Dalits in
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
are a social group composed of many
Scheduled Caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
s, placed at the bottom of the "
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
-based social order". The Dalits also include some of the erstwhile
untouchable castes, who suffered various forms of oppression in the
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
-
agrarian society of Bihar. Some of the Dalit castes have specific cultural practices, which differ from those of orthodox
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
. In the post-independence period, the failure of
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
led to a lack of socio-economic mobility among them, in contrast to the
agricultural castes
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
. This led to an increase in caste-based strife between the Dalit supported
Naxalite groups and the state authorities backed by the
dominant social groups. In the meantime, many caste-based private armies were formed by the landlord class to quell the Dalit assertion under the banner of
Maoism
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...
.
Ranvir Sena
The Ranvir Sena is a militia functioning as a landlord group, mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The group was formed by Bhumihar landlords in 1994, with the aim to counter the influence of various left-wing militants, Naxalite groups ...
was the most dreaded caste-based
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
of the landlords, and perpetrated a number of massacres against the Dalits. Some of the
backward castes
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
also emerged as landlords, due to the partial success of the
Green Revolution
The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...
and land reform, and Dalits came into conflict with them as well. In the later years, a socio-political assertion was witnessed in the Dalits of Bihar. After the 1990s, many welfare drives were undertaken by the
Government of Bihar
The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...
to improve the condition of Dalits.
Dalit communities of Bihar
According to the
2011 Census, the Dalits constitute 16% of the population of Bihar, and 21 out of 23 Dalit castes are categorised as ''
Mahadalits''— a new category created by the government of Bihar to identify the most underprivileged Dalits. The Dalit castes identified as ''Mahadalits'' are:
*Bantar,
*
Bauri,
*
Bhogta
The Bhogta (also known as Ganjhu, Pradhan) is an agricultural community, primarily inhabiting in the state of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. They speak Sadri language as mother tongue except Bhogta of West Bengal, who are adopted Bengali as ...
,
*
Bhuiya,
*Chaupal,
*
Dabgar,
*Dom (
Dom (caste)
The Dom (Sanskrit ''ḍoma'', dialectally also Domra, Domba, Domaka, Dombari and variants) are castes, or groups, scattered across India. Dom were a caste of drummer. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the occupations of sing ...
),
*
Ghasi,
*
Halalkhor
The Halalkhor are a Dalit Muslim community, found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India . The Halalkhor are also known as Shaikhra or Shahani in Bihar and Muslim Bhangi and in Uttar Pradesh.
History and origin
The word ''halal khor' ...
,
*Hari (
Mehtar, Bhangi),
*
Kanjar
Kanjar is a tribe with significant populations in India and Pakistan.
The Kanjari language is spoken mostly by the Kanjari people living mostly in Punjab. Kanjari is a lesser-known Indo Aryan language, but almost all also speak Punjabi.''Kan ...
,
*Kurariar,
*
Lal Begi
The Lal Begi, or Lalbegi, are a Chuhra caste found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India, as well as in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur in Pakistan. The Muslim branch of the Lal Begi are known as Hasnati and the Hindu branch as ...
,
*
Musahar,
*Nat,
*
Pan (Swasi),
*
Rajwar,
*
Turi,
*
Dhobi
Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers.
They are a large community, ...
,
*
Pasi
Pasi may refer to:
* Pasi (caste), a Hindu caste of northern India
* ''Pasi'' (film), a 1979 Tamil film
* Pasi (given name)
* Pasi (surname), a surname of the Pasi community
* Pasi, Papua New Guinea, a settlement near the coast of Sandaun Provinc ...
,
*
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
and
*
Paswan (Dusadh).
The Paswan caste was initially left out of the ''Mahadalit'' category, but later included. The population of Scheduled Castes in Bihar has remained almost constant, with only a 2% increase, between the census of 2001 and the census of 2011. The census data of 2011 shows the
sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...
among the Scheduled Castes increasing, as compared to the 2001 census. It was 923 in 2001 and in 2011 it increased to 925 females per 1,000. In recent times, Bihar has witnessed a jump in the
literacy rate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
among the Scheduled Castes of 20.2 percentage points, from 28.5 percent in 2001 to 48.6 percent in 2011.
The growth of the literacy rate is primarily attributed to the increased enrollment rates among Scheduled Caste women. The enrollment ratio increased between 2009 and 2014, for both the primary and upper primary level of schooling. In 2009–2010 it was 10 lakh in the primary level and 2.09 lakh at the upper primary level. It increased to 14.39 lakh in the primary and 5.47 lakh in the upper primary level in the year 2013–2014. Since at the primary level enrollment rate is much higher as compared to the upper primary level, it is opined by Renu Chaudhary, professor at A.N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences (
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
), that the
SC girls are not encouraged to pursue their studies further, after completing the primary level of schooling.
Important Dalit castes
Paswans
Paswans, also called "Dusadh", are an upwardly mobile Dalit caste, primarily inhabiting Bihar. Paswans follow various rituals to show their valour, which include walking on fire. They have created a unique space among the Scheduled Castes of Bihar with their mythical folklore, which revolves around folk heroes like
Chauharmal
"Chauharmal" or "Chuharmal" or "Veer Chauharmal" was a folk hero who was later apotheosized by the members of Dusadh caste. The story of Chauharmal within Dusadh folklore is an empowering message which gives the Dalit community a sense of victo ...
and
Sahlesh
Sahlesh was a folk hero of the Dusadh caste in Nepal and India. He is believed to have been the ruler of the Biratnagar in what became Nepal. In some parts of North India. Sahlesh is respected by communities apart from the Dusadhs. In local culture ...
. In Bihar, they are the second-largest community among the Scheduled Castes, and in the census of 1981, their population was lower only than that of the
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
s. Some Dusadhs believe that they descended from the
Kaurava
''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his wif ...
prince
Dushasana
Dushasana ( sa, दुःशासन, , ), also spelled Duhshasana, Dussasana or Duhsasana, also known as Sushasana, is an antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was second eldest among the Kaurava princes and the younger brother of D ...
, and since the latter was a
Chandravanshi Kshatriya, they claim to be this also. However, some Dusadhs claim to be the descendants of
Gahlot
Gahlot is a clan of Rajputs Guhilot Rajputs ruled number of Kingdom's including Mewar, Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Shahpura, Bhavnagar, Palitana, Lathi and Vala, The variations of the name include Gehlot, Guhila, Gohil or Guhilot.
H ...
Rajputs; according to this school of thought, the original Gahlots branched into 24 sub-castes, and the 21st came to be known as Dusadh. Since then, they have been primarily landless. Economic backwardness exists among them and they had instances of indebtedness to the ''Mahajans'' (
moneylender
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
s) in the past.
The Dusadhs, according to political scientist Sanjay Kumar, have been voting for
Ram Vilas Paswan
Ram Vilas Paswan (5 July 19468 October 2020) was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the first and second Modi ministries. Paswan was also the president of the Lok Jansh ...
ever since his rise as a leader of the community, or for the alliance to which he belongs, both in the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
and
State Assembly election in 2009-10. Ram Vilas Paswan is also popular among other Dalit castes, but a division from other Dalits is seen, when the opportunity to vote for him comes. Over time, other political parties have also initiated programs to win the support of the Dalit constituency of the state. It is opined by Kumar that most of the benefits of government policies for Dalits in Bihar have been cornered by Dusadhs only, at the cost of other Dalit communities. This is true for the policy of
reservation too.
Due to the nature of their occupation and social standing, Dusadhs of Bihar were first among the Dalit castes to form caste-based organisations for social upliftment. They also participated in the reform movement and struggles against the established order for their castemen. One of the first caste-based organisation of Dusadhs, called ''Bhartiya Dusadh Sabha'', was formed as early as 1915, by the elites among them. According to
Shaibal Gupta, the
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...
movement also influenced them, and in their case, instead of making them progressive, it strengthened their belief in the conservative ideals of
Brahminism like ''
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
'' and ''
dharma
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
''.
Pasi caste
Pasi were generally a
Toddy tapper caste. They are considered physically strong, but culturally and educationally behind many other Dalit castes with more educational mobility. Earlier, due to their physical fitness, they were employed by ''
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
s'' as ''
lathi''-wielding guards. They possess very small landholdings and perform some craft work too, on their doorsteps, to earn a living. Compared to Bihar, their population in Uttar Pradesh is quite high. By 1994, some educational mobility had been seen among them, and they started giving importance to the education of their children. The
palm tree
The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...
not only provides them the drink called
toddy, but the raw materials for their craft are also extracted from it.
