Q. Write short notes on: The Dalit Movement in Bihar. [65th BPSC-2020]

Q. Write short notes on: The Dalit Movement in Bihar. [65th BPSC-2020]

Ans:

Dalit movement is the organizational or institutional efforts made for the liberation and uplifting of the downtrodden masses who were traditionally subjected to invidious discriminations on grounds of untouchability, and categorized as the untouchables, depressed classes or Scheduled Castes. It is also seen as protest and rejection of the old traditional Hindu social order based on untouchability, socioeconomic inequality casteism, unscientific and irrational religious beliefs and customary servitude.

Background was created during colonial rule: (You can skip this part for this question)

• Colonial rule disengaged caste system from its pre-colonial political contexts, but gave it a new lease of life by redefining and revitalising it within its new structures of knowledge, institutions and policies.
• During its non-interventionist phase,
  • It created opportunities, which were “in theory caste-free”. Land became a marketable commodity; equality before law became an established principle of judicial administration; educational institutions and public employment were thrown open to talent, irrespective of caste and creed.
  • Yet the very principle of non-intervention helped maintain the pre-existing social order and reinforced the position of the privileged groups.
  • Moreover, in matters of personal law, the Hindus were governed by the dharmashastra, which upheld the privileges of caste order.
• Some scholars provided a racial dimension to the concept of caste, arguing that the fair skinned higher castes represented the invading Aryans, while the darker lower castes were the non-Aryan autochthons of the land.
• Official legitimacy through the decennial census classification of castes: in 1901, it was proposed to enumerate all castes and record their location in the hierarchy of castes.
  • To the Indian public this appeared to be an official attempt to freeze the hierarchy, which had been constantly, though imperceptibly, changing over time.
  • Thus Voluntary caste associations emerged as a new phenomenon in Indian public life, engaging in census based caste movements, making petitions to census commissioners in support of their claims for higher ritual ranks in the official classification scheme.
• The caste associations gradually evolved into tools of modernisation in colonial India. Their goals shifted from sacred to secular ones and, as they tried “to educate … their members in the methods and values of political democracy.
• Gradually, the colonial administration initiated a policy of “protective discrimination” in their favour. e.g.:
  • provision of special schools for their education and
  • reservation of a share of public employment for such candidates and
  • finally, provision for special representation of these classes in the legisiative councils. This provision was initially through nomination in the Act of 1919, and then through the announcement of separate electorate in the Communal Award of 1932.
• What all these measures resulted in was a relatively greater dispersal of wealth and power across caste lines. There were now larger discrepancies between caste prescribed status and caste irrelevant roles, and this limited social mobility led to several contradictory responses. e.g. Westernisation, Sanskritization and questioning the fundamentals of caste organisation etc.

The dalit movement in Bihar had faint beginning during British era:

• Unlike western and southern India, the dalit movement in Bihar began relatively late.
• From first half of 20th century, dalits in Bihar started to raise their voice through caste associations. But, the Dalits of Bihar remained with Congress with high hopes.
• During this period, Dalit leaders from Bihar such as Jagjivan Ram and Jaglal Chaudhary had been trying to put pressure on the Congress leadership with (what they considered) legitimate and reasonable demands of Dalits.
  • They believed that Congress represented the mainstream political space and that any development of Dalits could be possible only if along with attempts to raise the sense of unity among different Dalit castes, the efforts were made to impress upon the well-intentioned great national leaders of the country.
• Jagjivan Ram:
  • In Bihar, Jagjivan Ram who emerged as the most important Congress leader formed Khetmajoor Sabha and All-India Depressed Class League (in 1935). This organisation was dedicated to attaining equality for untouchables.
  • In the same year he proposed a resolution in the 1935 session of the Hindu Mahasabha demanding that temples and drinking water wells be opened up to Dalits.
  • He was elected to Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1937. After which he organised agricultural laborers at Gopal Ganj in Bihar to fight for their right to move from one place to other for higher wages.
  • He tried to provide ideological background to his activities. He revered Ravidas as an embodiment of a distinctive Dalit religious identity within Hinduism.
  • In the Constituent Assembly he advocated for the rights of Dalits and argued for affirmative action based on caste in elected bodies and government services.
• Jaglal Chaudhary:
  • He was another important dalit leader and politician from Bihar. He was also a reformer who championed the causes of women’s rights, emancipation of dalits, education and land reforms in Bihar.
  • He was first elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1937 and became minister incharge of Public Health and Excise under congress ministry. During his tenure, he introduced prohibition in several districts of Bihar
  • He was opposed to the caste system and advocated land reforms in Bihar calling for a land ceiling of three acres per family.
• Impact of congress Harizan movement under Gandhiji was also felt in Bihar.
  • All India Anti-Untouchability League was established in 1932.
  • Gandhi undertook ‘Harijan Yatra’ in Bihar in April–May 1934.
  • When a massive earthquake hit Bihar in 1934, Gandhiji linkedthe natural calamity of the earthquake and the social calamity of untouchability. He said that the Bihar earthquake is a divine chastisement for the great sin we have committed and are still committing against those we describe as untouchables.

