Tags:
Journalism of Courage
There is a belief in this country that since we have various laws to fight casteism, like the Protection of Civil Rights Act of 1955 and the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, atrocities against Dalits have disappeared. Nothing, in fact, is farther from the truth.
To understand the reality, let’s recall a recent episode. Lila Devi and Urmila, both Dalits, are cooks under a midday meal scheme run in a school in the Brahmin-dominated Pipri village of Rohtas district by the Bihar government. Students in this school have not been getting their cooked meals for the past several months because the school’s committee secretary, Uma Shanker Tiwari and his henchmen, used physical intimidation to prevent Lila Devi and Urmila from cooking. The women met with this treatment only because they were Dalits. The school has 87 students, including 39 Dalits. It is pertinent to note in the Pipri episode that many upper caste students, particularly Brahmins, stopped coming to school as a result of Tiwari’s mobilisation.
Stories of this kind are common enough in the rest of India too. In fact, the prevalence of ‘caste-based kitchens’ are not new. For instance, at the Ranchi Police Lines, Dalit police personnel are forced to cook their food in a separate kitchen. What this tells you is that upper caste social forces are constantly finding new ways to circumvent the law and perpetuate their dominance.
Under the law, no legal action can be taken against the guilty without proper evidence. Bihar’s secretary, HRD, when alerted to the Pipri incident, stated that strict action would be taken against the school committee secretary and his supporters, if the allegation is found to be true. Ironically, at the same time, the district magistrate of Rohtas district admitted that the authorities are unable to do anything about such complaints because when investigating teams arrive, the accused are immediately prepared to eat the food cooked by Dalits. Tiwari was punished. But only by being asked to resign from the committee. He faced no punitive action as he should have under the law.
Reservations, which upper castes have long seen as a threat to their dominance, are another area of bitter conflict. To neutralise the benefits of reservations, the upper castes even resort to using fake caste certificates. During elections from a reserved constituency, they adopt another tactic. They ensure the success of only those candidates who are perceptibly weak, so that power remains in the hands of the dominant social forces. Dalit sarpanchs are often prevented from raising Dalit issues, and some have even been forced to resign.
This only means that despite the law and despite reservations, power invariably remains with the upper castes. If six decades of Independence have not removed the pernicious effects of caste, how many more years will it be before Dalits in India come to enjoy real equality, not just equality on paper?
