Skip to main content

Barred from accessing water from the common bore, Dalits say they are being forced to migrate from village

Dalits meet in Lunasan village to decide on future action
By Our Representative
Following a glaring instance of discrimination against the Dalits in a North Gujarat village, a representation by the Dalits rural folk to the district collector, Mehsana, has said they are being forced to migrate from their village because the “non-Dalits” are prohibiting them to access water from the public bore. This is happening despite the fact that the village, which is dominated by the other backward caste (OBC) Thakore caste, has a Dalit sarpanch and a Dalit member in the village panchayat, the representation regretted.
The instance of Dalits not being allowed to access water suggests that the Gujarat government’s much-talked-about effort to usher in an era of samras or a homogeneous atmosphere is nothing but an effort to hide caste and class contradictions in the state’s villages, say Dalit activists. It also suggests that the effort usher in samras is, if anything, an attempt to install the upper caste hegemony, these activists point out.
The issue concerns Lunasan village in Kadi taluka, from where one of the senior-most ministers of the Gujarat government hails – Nitin Patel. “The forcible ban on access to water has been going on for the last more than six months”, the representation said, adding, “This is part of the anti-Dalit, untouchability practices currently being aggressively pursued by the non-Dalits. The bore belongs to the village panchayat. It does not belong to any private individual.”
Things have lately reached such a point that, said the representation, some non-Dalit men of the village used abusive words and then beat up of several of the Dalit men and women, who had gone to fetch water from the common bore late in the evening recently. The result was that on May 16, the Dalits were forced to register a police complaint.
The complaint not just said that the public bore is not being allowed to be used. It added that the pipeline connecting the bore with the Dalit locality, where 100 Dalits live, has been deliberately breached. “Most of the Dalits are either wage workers or eke out their living as cattle breeders. More often than not, they have to depend on private tankers by spending huge sums to get water”, the representation pointed out.
Asking the district collector to “immediately act” and ensure that the Dalits are not discriminated against, the representation – a copy of which was obtained from NGO Navsarjan Trust’s senior activist Kirit Rathod – threatened, in case the officialdom refuses to act, the Dalits would be forced to move out of the village. “It is a clear case of social boycott by non-Dalits against the Dalits, and the officialdom should not tolerate this”, Rathod told Counterview.

Comments

TRENDING

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra*  The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Delhi HC rules in favour of retired Air Force officer 'overcharged' for Covid treatment

By Rosamma Thomas*  In a decision of May 22, 2023, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of petitioner Group Captain Suresh Khanna who was under treatment at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, between April 28 and May 5, 2021, for a period of eight days, for Covid-19 pneumonia. The petitioner had to pay Rs 3,55,286 as treatment costs, but the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) only reimbursed him for Rs 1,83,748, on the basis of government-approved rates. 

Urgency for next pandemic? But Mr Health Secretary, you're barking up wrong tree

By Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD*  The Union Health Secretary, Mr Rajesh Bhushan addressing the Health Working Group of G20 India, at Hyderabad on 05 June 2023, cautioned that the next pandemic would not wait for us to make global treaties and called on countries to work together.

Religious divide 'kept alive' with low intensity communalism in Gujarat's cultural capital

By Rajiv Shah  A fact-finding report, prepared by the Mumbai-based non-profit, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), has cited the Vadodara Ram Navami violence of March 30 as yet another example of how, after the BJP consolidating its hold on political power in Gujarat post-2002 riots and at the Centre in 2014, the nature of communal riots has changed, underlining, as opposed to high-intensity violence earlier, now riots have become “more sub-radar and at a smaller scale, more localized”.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Why continued obsession with adding more 'water guzzling' coal, nuclear power plants?

By Shankar Sharma*  The true concerns over water inefficiency in coal power plants have been known and have been highlighted many times in the past. A highly relevant study report by Prayas Energy Group had highlighted this fast looming threat to our society many years ago. But our authorities have been acting as though there can be no issue with water supply, and that additional coal power plants can be added indefinitely; even without any true relevance to climate change.

Generative AI as 'potent weapon and shield' in battle of political misinformation

By Haziq Jeelani*  In the pulsating heart of the digital era, the political arena is ceaselessly molded by the swift and relentless flow of information. The line between fact and fiction often blurs, creating a nebulous landscape where truth and deceit intertwine. 

Kailash Satyarthi NGO rescues 12 child workers from high profile Gujarat private varsity

By Our Representative  In a rather grim reflection of the state of child labour in Gujarat, 12 child labourers, most of whom belong to Rajasthan tribal communities, have been rescued from the campus of a high profile private university in Rajkot by a team of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Labour Department, Centre for Labour Research and Action, and the Police.