Scheduled Castes: status, issues (post-1947)
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Scheduled castes
Contents |
Agitations
2016-18: The build-up to the 2018 Bandh
April 3, 2018: The Times of India
ii) Crimes against SCs in 2016-17, and the SCs’ response;
The proportion of SC population, state-wise, in 2011;
2018: a backgrounder on SC’s ruling on the Atrocities Act
From: April 3, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
i) Crimes against SCs, 2014-16;
ii) Crimes against SCs in 2016-17, and the SCs’ response;
The proportion of SC population, state-wise, in 2011;
2018: a backgrounder on SC’s ruling on the Atrocities Act
2018: Bandh against SC ruling on Atrocities Act
See Scheduled Castes/ Tribes: crimes against, and prevention of
Infographic about the Bandhi
April 2, 2018: The Times of India
From: How Dalit agitation took an ugly turn during Bharat Bandh, April 3, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
The Centre moved a review petition challenging the recent Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Meanwhile, dalit organisations have called a nationwide 'bandh' to pressure the government to take concrete action in the matter.
On April 2, 2018, the nation-wide protest called by the Dalit community turned ugly. Nine people were killed and many injured as protesters blocked trains, clashed with police and set dozens of vehicles ablaze in several states. The protest was against a Supreme Court order that dilutes a law aimed at preventing atrocities against Dalits and Tribes. Here's how the violence turned out across the nation.
- The NDA government today filed a petition seeking review of the Supreme Court order diluting the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which protects marginalised communities against discrimination and atrocities.
- In the review petition drafted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Centre is likely to contend that the order will weaken the provisions of the Act, thereby reducing the fear of law, which may result in more violations.
- On March 20, the Supreme Court banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the SC/ST Act, triggering widespread criticism and outcry from the dalit community.
- The apex court said public servants can't be prosecuted without the approval of the appointing authority, and private citizens too should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.
- It further ruled that preliminary inquiry in a case under the Act would be conducted by the Deputy Superintendent of Police to ensure the allegations are not frivolous.
- The amendment in the law was a bid to protect honest public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.
- However, dalit organisations and some political parties fear the dilution of the provisions of the Act might lead to increase in violence against Dalits.
- After holding agitations over the last few days to protest against the top court's ruling on the SC/ST Act, several dalit outfits have called for a Bharat Bandh today.
- A delegation of dalit lawmakers is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today to apprise him of the issues concerning the SCs and STs, including the unhappiness among the community over the apex court verdict on SC/ST Act.
- The Congress party, which has urged the Centre to file a review petition, will organise a demonstration on April 4 at Parliament Street against the verdict and the atrocities committed against dalits in different parts of the country.
Areas of SC influence
Reserved SC Constituencies: Lok Sabha, state assembles
See graphic, ' Constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the Lok Sabha and the state assembles '
Districts with a high SC population
The Times of India, Aug 14 2016
Abheek Barman
Dalits are an increasingly assertive political bloc: Mayawati, a Dalit herself, has been chief minister of India's largest state (Uttar Pradesh) four times, most recently in 2012.
At 32% of the population, Punjab is home to the highest SC percentage in India. In 13 of its 21 districts, the Dalit population is higher than the statewide average; 34 of its 117 assembly seats are reserved for SC candidates.
In six districts, the SC vote can swing outcomes: these include Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, where Dalits are 42.5% of the population, Muktsar Sahib (42.3%), Firozpur (42%), Jalandhar and Faridkot (39%) and Moga (36.5%).
Uttar Pradesh
Dalits are 21% of UP's population. This is important, because in a multi-cornered poll fight, a party can sweep with less than 30% of total votes. In 2012, for example, SP won 224 seats (of 403) with only 29% votes.
In several districts, Dalits alone can swing it for Mayawati. These include Sonbhadra, with a 42% Dalit population, Kaushambi (36%), Sitapur (32%), Unnao and Hardoi (31%), Rae Bareli (30%), Jhansi and Auraiya (28%).In 34 of UP's 70 districts, the Dalit population is higher than their statewide average.
Christians, SC certificates for
Church-going dalit cannot be denied SC certificates: HC
A Subramani,TNN | Dec 27, 2013
CHENNAI: There is no rationale in denying scheduled caste (SC) certificate and other benefits to a church-going dalit, the Madras high court has said.
A division bench comprising Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice T S Sivagnanam, passing orders on a person whose application for SC certificate was rejected by a sub-collector in Puducherry, said going to church could seldom be considered a valid reason to reject the application.
"For deciding the community status, the factors that are to be verified are whether the person is suffering from any kind of social and economic disability and whether the scheduled caste Hindus in the locality are treating the person as one among themselves," they said.
