Kuki-Zo bodies, in a widely reported statement in the Hindu, have opposed this move to review ST status of certain tribes, a step strongly condemned by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) and the Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC). The ITLF sees this as a bid by Biren Singh government to change ST criteria to deprive Kuki-Zo tribals of their rights and land; Zomi body says it will only widen existing divide.

 The Ukhrul Times reported that the chief minister has stated, in response to such demands from other local groups that a “Committee will be formed” to look into the matter.

Chief Minister N Biren reportedly said that a committee comprising all the tribal communities of Manipur will be formed to deliberate on demand for deletion of Chin-Kuki from the Scheduled Tribes list of the state. The Committee’s report will then be forwarded as proposals to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, he added. The controversy broke out after the remarks made by N Biren Singh who was speaking on the side-lines of the 190th death anniversary of Maharaj Gambhir Singh observed at the late King’s Samadhi in Langthabal.

Taking to X, N Biren also said, “Someone has to take risks in order to save the present and future generations. Sacrifices must be made to protect the youths from drugs and various elements which are threatening the state. The state government has been taking up these challenging tasks by abiding the laws and values enshrined in the Constitution.”

Someone has to take risks in order to save the present and future generations. Sacrifices must be made to protect the youths from drugs and various elements which are threatening the state.

The state government has been taking up these challenging tasks by abiding the laws and… pic.twitter.com/6vvMPD5Oul

— N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) January 9, 2024

Asked about the stand of the state government on whether “all Kuki tribes would be listed as ST”, Singh said Tuesday, January 9: “They were included in the list, but how it was included has to be re-examined. So before giving any comment, we have to form a committee consisting of all tribes, then only will we be able to send a complete proposal for deletion or inclusion… Anything might be… but after the committee is formed.” 

This controversial statement by Singh, a chief minister much berated for his disinclination to engage in any dialogue process between the various tribes, is seen as the start of another flash point for a conflict that has not been satisfactorily controlled. 

Moreover, this step of the state government does not come in isolation. 

In a separate action that could be seen to be happening in tandem, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs had recently written to Additional Chief Secretary of Manipur asking the state administration to examine the representation seeking deletion of the “Nomadic Chin-Kuki” from the list of Scheduled Tribes in Manipur made by Maheshwar Thounaojam, National Secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale). The letter from the ministry reportedly made it clear that recommendation from the state government is a pre-requisite to process the case further.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC) on Wednesday, January 10, strongly condemned the move to review the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status of certain Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in the State. 

Original inhabitants

The Hindu also reported, in detail, on January 8, 2024, how the representation was sent to the Union Tribal Affairs Minister by the Republican Party of India (Athawale) National Secretary in Imphal. The Manipur government has, through this, been asked by the Centre to examine a representation seeking deletion of the “Nomadic Chin-Kuki” from the list of Scheduled Tribes in Manipur. The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry said that a representation seeking delisting was made by Maheshwar Thounaojam, National Secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), who is based in Imphal.

The language of the representation made in a dangerously posed argument that can fuel exclusivist propaganda, even xenophobia, the representation marked to Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on December 11, 2023, cites a Supreme Court judgement from January, 2011 to suggest that “all Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) shall be original inhabitants of India”. He then goes on to argue that in light of this judgement “the Kukis including Zomis of Manipur do not qualify as Scheduled Tribes of Manipur on the ground that they are not original inhabitants of Manipur”. Interestingly, however, a closer analysis of the cited judgement showed that the case had nothing to do with deciding the definition of a tribe. It was a criminal appeal in a case of an atrocity against a tribal Bhil woman in Maharashtra. The SC had upheld the conviction and in the process remarked that ancestors of present-day STs in India were most likely the original inhabitants of the land.

Meanwhile, The Indian Express also reported how, last month, December 2023, Meitei leader Maheshwar Thounaojam, who is the national secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), sent a petition to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs seeking a review of the ST list in the state, claiming that “the Kukis including Zomis of Manipur” do not qualify for it “on the ground that they are not original inhabitants of Manipur”.

Thounaojam’s representation, sent on December 13, was forwarded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Tribal and Hill Affairs Department of the Manipur government on December 26. The Union ministry stated that the state government’s recommendation was a prerequisite to process any proposal for inclusion or modification in the list of STs. 

Distinguish between the indigenous and others: In the 17-page representation along with hundreds of pages of annexures, Mr. Thounaojam, as signatory to the representation, has tried to argue that indigeneity should be the principal criterion for defining Scheduled Tribes in the country, further requesting the government to accordingly determine “who should be correctly in the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur”, also making a case for the Meiteis’ inclusion. 

The criteria used by the government to declare communities as STs were decided upon by the Lokur Committee in 1965 and continue to be in use today. These are: primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness. The representation further argues that the inclusion of a few more entries in Manipur’s ST list over the years — such as “Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes”, “Zou”, and “Any Kuki tribes” — is “objectionable”. Arguing that the loose and vague definition without specific tribe names, enabled “illegal immigrants and refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh and other Indian States” to settle in Manipur and claim ST status. 

Besides the detailed representation also contended that the entries “Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribes” and “Zou” were added to the ST list in 1956, despite the absence of these entries in the report of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission, which had also specifically recommended that individual tribe names should be mentioned in the list as opposed to “ambiguous” tribe names. Further, the representation claimed that the “Zou” tribe were from a foreign country -— Myanmar’s Chin state — that finds no mention in pre-independence India Censuses and, therefore, should not be in the ST list of Manipur.

It added that similarly, “Any Kuki tribes” was introduced to the ST list during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2003. “As the particular names of tribes to be covered under the tribe name ‘Any Kuki Tribes’ are not specified, there is clandestine room for enrolment in ST list of people disguised as Kukis whether refugees or illegal immigrants from foreign countries and other states who are not citizens of Manipur by birth,” Mr. Thounaojam’s representation said. 

Interestingly, according to government records, a proposal to include the Meitei community in the ST list of Manipur was rejected once by the Office of the Registrar General of India in 1982 and again in 2001 by the erstwhile state government, as reported by The Hindu in 2023. The Office of the RGI had said that the Meiteis do not appear to possess tribal characteristics based on available information. The Manipur government, in 2001, agreed with the Office of the RGI, further saying that Meiteis were the “dominant group” in the state, were Hindus, and had already been listed in the Other Backward Classes category.

In a letter dated December 26, 2023, the Union government said the process of inclusion or exclusion from ST list requires the proposal to originate from the concerned State government and hence it was sending the representation to the State government for its recommendation.

Following weeks of these moves, a sharp response was forthcoming from the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC). Both bodies, on January 10 strongly condemned the move to review the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status of certain Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in the State. 

The ITLF issued a statement where it referred to the Meitei community to say, “First, they tried to become like us… Now, they are trying to erase our status as tribals.”  The ZCSC sent a memorandum with its objections to the Prime Minister’s Office.  The Manipur Tribals’ Forum Delhi, another representative body of the Kuki-Zo community, also endorsed the ITLF statement.

