Skip to main content

Uttar Pradesh Dalit boys feel more empowered than those from "model state" Gujarat, rest of India

Mayawati
By Rajiv Shah
A recent interaction by Counterview with around 50 Dalit youths off Ahmedabad suggested that Dalits from Uttar Pradesh feel relatively more empowered to fight against untouchability and caste discrimination compared to other states. In fact, the interaction showed that blatant discrimination against the Dalits may have become a thing of the past in that state.
Asit Ranjan from a village in Allahabad district, told Counterview during the two-hour session at the Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK), about 12 kilometres away from the famous Tata Nano small car factory, that After Mayawati became Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Dalits higher castes dare not practice untouchability in distribution of water, or providing tea at the tea stall, or entering temple."
Added his colleague, Arvind Chaudhary from yet another village in the same district, "Earlier, the barber wouldn't entertain Dalits. But now things have changed. They dare not say no to us any more. We feel empowered."
The 50-odd boys had come to DSK to be trained in technical skill, though they were simultaneously provided with "empowerment skills." Well-known Dalit rights activist Martin Macwan, who runs DSK, told Counterview, "The boys are now virtual timebombs. Returning to their states, they will no more tolerate any form of caste discrimination."
The two UP bo writ large on their face, whether it was distribution of water, entry into the temple, getting haircut from the local barber, or constructing toilets. Around 50 of them had come all the way from different parts of India to be “empowered” at the Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK), a unique institute about 20 kilometres south of Ahmedabad, set up by Dalit rights activist Martin Macwan more than a decade ago.
The boys had come from Uttarkhand, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat – most of them Dalits or Adaivasis – to learn technical skills and interact with Dalit rights activists on the need to stand up against discrimination. The six-month-long programme ended last week.
In sharp contrast to UP, in "model" Gujarat, things are different. Mehul Rathod from Savda village in Patdi taluka in North Gujarat said, “I was involved in doing painting work at the local Ramji temple. They told us it's God’s work, hence we shouldn’t charge any wages, though I managed to get my share. Now, we are not allowed into the temple.”
“This has happened”, he says, “despite the fact that the village has a Dalit Sarpanch, who has been a campaigner against illegal sand mining from the protected forest area of the Rann of Kutch, situated in the neighbourhood. He took out a rally against illegal mining. About 10 of us were beaten up. One of us was hospitalized. Later, there was a wider protest. Today, there is permanent police company posted in the village to maintain peace.”
Quite in line with this Gujarat boy, Babloo, from a small village in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand, said he faced "attacks" from dominant castes when they tried entering into the local temple. “We tried doing it by forming a group of 150. We were attacked. Police refused to take complaint. Even today, they threaten me”, he added.
Yet another youth hailing from a nearby village in the same district, Dinesh Jonsara, said, entry into the temple, situated in Lakshiyar town, is banned for Dalits even those who helped construct it. “My father was a mason. I helped him build the temple in 2009. The temple management was reluctant to even pay us, saying it was religious work. And after we built the temple, our entry is banned.”
In a quick survey, of the 50 boys who had gathered for interaction with Counterview, 20 said there were separate cups from “untouchables” at village tea stalls; 14 said temple entry was banned; 12 said, Dalits had separate cremation grounds in their villages; and 10 said they witnessed “violent attacks” on Dalits when they protested against an untouchability practice.
Ramsingh Sanehi from a rural area next to Pamgarh town in Chhattisgarh, said, the Dalits in the village from where he hails are not allowed to take water from the common water source, a well, when persons from the dominant castes are there. “We cannot touch their buckets. There have been police complaints, but things have not changed”, he said.
Making a similar complaint, Lalu Ravidas, who hails from Jharkhand’s Navadi village, about 26 km away from Bokaro Steel Plant, said, “Our children are made to sit separately in schools.” He added, as for toilets, “90 per cent of the households in the Dalit basti do not have them, with the government not providing the funds it had promised in order to build them.”
Jaiprakash Kol and Jitendra Kol, who is from separate villages in Riva district of Madhya Pradesh, complained that access to water, even from the handpump, was a problem, especially when an upper caste person was around. “There discrimination in disbursement of funds for building toilets, for getting work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, in providing midday meal to children”, both of them said.

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

Golwalkar's views on tricolour, martyrs, minorities, caste as per RSS archives

By Shamsul Islam*  First time in the history of independent India, the in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel, has glorified MS Golwalkar, second supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote : “Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & continue to guide generations.”

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.

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Environmental cost of Green Revolution: India world’s second-highest fertilizer importer

By Glenn Davis Stone*  Feeding a growing world population has been a serious concern for decades, but today there are new causes for alarm. Floods, heat waves and other weather extremes are making agriculture increasingly precarious, especially in the Global South .