The rising worth of Dalits in Punjab’s electoral politics

The poorer sections of society, the ones who actually tended to the land, the agricultural labourers, were by default defined out of the ownership of any agricultural land.

Deprived of any opportunity for upward mobility, they became Dalits — oppressed, crushed — in the most literal sense of the word.

In a society with hardly any industries and a negligible service sector, the ownership of land created a new elite. Soon, those who owned land began to dominate the public spaces of Punjab. They also began to demand more control. The initial demand for the creation of a separate state for Sikhs was crushed by Partap Singh Kairon, a chief minister who did not countenance any communal nonsense. After his death, however, Indira Gandhi took the initiative to remove Haryana and Himachal Pradesh from the state of Punjab, thereby consolidating Jat control over Punjab.

The Dalits, meanwhile, continued to suffer indignities and social humiliation despite being almost a third of the population of the state. The big change happened in the late 20th century when education and the service sector grew manifold in Punjab. By the early 21st century, the hospitality and service sector had become the main creator of wealth in Punjab. Today it constitutes almost half of Punjab’s GDP.

The Scheduled Castes, unhindered by ownership of land, took to these new opportunities in a big way. The consequent upward mobility was further strengthened by many of them finding jobs abroad. The newly earned wealth was invested in setting up patterns of izzatdar (honourable) living for those who had stayed home. The research of Paramjit Judge and Gurpreet Bal tells us that one of the first expenses undertaken after making money abroad was to convert their homes in the Dalit basti into pucca houses.  A unique feature here was a toilet, an important indicator of honourable/civilised living. Dalit bastis in the Malwa region — for that is the region from where the most migrations happened — were soon converted into rows of neat and clean multi-storied pucca houses.

At the same time, celebrations of their religious mentors and the guides who had helped them negotiate the changing world became more visible. The inevitable pushback from the dominant groups came around the issue of “hurt religious feelings”. This was a euphemism for fights picked with the newly prosperous people on the excuse of religion, beating them into submission in the hope that they would remain within their limits.

The conflict over Baba Bhaniara, which we documented in some detail, would end with Bhaniara, a former class IV employee of the government, being put in jail and then seceding from public life altogether. “He (a Dalit) was prone to saying nasty things about Sikhism and its contemporary leaders”, was the usual complaint against him.

An almost week-long riot in Talhan village in 2003 — “riot” being another euphemism for pitched battles being fought on streets, with the police as helpless bystanders — indicated that the Dalits were now willing to hit back.

In the next few years, analogous conflicts emerged around sundry babas who were revered by the Dalits and their religious practices. Ronki Ram documented the story of how after one such fracas, in 2008 the Ravidassias turned their back on Sikhism and announced that they were a distinct religion.

The postponement of polling day in Punjab to the last week of February at the request of those who wish to celebrate Guru Ravidas Jayanti has only underlined the new worth of Dalits in public life — and their distinct religious practices. An electoral victory helmed by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, a self-made Dalit man, would loudly announce that the domination of Jats over Punjab’s public life is over.

This column first appeared in the print edition on February 12, 2022 under the title ‘Punjab’s new caste calculus’. The writer teaches at Panjab University