2023

Throughout 2023 several Meitei groups in Manipur have made representations seeking inclusion in the ST list. There was one appeal from an association of Meitei Pangals (Meitei Muslims). This is the first time a case is being made that Meiteis get ST status by excluding Kuki and Zomi tribes from the list. The reasoning is that they are “not indigenous” to the land.

It is significant that these moves have come in the midst of the poppy harvesting season (that began in November 2023) and even while the State of Manipur is still simmering with the ethnic conflict between the dominant valley-based Meitei people and the Scheduled Tribe hills-based Kuki-Zo people since May 3, 2023. Close to 200 people have been killed in the conflict, leaving hundreds injured and tens of thousands internally displaced. 

Earlier this year, the spark was lit when a March 19 order by the Manipur High Court, directed the State government to send a recommendation on ST status for Meiteis to the Centre, upsetting existing STs in the State. This order has since gone into review in the High Court and has also been appealed by tribal bodies. 

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The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a scheme to provide employment in rural areas. The objective of the scheme is to provide 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to rural unskilled labour. The reference to person-days in the tables given below refers to the total number of workdays by a person registered under the scheme in a financial year.

The table provided above shows the details of total Persondays generated, Scheduled Castes (SCs) Persondays generated and its percentage under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS from 2014-15 to current financial year 2023-24 (as on December 7, 2023). We can see that the percentage of SCs Persondays generated has been gradually decreasing from 22.63% in 2014-15 to 19.39% in 2023-24. The highest total Persondays generated was 388.89 crores in 2020-21. This year also saw the highest amount of SCs Persondays generation equal to 77.27 crores.

The table given above shows the details of Scheduled Castes (SCs) households availed employment against, total households availed employment and its percentage under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS from financial year 2014-15 to current financial year 2023-24 (as on December 7, 2023). From the data, it can be deduced that there have been various fluctuations from 2014-15 till 2023-24. The highest percentage of SC households that availed employment was 23% in 2015-16. The highest amount of employment total households availed was 754.73 lakhs in 2020-21. The same year also saw the highest amount of employment availed by SC households equivalent to 155.20 crores.

The table given above shows the details of Scheduled Tribes (STs) households availed employment against total households availed employment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS from financial year 2014-15 to current financial year 2023-24 (as on December 7, 2023). A look at the data shows that there have been various fluctuations since 2014-15. Though we can also see that there has been a gradual increase in the percentage of employment availed by the ST households from 2021-22. The highest percentage generation of employment for ST households was 17.26% in 2014-15. The highest amount of employment total households availed was 754.73 lakhs in 2020-21. The same year also saw the highest amount of employment availed by ST households equivalent to 118.36 crores.

The highest total person-days and household employment availed were observed in 2020-21 for both SCs and STs. SC households availed more employment compared to ST households over the years, as indicated by the data. However, the decreasing trend in SCs person-days generated might signal a concerning aspect, requiring a closer examination of the reasons behind this decline. Addressing this decline could be pivotal in ensuring equitable employment opportunities for SCs under the MGNREGA scheme.

The complete answer can be read here:

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The post Decreasing trend in SCs Persondays in 2023 observed in 2023, from 22.63% in 2014-15 to 19.39% in 2023-24 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The major objection is that PMSIM will merge two major and inherently distinct initiatives – the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) and Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) – the ET reported. Problems faced by the SCs and STs are very specific, and need different approaches; putting both initiatives under one head would endanger this, These objections have been conveyed to the government. 

The brand-new PMSIM 

The Union government is soon to launch the new “PM Social Inclusion Mission for Welfare of SCs and STs” or PMSIM. The recently conceived flagship mission, budgeted at Rs 2.5 lakh crore, aims to implement targeted schemes for the socially and economically backward Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It will also fund schemes (including scholarships and skilling programmes) benefiting people in these communities, and habitations in villages with over 50% SC and ST population bypassing states.

The mission also aims to merge two existing, and vastly different initiatives set up for the benefit of the SC and ST communities. These are the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) and the Scheduled Tribe Component (STC). Currently, the two programmes are separate. According to the ET report, they required 41 Central ministries and departments to allocate a certain proportion of Budget outlay (around 16.6% for Scheduled Castes and 8.6% for Scheduled Tribes) for targeted schemes. 

Two objections

This merging is one of the features of the PMSIM that the NCST has objected to, according to the ET report on May 11.

The newspaper quotes sources stating that the NCST has told the government that the problems of SCs and STs are “distinctly different in nature and require separate strategies for identification of gaps and prevailing disparities as well as providing administrative arrangements and solutions thereof are also likely to be different for both categories”. ET also reported that the NCST recommended that separate guidelines and strategies be adopted for STs. 

Another aspect of the PMSIM that the NCST has objected to is that it exempts some ministries and departments from allocating budgets for ST welfare schemes, details the report. These are the Ministry of Coal, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. 

The NCST has objected to this exemption and has sought justification for this, according to the report. 

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Bhopal: A year before the election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for almost two decades, enacted Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996 on November 15 after losing half tribal seats in 2018 assembly elections.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the rules of the Act at a Tribal Pride Day programme in Lalpur village of Shahdol district on Tuesday in presence of India’s first tribal President Droupadi Murmu. The act was enacted almost 15 months after the first announcement in Jabalpur in September 2021 by Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi on 15th November last year.

Passed by the Parliament in 1996 with an idea to empower and preserve the tribal population from exploitation, Madhya Pradesh became one of the eight states to enact the law. PESA gives special power to “gram sabhas” (Village committees) in scheduled areas for the management of natural resources. The new law will allow self-governance via Gram Sabhas in 89 tribal blocks of the state, covering 2,350 villages in 5,212 panchayats.

Accounting for 21% of the state’s population, Madhya Pradesh has the highest tribal population in the country. Out of the 230 seats, 47 are reserved for tribals in the state and have sway over the two dozen other seats. In the 2018 assembly elections, the saffron party had only won 16 seats, against 31 in 2013, while the Congress had won 30 in 2018, against 15 in 2013.

Speaking at the event, Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Today is the day of social revolution.”

Highlighting the salient features of the Act, he said that it would give the self-governing rights of water, forest and land to the tribals and no room will be left for those persons who will try to grab the land of villagers by conversion, deceit or by any manipulations.

“Many times tribal sisters got deceived into marriage through allurement and sometimes conversion used to take her land. We will not allow such acts in Madhya Pradesh. Gram sabhas will intervene in such cases,” said Chouhan, while emphasising tribal conversions.

President Murmu, who visited Madhya Pradesh for the first time, said, “Looking at the challenges of climate change and global warming, one needs to learn from the lifestyle of tribals and their commitment to the conservation of forest and animals,” she said.

Talking about gender ratio, she pointed out, gender equality is a lesson that all must learn and imbibe from the tribal society. “Gender ratio in tribal society is better than the general population.”

Welcoming the implementation of PESA, tribal outfits pointed out that the gram sabha has given partial executive powers and all the financial powers have been kept out of their ambit.

