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Lucknow, India

Natural Right vs. Legal Right

Violence against Dalits : the case of Tajopur

G. Javed Rasool

On August 13th, a strong mob of upper caste thakurs ganged up at Tajopur village of Mau district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This casteist mobilization against Dalits was an open defiance against the authority of the state and the coalition government headed by the BSP. But at prima-facie level, it was a show of strengthen against rising Dalit consciousness, an attempt to nullify the wave of Dalit assertion and, moreover, to take control over a huge peace of gram samaj land which they had obtained with the connivance of state machinery. Thus by 7.30 in the morning, a reign of terror was unleashed. They started ravaging the field with tractors to exercise their 'legal right' granted to them at the expense of the 'natural right' of Dalits over the land. Dalits have been using this land for carcass flaying and other purposes. So they resisted the attempt and made token assertion of their right. Consquently, they had to pay a price : sum 50-60 people, including 24 women besides children and elders, received injuries in indiscriminate firing. They call it bravery. This is what is often eulogised as Kshatriya pride in our glorious casteist tradition.

This shameful incident of casteist violence has largely been described as the case of land dispute, even by the SC/ST Commission. The Commission, in its deliberations, kept aside Dalits' quest for the legality of natural right over the land and, remained silent on the violent overtones of upper castes of all social and political affiliations. The rising sea of upper caste mobilisation in favour of inflated Kshatriaya's ego kept gathering momentum and, graduated to the magnitude of leaving an imprint on power equations in caste ridden state politics.

The theory of land dispute owes its genesis to the Consolidation exercise that began in 1972-73 and, that resulted in illegal transfer of gram samaj land to a certain Jainath Singh - the prime accused in the Tajopur case. Dalits have been using this land since generations. This fraudulent, as it has been described, exercise with the connivance of revenue officials has been deeply regrettable. Over it, court's green signal to Jainath Singh on 5th Aug. 03 struck at a basic, precious, trans-generational natural right, namely the right to livelihood. It is even more depressing that sections of backward & upper castes & media has shown the tendency to welcome not only the courts' verdict but the violence per se.

Besides the incident, this short report investigates into the larger phenomenon of Dalit assertion at the grassroots in its varied forms. We have tried to see and build an understanding of this pervasive phenomenon which has traditionally been considered as uprising against upper-caste domination, and more particularly, against the state for its failure in providing benefits to them. It is thus the BSP, largely being perceived as Dalit party, comes into picture & its relationship with Dalits and with upper caste milieu becomes important . This is the vantage point which provides vistas of understanding the Tajopur incident and consequently, mobilisation of upper-castes, including backwards and Muslims broadly against Dalits.

I

The Tajopur Incident

At the outset, we have attempted to provide a brief narrative of Tajopur incident and subsequent outburst of kshatriya frenzy and mobilisation, not only to protest police action against the thakurs but to pose a challenge before the state machinery. Therefore, a venomous campaign targeting the administration, the state and the Dalit community under the auspices of newly formed Jan Samman Bachao Morcha was launched. It solicited popular support and exhibited all the symptoms of an undemocratic and fascist built up.

Tajopur is an Ambedkar village, lying on the southern outskirts of Mau city, that has partly graduated from a village to suburb. A key factor has been the formation of Mau as the new district and consequent expansion of municipal area. Lining the Dalit settlements in the village, a road has also been constructed along the stretch of the disputed gram samaj land which raised its value and accelerated the further developments.

The Tajopur incident has largely been perceived as the result of foulplay of revenue and consolidation officers. Wayback in 1972-73, during the course of land consolidation in the area, a certain Jainath Singh & Suryanath Singh - who became prime accused in the case - managed to take the title of 34 manda of gram samaj land in lieu their own 9 mandas by exercising their influence over concerned officials in the department. All that happened in secrecy. No one except one Vijai Panday, an advocate and accomplice of the thakur duo, knew about this development. By the turn of '79, Pandey somehow opened his mouth and mobilised Dalits in his favour as a part of his strategy to pose a challenge to the might of Jainath and Suryanath Singh who had already ganged up with Rajbhars. However,at his initiative, Dalits came to know about it and, therefore, advanced applications for the grant of regular pattas of the gram samaj land which, however, they have been using. The officials opted to keep the things pending and created confusion. Instead of telling them the truth, they entertaind and filed their applications.

