‘You’re an Untouchable’: The Apathy of Dalits in Gujarat

Dalit Scholar Kumud Pawade in her autobiography quoted a phrase ‘What comes with birth and can’t be cast off by dying- is that caste?’ Even 65 years after independence, this socio-political rhetoric seems so prudent when we look into the current pathetic condition of Dalits especially in the state of Gujarat. It is true that even after so much of efforts, pan-India we’ve not been able to remove caste inequalities from our society. But in majority parts of the country atleast there is an effort, which clearly and very evidently missing when it comes to Gujarat. For Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate national issues are of prime concern but in that bid for over so many years now, he even failed to acknowledge the apathy of dalits in his own state. For him the society is a homogenous entity, but that society filled with homogeneity seems to have no place for poor dalits in Gujarat.

All this amidst Modi and his party’s tall claim of development and projecting him as an OBC leader as he proudly announced himself in UP rallies. But while this OBC wears designer clothes, dalits in his own state are so prone to discrimination that even to get a haircut, they need to travel miles. While they BJP have identified Muslim votes as his biggest hurdle, they seem to have forgotten that they still aren’t assured of the support of people placed low in the caste hierarchy of India. Consequently, as Modi has taken a headlong plunge into politics of inclusiveness, the Dalits in his own state seem to have taken it upon themselves to battle caste discrimination, with their CM failing to intervene.

In a report by DNA, the dalits' entry into the village temple of Goddess Meldi Ma was met with severity by the 'upper' caste villagers who restricted entry of over 13 dalit families from paying obeisance to the deity. The dalits' entry into the village temple of Goddess Meldi Ma was met with severity by the 'upper' caste villagers who restricted entry of over 13 dalit families from paying obeisance to the deity. The incident was reported with the police with the help of Navsarjan trust, an NGO working for the marginalised people. Matters turned sour when some dalit families wanted to enter the village temple. Not surprisingly, though Khoda Koli, the husband of sarpanch Jasuben Koli and the deputy sarpanch Samant Koli were arrested, they were later released on bail.

On September 2^nd of this year, minor Dalit girl was gang raped by at least five villagers in Khandiya village in Chuda Taluka of Surendranagar district. As per Police investigation report, accused Ravirajsinh Zala, Dasrathsinh Zala, Rajbha Vakhatsinh, Natubha Vakhatsinh and Vinodbhai Solanki allegedly raped daughter of Budhabhai Valmiki  on outskirts of Khandiya village. She was again raped in Village primary school. She was later taken in Dhandhuka and again raped. Later two accused left her at relatives home. While she informed her parent about incident, she was taken to nearest Government hospital and later shifted to Surendranagar Civil hospital. Girl’s parent has filed a case against accused.  The police are conducting further investigation and hunting for ran away accused.

Another Indian Express report refers to the mass conversion of Dalits in Saurashtra to Buddhism to escape the stigma of belonging to a lower caste, once considered untouchables in India. Explaining why 60 families in Vishal Hadmatiya village converted to Buddhism, 65-year-old Dahya Vaghela tells The Indian Express: “Local barbers refuse to give me a haircut or shave, saying that he will not get any upper caste customers. So I have to travel all the way to Junagadh. We also have a separate temple,” he says. The story goes on to explain how Dalit children are not allowed to sit together with upper-caste children while eating and upper caste villagers not visiting tea stalls run by Dalits. Dalits contributes a meagre 7 percent of votes in Gujarat and hence is not a political force to reckon with. “Dalits don’t have the numbers to directly influence an Assembly poll, so they generally tend to go with the majority community. The religious conversion, if any, will not affect their political affiliation,” Jetha Solanki shamelessly, Dalit leader and BJP MLA from Kodinar, told Indian Express.  However, discrimination against the Dalits has been a reality buried in Gujarat’s development clamour for a while now.

In a survey conducted in 2011, where 200 Dalit children and 65 Non-Dalit children were interviewed in 12 villages in Gujarat and Rajasthan, it was revealed that more than 90 percent of Dalit children have faced discrimination while procuring medication at government hospitals clinics. More than 80 percent of Dalit children have faced discrimination while trying to avail something as basic as pathological tests. Another report about Saurashtra from April this year points out how in Saurashtra itself Dalits faced an acute water crisis as they are not allowed to draw water from the Narmada. The reservoir that supplies water to some of these villages was also never connected with the Narmada water pipeline. Fearing backlash from the upper castes the Dalits mostly kept mum till the water shortage became unbearable and they had to complain to the deputy collector of the district.

Dalit leader and writer Kancha Ilaiah, in an article questioning the how fit the Gujarat model of development is, says that a state like Andhra Pradesh has far more beneficial policies for SC/STs and OBCs and the government spends decidedly more on the development of backward tribes than Gujarat. He points how that the caste hierarchy in Gujarat continues to be so strong that no strong political enterprise was ever encourage or given leeway in the state, even under the chief ministership of Narendra Modi, himself an OBC member. Ilaiah says: “The Gujarat government’s apathy towards tribals, leave alone minorities, speaks volumes. In fact, there is no evidence that Modi allowed capable leadership to grow which would allow them to assert themselves. For example, the tribal and dalit intelligentsia in Andhra Pradesh emerged from quality residential schools and colleges that the state government initiated way back in the 1980s and ’90s. Modi’s government did not initiate such educational projects for the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.”

Just yelling at rallies about change and projecting himself as an OBC candidate just for the sake garnering votes, then I’m sorry Mr. Modi, you can’t fool the people of this country. If the Dalits in Modi’s Gujarat continue to face the heat of caste supremacy, it is not long that they have to face a strong rebellion against the establishment. So if he boasts so much about his so-called model of development which as I earlier too have said is not at all inclusive, this is another group of minority which made no place in the development of the state. Also, if the country indeed is looking for a ‘change’, the clean-up should start from the grassroots – a sizable part of which seems to have fallen in the wayside of the country’s contemporary political narrative. So the larger question that looms large in the horizon is if growth is not inclkusive and not for all, then at the end of the day, whose Gujarat is it?

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