Speaking to NewsClick, Congress MLA and convener of Tribal outfit, JAYS, Hiralal Alawa pointed out, “Madhya Pradesh tribals, who have the highest population in the country, have waited almost 26 years for this law. The BJP has been in power for almost 18 years and came to the senses after losing half of the tribal seats in the 2018 assembly elections.”

“While passing the law, the Parliament has urged the states to enact the law on the lines of the sixth schedule to empower tribes and prevent them from exploitations. Besides, the crux of this law is to empower gram sabha in tribal blocks. But how can anyone be empowered with partial executive powers and with no financial powers?” he asked.

Speaking to NewsClick about the newly passed PESA, Gulzar Singh Markam- National President of Gondwana Samagra Kranti Andolan, said, “The suggestions we have given to the government to frame rules have been ignored. Besides, financial powers have not been given to the gram sabha or the village government. We can understand it with an example; the Madhya Pradesh government would be given all executive powers to run the state. But the Union government would handle the finance.”

“With the implementation of PESA, the state is running away from implementing the fifth schedule in tribal blocks which we have been demanding for years,” he said. “Scheduled areas should be governed by tribal blocks according to the law. But many tribal blocks have been declared or added in Nagar Panchayat or Nagar Palika which is unconstitutional,” he pointed out.

Yet, addressing a PESA awareness rally at tribal block Kesla in Narmadapuram on Thursday, CM Chouhan said, “Tribals have rights over water, forests and land and the state government is ensuring that they get them. In order to empower the indigenous groups and provide prosperity to their lives, the state has established the PESA Act.”

Lashing out at the BJP for the delay and laxity in enacting the law, Congress State Media Vice President Bhupendra Gupta said, “Shivaraj Singh Chouhan is taking credit for the work that our government has already done 27 years ago. Yet, he failed to address the main objectives of the law.”

He pointed out, “On the recommendations of the Dilip Singh Bhuria Committee, the Congress government had already implemented the PESA Act. The short-lived Kamal Nath government, Congress, was working on PESA rules.”

He said that Congress has already implemented the PESA Act in spirit. “The major rights vested in it have already been protected by making rules. According to Section 165 (6) of the Land Revenue Code, a provision has already been made to ban the purchase and sale of tribal lands. Second major right: If the land of a tribal has been bought and sold on the basis of the wrong intention, then Congress has already ensured the right to take it back under section 170. Irregular moneylending has been completely banned in the scheduled areas under the Three-Moneylending Act. And under the Excise Act, our previous governments have already given legal permission to produce liquor in a traditional way to some extent under the local traditions,” Gupta added.

After losing considerable seats in the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP launched a tribal outreach programme when it returned to power after toppling the 15-month-long Kamal Nath government with the support of Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The BJP has announced making forest dwellers the ‘owners’ of forests, converting 827 out of the 925 forest villages into ‘revenue’ villages. Implementation of PESA, setting up memorials and museums highlighting the participation of tribal leaders in the freedom struggle and legalising Mahua- a staple drink of the tribals, which will be sold as heritage liquor. Renaming railway stations, colleges and areas after tribal icons.

CM Chouhan also announced to drop of petty cases registered against tribals most of which are related to the production and sale of Mahua, besides home delivery of PDS ration in all the 89 tribal blocks of the state.

Salient features of the Act

Every gram sabha will have a president, who will be elected either unanimously or by a majority vote for a year.

– The secretary of the gram panchayat will be the ex-officio secretary of all “gram sabhas” constituted under that gram panchayat.

– A gram sabha can also decide whether to give contracts for sand mines, ballast and stones or not.

– The gram sabha will give consent for the management of the ponds, fisheries, and cultivation of water chestnuts that falls under their panchayat.

– Only licensed loan vendors can operate and provide loans to villagers. They will have to provide details of interests charged to the gram sabhas and if they are charged higher interest action would be taken against them.

– In the case of beneficiary schemes the gram sabha will decide who will get the benefit first.

– Without approval of the gram sabha no new liquor shop can be opened.

– In the event of an FIR against any villager, gram sabha will be informed.

– The village committee will also have the authority to carry out inspections of schools, health centres, Anganwadi centres and ashram schools.

– A gram sabha should have at least 1/4th of its total members or 100, whichever is less to meet, 1/3rd of them would be women. – In the event of considering the issues of land acquisition, rehabilitation, return of land or an issue concerning community assets, the presence of 50% members of the gram sabha members would be necessary.

– The panchayat funds will be provided as per the provisions of section 66 of the MP Panchayat Raj & Gram Swaraj Act 1993.

– The proposal brought before the gram sabha will be passed unanimously to the extent possible or by majority voice if unanimity is not possible. In case of objection to a proposal, villagers can raise the objection before the “gram sabha” within 15 days after the proposal is passed.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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On Thursday protesters in Assam blocked National Highway 37 in Chabua after discovering that six tribes from Assam were not included in the revised list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) released by the Centre.

The Sentinel reports that in a cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Union Council of Ministers decided to update the ST list. They included 17 tribes and five sub-tribes from five states – Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. But the list left out six tribes from Assam – Tai Ahom, Moran, Matak, Chutias, Koch Rajbonshis and Tea Tribes.

The Economic Times reports that the exclusion led to protests and demonstrations across Assam. In Shibsagar, effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were burnt.

As SabrangIndia had reported previously, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had It is noteworthy that the BJP government had promised to grant them Scheduled Tribes (ST) status in not one, but two successive state assembly election manifestos. But it has failed to walk the talk. The grant of ST status allows members certain social benefits such as reservations and exemptions, which these six communities do not enjoy at present.  

At present there are 17 tribal belts and 30 blocks spread across Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Kamrup, Kamrup (metro), Goalpara, Dhemaji, Darrang, Bongaigaon and the four Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) districts in Assam. Tai-Ahom, Moran, Matak and Chutia people have been declared protected groups in the Sadiya tribal belt of Upper Assam.

In September 2020, instead of granting these communities ST status, the Assam State Assembly passed three bills to create autonomous councils for Moran, Matak, and Koch-Rajbongshis. Then, on July 10, 2021, the government of Assam announced the creation of a new department to address the concerns of the state’s indigenous communities. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the formation of the Department of Indigenous Faith and Culture and told media persons, “We have a lot of tribes like Rabha, Boro, Mising, Moran and Matak. They have their own faith, customs, rituals and culture. This rich heritage needs to be preserved and promoted.” He had further clarified, “This independent department will do that, not build roads and houses, for which we have the Department for Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes (DWPTBC).” Therefore, concerns of only two of the six tribes were addressed partially by the announcement.

In the run up to the assembly elections in Assam in March 2022, SabrangIndia had reported how Adivasi groups led by All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) had questioned the BJP as to why it had failed to grant ST status to tea tribes.

Tea tribes are those members of Adivasi and tribal communities who were brought to Assam by the British to work in tea estates. The ancestors of modern-day tea tribals hail from present day UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Before independence, they were made to work in 160 tea estates across Assam. Many of them continued to work in the tea estates even after Independence.