Noting that the sub-collector got carried away by the VAO's report and rejected M Jayaraj alias Ramajayam's claim, the judges said: "Rejection of community/social status community certificate to deserving person will deny his valuable rights guaranteed under the Constitution and attaches civil consequences."
The report merely stated that the Jayaraj was often visiting the church in Othiyampattu village.
The judges said the sub-collector was bound to conduct a proper inquiry and could take a decision only after affording opportunity of hearing to the applicant. Pointing out that such a procedure had not been followed in the present case, they set aside the impugned order dated June 21, 2011. The court also restored the application of Jayaraj and asked the officials to consider the matter afresh and pass fresh orders within four weeks.
‘Dalit’ or SC?
A history of the expression ‘Dalit’
Dalit: A tortuous journey over 200 yrs, January 25, 2018: The Times of India
It has been through a journey spanning nearly two centuries that the term “Dalit” denoting “the oppressed” has ironically metamorphosed into an appellation signifying “assertion and self respect”.
Perhaps its emergence as the pan-Indian term for scheduled castes led to government functionaries inadvertently start using it in official work – leading to Madhya Pradesh HC on Tuesday ruling that only constitutional terminology, ‘SCs’, be used in official communication.
The court rightly called out the unwarranted blurring of lines between the official and the unofficial, but it only reinforced the power and appeal that “Dalit” has come to pack in contemporary society.
Says Vivek Kumar, senior sociologist in Jawaharlal Nehru University, “the term has become an assertion of identity accorded by the community upon themselves and not by the upper castes.”
The pithy summation aptly captures the symbolism of “Dalit” – a word that goes back to 1830s. According to Vivek Kumar, “Dalit” finds mention in 1831-compiled Marathi-English dictionary by JJ Molesworth — an army officer of the East India Company. Dynamic social reformer from Maharashtra Jyotiba Phule used shudras/ati-shudras and Dalit/pat-Dalit. In 1935, the greatest of emancipators B R Ambedkar used the term in a pamphlet he brought out to organise a congregation of “untouchables” who by then had begun to try to throw away the yoke of upper caste subjugation.
However, Ambedkar himself preferred to call his community “Depressed Classes”. For the community, it has been a tortuous search for the right name to call themselves. In the high caste dictated social order, they were variously referred to as “asprashya” (untouchable), “antaj” (last born), “antwaseen” (residing last).
It was a state of limbo — shunned by Hindu caste system but considered part of Hindu faith — that nudged “untouchables” towards a quest for identity. It went through experiments which intensified as the fire of independence struggle spread. Awakening to the need that they too needed freedom from caste subjugation as compatriots sought from the British, self-respect movements spawned across regions. 1920s reflected a stress on indigenous roots -- ati-Hindu, ati-Dravida, ati-Andhra, ati-Karnataka. A rebellious Manguram Walia in Punjab called the untouchables ‘ad-dharma’. There was also an adi-Hindu movement in UP . First steps, they were bound to be splintered.
But the dramatic birth of two pan-India platforms – Mahatma Gandhi and Congress – changed the course of Dalit movement beyond recognition. After Gandhi brought out “Harijan” newspaper, Congress became the vehicle to spread the name in every nook and corner of the country. The 1935 India Act settled on clubbing the “untouchables” under a Schedule – and thus was born the label, SCs. But it was officialese, bereft of the punch that a subaltern identity seeks. Into the vacuum of disappearing Dalit platforms, post-independence, stepped in the militantintellectual movement -- Dalit Panthers – in 1970. It resurrected the term from the anonymity of history.
HC bans use of word ‘Dalit’ by MP
January 23, 2018: The Times of India
The MP high court has banned the use of the word ‘Dalit’, especially in official government communication. The HC’s Gwalior bench issued the order while hearing a PIL pointing out that the word ‘Dalit’ was not mentioned in the Constitution. People belonging to different categories have been termed either ‘Scheduled Caste’ or ‘Scheduled Tribe’ in the Constitution. The HC has ordered that only the terms mentioned in the Constitution be used. The petitioner’s lawyer said the order would currently only be implemented in MP.
Education
Remarkable progress, high dropout rate
The Times of India, January 24, 2016
Subodh Varma
Enrol and dropout, education is a one-way street for Dalits
The surge in education among India's most deprived communities, the dalits and adivasis, is re markable: between 2001 and 2011, the share of dalits attending college zoomed up by a staggering 187% and adivasis, by 164%. The comparable increase for all other castes put together is 119%.
So, a large number of dalits and adivasis entered colleges and universities, many of whom would have been first-generation entrants like Rohith. This is all the more remarkable considering the difficult conditions they live in 21% dalit families live in houses with thatch or bamboo roofs compared to 15% overall, 78% stay in one or two roomed houses compared to 69% overall, 35% have a drinking water source within their home compared to 47% overall, 41% do not have electricity compared to 33% overall, and 66% do not have toilets compared to 53% overall.
