Future of Dalit Class in India

 

Future of Dalit Class in India

- Bhagwan Das

(April 23, 1927 – November 18, 2010)

(Note: Although Bhagwan Das ji had written this article in 2001, the shortcomings and weaknesses of the Dalit class in which he had identified and predicted the dark future of the Dalit class, are proving to be completely correct today. Therefore, to secure their future, the Dalits should adopt Buddhism and fight for their rights by forming a strong organization. And the responsibility of establishing a classless society rests on them - S.R. Darapuri.)

(Translation from Hindi to English by SR Darapuri, National President, All India Peoples Front)

It is not possible to make predictions about any individual, community, or group. Only astrologers claim to know or talk about the future, which is mostly based on guesswork and is proven wrong. But still, most of the people in our country believe more in Hindu astrology. Marriages are solemnized by asking the astrologer for auspicious time. The foundations of buildings are laid by consulting astrologers. Election papers are filed after consulting astrologers. But still women become widows and marriages fail. Buildings collapse and people win and lose elections.

But looking at the present-day leaders and keeping in mind the experiences of history, some estimates can be made. They too are sometimes proven wrong. For example, according to the famous scholar and thinker Karl Marx, born in Germany at the end of the 19th century, proletarian dictatorship will be established in the period before the Communist revolution. Then it will establish socialism and finally communism will come in which there will be neither an exploiter nor the exploited. But nothing like this happened. On the contrary, the first experiment done in Russia failed.

Nevertheless, by properly collecting and analyzing the facts, some estimates prove to largely be correct. For example, the book “Thoughts on Pakistan” written by Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar about the establishment of Pakistan in 1940 proved to largely be correct.

Dalits and Minority Groups There is a difference between the Scheduled Castes and the minority groups – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Persians, Jews etc. What binds the minority people is the identity of religion or race, but what binds the Scheduled Castes is only a list given in the Constitution, not a separate identity.

Before 1935, there was a long list of Untouchable and Backward Castes, but at that time, the Shudra and untouchable castes were obsessed with being called upper caste Hindus. Every caste claimed to be Brahmin/Thakur. Congress and other Hindu political and social parties carried out vigorous propaganda to take advantage of this weakness of the Untouchables and Backward Castes.

Their interest was that the number of Dalits should not appear large and the population of Hindus should not decrease. The British Government added grounds or criteria to solve the difficulties arising from untouchability and created a new list which was called Scheduled Castes Order. 429 castes were included in it. In this too, the Jatava caste of Western Uttar Pradesh held meetings at many places and protested against their inclusion in the Scheduled Castes because some of the leaders, who were victims of Arya Samaj's propaganda, claimed that they were descendants of Krishna and were Rajputs. They should not be included in the list of Chamars. In some districts, the name of Jatavas was removed from the Scheduled Caste. The Dhanukas also protested in a similar manner. Their name was also removed from the list in some states. Same thing happened with the people of Dhobhi caste also. The Kolis in Himachal were trying to become “small Rajputs” because the Arya Samaj had a lot of influence on them.

A new constitution was made in 1949 which came into effect from 26.11.1949. A separate list was also added to the new Constitution which was much longer than the old Constitution. It includes more than 900 castes. In the new Constitution, under Article 341, the President has been given the right to specify the Scheduled Castes and the Parliament has been given the right to add or delete names. Parliament decides who is considered scheduled and who is not. In 1930-35 many castes wanted to be left out of the list of Depressed Classes, today many are demanding inclusion.

Thus, the identity of the Scheduled Castes depends only on the Parliament or the Supreme Court. There is nothing else connecting them. If their names are removed from the list, they will not remain untouchable in the eyes of law.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar made many efforts to unite the Dalits across India. The first attempt was made in 1927 in the form of a mass movement to take water from Chaudar Talab in Maharashtra. Apart from the Mahars, many other untouchable castes cooperated in the struggle, but after this movement, no other movement was launched for human and civil rights. To achieve his goal, Babasaheb continued his struggle for promotion of education and political rights and achieved success.

The second attempt was made to form a political party. The first political party was the Independent Labor Party, which was founded in 1936, but it was not only a party of the untouchables. Its objective was to uplift the working class. In this, apart from castes like Mahar, Chamar, Mang, Mehtar etc., upper caste Hindus also became member MLAs but its jurisdiction was only Bombay province.

