2024 General Election - Representation of Dalits | Arun Srivastava

For the first time in electoral history the Lok Sabha election underlined Dalit’s determination and zeal to get political recognition

The 2024 Lok Sabha election will be remembered for two major reasons; first, it protected Dalits from losing their identity and second, prevented India from becoming the Hindu Rashtra. The electoral battle of 2024 has also a very consequential aspect: it stoked the apparition of the peasant struggle of late sixties and inspired the old comrades of yesteryears, who had led the movement then to rise against the rightist and fascist BJP led by Narendra Modi.

It was the election in 1969 that brought about crucial strategical transformation in the Naxalite movement which was in later years was even christened as “Bhojpur Struggle”. The electoral battle delivered a number of stalwarts who spearheaded the Naxalite movement in Bihar and Eastern UP. These leaders born out of the electoral war provided a new direction and accorded a new meaning to the Dalit self-assertion. It manifested Dalits’ struggle for protecting and conserving their prestige and dignity.

Undoubtedly elections protect the bourgeoise interest it is also embodies “democratic silent revolution.” Since late sixties there has been a serious surge in for democratic sharing of power among the Dalits and socially and economically section of the people kept on the periphery. It is also noticeable that craze and zeal for participation in the electoral process of the Dalits and proletariats have motivated creation of new political parties. Their supporting the regional parties owes to this factor. Elections is also a means to empower the Dalits and proletariats to choose their leaders.

Exploitation and repression of the Dalits has been a regular phenomenon. For feudal lords and upper caste landed gentry insulting and oppressing Dalits is like their fundamental rights. But what has been really intriguing that a substantial and honest explanation has not surfaced in public domain about why they have been at the target of the feudal oppression and caste discrimination.

There is a general notion that paying lower wages, assertion of their identity and violating the dignity of the Dalit women have been the primary reasons for feudal lords perpetrating brutal repression on them. Of course these are certainly the serious issues, but the character and narrative of the repression makes it apparent that there is more than meet the eyes.

Irrespective of what Hindu mythology and its Varna system, India having four varnas, as embedded in Manusmriti say, the Dalits are the original inhabitants of India and are not the parts of the Aryas who migrated to India. They are victims of Manuvadi superstructure which intends to continue their social control and political hegemony and dominance on them. These upper caste and feudal lords are always scared of losing their status and gains to them.

Dalits have systematically and symmetrically have been losing their identity like the Adivasis and the process has gained momentum since fifties with RSS, rightist force, conspiring to convert them to Hindu. Undeniably while the economic changes have brought about transformation in a section of the Dalits, they have moved to the status of Neo-Middle class, by and large a large number of dalits continue to suffer. RSS leadership knows that for making the feudal and upper caste people rule, it is imperative that they should agree to its postulate and accept its derivative that they are Hindus.

Like Adivasis, they have been the original or Moolnivasi of India, but they do not possess a distinct separate caste or community identity. Adivasis have Sarna. But there is no such distinct and assertive religious identity for Dalits. They follow most of the Hindu rituals. But there is one distinct difference and it relates to their social and cultural system. In modern India they have adopted Hindu gods and deities; have started worshipping Chhatha puja, dussera and other deities, but their gods which they have been worshiping traditionally, have been different than the Hindu gods. Like Adivasis they too believe in nature. Most of their deities imbibe the natural power and spirit.

RSS wants them to adopt the Hindu religious norms and rituals. And this can be accomplished only when Dalits convert to Hinduism. Of course in the fast transforming economic scenario, the Dalits have come to adopt the new social and religious orders. They have opted for new type attire. Though they striving for upper mobility and emerge as the powerful section of the decision makers, the tools and dress makes it abundantly clear that their power to spend is quite miserable and yet to compete with the rich and powerful.

Experts and economists have used the word Neo-Middle class for them who live in urban areas. In their pursuit for upper mobility and empowerment some of them have also become owners of bikes. But this is despised by the feudal and rich. It reminds of a poem of Yadi Acchoot Pahanta Hai Saaf Kapdey (If The Untouchable Wears Clean Clothes), Ambedkar writes: “Why is there atrocity on an untouchable, when he puts on clothes that are clean? How is a Hindu hurt by it?"

In fact the rich and feudal takes is an affront to their authority. For Ambedkar, the suit was a strategy for political resistance, an assertion of power, a means to break the caste barrier in a society that had rules even for the clothes that Dalits—or what the upper castes called untouchables—could or could not wear. Dalits wearing modern dress while certainly is their compulsion, but at the same time it embodies their assertion of identity. Dalit entrepreneur and writer Chandra Bhan Prasad says ‘Manudharma, or the laws of Manu, codify the rights and duties of various social groups prearranged into castes. According to that, we are told we can only wear the apparel of corpses, or ragged, old, dirty clothes. We are not supposed to be nicely dressed or even be clean".