Thereafter, in 1980, a case was filed by Dalits in both the tehsildar and the civil courts simultaneously to claim their right over the land. Finally, they lost their case in the civil courts. Their appeal was also turned down. But the tehsildar, after accomplishing due proceedings, gave his judgement in favour of Dalits. He observed that the consolidation officers have illegally given out the 39 mandas of gram samaj land in lieu of 9 mandas owned by Jainath & Suryanath Singh. This act was described as unlawful and fraudulent.

Jainath Singh moved to SDM (Sadar) court to appeal against this verdict. Accepting the appeal, the SDM thrashed the judgement on the pretext that neither tehsildar nor SDM was competent to deal with consolidation matters. Hearing this, Dalits resorted to protest. They staged dharnas in front of District Magistrate's office. But he was not impressed by these protests and did nothing . This followed an appeal to Commissioner by Rambadan representing Dalits. The case is still there in the commissioner's court. No judgement has yet been given.

The only success that came in the way of Dalits was the grant of stay against Jainath Singh's claim of land title given by the civil courts. It was, therefore, the thakur lobby once again rose to action after the effectivity of stay order came to an end on 5th Aug 03. They approached the police superintendent to seek possession of his precious land with supporting documents. The superintendent responded immediately and asked the circle officer of concerned thana, Sarailakhansi, to submit a report on the matter. The circle officer didn't turn up. He was again reminded . The Yadava CO knew the consequence of his involvement. He was allegedly bribed by thakurs to keep shut and abstain from action. The Superintendent, therefore, could not initiate further proceeding. This provided space to thakur lobby to command the situation on its own. Meanwhile, Dalits made one last attempt to appeal in the High Court. They failed again to get any relief. The battle was thus lost.

Thakurs on their parts have been very cautious. All their moves were well planned. Jainath Singh & party was able to graduate their personal case into a matter of collective consciousness of the whole community. They mobilised the 42 Gram Khatriya Mahasangh, a powerful collective of thakurs hailing from 42 villages of the area. On the eve of that fateful morning, i.e., 13th Aug, a meeting of the Mahasangh was held in uttar secrecy to work out the course of action.

Despite secrecy, tension and heat kept mounting. Yet the real plan of action could not be known, until the morning of 13 Aug 03, when a strong mob of heavily armed thakurs of the kshatriya neighbourhood numbering in hundreds raided the fields with four tractors. Dalits, on the other hand, sent their women & children to symbolically resist the move. They pelted stones & bricks, and subsequently provided justification for the outburst of violence by the thakurs. The mob became furious and violent and took little time to open fire in the first instance. Meanwhile, other members of Dalit community rushed to the site but only to receive bullets.

Curtains were drawn. thakurs had discharged their swollen feelings against Dalits. It served a poser to the government and helped to harness anti-Mayawati feeling for building a casteist movement against Dalits and the so called Dalit government of BSP.

And in the process, some 50-60 persons were injured. Roughly half of them were women. There were children & elders as well. Those badly injured were taken to Sir Sunder Lal Hospital at BHU. The condition of two person was said to be critical. Besides, some 45 persons were admitted in local district hospital. The detailed lists is being provided in the Annexures . A look at them would give an idea of the glorious tradition of Rajput bravery that our children are made to learn about. They did not even spare five years old children and sixty years old elders. This followed ravaging ,looting & destruction in Dalit settlements. They did cut even the telephone wires there.

The administration and the police awakened to action after the first scene of the theatre of violence was over. As per convention, the local police officer, Sant Lal Yadava, incharge of Sarailakhansi police station, was terminated by the IG of police. Similarly, village level official revenue workers, viz. The lekhpal and kanoongo were suspended & transferred respectively with immediate effect. Relief operation took off at war scale. The administration mobilised relief fund of the order of Rs. 14 Lakh 96 thousand 2 hundred & 50 to compensate for Dalit wounds. Those seriously injured (7 person) were lucky to have bagged the major share, i.e., Rs. fifty six thousand two hundred & fifty. And those received minor injuries could get only twenty six thousand two hundred & fifty . In fact, this relief operation carried out at the behest of governmental will has become one of the major points of discontent among the kshatriya leadership. Their problem further multiplied with Dalits started taking about purchasing arms and, the administration made an statement of providing license to Dalits.

