Love failed to conquer caste barriers in Uttarakhand

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

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

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

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

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

Nails were driven into his feet.

Severe injuries were caused to his genitals.

Both victim and his friend assaulted with sticks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Republic of Fear : Part II

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The third day of our Humanize India ended up with a pleasant surprise when two journalists came to our place in the Buddha Vihara in Kushinagar and sought an interview with me about the initiative. After our talks he wondered as why we were not putting our thoughts in a college or degree college. I mentioned that the colleges here have already decided that they would not listen to us. My young colleagues had spoken to several teachers and principals in the college here who pointed out various mistakes in our pamphlets yet felt that what we can do with it as it was not possible to dismantle caste system. The Kushwaha Budddhist Bikhus had already warned us that it is impossible to break the nexus of caste system and we were doing an impossible journey to dismantle the caste system.

Our local organizers and some of the friends of always afraid of the points we would possible raise and that is one reason why the two important colleges in Kushingar did not listen to us. It was clear that they felt that we would speak the language which would ‘hurt’ the students. But the talks with the principle of Buddha Degree College, which was established as a primary school in 1934 really encouraged us and despite the early morning timings, we decided to go and share our thoughts with the students.
It was a dense fog morning and visibility was nearly zero when we started from the Buddha Vihara we were staying. All of us got up early to make it to the college despite the fact that we knew that most of the students would not be able to make it due to severe cold and deeply dense fog. As we reached the college, the staff took us to the principle and finally he agreed that we meet at the college prayer ground. Over 500 students had gathered up that time to listen to us in the open. After our live performances of miracle exposure and humanist songs, I spoke and the children listened carefully. ‘ We do not speak against corruption around us because our daily engagements with caste and other forms of discriminations are very high. A very high number of our children are suffering in malnutrition and have no milk to drink yet every day we see millions of liters of milk being poured to keep Lord Shiva Happy. We offer banana to the God but keep our children hungry’, I said. There was a great deal of happiness among the children when we spoke against caste discrimination and Untouchability when we mentioned Article 51A of Indian constitution which talks of promoting scientific temperament and humanism.

After the show was over, the principle invited us to his room. He thanked us for a wonderful awareness programme. Many teachers came and appreciated the initiative. They discussed our contents. ‘ Your programme is absolutely fantastic and must be carried forward as it is promoting scientific temperament, said an old teacher and added that it need some modification and correction. We are always ready to admit to our mistakes, I said. No, you are doing a great service but you need to be careful of making statements. You should know that we have a great cultural heritage and you have directly attacked it. Why are you targeting people fasting or offering milk to Shiva. This is India’s greatest strength, he said. You should respect ‘freedom of expression’, said the teacher and allow the others to do so. Another one joined to give me more knowledge as why Soviet Union collapsed because they did not allow ‘freedom of religion’ to people. Then he went on to say as why Marxists lost Bengal because they did not allow freedom of religion in West Bengal.

Interestingly, all these statements are absurd as Russia is still the biggest country of the world and the reality is that it did not want to carry the burden of so many ill economies along with it. It crumbled economically carrying the burden of all other nations otherwise the mighty Russia would not have allowed the country to secede but its constitutions had allowed that. Secondly, the notion that Marxists in India are anti-religion is as farce as to say that the saffron gangs are ‘spiritual’. They did not touch any social issues and Bengal remains one of the most religious societies of our time despite all the claims of enlightenment.

It was interesting to see how a few teachers at the degree college felt offended. What is freedom of expression, I asked. ‘You do not speak about Muslims’, he said. ‘Do I need to condemn Muslims every time, if I am speaking about the social evils in our society’, I asked. Is condemning Muslims is the certificate of honesty of ideology. ‘No, we do not speak against terrorism’, one of them said. I am sorry sir, I said, please organise a seminar and I am ready for a one to one dialogue. ‘But you should know that Gandhi never condemn religion. In fact, he has asked everyone to study Gita and Ramayana but still he is the greatest one of the world, he said. ‘I am sorry sir, I said respectfully. Gandhi lead India’s freedom movement and I respect his contribution but I do not want to take his ‘spiritualism’ with me which is nothing but entrenched in deeply flawed conservative ideas which are superfluous in today’s age. But Gandhi is a world icon, said one of them. Yes Sir, Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated officially and that is why people do not attend it. Children do not read him. I would suggest you to attend any function on Ambedkar Jayanti and only then you will realize the difference between the two leaders and how people perceive them at the people’s level.
It was an irony that this debate was happening at a place which was the centre of Buddha’s preaching and where legendary Rahul Sanrktyayan had got stopped the play of Ramleela in 1930s. The most surprising thing is that the teaching staff felt that we are not respecting people’s right to offer milk and right to fasting without giving us right to critique religious dogmas. Why is this fear from critiquing religion? Have we stopped any one from keeping fast or going to temples? Have we stopped any one from celebrating festivities? Yes, we condemn all kind of fundamentalism and we are not enamoured with Muslim or Christian fanatics and have always spoken against all forms of oppression without any conditionality’s. Who are the people denying us freedom of expressions?