While school-level enrollment for all castes and communities is roughly the same, there are many more dropouts among dalits and adivasis. Among dalits, the share of school students drops from 81% in the 6-14 years age group to 60% in the 15-19 group. It plummets further to just 11% in the 20-24 age group in higher education. This fall is noticeable across communities and castes but it is the sharpest among dalits and adivasis.
According to an NSSO survey, nearly two-thirds of male dropouts from school and college said that they were needed to supplement the household income while nearly half the female dropouts said that they were needed for domestic chores. The same survey also showed that attendance rates in educational institutions were about 50% in the poorest 10% families but rose to nearly 70% in the richest 10 per cent. Poverty is thus the biggest barrier to pursuing education, and poverty levels are highest among dalits and adivasis. Besides this, these groups also face social discrimination and sometimes, abuse. At a public hearing organized by the People's Trust and CRY in Salem, Tamil Nadu, a young dalit girl, who dropped out of school, said students like her were often taunted and abused by teachers as well as students. She had started working in brick kilns or fields. Shockingly, the same atmosphere prevails in centres of higher education as incidents from various universities and the IITs show.
So, on an average, very few --about one in 10 -students at the higher levels of education are from dalit or adivasi communities. This heightens the sense of isolation among disadvantaged students. And then you have the discrimination, the high costs, the pressure to perfor m, and perhaps -as in the case of Rohith's alma mater -even official hounding.
‘Invisible Dalits’
In UP
Avijit Ghosh/ The Times of India, Jan 2017: Dalits are 21% of UP population. Badri Narayan’s new book, Fractured Tales, discusses a new sub category called invisible Dalits.
Badri Narayan elaborated:
There are almost 65 Dalit communities in UP but most know only two or three of these communities in every district. The other communities are not visible in the democratic domain. Their participation in public life, in the service sector and in the political sphere is almost negligible. Due to their lack of presence in these important domains i have referred to them as invisible communities.
Dalit castes like Musahars (rat pickers), Nats (wanderers), Basor (weavers), Bansphor (bamboo basket makers) are in fairly decent numbers but it is not enough for these communities to create pressure on the vote bank politics.Apart from them, there are many other Dalit castes in even lesser numbers like Bahelia (bird hunters), Khairha (woodcutters), Kalabaaz (singers), etc. They are not visible in any political or governance strategy. They have not even reached at the door of democracy from where they can knock at the door.
Badri Narayan |Scattered and invisible, December 15, 2016, Indian Express
Non-Jatav Dalits in UP do not find political representation because of their limited role in swaying state and national elections.
The media and political analysts discuss the possibility of the success or failure of any political party on the basis of the numerical percentage of its core voters. Statistical analysis looks at these castes and communities as a homogeneous vote bank, but in reality they are not so. The deep-rooted desire for recognition and the aspiration for political participation lure the numerically large and influential castes among Dalits and backwards to vote in favour of a particular political party. Even among these social groups, the most marginalised — which are scattered and numerically less — follow a different voting pattern.
Dalits, who comprise about 21.6 per cent of the population of Uttar Pradesh, are widely considered to form the base of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). On analysing the grassroot reality, we find that among the large number of Dalit castes, it is only the Jatavs who are the core voters for BSP. In addition, castes like Pasi, Dhobhi, Kori, Khatik are considered the “Bahujan voters” of the party. Among the 65 Dalit castes, more than 55 are numerically less, scattered and their presence is almost negligible. A few of them are Basor, Sapera, Kuchbadhiya, Musahar, Begaar, Tantwa, Rangrej and Sarvan. At the local level, these communities often vote under the influence of prominent Dalit, backward and savarna castes. Political parties are either unaware of their presence or do not give them much importance as they make a weak vote bank.
These numerically small castes mostly reside in hamlets comprising of 10 or 20 huts and even in large, multi-caste hamlets only two or three of their huts can be seen. Though their votes are given due importance in the panchayat elections, the same is not true during Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Even political parties like the BSP, which are actively involved in Dalit-Bahujan politics, take them for granted. Neither do candidates from these castes get tickets during elections nor are they provided political participation. Thus, we see such castes living in penury and existing as an invisible social group in Indian democratic politics. It is sad that even after seven decades of Independence they have not been able to become a part of our political society or received any recognition as subaltern citizens.
Though they come under the category of Dalit and Bahujan, their presence is almost negligible in Dalit and Bahujan politics. They get a minor share of the resources distributed to the poor and the marginalised. These castes do not possess their own community leaders and the political parties too are hesitant in giving them leadership roles. They are still far away from the doors of education and are economically weak to the extent that they are not able to develop their own politics. They can develop their own politics only when an economically strong group emerges from amongst their communities.
