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

The Dalit meet in Lhor village

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

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Search This Blog