The questions that we are raising are uncomfortable but we know it is also strengthening those who have kept quiet for years. At places we spoke against internal untouchability and brought people together. In the colleges we are speaking for women’s right and mind your language. We are in a society which needed a complete overhaul. It needs people of great convictions to speak up against these evils. It is not an easy task. Speaking with freedom in Delhi is easier then throwing open the challenge at the den of oppressions where feudal enjoyed their social power. The satisfying thing was that some of these teachers who always stood on the sidelines came to congratulate me for ‘successful’ mission. The principle of the college was silently smiling and nodding in appreciation. We had realized the dynamics of caste and how powerful it was. The positive thing is that we became the voice for those who wanted to speak the same things but perhaps keeping things in their heart. They were happy with the fact that we are talking of the great Indian cultural heritage of carvak, Buddha, Kabir, Nanaka, Ravidas, Rahul Sankrityayan, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Periyar, Phule, Bhagat Singh, Sahir, Faiz, Firaq, Shailendra and thousands of those who wanted this country to be an enlightened one where each one of us enjoy our individuality without any reference to caste and religion.

Caste and Democracy in India

Caste and politics in India

*Vidya Bhushan Rawat




At the outset of my presentation, I would like to congratulate International Humanist and Ethical Union and fellow humanists for taking initiative to address the issue of untouchability from a non religious view point.

I always believed that the emancipation and liberation of humanity is not in the so-called liberation theologies but liberation of minds of human being. When we talk about India and see its diversity, we will find that most of the revolt movements in India spoke against the hegemony of a particular caste and the systematization of rituals and imposition of farcical values in the name of divinity.

India became a nation under the British regime. 400 years of Mughal rule and then British Raj, brought a lot of changes in India, whether administrative reforms or institutionalization of democratic process yet one thing that remained unchanged was the caste discrimination. Prior to British, the stream of Sufi saints rejected the brahmanical system and injustice meted to Dalits but their focus was more making people aware of themselves and tried to take shelter in a seemingly egalitarian religion by terming God does not discriminate, he is one and omnipresent and omnipotent.

But the real changes came when in the 19th century, when the approach of the leaders of deprived castes became not only of a of a revolt against the values and thoughts imposed by the High Caste Hindus led by the Brahmins but an assertion in the belief of modernity which resulted in the democratization process in Europe, United States as well as Eastern European Countries, which many of you might not like at the moment.

Democracy is essentially a practice of alliance building. And the first such grand alliance of farmers, marginalized communities and the deprived communities was forged by Jyoti Ba Phule, as he termed these communities as ‘Bahujan’ and felt that those ruling India were really minorities leaders of the high caste Hindus.

But Dr Ambedkar who got educated in United States, UK and Germany did not really feel the same way. His concerns were really about the constitutional provisions for the Dalits. He realized that Democracy was a broadly a majoritarian concept and cannot really be confined to electoral exercise and therefore a mere political alliance of communities which lead to political power can not be the only objective of a democratic exercise. Instead, he felt that our institutions should be strong enough to protect the constitutional provisions made for the most marginalized communities. He knew that the communities that he was leading did not understand much about discrimination and rights as it was thoroughly disempowered one. He knew that communities which remain in enslavement and hunger because of various rituals and ideologies and philosophies injected in their minds that they would not be able to understand what their rights are? Many of them still feel that what they have been doing was perfectly divine and no body has a right to stop that. The theory of karma, that what you are today because of your bad karmas in the previous birth hence to undo that one must stick to his/her duties. Ambedkar said that Karma theory did the maxmimum damage to the rights of the depressed classes most commonly known as Untouchables or Dalits.

We must not forget that Ambedkar approached the Dalits problem through a minority view point. He wanted to ensure constitutional rights so that the Dalits do not become victim of majoritarian assertion during the elections. That is why he fought for the separate electorate for them in 1932 and which was justifiably awarded by the British that time known as communal award. In all his life time, Ambedkar addressed the issue of the untouchables from the view point of a democratic polity and not just politics.

After India got independence and Ambedkar led the drafting of the Indian constitution, Dalits got 17.5% seats reserved in parliament and state assemblies. Actually Ambedkar never asked for this reservation as he feared that the leadership that would emerge after this would be serving more to the high caste Hindus who form the majority than the Dalits. And this resulted in defeat of Ambedkar in the very first election he contested from Mumbai, Maharastra as all the high caste Hindus ganged up against him and got him defeated.

Ambedkar could not live more but the Dalis became vote bank of the ruling party. Many leaders were elected and became ministers and governors and chief ministers of the state but the over all condition of the Dalits was a matter of great concern. However, there were a few symbolic exceptions which were utilized to mobilize the Dalit opinion for a particular political formation.

Let us first come to what Ambedkar said about Indian democracy in an interview to Voice of America on May 20th, 1956. He asks this question whether there is a democracy in India and he says: ‘Democracy is quite different from a Republic as well as from parliamentary Government. The roots of democracy lie not in the form of Government, Parliamentary or otherwise. A democracy is more than a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living. The roots of democracy are to be searched in the social relationship, in the terms of associated life between people who form a society.’


And to further his cause he points out: “The Indian society does not consist of individuals. It consists of innumerable collection of castes, which are exclusive in their life and have no common experience to share and have no bond of sympathy. The existence of caste system is a standing denial of the existence of those ideals of society and therefore of democracy. An Indian cannot eat or marry with an Indian simply because he or she does not belong to his or her caste. An Indian simply can not touch an Indian because he or she does belong to his or her caste.” Ambedkar questions the political system and how Congress party field its candidate and how they are selected carefully on the basis of their caste. Ambedkar says : “How does an Indian vote in an election? He votes for a candidate who belongs to his own caste and no other Further he considers caste system as a bane to democracy. ‘ Castes are not equal in their status. They are standing one above another. They are jealous of one another. It is an ascending scale of hatred and descending scale of contempt. The feature of caste system has most pernicious consequences. It destroys willing and helpful cooperation.”