The R S S has begun some work among these groups in certain regions of UP. The Sangh is actively propagating its samrasta (harmony) programmes in villages at the border areas of UP and Nepal which extends from Gorakhpur to Bahraich, the Awadh region and some areas of eastern UP. The Sangh is organising programmes like the cleanliness of hamlets, having samrasta bhoj with residents and is also running primary schools. It is also running its shakhas in the gardens and ponds near the hamlets of marginalised Dalits and is endeavouring to produce activists from among them.
The Sangh’s work in this direction may produce activists who can take on leadership roles, but it is quite difficult to say the number of years it will take for these marginalised communities to create a place in the BJP’s politics. During my field visits, I observed that in the executive training camps organised in the areas adjoining Allahabad, the R S S is making efforts to establish a connection with the activists from the “small” Dalit castes.
The Congress is also showing an interest in associating with these castes and would like to provide political representation to the non-Jatav Dalit castes. But on coming to terms with the limited vote-share and probability of candidates from these castes winning, it may limit their political participation. The local Congress leadership is keen to get non-Jatav Dalits as voters, but they do not have a long-term policy to establish leaders from among these communities or to provide them any political recognition. BSP leaders show a keen interest is associating such castes with their party and consider them a part of the Bahujan society, yet they have done little for the political inclusion of these communities.
A major irony of Indian democratic politics is that the political value of a citizen is determined by the numerical strength of his/her caste and her/his efficiency in terms of the money and power to achieve victory during elections. Democracy has become a game in the hands of various powerful people and communities. Kanshi Ram laid the foundation of the Bahujan political structure based on the principle that “the political participation of any caste is directly proportional to its numerical strength”. Based on this principle, numerically strong Dalit castes have received political visibility and political participation — to some extent — after the development of Bahujan politics. But the fate of more than 55 Dalit and Bahujan castes, scattered in various pockets of Uttar Pradesh, is yet to be decided. This is a crucial question before our democracy, the answer for which must be found sooner rather than later.
The writer is a social scientist and author. His latest book, ‘Fractured Tales:Invisibles in Indian Democracy’, is published by Oxford University Press
Offensive names of localities/ villages
Sandeep Rai, Village names are reason for shame, Feb 22, 2017: The Times of India
Calling a Dalit by his caste name is an offence under the SCST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. But Bundelkhand's rigid caste-based society continues to humiliate the Scheduled Castes. Here's how.
Several localities and villages spread over the region are named after the castes of people who live there. There's been a long-standing demand by Dalits to change the names of these localities. But nothing has happened, although candidates of political parties have in the past promised to implement the demand.
Barely 20km from Jhansi is Bajna village, where a large number of Dalits live in a locality called Chamarya. This term is generally associated with Dalit communities such as Jatav and Jatia. They are collectively known as `Chamaar', a prohibited term.
“Every election, we ask candidates to get the names of these villages changed, but we get empty promises.It's embarrassing when you are asked your village name.It immediately reveals our caste identity and the attitude of people around us changes drastically in this caste-driven society of Bundelkhand,“ says Budhh Prakash of Chamroa.
Deep Shikha, Chamarsena's pradhan, said, “We submitted an application to change the name of this village from Chamarsena to Amarsena but I doubt if it's been changed because no one takes us seriously in government offices.“
Owing to extreme subjugation of Dalits in the region, name change of a village or locality often becomes a matter of secondary importance.“A majority of people in these villages are illiterate and downtrodden. Politicians and their strongmen force these people to vote for specific candidates. So, the question of demanding their rights does not even arise,“ said Ganpat Kumar, a school teacher in Chamarya.
STATE-WISE ISSUES
Haryana
Dalit Rise Upper Castes' Envy
The Times of India, October 22, 2015
Subodh Ghildiyal
Dalit rise upper castes' envy in Haryana
Dominant Class Unable To Accept Changing Social Order In Mirchpur and Gohana, altercations between Jats and Dalits resulted in mobs razing down and burning Dalit houses, medieval style. No one died in Gohana but 50 houses were torched by a 1,000-strong mob. But Mirchpur saw a lynch mob set on fire a handicapped girl and her grandfather in their house, like Faridabad. In Sunped, Rajputs settled scores with Dalits.
At the root of the brutal crimes is the newfound independence of Dalits and a questioning of the status quo. Observers say the brutal retribution inflicted by the upper castes is aimed to deliver a strong reminder to Dalits on who dominates socially .