Musahar
Musahar are a caste of
rat catchers and have been one of the most underprivileged communities of Bihar. Like many other untouchables, they were involved in menial work and this provided
hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
very little scope for upward mobility. Due to their socio-economic backwardness, the state government has categorised them as ''Mahadalits'', and both the central and state government have pursued a policy of
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
for them, through various schemes. Apart from Bihar, they are also found in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
and
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
. According to the census of 2011, the Musahar form the third-largest scheduled caste in the state after Dusadhs and Chamars. Their population, according to the
2011 census was 2,725,114 in the state of Bihar. Musahar were earlier classified as a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
rather than a caste; they are said to have moved from the hills of
Chhotanagpur
The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...
to the plains of Bihar, as late as the 12th century. After their inclusion in Brahminical society, they were put at the lowest end of the caste-based social hierarchy, and were branded as untouchables. Further, after settling into the north Indian plains, the Musahars have been classified into ''Magahiya Musahars'' and ''Tirhutiya Musahars''. The socio-economic conditions of ''Magahiya Musahars'' are slightly better than those of the ''Tirhutiya'', and no instances of inter-marriage are observed between them.
Many colonial records also identify Musahars as a
Dravidian tribe; they are known by various names such as Bhuyan, Bhumia, Cheru and Bhuihar. According to Gyan Prakash, in the British period, many
upper-caste became
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
s and they introduced many systems in the rural agrarian setup to exploit agricultural labourers. Systems like ''Kamiauti'' and ''Badaliya'' were set up in north and south Bihar and Musahar became a significant part of this class of agricultural labourers. Hence, in several parts of Bihar, they are also called ''Badaliya'' and ''Kamiya''. Others argue that imposition of an image of rat eaters, pork eaters and 'people involved in alcoholism' on Musahars has been done by higher and dominant castes.
The Musahar also believe themselves to be Hindus of
Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
Varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria
**Varna Province
**Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
**Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
*Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
*Varniai, a city in Lithuania
* Varna (Šaba ...
; their folklores and folksongs represent the struggle and resistance against the dominant sections of society and the prevailing social order. During wedding ceremonies, Musahar women sing ''Jhoomar'' (a folk song); these songs are also sung during cultivating seasons. Some of these songs narrate the sexual exploitation faced by Musahar women. They also sing songs in praise of Dina and Bhadri, their folk deities, whom they believe to be their protectors during hardship.
According to Sahay, one of their folk songs, which gives insights into their socio-economic condition is:
Dhobi caste
Dhobi caste has been associated with the profession of washerman in past. They are also called ''Rajak'' or ''Baintha'' and are often known in rural folk culture for quarrelsome women and
donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
s. In their society, women perform the task of washing clothes at washing spots called ''
ghats
Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...
''. Unlike other Dalit communities, who are primarily landless, Dhobis do possess some land. This is attributed to their role in society, since every village needed a Dhobi in the past. Some land was allotted to them for their service to the village community. Due to the availability of this land, some of the Dhobis also practice agriculture. They were paid in kind for their work and treated fairly, in comparison to other Dalit communities. The association of Dhobis to upper-caste familie led to their cultural development, and of late, literacy has also become one of the observable phenomena in this caste. Nearly 30% of their men and 23% of women were literate by 1994.
Culture, belief and folklore
![Chauharmal statue near Mahatma Gandhi Setu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Chauharmal_statue_near_Mahatma_Gandhi_Setu.jpg)
Many Dalit communities of Bihar associate themselves with the martial tradition, and their tales of the origin of their community also portray them as protectors of Hinduism. Many such castes found in Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
share beliefs regarding their origin and martial tradition. The
Pasis consider themselves to have originated from the sweat of
Parashuram
Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjivi, Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who ...
. They believe that they originated when Parashuram was fighting with the destroyers of cows, and in the course of time, as he sweated, the Pasis were born. Similarly, communities like Dusadh (Paswan), in some areas, consider their folk hero
Chauharmal
"Chauharmal" or "Chuharmal" or "Veer Chauharmal" was a folk hero who was later apotheosized by the members of Dusadh caste. The story of Chauharmal within Dusadh folklore is an empowering message which gives the Dalit community a sense of victo ...
also a protector of cows.
These folk tales reflect antagonism against
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s and are also common among the
Musahars. The folk hero of the Musahar caste, Dina Bhadri, is also associated with saving cows. Many Dusadh and Musahar also believe that their ancestors migrated to Bihar, protecting the ''
matha
A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism. s'' and temples, along with Rajput soldiers, amidst the Muslim invasion in the medieval period. Some Dalit castes with martial tradition like the Pasi and Dusadh say that they were settled outside the perimeter of villages, because they were assigned the duty to protect the cattle owned by the villagers from the Muslims.
Pasi even claim they were the saviours of upper-caste Hindus, and they adopted the practice of rearing pigs, as pigs are anathema to Muslims, who avoid them. Educated and enlightened Pasi stress that the same caste Hindus, who assigned the rearing of pigs as a caste occupation for them, now consider this practice to be associated with
untouchability
Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...
. The Pasi also believe that before the arrival of Muslims, they ruled several parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh. They ascribe to a conspiracy of upper-caste Hindus and the
Mughal reign their dethronement. Their king, Baldev, committed suicide rather than submit to his adversaries, according to their beliefs.
Another popular narrative among the Dalits is about a saint called Gauriya Baba. He lived in the Mughal period, and is known for opposing the unjust rule of the Mughals, who oppressed non-Muslims. According to Dalit folklore, Gauriya Baba primarily belonged to Dusadh community, like Sahlesh and Chauharmal. But he used to protect
Dhanuk
The Dhanuk is an ethnic group found in India. In Bihar where they are significantly present, they have been categorised as the "lower backwards", along with several other caste constituting 32% of state's population. In recent times they have b ...
,
Rajpoot,
Mallah
The Mallaah are the traditional boatmen and fishermen tribes or communities of North India, East India, Northeastern India and Pakistan. A significant number of Mallah are also found in Nepal and Bangladesh. In the Indian state of Bihar, the ter ...
, Mali and other castes as well. The Mughals used to kidnap Hindu girls and marry them forcibly. Baba, who was said to be a skilled horseman, fought a one-man battle against them, to prevent them from converting the Hindus and to protect the property of rich Hindus from looting. Baba also used to slaughter a pig and bury its head in his yard, to prevent Muslim soldiers from entering his house and arresting him. His house was located in the front side of the village and preventing entry into his house was like preventing the Muslims from entering the village. According to folklore, he used to guard the villagers under his protection, regularly patrolling on his horse.
Unlike Dusadhs and Pasis, who have generated their own folklore regarding their origin, the origin of Musahars is mentioned in Brahminical mythology and the earliest history of Musahars are also known to the scholars from these mythologies as well as British records. According to them, when lord
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
created mankind, he generated the first man of each caste group, and gave them some tools and a horse to ride. When the first man of Musahar caste got these tools, unlike others, who rode their horses, he began to dig two holes on the two sides of the belly of the horse, in order to fix his feet there. Lord Shiva became angry, and he cursed the whole caste to dig the holes in ground and catch the rats for their survival. Shiva also observed the habit of Musahar men of licking plates after eating, and he further cursed this caste by saying that they would lick the plates of others for leading their lives. Hence, the Brahminical mythology degraded them and considered them as "most impure
caste". There are various proverbs, which are popular in Hindu mythology, which show a negative attitude towards the Musahars among the Hindu castes.
The
deification
Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term has ...
of death is also observed among some of the Dalit castes of Bihar; it, being a common theme in the culture of India as the spirit worship, is popular among the Musahars of the
Gaya district
}
Gaya district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. It was officially established on 3 October 1865. The district has a common boundary with the state of Jharkhand to the south. Gaya city is both the district head ...
of Bihar. According to one opinion, the worship of ''Preta'' (
spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
) is a manifestation of the memories of injustice in the minds of community, who prefer to display it, through the cult of violent and malevolent spirit. Among the Musahars of this region, there is a belief regarding a violent spirit called ''Murkatwa'', a headless creature, or a beheaded person, who keeps on avenging his death.
A major section of ''Kamia'' (usually consisting of low caste population) in south Bihar also sees the ''Bhuiyan Puja'' as a form of cultic dispossession. This particular performance, which involves the worship of earth,is popular in various parts of country with various names, and in Bihar too, and though it forms part of the culture of Dalits, it is not limited to them. Gyan Prakash argues that instead of creating the mythical past, the performance of ''Bhuyan Puja'' moves the present to some kind of mythical or ideal past. This cult is also popular among cattle herders and small agricultural communities apart from the ''Kamias'' and according to popular belief, ''Bhuiyan'' was a female deity, who sacrificed her life for protection of land, and she has an ability to interfere in the problems of one's everyday life.
