The people in Himachal’s Kyaar and Ghenti villages are secluded from the city. Only connected by what can at best be described as a bumpy, uneven path, with stones and pits at diligent intervals, making riding on it a nightmare.
Only members of scheduled castes live in these villages, which fall in the Solan district.
On one hand, their isolation has kept them from reaping the benefits of development in towns and cities. However, caste-based discrimination has still found a way to follow them even to these almost invisible villages.
'Thakurs Don't Become Friends With Schedule Caste'
Uma Devi, 35, has spent her life in Ghenti village. When The Quint asked her why people from other castes don’t live in her village, she smiled and said:
They Might Be Invisible, but Discrimination Follows
Uma says when they were invited for a shrad at a Thakur’s house in the neighbouring village, she sent her son – 14-year-old Amit. But when he touched a utensil of water, he was abused.
They abused our kids. “Why did you touch it?” After this incident something happened to our kids. They said they will never go to their house again.
Amit was visibly upset about this incident, which happened three weeks ago.
Uma says she has voted for the BJP as well as the Congress in the past. However, in both cases, no one did anything for her. Her biggest grudge? She doesn’t own any land.
They say you don’t have land so you won’t get anything. We ask them for better roads, but they say they can’t do anything as there is no land to our name.Uma Devi
'Scheduled Caste Women Can't Cook Food'
Deepak Kumar, a resident of Kyaar village, has four kids and a wife. He cuts cattle fodder for a living.
His children have never seen a movie or been to a fair in their life. He hoped his wife could get a job in the local school to cook, thereby supplementing his income.
They say how will our kids eat food if you come to the school and make khichdi for them? If there is a widow around from the SC, even she doesn’t get a job.
'Things Are Changing, but Slowly'
For five villages in the area, there is one school, the principal of which, Madan Lal, is also from the Scheduled Caste.
He has been the principal of the school for over two years. Lal says things have gotten better, but bias and discrimination continue to exist.
When Scheduled Caste members make food, the upper caste people don’t eat it. People are traditional, they have a thought process like that. This is wrong, but when people are uneducated they can’t analyse, they blindly follow their parents.Madan Lal, Principal
How Are Dalits Important in This Election?
Dalits comprise 25 percent of Himchal Pradesh’s population. Of the 68 assembly seats, 17 are reserved for the SC, including the Solan constituency.
They have the strength in numbers, and if unified could stand as an important ally or opposition, to both the Congress and the BJP. However, their current disunity is keeping them from being a powerful force in the upcoming assembly elections.
The Quint spoke to DC Rawat, secretary of the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Sabha in Solan district, to know if Dalits could pose a united front against established Congress and BJP.
Keeping the current state of politics in mind, Rawat admitted Dalits are not united right now.
Because they aren’t educated, they don’t come ahead and ask for work together or raise their voice when they don’t get work. First we want to unite them, educate them, and then empower them so this discrimination can end.
DC Rawat, Secretary, Dalit Shoshan Mukti Sabha, Solan district
This will take time. It will take effort and cooperation. It will also take the society having to think deep, and change regressive thoughts. Till then, Uma will continue to be worried about her son, who hopes to have a good job, land and be financially stable someday.
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman, Mohd Irshad
Video Producer: Suhasini Krishnan
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