the bigger issue. It is not that we did not expose the duplicity of the political class when they were shedding crocodile tears while the people from Bhagana, sitting on the protest against the rape committed by upper caste youths, were waiting and waiting but the same political class irrespective of parties did not bother to raise their issues and visit them. BBC’s film failed to expose India’s caste impunity, which rapes women at their whims and fancies to assert its supremacy in India’s villages. It is sad that our activists and human rights ‘champion’ did not have time to narrate things when they critique the film, instead the farce of nationalism and technicalities of the matter are being raised and that shows the hollowness of the protests and the human rights movement itself which keep quiet on the violence against Dalit women and make it just a plain gender issue. India will never answer that. BBC documentary failed us in that but nevertheless it is a milestone as it still exposes Indian society and its hypocrisy in dealing with the issue.

Politics of rape or rape of politics ?

Rape as an instrument of Politics

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

UP Congress is on a high these days. After Congress Chief Rita Bahuguna’s infamous words on rape, the debate started that chief minister Mayawati said the same things to the then chief minister Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav after she visited the Maderasa in Allahabad where some Muslim women’s were raped. Why were the channels running it for the whole day. Was it an effort to douse the flames created by the brahmanical sophistry? Is it just a slip of tongue or the very psychology of our political class which use victim as a tool to score a political point?

Well, if you have seen some surveys on these channels, then a majority of Indians have send roses to Rita Bahuguna. I think this is there way of doing Gandhigiri on channels and feeling happy that ‘some one’ had the guts to take their ‘cause’. Justifications are there that Ms Bahuguna meant something else but if you see the whole social history and later on the post independent India’s socio-political climate, then one should not wonder that word rape has become a political instrument and the person who is victimized is tortured more by our actions and deeds.

And I call it mindset of a pervert society. A society which is full of fear from openness and which shows its strength through masculinity. Is not it strange that the victim of rape violence is asked to cover her face and live in indignity and hide while the perpetrators roam around with shouting slogans and taking shelter under various taboos. And this is what I call brahmanical mind beautifully exposed by Dr Mulk Raj Anand in his epic novel ‘Untouchable’, as how a priest of temple try to allure a girl Gulabo who is a sweeper in the temple to enter into the sanctum-sanctorum of the temple where she is normally prohibited to enter and then try to molest her. As soon as the girl retaliates and condemn him, the Brahmin priest shouts ‘polluted... polluted... blaming the girl for polluting the temple by entering into its sanctum-sanctorum.

The responses of both the UP government and the rival political party are according to their power base. But the way the whole script is being played showed that the even the women politicians play the script largely written according to the code of Manu Dharm Shastra, a code which degraded them and made them an object of ‘pleasure’.

No one knows the plight of those women who become victims and in whose name these political dramas are enacted. The script changes and politicians takes over and make it like a Bollywood scene where the aim of the director is not to really show injustice but to give more ‘material’ to our bruised and unsatisfied male egos, something to watch.

Our responses have been crude and humiliating and when this rhetoric comes from women then it become more painful. So, it is a country where the laws are made in such a way where the victim is more victimized and those who do it walk with their head high.

Just as section 377 was set aside by Delhi High Court, many of the activists, including those claiming to work for social justice, felt that by allowing the homosexual to do things according to their choices would amount to breaking of our social relations and that we are a society based society and individuals do not matter.

Why individual should do not matter? How can a society be developed by killing an individual. Dr Ambedkar said about Indian society: ‘The Indian society does not consist of individuals. It consists of innumerable collections of castes, which are exclusive in their life and have no common experience to share and have no bond of sympathy. Given this fact, it is not necessary to argue the point. The existence of caste system is a standing denial of the existence of those ideals of society and of democracy.”

Once we understand this feeling of Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar, we can easily analyse the root cause of our structural problems influenced by the brahmanical social order where for different set of rules and punishment meant for different communities. Therefore a rape committed by a Brahmin would definitely not attract the same punishment as done by some other community.

The atrocious laws and social taboos in our societies have turned against individuals and those who challenge to live according to their own life style face the brutality by the society. One should not therefore be amused about our whole marriage system and how it is an event to ‘celebrate’ and show your ‘strength’ and ‘power’ in the village rather than being an entirely private event of a few. And there are communities and traditions when you celebrate the first night ‘victory’. Also, communities have their way defined how to find the next morning whether the girl was a virgin or not.

It is therefore not ironical that during a mass marriage ceremony in Madhya Pradesh that the doctors were called to testify the girls after two of them developed labor pain. Now, mass marriage customs are very popular in India as it gives the political parties a license to become the custodians of the community. But as my friend Joane Payton referred why marriage can not be a private affair. Why should the state promote dowry by promoting such practices. There are number of other things as pointed out by some people that some marriages were just replayed to extract the paltry Rs 5,000/-. In fact a former Madhya Pradesh minister once said that people lodge false cases of rapes for compensations.

Now, that is the problem with the political parties. They link women’s dignity with compensation. At the same point of time we will have to understand how a woman has to face this violence in our society. Hence, she lives a life of miseries and there are no efforts by the family to revive her. That is why most of the people do not even want to let the incident out in open and file a case in the police. They know that if the ‘truth’ is out the girl would not be able to marry. And hence in many cases the women themselves refuse to accept the charges.




Of course, when rape becomes a male chauvinist debate among different constituent then it is shameful. Rather then condemning the act, we the launch counter offensive about why it was not done with others. Rita Bahuguna’s shameful tongue was the same brahmanical wisdom of challenging another woman. May be she wanted to look more sympathizer then Mayawati. Perhaps, she should remember Khairlanji which happened a few years back in Maharastra.