In south Bihar region, the story of Reshama and Chauharmal is popular among the Dalits. The story represents a symbolic victory of the Dalits over the upper castes. In this region, many caste riots have also happened over the theatrical performances based on this story. Since, in caste-based society, Dalit boys flirting with upper-caste girls is considered objectionable, the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
s take this story as an insult to their prestige. In a particular village of south Bihar, it was reported that, after one such riot, two rival groups of caste emerged; while one consisted of the castes like
Dusadh
The Paswan, also known as Dusadh, are a Dalit community from eastern India. They are found mainly in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Urdu word ''Paswan'' means bodyguard or "one who defends". The origin of the word, per the ...
,
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
,
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
and other OBCs, the second group contained Bhumihars, who were against this performance.
According to the narrative of the Dusadh caste, Chauharmal and Ajabi Singh were friends, and former was the son of a wrestler from the Anjani village located in present day
Mokama
Mokama is a town and a municipal council in barh of Patna district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located east of Patna on the southern banks of the river Ganges. Mokama is the connecting town of north and south Bihar and has 2nd highest am ...
region. Ajabi Singh was the son of local king and the theatrical narrative of Dusadhs says that both of them went to same school and were classmates too. Ajabi Singh looked after the affairs of his court, while Chauharmal is said to be owner of an ''Akhada'' (Gym), where he trains the local wrestlers, apart from looking after his cattles.
In the story or in representation of Chauharmal, he is portrayed as an upper-caste, who puts a vermillion mark (''Tika'') on his forehead and carries a sword. Further, Chauharmal was also described as a devotee of the goddess
Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around co ...
, and unlike Ajabi Singh, who is also a devotee of same goddess, he is blessed with special powers by the goddess. One day Chauharmal was invited by Ajabi Singh to his home for food, and Reshma, the sister of Ajabi Singh served food to him. Meanwhile, when Chauharmal is talking to her brother, she behaved in a lustful manner. She tries to convince Chauharmal for her love, but latter, being a 'man of moral standards' neglects her. It is opined by the scholars, that through the cult of Chauharmal, Dusadhs portray the lack of morality among the Bhumihar women.
The cult of Chauharmal and other folk heroes like Dina Bhadri (of the Musahar caste) also became tool of mobilisation of Dalits in this region, after the
Naxalism emerged against the feudal dominance of the upper-castes. In their battles against the landlords, the Naxalite guriellas, who primarily belonged to the lower caste, didn't chanted slogans in the name of
Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...
or
Mao, but the names of caste heroes like Dina Bhadri and Chauharmal baba was invoked. Leaders like
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...
, who emerged as the leader of Backwards in 1990s, also used Chauharmal to mobilise the Dalits.
There are several genres of the ''Chauharmal-Reshama'' story, prevalent in different part of Bihar. According to another version of this story, Chauharmal falls in love with a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
girl and dies prematurely. Due to his premature death, he gets converted into a benevolent spirit, who takes care of the community inside the home. In the agricultural fields, outside the home, he becomes a malevolent spirit, who, if not propitiated, takes revenge by uprooting the crops of the big farmers. This particular story comes from Ram Prakash Chaubey's collection of the folklores of the Bihar. The Dusadh also worship spirit of Chauharmal, whom they consider their ancestral deity, in the land worship ceremony (''Bhuiyan Puja''). On this particular occasion, a ''Bhagat'' (officiating priest of the ceremony) sings the song to glorify Baba Chauharmal.
Brahma Prakash believes that these stories represents a social message; they work in two way, in one, it signifies community solidarity of the Dusadhs among themselves and in other way, it represents their aspiration of the dominant caste, propitiating the spirit of their ancestral deity because of its terrorising image.
George Abraham Grierson
Sir George Abraham Grierson (7 January 1851 – 9 March 1941) was an Irish administrator and linguist in British India. He worked in the Indian Civil Service but an interest in philology and linguistics led him to pursue studies in the languag ...
has documented Chauharmal as a thief in his initial life, which represents the colonial bias against the marginalized heroes of the lower caste communities. As per this version of story, Chauharmal used to work as an attendant of the king, who didn't pay him wages on time, and in order to avenge the insult meted out to him, latter decides to become a thief. He punishes the king by stealing the
jewellery
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
of the king's daughter. While this version keeps Dusadhs and Chauharmal in negative light, the Dusadh caste was further criminalised in the
colonial period by being included in the
Criminal Tribes Act
Since the 1870s, various pieces of colonial legislation in India during British rule were collectively called the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA), which criminalized entire communities by designating them as habitual criminals. Under these acts, ethni ...
.
''Naach'' or ''Launda Naach''
![Ramchandra Manjhi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Ramchandra_Manjhi.jpg)
The ''Naach'' which is also called ''Launda Naach'', is a dance form originating in the state of Bihar, but also practiced in the neighbouring states like
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. It was a popular folk dance of the depressed castes and its popular themes also included the "caste struggle" inherent in the society of Bihar. With the passage of time, the dominant castes also associated with it and
Bhikhari Thakur
Bhikari Thakur (18 December 1887 – 10 July 1971) was an Indian Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writer in Bhojpuri language and ...
reorganized it with little variation to rename it as ''
Bideshiya'' (migrant). The term ''Launda'' literally mean a young land, but in everyday language, it represents a person who is effeminate, vulgar, immature and from an inferior class or caste. According to author Jainendra Kumar Dost renaming of ''Naach'' as ''Launda Naach'' was a strategy employed by the upper-castes and classes of
Bhojpuri
Bhojpuri (;[Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries](_blank)
, Oxford U ...
society as a way of belittling a popular folk tradition that belongs to the Other.
In Bihar, during the Mughal period and afterwards, the ''Baiji Naach'' (dance of ''
Tawayafs'') catered to the upper section of society, primarily the feudal lords and the moneylenders. In the lower strata i.e among lower and middle castes, the dance of male acting as a female was popular, and it was known as ''Naach'', later ''Launda Naach''. Here, the term ''Launda'' describes the male, who is acting as a female. The ''Naach'' performance always attacked the upper caste and classes for the atrocities they committed on the lower castes and hence, it was stigmatised by the upper castes as the vulgar and uncouth art. As per Dost, most of the artists and proprietors of the ''Naach'' folk art comes from the lower castes and its songs, music, dance, plot and comic elements are largely associated with lower caste-class experiences and aesthetics.
One of the popular performance in this theatrical art form used to be Lakhdev Ram’s famous play Ghurva Chamaar (1965). The story revolves around the Dalit person called Ghurva Chamaar, who wanted to go to
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
in order to worship the deity, but the temple priest wouldn't allow him because of his caste. As caste restrictions were applied on Dalits in earlier times, the play portrays it through the story of Ghurva Chamaar. When the protagonist tries to enter the temple, the priest stops him. Chamaar requests him that he has brought a gold coin to donate to the deity and the greedy priest allows him to enter the temple.
Suddenly the Queen arrives, and she asks the priest that how the lower caste man entered the temple. Unable to answer her, the priest lies that he sneaked into temple. Chamaar was then beaten badly as punishment for his act of defiance. But, the news of the incident spreads and the Queen loses the elections, because of her act of punishing the lower caste man. The lower caste audience liked this theme after it was introduced in the ''Naach'' performances.
Atrocities against Dalits
Root cause of atrocities against Dalits
The government of Bihar, led by
KB Sahay was the chief architect of land reforms. The land reforms determined the upper ceiling for the land to be held by an individual household and the distribution of surplus land to the landless. But, the
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
i abolition didn't immediately follow the land reforms, as the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
in initial decades of the post-independence period, remained dominated by
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
and the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
caste, who became suspicious of these reforms. Apart from this, these land reform laws had a number of conciliatory measures, which allowed the landlords to manipulate its provisions. Many problems like "
absentee landlordism
In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 book ...
", illegal distribution of land, "
bataidari" on unfavorable terms led to brewing of discontent among the landless population. The
Bhoodan movement
The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally
The Bhoodan movement attempted ...
launched by
Vinoba Bhave
Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...
also had limited success, not enough to satisfy the needs of large section of landless people. These challenges provided fertile ground for
Naxalism to emerge. The Naxalite groups began organising these landless labourers for their rights.