The top bureaucracy of police and administration including judiciary, showed its utmost activism. There were standing orders to arrest all the listed 39 accused persons for stern action. The police was able to arrest 7 of them on the day of violence itself. Criminal cases were filed against thirty nine nominated persons of thakur community under sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 323, 504 and 506 of Cr.P.C. besides 7 Criminal Law Amendmend Act in addition to imposition of SC/ST Act. National Security Act was also invoked against 3 persons on the day of 15th August. The police seized four licensed guns and four tractors employed in the violent event. Nine arm-license of the members of thakur community were also cancelled. Thakurs on the other hand, tried their level best to file an FIR but failed.

In nutshell, the police kept moving in linear fashion, without paying attention to growing unrest among the thakurs, which finally resulted in the emergence of a strong casteist platform - Jan-Samman Bachao Morcha - by cutting across party affiliations.

Two factors were mainly responsible for the mobilisation of the upper-castes & backwards. First, the existence of large number of newspapers that have achieved coverage among educated kshriyas & yadavas, besides the sections of lineary thinking population. This smoothened the movement of the news and resulted in messing up the information. And the second is the existence of dense network of thakurs and caste groups in the surrounding rural area . Due to these two factors, in addition to the absence of BSP's political activism, the casteist agitation hitting anti-Dalit and anti-BSP upper & middle caste consciousness under the banner of Jan-Samman Bachao Morcha quickly acquired the character of a popular protest against the failure of, not only the BSP government in UP but also the Indian state, and the police and magisterial bureaucracy to uphold the dignity of casteist ego.

Suspicion and uncertainty prevails all along in Tajopur. Everybody is scared. But more scared are thakurs. Their children are not attending school. Many of them have even fled their homes. But, what is more important is the language - the language of retaliation and revenge. Dalits could restrain themselves neither.

II

Dalit Assertion:

Before approaching the road lining the Dalit hamlets of Tajopur village (viz., Sirbanni, Dorepar, Zamin, Baba Ka Purwa and Kinnupur ), one is struck by the site of an Ambedkar statue. The Ambedkar statue, generally seen as the epitome of celebration of consciousness among Dalits about the life and teaching of Baba Sahib, presents here an image of Ambedkar which, fails to confirm with the basic idea behind erection of the statue to propagate a certain Ambedkarite iconography. Instead of an image depicted in western suit, white shirt, red tie, pen in pocket & book in hand and upraising an arm, the image of sherwani clad Ambedkar in Tajopur enables one to sense the overpowering influence of feudal culture on Dalit consciousness. This explains why Dalits have not been able to really assert themselves. Their resistance have been half-hearted.They are alienated from social mainstream of the village. Happenings in other hamlets do not bother them much. Those injured in firing were mostly residents of Zamin hamlet of Tajopur. Therefore inhabitants of other hamlets of the village were not concerned but envy with them for the huge compensation they have received. The spirit of collective consciousness which characterises Dalits is very weak. There seems to be a state in the village - state with repressive casteist character. The Dalits are not free. Yet they are fighting it out. And they have fought it out on occasions. Ambedkar statue bears testimony to it. There is even a Ravidas statue and temple in Zamin hamlet. Ambedkarism has a root here. The present incident of firing is the outcome of their assertion, their collective consciousness, however. In the past as well, they have shown courage to settle their score with upper castes in their own way. A year ago, or two, they had shaved the head of a seer belonging to upper cast. There are people who tend to hark back to this incident to explain the casteist outburst of thirteenth August.

