In Gujarat, Dalits’ New-Found Assertiveness is Tattooed on Skin

Martin Macwan, a Dalit rights activist, says that “the perception among Dalits is that BJP has given up on them”.

“I got the tattoo done on 14 January this year,” says Ramesh Balubhai, one of the four Dalit youth, who were beaten black and blue by supposed gau rakshaks in Gujarat’s Una taluka in Gir-Somnath district for alleged cow slaughter.

(Photo: The Quint)

Just below the knuckles, on his right fist, “Jay Bhim” is emblazoned in a tattoo, and each time 23-year-old Ramesh Balubhai tightens his fists, the tattoo, in dark blue, expands on his taut skin.

“I got the tattoo done on 14 January this year,” says Balubhai, one of the four Dalit youth, who were beaten black and blue by supposed gau rakshaks in Gujarat’s Una taluka in Gir-Somnath district for alleged cow slaughter, when in reality they were skinning a cow carcass on 11 July 2016 in pursuit of their caste-defined trade practice.

“Two of my cousins have also got such tattoos done on their right fists,” Balubhai says.

The “Jay Bhim” tattoo. (Photo: Chandan Nandy/The Quint)

Dalit Shakti Kendra - A Rallying Centre For Political Consciousness and Mobilisation

The brutal assault sparked an unprecedented response among the state’s Dalit population, leading to widespread mobilisation and followed by an upsurge in “consciousness” of their identity, and the little political power they command in a state that is headed for polls in December.

Balubhai, who is originally from Mota Samadhiyala village, and his friend Ashwin Jairambhai of nearby Bedia, lived in terror for some weeks before taking shelter at the Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK) in Nani Devti village of Sanand district adjoining Ahmedabad.

Run by the indefatigable Martin Macwan, DSK, besides being a hub where young Dalit, tribal and other backward caste students pursue vocational training, has become a rallying centre for political consciousness and mobilisation at a time when they perceive a distinct shift in the Gujarat administration and the state BJP’s “attitude” towards them.

Today, with popular Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani throwing in his lot behind the Congress, DSK has suddenly emerged as an active platform where Rahul Gandhi will address a rally and unfurl a gigantic (125 feet x 83.3 feet) replica of the Indian tricolor on 24 November.

“In August, we approached a representative of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to accept the tricolor, but he refused to do so on the ground that the state administration did not have space large enough to keep it safe,” says Macwan, who has been at the helm of pulling Dalits out of years of social marginalisation, administrative apathy and neglect and on-the-face discrimination.

Martin Macwan, who runs the Dalit Shakti Centre, and is a leading Dalit rights activist.(Photo: Chandan Nandy/The Quint)

A Shift Away From BJP

Macwan, who was busy coordinating security arrangements for Rahul Gandhi’s visit to DSK with a Special Protection Group (SPG) officer before he launched into an animated discussion about the “new-found Dalit consciousness after the Una attack”, said that while the heavily splintered community – there are at least 33 sub-categories of Dalits – are divided in their loyalty towards the Congress and the BJP, “this time around there is a noticeable shift among those who used to blindly vote for the saffron party earlier”.

According to Macwan, “the perception among a large section of the Dalits is that the state government and the BJP have given up on them”.

A giant statue at the Dalit Shakti Kendra in Nani Devti village, Sanand district, depicting the universality of mankind.(Photo: Chandan Nandy/The Quint)

Balubhai doesn’t shy away from admitting that he voted the BJP in a panchayat election when he first came of age to exercise his franchise five years ago.

“In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, I preferred the Congress. Today, with the brutal assault of July 2016 still fresh on my mind, I do not think that I will vote for the BJP,” Balubhai says, even as he raises his shirt to show the scar, from the beating, on his back.

He says he “certainly will muster courage” to travel to Mota Samadhiyala to cast his vote on 9 December when the first phase of polling will take place in Gujarat. Jairambhai will accompany him.

Ramesh Balubhai and Ashwin Jairambhai (Photo: Chandan Nandy/The Quint)

The primary – and politically influential – sub-castes among the Dalits, comprising Rohits (about 25 percent), manual scavengers (8-9 percent) and Vankars or weavers (65 percent), are divided in their political loyalties.

But Macwan says he believes that, “after Una, there is a perceptible degree of Dalit unity” which could prove critical across some constituencies.

The state BJP has been trying to woo the Dalits back to its fold.

“Today, after more than a year has gone by following the Una attack, we have got nothing. And yet, district-level BJP leaders have been trying to contact each of the victims to assuage us by some promise or the other,” Balubhai says, adding in the same vein that “Rahul Gandhi was prompt enough to support us by giving Rs 5 lakh to each of the battered youth”.

Finding an Explanation in The Economics of the Trade

But beyond the competitive politics of wooing the Dalits, some members of the larger community interpret some of the individual attacks as part of a “larger design” whose explanation must be found in the economics of the trade in skinning animal carcasses and which sections stand to gain from the selective targeting.

According to Macwan there are three large machine-operated factories in Kheda district that deal with animal carcasses. “The three units are owned by wealthy Patels,” Macwan said, as Balubhai and Jairambhai convey the same message by assertively nodding their heads.

But beyond the automated factories, there are local interests who “are interested in spiking up the price to Rs 1,000 per skin now as compared to Rs 400 two years ago,” Jairambhai explains, adding that besides the skin, a dead cattlehead’s gall bladder also fetches a price as the organs in some of the carcasses contain stones, locally called “gochnaad”, which is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of some kind of ayurvedic medicine.

Besides, the fat sliced out of the dead animals is obtained by certain businessmen for Rs 5 per kilogram. Balubhai explains that this fat is used as an ingredient in making cheap biscuits.

Seizing The Land

Giving the instance of the Una attack, Balubhai reveals that the 30-men-strong gang which attacked him and his Dalit brethren in July last year were all dabangis (local toughs) who were involved in vasooli from sundry local traders and businessmen.

“These men were in cahoots with forest department officials and the sarpanch, Prafulla Jheena,” Balubhai says.

A more direct consequence of the attacks on Dalits in Gujarat over the last one year has been the “seizing” of land where the skinning of dead animals would take place. In most villages and talukas, skinning would be performed on specified, large tracts of land, far away from human habitation, prized by businessmen interested in setting up small or medium-sized industrial units or factories.

“The attacks on the Dalits were premeditated so that the land on which skinning would take place could be taken over by simply resorting to instilling fear among them,” Macwan says, before inviting us over for lunch.

The lunch on the floor. (Photo: Chandan Nandy/The Quint)

The spread is frugal: rice, daal and cooked moong-sprout, which must be eaten seated on the cold floor because that is how the Dalit students have their food day in and day out. Every student and visitor must also wash his own plate and drink water from a bottle that is passed around.

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