Rape will always be a powerful weapon in the armed struggles, communal disturbances, social upheavals as long as women’s virginity and purity are the ‘honor’ in our society. As long as we consider them as a matter of our ‘ijjat’, it will be used as a tool to dishonor them. Whether some boy picks up quarrel with another one in the village, it is the sister who has to face the consequences. The villagers will moan, communities will fight but the girl would be destined to live a life in isolation and misery. She can not come out hence even if she receive hefty compensation, unless our families are properly counseled no rehabilitation can take place and the money would go to the parents who would then find out a person for her and she would be tied for marriages but the stigma of being raped would also be there. There are very few cases where the girl would live a life of honor as she will not be accepted by the larger society.

The Supreme Court gave a historic verdict today after hearing a very passionate petition of an orphan girl who was raped by a warden in the Nari Niketan in Chandigarh. This girl is mentally challenged with an age of 19-20 years of age with an IQ of 9 year old. She became pregnant and she does not want to terminate her pregnancy now. It said that the girl has a right to keep her baby. Let us not go into what is right and wrong. Important point is that this girl’s desire to live her life with dignity must be appreciated.

The problem is many times, to save them from an adverse verdict, the lawyers advice the alleged rapist to ‘marry’ the girl and withdraw charges of rape. Law has never been reformative and any person who is different from others, find it difficult to get a good lawyer to present her case. How can the court grant permission to alleged rapist to marry the girl. It is because of the social taboos. Fact is that India may not be officially a Hindu Rastra but the laws of Manu are very powerful in our society and they prevail over a secular constitution.

Ofcourse, Manu’s Islamic cousins are not left behind. There are hundreds of Imranas and Mukhtar Mais who face these indignities. And what does Panchayats do, which many of our friends appreciate so much in the name of ‘golden’ culture? These Panchayat do not listen to the victim. They victimize them further. Imrana was asked to marry her ‘rapist’ father in law and call her husband as son while Mukhtar Mai was ordered rape by the ‘Jirga’in Pakistan. One need courage and patience of a Mukhtar Mai to face the law which is against her at every step. Therefore most of the women live in indignities as the psychology of rape is just not to kill the girl but to make her virtually a living dead where you are killed many time every time when people pour you with different questions and discuss about your fate. It also creates a psychology of indignity and guilt around her and her family. Laws have never been useful at all and politicians more dangerous than ever. One can find how many time they went to help Imrana. A typical response would be ‘either it is a community matter or ‘we have not read about it or heard it’.

The only answer against such heinous crime is to fight against it and not feel guilty and humiliated. And one woman who challenged it and became an icon was Phoolan Devi. Educated upper castes called her ‘dacoit’, but none ever came forward to encourage her live a life of dignity after she was raped and molested by the Thakurs in rural Kanpur Dehat region. She did not accept the defeat. She did not lead a life in miseries. She decided to avenge it. Many people might not justify what she did and none can justify those violent acts yet Phoolan revolt against the brahmanical system is an example that rather then feeling shame of their misdeeds, it is time to pay back with interest. She did not ask for any brutality or rape. She denied being part of any murder of people in Behmai yet she lived like queen. Whether you call it larger then life image or not, but Phoolan never believed in submitting herself to the fancies of these upper caste thugs. She became a legend in her life time who lived life with dignity and self respect.

But her legendary status was used by political class for their own reasons. She was converted into a docile homely woman who is very caring and very epitome of ‘Bhartiya naari’ i.e. Indian womanhood. She would tie Rakhi to many of these politicians who became her brothers and used her for political purposes. She got married and entered to parliament. Her status was used by the ambitious political class. A strong woman who fought against brahmanical patriarchy was therefore merged in it by the corrupt political class.

Politicians will thrive. The victim and their families will live life of marginalization. For a few days the media will make big stories and politicians know it well. Nothing will happen to them. Their ‘pativrata’ wives will not come for the rescue of bartered woman. They will stand by their corrupt husbands and relatives. That is what brahmanical value system tells us that nothing is bigger than blood relations…’ jis desh jaati main janm liya balidan usee per ho jawaen, which means you must sacrifice your self for your region and caste and defend it at any cost. At the end of the day even if we get out of the political debate of Rita Bahuguna and Mayawati, it is important who is good or bad, just find out who are the people facing charges of rapes in various jails of the country. Who are the victims? May be Rita Bahuguna can find the answer. Many of the shudra critique of Bahujan theory suggest that the violence perpetrated on Dalits are done by the shudras. They ignore the fact that Manusmriti was not made by the shudras. They forget that brahmanical violence may not be physical but more institutional and through knowledge. Rita Bahuguna has added Joshi in her status and her only quality to become president of Uttar-Pradesh Congress was her being a Brahmin. Just by having a Dalit cook at house does not resolve the crisis as she said. What she said was not an outburst but a continuous assumption of our patriarchical political thought that does not want to address the root cause but use the incident for political purposes. A counter social cultural revolution of Dalits-bahujan is the only alternative to brahmanical polity of India in which women are inherent partner in the movement otherwise, rape and molestation of women will always be a tool to not only spread terror among the marginalized sections of society but also used by the very exploiters who use it as a political weapon. Unfortunately, it is the bankruptcy of our political parties that they think to revive their fortune on an incident which is a shame and need a more sensitive approach to deal with.