The second attempt took place in 1942 when for the first time in the history of the untouchables, an independent party of the untouchables was established. This party was named Scheduled Castes Federation. People from many untouchable castes joined this party and an organization was formally formed. But this organization was for political gains, its foundation was weak. The biggest weakness was the caste system of the untouchables. The castes like Chamar, Khatik, Bhangi, Mehtar, Dhobi, Mala, Madiga etc. are formed only based on different professions but due to the education and side effects of Hindu religion, they consider each other as inferior and practice untouchability. It is not possible to form an organization in such circumstances. For this reason, when atrocities occur, they are unable to unite and either fight or help.

The sentiments of casteism are so strong that if people of one caste convert to one religion, people of another religion will stay away from that religion. If people of one caste join a party, people of another caste will stay away from it. Even within the party, caste is taken into consideration while distributing posts and tickets. Due to this, every party remains a party of one caste like the Republican Party in Maharashtra or the Bahujan Samaj Party in North India. Many parties come into existence due to casteism but a good organization is not formed.

Babasaheb tried to make the third attempt through religious conversion but he died after 53 days of starting this movement. And the religious movement which could have broken the caste system and created a new identity unit, could not be formed. Religious conversion fell victim to the same weaknesses that political movements did.

Most of the leadership of this movement were political leaders, they could not give the right direction to the religious conversion movement. They tried to run politics and religion in the same manner. This caused more damage to the religious movement.

Babasaheb had suggested many ways for progress and had made many provisions in the Constitution. These benefits have reached the untouchable castes even though he worked for the awakening and upliftment of all the untouchables. He had very few followers. Most of the people took advantage of those provisions and facilities but did not accept his teachings. They did not want to be free from the slavery of Hindu religion and caste system. Being victims of slavery for centuries, they had started loving slavery. The speeches of Bharatiya Janata Party ministers, MPs, and MLAs from backward castes after the demolition of Babri Masjid are a good proof of this.

Today, on the one hand, atrocities on Dalits are increasing all over India, and on the other hand, opposition to reservation is increasing. The doors of progress are being closed through privatization, on the other hand Dalits are not organized even in any one area. Those young men who want to take up politics as their field of work, do not consider joining politics but entering the Parliament and Legislative Assembly as politics. Instead of adopting the difficult path of struggle, renunciation, sacrifice, and mass movement, they join those parties which have more hope of winning them a seat or which can give them more money. They remain more loyal to their masters in the Parliament and Legislative Assembly. In the eyes of Dalits, Ram is neither their ideal male hero nor God because he was a supporter of Brahminism and Varna system and when he regained consciousness, he committed suicide by taking water samadhi in Saryu River but the people of Shudra castes got the voice from their masters due to ignorance and political selfishness. They are praising him. What could be more proof of backwardness and slavery than this?

Movements in the interests of the poor/labourers and vulnerable people, distribution of land, fight against unemployment, inflation, corruption are not run by parties, nor by youth looking for “political jobs.” He does not believe in such “useless” activities. This is how power will come into our hands and then we will do whatever we want. Once upon a time, Congress also used to raise similar slogans. Bahujan Samaj Party also used to raise similar slogans but after coming to power, it did nothing for the upliftment of Dalits.

The untouchables could not launch a movement for distribution of land, whereas the Republican Party, understanding its importance, had launched a big movement in 1964-65 and had achieved great success. Farm labourers, small farmers, artisans, untouchables, and people from backward classes started considering it as their party but its urban leaders remained entangled in urban problems. That party broke into pieces due to the weaknesses of the leadership and the caste system and wrong election laws. Congress and other parties did a great job in breaking it because it was becoming a big threat to them.

The untouchables could not organize due to caste sentiments. They love caste so much that they are unable to give up their attachment even after going abroad. Organization is not possible without discrimination and hatred.

It does not seem possible that they will ever gain political power through elections under the laws and systems prevalent today.

Some people have benefited from reservation but very few of those who have benefited from reservation have worked to uplift the society but reservation is not a permanent thing. If the number of educated people increases and unemployment among educated youth increases, then reservation will become meaningless.

People who follow Hindu religion and caste system as ideal are becoming powerful day by day. They want to establish Ramrajya (Hindu Rashtra) and many people from Dalit and Shudra castes are helping them in establishing Ramrajya. Ramrajya would mean caste system and rule of the upper castes. This Constitution which claims equality, talks about rights will be abolished in Ramraj because Ramrajya was a state of inequality. There was a kingdom of injustice in which Shudras and women did not have the right to live with dignity.

