On 3rd of May, 2007 Mumbai edition of HT published a shocking news report on their first page. In a village called Kulakaji near Pune, some so called upper caste people attacked and killed a lower caste man because he was getting his own well dug. The strong men had so far prevented the weaker sections in the village from digging their own well, so that their own wells continue to supply water in good quantities. The man, let us call him Dinesh, was 48 and a father of three. He used to work for Indian Railways and after retiring from services he was back in his village. Despite protests from the strongmen of the village, the Panchayat had given him rights to get his own well dug and granted him Rs 60,000. Dinesh was ready to share water with other villagers at the time of scarcity.
One evening, the strongmen attacked him with axes. They left him bleeding. No one came to save him. Later, his son carried him to a hospital 2 km away. But he died on the way.
It was reported that all the so called lower castes in the village had converted to Buddhism earlier. After his murder, the community mourning his death put up two pictures near his cadaver, one of Gautam Buddha and another of BR Ambedkar.
Confrontation to reach peace
I know that perhaps no one from that village is going to read this article for some time. But there are lessons that are to be learnt for all. I have been to villages and know that there are separate areas for some particular castes to put their huts. Time has changed and they are allowed in all public places like temples. But they can't do anything they like, without the permission of the landlords, which are invariably from upper castes (many are OBCs though). I don't believe that Hinduism has some castes as lower and some others as higher. So I use the term so called before the terms. This divide between the sections of so called lower and upper are not only deep but whatever superficial actions are taken to bridge the gap results in more atrocities against the lower castes. I am sure about one thing, that through confrontation we shall reach no solution.
Converting as an escape
The lower sections are increasingly leaving their innate religion and embracing Buddhism or Christianity. The key is to understand the reasons behind the trend. It is not that their fathers and forefathers didn't have the option of converting to any other religion. They didn't convert because in Indian way of life, we don't really believe in changing our religion. Even the outcastes used to think that they were as Hindu as the Maaliks, and they must play the role set for them in the society without complaining. Their attitude of surrender didn't make their lives much comfortable though and they were still subjected to atrocities and humiliations from time to time. But often the strong castes in villages took care to allow them a certain level of freedom and peaceful living.
In the changing times, with increased political movements targeting the so called lower castes and dalits, there is more and more awareness of their own rights. With a good number of younger people moving to cities in order to earn and through exposure to the outside world, they no longer want to remain sidelined. Now they will raise voices and protest. In many parts of India, the naxals and similar groups too exploited their insecurities and helped them in taking revenge against the oppressors.
Let us come to the question of religious conversion. Very few of the revered and popular Hindu Saints have talked against the caste system. Many of the famous Hindu Saints have credited the caste system with the survival instinct of Hinduism in India. While they don't support any caste based atrocities, they still say that Brahmins are the brain; Kshtriys the arms and Shudras the legs of the Hindu body. This condition has prevailed and I still hear the same explanation even these days. Very few Hindu organizations like Arya Samaj tried to connect to the lowest sections and helped create an environment where all Hindus are equal. A lot of people still believe that their castes are based on their karma as done in their previous births. Under these circumstances, the Dalits saw no hope. And it was not difficult for the organizations seeking to spread Buddhism in India, to lure them and get them mass converted to their belief. This is the reason why most of the Christian missionaries always worked in the tribal areas. Almost all the people being mass converted either to Buddhism or Christianity are from the so called lower castes today. Perhaps Islam lost in this race of conversion because they don't take the converts as equal to the indigenous Muslims and casteism still persists there. I wonder how long the Hindu saints will take before realizing that this is a real threat to the Hinduism in India.
Caste based reservations: concocted solution
The government has taken the easiest and the most ineffective way to impart justice to the people like Dinesh. The system of caste based reservations is actually not benefiting the target groups. The real beneficiaries of the caste based reservations are the richer among the reserved category castes. I have a case here. A daily wage worker used to visit our house during my childhood. He was very popular among other workers because he had achieved a great feat his son was studying in graduation. Time passed and his son graduated; but he could not get a government job. After several years of struggle, the graduate took his father's spade and came to work. It was shocking. That day, I realized that this reservation system is not working in India. Many of my friends who are getting the benefit of the present reservation system are sons and daughter of engineers, school principals, or village pradhans. They would have got the same seats on their merit; the system of reservations made them achieve with lesser fight. Also, the system of reduced merit criteria helps the beneficiaries remain mediocre for their entire lives. If I am sure of getting admission with 40% marks, why should I toil to get 90%? Do you think the reservation system will help people like Dinesh? Let us suppose Dinesh got his job with the Railways because of the reservation for SC/ST candidates. But will his family get a justice now?
Let us think how the government is going to help the family of Dinesh. Most probably, the strongmen from his family will go underground for several months, until the atmosphere in the village calms down. Then one day, they will return back in their previous roles. They will buy their freedom by paying the local police and the Panchayat. Is any politician really doing something to make social justice a reality? The case of this village in Pune is not an isolated case. Even today, people across the country are being killed, attached, looted and humiliated just because they were born in a family belonging to some particular castes. They are fleeing villages, changing names, converting to Buddhism or Christianity, raising guns and joining Naxals. They are ready to do whatever they can to escape their present state of disgraced lives under Hindu casteism. Is government doing something? Are Hindu organizations doing something? Is the caste based reservations helping someone? Are the champions of Dalit movement doing something? How long will the hapless children mourn behind bodies of their murdered parents? How long will the rot last?
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