Delhi: Thousands of Dalits Converge in the Capital, Demand Dignity and Equality

New Delhi: Lalita Devi has only wish. She does not want a car, money or jewels. She wants a home where her family can live with dignity. An agriculture worker by profession, Devi was in Jantar Mantar in the national capital on Monday along with thousands of Dalits.

They had gathered at the call of  dalit organisations to express their anguish at improper implementation of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, demand land distribution to the landless and reservations in admissions and jobs.

Hailing from Bhagwanpur division of Kaimur district in Bihar, Devi narrated her ordeal and quest for a dignified life. “In my area, men and women get Rs 300 and Rs 150, respectively, as daily wages. Please tell me who can survive on this money? Can you look after your children? Certainly not. I came here to ask for 5 dismil land so that I can build a home for my five children. I am currently living on 1 dismil (435 square feet) land.”

Kranthi, who came from Hyderabad, alleged that upper caste atrocities had increased but the outgoing Bharat Rashtra Samithi government did nothing to stop it. “People like us fought two-glass system in hostels and local dhabas. People ousted K Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana Chief Minister) because he failed to deliver his promise of three acre land to dalits. As per our information, only 6,000 people got such land, most of them close to KCR’s partym” she alleged.

Talking to NewsClick on the sidelines of the protest, Vikram Singh, joint secretary, Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, said the objective of the large assembly with participants from across the country was to express rage over growing atrocities on dalits and adivasis and highlight it to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators. 

“It was their duty to protect the Constitution and the country and they failed miserably. We have seen a phenomenal rise in atrocities on dalit families, but what’s distressing is the political protection of the accused. After analysing several incidents, we found that political protection is rooted in BJP’s belief in Manusmriti whose text justifies every form of casteist discrimination and violence. Reflecting upon these experiences, dalit organisations had met in Hyderabad and pledged to carry out a struggle against BJP. This all-India rally in the national capital is the commencement of that struggle,” he added.

Singh said people were angry that reservations in jobs and education for the deprived sections had not been implemented. “Rather there are concerted efforts to stop it.  There are two aspects to it. One; Reservation is not word alone. It’s a tool of affirmative action and we are seeing increased use of ‘Not Found Suitable’ system to keep the reserved seats vacant,” he added.

Singh also said that premier teaching organisations and their courses had been kept out of ambit of reservations. “The logic often given is about ‘merit’. This means that the students passing out on reserved seats are not excellent? A recent report on reservations in Indian Institutes of Management maintained that these had not enforced reservation in admissions in research courses and PhD programmes.

He said the most “depressing point about the assault on reservations was privatisation of public sector undertakings” as thousands of posts had been cancelled and jobs had been made termed temporary/contract, which meant there would be no reservation. “Thus, we demand reservations in private sector too,” he added,

On reservation in promotions, Singh said that apart from court orders, several dalit officers had complained about discrimination at the workplace. “Their designation is not their identity. Their caste is. A dalit Superintendent of Police was not allowed to ride a horse on his wedding day. As long as there is discrimination, there reservations will be there,” he said. 

Sugandhi Francis, who has been working for decades to organise domestic help workers in Mumbai, said that the fight against dalit oppression needed to diversify.

“With almost a century-long struggle in Maharashtra, we still have caste oppression in the state. I work among women domestic workers and receive complaints that the households are not hiring dalit women because they would make their kitchens ‘impure’. Today, they have the courage to speak. Yet, the discrimination has not stopped.”

Francis said the “oppressors have diversified means to oppress. I can tell you with my experience that the parents sending their children to state run Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations schools are made to pay fee whereas the students going to private schools are receiving several benefits. Who is the loser in the barter game; us.  If BJP does  not understand this, it will lose power.”

Francis said the “oppressors have diversified means to oppress. I can tell you with my experience that the parents sending their children to state run Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations schools are made to pay fee whereas the students going to private schools are receiving several benefits. Who is the loser in the barter game; us. If BJP does not understand this, it will lose power.”