But Dalit assertion as an ongoing phenomenon has generally been not very visible. Unlike the chamars and Jatavs of western Uttar pradesh, they have been late risers to improve their social status and to seek share in power in a collective manner. They have not been able to challenge Gandhian ideals on the strength of Ambedkarism during early days as one notices in Meerut, Aligarh, Agra and adjoining areas. Although the Uttar Pradesh Schedule Caste Federation of India (UPSCF) - a party formed to harness schedule caste identity for capturing political power - is known to have existed in urban centres. Similarly, the formation of Ambedkarite Republican Party of India (RPI) was yet another landmark in Dalit mobilisation and assertion which, subsequently was subsumed by the Congress. The Dalit icon of Congress, Jagjiwan Ram overshadowed exclusivist political attemps made by Dalits. And opted for the mainstream politics. But this refuge was not very comfortable. Socially, the Congress had shown little sensitively towards Dalit problems and the problem of Brahmanic ideology. Dalits remained submissive. Neither their leader Jagjiwan Ram did go beyond the edifice of Harijanism provided by Gandhian ideology. But the quest for equality & self-respect kept holding ground in collective consciousness of Dalits. The Congress, obviously, could not, neither it could, give expression to emerging inner demands of Dalits.

Way back in mid-80s, with the rise of BSP, Dalits got a new lease on life. The party has introduced some radical aspects, rather a counter ideology to varna system and a new identity, viz., the Ambedkarism & Dalits respectively. This helped them, the Dalits - chamar in particular, to find words for expressing their trauma of caste exploitation, which subsequently, resulted in weakening vertical patron-client relationship of Dalits with upper-castes, Kshatriyas in particular. It was thus, at a level above the grassroots, the castes became a tool of political mobilisation and creating solidatily among Dalits. But at grassroots, the caste remained an instrument of oppression in the hands of upper-castes. It remained a symbol of their indignity, a stigma on their person. Even though, the process ushered in by the BSP was important and helped in democratisation of civil society. It changed the perception of caste - scholars today tend to perceive caste as a class. For instance, Kancha Illiah(1994) is prone to view Dalit assertion as the class, not the caste assertion.

Coming back to Tajopur incident, it is to be said that the Dalits were able to assert their natural right to land, which inspired the wrath of thakurs, because of the activities of BSP. Meanwhile, it is also true that the BSP at this level is generally not interested in encouraging assertion. It is none of its concerns. BSP needs power. It needs political not social empowerment of Dalits. This explains the indifferent attitude of local BSP towards the incident and their wretched contentment with administrative action of providing relief and compensation to the victims of violence.

Despite BSP's reluctance in encouraging assertion at grassroots, the Dalits have discovered varied forms of assertion of which installation of Ambedkar statue is most significant. According to Radhey Lal Boudh, the leader of Dalit Panther who coined the idea of setting up Ambedkar statue in 1980, this is how Dalits could effectively assert their control over land and establish a distinct identity. The erection of huge Ambedkar statue facing the village is a point in reckoning But on the other hand, it has resulted in various violent forms of caste atrocities by doing away with, for instance, ritual untouchability. Not withstanding the Tajopur violence, the alternative space thus created by Dalits for themselves cannot be undermined. We would pick up this point later in this section.

Alongside the installation of Ambedkar statue and establishing their own centre of workship in the form of Ravidas temple in Zamin hamlet of Tajopur, Dalits have also organised a social group called Ambedkar Dal. This group, in fact, was instrumental in installing the sherwani clad statue of Ambedkar. At district level - when Mau was not a district in '68 - a socio-political organisation is known to have formed. Thus called the Harijan Kalyan Parishad kept lighting the torch of Ambedkarism after phasing out of Uttar Pradesh Schedule Caste Federation (UPSCF) and Republican Party of India (RPI). The Parishad had its impact felt throughout the region and produced a strong Dalit leadership. The names of Budhdhi Sagar, Daya Ram Bhaskar, Mangal Deva Vishad, Munnu Ram and PD Tandon are worth mentioning. In due course , with the emergence of Dalit Panther, DS-4 and subsequently, the BSP, activities of Harijan Kalyan Parishad focussing on social transformation and empowerment of Dalits came to standstill. Most of its leders sough to channalise their energies through Bahujan Samaj Party.

