Dalit political activist's murder: caste hatred ignored in 'devbhumi' Uttarakhand

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*
The murder of Jagadish Chandra, a political activist from Uttarakhand, due to his marriage to a savarna caste Rajput girl is simply outrageous and a crime against humanity. The state of Uttarakhand might not have much crime record, but caste discrimination and untouchability are still prevalent in the state and Dalits live a life under deep pressure, as they are in a minority in the state.
Dalit issues never become mainstream in the state, and even political parties desist from raising them. Social movements in Uttarakhand often keep the issue aside and speak in a sweeping generalization way, as if the mountains don’t have a caste system or untouchability.
You don’t need to go to far. Just visit about 30-40 kilometres from the state capital Dehradun to the Jaunsar region, which is actually 'termed' as scheduled area for 'tribes', and you will find how caste discrimination is so powerful that Dalits are not even allowed to pray in the temples.
Almora is one of the most powerful districts of Uttarakhand, where various social movements have emerged. The Dalit movement too emerged here under the stewardship of Munshi Hari Prasad Tamta, who supported Baba Saheb Ambedkar in the roundtable conference, but the Brahminical mainstream of Uttarakhand rarely speaks about Tamta.
The Brahmin-Thakur binary in Uttarakhand ignores the rights of the Dalits as an independent and autonomous community. They take their own decision on the participation of Dalits-Adivasis in the political, social and cultural life. Even the issue of reservation is highly sensitive in Uttarakhand. The movement for separate states got momentum here after the Mandal report was reluctantly accepted to be implemented in Uttarakhand.
The murder of Jagadish Chandra is not an incident confine to Uttarakhand, neither is the state any different in terms of caste discrimination from the rest of the country. The dirty fact is that India is united when it comes to caste prejudice and cultural hatred towards Dalits and Adivasis.

Pushkar Singh Dhami, Uttarakhand CM

We recently saw how a Jharkhand Adivasi woman was tortured by a Brahminical elite and got wide media attention. Cases of violence against Dalits and Adivasis are happening everywhere. But while in most other states they get highlighted, in Uttarakhand this is not the case. The state’s intellectual elite would suggest as if they are living in an alien world where caste discrimination does not happen and everybody lives in great harmony.

The Uttarakhand government must take strict action against the thugs and goons who killed Jagadish Chandra. The girl who fell in love with him was living with her stepfather, and her step brothers never treated her with respect. They probably treated her like a domestic servant. How powerful is the ‘jaati’ concept can be gauged from the fact that that the girl wasn’t treated well in her family, yet faced resistance when she took an independent decision about her life.
The Almora police must respond as to why it did not act when the girl complained that her life and that of Jagadish Chandra was in danger. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami would do well to focus on the crime and order the police to act decisively.
Will people come to the streets for the honour and life of the girl who lost her husband? Will women of Uttarakhand rise up against this shameless and barbaric killing of a man just because he married the woman he loved?
It is caste hatred. It must be condemned with a call for total annihilation of castes. All talk of the state as #devbhumi are bogus unless we clean our heart and embrace everyone without prejudice based on caste and religion. Uttarakhand should not allow such caste violence to happen if it wishes to be called a civilised state.
---
*Human rights defender. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat. Twitter: @freetohumanity

Comments

Grueling summer ahead: Cuttack’s alarming health trends and what they mean for Odisha

By Sudhansu R Das The preparation to face the summer should begin early in Odisha. People in the state endure long, grueling summer months starting from mid-February and extending until the end of October. This prolonged heat adversely affects productivity, causes deaths and diseases, and impacts agriculture, tourism and the unorganized sector. The social, economic and cultural life of the state remains severely disrupted during the peak heat months.

Stronger India–Russia partnership highlights a missed energy breakthrough

By N.S. Venkataraman* The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India was widely publicized across several countries and has attracted significant global attention. The warmth with which Mr. Putin was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly noted, prompting policy planners worldwide to examine the implications of this cordial relationship for the global economy and political climate. India–Russia relations have stood on a strong foundation for decades and have consistently withstood geopolitical shifts. This is in marked contrast to India’s ties with the United States, which have experienced fluctuations under different U.S. administrations.

From natural farming to fair prices: Young entrepreneurs show a new path

By Bharat Dogra There have been frequent debates on agro-business companies not showing adequate concern for the livelihoods of small farmers. Farmers’ unions have often protested—generally with good reason—that while they do not receive fair returns despite high risks and hard work, corporate interests that merely process the crops produced by farmers earn disproportionately high profits. Hence, there is a growing demand for alternative models of agro-business development that demonstrate genuine commitment to protecting farmer livelihoods.

The Vande Mataram debate and the politics of manufactured controversy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The recent Vande Mataram debate in Parliament was never meant to foster genuine dialogue. Each political party spoke past the other, addressing its own constituency, ensuring that clips went viral rather than contributing to meaningful deliberation. The objective was clear: to construct a Hindutva narrative ahead of the Bengal elections. Predictably, the Lok Sabha will likely expunge the opposition’s “controversial” remarks while retaining blatant inaccuracies voiced by ministers and ruling-party members. The BJP has mastered the art of inserting distortions into parliamentary records to provide them with a veneer of historical legitimacy.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

The cost of being Indian: How inequality and market logic redefine rights

By Vikas Gupta We, the people of India, are engaged in a daily tryst—read: struggle—for basic human rights. For the seemingly well-to-do, the wish list includes constant water supply, clean air, safe roads, punctual public transportation, and crime-free neighbourhoods. For those further down the ladder, the struggle is starker: food that fills the stomach, water that doesn’t sicken, medicines that don’t kill, houses that don’t flood, habitats at safe distances from polluted streams or garbage piles, and exploitation-free environments in the public institutions they are compelled to navigate.

Why India must urgently strengthen its policies for an ageing population

By Bharat Dogra A quiet but far-reaching demographic transformation is reshaping much of the world. As life expectancy rises and birth rates fall, societies are witnessing a rapid increase in the proportion of older people. This shift has profound implications for public policy, and the need to strengthen frameworks for healthy and secure ageing has never been more urgent. India is among the countries where these pressures will intensify most sharply in the coming decades.

Thota Sitaramaiah: An internal pillar of an underground organisation

By Harsh Thakor* Thota Sitaramaiah was regarded within his circles as an example of the many individuals whose work in various underground movements remained largely unknown to the wider public. While some leaders become visible through organisational roles or media attention, many others contribute quietly, without public recognition. Sitaramaiah was considered one such figure. He passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 65.

Bangladesh alternative more vital for NE India than Kaladan project in Myanmar

By Mehjabin Bhanu* There has been a recent surge in the number of Chin refugees entering Mizoram from the adjacent nation as a result of airstrikes by the Myanmar Army on ethnic insurgents and intense fighting along the border between India and Myanmar. Uncertainty has surrounded India's Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project, which uses Sittwe port in Myanmar, due to the recent outbreak of hostilities along the Mizoram-Myanmar border. Construction on the road portion of the Kaladan project, which runs from Paletwa in Myanmar to Zorinpui in Mizoram, was resumed thanks to the time of relative calm during the intermittent period. However, recent unrest has increased concerns about missing the revised commissioning goal dates. The project's goal is to link northeastern states with the rest of India via an alternate route, using the Sittwe port in Myanmar. In addition to this route, India can also connect the region with the rest of India through Assam by using the Chittagon...

Search This Blog