Even today in the rural areas of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and other Hindi states, Dalit grooms cannot ride on horse in their marriage procession. Keeping moustache by a dalit is perceived as an open challenge to the authorities feudal lords and landed gentry. Defiant of the wishes of landlords have witnessed many violent clashes. The unwritten rules prohibit them from dressing well.

Dalits were victims of exclusions. There is no way they could have been given any decision-making powers. They were pariah. Findings of a 2001-02 study conducted by the ActionAid in 565 villages across 11 states had found that untouchability was still being practiced, mostly in the private and religious spheres. In one out of 10 villages, Dalits were not allowed to wear new or bright clothes, sunglasses or footwear, or even use umbrellas or bicycles.

The attitude of the upper caste and feudal lords towards Dalits could be made out of a news paper report: Mayawati. In 2003, during her birthday celebrations wore a diamond necklace, diamond-studded earrings and a bracelet. A national newspaper covering the event ran this headline on its front page: “For the oppressed, covered in diamonds, government plays host at Mayawati’s birthday bash".

Manmohan Singh government’s economic policies and programmes, and especially Globalization contributed to change in their social attitude and thought process. It also brought about a change in their choice of cloths. The chairman of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dicci), Milind Kamble, displays the mood of the Dalits, says he is particular about his crisp shirts and well-cut suits. Says Kamble: “Society wanted us to look ugly and dirty. Following Ambedkar, we are just trying to fight this discrimination."

The trickle down effect of the economic development nevertheless made the Dalits realize that they ought to strive for empowerment. People treated them as dirty community, now we must avail the opportunity and change. As a consequence in 2014 and again in 2019 they rallied behind Modi nursing the hope that he would help them better their lives. But soon they came to realise that Modi and his saffron party were using them to promote their political interest of turning India into a Hindu Rashtra where Manusmriti will dictate their lives. It was really shocking to see that tend to forget the contribution of Manmohan Singh in their empowerment.

Dalit conversions are not revolutionary. It may appear to be symbol of protest. But in reality it is escapist in nature and character. The Bhojpur armed peasant struggle has nevertheless forced the upper caste and feudal lords to retreat. The act of conversion merely as a victim’s passive and polite reaction to discrimination and violence. Conversion is certainly not a challenge to the core of the oppressor’s supremacy and an act of rebellion in the name of liberation. In Bhojpur the Dalits fought against the tyranny of the landlords and won the war.

Electioneering at two Lok Sabha seats had caught the imagination of the political institution of the country and projected it as the symbol of dalit assertive politics. First is Nagina in UP and second is Arrah in Bihar. Nagina has not witnessed a sustained armed peasant struggle. On the contrary Arrah has been laboratory for peasant struggle. While Chandrashekhar Azad won from Nagina, Sudama Prasad a CPI(ML) activist defeated the BJP candidate, R K Singh, the blue eyed boy of Modi who symbolized the feudal aspiration.

Sudama in Arrah was fighting an uneven battle. While he lacked resources the administrative machinery also worked against him. But he enjoyed the support of the middle farmers, agriculture labourers, Dalits, footpath hawkers, rickshaw pullers, auto drivers and daily wage workers. These people even financed his election. They contributed 45 lakh collected in the denomination of Rs 10 from each person through coupons. The importance and intensity of the political consciousness could be gauged from the simple fact that a women daily labourer Bartana who earns Rs 300 every day as wages donated Rs 200 to election fund.

Bartana lives in village Charu, named after the founder of the Naxalite struggle, Charu Majumdar. Around 78 dalit families live in Charu. It was on November 24, 1989 that 22 dalits were killed by the goons of the upper caste in Bihata village of Arah on the day of election. Earlier the landlords and their mercenaries used to pass lewd comments, but now they don’t dare to cross their path and utter any derogatory word.

Sudama recalls that he was imprisoned by a police SI Mahendra Singh, a Rajput, for asking for the money for eight cup tee which he had ordered. He did not pay the money instead implicated Sudama in false case and jailed. He was in prison for 81 days. With Sudama leading the electoral battle, the Dalits and proletariats rallied behind him and eventually Sudama defeated Singh by a margin of 59 thousand vote.

Like Sudama’s triumph, victory of Chandrashekhar Azad from Nagina is being perceived as resurgence of a new era for Dalit politics. An analysis of the movements for dalit assertion across the country in Independent India, testifies that elections have played crucial role in unleashing a new kind of Dalit struggle and giving birth to a militant leadership. Elections have come to reflect of dalit’s aspiration for self-assertion and intervention in the decision making process.

The Azad Samaj Party’s political rise represented an independent effort by an upwardly mobile, educated and ambitious leader to appeal to a younger generation. Like Kanshi Ram and Mayawati in the 1980s who cycled from village to village to protest atrocities, harness Dalit anger and assertion, and spread the ideas of Ambedkar, Azad too went around the dalit ghettos and villages.