The alternative space thus obtained by Ambedkarism during initial phase could not be expanded to the extent of a meaningful Dalit assertion in safeguarding their rights, protecting their interests. On the contrary, it lead to the emergence of new - perhaps more brutal, violent & organised forms of Kshatriya brutalities. Tajopur incident is just one example.

From the side of Dalits, the response to the firing incident was not what could ideally be termed as assertion with social & political undertones . Now if they react, they would react in manners thakurs did. The quest for purchasing arms from the relief money is a dangerous and apolitical proposition.

III

Contours of Political Reaction

Seeing the incident of firing from Dalit perspective, it appears to be the consequence of the assertion of their natural right to land. But the script of political theatre, which emerged in reaction, was largely written with casteist, communal & fascist overtones. It has brought all the political formations on one stage - the Jan-Samman Bachao Morcha. All of them, from Congress to BJP, they started speaking one language. Samajwadi Party became the mouthpiece of the Morcha. They took it as an opportunity to prop up their longing for co-option into kshatriya fold. As the perpetrator of casteist politics in the state, the Samajwadi Party is trying hard to find its substratum as a political force by approaching Brahminic & Hindutwa ideology to consolidate its neo-Kshatriya image.

It is really regrettable why Samajwadis' concern is not catching up with the plights of Dalits who have not only been target of casteist brutalities but their natural right to livelihood has been taken away by the Hon'ble courts. The neo-kshatriya Samajwadi ego could not withstand the phenomenon of Dalits providing resistance - that too women & children in the first instance. So They turned out as the saviour of kshatriya pride, They targeted Mayawati and her party and brought into focus the question of the misappropriation of chief minister's fund. And by doing so, they were taking personal revenge from Mayawati for her attempt to implicate Mulayam Singh for misappropriation of chief minister's fund during his reign as the chief minister of the state. To this effect, some 136 cases were filed in 40 districts, including 8 cases in Mau by the district magistrate.

As regards the Congress, it has not used its politics but persons for wooing thakurs - the upper castes and mobilising them against Dalits. Instead of using casteist vocabulary, the official congressmen are restraining themselves by talking about administrative slackness and apathy as the root cause of the incident. But they are longing to see Mayawati being drilled for her so called Dalit concerns in the court of law. Building upon anti-Dalit wave set afoot by violent Hindutwa ideology, the Congress has focussed its attention on official relief exercise. There is a demand for judicial enquiry into the affairs of relief allocation from the CM fund. They want NSA to be lifted from over the prime accused in the firing incident. The Congress leadership is also apprehensive about the process of medical examination of the victims. There is a thinking that the modus operandi of administrative machinery (of course under the BSP rule) was repressive and partisan that it ignited caste struggle. A Congress president of kshatriya lineage described the incident as a fight between just & unjust. However, unlike Samajwadis, they exhibited minimal political courtesy to visit Dalit localities and to talk about peace and harmony.

Despite their allegiance to an ideology - the ideology of Hindutwa which is thoroughly anti-Dalit, the BJP has shrewdly maintained a seemingly balanced & liberal political stand. But it is not bereft of the critical elements of communalism, caste prejudices & fascism. And it cannot afford to be either. Thus it was imperative for them to line up with kshatriyas and connive with them in their campaign. And they did. But did restrained themselves from leadership role and pushed forward Congress & Samajwadis.

However, From the BJP ranks, the torch of kshatriya resistance & protest remained in the hands of its Ballia MLA Ram Iqbal Singh. He has been using threatening & pressure tactics to settle his score with Mayawati. He charges the Chief Minister for fuelling social tension at the expense of public money. He also raised the question of what has come to be known as "misappropriation of CM's funds " and unlawful & revengeful behaviour of the administration in dealing with thakurs.