Unfortunately, after Ambedkar death his legacy was claimed by certain leaders for their own purposes. Ambedkar ideals were kept in books and what was projected his themes and views which were suitable to various political leaders. What they failed to understand that Ambedkar grew up over a period of time and many of his views changed. If he had bitter experience on the issue of questioning the religious text with Gandhi and on the issue of empowerment of the Dalits, he joined the constitution making process to empower the community leaving his bitterness aside. Post 1940s he was more into positive action and send many Dalit scholars abroad at his own expenses.

Never in his life did Ambedkar resorted to identity of caste for political purposes. He formed Indian Labour Party. He formed Depressed classes League and he formed Republican Party of India, all showing his concerns and ideals of how he wished to fight the question of discrimination. To eradicate the caste identity of different Dalit communities or Scheduled Castes, as they are called constitutionally, Ambedkar redefined Buddhism in a radical humanist way and termed it as Navayana. I am not going to discuss the issue here.. The point I want to make it is that Ambedkar’s quest for a progressive Dalit identity beyond caste has not been properly followed up by those who claim his legacy purely on the basis of his caste.

For the parties claiming his legacy he was ‘their’ leader only. For the Hindu upper caste parties, he became a ‘Dalit leader’therefore relegating him to the confinement in urban slums and Dalitwadas of the villages. The irony was that a modern man like Ambedkar whose democratic spirit could have been the meeting ground for the forces of change, became victim of caste identities in India.

In the parliamentary democracy of First Past the Post System, which Ambedkar himself actually felt inadequate to protect the interest of the Dalits, the politics is fast turning into a game of identities where the minority identity have no meaning. It is fast merging with the broader majoritarian identity as the slogan grew up in the air ‘jisaki jitani sankhya bhari uski utni sajhedari.. the more numbers you have, the bigger the share in power structure. Nowhere, it has any insurance for the minorities. It claims to reserve seats for them according to their number but the fact is that the concept of this kind of politics has fragmented the Dalit politics further, with more and more leaders focusing on their primary caste identities to get into vote bank politics. Hence, those whose castes have more numbers get the leverage of power and those who do not have suffered in this process despite their efforts. We have seen many Dalit leaders who have focused on their issues more than any other political leaders and getting marginalized in the process because the sheer number of their castes. What is this? I call it depoliticisation of the Dalits and their issues which is very dangerous as those who really do not work and are expert manipulators can get elected in their names. More so because, the democracy is actually going in the hands of those forces which are anti democratic and have no faith in it. Dalits who got their legitimate rights through democratic means today feel betrayed by this. As we use symbol to tell the world that the Dalits have been empowered in India, it is time to look into the ugly realities of the process.

We can see the process of political changes in two most populous states of Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar. Both were the first one where the National parties got thoroughly marginalized and a large number of the Dalit-OBC ( the Other Backward communities, artisan-peasantry) dominated the political process since 1990. But this broader unity of Dalit-Bahujan could have changed the entire polity in India but because the individual leaders and their egos became bigger than their political parties which became one man/woman show and no internal democracy in these parties resulted in collapsing these forces. Added on this was the attempt by the intellectual and leaders of these forces equating every one who is a non Dalit-or OBC as Manuwadi-or Brahmanical while purely ignoring or conspicuously side tracking the issue of their political leaders hobnobbing with right wing Hindu Nationalist party BJP.

Anti Brahmanism and anti ritualism is the quintessential central theme of the Dalit-Bahujan theory but this does not apply to the High Caste Hindus only, it applies to the leadership and communities themselves. Unfortunately, whether it is politics or so-called social movements, except for a few, most of the Dalit-Bahujan politics became a rhetorical agitated one harping on the victimized politics while clearly failing to address the issue of inter community dialogue and clarity of ideological perspectives. Hence a broad movement which had the power to change power equations in India became an instrument to keep their flock together by abusing the High caste Hindus during the day and dine with them in the night and strategizing things with them, to monopolise the power structure with one particular community. As I said earlier democracy is essentially an alliance building exercise based on ideology but here alliance building was a criminal alliance of one particular community with other one ( both stronger ones and numerically powerful one) resulting in the marginalization of the other communities among the Dalits and backward castes who were numerically non existent. This happened in Bihar where a backward leader made alliance with Muslims. His Yadav and Muslim community made a lethal alliance and ruled the state for nearly 20 years but without any developmental work. Similar thing happened in UP where the chief minister Mayawati combined her caste strength i.e. Chamars with the Brahmins much to resentment of the other Dalit communities. There again the government forgot basic Dalit agenda of governance like land reform, education and health sector focus or any new scheme for the poor. The result was that, the Chamars themselves got fed up with the government where they were just fodder to give the Brahmins a power and fell out of the government. In Bihar also, the other marginalized and mostly Dalits revolted and allowed a new government in power.

