Gujarat's chief minister Anandiben Patel was forced to quit in the aftermath of dalit backlash following cow vigilantes running amok.
Dalit protests in Gujarat proved to be the last straw for the embattled administration of former chief minister Anandiben Patel. It was, however, not the only state to see such protests in recent months. Since the protests that followed the death of Ph.D student Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad, there have been agitations by Dalit groups for a variety of reasons in Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The location of these protests stretch across the country, and span states ruled by the BJP, Congress, JD(U) and RJD, and AIADMK.
Advocate Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of dalit icon Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, has no doubt that another Dalit uprising is taking place in India. “This is the fourth and fifth generation of dalits after Babasaheb gave them the self confidence. This generation is not ashamed of their history and roots. When their identity, individuality is attacked, they are not going to take it lying down. They will protest,” he said.
Referring to massive protests after the suicide of research scholar of the University of Hyderabad Rohit Vemula and demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan in Mumbai, Prakash Ambedkar said, “This is a warning to castiest people in Hindu community to reform themselves. They cannot force their ideas on others. And if they don’t reform on their own, we will force you to reform. Dalits are expressing their anger in systematic and effective manner.”
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His younger brother, Anandraj Ambedkar, who also led the rally in Mumbai last month against the demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan, claims that the cases of atrocities against dalits have increased by 50 per cent ever since the BJP came to power. This, according to him, is a direct indication that BJP coming to power has emboldened anti-dalit forces in the country. “The common people’s expectation from the BJP was that they will get to see ‘Acche Din’, but they were disappointed. On the contrary, the increase in crimes against dalits proves that Manuvad is resurrecting and making the caste and religious barriers very tougher to break.
Anandraj points out that the BJP did everything to win over dalit votes, right from announcing the year round Dr Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations, buying London house of Dr Ambedkar and proposing Dr Ambedkar’s memorial at Indu Mill in Dadar, Mumbai. “But they are not promoting or acting on the Dr Ambedkar’s thoughts. We believe in making the society caste-less and want the government to work in that direction. Unfortunately, nothing is happening on that front,” he said.
The BJP naturally refutes these allegations. BJP legislator from Maharashtra, Bhai Girkar, who is from a Dalit community, said that the opposition parties are politicising the issue to use it against the BJP. “It is wrong to blame the BJP led government at the Centre and the state for growing number of atrocities. I condemn all these acts. We need to change the attitude of the society towards Dalits. The government has initiated a few measures to curb atrocities like bringing amendment in the current atrocities act.
The Centre wants to cancel provision of bail to the accused under the act and provide help and rehabilitation to the victims. I support the government over the initiative as strict punishment can control these incidents. However, efforts are being made to spread rumours that the government wants to cancel the atrocities act. We need to understand that atrocities are happening all over the country and even at the states where BJP is not ruling. The incident like Khairlanji took place when the BJP government was not ruling. My point is that instead of blaming the BJP for atrocities we should see to it that the culprits get punished and try to bring awareness among the people against these incidents,” Mr Girkar said.
BJP MP and and chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Udit Raj, shares this view. According to him, “Politics cannot address the issue of curbing atrocities against Dalits. What is required is a social revolution and cultural changes in the society. Such incidents are not only affecting the Dalits but the entire nation. Some politicians tried to take political mileage out of the Una incident, which was as unfortunate as the incident. Ms Mayawati (BSP supremo) visited the (Una) victims, which was appreciable but what about Dalit victims of Muzaffarpur or Mainpuri where a Dalit couple was hacked to death for mere Rs 15.
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Why has no politician visited them or their families? There is an effort by the opposition to project as if such incidents are taking place only in the BJP ruled state,” he said. According to the NCRB report published in October 2015 (which is the latest), the highest number of crimes against dalits in 2014 were reported in Bihar (10,907) followed by Uttar Pradesh (9,145). Milind Kamble, President, DICCI (Dalit Chamber Of Commerce and Industries), is of the view that politics cannot remove caste barriers from society.
“In my opinion, only civil society can build bridges between the Dalits and other communities. I don’t think political parties will have any solution. Let them play politics, but common people should not look at it politically. The good thing about these protests happening in the country is that Dalits are not reacting violently. They are expressing their angst in systematic manner,” he said. Mr Kamble further said that the Dalit uprising is not only happening socially but also in economics. He said, “From the platform of DICCI, we are convincing our people to change their traditional business. I know the caste system in India is very complicated but I think change in business will help to reduce clashes between communities.”
TIMELINE
January 17, 2016: Rohith Vemula, the research scholar of the University of Hyderabad, committed suicide. The incident created a nationwide uproar. Opposition parties and several Dalit and left organisations used the incident to accuse the BJP government of being anti-Dalit.
June 25, 2016: Ambedkar Bhavan, the building where Dr Ambedkar started the Buddhist Society of India and the printing press which he set up in 1947 and where several of his books were printed. Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, filed an FIR against former IAS officer and State Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad and Madhukar Kamble, trustee of the People's Improvement Trust, which was founded by Dr. Ambedkar and his family. Later, both the grandsons of Dr Ambedkar held a huge march in protest of the demolition. However, the trustees have got anticipatory bail and the HC has directed to maintain a status quo at the Bhavan site.
July 11, 2016: Four Dalits were thrashed by a mob of around 25 people claiming to be from a "gau rakshak mandal" (Cow Protection Group) when they were skinning a dead cow at Una in Gujarat. The video of the incident went viral on social media, leading to widespread protests by Dalits and a call for a statewide bandh. A massive Dalit rally was held in Gujarat to protest against the incident. Dalits in several parts of the country refused to skin dead animals. Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel had to finally step down and the Una incident was one of the reasons.
August 4, 2016: A Dalit couple was hacked to death with an axe by an upper-caste grocery shop owner following an altercation in a village in Uttar Pradesh over a pending payment of Rs 15 for biscuit packets that they had purchased a few days before they were killed.
With inputs from Vivek Bhavsar and Shruti Ganapatye in Mumbai and Yojna Gusai in Delhi.