In these circumstances the future of the untouchables is in danger. They have no friends and no allies. Some people can form organizations to come to power in a sporadic manner but are unable to get organized. The most pathetic condition seems to be of those who claim to be Ambedkarites. Now people have started laughing at them because while they criticize the Brahmins on the stage, in their daily life they follow the rules, highs and lows, superstitions and customs made by them. They do not consider it a mistake to remain as Mahars, Chamars, Bhangis and Khatiks even after adopting Buddhism. They do not want to learn anything from history.

Given these circumstances and weaknesses, the future of Dalits seems bleak. The intoxicating and dangerous slogans of “Hindutva” will cause great harm to Dalits. Gandhi and Congress had prevented them from organizing and had created obstacles in creating their identity. Tried to keep them away from other minorities. The main reason for this was that they wanted to strengthen Hindu religion. Leadership in Congress was in the hands of people from the so-called upper castes.

Now the party that came to power on the slogan of Hindutva is also doing the same thing that Congress had been doing. Make the untouchables fight with the Sikhs and then defame them by blackening their faces. Make the untouchables fight the Muslims so that they cannot gather. Promote Hindu customs and casteism among the untouchables so that they cannot organize themselves and create a threat to them. There may be a difference in the methods of the two parties but not in the objectives.

It is in the interest of Dalits that they should follow the path shown by Babasaheb Ambedkar and become free from the slavery of casteism, conservatism and customs and create their own identity. Remove the influence and traces of Hindu religion from your life considering it as poison. In clear words, they should free themselves from the slavery of Hindu religion. Separate your name, lifestyle, food habits, clothes, everything, create your own identity. Build a new society, a new social and economic system based on the principles of Buddhism. Only then will they be able to live with dignity in the times to come and will be able to liberate the victims of their kind of exploitation.

Hindu religion is the main reason for slavery, backwardness, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, mental and physical weakness, and disorganization of Dalits. For progress, and a life with dignity, it is as important to be completely free from this slavery as it is for a slave country to be free.

(Bhagwan Das was a colleague of Dr. Ambedkar. It was he who took the issue of untouchability in the Indian subcontinent to the international level. In 1983, he presented this issue in the UNO)

Poona Pact and Its Adverse Effects

 

Poona Pact and Its Adverse Effects

S.R. Darapuri, National President, All India People's Front

(Special on Poona Pact Day on September 24)

Caste is considered to be the cornerstone of Indian Hindu society. In this structure of hierarchical inequality, the untouchables are at the lowest level, who were officially called 'Depressed Classes' till 1935. Gandhiji had awarded them the name 'Harijans' which most of the untouchables did not accept. Now they have themselves chosen the name 'Dalits' for themselves, which is indicative of their downtrodden status. At present, they constitute about one-sixth (16.20%) of the total population of India and one-fifth (20.13%) of the total Hindu population. The untouchables have been deprived of all kinds of social, religious, economic, and educational rights in Hindu society for centuries and to a large extent still are.

Dalits have been suffering from many types of deprivations and disabilities. They have a long history of struggle for attaining equal status in Hindu society and politics. When Shri E.S. Montagu, Secretary of State for India, made this important announcement in Parliament in 1917 that '"The ultimate aim of the British Government is to give Dominion Status to India. So, the Dalits held two meetings in Bombay and presented their demands to the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India who had come to India on a tour. As a result, the lower castes got an opportunity to present their problems in different provinces to the Commission which was touring before the Indian Constitutional Reforms of 1919.

Thereafter, a long and complex series of different commissions, conferences and councils took place. After the Montagu-Chelmsford Report in 1918, the Maddiman Committee Report came in 1924 in which the very low representation of the Depressed Classes in the councils and the measures to increase it were talked about. The Simon Commission (1928) accepted that the Depressed Classes should be given adequate representation. From 1930 to 1932, three Round Table Conferences were held in London in which the right of Dalits, along with other minorities, to vote in the making of the future constitution of India was recognised. This was a historic and decisive event. Due to the effective representation and strong presentation of Dalits by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Rao Bahadur R. Srinivasan in these Round Table Conferences, Dalits got the independent political right of separate electorates in the 'Prime Minister Award' announced by the British Government on 17 August 1932. With this award, Dalits got the right to elect their own representatives through separate elections on reserved seats and got the right of two votes to elect upper castes in general caste constituencies. Thus, for the first time in the history of India, Untouchables got the right to political freedom which could pave the way for their liberation. Through the said award, Dalits, based on their recognition as minorities in the Government of India Act, 1919, got the right to elect their own representatives to the provincial legislatures and the Central Assembly through separate elections along with other minorities - Muslims, Sikhs, Anglo-Indians and some others, and the number of seats for all of them was fixed. In this, 78 seats were reserved for untouchables as special constituencies.