Oliver Mendelsohn and
Marika Vicziany
Marika Vicziany is a professor of Asian Political Economy at Political and Social Inquiry (PSI), Monash University. She is a Former Director of the Monash Asia Institute at Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A PhD from SOAS, Unive ...
have explained that the untouchables who formed the bottom of the social set up in Bihar have clashed with many communities including
Yadav
Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...
s,
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
s etc. in the middle segment and Bhumihars, Rajputs,
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s from the upper segment of the society. The scholars have identified land control being the major characteristic of the opponents and not the caste identity in itself. It has been suggested that neither the exploiters of the untouchables have the same caste identity in all the region nor were the conflicts only restricted to Bihar. This has been the situation of untouchables throughout the country where they have also come into conflict with peasant communities and not only the upper castes.
While Yadav can be the bitter enemies of landless Dalits on one instance, in the other instance, poor among the Yadavs can fight together with Dalits too. It is evident from various instances that sometimes caste feelings lead to unification of Yadavs from various socio-economic background, at the other times, it may not. Further, after the rise of
Naxalism from the
Bhojpur district in Bihar, many
Backward Caste
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
leaders had provided the leadership to the movement besides the untouchable leaders, in order to improve the situation of Dalits.
Sumit Srivastava noted that more than two-third of the land in Bihar was with upper castes which included Bhumihars, Rajputs and Brahmins. The lower castes were mostly tenants, agricultural labourers and in many instances even bonded labourers. To make the situation more worse for the Dalits, the backward communities like
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
s, Yadavs and Kurmis who in some parts of Bihar had gained from the partial success of green revolution were equally violent with Dalit labourers. Overall the poor results of land reforms and failures of Bhoodan-Gramdan movement was responsible for the bad condition.
Forms of atrocities
In the feudal society of rural Bihar, the lower castes were dehumanised, as indicated by the available records of the initial decades after
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
. Author Kalyan Mukherjee's account of the
Bhojpur region (a stronghold of Naxalism in Bihar), points towards the dual challenge of wages and honour in front of the lower castes, who were subjected to the tyrannical attitude of the upper-caste landlords, primarily belonging to
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
and
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
s. Mukherjee elaborates that the landlords were not only involved in the sexual exploitation of the lower caste women, but they also treated the lower castes in inhumane manner. According to Mukherjee, sitting in front of the landlord, on the cot, even in front of their own houses, and wearing a clean
dhoti
The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the I ...
was also considered as a challenge to the authority of the upper-castes. The existence of the practices like ''Dola Pratha''— the custom in which the newly wed
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
bride was forced to spend her first night with the Rajput and Bhumihar landlord of her locality— also points towards the dehumanisation of the Dalits, under the socio-political dominance of the
upper-castes.
Origin of Dola Pratha
The accurate period of origin of "Dola pratha" can't be ascertained due to lack of records, but it became a part of "cultural practice", and the landed classes made it their privilege, leading to sexual exploitation of the
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
girls. In this custom, the newly wed Dalit bride is forced to spend her first night with her local landlord. The word "Dola" literally means ''
Palanquin
The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...
''. The origin of "Dola custom" is traced back to the legend of ''Mahteen Mata''. The existence of a temple of Mahteen Mata in the
Shahabad district
Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur District, Bihar) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split in ...
of Bihar, is testimonial to the existence of this custom.
The story of Mahteen Mata or ''Ragmati'' has two different versions, while one is
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
ic version, the other is Dalit version. According to Sanskritic version of the folklore, a landlord named Ranpal Singh
raped
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...
Ragmati, a newly wed bride, when her ''Palanquin'' was passing through his
fiefdom
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form o ...
. The poor Ragmati couldn't tolerate the loss of her "dignity", and subsequently committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. The suicide led to tension and in order to avoid punishment, Ranpal Singh spread a false story, that when he was about to touch the women, her body glared and she left for
heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
. Thus, according to him, she was a not an ordinary women but a
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
.
[The most glaring form of traditional 'ritually' sanctioned form manifests in Dola Pratha. It is difficult to ascertain the birth and origin of such a practice as it existed as far back as 'dalit memory' can recall back. Dola literally means palanquin which is used to carry newly wed bride to her husband's house/village. Due to oppressive caste system coupled with economic exploitation, the landed gentry took it as their birth right.
There are two different versions of Mahteen Mai (Maheshwar, 1997:35-39). The 'Sanskritic' version says that the local landlord of Shahabad, Ranpal Singh raped a newly wed Ragmati when her Dola was passing through his area. Her subsequent suicide led to tension. in the area. To avoid further troubles, Ranpal Singh spread the story that before he could lay hands on her, she glowed and left for heaven. Thus she was not an ordinary women but a deity.]
The Dalit version of the story, however, argue that Ranpal was habitual of raping the Dalit women and molestation the poor Dalit women was also common for him. Hence, this version contests the story shared by Ranpal. Off late, the sexual availability of the Dalit girls to the landed upper-caste became possible not only through the cultural practices like ''Dola Pratha'', but also by the dominance enjoyed by these caste groups in the rural economic structure. It has been noted that the landed gentry often
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
and molest the Dalit women during the festivals like
Holi
Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
.
Other form of oppression
Journalist Farzand Ahmed writing for
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
narrates the oppression of Dalits in pre-independence period. In 1930s, according to Ahmed, the
upper-caste landlords in the
Gaya district
}
Gaya district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. It was officially established on 3 October 1865. The district has a common boundary with the state of Jharkhand to the south. Gaya city is both the district head ...
of Bihar used to visit the houses of Dalits, demanding one seer of milk from each Dalit household. If they were unable to fulfill the demand of the landlords, the same amount of milk was to be supplied from the lactating womenfolks of the Dalits.
In another report from the
Palamu
Palamu district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India. It was formed in 1892. The administrative headquarter of the district is Medininagar (formerly DaltonGanj), situated on the Koel River.
History
The Palamu district ha ...
district of Bihar, Journalist Uttam Sengupta narrates the feudal practice of upper-caste landlords, who often visit nearby "
Harijan tola" (hamlets inhabited by the Dalits) and ask the men to send their wives and daughters to ''Kothi'' (
bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a b ...
s of the landlords). They'll further remind the Dalit men to ask their women to have a bath before visiting the ''Kothi'', in order to spend their night there. The reporting from
Jahanabad district reveals that
Thakur landlords in this region found it stimulating to rape the Dalit women in their own homes, in the presence of their menfolks. Some of these landlords would made the Dalit men lie below the cot, when they rape their wives and any noise and resistance from the former would provoke the landlord to shoot them.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
reports have identified
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
and 'rape of Dalit women' by upper-caste groups like Bhumihars as the prime reason behind some of the massacres that took place in 1990s, one such incident was Haibaspur carnage in the
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
district, where the rape of
Musahar women repeatedly by the Bhumihars, when they came to drink liquor prepared by them, triggered the carnage of Musahar people.
In the
Agiaon Assembly constituency
Agiaon Assembly constituency is one of 243 constituencies of legislative assembly of Bihar. It is part of Arrah Lok Sabha constituency along with other assembly constituencies viz. Barhara, Arrah, Tarari, Jagdishpur, Shahpur and Sandesh.
Area/ ...
of the
Bhojpur district, the local residents from the downtrodden
Musahar caste alleged the Bhumihar landlords of being exploitative in the past. According to them, they were not allowed to wear slippers in front of the landlords and their daughters were forced to visit the house of the landlords, night before their marriage. The question of 'enhancement of wages' also brought violent reaction leading to killings of the
Musahars. It is opined that the state apparatus also supported the Rajputs and the Bhumihars in these clashes.
Authors Kalyan Mukherjee and Rajendra Singh Yadav opined that the numerical supremacy was not the cause of exploitation of the people from the lower castes like
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
and
Musahars by the landed class. It was control over economic resources and the labour force which ensured the supremacy of the Rajputs and the Bhumihars. In order to keep these people in a submissive state and to maintain their overlordship over them, the 'culture of violence' was adopted by the ''lathails'' (strongmen and proteges) of the landlords. Often in the evening or in the lonely stretches of the fields, the womenfolks of lower-caste Dalits were raped by the men of the landlords. Besides ''
Begar
Veth (or ''Vethi'' or ''Vetti-chakiri'', from Sanskrit ''visti''), also known as Begar (from Persian), was a system of forced labour practised in the Indian subcontinent, in which members of populace were compelled to perform unpaid work for the ...
''(unpaid work in the fields of master), wearing of clean clothes and sitting on a cot even in front of their own houses were not allowed to the lower castes.