While these tribes came under the ST category in their home states after Independence, the families left in Assam came to be known as “tea tribes”. They were excluded from reservation due to their non-indigenous status in the state. Nowadays, there are over 8 lakh tea estate workers employed in 803 tea estates in Assam belonging to Tea Tribes, and the total population of the Tea Tribes is estimated to be more than 65 lakhs. These Santhal, Kurukh, Munda, Gond, Kol and Tantis tribes have been demanding an ST status in Assam for many years.

There has also been opposition to the grant of tribal status to these communities. The Indigenous Lawyers’ Association of India (ILAI) had approached the Assam government and claimed that granting ST status to these six communities, who they do not consider tribal communities, would destroy the concept of what is a tribal community. The ILAI had further claimed that including these communities in the list of the STs would be a violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples to which India is a signatory. As per the UN Declaration, prior and informed consent of indigenous people has to be sought before implementing any decision or legislative measure related to them. ILAI also said that this would impact political representation from Gram Sabha to the Lok Sabha of the existing STs of Assam.

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The Centre once again failed to speak with surety about reservation for nomadic and denotified tribes of India, despite the passing of a related Bill in the Lok Sabha on April 1, 2022.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on April 4 asked Tribal Affairs Minister of State Renuka Saruta about the details of tribal communities demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in India. Considering on Friday, MPs passed a Bill to include Gonds and associated tribes in the ST category for certain parts of Uttar Pradesh, it was expected that Saruta would acknowledge the demands of other tribes such as tea-tribes of Assam as well. However, far from acknowledging, Saruta said that only those communities who have been declared as ST by the President will be considered under this category.

“The Government of India on June 15, 1999 (further amended on June 25, 2002) has laid down the modalities for determining the claims for inclusion in, exclusion from, and other modifications in the Orders specifying lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. According to these modalities, only those proposals, which have been recommended and justified by the concerned state government and concurred with by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), are to be considered for amendment of legislation,” she said.

The questions also failed to address the awkward implementation of the ST status where a tribe enjoying ST status in one state may not avail the same benefits in another state despite. Despite having a history of oppression, the community’s status for reservation is subject to change by each state’s list.

For example, the Santhal tribe was recognised in the ST category in recent years after persevering agitations in Jharkhand. However, a student from this tribe will lose this status – and by extension the reservation benefits – once they choose to step outside the state. The lack of ST status has often left these groups vulnerable with some families being forced to convert to religious minorities as a means to avail government subsidies and benefits. In Assam, there are tribes such as Moran, Matak, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi and Chutiya who have been demanding ST status in the state. Further, the category fails to include tea tribes, denotified tribes (DNTs) and nomadic tribes (NTs).

What are tea tribes, DNTs and NTs?

Tea tribes are those members of Adivasi and tribal communities who were brought to Assam by the British to work in tea estates. The ancestors of modern day tea tribals hail from present day UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were made to work in 160 tea estates across Assam. Many of them continued to work in the tea estates even after Independence.

While these tribes came under the ST category in their home states after Independence, the families left in Assam came to be known as “tea tribes”. They were excluded from reservation due to their non-indigenous status in the state. Nowadays, there are over 8 lakh tea estate workers in Assam belonging to Tea Tribes. These Santhal, Kurukh, Munda, Gond, Kol and Tantis tribes have been demanding an ST status in Assam for many years. Around 2021 Assembly elections, the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) had questioned the BJP about the delay in this demand.

Similarly, denotified tribes are Adivasi groups that were dubbed as “criminal tribes” by the colonisers. During independence, these tribes were denotified but did not get the ST status required to avail social benefits and reservation. These tribes include Berad, Bestar, Bhatma, Kaikadi, Kankarbhat, Katabu, Lamani, Phase-Pardhi, Raj-Pardhi, Rajput-Bhatma, Ramoshi, Vadar, Waghari and Chhapparbandh.

Further, there are nomadic tribes in India such as Bawa, Beldar, Bharadi, Bhute, Chalwadi, Chitrakathi, Garudi, Ghisadi, Golla, Gondhali, Gopal, Helwe, Joshi, Kasi-Kapadi, Kolhati, Mairal, Masan-Jogi, Nandi-Wale, Pangul, Raval, Shikalgar, Thakar, Vaidu, Vasudeo and Wadar among others. These are considered among the most vulnerable and economically weak communities, yet they are not eligible for central quotas, as per what a Parliamentary Committee said on Monday. It asked the government to set a deadline by which to conduct an ethnographic survey of 269 denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes so as to categorise them as Dalits, tribals, OBCs and provide due subsidies and reservation.

These groups have been known to face multiple challenges even before pandemic years. They were called criminals by Britishers who mistook caste for profession and wished to compel the nomadic groups to settle. In 2017, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) wrote about the women of the Wadar community living along the peripheries of Mumbai and other cities.

Overall, there were 10.45 cr ST people living in India as per the Census 2011. The distribution of these tribes as per their ST status can be seen below:

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Growing disaffection for BJP among Adivasis, ethnic minorities in Assam?
The Nowhere Women

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For the alleged custodial death of a teenager hailing from a Scheduled Tribe (ST), three policemen including an outpost office-in-charge, were suspended in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on January 23, 2022, reported The Quint. The suspension and murder complaint came after people from the boy’s village protested and alleged brutal torture by the police.

उत्तर प्रदेश के जिला लखीमपुर विधानसभा क्षेत्र पलिया गांव खजुरिया में एक दलित युवक को चोरी के सक में पुलिस ने बेरहमी से मार मार कर मौत के घाट उतार दिया अधिकारियों पर कार्यवाही नहीं हुई तो जल्द भीम आर्मी पहुंचेगी@lakhimpurpolice @Igrangelucknow @adgzonelucknow @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/eBbjXOaaUY

— SAURABH BHARTIYA CHIEF GENERAL SECRETARY PILIBHIT (@Saurabh89064415) January 23, 2022

17-year-old Rahul’s uncle accused the youth of stealing his son’s phone on January 17. He filed a complaint at the Sampoornanagar police station, following which the boy was called in for questioning two days later.

As per the official statement by Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Suman, “On January 19, both the uncle and the boy were called along with the family, his mother, the village chief and three to four other witnesses. The questioning happened in front of these people. After that the two parties came to an understanding. Later, his mother and five to six other people said that on January 20, the uncle and another person attacked the boy. The same night he was taken to the hospital. After he died, family accused the police of custodial death.”

Suman said that the police registered the complaint and are investigating the matter. He further said that guilty officers will face strict action.

थाना सम्पूर्णानगर क्षेत्रान्तर्गत 17 वर्षीय बालक की मृत्यु की घटना के संबंध में पुलिस अधीक्षक खीरी, श्री संजीव सुमन की बाइट pic.twitter.com/oVXsWsqkEZ

— KHERI POLICE (@kheripolice) January 23, 2022

While the police reported two conflicting accounts from the family, videos of protesters and aggrieved family members showed the people condemning the police. According to local newspaper Lok Jansandesh, the family laid the body at a village crossroad and video recorded the physical injuries on the body’s back.