KaramvirBaudh, an activist in Haryana, said, “Jobs and small businesses are a growing trend among SCs. Cars and good houses in their neighbourhoods are visible. They refuse to work in landlords' fields.It is enough of a provocation.“
If the fault lines existed for ages, its incendiary eruption in medieval lynchings and immolations in the last decade re sults from fearless assertion by Dalits riding on job reservations and market economy . “The dominant peasant proprietors who were used to having their way are unable to take the resistance from Dalits.That is leading to brutality ,“ said Yogendra Yadav, a sociologist with roots in Haryana. The questioning of status quo is the trigger. And the op pressor changes with the turf, it could be Jats in Rohtak, Yadavs in Mahendragarh, Rajputs and OBC Rors in Yamunanagar.
Dr Gulshan, who heads the Ambedkar missionaries society in Rohtak, recounted how every atrocity was accompanied by the incredulous “ek SC ne aisakardiya“ -it could refer to refusal to work in landlords' fields or challenging the harassment of a Dalit girl. “In a wrestling game, the taunt is that you lost to a Dalit boy,“ he said, talking about provocation.
Sexual assault of Dalits has emerged as a new weapon to assert domination. Haryana, according to the NCRB, ranks seventh in assaults on SC women, fourth in sexual harassment, sixth in rapes.
Maharashtra
2018: the 1818 Koregaon Bhima battle's echoes
See also: Battle of Bhima- Koregaon: 1818
Radheshyam Jadhav, Fresh twist to Maha’s Dalit politics, January 3, 2018: The Times of India
From: Radheshyam Jadhav, Fresh twist to Maha’s Dalit politics, January 3, 2018: The Times of India
Backward Bloc Consolidating In Bihar-Like Pattern: Dalit Intellectuals
Maharashtra’s Dalit politics is moving in a different direction on the lines of the Triveni Sangh experiment in Bihar where the backward communities consolidated their power against upper castes, say Dalit intellectuals and activists in reaction to the developments at Koregaon Bhima on Monday.
Right-wing and Dalit historians have their own versions of the Koregaon Bhima battle. For Dalits, it was a battle against casteist Peshwa rulers, while for right-wing historians it pitted the British against indigenous rulers.
“Koregaon Bhima must be seen from two angles — the British fulfilled their agenda to gain power and the oppressed communities, comprising agricultural workers, found a way to fight oppressors,” Paul Divakar, a Dalit intellectual with the New Delhi-based National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, said. “A Triveni Sangh is happening in Maharashtra and Koregaon Bhima developments might be a new beginning.”
Triveni Sangh was formed by Yadav-Koeri-Kurmi communities as a front to fight upper castes’ domination in Bihar in the 1930s. It changed the socio-political discourse of the region. Divakar added that as of now BJP and Shiv Sena have succeeded in getting the support of Matang and Mahar communities, respectively, while Congress is confused about its stand on caste politics. “ I don’t see these developments as against one caste. It is more than that,” Divakar added.
Dalit activists in Maharashtra said there is a vacuum in Dalit politics. “Ramdas Athavale has aligned with BJP and Prakash Ambedkar’s party has not succeeded in garnering a mass base. Jignesh Mevani and Prakash Ambedkar coming together and other backward parties joining the move is the beginning of new Dalit politics after the Dalit Panther era,” Dalit leader R S Kamble said.
The socialist and Leftist parties in Maharashtra are eager to join the bandwagon. The R-S-S leadership is cautious. R-S-S veteran from Pune, Aniruddha Deshpande, said, “It is a complicated situation. The British took control of Shaniwarwada and the Dalits were part of their army. I don’t think it is appropriate to comment on these developments.”
Maharashtra: Eight sensitive places, eight issues
Radheshyam Jadhav, January 7, 2018: The Times of India
A look at the locations of the stir, symbolic of the tensions between communities as attempts are made to redraw caste alliances.
1. Vadhu Budruk
The story
Govind Gaikwad belonged to the Mahar community; he believed to have performed the last rites of Chhatrapati Sambhaji, son of Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shiva-ji.
Aurangzeb killed Sambhaji and none dared to perform his last rites fearing the Mughal king's wrath.
The politics
Tension has simmered since the last few years with right-wingers running a campaign that Sambhaji's rites were performed by Marathas and not a Mahar.
Dec 28, 2017: A shed & information board near Gaikwad's tombstone vandalised in village Vadhu Budruk
Dec 29: Dalits file cases against Marathas
Dec 30: Netas of both communities compromise. Dalits to withdraw cases, Marathas to reinstate board near Gaikwad's samadhi
2. Pune
Dec 31: Conference organised at Shaniwar Wada by dalit outfits and Maratha body Sambhaji Brigade that moots an alliance of dalits, Marathas, Muslims.
3. Koregaon Bhima
The story
In the battle between Peshwas and the British at Koregaon on river Bhima's banks on January 1, 1818, Mahars — who saw Peshwas as oppressors — fought for the British, who built an obelisk as a memorial. Annual celebrations have been held here after B R Ambedkar's visit in 1927.