[Consider the oppression of the lower castes in Bihar. In Bhojpur district of Bihar, the lower castes lived in utter poverty and were also subjected to social exploitation. Kalyan Mukherjee and Rajender Singh Yadav described that the oppression of the lower castes at the hands of the upper castes did not flow from numerical superiority, but rather from niches in the economic hierarchy apropos land ownership and the monopoly over labour. Further the culture of violence ensured that the Chamar or the Musahar never raise their heads in protest. Though begar was a thing of the past, the banihar worked often for nothing. Wearing a clean dhoti, remaining seated in the presence of the master, even on a cot outside his own hut, walking erect were taboo. When the evenings fell or in lonely stretches of field, the rape of his womenfolk by the landlord's lathieths and scions complete a picture of unbridled Bumihar, Rajput over lordship.]
Sexual misconducts as part and parcel of life
In the
Shahabad district
Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur District, Bihar) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split in ...
, Rajput and Bhumihar landowners frequently
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d lower-caste women, and by 1930s, the
Triveni Sangh
Triveni Sangh was a caste coalition and political party established in Shahabad District of Bihar in pre-independence India to voice the political solidarity of "middle peasant castes" as well as to carve a space in democratic politics for the ...
gave the abused women a platform to express their frustration.
In a survey conducted in a few villages in Bhojpur, rape of lower caste women from
Musahar and
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
caste, by the Rajput and Bhumihar landlords was a major cause of anguish until Naxalism emerged on the scene.
As per one opinion, in parts of central Bihar, "Even as late as the 1970s , the rape of lower caste women by Rajputs and Bhumihars had almost become a tradition, an accepted social evil, a fate which many bore unquestioningly".
Ranabir Samaddar
Ranabir Samaddar is an Indian political scientist. He holds the Distinguished Chair in Migration and Forced Migration Studies at the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group. He was a PRIO Global Fellow from 2014–2017.
Studies and early career
He ...
cited example of one Anwa village where upper-caste Rajputs practiced ''Dola Pratha'' in which the newly wed bride of the
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s and landless labourers (who worked for wages in their fields), had to spend one night with the landlord before commissioning of her nuptial rites. According to Govind Kelkar, the Co-ordinator of the Gender and Development Studies Unit at the
Asian Institute of Technology
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), founded in 1959, is an Intergovernmental organization, international organization for higher education situated 40km north of Bangkok, Thailand. It specializes in engineering, technology, advanced technol ...
in
Pathumthani,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
:
A report from a particular village of Bihar called Sonatola tells that in neighbouring village Berath, some Dalit women alleged that when the lower caste women rejected the landlord's proposal of sexual contact, it was common for the landlords of the village to falsely implicate the male members of their families and their kin in criminal cases. There was also a practice to force the Dalit women from agricultural labourer families to have sexual contacts with their Rajput landlords. Besides sexual assaults, the drawing of water from the village wells and walking on the pathways alongside the landlords in that particular Rajput village were also forbidden for the lower castes as per their allegations. Some women also alleged that they had faced the undignified teasings like "pinching on the breast" by
upper-caste landlords earlier.
The upper-caste men also exercised their social control and hegemony in the rural society through appropriation of the sexuality of the Dalit women. While the upper-caste women were secluded and confined to the home by their menfolks, the lower caste (particularly landless labourer women from the Dalit families) were not confined to home leaving them vulnerable to the gaze of upper caste men, who often forget the notion of 'purity and pollution' when getting into sexual contacts with the lower caste women. The Dalit men were often unable to save the dignity of their women primarily due to power relation and work situation in the rural areas. The pattern of sexual atrocities against the Dalit women were often more than just rapes and sexual misconducts. In one such example from a village of
Samastipur
Samastipur is a city and a municipal corporation (nagar nigam) in Bihar, India. It is the headquarter of Samastipur district and comes under Darbhanga division. The Budhi Gandak river flows through the town. It is one of the five railway divisi ...
district of north Bihar in 1994, a woman named Bhukli Devi was paraded naked on the charges of stealing some potatoes from the fields of Bhumihars. The public humiliation was followed by her
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
and subsequently her ''
Saree
A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various Languages of South Asia, regional languages include:
* as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO
* bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO
* gu, સાડી ...
'' was inserted into her
vagina
In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...
. The insertion of ''Saree'' ( a piece of cloth) in the vagina of Dalit women could be understood as the upper-caste conception of the ritual impurity of the womb of a Dalit woman and their condemnation of the birth of future progeny of the Dalits.
Bhojpur region remained a hotbed of caste wars in Bihar. The region witnessed one of the biggest massacres of the Bihar. One such was 'Naarhi massacre' in which 7 Dalits were killed by the Upper Caste landlords. A reporting in the region by
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...
, involving the local Dalit people belonging to Musahar caste, revealed the presence of feudal practices like not allowing the Dalits to sit in the presence of the feudal lords, and prevalence of "bonded labour system" in the past. It was also alleged by the locals that most of the development fund allotted by the government for the region was utilised in the regions inhabited by local Rajputs.
By the 1960s, most of the prevalent feudal practices came to an end due to the activism of
Kisan Sabhas, the organization led by middle peasant castes who also brought the issues of women rights and dignity within its fold and allowed the agricultural labourer women to voice for themselves.
Ranvir Sena
![Ranvir Sena affected BiharDistricts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Ranvir_Sena_affected_BiharDistricts.png)
Out of all caste based armies of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, which were launched to take on the
Naxalites, who were encouraging the lower-caste
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s to become vocal for their rights,
Ranvir Sena
The Ranvir Sena is a militia functioning as a landlord group, mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The group was formed by Bhumihar landlords in 1994, with the aim to counter the influence of various left-wing militants, Naxalite groups ...
was the most dreaded one. The Sena derived its identity and political support from
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
s, but other upper-caste groups like
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s also supported it. It was manned by the members of both Rajput and the Bhumihar caste.
According to some sources, Rang Bahadur Singh Rajput happened to be the first president of Ranvir Sena, but later on the leadership passed into the hands of
Brahmeshwar Singh. It committed many massacres on Dalits, out of which
Laxmanpur Bathe massacre
The Laxmanpur Bathe massacre was a massacre conducted in the Laxmanpur Bathe village in Arwal district of Bihar, where 58 scheduled caste people were allegedly killed by members of the Ranvir Sena in retaliation for the Bara massacre in whi ...
is most notable. An eyewitness account of one of the resident of the particular village, collected by a visiting team of
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
explains the killing pattern of the Sena members and atrocities they committed against the
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
women and girls. Surajmani Devi, a thirty two years old victim states:
The tactics followed by Ranvir Sena members to terrorise the lower caste villagers included
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
s, looting of villages and massacres. The raising of voice against the rapes of Dalit women and girls also brought retaliation from the Sena members in some cases. As for example in 1997, three Dalit youths were gunned down for protesting against the rape of a Dalit girl by the upper-caste youths.
The hobnobbing between the state administration, particularly the police force and Ranvir Sena members, also remained a controversy for long. Many Naxalites were killed in police encounters while Ranvir Sena members were never subjected to confrontation with the police force. In districts of central Bihar, particularly the
Bhojpur district, the police force has traditionally been dominated by the upper-caste Rajputs and Bhumihars, and in Bhojpur, "caste ties" has remained an important factor in the police force. Human rights activists hence argued that the collusion between Ranvir Sena and police officials have resulted in some small scale extrajudicial killings of Naxalites as well, apart from the large scale massacres perpetrated by the Sena members.
Ranvir Sena also enjoyed considerable political patronage with the chief Brahmeswar Singh himself being an activist of
Bhartiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
. The Sena was also said to be dominated by the leaders of various political parties which included
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
and
Janata Party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
. It was also alleged that Sena received arms and ammunition from some of the former members of
Central Reserve Police Force
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role li ...
. According to reports from ''People Union For Democratic Right'' and
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
, the politicians from
Ara district often used the Sena during election campaigns to gain votes in their favour, as the "booth capturing" (forcibly capturing the votes of people in the favour of a particular candidate) and manipulation of elections were common phenomenon in the 1990s. Further, the prosecution of the members of Sena were negligible and its members were frequently given bails after being arrested on various charges. In contrast, the members of left-wing extremist groups when held were often given death sentences.
According to one opinion, Ranvir Sena alone was responsible for raping more than 200 Dalit women including young girls of the age of 6 years to 70 years old elderly women. Between 1995 and 1999, it is estimated that they were also responsible for killing of more than 400 Dalits. Most of the
carnage organised by the Sena took place in
Bhojpur and
Jahanabad districts.