On the announcement of the said award, Gandhiji announced on 18 August 1932 in Yerawada (Pune) jail that he would go on a fast unto death from 20 September 1932 in protest against the right to separate electorates given to Dalits. Gandhiji was of the opinion that this would separate the Untouchables from Hindu society, due to which Hindu society and Hindu religion would disintegrate. It is worth noting that he did not oppose the same right given to Muslims, Sikhs and Anglo-Indians. Gandhiji, regarding this apprehension, sent a letter to the then British Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, on August 18, 1932, and appealed to end the right of separate electorates given to Dalits and make arrangements for joint franchise and save the Hindu society from disintegration. In reply to this, the British Prime Minister wrote in his letter dated 8 September 1932, "Under the British Government's plan, the Depressed Classes will remain a part of the Hindu society and they will vote equally for Hindu electorates, but such an arrangement will remain for the first 20 years and while being a part of the Hindu society, there will be a limited number of special constituencies for them so that their rights and interests can be protected. In the present situation, it has become necessary to do so. Wherever there will be special constituencies, the Depressed Classes will not be deprived of voting in the constituencies of general Hindus. In this way, Dalits will have the right to two votes - one for their member in a special constituency and the other for a general member of Hindu society. We have deliberately given a decision contrary to what you have called communal elections for the Untouchables. Dalit voters will be able to vote for the upper caste candidate in general or Hindu constituencies and upper caste Hindu voters will be able to vote for the Dalit candidate in his constituency. In this way the unity of Hindu society has been safeguarded." After giving some other arguments, he urged Gandhiji to give up the fast unto death.

But Gandhiji, in response, considered fast unto death as his sacred duty and said that merely giving the right of double voting to the Depressed Classes will not prevent them and the Hindu society from being divided. He further said, "In my opinion, making arrangements for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes is like injecting destruction into the Hindu religion. Depressed Classes will not benefit from this." Gandhiji gave similar arguments in the second and third Round Table Conferences as well, in response to which Dr. Ambedkar, rejecting Gandhiji's claim of being the sole representative of the Dalits and their well-wisher, requested him not to oppose the political rights of the Dalits. He also said that at present the Dalits are only demanding independent political rights and not to separate from the Hindus and form a separate country. But Gandhiji had a selfish motive to protect the interests of the upper caste Hindus and keep the Untouchables as slaves of the Hindu society. This was the reason that he started a fast unto death on 20 September 1932 against the right of separate electorates for the Untouchables, ignoring all the facts and arguments. It was a difficult situation. On one side was a huge powerful Hindu community in favour of Gandhiji, on the other side was Dr. Ambedkar and the Untouchable society. Ultimately, due to heavy pressure and fear of possible massacre of Untouchables and to save Gandhiji's life, Dr. Ambedkar and his colleagues had to sacrifice the right of separate electorates for the Dalits and had to enter into the so-called Poona Pact with the upper caste Hindus on 24 September 1932. Thus, the Untouchables had to lose their right to political freedom due to Gandhiji's stubbornness.

Although according to the Poona Pact, the number of reserved seats for Dalits in the 'Prime Minister Award' was increased from 78 to 151, but due to joint electorates, they lost the right to choose their own representatives, the ill effects of which the Dalit society is facing till date. The provisions of the Poona Pact were included in the Government of India Act, 1935 and the first election was held in 1937 in which despite Gandhiji's assurance to the Dalit representatives that Congress would not interfere, Congress won 78 out of 151 seats because in the joint election system, Dalits had again become dependent on the votes of the upper castes. Dismayed by this deceit of Gandhiji and Congress, Dr. Ambedkar had said, "Dalits have been cheated in the Poona Pact."

