‘Saharanpur Moved Me to Tears’: Voices of Dalits at Jantar Mantar

An Ambedkar memorabilia-seller, a Buddha ‘music group’ member: Meet the Dalits gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

Blue-code! Chandrashekhar Azad’s Bhim Army gathered in hundreds at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

A little more than two weeks after inter-caste violence between Dalits and Thakurs engulfed UP’s Saharanpur – resulting in one death, 15 injured, 17 arrested and two dozen Dalit houses razed – the tension has now made its way to the nearby capital city of New Delhi. The protest hub of Jantar Mantar was witness to thousands of protesters representing the Dalits on Sunday.

They were denied permission to hold the protest by the Delhi police, but they went ahead with it anyway, spearheaded by Bhim Army’s young leader Chandrashekhar Azad.

While the immediate reason for the protests may have been the Saharanpur incident, it ultimately seemed like a congregation to break the protracted silence and speak up against years of exploitation.

In a sea of blue, the energy was at fever-pitch, the message ‘Enough is Enough’ lingering, and the calls to unite heard loud and clear.

Bhim Army gathered in the thousands at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. (Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

The Quint profiled a few personalities gathered at the venue. While united by their cause, each one of them had a different story to tell – from an Ambedkar memorabilia-seller, to a member of a group which believes in spreading Ambedkar’s and Buddha’s messages of peace through music and dance.

Milendra Gautam, Spreading The Message Through Music

Milendra Gautam (Photo: Kabir Upmanyu/The Quint)

Hailing from east Delhi’s Shahadra locality, Milendra Gautam is of the view that he has not been subjected to outright caste discrimination because he lives in a city. But going to Saharanpur and seeing the destruction that the recent caste violence left in its wake moved him to tears. Like many others around him, he blames the Yogi Adityanath government for inaction on the issue. And his support for Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) only stems out of her “handiwork”, not caste.

We fiercely support Mayawati and her BSP. But it’s not because of the fact that she is a Scheduled Caste. It’s her hard work that we respect. How she ensures that the law and order situation in the state is intact. Modi and Adityanath are only concerned about saving cows, not human beings.

Milendra Gautam

His sentiment regarding precedence given to cows over human beings is echoed by a few others gathered at the protest as well, indicating that the recent brouhaha about cow vigilantism has entrenched itself in the caste debate as well.

Gautam, like many others around him, is dressed in a t-shirt with the words ‘Live Lord Buddha’ written across. He reveals that it refers to a group which organises music programmes with songs dedicated to Ambedkar and Buddha. The motive: “Conveying their messages, calling for unity in cause through music.”

We have taken the route of music because it ensures maximum impact. The youth get especially attracted to such things.

Also Read: Saharanpur’s Politics of Rioting: Your Maharana Versus My Ambedkar

Rohit Kumar, Young and Inspired By His Grandfather

Rohit Kumar (Photo: Kabir Upmanyu/The Quint)

A young Rohit Kumar, hailing from Haryana’s Jind, says he was educated in the state’s Bhiwani district because caste discrimination is less pronounced there. He works in the state government’s health department now.

His inspiration for fighting caste discrimination was his grandfather, who he says was closely involved with Ambedkar’s struggle.

Looking at the everyday instances of caste discrimination I see in my village, and then learning from my grandfather’s experience, has made me take up the protest against casteism.

Rohit Kumar

Lamenting how caste discrimination is entrenched in his village, Kumar narrates one instance as follows:

When we opened a tuition centre in the village for Dalit students, a few from the upper castes started to play cricket next to the compound. That disturbed us, and we asked them to stop playing there. They did not agree, and we were afraid to get into a fight them. So we scheduled the classes for the evening. But then, when we saw them coming again in the evening, we realised that they were doing it on purpose. It seemed like they did not want us to be educated.

Kumar, along with others standing around him, claim to be members of a group they call ‘The Power of BR Ambedkar’. Education of the backward castes is their emphasis, and their next target is to have libraries in various villages in Haryana.

And they call this organisation ‘hierarchy-less’.

“Everyone is together here. Everyone is equal,” they proclaim.

Also Read: The Politics Behind Saharanpur Riots: Engineered for Elections?

Ved Raj Gautam, The Memorabilia Seller

Ved Raj Gautam (Photo: Kabir Upmanyu/The Quint)

Having spread out his memorabilia on a carpet next to a tree – including ‘Jai Bheem’ caps, trinkets, pictures of Buddha and books on Ambedkar – Ved Raj Gautam says that he goes “all-India selling these things”. Originally coming from Bulandshahr, he says that he has been doing this for the last 50 years -– that is, getting to know about events and rallies, and then visiting them to sell his wares.

On occasion of the protests on Sunday, Gautam claims to have sold 100-200 books. But in villages, his sales are higher, he says.

I have also shouted slogans at many rallies. But slogans can’t do everything. Education is important to us, but private education is too expensive.

Ved Raj Gautam

Yogesh Kumar, Donning The Proud Cap

Yogesh Kumar (Photo: Kabir Upmanyu/The Quint)

Yogesh Kumar came to the join the protests at Jantar Mantar from Ghaziabad, NCR. His source of information about the rising discontent among the community, spearheaded by the Bhim Army, is social media. He wears a cap celebrating his caste identity, calling it “great”.

His familiarisation with caste discrimination came when he was studying in school, but not until class 8.

I was in a computer science class when a photo of Ambedkar popped on the system. My classmate’s instant reaction was that of disgust. Then, another time, I gave a bike to my brother which had the word ‘Jatav’ written on it. Lo and behold, the bike was damaged by some miscreants. Through these experiences, I realised that the caste system was real.

Yogesh Kumar

Moreover, Kumar considers Ambedkar to have been more deserving than Jawaharlal Nehru of being the first Prime Minister of the country.

Satish Kumar, 5 Years And Going Strong

Satish Kumar (Photo: Kabir Upmanyu/The Quint)

Representing the collective Bhagana Kand Aandolan, a Dalit collective protesting Jat atrocities in Haryana, Satish Kumar distinguishes himself from other protestors at Jantar Mantar, in that he has been around since 2012. His passion for the cause, however, remains intact.

Seeing today’s protest gave us strength, after all the exhaustion over the last five years. Now, we can spend the next 50 years fighting for the cause.

Satish Kumar

The Andolan (movement) is against alleged instances of land-grabbing and the gangrape of a Dalit girl committed by Jats in 2012 and 2014 respectively. The ignorance of the Haryana governments has left some its members, including Kumar, with no option but to settle in Jantar Mantar, hoping that the authorities would respond one day.

Kumar, along with others, also ended up converting to Islam, and he now goes by the name Abdul Kalam. His childhood dream was to become a sportsperson – either a football or Kabaddi player – but as he says, the “upper castes” never let him play, fearing that he would become more successful than them.

Will the protests in the heart of the capital elicit a response from the authorities? Those gathered certainly expressed the hope.

Also Read: In Photos: Caught Amidst the Caste Wars of UP’s Saharanpur