The continuous assertion and democratization process in India will continue. Every community which has been left in the race want political representation and can not be satisfied with our romantification of a broad Dalit-Bahujan concept to give a few elite to capture power in their name and become dictator and use state tools as a fancy for their personal wills. People will question leaders and thrash them if they fail to deliver. India’s transition to democracy is still in process and the Dalits and other marginalized communities its biggest asset. The democratization process will bring new leaders from the marginalized communities. One phase where the middleman masquerading politicians came to power structure in the name of identity but mere identity does not work. People want to development, people want their voices... and they are not ready that some one in the name of their identity, grab power structure and use it for his/her personal gains which was widely perceived. The political leaders will have to democratize themselves and address the basic issues the community. India has one of the best constitutions but it is rarely implemented fully. Dalit-Bahujan power polity need to first stick to its basic preambles and lead from the personal example. How can they ignore the rich legacy of Ambedkar-Phule and Periyar, each one of them person of high integrity and deeply committed to the cause of oppressed communities? It is time that this legacy is carried forward by the current leadership with basic principals by becoming modern, democratize yourself and with a humanist perspective. Dalit Bahujan politics can not be exclusive in nature but more broad, open minded and inclusive and should provide an idea which did not exist in the brahmanical mind set, the idea of freedom and humanism its basic tenants, as it lead those communities which were victim of the caste system in India. The Dalit movement can not be a movement of caste identities but beyond that providing alternative political theory in India. May be the beginning could be made with giving representation to different marginalized communities with in the power structure of the political parties that they care for the numerically lesser communities who do not matter much in terms of vote or who can not become vote bank. Our current parliamentary system does not do justice to these most marginalized communities and hence Dalit empowerment will only be of a particular individual with political heritage of the family. It results in hegemony of one family or individual by destructing the monopoly of others. Idea of governance remain a far cry in this entire scheme as the entire focus revolve around identity turning the entire community as apolitical and making leaders much bigger then the political parties and movement. Such a situation is dangerous for the communities. But fortunately, the current Lok Sabha election while springing some surprises also sends a stern message to these political parties that they can not take people for granted in the name of identity... now time is to deliver to them. You can not have an identity without good education, economic conditions and social change for equality. Unfortunately, those who harp more on caste have lost their idea of how to annihilate it. Caste can not be simply strengthened to market a few individual and their megalomaniac vision about themselves. The issue of caste and Dalits is actually need to be addressed as the civil rights movement in the United States. It is important that it is not become a few seats in parliament and empowerment of the elite leaders in the name of communities. It has to be broad movement for human rights and human dignity. It has to be a movement against the religious rituals and holy texts which kept them subjugated for centuries and enslaved their minds. Humanists have that capacity to deliver it as they believe in that today’s dalits have the capacity and democracy has provided them alternative. Only a modern democratic theory with republican ideas as envisioned by Dr Ambedkar can be their true emancipator otherwise, caste based identities are threatening basic Dalit unity in the country and it is fast becoming a self defeating exercise.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a secular humanist based in Delhi and working with Social Development Foundation, Delhi. His writings can be accessed at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com and he can be contacted at vbrawat@gmail.com

Inheritance of Discrimination

Why is Civil Society mute to threat of communalism in India?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat


Steve Bucknor is out. The umpire with impeccable credentials became victim of a slander, which the exploiters often use for their own purposes. All of sudden, we found the upper caste Indians crying about racism and discrimination. That Harbhajan Singh is no saint has been well elaborated by former legend Bishan Singh Bedi. It is a well-known fact that he abused Andrew Symonds. But what was the abuse is not verified. The Australians, who are known for their own brand of racism and sucked the blood of the indigenous population, are clamoring for it. Paradoxically, fight is between the two exploiters of colors and the umpire was the one who played cricket during the heydays of
racial discrimination in Africa.

This event highlighted one fact that we are afraid of admitting our own disabilities and feel that offense is the best defense. Mr Sharad Pawar, the BCCI head hails from Maharastra, a land of great social rebels like Jyoti Ba Phule, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Chatripati Shahuji Mahraj and others and how they waged war against caste system and untouchability. Perhaps, Sharad Pawar know it well how the caste discrimination is still part and parcel of our life. Defending Harbhajan’s innocence was Navjot Singh Siddhu, who is famous for his loud mouth on television channels. We laugh at his quotes and jokes but that reflect our mental make up as most of the jokes, wits and humors that we have in our country is based on somebody’s physical appearance, color, castes and disability. Mr. Siddhu often uses such terminology to emphasise his viewpoint. It is not long back that we had famous song from a Bollywood which suggests “ Mochi bhee khud ko sunar samjhe’, that the cobbler thinks himself of a goldsmith. This is nothing short of racial abuse that certain people deserve success and others do not have right to compare themselves with the ‘big’ people.

The social cultural conditions in South Asia are alarming. They are reflecting of our tainted cultural practices. It is important that before we come to any conclusion, we must introspect what is happening around us.