The politics
Two versions to the story.
Dalits and a section of Marathas see the battle as the end of "Brahmanical oppression". The Hindu-right sees it as the end of Hindu rule.
Jan 1, 2018: dalits gather for 200th anniversary celebration of Koregaon-Bhima battle.
A few villagers call a bandh. Stone-pelting starts, followed by arson. One Maratha dies.
4. Mumbai
January 2: Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar calls for bandh to protest attack on dalits, names Sambhaji Bhide (84) and Milind Ekbote (56) as instigators. Bhide had led the stir against movie Jodha Akbar, Ekbote has been a BJP/ Shiv
Sena corporator FIR lodged against the two on January 3.
Jan 3: Massive protests by dalits turn violent. 30 cops injured. City brought to a halt.
5. Kolhapur
The story
In 1902, Kolhapur's ruler and Shiva-ji's descendant, Shahu Maharaj, offered dalits reservation in education and service.
A first of its kind, this was an enduring symbol of dalit-Maratha amity.
The politics
Dalits and Marathas have grown apart over the last few decades with growing right-wing presence. Shiv Sena and BJP have banked on Maratha netas brought in from Sharad Pawar's NCP and Congress.
Jan 3: Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar leads a mob opposing bandh.
6. Aurangabad
The story
Marathwada region's main city has significant dalit and Muslim populations. Shiv Sena made inroads after violence over the re-naming of Marathwada University after Dr B R Ambedkar.
The Maratha Seva Sangh and its youth wing Sambhaji Brigade have been trying to prop up a new alliance comprising dalits, Marathas and Muslims. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimee has a strong base in the city.
The politics
Shiv Sena netas have built their political fortunes rabblerousing against Muslims and dalits here.
Jan 3: Internet suspended
A few Maratha groups support the bandh, as do the Muslims.
7. Sangli
The politics
Once known as the birthplace of Marathi theatre; Sangli today is a divided town. Sambhaji Bhide's outfit has deep roots here and enjoys support of all parties.
Hindu-Muslim tensions are frequent, especially in neighbouring town of Miraj, with substantial minority population.
Jan 4: Bhide backers organise march, demand withdrawal of case against Bhide.
8. Nagpur
The R-S-S blamed "breaking India brigade" for the Bhima Koregaon violence, claiming it wants to divide Hindu society. But so far, the Nagpur-based body has not made clear its stand on Bhima Koregaon. Former R-S-S sanghchalak M S Golwalkar had criticised celebrations stating that the battle must not be glorified as after all it was defeat of indigenous rulers.
Uttar Pradesh
2017: Hindutva Or Ambedkar?
Sagarika Ghose, UP's Dalits: Hindutva Or Ambedkar, Mar 01 2017, The Times of India
There's a permanent Dalit revolution in UP, but Mayawati may not be its only beneficiary
In his adopted village Jayapur in Varanasi district, PM Narendra Modi has erected a giant Ambedkar statue in the Harijan quarter. Yet the paint on the statue is peeling badly , the solar lamp that illuminates it is out of battery .Dalits of Jayapur say Ambedkar is being dishonoured and insulted.
The Dalit vote has been assiduously cultivated by BJP . In these assembly polls UP's 21% Dalits are generally expected to stay with Mayawati although BJP hopes to gain among non-Jatav Dalits (Mayawati being a Jatav) to whom it has given 65 tickets. The Dalit leadership from Ram Vilas Paswan to Udit Raj is already with BJP . Is Dalit aspiration and desire to escape caste shackles taking the community towards Modi? Or will the Ambedkarite legacy of the fight against Hindutva keep Dalits out of the sangh parivar's net? Has Mayawati sacrificed the movement for Dalit cultural liberation by allying with BJP in the past and is she losing the loyalty of angry young Dalits?
In villages across UP , the signs of Dalit assertion are unmistakable. In fact, the Dalit revolution is UP's permanent revolution. Jeans clad Dalit millennials say our forefathers had brooms in their hand, we have a smart phone or a laptop.The violence on Dalits at Una, the `institutional murder' of Rohith Vemula, rising Dalit atrocities and statements against reservations by leaders Bhagwat and Vaidya, have made many educated Dalits acutely conscious that the Hindutva worldview has no place for them.
Dronacharya, the Hindu guru, is for many Dalits a `villain' and they vociferously question BJP's decision to name Gurugram after him. “Beyond tokenist gestures like the Bhim app, what concrete steps has Modi taken for Dalits,“ they ask.
At the same time for many Dalit communities like Khatiks and Dhobis, who have got tickets from BJP , Modi is a symbol of aspiration. The `Hindukaran' of Dalits is proceeding at a rapid pace in rural areas. In the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 Dalits participated in the attacks on Muslims, and in 2014 BJP got 24% of Dalit vote while BSP got 14%. A big chunk of the BSP vote shifted to BJP in 2014. Dalits are thus torn between the desire to declare their unique identity or to be accepted into the temples of Hinduism from where they were barred for centuries.