Videos of the boy’s two sisters recalling how he was forcibly taken away from his house on January 19 are also circulating on social media. They alleged that the witnesses were called after the physical assault.

Reacting to the news, Samajwadi Party (SP) tweeted in Hindi and condemned the ruling regime for the growing police oppression in the state. “Hear the plea of the crying relatives and give them justice, CM. People will answer by vote,” said the tweet.

भाजपा सरकार में कस्टोडियल डेथ में नंबर वन यूपी में एक और पुलिस किलिंग!

“मेरे भाई को इतना मारा की उसकी जान चली गई”

लखीमपुर खीरी में पुलिस की पिटाई से 17 वर्षीय युवक की मृत्यु अत्यंत दु:खद!

रोते बिलखते परिजनों की फरियाद सुन उन्हें न्याय दें सीएम।

जनता वोट से देगी जवाब। pic.twitter.com/F2rK3CaD7g

— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) January 23, 2022

According to the Indian Express, Rahul was an agricultural labourer. To look into the matter of his alleged murder, a contingent of senior police officials met the protesters to placate their anger. However, the police also charged the boy’s uncle and his accomplice for death by negligence. The two men are yet to be arrested.

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On July 10, the government of Assam announced the creation of a new department to address the concerns of the state’s indigenous communities. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the formation of the Department of Indigenous Faith and Culture and told media persons, “We have a lot of tribes like Rabha, Boro, Mising, Moran and Matak. They have their own faith, customs, rituals and culture. This rich heritage needs to be preserved and promoted. This independent department will do that, not build roads and houses, for which we have the Department for Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes (DWPTBC).”

Now, what is interesting here is that he mentions two specific communities here: Moran and Matak. These two are part of six indigenous communities in Assam demanding a Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The other four are Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Chutia and Tea Tribes. It is noteworthy that the BJP government had promised to grant them Scheduled Tribes (ST) status in not one, but two successive state assembly election manifestos. But it has failed to walk the talk. The grant of ST status allows members certain social benefits such as reservations and exemptions, which these six communities do not enjoy at present.

The ST Conundrum

In the run up to the assembly elections in Assam this year, SabrangIndia had reported how in March, Adivasi groups led by All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) had questioned the BJP as to why it had failed to grant ST status to tea tribes.

If we step back a bit, even in September last year, instead of granting these communities ST status, the Assam State Assembly passed three bills to create autonomous councils for Moran, Matak, and Koch-Rajbongshis. In fact, the controversy grew when other indigenous groups demanded that ST status not be granted to these six communities.

The Indigenous Lawyers’ Association of India (ILAI) approached the Assam government saying granting of ST status to these six communities, who they do not consider tribal communities would destroy the concept of what is a tribal community. ILAI president Dilip Kanti Chakma was quoted by The Hindu as saying, “There are communities among the six who have never been considered as tribes by any government or anthropological study and they do not possess any characteristics that tribal people do. Hence, the Assam government’s proposed inclusion of some socio-economically advanced and populous communities in the list of STs is mala fide and it shall eliminate the very concept of ‘tribals’ in India.”

The ILAI had further claimed that including these communities in the list of the STs would be a violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples to which India is a signatory. As per the UN Declaration, prior and informed consent of indigenous people has to be sought before implementing any decision or legislative measure related to them. ILAI also said that this would impact political representation from Gram Sabha to the Lok Sabha of the existing STs of Assam.

Now, it appears that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government has found a way to bypass the ST demand and yet come across as addressing the needs of these communities. Meanwhile, Tai-Ahom, Moran, Matak and Chutia people have also been declared protected groups in the Sadiya tribal belt of Upper Assam. At present there are 17 tribal belts and 30 blocks spread across Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Kamrup, Kamrup (metro), Goalpara, Dhemaji, Darrang, Bongaigaon and the four Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) districts in Assam.

But all these measures still keep these communities out of the purview of ST status. And given how the new department will only look at preserving and promoting culture and heritage, what happens to the demand for social benefits and entitlements? Is the newly floated Department of Indigenous Faith and Culture just an eyewash?

Gorkhas, a protected group

Meanwhile, Sarma is also attempting to placate Gorkhas in his state. At present nearly 25 lakh Gorkhas call Assam their home. But the measures to address their concerns appear to be woefully inadequate.

On July 8, 2021, Education and welfare of plain tribes and backward classes (non-BTC) minister Ranoj Pegu announced the state government’s decision to declare Gorkhas living in tribal belts such as the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) a protected class. He told The Telegraph, “Under the provisions of chapter X of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, the cabinet has approved to include Gorkhas as a protected class in the tribal belts and blocks in the districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri who are residing there before 2003, that is, when the districts came under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.” Gorkhas have also been declared a protected group in the Sadiya tribal belt of Upper Assam.

Now, the move is commendable to the extent that it makes it possible for the nearly 1.65 lakh Gorkhas living in the BTR to buy, sell and transfer land. But the benefits are only applicable across the four districts that comprise BTR.

It is noteworthy that nearly 85,000 Gorkhas had been excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in Assam on August 31, 2019.

SabrangIndia had previously reported how in September, 2019, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangha (BGP) that claims to represent over 10.5 million members of the Gorkha community across 22 Indian states, announced that they have decided to boycott the process laid down for people left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The organisation’s president Sukhman Moktan explained, “The NRC guidelines say the Gorkhas whose citizenship has been challenged need to go to the Foreigners’ Tribunals despite a notification of exemption by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). This is an attempt of a few vested interests within the system to disrespect Indian Gorkhas who are actually original inhabitants as is proved by our historically and mythologically recorded presence since centuries.” He added, “The Gorkhas of Assam will not go to the Foreigners’ Tribunals to prove their citizenship, as being tried in such tribunals is an insult to their identity as Indians. We can file defamation cases against the system of challenging the citizenship of gorkhas and Nepali-speaking people.”

When the final draft of the NRC was published on July 30, 2018, over 1 lakh Gorkhas were left out. The number came down slightly in the final NRC published on August 31, 2019 when approximately 85,000 Gurkhas were excluded. The BGP estimates that out of the 25 lakh Gorkhas residing in Assam over 22,000 people have also been arbitrarily marked D Voter, thus disenfranchising them.

Gorkhas are Nepali speaking Indians. There is great diversity even within the community and each sub-group has its own language from either the Tibeto-Burman or Indo-Aryan language families. The Gorkha community is known for their valour and excellence in the battlefield, traits that led to the creation of the Gorkha Regiment by the British back in 1815. The regiment later became a part of the army of independent India and today there are 39 battalions serving under 7 Gorkha regiments in the Indian Army.