Bathani Tola incident
In 1996, a group of armed men belonging to
Ranvir Sena
The Ranvir Sena is a militia functioning as a landlord group, mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The group was formed by Bhumihar landlords in 1994, with the aim to counter the influence of various left-wing militants, Naxalite groups ...
(comprising
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
and
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
men) rushed from Baraki Kharaon village of the Bhojpur district of Bihar towards Bathani Tola village, inhabited by
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
landless labourers. These men were armed with swords and guns and the subsequent attack by them on the village led to killing of 8 children, 12 women and 1 men, all belonging to poor strata of society. There were three police stations within a distance of 1 Kilometres from the village but despite the carnage being conducted for at least 2 hours, no policeman reached the village in order to prevent the crime. As per news reports, the perpetrators chopped off the breasts of a 25 years old women before killing her, an 18-year-old girl was
gang-raped and a newborn was tossed in the air and slashed into two parts with swords.
This was a time, when political mobilisation of the upper caste landlords in the support of Ranvir Sena was taking place and major changes in the socio-economic condition of the Bihar was occurring. The organised communal massacre were becoming routine affairs according to the news reports and as per one opinion, these killings can be understood as assertion by the upper-caste to save their honour amidst the rising Backward Caste movement. As per a report, 16 years later, the
Patna High Court
The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915.
The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, ...
acquitted all the accused of the massacre and interestingly no comments were made regarding the land order of the
Bhojpur district, which was primary reason behind the communal massacre of 1996.
The village of Baraki Kharaon, which was adjacent to the village of Bathani Tola (a Dalit and Muslim inhabited area), was stronghold of
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
and
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
landlords. In 1990s the movement for minimum wages reached its peak and the disenchanted agricultural labourers and poor people of the village and adjoining region started electing
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
leaders to the
Panchayat
The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...
and
Legislative Assembly. The Rajput and Bhumihar landlords of the region were involved in illegal acquisition of the ''Panchayati land'' (land belonging to local bodies) and in the subsequent events in 1995, a local ''Imam Bara'' ( a place of worship for the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s) was occupied and destroyed. The
Patna High Court
The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915.
The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, ...
gave verdict in the favour of Muslims and to implement the decision of the High Court, Dalits and Muslims had participated in ''Karbala Mukti Morcha'' (a rally to gain control of the illegally occupied land), in order to showcase the solidarity. This intensified the tension between the landlords and the Dalits leading to infamous carnage of 1996.
1997 Ekwari incident
Ekwari village of the
Bhojpur witnessed another scene of extremism in 1997, when the members of Ranvir Sena launched an attack on the lower caste villagers in collaboration with the police. As per the media reports and the account of the victims, the police forced the people to open the gates of their houses, conducted searching operations and left the way open for Sena members to perpetrate the massacre of the people belonging to
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
communities belonging to
Dhobi
Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers.
They are a large community, ...
,
Kahar
The Kahars are a community of palanquin bearers originating from the Gangatic region.
Kahars are present in most parts of India, but are concentrated in North India. They are found mainly in West Uttar Pradesh, in Sarsawa, Saharanpur, Farruk ...
,
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
and
Lohar
Lohar is a social group in India, Nepal and Pakistan. They are associated with iron smelting work. They form part of a loose grouping of traditionally artisanal castes known as Panchals.
Lohars worship Lord Vishwakarma and other Hindu gods and ...
caste. As per a report of ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'', the attackers also raped two women; a 15-year-old girl and a pregnant woman, who was said to be a relative of Jai Kahar, a veteran CPI-ML activist. The rape was followed by killing of the two victims and a 10-year boy was also shot dead. A visit by
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
team in 1998 to the village revealed that a police camp was established in the neighborhood of the village, but it was in the region inhabited by the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
s. The residents of the victim village, particularly the leader of the lower-caste villagers also alleged that there exist collusion between the members of Ranvir Sena and the police. In his oral account to the team of
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
, he said:
1998 Nagri Baazar massacre
In May 1998, upper-caste landlords, in the Nagri Bazar village of the
Bhojpur district of Bihar, gunned down 10 members of the
Schedule Caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
. The incident was reported to be a part of the regular skirmishes between the
CPI(ML) and the Ranvir Sena, and some of the victims were reported to be the supporter of the former organization. As per news reports, most of the victims were wage labourers, share-croppers and small vendors. The 11 accused were charged and sentenced by the lower court. These included Chandra Bhushan Singh, Sudarshan Pandey and Ravindra Singh, who were sentenced to death by the trial court. While Arvind Pandey; Kameshwar Rai alias Kameshwar Singh; Sri Kant Pandey; Dadan Pandey; Salik Pandey alias Shaligram Pandey; Janeshwar Pandey; Anil Kumar Singh; and Virendra Pandey were handed life imprisonment. In 2013, the
Patna High Court
The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915.
The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, ...
, acquitted the convicts, on the ground of lack of sufficient evidences, which resulted in fear and a sense of insecurity among the
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s of the victim village.
As per news reports, the High Court rejected the evidences provided by brother of one of the victims. Umashankar, the brother of victim Sunil Kumar, who was shot dead, allegedly by the members of Ranvir Sena, claimed to be a witness of the incident. But, the High Court found his conduct to be indicative of his habit of falsely implicating the innocent persons.
Other significant incidents of violence by the Upper-Caste landlords
1989 Danwar-Bihta and 1991 Deo-Saharia massacre
The two massacres were perpetrated by the same group of landlords, the "Jwala Singh group", which was active in
Bhojpur region. In 1990s, the elections to the
legislative assembly or to the Parliament, were hardly free and fair, as explained by the contemporary media reports. The
Ballot rigging
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
events were common, and Dalits, who constituted approximately 14% of the state's population, were forcibly excluded by the landed castes from casting their votes. The incident of 1989, at Danwar-Bihta village, took place due to a clash between the
Indian People's Front
The Indian People's Front (IPF) was a mass front organisation founded in Delhi between 24–26 April 1982. It was conceptualised by Vinod Mishra and it was operated as the open mass front of the CPIML Liberation between 1982–1994. The front p ...
, a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
political party, supported by the Dalits and the
Naxalites and
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
landlords like Jwala Singh and his henchmen.
In the 1989 event, the attempt of upper-caste youths to capture the polling booth, during an election was negated by the Naxalites, who shot them dead in the daylight. The "Jwala Singh group" allegedly retailiated and gunned down large number of Dalit men and women. It was reported that, the
Harijan
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a ...
s in this area supported the ultra-left groups like
Indian People's Front
The Indian People's Front (IPF) was a mass front organisation founded in Delhi between 24–26 April 1982. It was conceptualised by Vinod Mishra and it was operated as the open mass front of the CPIML Liberation between 1982–1994. The front p ...
, because of the lack of empathy towards them on the part of Dalit leaders, after joining the mainstream politics. As per reports, in the infamous Danwar-Bihta incident, 23 Dalits were killed, while in the Deo-Sahiara incident, 14 more were killed, allegedly by Jwala Singh and his men.
The primary cause of the 1989 incident was attempt to exclude Dalits from voting, and subsequent skirmishes between
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s and Naxalites.In the 1991 event, however, the suspicions that the victim Dalits are murderers of three of the henchmen of local landlords, led to the midnight carnage. Even after being implicated in 1989 massacre, Jwala Singh managed to get "anticipatory bail", and ensured that, in the subsequent elections, not a single Dalit can vote.
Dalits and Backward Castes after emergence of Naxalism
It was evident that the emergence of
Naxalism in the plains of Bihar took place due to two main factors. The question of ''Ijjat'' (honour) was one of them. According to
Gail Omvedt
Gail Omvedt (2 August 1941 – 25 August 2021) was an American-born Indian sociologist and human rights activist. She was a prolific writer and published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India. ...
, in the central
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
s of Bihar the prevalent feudalism and electoral malpractices led a school teacher found the 'naxal movement of Bihar'. The
Bhojpur district became the birthplace of Naxalism in Bihar due to various factors, most important being unequal distribution of the land and the frequent rapes of the Dalit women by the landlords of the
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
and the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
castes. The founder of the movement was
Jagdish Mahto.