The independent political existence of Dalits could have been secured by allowing the untouchables to choose their own representatives through separate electorates through the Prime Minister's Award and by the dependence of upper caste Hindus on Dalits due to the right of double vote, but the compulsion to enter into the Poona Pact again made the Dalits slaves of the upper caste Hindus. Due to this system, the MPs or MLAs elected on reserved seats are not actually elected by Dalits but are elected by various political parties and upper castes who must live as their slaves. All political parties keep a tight control on such representatives with slave mentality and do not allow them to raise or speak on any Dalit issue by deviating from the party line. This is the reason that the situation of Dalit representatives in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies is like that of Bhishma Pitamah of Mahabharata, who, when asked, "Why did you not speak when Draupadi was being disrobed in the court of Kauravas?", replied, "I have eaten the salt of the Kauravas." (Bhagwan Das)

In fact, the Prime Minister's Award gave Dalits independent political rights, which enabled them to choose their own representatives and they could become their voice. Along with this, due to the right to double vote, in general constituencies, upper caste Hindus also depend on them and do not dare to anger Dalits. This could have created a new equation in Hindu society which would have paved the way for Dalit liberation. But Gandhiji violated the political freedom of Dalits by falsely claiming that Hindu society and Hindu religion are disintegrating and by adopting the unethical tactic of fast unto death, due to which Dalits again became political slaves of the upper castes. In fact, Gandhiji's move was also political to a large extent, which is also clear from what he said to Sardar Patel on one occasion later:

"I am afraid of the consequences of separate voting rights for Untouchables. Despite separate voting rights for other classes, I will still have the scope to deal with them, but I will have no means to deal with Untouchables. They do not know that separate elections will divide Hindus so much that the result will be bloodshed. Untouchable goons will join Muslim goons and kill Hindus. Does the British government have no idea about this? I do not think so." (Mahadev Desai, Diary, page 301, first part).

From this true statement of Gandhiji, you can guess the real purpose of Gandhiji in forcing the untouchables to sign the Poona Pact.

Due to the joint franchise system of Dalits, as a result of their dependence on upper caste Hindus, no political party of Dalits is able to flourish, even if it is the Republican Party founded by Dr. Ambedkar. Due to this reason, Dr. Ambedkar also had to face defeat in elections twice because the upper caste vote is decisive in reserved seats. This is why upper caste parties win most of the reserved seats. Due to these ill effects of the Poona Pact, Dr. Ambedkar had said in the Constitution that political reservation should be continued only for 10 years. But various political parties have been continuously increasing it for 10 years each, not in the interest of Dalits but for their own selfish interests, because this allows them to elect their favourite and slave Dalit MPs and MLAs. Upper caste Hindu political parties buy Dalit leaders and Dalit parties become weak and break up. This is the reason why the Bahujan Samaj Party of the so-called Dalits in North India is also following Brahmins and Baniyas and is forced to accept slogans like "Haathi Nahi Ganesh Hai, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh Hai". Now it has been transformed from Bahujan to Sarvajan. Due to these circumstances, Dalits have suffered a lot and they have become political slaves of the upper castes. Therefore, in this context, it would be appropriate to review the relevance of the Poona Pact. Should Dalits think about raising the demand for separate elections again?

Although the conditions of the Poona Pact included abolition of untouchability, reservation in government services and provision of budget for the education of Dalits, but even after 77 years of independence, the state of their implementation is pathetic. Dr. Ambedkar expressed these apprehensions in a large meeting of upper caste Hindus in Bombay on 25 September 1932, called for the approval of the Poona Pact, and said, "We have only one concern. Will the future generations of Hindus abide by this agreement?" To this all the upper caste Hindus said in one voice, "Yes, we will." Dr. Ambedkar also said, "We see that unfortunately the Hindu community is not a united group but a federation of various communities. I hope and believe that you will consider this accord sacred from your side and will work with a respectful spirit." Shouldn't the upper caste Hindus today do some introspection about the honest implementation of this agreement made by their ancestors with the Dalits? If they see their own harm in honestly implementing this agreement, then shouldn't they return the political right of separate electorates to the Dalits?

Now since there is no possibility of restoration of separate franchise in the present circumstances, Dalits should take their politics out of caste politics and adopt the politics of issues. Along with this, instead of voting for someone only on the basis of caste, the vote should be given keeping in mind the work done by that person in the interest of the Dalit class. Dalits will also have to get rid of hero worship, about which Babasaheb had completely warned. Instead of political isolation, Dalits should join hands with democratic, secular and progressive forces. They should remember that the liberation of Dalits is the liberation of all.