In March 2021, when Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi from Assam, asked the Minister of Home Affairs whether the Government is aware of the exclusion of Gorkhas from the NRC, the MHA used its characteristic flair in using bureaucratic non-responses to say, “Separate list of exclusion of Gorkhas has not been published.” It also said, “Any person not satisfied with the outcome of the decisions of claims and objections leading to publication of final NRC may prefer an appeal before the Foreigners Tribunal constituted under the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964 within a period of one hundred and twenty days from the date of such order. On the disposal of appeal by the tribunals the names shall be included or deleted, as the case may be, in the NRC.” Another non-answer.

Related:

Growing disaffection for BJP among Adivasis, ethnic minorities in Assam?
Gorkhas to boycott FTs, say citizenship trial an insult to their Indian identity

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India’s caste system is the major obstacle for betterment of the socio-economic condition of the downtrodden. The lowest in the rung of caste hierarchy, the victims of caste oppression are addressed as Dalits or Scheduled Castes (SC). There are others who are also on the lower scale of hierarchy, the tribal (ST) and other backward castes (OBC). For centuries the low castes were subject to oppression at multiple levels. Theirs’ was a sort of slavery couched in the wrap of religion. Many Hindu scriptures gave the rigid outline of the social system. One such scripture has been Manu Smriti which was burnt in a public protest by the greatest of the caste opponents Dr. Bhimrao Babasaheb Ambedkar.

As the opposition to caste structure grew even during freedom movement of India, the reaction to this was Hindu Nationalism, rather Brahmanic Nationalism. It was the Brahmanic stream of Hinduism which has been most rigid about the oppression of lower castes. This Brahmanic Nationalism presented itself as Hindu nationalism and got expressed in Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. RSS thrived over a period of time and currently is the most powerful organization in the country. It is working for restoration of Caste, gender hierarchy and inequality of older times.

It is an overarching formation working in all spheres of life and its progeny working in political arena is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling the country from last seven years. It is very subtle in presenting its agenda which is against Dalits and other downtrodden. BJP poses to be associating with Dalits while its policies are meant to subjugate this community. It has multiple strategies to win them over for electoral purposes while modifying the policies in a direction which are detrimental to the all round conditions of Dalits, including their economic conditions.

BJP-RSS and anti-Dalit ideology

BJP came to the political forefront when it started its campaign for Ram Temple in the decade of 1980. In 1990 V.P.Singh implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, which gave 27% reservation to the other backward Castes. Earlier the SC had 15% of reservation, ST 7.5% and now OBC reservation was added up to that. This made BJP more assertive and its support base, the upper caste, came forward to support BJP campaigns for Ram temple and other divisive agenda, pushing the social equality attempts in the backyard. This identity based Ram temple campaign also served the purpose of distracting the attention from the plight of oppressed sections of society as well.

The period up to 2014, (2004 to 2014 period was the time when Congress led UPA was in power) saw that on one hand despite the opposition to affirmative action for Dalits there was effort to implement it. On the other hand BJP was building itself to oppose the policy of reservation for Dalits on the one hand and to co-opt them into its ideological and political fold on the other.

UPA I (2004-2009) came up with rights based approach, ‘Right to information’, ‘right to employment’, ‘right to education’, ‘right to health’ and ‘right to food’. This benefitted the large sections of Dalits living below the poverty line. The ongoing affirmative action’s during many decades after independence did lift the Dalit’s conditions to some extent. Still due to the deeply entrenched caste system, the affirmative provisions were not implemented as they should have been. So in a way the process of social transformation till 2014 was at snail’s pace anyway.

The major change in the condition of Dalits has been due to reservations which were mandated by the constitution and which aimed to break the shackles of caste backwardness and improve the condition of Dalits. RSS-BJP has been opposed to this all through, overtly or covertly. The Mandal Commission was a turning point in a way as RSS-BJP activated its mechanism for opposing the same indirectly by raising the pitch of Ram temple campaign. They did float organizations like ‘Youth for Equality’. Social debates were popularised against reservation.

Reservation: Creamy Layer

The overall picture before BJP coming to power was summed up by prominent academic Sukhdeo Thorat. As per him “Dalits are employed in manual, unskilled labor jobs in urban areas. Given these facts, only 5% of the working Dalit population has actually benefited from the Indian reservation law.” (1) As per him while GOI poverty alleviation programs help Dalits, the government does not strictly monitor them and many are never implemented…and the vast majority of Dalits are denied upward socioeconomic mobility due to lack of access to education, land, and capital.

Further worsening of the situation began with BJP coming to power at Centre. The first attempt BJP initiated was at state level and then at Centre was to introduce ‘reservation based on economic ground’. Also there is a talk that creamy layers will be excluded from the reservations. The ‘creamy layers’ means those who have better socio economic status. Dilip Mandal, another scholar points out,“ for the first time, the central government is going to include an individual’s salary to calculate household earnings, which would determine the creamy layer category for members of that family. In one stroke, a large number of salary earners will be excluded from the ambit of OBC quota.” (2) Further Mandal elaborates, ”The proposed criteria, if implemented, will exclude even the lower middle class OBCs. Take the example of a family where both parents are primary school teachers. In all probability, their combined annual salary would be above Rs 12 lakh. Now, if their daughter applies for a government job, she will not be considered for the OBC quota.” (3)

Introducing reservation on Economic Ground has further weakened the position of the status of Dalits. BJP led NDA passed the resolution approving 10% quota for upper caste on economic criterion. These criterions are liberal enough to include large sections of population at the cost of reservation of the Dalits/OBC.

BJP Identity Politics and Lynching in name of Cow-Beef

BJP’s main plank in political arena is identity politics. This politics is based on polarization and creating a sense of fear among majority for the minority community. In pursuit of this while they have been pursuing the Ram Temple issue earlier; from 2014 when BJP got majority for the first time; it took the issue of Holy cow to higher pitch leading to mob lynching of Muslims and Dalits. Both these communities are related to occupations of cow slaughter and leather work. The IndiaSpend data tells us the massive increase in the lynching with BJP coming to power and also increase in atrocities against Dalits. This runs parallel to the impact on economic situation of Dalits as the sale/purchase of old cows has massively declined and those involved in these trades, primarily Dalits have suffered huge economic setback. “Muslims were the target of 51% of violence centered on bovine issues over nearly eight years (2010 to 2017) and comprised 86% of 28 Indians killed in 63 incidents. As many of 97 per cent of these attacks were reported after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government came to power in May 2014, and about half the cow-related violence — 32 of 63 cases –were from states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recorded until June 25, 2017.” (5)

Running parallel to this was attacks on Dalits who were dealing with Cowhide. In Una (Gujarat) seven Dalit youth were stripped above the waist and beaten mercilessly. Following this the usual economic cycle of old cattle being bought and sold got a setback giving an adverse impact to the economic plight of many Dalit families. “A new report by ‘Human Rights Watch’ reveals the impact of ‘cow protection’ on agriculture, industries and India’s minorities. The report looks at the issue of cow-related violence and its impact on India’s minorities. The report analyses the socio-political, legal and economic issues around cattle trade and cow-related violence. Indian government should prevent and prosecute mob violence by vigilante groups targeting minorities in the name of cow protection, ‘Human Rights Watch’ said in a report.”(6)

“The government [should] not [be] the one to decide on [what food you can or cannot eat]. This ban will have an ill effect on the lives of the Dalits who are [dependent] upon the labor connected with cows and leather products.” (7)

Due to the rigidity of caste hierarchy prevalent in India; Dalits are forced to work in very degrading jobs like scavenging of rubbish heaps, work in slaughter houses, tanneries, leather factories and other menial jobs. To live in segregation from the upper castes such as Brahmins is a part of regular practice here.