The events at end of 2007 do not reflect the entire subcontinent in good light. First, the election results from Gujarat gave a chance to the saffron brigade to feel happy about their presence, a victory, which was followed by them in Himachal Pradesh. Modi’s victory became a toast for all those right wing nationalists who enjoy this cocktail of capital and Hindutva in India. When Modi was celebrating in Gujarat, the Hindutva foot soldiers were busy in experimenting the same things in another state, which is one of India’s poorest states yet naturally very rich. Here this richness of nature does not help the protector of nature, the Adivasis, but the exploiters of nature, the big corporate houses, who are on a purchasing spree. Yes, I talk of Orissa, a state, which has a government whose chief minister did not know how to speak Orriya in the beginning. Yes, the legacy of the family made this corporatised man, chief minister. The Sangh Parivar worked without any administrative control and is now the horrific tales of violence against Christian community in Kandhamala district of Orissa are out. A white paper issued by some of the civil society activists led by Dr John Dayal reveal the hidden danger of communalization process in Orissa and how the state administration became a silent spectator allowing the houses of the people be torched. While the white paper does speak about violence against non-Christians or Hindus but the fact is that communalization process in Orissa has hit below the belt. Why is the Hindutva so eager to make Orissa its Gujarat replica? One needs not to be an ideologue to understand the philosophy of Hindutva or religious rights in general. They work closely with the business houses. While in the west the capitalist might have social concern and secular ideals, in India Hindutva enamors them. Not a single industrialist could stand up and be counted to condemn the isolation and exclusion of Muslims in Gujarat. Every time, the demand for their safety and natural justice was raised, Modi and his gangs made them an issue of MUSLIMS. And the resounding victory that Gujarat gave to Modi is a reflection of how the community has grown. It is a victory not of diversity but homogenization of thought and deeds. Yes, Gujarat became a perfect Hindu Rastra and Gujaratis world over, unfortunately, have remained an isolated community, rarely meeting and mixing with the locals. Yes, they remain caged in their temples and money.

A few days later after Modi’s victory we found Gujarati’s being amidst a storm in Kenya. Reports appeared in newspapers here that they were targeted but independent sources said that the violence was general and not particular against Gujarati community but Narendra Modi was ready to give them shelter in Gujarat, bypassing the foreign ministry’s domain. He wanted government to act immediately. Of late, the Indians are becoming target of attacks but not due to any racial prejudices but because of their own isolation in those societies. In April 2007 when I traveled to Uganda, a country which witnessed violence just before I reached there, between the ethnic Ugandans who targeted Indians. It is no doubt that the Indian’s worked hard to reach to top slot but it is also a fact that a large number of them have reached to such a position with not much hard work but by sheer manipulations too. I was alarmed to hear from my African friends as why the Indian community is unable to mix up with the local communities even when the Europeans come and marry there, mix up with the local populace and share their feelings, the Indians have a deep sense of color prejudice and a superiority complex. While some of the Indians wrote me back from Uganda that they have contributed a lot but the fact is that the Gujarat’s exclusivism will ultimately hurt their own communities. Today, Modi want Gujarat exclusively for the upper castes and there is no voice of the tribals who have faced the brunt of the industrial Gujarat as their voice is not heard, the Dalits who plight is not heard. Such things do not make stronger India. Gujaratis enjoyed fruits of diversity world over and they do not want the same thing in their own province. In Uganda, Kenya elsewhere they are using Gandhi but in Gujarat, they have thrown away the old man.

Spending the last 10 days of the year 2007 in a remote town of Andhra Pradesh, I got opportunity to understand and meet many people from different parts of the country. A humanist friends from Gujarat made his presentation on the issue of communalization in Gujarat for which he openly blamed the killings and ostracisation of the Kashmiri Pandits. How can the Gujarati’s keep quiet if the Hindus are being killed and ethnic cleansing happening there on large scale, he retorted. Then he went on to explain, how the Gujarati people got annoyed after the Muslims had burnt the train in Godhara. When I asked him as why he feels that the Muslims burnt the train at Godhara and Hindus retaliated elsewhere? That is where we make mistake, I told him. How can you say that the Muslims burnt the train? They were criminals who might or might not be Muslims as their identities have not been established, I said. It is the duty of the state to nab the culprits and get them punishment. Who are you to punish the people of Gujarat, I questioned. ‘Oh, but tell me why are the terrorists only from the Muslim community’, he responded to my observations. My answer is simple. ‘Not a single Hindu has been implicated in the communal riots in India. Not a single one has been punished. You can catch a Dawood Ibrahim or Chhota Shakil but the culprits of the Mumbai Riots, Gujarat Violence, Delhi’s anti Sikh violence are roaming. They got rewarded by getting elected to parliament and became ministers’, I said. In a diverse society, the communalism of the majority is soon turned into a ‘national’ ethos while the demand of the minorities become communal, hence the votaries of the Ram mandir have become ‘national’ while those who demand justice for Babari Masjid become anti national. I am shocked not because people say such things. I have no doubt about death of civil society in India but it pains when those proclaiming humanists and human rights defender behave in such a way to justify one brand of communalism. One has to understand the dilemmas of the Muslim community in India to understand the ground reality. The more the community is marginalized the better the space for the fundamentalists to take over. That political leadership failed Muslim community in India, which depended on the Hindu leaders to prove their secularism, is another tragedy of the post independence India. A dalit can shout on the rooftop saying Bahujan Samaj Party is my part but for a Muslim to say Muslim League is my party would mean a tag of communal mindset.

It is easier to blame the Muslims for everything. Often such questions greet us. Why are they terrorists? Why no Muslim country is secular? Why Muslim breeds so many children? Why do they have so many wives? These things are true about every one. These things depend on your socio-economic status. One can also say that the population growth in the North India is tremendous comparatively to South. Secondly, the North Indian population is not just confined to Muslims; the increase in the population of Dalits and OBCs is enormous. The fact is that the population grows because of poverty and has nothing to do with religion.

