Open Forum
New Delhi, 13 July 2017
Dalit Sufferings
WANTED DEEDS, NOT SYMBOLISM
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
Notwithstanding that
next week’s presidential election is a foregone conclusion with Ram Nath Kovind
to be the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan, questions have arisen whether
the attitude of the NDA towards dalits would truly see a drastic change. Only
by electing a dalit as the Head of State, things cannot automatically change
unless the rank and file as also the leadership of the party thinks it imperative
to focus on the lower castes, which have been deprived for long and bring them
into the mainstream of life and activity.
It is no secret that
the BJP is desperate to change its pro-Brahmin image and now wants to enlist
the support of the lower castes. The plans and programmes announced by the
government at the grass-root level have, in some places, taken care to make
inroads into this community. Many of the party’s leaders are now engaged in
wooing the dalits as also scheduled castes and tribes. But though the general
attitude of society towards this section has changed mainly in the cities, the
scenario is quite different in the remote and backward districts of the
country.
Kovind, a known dalit
figure in BJP circles is an accomplished and non-controversial leader, and will
be the second dalit after K R Narayanan to hold the highest office. However,
precious little has changed for the down trodden in the country. Worse, dalit
vengeance and protests have grown in the past few months across the country.
And though, the Opposition’s nominee Meira Kumar has stated that she is fighting
an ideological battle based on values of ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘destruction of
caste’, her nomination was largely based on countering the NDA’s dalit
candidate. Sadly, the caste system in Hinduism, very much prevalent hasn’t gone
down well with our traditional values and Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji and
Tagore were against this.
Unfortunately, the dalit
movement has taken a violent turn. But one cannot deny the fact that it has a
long history. However, in may be safe to say that it was Kanshi Ram who built
the most formidable and politically significant dalit coalition, taking every
section of the community on board. It is generally believed that till date
there is no dalit leader who enjoys a nation-wide appeal like Kanshi Ram.
In recent months,
oppression of dalits has come to the forefront to fight oppression and change
the outlook of society towards this community. A new brand of leaders like
Chandrasekhar Azad have been steering the movement and airing the demands of
the community. Dalit forums have been set up in most States as also in
universities, specially in the northern States after Rohith Vemula’s
suicide.
Delving into the
problem of dalits, one cannot deny that their realisation has gained momentum
in recent months after the Vemula’s suicide and this reflects structural
deficiencies in the system that he was well aware of. Certainly, reservations
have given birth to dalit entrepreneurs and a dalit middle class benefiting
from government jobs. But in spite of this or because of this, anti-dalit
attitudes, sometimes leading to violent protests have been on the rise.
The number of
registered cases of anti-dalit atrocities, notoriously under-reported, jumped
by 17.1 per cent in 2013 (compared to 2012) and in 2014, it was 19.4 per cent,
according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and in 2014, it was 19.4
per cent. This has not come down in 2015 and in 2016 but remained a little higher.
Experts are of the opinion that the word ‘atrocities’ needs to be fleshed out
here, otherwise it would become another bureaucratic, abstract euphemism.
One may refer here to
Article 23 that prohibits bonded labour and Article 15(2) that stipulates that
no citizen should be subject to restriction with regard to access to shops,
public restaurants, hotels and places of entertainment, the use of wells,
tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort on the grounds of
caste. In 1955, the Untouchability (Offences) Act reasserted that dalits should
not be prevented from entering any public place. Then, in 1976, the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act was passed. In 1989, why did a new, detailed law
have to be made that listed instances of “offences and atrocities”? In spite of
all these legal commitments, there has not been much difference to the social
status of dalits in society, obviously due to lack of enforcement.
It cannot be denied
that even after around seven decades of independence, in many villages of India
the nature of certain social equations has not changed from what they have been
for centuries. Such villages continue to remain what Dr BR Ambedkar called
“sinks of localism, dens of ignorance and narrow-mindedness.” How else could
one see certain several incidents taking place where dalits being exploited,
not being allowed to be equal members of society and even their families
remaining out of bounds to temple festivities?
Discrimination
against dalits is widespread and ingrained in the psyche across India, in rural
settings in particular. In some places it takes the form of violent oppression,
in others it is disguised yet omnipresent. Though in recent times there is some
responsiveness of the State to harassment of dalits, recurring acts and
persisting practices against the dalit community makes one wonder whether State
response and constitutionalism alone are enough to overcome longstanding social
injustice and prejudices in India’s villages.
The overall performance
sheet of successive governments has been rather poor as these did very little
by emphasising on their education and bringing them into the mainstream of life
and activity. Not even five to seven per cent of dalits have been able to
establish themselves and gain social standing and come out of the stigma of the
past. As the political establishment is weighed in favour of upper castes and
urbanites, they did not have the vision and initiative to alleviate their
sufferings.
Though in the last
few years, there have been some changes in the composition of leadership of
political parties, the problems of the dalits and tribals have not been
considered in the right manner. There is need for a drastic change in the
outlook of the government towards lower castes as just reservation may not
achieve this. There has to be awareness generation of the fact that we are born
as equal entities and caste, class, religion comes much later. It is expected
that the new generation, which is educated, would neglect the stigma of caste
and be broad minded enough to accept all sections of people as equal human
partners in life and society. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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