Reservation for Dalits in Universities

From March 2018 UGC advertised the faculty jobs and in this only 2.5% of posts were reserved for SC and none for ST. This is totally in opposition to what the norms have been (15% for SC, 7.5% for ST and 27% for OBC) (8) This is going to have very adverse impact on the economic conditions of Dalits along with change in the future academic conditions in the country. This will worsen the overall plight of this section of society.

Economic status

According to a 2014 report to the Ministry of Minority Affairs by Amitabh Kundu, over 44.8% of Scheduled Tribe (ST) and 33.8% of Scheduled Caste (SC) populations in rural India were living below the poverty line in 2011-12, compared to 30.8% of Muslims. In urban areas, 27.3% of ST and 21.8% of SC populations were poor, versus 26.5% of Muslims. (9, 10)

Some Hindu Dalits achieved affluence, although most remain poor. In particular, some Dalit intellectuals such as Chandrabhan Prasad have argued that the living standards of many Dalits have improved since the economic liberalization in 1991 and have supported their claims through large surveys. (11) According to Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011, nearly 79 percent of rural Adivasi households and 73 percent for Dalit households were most deprived among rural households in India. While 45 percent of scheduled caste households are landless and earn by manual casual labor for their living and same is for 30 percent for Adivasis.(12)

A 2012 survey by Mangalore University in Karnataka stated that 93% of Dalit families still live below the poverty line.(13) The budget (2020) has failed to give due share to the Dalits, Adivasis, working class, Women and Children. It has also failed to take concrete steps to resolve the economic crisis prevalent in the primary sector of the economy, i.e., Agriculture. Instead of providing the farmers with substantial financial relief, they have been left in a world of false hopes and promises. Also, education and health have not been provided with the kind of attention they badly need. (14) Congress president Rahul Gandhi has criticized the RSS and the BJP for the plight of Dalits and said he praised the Dalit community who are coming forward to protest against these policies. He commented on this when many Dalit organisations had called for a nation-wide shutdown with strong determination against the dilution of arrest prevalent provisions under the SC/ST Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court.( 15)

BJP’s Strategies to Co-opt Dalits

RSS-BJP faces a unique dilemma. On one hand they want to ensure the subordination of Dalits at all social levels. On the other they have to win over the electoral benefits of these communities. Through the cultural and religious activities of several dozens of its organisations, the RSS, achieves this. They are employing multiple strategies to win over there marginalized communities. Their affiliated organisations involved in such activities are the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Vanavasi Klayan Ashram, Bajrang Dal, Seva Bharati to name but a few. They have tried to increase Brahminic religiosity at all the levels. They have picked up some of the icons from these marginalized communities and revived them through Hindu Nationalist lens. In addition they have lured some of the leaders of these communities with the bait of pelf and power.

The BJP’s landslide victory in the 2014 general election was helped by Dalit votes. Currently, 84 parliament seats are reserved for Dalits as those constituencies are dominated by a Dalit population. In 2014, the BJP won 40 of them, according to a study by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).

One such study, CSDS post-poll analysis after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, showed that between 2014 and 2019; support for the BJP among Dalits, Adivasis and Other Backward castes has more than doubled (16). Incidentally they comprise large section of poor people in the state. Similarly the 2021 post-poll survey also indicates that this support is becoming much higher among Dalits and OBCs than among upper castes.

This has been the strategy of BJP all over. Cambridge sociologist Manali Desai demonstrates the diverse ways used by this party for Adivasis and Dalits. These groups find that they feel BJP offered them respect and recognition more than other parties. (17) In their perception this party treats them as equal members of society. It seems these social groups seem to perceive a sense of dignity which motivates them to vote for the BJP. This is what explains the BJP’s attitude towards Matua community, which is in large numbers in West Bengal. This is what explains Modi’s visit to Bangla desh and a visit to the Matua Mandir.

The situation may not remain the same as this community feels they have been betrayed. A report UCAN News (18) points out this sense of being let down and it is expected that this rising anger among the community will get reflected in 2024 elections. Now by and by this marginalized community is not taking the promises of BJP seriously. Young Dalits are increasingly aware of their rights as citizens. As per one of them “In the past, we were nothing but cannon fodder for both the opposition and ruling parties. The time has come when such exploitation will not be allowed,” (18)  

As per the same report another Dalit activist in the northern state of Punjab, told ucanews.com that the present generation of Dalits has learned from the past. “The ongoing agitation wants to send a message across the Dalit people … to break the trap and demand equal rights in society,”. 

Emerging Dalit leader with great promise Jignesh Mevani, from Gujarat, who is the new face of Dalit political assertiveness; holds meetings, seminars and awareness camps that attract huge crowds of people. He outlines the clear path for advance of Dalits in the current despicable situation. In one of the meeting held in Ahmadabad city Mevani criticized the BJP government of disregarding the interests of Dalit people. He called for more nationwide resistance protests as the BJP government is failing to defend the Dalit protection law in the Supreme Court. There are hopes as “Young people are now confronting the government with facts and figures, a trend alien to the community in the past. A new revolution is in the making and the time is not far away when the community will no longer be viewed as taboo or alien to mainstream society,” (18)

Summing up

BJP’s rise on the political firmament has been a big setback to values of democracy, freedom of expression, security of religious minorities and Dalits. It has also adversely affected the economic welfare of the marginalised sections of society. Through various measures the affirmative action meant for Dalits are gradually being undone. In addition to raising of issues like Cow-beef have affected the livelihood of this section of society. Parallel to this BJP and its associates have unleashed the process of cooption of Dalits into the HIndutva fold.

Sections of Dalits are able to see the agenda of Brahmanic agenda of BJP-RSS and do plan to oppose it through various measures. The awareness among Dalit youth in particular is growing, to resist the BJP moves to undermine their social and economic status.