Now, the important aspect is the false hood of the Hindutva campaign If they are against the Muslims for all those reasons, I mentioned above, then the important question, I am asking is, why are they hitting the Christian community? Are they terrorists? Do they have more children? Do they have more wives? the Hindutva does not want to understand that despite 9/11 incidents, Europe and American showed exemplary resilience. There were violence but those incidents were stray and isolated. Even when technically many of the European countries are still Christian, the individual freedom and human rights are highly respected and are well in place and the society by and large is secular. If the Hindutva want to compare India’s own record of discrimination, it must come out of a better alternative rather than blaming the Christians and Muslims for its own problem.

The problem is clear. The issue of Dalits and tribals are getting not only politicized but also internationalized. The great tolerant society now is exposed to the world. And we feel that this expose of our society can be countered by a false aggression that we have shown in Australia. In the age of information technology, we still want to hide our evils and not fight against them. Conversion was a potential tool once upon a time, a sense of revolt against the unequal system. One can differ with its perceptions and outcomes but definitely for the Hindutva propagandists, they were the first one to hit upon the rights of the Dalits and marginalized in India. Arun Shourie, the former editor of Indian Express is today the propagandist of the Hindutva in India. Shourie who once upon a time epitomized the probity in Public life, fought for the victims of the 1984 riots in Delhi when every news paper forgot about them, is today, ironically, speak against not only human rights but want to speak in terms of an eye for an eye. His writings against Dalits, Muslims, Christians are well known to be documented here. The only thing he changed in these years was that his love for Ambanis has increased. A company against whom he wrote passionately like a Gulshan Nanda’s fiction. These are the people who came out from some of the best-known Christian Institutions and later grew up in the shadow of the veterans of the human rights movement in India.

The justification of happening in Gujarat and now in Orissa underline two things. That the Sangh Parivar have Hinduised the entire political system. Second, despite a secular constitution, we still have not won battle against fundamentalism and religious intolerance. It is a challenge for all of us. The gain comes from the Political Islam in our surroundings but comparisons are rarely made with the Europeans where a large number of those who supply hate to India, live. Now, whether it is civil society or the political parties, the basic framework is the ideas, I mentioned earlier. Justification to violence under the garb of something else. You kill Hindus in Pakistan hence we have a right to retaliate in Gujarat. The Pakistani fundamentalists will do the same thing.. You kill Muslims in Gujarat and we will avenge it in Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere? When will this politics of prejudice end?

One needs to understand the threat perception in Orissa. The violence that killed Graham Stains and his two children was preceded with violence against the church and Christians in Gujarat. Prior to killings of Muslims in Gujarat, we had seen attacks on the churches and Christian Institutions in Gujarat and other parts of India, predominantly the tribal areas. So while Muslims are ‘terrorists’, produce more ‘children’, keep more ‘wives’, the Christians convert to our children. Why are Mr Adwani and his team leaving the prestigious Christian Institutions in the cities? why they target in the villages? Is it because these Christian Educational Institutions have more RSS wallahs than the Christians there? Is it because the Adivasis might also learn English language and understand their rights. Some body has to work. Let the Sangh also work there. Let the government work in the tribal areas. Displacing them from their habitat, killing them culturally and then imposing some religion on them, which has never been their own, is against their fundamental right. Another question comes in my mind is Christian contribution in India to civil society, health sector and education system. Can the Sangh Parivar and their different offshoots give us some counter argument on these issues?

Hatred in Orissa is long-term idea. The National Commission for Minorities has already said it in its note. Why is civil society so submissive, is a matter of grave concern. The fact of the matter is that barring a few exceptions; it has remained so every time. It is systematic intrusion in our civil society through the right wing forces, like media where even the most secular character has saffron rob underneath; the face of civil society is more tainted. It compromised on these issues because of various reasons. India’s health will only be good if it has a pluralistic heritage and a will to live together. Any imposition of ideas, identities, cultural and society on any other non willing partner will make it a nation, more dangerous than any of our neighbors. If lessons could be drawn from our immediate neighbors like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri lanka then, diversity, human rights, new ideas should be hallmark of a democratic system. Any deviation from these will turn India into an Afghanistan, which is still battling for unification and where different tribes are up in arms against each other. An India, where the women are not safe and where the discrimination on the basis of your caste, identity, colors and physical appearance are still rampant. The Sangh and its different Avatars should focus more on these issues so that life of the common person is changed. At least, this is what they can learn from the Christians.

At the end, we all pay our taxes. A government is there to protect the people and not become mute witness to violence against one community. If we do not find answers to our inherent discriminations as well as false nationalism, which is disturbingly turning into an upper caste cricket match that we witnessed in Sydney, then, I am afraid, the situation would go out of hand. This is the biggest hour of crisis in our social life and we have to respond it with responsibility and courage and not to let down the founding fathers of our nation, who gave us a secular and liberal constitution which is still our proud possession and a guarantee for social justice and equality for all.