Mayawati too has always been torn between seizing immediate power for office and the long term strategy to which Kanshi Ram was committed. Her spectacular 206 seat victory in 2007 brought UP its first majority government in 17 years but made BSP into yet another political party , rather than the `movement' it claimed to be.
However the forces Mayawati represents are acutely real. Observers at BSP rallies cannot miss the pumping mood of empowerment and confidence. Dalits angrily defend Ambedkar parks and having tasted political power are simply unwilling to accept secondary status.They are angry at the way Mayawati is lampooned by the `brahmanical media' and argue that Mayawati's statues are no different from leaders who click selfies and pose for Madame Tussauds. We are not a crutch for anyone is a dominant sentiment among Dalit middle class professionals who still have an inordinate sense of pride that a Dalit woman was CM. It is a matter of pride, they say that when upper castes pass by a Dalit no longer has to stand up and that his FIRs are registered.
But is Mayawati and the politics she represents more about UP's past than its future? Is Mayawati being left behind by the social emancipation movement launched by young Dalits? Mayawati plays an old style politics of caste and community at a time when the Dalit craves a new modern vocabulary . When behenji attempts a Dalit-Muslim alliance by giving more than 100 tickets to Muslims is she attempting a social engineering that can no longer be achieved by the old style simple 1+1=2 type caste and community arithmetic?
Traditional politics is changing fast.Dalit voices on social media, notably the twitter handle @DalitRising, show the young want social justice and a modern equal opportunity agenda. Mayawati provided security but not the economic opportunities and benefits of modern education which they crave. Rural Dalits are lured by offers of sanskritisation or caste Hindu status that the sangh parivar offers them because opportunities are still so horribly lacking. Spending nights with Dalits a la Rahul or lunching with Dalits a la Amit Shah are only terribly limited tokens. The Dalit revolution is looking for emancipatory equality and a new political vocabulary that expresses their anguish at the brutally discriminatory system.
By playing traditional caste-commu nity votebank politics Mayawati has become imitative of the same political system against which Kanshi Ram roared out his challenge. While Mayawati has been co-opted by the political system, many young Dalits are now turning towards reclaiming a Buddhist identity and many also say they are angry at the compromises Mayawati is making and at the corruption charges against her.
Thus several strands make up UP's permanent Dalit revolution: aspiration, anger, assertion of identity , rejection of Hinduism. Dalits say the flaunting of cash at weddings or on birthdays is a means of this assertion which is why demonitisation has become for them a cruel joke. Caught between Ambedkar and Hindutva, the Dalit revolution is restlessly searching for a leader who will speak a modern egalitarian language and attempt to transform Ambedkar's teachings into living realities. Mayawati plays old style politics, the BJP DNA is brahmanical and against reservations.Thus politics is failing this Dalit revolution which even though leaderless is growing stronger and bigger every day .
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Year-wise history, developments
Mid-2016: Trends in SC political inclinations
The Times of India, Aug 11 2016
Una atrocity plays on Dalit minds
The attack on Dalits near Vishakhapatnam shows that Narendra Modi vowing to act against cow vigilantism may not be enough to stop the violence and pave the way for bringing around the large vote bank that has faced centuries of persecution.
The anger is still simmering. Dalits TOI correspondents across the country spoke to returned again and again to the Una incident where gau rakshaks publicly flogged four Dalits, and driven by the self-imposed `right' to harass other castes, filmed their brutality. To the Dalit mind, these gau rakshaks are an extension of the Sangh parivar.
So even when the Centre issued an advisory stating cow slaughter, even if banned, “does not entitle individual group to take action on their own to... punish the alleged wrong doers“, it had limited impact. In the same manner that BJP's expulsion of party official Dayashankar Singh for his slanderous remarks against BSP's Mayawati did little to assuage their hurt.
“When these people can make derogatory remarks against a four-time CM only because she's a Dalit, imagine their attitude towards the commoner Dalit,“ says Amar Paswan, research scholar at DDU Gorakhpur University .
ANTI-GOVT SENTIMENT
For all purposes, opinion against the saffron camp has especially sharpened in poll bound states of UP , Punjab and Gujarat, where Dalits have tended to vote as a bloc.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, UP was the feather in PM Modi's cap, where the Dalit vote swung in his favour. “We voted for Yogiji (Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath),“ but, “We've learnt our lesson, will now be cautious,“ says Vijay Kumar Azad, vice-president, UP Rashtriya Hind Sena Dalit Sangathan, who had wholeheartedly backed BJP in 2014. At 32%, Punjab has the country's largest population share of Dalits. Local BJP netas concede the community is questioning them after the Una brutality . At a recent meeting in Ludhiana of Adi Dharam Samaj (ADS), an organisation of Balmikis, talk focused on the Una atrocity , though the meet had been convened to discuss controversial film `The Legend of Michael Mishra' over its references to Maharshi Balmiki. “Though BJP netas express solidarity with Dalits, it is the party and sangh parivar that are blamed,“ says ADS founder Darshan Singh Ravan.