Following the victory of the BJP in 2014, the upper castes, particularly the Thakurs of UP had let lose reign of terror on Dalits. Azad formed the Bhim Army to fight caste atrocities. Azad declared “The aim of the Bhim Army is to make west Uttar Pradesh atrocity-free in one year.”

Azad has, within a short period, successfully harnessed Dalit anger against atrocities, disappointment with both the BSP and the BJP’s inability to fulfil promises and prevent caste crimes. In the current political environment in UP, Dalits face the onslaught of a right-wing, Hindu majoritarian party, an upper-caste society and authoritarian government.

Azad’s success is seen as a breakthrough in Dalit leadership, potentially filling the void left by Mayawati in the state’s political landscape. Dalit politics in north India seems to be in a state of flux, with fewer Dalit mascots holding sway over community votes. Given the upward social mobility among Dalits and their growing disenchantment with the status quo, they no longer want to be mere foot soldiers of a particular outfit or captive voters in furtherance of a personality cult. The beneficiaries of this shift have been a slew of opposition parties.

Independent MP Chandrashekhar Azad made several demands during his address in the Lok Sabha session of Parliament. He called on the Narendra Modi government to reinstate the Chamar Regiment and to ensure the rights and social security of Dalits and Muslims. Additionally, he made notable remarks about ending the Agniveer Yojana and addressing issues related to the UP Police.

Chandrashekhar’s victory may be construed as the beginning of a new Dalit politics, but it certainly cannot be attributed as emergence of a new dalit emancipatory ideology. Azad is pursuing the reformist path has neither any Dalit agenda nor any progressive ideology. Taking forward Bahujan politics of Kanshiram as he claims is certainly not the correct ideological and political line.

It is significant that over 86 per cent of the elected MPs in Uttar Pradesh hailed from OBCs, Dalits, and Muslims, reflecting a significant shift in political alliances and voter preferences. But at the same time BJP’s performance in SC/ST reserved seats saw a marked decline. This is not only confined to UP, in fact the phenomenon is evident in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Bihar and West Bengal.

This year’s election sent loud and unambiguous message that Mayawati and her party BSP, founded by Kanshiram no more imbibes Dalits aspirations and ambitions. Interestingly Azad victory was hailed by Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav as "a victory for the Pichada (oppressed), Dalit, and Alpsankhyak (Minorities)."

It may sound irrational but the fact remains that the basic cause of the Dalit’s moral and spiritual degradation owes to the Hindu caste system, based on the varnasrama thesis. In recent years dalits have been speaking about Ambedkar and his policy. But unfortunately they never in the past seriously practiced his preaching. It would not be wrong to say that they ignored him. With rightist forces led by RSS striving to assimilate them in Hindu rank by finishing their independent identity that has made them conscious. The looked for ideological sustenance in Ambedkar’s philosophy.

The phase of globalization witnessed the emergence of middle class amongst the Dalits. It was said that a new creamy class has surfaced. Some of them also turned entrepreneurs. They floated their chamber of commerce. One development is quite perceptible that this section of the neo-middle class has been vocal about reservation. The existence of the Dalit neo-middle class revolves around provision of reservation in education, employment and cultural assertion. They are not so bothered of new ideological narratives of the Dalits.

It is also interesting to note that the Dalits shifted towards INDIA bloc, precisely towards Congress, only after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of denial of rights to dalits ,EBCs, minorities who constitute 90 per cent of India’s population and taking a stand on the caste census. Bihar government has already done it and released the results. Incidentally so far, not even the Marxists, have come out with the demand for caste census. With counting of castes, the government will have to distribute resources based on the population ratio, which would undoubtedly prove to be detrimental to the interest of upper castes.

The main problem that haunts the dalit leadership and makes them retreat from the struggle against their exploitation is the confusion of adopting the line and dynamics of the struggle; whether they should continue with the identity politics or development politics or empowerment of the Dalits. One prominent feature which appears to be missing is the clarity about struggle, whether it should be for self assertion and preservation of dignity.

Still today the upper caste people of Hindi states, Bihar, UP, Haryana, Rajasthan continue to trample their dignity and prestige (izzat). They follow the feudal principle that a caste cannot rise and assert its identity if its dignity and izzat is trampled. Violation of the dalit women is an instrument to shred the sense of assertion the identity.

Dalits are a major social group in Indian society constituting 18 per cent of the population. They have many organisations and numerous political parties claiming to represent the aspirations of Dalits have sprung up. But their approach has been basically populist and rightist. Instead of raising the level of their political consciousness, they have been turning them into a consumerist product in a more assiduous and systematic manner than has been done by the Congress in the past, when they were treated as its vote bank.

Dalits flocked to Modi and his BJP, in the hope that he would at least help them to gain their share in the power. But instead of empowering them ideologically and politically Modi through his freebies turned them an instrument to achieve RSS’s mission of turning India into a Hindu Rashtra.