[
The Naxalite challenge developed in the central districts where some agricultural development was producing an objective base to challenge the bonds of ex ploitation they called "semifeudalism." Its first mass leader was Jagdish Mahto, a koeri teacher who had read Ambedkar before he discovered Marx and started a paper in the town of Arrah called "Harijanistan" (dalit land), even leading a march of dalits on this demand. This was similar to innumerable assertions throughout India at the time, but Bihar contradictions drove Mahto in a more violent direction. Beaten up after supporting the CPI in the 1967 elections, he turned to Naxalism and began to organize murders of landlords and their gang ster henchmen in the area around his native village. The issues on which dalits were stirring were not only those of their abominably low wages, but also izzat, social honor, and especially honor defined in terms of the unrestricted and arro gant access of the upper castes to dalit women. In 1971, before he was killed, Mahto told a fellow teacher, "Brother, I know that I am going to die one of these days. But I will die partly satisfied. For one change that our movement has brought about is that landlords now do not dare to touch the women of the poor."] In the north Bihar, the Upper Castes represented the class which owned most of the land and other castes including the
Upper-Backwards and
Schedule Castes
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
represented the land-scarce group, while the situation was entirely different in central Bihar, where the "
land reforms
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
" had brought to the fore new landlords, who hailed from the
Backward Castes
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
.
In some of the districts like
Aurangabad
Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...
district of Bihar, the forces of Dalits against the Upper Caste landlords belonging to Rajput caste were led by the peasant communities like the
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
s and the
Yadav
Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...
s from the front, with large presence of Dalits behind them.
Confrontation with the Backward Caste landlords
It was not only the caste armies of the upper-caste landlords which perpetrated the caste based atrocities on the Dalits, but also that of Backward Castes like
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
s. In a village called Dumri, located in
Jehanabad district
Jehanabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. Jehanabad town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Jehanabad district is a part of Magadh Division, and is located on the confluence of two small riv ...
of Bihar, the Kurmi were considered as the "dominant caste", just like the other villages of the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
and all the households belonging to the Kurmi caste were owners of vast stretches of land. It was natural ground for the
Bhumi Sena
Bhumi Sena was a private army which operated in the Patna, Nalanda, Jehanabad, and Gaya regions of Bihar, India in the 1980s, made up of members of the Kurmi caste.
History
Bhumi Sena was formed by Kurmi landowners in 1982, in response to the ...
— a caste army of Kurmi landlords to strengthen its root here. Alarmed by the killing of the prominent Kurmi landlords, Bhumi Sena was formed in Punpun-Masaurhi region of the
Patna district
Patna district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in eastern India. Patna, the capital of Bihar, is the district headquarters. The Patna district is a part of Patna division. The Patna district is divided into 6 Sub-divisions ( ...
in 1982 and soon after its formation it arrived in the Dumari village. There were also some sympathizers of the
Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
s and the "Dalit resurgence" among the members of Kurmi caste. These were primarily the poor Kurmis, who were at an unprivileged position in the village of Dumri due to their low socio-economic status. The Bhumi Sena targeted not only the Dalits but also those members of Kurmi caste, who sympathized with the latter and were part of the Maoist movement.
The Sena not only forced the Kurmi households to give "protection money" and support to its cadres but also tried to radicalise the Kurmi youths in the name of saving the 'prestige and pride' of the community. Slogans were raised to woo the community to fight the Maoists. The absence of
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s in the village and due to presence of limited number of households of the
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
and the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
s, the Kurmis were at the top of caste hierarchy in the village.The
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s which included castes like
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
,
Dusadh
The Paswan, also known as Dusadh, are a Dalit community from eastern India. They are found mainly in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Urdu word ''Paswan'' means bodyguard or "one who defends". The origin of the word, per the ...
,
Musahar,
Dhobi
Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers.
They are a large community, ...
and
Dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
were at the bottom of this hierarchy and the Kurmis, whom they refer to as ''
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
'' and ''
Malik
Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...
'', imposed on them all those discriminatory practices which the upper-caste landlords applied in other areas of Bihar. This includes getting up from their cot, when the Kurmi Malik passed by, even in their own homes. They were also not allowed to wear watches or sandles.
Despite the struggle between the Kurmis and the Dalits in this village, some Kurmi youths were sympathetic to the Dalits and ironically the Maoist first came into the village on invitation of a Kurmi youth, who was a member of
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
and a sympathiser of the Dalits. Some landlords from the Kurmi caste even claimed that the arrival of Maoists in the village was not due to any form of oppression but due to factional fights amongst the Kurmis themselves. They also claimed that the bringing of Maoists in the village was aimed at establishing the supremacy of the other group of rival Kurmis, who were against the peaceful co-existence of the farmers and the labourers.
The struggle here was led by an organisation called ''Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti'' (MKSS), a front organization of
CPI (ML) Party Unity. Most of the Dalits joined the struggle under the aegis of ''MKSS'' and while its president Dr. Vinayan was from
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, its vice president was a person from the Kurmi caste from
Jehanabad
Jehanabad is a town in Nagar Parishad and is the headquarters of Jehanabad district in the Indian state of Bihar. Jehanabad is famous for Barabar Hill Caves these are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, dating from the Maurya Empire ...
itself. The ordinary people didn't draw a distinction between the ''Party Unity'' and the ''MKSS'', and they used a collective term ''Sangathan'', to denote the two groups. However, the activities and composition of the two groups were different.
The ''Party Unity'' maintained its own armed squad and mostly drew its membership from the
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s. The commander of the armed squad was a Dalit named Raju Bhai. The ''Party Unity's'' first armed intervention in the village of Dumri took place in 1981, in support of a strike organised by the ''MKSS''. The ''MKSS'' preferred the mass protests and economic blockade of the landlords, as their method to show the dissension against the feudal setup.
The caste strife was witnessed between the Dalit Maoists and the Kurmi landlords in 1981, when a Kurmi landlord called Munna Singh, who operated a
brick kiln
Brick Kiln is a settlement in the east of the island of Nevis in Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands ...
, refused to increase the wages of his Dalit labourers. In order to keep the Kiln functioning amidst the protest organised by Dalit labourers under the banner of ''MKSS'', he brought his own gunmen and other labourers. The Dalit protesters tried to stop new workers from operating the kiln, as a response to which, the gunmen opened fire. The
PU armed squad also retaliated from the homes of the Dalits, and a gun battle ensued. A landlord was killed and Maoists hunged his head on a tree. The battle was followed by the policy of "selective annihilation", in which most oppressive landlords were killed one after another. It was this policy of annihilation that led to the rise of
Bhumi Sena
Bhumi Sena was a private army which operated in the Patna, Nalanda, Jehanabad, and Gaya regions of Bihar, India in the 1980s, made up of members of the Kurmi caste.
History
Bhumi Sena was formed by Kurmi landowners in 1982, in response to the ...
— the caste army of Kurmi landlords.
By the end of 1982, the retaliatory action by the Bhumi Sena, and the activity of Police in the region, led to the weakening of Maoists. The Bhumi Sena forced many Dalits and the Kurmis, who sympathised with them, to leave the region and migrate elsewhere. The Maoist guriella now resorted to "economic blockade" and selective killing once again, and in a short period of time, as many as 16 landlords were killed. By 1984, the tactics followed by the Maoists, of burning the stores of grain of the Kurmis, broke the resistance on latter's part. The Kurmis resolved to stop this fight with the ''Sangathan'' and the terms of surrender were decided. Pradeep Das, a Dalit leader, from the
Ravidasi
Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is an Indian religion based on the teachings of Ravidass, who is revered as a satguru.
Historically, Ravidassia represented a range of beliefs in the Indian subcontinent, with some devotees of Ravidass counting th ...
community, organised the surrender of the Kurmi landlords, in which the latter gave written confirmation to the ''MKSS'', that they will not wage a war against it and will not interfere in its activities. The surender led to an end of all the feudal practices and discrimination, and a Dalit leadership emerged in the village as a challenge to Kurmi dominance.
In the Magadhi region of Bihar, it had been observed that the villages with mixed population of different communities were more inclined to violence against Dalits when compared to the villages which had population of only upper castes and Dalits. The villages having
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
s as dominant caste with good numbers of Dalit population were equally vulnerable to violence and land dispute with Dalits.
1977 Belchhi massacre
Belchhi is a village located in the
Patna district
Patna district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in eastern India. Patna, the capital of Bihar, is the district headquarters. The Patna district is a part of Patna division. The Patna district is divided into 6 Sub-divisions ( ...
, and in 1970s, Kurmis happened to be the "dominant caste" here. The village has nominal presence of upper-castes and the "educational mobility" between the upper-caste was also nominal, contrary to the other caste groups, like the
Scheduled Caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
and the middle range castes, in which Kurmis were included. The region was known as "Kurmistan" (land of Kurmis), and the peasants of the Kurmi community had become landlords, with complete monopoly over the agricultural land, as a result of their flourishing business of Onion and Potato cultivation, which brought surplus income to them. They owned most of the cold storage, trucks and brick-kilns in the area and the dominance of armed gangsters like Indradeo Chaudhary, Mahavir Mahto and Parsuram Dhanuk, also bolstered the preponderance of Kurmis over the region.