In Gujarat, Mulchand Rana, vice-president of Samajik Samrasta Vikas Manch, admits Dalits have united against BJP and its ideologues.“This has harmed BJP's initiative towards equality .“ The party's Dalit leader in Porbandar, Babu Pandvadra, quit the party with over 200 supporters weeks after the Una violence.
Ahead of the election next year, activists are questioning Modi's 2014 poll plank of the `Gujarat model'. “Fact remains Gujarat's development model never included Dalits.Most eke out a living as daily wagers and labour,“ says Kaushik Parmar of the Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti, that's spearheading the state's antiBJP Dalit stir.
SAFFRON BIAS
Activists have of late as serted that an upper caste bias is apparent in states where BJP governments have come to power. “Atrocities against Dalits have increased under BJP (Vasundhara Raje) government.Since 2014, upper castes in rural areas have boasted `ab to hamari sarkar aa gayi (now we're in power),“ says PL Mimroth of the Jaipurbased Centre for Dalit Rights.
The Vasundhara government's failure to act sternly against perpetrators in antiDalit crimes has magnified the perception that such attackers “can get away with anything“, says another Dalit leader associated with BJP , referring to a case in April when two Dalit boys were stripped and beaten publicly in Chittorgarh on charges of theft.“The incident is fresh in the community's memory ,“ he said seeking anonymity .
In Maharashtra too, Dev endra Fadnavis's government is facing the ripples of Dalit distress. Pune corporator Siddharth Dhende, said to be close to Republican Party of India (A) chief Ramdas Athavale, is critical of the saffron camp.“Our perception about BJP when we joined hands with them for Lok Sabha polls was different. But after two years, the BJP government has completely failed to work for Dalits' uplift,“ he told TOI.
Though Athavale's party is part of government now, senior party neta from Mumbai Avinash Mahatekar says this does not mean “our support is unconditional“, noting that RPI(A) had opposed Fadnavis government's beef ban. This, in the state that gave birth to the organised Dalit resistance movement back in 1942, when B R Ambedkar formed the Scheduled Castes Federation.
CLASH OF CULTURES
Activist Omprakash Kalme is not surprised: BJP's core support are the upper castes who are `anti-Dalit' anyhow. “First, they feel educated Dalits are trying to compete with upper castes and second, reservation. All those opposing reservation are BJP supporters,“ says Kalme.
Back in pollbound UP , carcass-flayers are shunning their source of livelihood that's now fraught with danger. As Vidyasagar, a Lucknow Muncipal Corporation worker thrashed by vigilantes July 28, says, “Skinning dead cows is what we've done for generations, but can't any more because we're afraid of being attacked.“
If at one end, the Dalit is angry at the atrocities, at the other end, it is research scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide that is crystallising opinion.“Vemula's suicide showed there is another subtle form of caste violence which many youth easily identify with,“ says Rekha Raj, Dalit feminist and writer from Kerala. Atrocities would earlier be noted only if it were mass killing or a gangrape, she says. That is no longer so.
Bhopal-based activist Indresh Gajbhiye, a BJP associate, whose organization works for Dalit uplift says the fight is as much for equal respresentation as `roti, kapda aur makan'. “The Dalit is watching and waiting as it did for 60 years of the Congress. If BJP fails to deliver, it'll meet Congress's fate,“ he says.
Since 2014, various saffron outfirs have also felt empowered to push the Hindutva agenda. “When Congress dismissed a demand to elect a Dalit as Karnataka CM, they weren't upset. What did anger them is the sustained efforts by pro-Hindu forces to curb Dalit food and culture,“ says Mysuru-based Dalit thinktank Lakshman Hoskote. Inputs from Anuja Jaiswal, Yusra Hasan, Anjumand Bano, Sujit Mahamulkar , Anindo De, IP Singh, Arvind HM, Radheyshyam Jadhav, B Sreejan, Radha Sharma, Amarjit Singh & Mohan Bhadauria
See also
Caste-based reservations, India (history)
Caste-based reservations, India (legal position)
Caste-based reservations, India (the results, statistics)
Scheduled Caste and tribal sub-plan: India
Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs and millionaires: India
Scheduled Caste lead characters in Hindi-Urdu cinema
Scheduled caste players in Indian cricket teams
Scheduled caste politics, issues, history