In this scenario, a political stand of BSP is particularly important. It is important because of the popular perception that such incidents of caste violence are outgrowth of mobilisation drive by the BSP to create a distinct identity of Dalits and its social base. It is more so because BSP is also leading the coalition government in Uttar Pradesh. On the one hand, the BSP is no longer interested in the problems of Dalits, their upliftment and social transformation. It has rather outgrown into an opportunistic outfit interested in capture of state-power. Its opportunism could only help in upward mobility of the elite sections of Dalit without effecting a change at grassroots. Even at grassroots, as evident from Ambedkar village programme, the BSP is really not serious in political empowerment of Dalits other than chamars. They have alienated almost every one, except the creamy sections of Dalits. This is why it has no answer to casteist mobilisation of thakurs against Dalits.

There is total lack of sensitivity, sense of wisdom and justice. We had many members of local leadership and party office bearers for informal discussions. None of them showed any propensity to address the basic issues, i.e., the protection of the natural rights of Dalits which converges into the right to livelihood. Besides, there is this issue of safety - safety of life and property. These concerns notwithstanding, the BSP's presence in the area has nullified the possibility of social movements. The local leadership has no sense of direction, no plan of action. Instead of facing the challenge posed by casteist politics across party lines squarely, they have opted for inaction. They say they have the government doing the job for them. Government is party and party is government.

In the midst of casteist mobilisation against Dalits, the Communist party of India (Marxist-Leninist) singles out itself by raising the basic issue. They voiced their concern against illegal transfer of gram samaj land. In a memorandum submitted to the district magistrate, the ML group demanded cancellation of illegal title and its reallocation to landless Dalits from afresh. The party is all set to organise a movement to ensure that the land in question be vacated and Dalits get their right back.

IV

Conclusion

This theatre of casteist violence was enacted over the right to land, moreover, the preference of one's right over the other. Dalits' right to land in question have been of natural order - something which they been exercising since generations. But it was snatched away from them by the agents of feudal hierarchy. Police, bureaucracy, judiciary - all the systems undermined the law of natural justice and supported fraudulent land grabbing campaign of the thakurs in the area. Thus they became legal title holders and the Dalits became trespassers. It was for this reason - for trespassing and resisting the attempt that the Dalits met their fate.

It is a lost battle for Dalits. They have been ousted from their traditional lands. They received gun shots which might have proved fatal. And they are living under constant threat. There is no community leadership. For upper castes, they are BSP people. But the reality only they could know. The party to which they vote, owe their allegiance, the party which speak about them is no doubt the BSP. But BSP has other priorities. It is not interested in disturbing local power equations. In such a situation, Dalits needs to rise against the rising tide of casteism. They would have to build a powerful social movement for asserting their rights. They would have to learn lesson from the Dalits of western Uttar Pradesh.

But that is a long-drawn process. By that time the case would be time-barred. Therefore, some Human Right and Legal Aid organisations should come forward so that the matter could be taken out of the jurisdiction of subordinate courts and be made part of larger national movements addressing the pervasive & critical theme of natural rights involving tribal & indigenous people.

V

Postscript

With the fall of Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh and ascendance of Samajwadi Paty to the seat of power, the legal proceedings in Tajopur case got topsyturvyed. On 4th September 03 itself, the district administration booked as many as 45 Dalits it serious fatal offences against thakurs in Sarailakhansi police station. Moreover, 5 upper castes persons have also been implicated for conniving with Dalits. On the other hand, the National Security Act has been lifited by the Governor. An enquiry has also been instituted for misuse of NSA and CM fund.

[ The investigation was carried out by a study team of Dynamic Action Group (DAG) comprising G.Javed Rasool, Sugrive Chouhan, Lallan Lonia, Vikram Basphor and Hari Basphor. The report also draws on conversations with Rajendra Bharti and several members of local BSP leadership. We have learnt a great deal from Com. Shamshul Haque, district secretary of CPI (M) and Mushtaque Ahmed Khan who works with a bank. ]

VI

Notes and Annexure

1. List of persons hospitalised in Sir Sunderlal Hospital at BHU for treatment of their injuries :

   1. Doodhnath s/o Gujrati 2.Chitnath s/o Dhanesh 3. Birju s/o Haridas 4.Piyare lal s/o Hansdas 5.Jaiprakash s/o Acchelal 6.Fulhari w/o Kanhai 7.Nirmala D/o Doodhnath

2. List of persons hospitalised in local district hospital.