Of the Schedule Caste groups, the Paswans and the
Musahars, were numerically important. The Dalits, were led by Singheshwar Paswan, popularly known as "Singhwa", who according to several accounts, didn't like the exploitation of Dalits. He was also reported to be involved in a murder. Singhwa challenged Mahavir Mahto and the "Kurmi dominance", and this became the root cause of the 1977 event, which drew nationwide attention. Singhwa mobilised his friends and his castemen, and asserted himself before the ''
Kulak
Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...
s'' of the Kurmi caste, which led to threats and intimidation by the latter; he was warned and the ''Kulaks'', showing a potential threat in him, decided to eliminate him at all.
In May 1977, a gang under the leadership of Indradeo Chaudhary, Mahavir Mahto and Parsuram Dhanuk attacked Singhwa. The
Dusadh
The Paswan, also known as Dusadh, are a Dalit community from eastern India. They are found mainly in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Urdu word ''Paswan'' means bodyguard or "one who defends". The origin of the word, per the ...
s and Musahar, retailiated by firing at the attacking party and pelted stones at them, emboldened by the initial victory, they were to take a step ahead, but soon, another gang emerged from the Mahavir's house, and to save themselves, the "pupils of Singhwa" rushed towards Rohan Mahto's house and locked themselves in. The massacre took place, after the "hiding party" was forced out of the house by the armed men belonging to the three gangs, and the shooting of the eleven people was followed by the burning all of them in funeral pyre, prepared by the Kurmis, who stood nearby as the witnesses.
Arun Ranjan reports the event as follows:
Different opinions surfaced after the massacre. For some, like
Charan Singh
Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.'
Charan S ...
, the former Prime Minister of
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, it was not an issue of "feudal dominance" of the one caste over another, and
twas merely a conflict between two criminal gangs. Others, however, dispute this view. The incident saw death on people, who primarily belonged to
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
castes, but along with them, some of the
Backward Caste
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
people, belonging to Sonar caste were also killed. Singhwa is said to have mobilised people belonging to other castes as well, in opposition to the tyrant attitude of the Kurmi landlords, who according to the reports, colluded with the local police force, on many occasions. The rigging of polling booth, during elections and the virtual control of the infrastructure like roads on occasions, was also common for the Kurmis. Singhwa was also supported by a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
, who had faced the wrath of Kumis in the past.
According to Lal (1981):
1980 Pipra massacre
Pipra was one of the large-scale massacres committed on untouchables by Kurmis within a time span of two and a half years, the previous ones being Belchi in 1977 and Bishrampur in 1978. Pipra was a village in Punpun division of
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
district in Bihar. The conflict happened because of a land dispute between two communities of
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
and
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
. Historically, the village of Pipra was owned by Muslims who had left the place after independence. As per Chamars, during communal violence of 1947, the Muslims who were departing from the village were provided safe refuge by Chamars and the Muslims in return had rewarded them with a four bigha of land. According to them, the Kurmis through various means had occupied all of the land in the village and only a small plot of land remained with their community. In the subsequent period, the status of Kurmis in the village had also changed from being labourers in the fields of Muslims to the landowners employing labourers. Kurmis on their part claimed that they had purchased the land from the Muslims who left the village.
The situation in the village was tense for quite a period of time. There was also a sexual scandal involving Kurmi landowner named Radhika Singh and a Chamar woman. the Chamars were angry over it. The political discourse in the village was also impacted by Naxalite related conflicts in the surrounding regions. The Chamars had also stopped working for Kurmis over the issue of poor wages. Before the massacre, two Kurmi landlords named Bhola Singh and Deonandan Singh of Kisan Suraksha Sangh were killed in December 1979 and January 1980 respectively. The Kurmis in the village suspected some involvement of Chamars into the incident. On the night of 25/26 February 1980, in a carefully organised manner 500 Kurmis from many villages descended on two Chamar houses and shot dead four men, four women, three boys and three girls. The bodies of the dead along with their houses and cattles were put on fire. The mob had left the village before police arrived at crime scene in the next morning.
Backward Castes in the Dalit-Naxal movement
The broad categorisation of the various caste groups in North India falls in three categories. The upper-caste or the
Forward Castes, who constituted some big ''
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
s'', but most of the landowners from the upper-caste had such landholdings, which might qualify them as belonging to the "middle peasants" category. In fact, their landholdings, barring some exceptions were identical to the intermediate caste groups of
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
,
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
and the
Yadav
Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...
s— the another category of castes, who fall within the categorisation of
Other Backward Class
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
. The economic status of majority of the upper-castes, thus, was similar to the middle peasants from these Backward Castes.
The caste was the most important unifier at the rural level for the upper-castes, as on the question of "wage suppression" and making the hiring of Dalit labours affordable for the farming families of their caste, the upper-castes had common opinion. On these questions, even poorest of the poor upper-caste families united with the prosperous families of their own caste. On the other hand, many
OBCs, who owned no land, worked along with Dalits as the
agricultural labourer
A farmworker, farmhand or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harv ...
s without much interaction with them on the social level. However, some of the landed families of the Backward Castes also shared same interest with the farming families of the upper-caste, on the question of wages and affordability of the agricultural labourers. This section of the Backward Castes complained that due to Maoists the availability of cheap labour for the commencement of farming operations has become difficult. But, above all, the social interaction and alliance of upper-caste and the Backward Castes were not viable, because of the
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
s related to
inter-caste marriage Intercaste marriage (ICM), also known as marrying out of caste, is a form of exogamous nuptial union that involve two individuals belonging to different castes. Intercaste marriages are particularly perceived as socially unacceptable and taboo in mo ...
s and the social interaction between them.
The Maoists primarily considered the landed gentry from the upper-caste as the class enemy of the Dalits and the poor. They mobilised the landless agricultural labourers from the Dalit communities as well as the Backward Castes. Though, some of the rich farmers from the Backward Castes were anti-Maoist, given the economic prosperity they achieved in the years after independence. The Maoist considered the Backward Castes as the sympathetic group for the cause of Dalits and the landless labourers. The Maoists, hence, recruited from the Backward Castes as well, apart from the Dalits.
A report published by the
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation
The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (abbreviated: CPI(ML)L or CPI-ML(L) or CPIML Liberation) also referred to as the Liberation Group, is a Communist political party in India.
History
In 1973 the original Commun ...
, titled ''Reports From The Flaming Fields Of Bihar'', asserts that the unity with the middle peasant castes like the
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
s develops easily because of the position of these castes in the social hierarchy and their status in the rural power relation. It identifies that being hard-working nature and sufferers of both the discrimination (by the upper-caste landlords) and the widespread ''
dacoity
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial ...
'', as the primary reason behind attraction of these castes to the revolutionary movement. The report also outlines that barring some exceptions,
Yadav
Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...
s also serve as good allies of the
Leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
s.
Socio-political empowerment
![Birbal Jha speaking for SCST Welfare Dept Bihar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Birbal_Jha_speaking_for_SCST_Welfare_Dept_Bihar.jpg)
The
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...
government in Bihar identified the most deprived of the Dalits, by categorising the Dalit castes into two categories. A new category of ''Mahadalits'' was created, containing castes on the state list of
Scheduled Caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
s, other than the
Dusadh
The Paswan, also known as Dusadh, are a Dalit community from eastern India. They are found mainly in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Urdu word ''Paswan'' means bodyguard or "one who defends". The origin of the word, per the ...
,
Chamar
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
,
Pasi
Pasi may refer to:
* Pasi (caste), a Hindu caste of northern India
* ''Pasi'' (film), a 1979 Tamil film
* Pasi (given name)
* Pasi (surname), a surname of the Pasi community
* Pasi, Papua New Guinea, a settlement near the coast of Sandaun Provinc ...
and
Dhobi
Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers.
They are a large community, ...
caste. Since these four castes were better placed than rest of the Dalit communities, in terms of taking benefits of the
reservation policy of the government, and were more politically conscious, a need for sub-categorisation of the SCs arose. An organisation called ''Mahadalit Vikas Mission'' was also created to enlist the Dalit castes on the basis of their socio-economic deprivation.
References
{{Reflist
Caste system in India
Caste system in Nepal
Social groups of Bihar