#dnaEdit: Backlash against Dalits who dare shows the stranglehold of the caste system in India

The stoning of a Dalit marriage party in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district by upper caste villagers because the groom dared to ride a horse and his family dared to take out a baraat procession is a testimony to the social realities of rural India. The televised visuals of the groom, Pawan Malviya, wearing a helmet, a mandatory safety equipment for motorcyclists, while riding a horse, vividly explains the contradictions of India’s tryst with modernity. Riding a horse is viewed by the upper-castes as their tradition, and Dalits, denied such privileges for long, would also like to partake in such traditions. Though the Constitution banned untouchability, gave the Dalits the same right to vote as the upper-castes, and legislations enacted since have penalised untouchability in all its forms, oppressive practices continue to be reported with alarming regularity. Nevertheless, many Dalits have been freed of the economic shackles related to occupational mobility and property ownership that the caste system had imposed on them. It is evident that the act of riding a horse, carrying a sword, and taking out a procession was a manifestation of Dalit aspirations of being seen as social equals. The backlash against Dalits who use public space with confidence and pursue customs that were once the preserve of upper castes indicates that reactionary mindsets are still a dominant strand in Indian society. 

The stoning of Pawan Malviya’s wedding procession is by no means an isolated incident. Anticipating violence, Pawan’s father had sought police protection but to no avail. The attack on Dalits despite the police presence tells us volumes about fear of the law and the rule of the law. Scores of such crimes have been reported in recent years. Among the prominent attacks on Dalits for riding horses during weddings, reported in the national media in 2014, were attacks in Gujarat’s Aravalli and Sabarkantha districts, Rajasthan’s Alvar, Bhilwara and Chittorgarh districts, and Madhya Pradesh’s Neemoch and Chhattarpur districts. A common modus operandi of stone-throwing was reported in each of these incidents indicating that the logic of caste and kinship ties work across district and state borders, even in evolving tactics to quell Dalit assertion. Yet another common element that ties such incidents of disrupting Dalit baraats is the inefficacy of extant laws. 

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act prescribes a minimum punishment of six months and a maximum punishment of five years on those who obstruct Dalits from using public roads or humiliate them. However, the legislative route has failed to serve its purpose due to a poor conviction record. In 2013, against 15,300 cases registered under the SC/ST Act, police filed around 10,000 chargesheets, but there were only 1,042 convictions against 5,499 acquittals. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has complained that most of these cases were ending in out-of-court settlements, which raises the question whether intimidation was brought into play to get Dalits to withdraw the cases. A recent caste survey of 42,000 households found that one in four Indians continued to practice some form of untouchability. The politics of post-Independent India, especially post-Mandal, has gravitated towards asserting caste identities rather than breaking down caste barriers. Organisations like the RSS have sought to embrace Dalits and bring them within the Hindu firmament without dealing with caste hierarchies. The attempts to mitigate caste discrimination through electoral politics, legislation, affirmative action and criminalising untouchability have not furthered the cause of social justice beyond a point. The Ratlam incident is a reminder that the civil rights agenda must remain very high among the Indian State’s priorities.