Know thyself

Debating discrimination, differences and dissent in our part of the world

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The issue of racial discrimination has been in the news for quite some time. Some Indian pretended that they have been discriminated against in Britain while rarely speaking that India does not have its own house in order. Despite 60 years of independence India has not been able to transformed into a modern state, in terms of freedom, dissent and life of the common men. Though it may be a great satisfaction for some of us that India surrounded by autocratic military dictators still managed to strive the political democracy but instead of basking on the glory of ‘successful democracy’, we need to introspect our persistent failures of social life. If democracy has not reached the last man as envisaged by Gandhi or if social life does not convert into a social democracy as envisaged by Dr Ambedkar, Indians all over the world need to investigate that without empowering common man, India can neither claim a powerful nation nor an intellectual giant which many of the commentators do not stop claiming all the time. Pakistan has the same problem though it is not a democratic state yet its ruler claims a secular army and a working democracy on various occasions. Question is democracy is thwarted by the identity politics and undemocratic caste Panchayats. They are a threat but these caste panchayats are now being modernized in the name of new identity assertion among every one from the non-resident Indians to urban Indians under various shades and names. This assertion reinforces and justifies the age-old traditions in the name of culture. It jump on the bogey of victimization as soon as an elite of its own class face discrimination as in the case of Shilpa Shetty but remain conspicuously silent on the issue of its own contradictions and discriminations. Hence the Indians, Pakistanis and the other South Asians would rarely speak on their own track record of discrimination against ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in their own country. Oppression of women is always justified in the name of culture and vigorously defended.

A few days ago, I was reading the horrible tale of Mukhtar Mai who faced tyranny of the caste Panchayat called as Jirga in the North West Frontier Province, in Pakistan, which ordered her rape for a crime allegedly committed by her minor brother. Mukhtar Mai has become a legend in her own life times. Fighting against the feudal lords of the notorious North West Frontier Province, Mukhtari Mai showed how the village women in the Indian subcontinent have the courage to challenge the system. That, this system degrades and humiliates the victim is a well- established fact. And based on this principal, the rural women suffer in utter humiliation and indignity. Mukhtar Mai is not alone in such cases. Things are same in India, though a bit sophisticated here. It is important that a woman like Phoolan Devi would not have born if she had not shown the courage to fight against the humiliation. Rather than surrendering to the whims of the local powerful caste groups, these women stood up. Some chose the constitutional path while other decided to avenge it according to their own way. While Bhanwari Bai had to face the humiliation even inside the court where the judge in the Jaipur court released the accused establishing that an upper caste person would rarely rape a woman.

In her wonderful memoirs ‘ In the name of honor’, Mukhtar Mai, now symbolizing as an assertive woman protesting against the man made rules, says,’ police are directly controlled by the upper castes. Policemen act as the fierce guardians of traditions, allied with the tribal authorities. Whatever decision a jirga (caste Panchayat) makes will be accepted and backed up by the police. It is impossible to charge an influential family with a crime if the police consider the matter a village affair, especially if the victim is a woman’.

What Mukhtar Mai is saying reflect the farce in our system. As propagandists of family virtues, we, the South Asian have been at the height of hypocrisy blaming the west for every fault of their own. I am sure one would agree that these feudal values, the Manus law are not the invention of the wild west which our commentators often describe. The recent issue of race relation in Britain where a B grade Bombay film heroine earned huge amount of money, the South Asian communities are being presented as if everything has been imposed upon them and are being victimized. Ofcourse, the same South Asian would not like to be reminded about the growing number of honored killing in UK among the South Asian Communities. Shocking it may sound, but the fact is, that South Asians have more racial contours than their British counterparts. A study in UK showed how the Indians still are confined to their caste identities and how to get marry, every Indian boy come to India to look for an ‘ideal’ ‘ cultured’ and ‘fare’ color girl. Will we tell the world that we are more colours conscious than the British or European? That our boys are deeply intoxicated in the idea of varna and colour and that dogs can enter our temples and urinate over the gods but when the Dalits want to enter there the Gods become angry and their followers on earth goes on rampage.

Human life is not equal in this part of the world. Honored killing are not happening in Britton and Pakistan only but are very much part of our traditions. After all, all our marriages are not meant for the bride and the groom but for the parents of the both. Reputation is the biggest thing in these marriages.

A boy from the Valmiki family is still facing threat to his life for felling love with a girl from a Jaat family. Jaats are the peasant community and their men dominate the Delhi police hence when I visited along with other friends to the Assistant police commissioner some three years back, to provide security to this young boy, the officer said ‘. You see organizations like your should come forward and train the policemen, after all they too are human being and family. How do you expect them to change over night.’ I told the officer: Do you want to justify police negligence in the name of tradition.’ No, he said, but see how the society is changing. The girls move out in the evening without any escorts. How can police resolve every crisis that the society faces? I was aghast at this answer by the police officer that proudly claimed a JNU background. The officer certainly was not interested in telling that the police had failed to protect the victim and that such things should be stopped. I still remember how a younger sister of a girl who was slaughtered by her family and entire village community along with her husband, was happy and said that those who goes against social norms would meet the same fate.

Yes, the South Asian would not like to speak about the horrible culture of moral policing that they have developed without any change. The paradox of this is that they all enjoy best of multiculturalism in Europe and America but are highly paranoid of granting minority rights or space to dissent. For instance, Gujaratis world-over, have enjoyed the hospitality of multiculturalism. United States, United Kingdom and South Africa were their hunting ground. They build up huge empire. And see what is happening their native Gujarat? Most of the Non Resident Gujarati’s are financing the Babas, and the right wing elements. Narendra Modi might call Gujarat a vibrant state but it remains totally out of bound for the non-Gujaratis particularly Muslims and Chrisitians. During a trip to Gujarat last year, I put this question to a friendly Gujarati as why do they not want to keep Muslims in Gujarat. And the cryptic answer that this businessman was that the outsiders are creating problems in Gujarat. Gujarati’s are peace-loving people but it is the Biharis and others who created havoc in the aftermath of Godhara. It is tragic that India’s new vibrant culture is very much in tone with what is happening in Gujarat. There is no freedom in the air. The darkness in the noon is visible in Gujarat. The only thing is that you need to go and see beyond what is visible. The dangerous aspect of this newly immerging India is the growing middle class of upper caste Hindus which clearly want to look exclusive. Hence Dalits, Adivasis and others who are at odd with the current economic social set up feel suffocated and completely isolated. The government at the center is interested to placate this elite class and has launched another India shining campaign without including the poor people.