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Foot Notes

1.       https://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/the-cables/35177-Socioeconomic-future-of-Dalits-remains-bleak/article14959909.ece

2.       https://theprint.in/opinion/with-creamy-layer-hike-bjp-undoing-3-decades-of-mandal-gains-getting-obc-support/456497/

3.       https://theprint.in/opinion/with-creamy-layer-hike-bjp-undoing-3-decades-of-mandal-gains-getting-obc-support/456497/

4.       https://archive.siasat.com/news/four-years-modi-government-and-communal-divisiveness-1365085/

5.       https://thepolicytimes.com/chaos-that-cow-vigilantes-created-to-the-livelihoods-of-dalits-adivasi-and-muslim/

6.       https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/19/india-vigilante-cow-protection-groups-attack-minorities

7.       https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2015/03/indian-beef-ban-hits-untouchable-dalits-hardest/

8.       https://scroll.in/article/894750/dalit-view-will-be-wiped-out-teachers-say-new-ugc-quota-policy-will-take-away-more-than-just-jobs

 “India also has the largest number of people trapped in slavery – 14.2 million people”.<templatestyles src=”Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css”></templatestyles>

10.   Sengupta, Somini (29 August 2008). “Crusader Sees Wealth as Cure for Caste Bias”. The New York Times. India. Retrieved 20 November 2011.<templatestyles src=”Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css”></templatestyles>

11.   Wax, Emily (31 August 2008). “In an Indian Village, Signs of the Loosening Grip of Caste”. The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 November 2011.<templatestyles src=”Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css”></templatestyles>

12.   “Landlessness is higher among Dalits but more adivasis are ‘deprived'”. The Indian Express. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.<templatestyles src=”Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css”></templatestyles> 

13.   TNN (28 October 2012). “93% dalit families still live below poverty line, says survey”. The Times of India. Retrieved 13 September 2015.<templatestyles src=”Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css”></templatestyles>

14.   https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/dalits-adivasis-shortshrifted-modis-thirds-budget-rs-4-56731-crores-denied

15.   https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rahul-gandhi-slams-rss-bjp-for-plight-of-dalits/articleshow/63578704.cms

16.   https://www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha-2019/when-the-left-moved-right/article27266690.ece

17.   http://www.kashmirtimes.com/newsdet.aspx?q=109688

18.   https://www.ucanews.com/news/dalit-anger-challenges-indian-governments-future/82095#

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The Lok Sabha on Monday (August 6, 2018) unanimously passed a Bill to reverse the effects of a Supreme Court order concerning certain safeguards against arrests under the SC/ST law. The amended ‘Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018’, now rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against people from SC or ST communities, as it stood before the revision. Ram Vilas Paswan, part of NDA, and a Dalit, not only thanked the Prime Minster but used the occasion to also criticise the Congress. To emphasise that the Congress party is anti Dalit, he raked up the elections in which Congress had contested against Ambedkar (decades ago). That Ram Vilas Paswan’s own allegiance to Ambedkar ideology is also strongly under cloud, given that he is allying and empowering the BJP, a party that proudly carries its agenda of converting the Indian Republic into a Hindu Rashtra, is one aspect. Related to this is the fact that the Hindu Nation was anathema for Ambedkar and what he stood for, embodied in the Indian Constitution that showcases social justice, secularism and democracy.
 
Paswan has been well described as a Mausam Vaigyanik, (Scientist predicting weather). A man and a politician who, to remain in power, not just twists and turns the argument, but is prepared to make ideological compromises. His own ideology reflects a  hunger for power. His words and political stance do not matter much except on the electoral chess board. 

Electoral Battle Between Ambedkar and Congress: Paswan’s depiction gives a very selective presentation of the relationship. While he does point out this fact, he omits to mention that  Ambedkar was not a member of Congress party any time. Also that it is the same Congress party in whose government he was made the Cabinet minister, earlier. Paswan needs a historical memory jog: not only was Ambedkar Minister in the first Indian Cabinet, he was also made the Chairman of Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution, in which Babsaheb played a pivotal role. To cap this it was he who was requested to draft the Hindu Code Bill, a major step to reform the family laws towards a gender just society.
 
RSS Major Opponents of Ambedkar and the Constitution: While the likes of Paswan, hankering after power today, do mouth Ambedkar’s name, they deliberately omit mention of the fact that the major opposition  to the Indian Constitution as drafted by him, the major opposition to Hindu Code bill came from the stable of RSS, the parent organization of the party, in whose alliance he is today enjoying the perks of power. One can even say that Paswan’s political ally, the BJP’s agenda,  of a Hindu Rashtra is polar opposite to the dream of Indian nationhood that Babasaheb Ambedkar stood for: the dream of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, the dream of secular democratic India. The RSS has never hesitated in criticizing the Indian constitution, calling it Western; the BJP has never severed its umbilical cord to the Hindu nationalist RSS. Lately from within BJP itself from top down, Hindu nationalism is being propagated and practiced. Aggressively. Attacks on dalits, among other marginalised sections, go hand and hand with this hegemonic notion.
 
On the eve of the 2014 general election Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate himself pronounced that he was born in a Hindu family; he is a nationalist, so he is a Hindu nationalist. Another minister in the Centre, Anant Kumar Hegde has stated that the BJP is there, in power, to change the Indian constitution and that a secular identity should not be used by the people. To cap it all the UP Chief Minster Adityanath Yogi stated that Secularism is the biggest lie of Independent India. 

The BJP itself is very consciously walking the tight rope, balancing phrases and actions as for as Dalits are concerned. On the one hand, the power-lust of some dalit leaders like Paswan, Udit Raj and Ramdas Athwale are used to give a pro-Dalit veneer to BJP’s actions, on the other hand likes of Hegde and Yogi are forthright about their political agenda. It is also true that for the sake of electoral equations even the BJP has to pay obeisance to Ambedkar, despite having and agenda totally opposed to his political ideology.
 
On the ground, the impact of BJP-NDA, of which likes of Paswan are members, has affected Dalits and their life situation and culture in a very serious way. While these hegemonic forces are, trough ‘social engineering’ trying to woo a section of Dalits through manufactured icons like Suhel Dev and Shabri Mata among others, they have unleashed policies which affect the Dalit livelihood, in a very adverse way. The merciless beating of Dalits in Una, which Paswan dismissed as a minor event, the emotive issue of Holy cow has affected the livelihood of dalits in a big way. We also remember that it is during this period that institutional murder of Rohith Vemula and the anti dalit attack at Bhima Koregaon has tormented the Dalit community no end. Even the Modi Government, did try, first, to dilute the Atrocities Act, only once they saw a serious opposition to their move, were they compelled to retreat simply for electoral calculations.
 
While the BJP pays tribute to Ambedkar on the one hand , at the same time it presents Lord Ram as the central icon of its politics. What Ambedkar has said about Lord Ram in his various writings like ‘Riddles of Hinduism’ is well known. It is a sharp and scathing indictment of what he sees as Hinduism and its icons. For the BJP, while it is important to garland Babasaheb; it is of no consequence to them to take forward the agenda of social justice.

The latest attempt to selectively present the electoral battle between Congress and Ambedkar too, is a deliberate ploy to undermine the efforts which the national movement and Mahatma Gandhi-Congress achieved to fight against untouchablity in particular. 

We have miles to go as far as Babasaheb’s dream is concerned. But one thing aspect we cannot afford to forget is what  Ambedkar pointed out: Hindu Raj will be a big tragedy for Dalits of the country. 

It is too much to expect that the likes of Paswan will realize their folly of allying with the BJP-RSS whose very agenda is inherently anti-Dalit, as they are blinded by a lust for power!
 

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