The dalit movement in Bihar post-independence:

• In the post-Independence decades, Dalit leaders in the Congress and Janata Party got to share power as representatives of a caste or community.
• Babu Jagjivan Ram was the labor minister in the central government, Labor Act was passed according to which the minimum wages got fixed for laborers.
  • He founded ‘All India Backward Classes Federation’, one of the biggest organisations of the downtrodden people. It works for the interest of backward classes.
• Dalit leaders such as Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das rose from the grass roots to become chief ministers in Bihar. Both Shastri and Das belonged to mainstream national parties.
• The Naxalite movement, which attracted a large number of landless peasants, was the vehicle of Dalit assertion till the 1980s, but the rise of caste and social justice politics led to its marginalisation.
  • The new middle- and upper-class Dalits wedded the slogan of social justice with reservation and employment. This too weakened the Naxalite and communist mobilisations, which were focussed on the issue of land.
• Bihar Dalit Development Organization (Bihar Dalit Vikas Samiti) was founded in Bihar by Jose Kananaikil in 1982.
  • It worked for village level mobilization of Dalit men and women, solidarity building, the educational and economic empowerment of Dalits, and the elimination of caste discrimination.
• Dalit politicians, who were working in national parties, started to form caste-based parties after the 1980s.
  • Dalit assertions came to be mostly centred around the electoral politics of Dalit-Bahujan political groups and parties.
  • The phase of social justice politics in Bihar gave these leaders the capacity and space to float their outfits and, thereby, negotiate better bargains with bigger parties.
  • For instance, Ram Vilas Paswan, who was a leading figure in the anti-Emergency movement and the Janata party, founded his own party — the Lok Janshakti Party — in 2000.
  • As Mahadalit politics found resonance in recent years, leaders like Jitan Ram Manjhi, a member of the most marginalised Musahar caste, split from the Janata Dal (United) to form the Hindustani Awam Morcha.
  • Similarly, Vikassheel Nishad Party by Mukesh Sahani.
• In Bihar, there is absence of a Dalit ideological campaign which was the case in some other parts of India under the inspiring leadership of Ambedkar.
• Further, Dalit politics in Bihar continue to be dependent on mainstream parties. It is mainly been a politics of negotiation for a “good deal” from mainstream political parties in terms of seats in a pre-poll alliance, and share in the government. In return, the transfer of caste and community votes was promised.
  • Most of the Dalit leaders of Bihar command support of only their caste and subcaste members. Leaders such as Ram Vilas Paswan, Shyam Rajak and Jitan Ram Manjhi claim that they can transfer votes of their caste.
  • However, previous poll results indicate that these leaders cannot transfer more than 40 per cent of caste votes.
• The Ambedkarite radical consciousness is weaker in the Dalit politics of Bihar and Dalit assertion at the grass roots continues to be weak.
  • Traditionally in Bihar, dalit social mobilisation arose in a few urban pockets and did not penetrate into rural areas. In rural areas, Dalit organisation was weak because Dalits, substantially dependent on the landed elite, were less likely to turn to political parties on their own.
    • So, historically, Dalits were not fully mobilized; their symbols were missing in electoral mobilisation, and parties did not recruit Dalit party workers.
  • Lately, dalit parties benefited from this absence, and all this changed with their arrival. Dalits came to be mobilised through their symbols and Dalit localities now had presence of political party workers.
• The Bihar government in 2007, set up State Mahadalit Commission to identify the castes within Scheduled Castes who lagged behind in the development process and to study educational and social status and to suggest measures for their upliftment.
  • The Commission identified 21 out of 22 dalit castes as Mahadalits. The Dusadhs (Paswans) are the only Dalit caste who were left out of this category.
• Another feature of Dalit politics in Bihar is that only the numerically stronger groups among the 22 Dalit castes have become influencers in politics. They alone managed to get representation in government. Dalits constitute about 16 per cent of the state’s population.
  • Mainly the Dusadh, Chamar, Dhobi, Mushahar communities are visible in power politics. Other Mahadalit castes are numerically small and yet to find visibility in electoral politics.
    • The Dusadhs account for 5-6 per cent of the total population of the state and make up 37 per cent of the Dalit population.
    • Chamars are around 6-7 per cent of the state population and form 39 per cent of the total Dalit population.
  • Other Mahadalit castes (19 castes) together are around 4-5 per cent of the state population and are 24 per cent of the Dalits.

To conclude, the dalit movement in Bihar have been limited in scope and impact. Caste associated discriminations is still deeply rooted in the socio-economic milieu in Bihar. Moreover, the dalit leaders have also failed to disseminate democratic ideals within their communities and behave like feudal leaders, almost copies of leaders of dominant communities and parties. Their failure in creating emancipatory conditions for marginal communities has led to the fragmentation of Dalit votes, which in turn has weakened Dalit assertion in Bihar.