South Asian therefore needs to speak more vigorously against their own value system. That very few people stood up with both Mukthar Mai and Bhanwari Bai is reflection of our mindset. While Shilpa Shetty has detracted from her statement regarding racial discrimination, it is painful how the British upper caste Hindus and other upper South Asian elite made this a racial issue. Did they ever protest against the merciless treatment meted out to disabled in the Bombay films? How many of South Asian stood up and say that the depiction of the blacks in the Hindi films is most racial in nature. They are laughed. Our fascination for the fair color is well known. A dark skinned woman in India will hardly find a partner of her choice. Women’s skin her biggest ability or disability. Another disability in India is the physical disability, which is visible. One will rarely find a physically disable woman getting married to a ‘normal’ man because such things are not ever thought off. She will find a man in a ‘disabled’ person only. The girls born ‘Mangalik’ would be very difficult to get marry. And see, how our superstar icon Mr Amitabh Bachchan is behaving? One needs to see his discomfiture with a Manglik daughter in law. He goes from one temple to other temple to perform Yjnas and Pujas so that the evil spirit get off from the world queen Aishwarya Rai. More shocking is the fact as alleged in the media that the poor woman was asked to marry the tree to rectify the misfortunate. What these signals. Rather than becoming enlightened and accepting the person as she is or he is, Indian’s or South Asians still think in terms of his birth sign, physical appearance, cast and clans. Can we launch a movement against it or not. How long should we blame that the onslaught of the global powers have destroyed our culture and values.

It is not that people do not oppose it. Yes, those who oppose it live on the margin thoroughly isolated and dejected. But the grave danger comes from those forces who feel great in glorifying these customs. A well-known Gandhian activist has been promoting the idea of the caste panchayats. He would say, how great these Panchayats were in resolving the village problems. But going by the nature of these Panchayats, I a sure every saner person in the world would say demolish and destroy these caste Panchayats. Not only they have been anti people but also almost all of their decisions are against the basic tenets of civilization. Whether it is Jirga which gave decision to rape Mukhtar Mai or some disgruntled Panchayats in western Uttar-Pradesh which asked Imrana, a Muslim woman who was raped by her father in law, to marry him, these caste Panchayats are a blot to civilization and individual freedom and liberty. They promote fanaticism, parochial values and patriarchy. It is important that any glorification of these Panchayats need to be questioned. These Panchayats have authorized the goons to kill lovers, rape women, and exterminate families, which do not follow their dictates. In this hour of identity politics in India, these caste Panchayats are mushrooming very fast. Identity itself is patriarchical in terms and therefore there is very little that a woman can get out of it. That Mukhtar Mai in Pakistan came from a backward Gujar community does not means that this does not happen in that community. Only question is that she was a woman and her community was at the receiving end. The Gujjars in India are no better. Fully coated in the brahmanical stigmas, they do not allow their women to venture out.

Indians need to fight against such atrocious social behavior and practices. Unfortunately, rather than taking a strong action against the same, we are always put on the flimsy ground the issue of racial discrimination. One must question the upper caste Hindus as how many of them mix up with the Scheduled Castes in United States and UK. Not many years ago when I traveled to Bolivia to participate in a conference, a Kenyan friend questioned Gandhi and his intentions in Africa. ‘ You people have always claimed that Gandhi fought for our rights but where was the fight? None of the Indians ever want to share the issues with the blacks in Uganda and other part of the world. The situation is not much different in UK and USA where Indians do not want to be clubbed with Pakistanis.” Shilpa Shetty felt very bad when an in house lady called her Paki. This superiority complex has been injected in our heart and minds from the very beginning and the sooner we understand that the world has changed and going to be more civilized, would be better for us.

As I finish this, the news comes that the parents of the missing Children of Nithari say that the role of Noida Police was very fine in the act. They appreciated the state government and particularly the ruling political party of the state which lodged them in the five star hotels, gave them land and promised every member of the family a government job. I think nothing comes more shocking then this. This culture of considering people, as purchasable commodity is very much in existence in our part of the world. A majority of the missing children were Dalits and the upper castes in nearby localities said that it was not their problem.

British people gave a resounding verdict in favour a failed Indian star but will the South Asian communities be as mature enough to respect dissent, differences with in their own communities. One hope they would do so for the betterment of their own communities and their own country. I would like to finish with a Bangladeshi cab driver in London who was working with a new agency and took me to London Metro station when he said how happy his children were in London and that they do not wish to go back to Dhaka simply when they see violence in the name of culture and tradition. The simple driver had two houses in London and appreciated the multiculturalism in UK. There are other stories as well. While all written above does not mean to exonerate the western power for what they did through their imperialist agendas but then every one of us has this in our blood, it is only who is smarter enough then others. We all have at some point of time exploited the lesser powerful and marginalized communities. Now, in the 21st century, such discrimination and justifications in the name of identity, region, religion and language must be discarded and rejected.