Eerie quiet in North Gujarat village where Dalit groom was stopped from riding horse

The Dalit meet in Lhor village

By Rajiv Shah
As one reaches Lhor, one can sense an atmosphere of unease gripping one of the five villages where Dalit wedding processions was recently blocked by non-Dalits in this small medium-sized North Gujarat village, barely 30 kilometres off the seat of the state's political power centre, Gandhinagar. Despite punitive steps, the village remains as divided on caste lines, just it was before the incident which shot into prominence after May 6, when the bridegroom Mehul was not allowed to ride a horse in a wedding procession on the main village street.
Educated up to class 10th, the boy works in a high-profile Ahmedabad hospital, CIMS, as a helper. His father, Manubhai, told Counterview, “A social boycott call against Dalits was given from the village temple mike soon after the wedding procession. The open boycott continued for two days, and we were not allowed to buy goods from dominant caste people. The announcement for the social boycott was made on a temple mike.”
However, the Dalits of Lhor and neighbouring villages protested, and support came in from Dalit rights organizations like Navsarjan. On May 7 and 8, about 500 to 600 Dalits from neighbouring villages, including politicians such as deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who belongs to the area, and his main Congress rival, Baldevji Thakore, visited the village to “support” the Dalits. The village sarpanch and the deputy sarpanch were arrested, and the open boycott stopped.
“Now at least we can buy goods at the local village without any problem”, said Manubhai. However, he indicated, an eerie quiet still prevails. Following the incident, there is still “no social interaction between Dalits and non-Dalits. None of them have visited our falia (locality).” Suggesting that there is no remorse for what the non-Dalits did, he added, “None of them have approached and told us that they are sorry for the incident.”

Martin Macwan addressing Dalit meet

This is echoed by other Dalit villagers, described as the type of untouchability prevailing in the vilage. One of them told said, “There is a barber’s shop in the village. We have to go Kadi if we have to get our hair cut. Dalits are not allowed to get their hair dressing done here. Nor are we allowed to enter into the two village temples. If we all try, we would be thrown out.”
With a population of 1,500, Lhor is in Mehsana district, situated between Kadi town and Thol bird sanctuary. Dominated by the other backward class (OBC) Thakore community, the other important communities in the village are of Brahmins and Muslims. Dalits form about 10% of the village population. Their houses are situated mainly at the other end of the village.
While the Thakores, to which community the sarpanch and the deputy sarpanch belong, took the lead in stopping the Dalit wedding procession, Brahmins and Muslims blacked them. Belonging to the Congress, both the elected office bearers of the village panchayat are finally out on bail after remaining behind the bars for a fortnight, and the court says, they are not allowed to enter into the village or even the village periphery.
“Police official Manjita Vanzara has done exemplary work by ensuring that these two persons do not disturb the village peace again”, said Navsarjan founder Marin Macwan, addressing a well-attended meeting called in Lhor to protest against the incident, which he termed as an example of untouchability prevailing in rural Gujarat.
Called besna or funeral ceremony of untouchability, the Dalit meet was attended by representatives from several Gujarat districts, including Banaskantha, Patan, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, and Kheda. Held on an open plot belonging to a relatively well-off Dalit, who is also the owner of several buffaloes, the meeting ended with the announcement that similar “besnas” of untouchability would be held over the next 75 days in as many villages as possible.
“Seventy five days later, on August 15, the Independence Day, we would want Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani to announce Gujarat as untouchability free”, Macwan said, regretting, “Two years ago, we took out 60-km-long a rally from the Dalit Shakti Dendra in Sanand district to Gandhinagar, and sent across to him a one-line demand: To declare at least one village untouchability free. He has not replied so far.”
The meeting took place amidst heavy police presence. At least a dozen police vans and as many jeeps could be seen posted on narrow village streets. Every village corner, including the two temples, was guarded by a group of cops. State Reserve Police jawans with rifles in hand could be seen standing in ready condition at least at three different spots. None of the non-Dalits were seen roaming about on the village streets.

Comments

Madhu Menon said…

Gujarat villages practice untouchability is an open secret, people who highlight the development of the state by showing the good roads and canals filled water deliberately close their eyes towardsthe real developmental issues like atrocities committed against Dalits and lower caste communities, the condition of government schools and the growing practice of female foeticide. A long way to go to achieve the real goals of development

May 25, 2019

Uma said…

Yet the Dalit's voted for Modi.

May 25, 2019

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".

Gyanvapi case: Use of 'illegal' lawfare to keep the communal pot simmering

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Bobby Ramakant, Manoj Sarang* With a steady drumbeat of bad news for the lives of ordinary citizens -- inflation at a multi-year high , rupee at an all-time low , negative job creation and when all forward indicators as seen by industry leaders point to recessionary clouds on the horizon , what’s a serially-incompetent government to do? Dust out their time-tested-citizen-distraction playbook. The Gyanvapi-Masjid case is all of this -- as a weapon of mass distraction. This zeitgeist of our times is best captured by a recent opinion piece : "The idea is to keep the pot on a perpetual boil, simmering at the top, whirling feverishly beneath. A restless society forever living precariously on the precipice arouses distrst, uneasiness, fear and discomfort, That is a toxic panoply for manufacturing rage, which can then be effortlessly mobilized at short notice. BJP is creating an eco-system of real-time instant delivery of hate-mongers. That is how we are sudde

Upholding labour rights, Nehruvian scientific temper, Rajni Patel opposed Emergency

By Harsh Thakor* Rajni Patel, who died 40 years ago, whatever his flaws, had one great quality: his human touch to offer selfless service and ability to galvanise or influence human beings from all walks of life. Few people would ever go out of the way to help someone or serve as selflessly without aim of personal gain. Rajni championed Nehruvian secular ideas and scientific temper. As a master in public relations he revealed utmost humility. As a barrister, he never appeared against the trade unions or workers. A Fabien Socialist he opposed liberal capitalism and radical socialism. Unlike most lawyers, he did not succumb to the lure of amassing wealth. Rajni was born in Sirsa, in Gujarat, on the very day Gandhi set foot on Indian soil, on 9th January, 1915. He gained his baptism through one of Gandhi's speeches calling for the boycott of foreign goods, which was the virtual turning point of his life. Rajni toed Gandhi to organise boycott of foreign goods. Rajni was able to cros

Targeting mosques, churches: 'Roadmap' for 2025, RSS' centenary year?

416 years old Our Lady of Health Church, Sancoale, Goa By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* Fascists use manipulative strategies aimed at whipping up sympathy and support from the majority community, to which they normally ‘belong’. They do so in a variety of insidious and subtle ways. In the past few months, they have gone overboard in their efforts to denigrate and demonize minorities in India, particularly Muslims and Christians. They have spewed hate and divisiveness through their venomous speeches; incited people to violence and have effectively used officialdom to further their vested interests. The results are there for all to see: greater polarisation of the majority community in a country which prided itself for its pluralism and diversity. Their meticulously planned agenda is in order to gain absolute power of the country in the 2024 national elections. More so it is also a roadmap towards 2025 when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will complete one hundred years of its existence.

Vadodara violence: Fine Arts Faculty alumni raise fingers at Varsity's political appointee

Hasmukh Vaghela with PM Counterview Desk In a statement, alumni of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FoFA), Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda, Gujarat, referring to the “violence” by right-wing groups for displaying “objectionable” paintings that “hurt religious sentiments” at the one of India’s top fine arts institute May 5, have taken strong exception to “the assault and rustication” of one of the students, and lack of action taken against those who “violated” the institution and committed the act. Floated as an online petition seeking wider support, the FoFA alumni, in their statement, addressed to the vice chancellor, MSU, said, there should be “thorough” investigation in the whole incident and “immediate action” should be taken against syndicate member Hasmukh Vaghela, MSU, who sparked the assault, and “other co-conspirators” for breaching “university code of conduct and unlawful activities committed in broad daylight”. While the alumni statement doesn't say so, Vaghela

Examples of support to Hindu temples, scriptures, saints by 'Muslim' rulers galore

Siya Ram coin issued by Akbar By Bharat Dogra* At a time when the country as well as the world are passing through very difficult times leading to more urgent need for strengthening national unity for meeting several big challenges ahead, unfortunately disputes relating to religious places have been allowed to raise their ugly head once again. It is well-realized by now by many people that it is not historical facts but narrow considerations of political gain and spreading of fanatic ideas of intolerance which are behind such mischief, but due to the increasing threat of mob violence and patronage available at higher levels to groups spreading intolerance many people are reluctant to openly and fearlessly express their views. Hence there is urgent need for broad-based peace committees with wider social support to spread the message of communal harmony and to appeal against the dangers of spreading false messages regarding places of worship which can ultimate

This varsity succumbed to extra-academic mobocracy, 'ignored' Hindutva archives

By Shamsul Islam* Open letter to Sharda University vice-chancellor Sub: Discarding a Question on Linkages of Hindutva with Nazism/Fascism is blatant Academic Dishonesty! Dear Professor Sibaram Khara Saheb, Namaskaar! According to your esteemed University’s portal: “The name of University, 'Sharda' is synonymous to 'Goddess of knowledge and learning-Saraswati'. She is identified with 'veena', an Indian musical instrument and the ‘lotus’, where she resides. The lotus in our logo symbolizes the seat of learning that the University is created for. "Variety of colours signify the variety of disciplines the university offers and the overlap between petals creating new colours demonstrate the ethos of collaboration between students and teachers of different programme, nationality, creed and colour working towards creating new knowledge…the University's cherished mission to provide education beyond boundaries and to facilitate the students and faculty to achie

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.

Whither climate goal? Increasing reliance on coal 'likely to worsen' India's power crisis

By Shankar Sharma* Recent news articles, How to shock-proof India’s power sector and Power minister points finger at states for worsening electricity crisis , have highlighted a few current problems for the ongoing power sector issues as in April 2022. However, there is a lot more to it than a few temporary solutions as indicated in the articles. It should also be emphasised that it is techno-economically impossible to completely shock-proof a highly complex and geographically wide-spread vast power network, such as the one in India, which is only getting more and more complex with the passage of each year due to some irrational policies/ practices in the sector. A business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, wherein more and more of conventional technology power plants, including coal power plants, will be added in the near future, will also necessitate the increased complexity in the integrated national grid, and as a result the instances of power shortage/ disruptions can only escalate for

A former Modi ally, Prashant Kishor wanted to enter Congress 'on contract, as trader'

By Anand Sahay* The Congress Party and the election campaigns specialist Prashant Kishor, whose company has done strategic communications for a host of political parties across ideology, should both count themselves lucky that they could not reach an agreement for Kishor to join the party. News reports suggest that the Congress rejected Kishor’s terms. This is not wholly unexpected. People join a party because they are attracted to it, and wish to serve it in any capacity that the party may see fit. But that isn’t Kishor at all. He gave the impression of entering into a contract, as a trader might. If news reports are to be believed, he sought freedom to report directly to party chief Sonia Gandhi, and sought untrammeled control over party communications. When such ideas did not find favour, the consultant withdrew. It is clear he has no particular love for the Congress, and its ideas, ideology and politics. In contrast, look at the key personae in G-23. They

Counterview

Search This Blog