Dalit Groom Wears a Helmet to Protect Himself from Upper Caste Violence

NEW DELHI: It is an incident that spells resistance and yet underlines the status quo. A young Dalit groom, Pawan Malviya, on horseback, wore a helmet to protect himself from stones being hurled at him and the wedding procession by upper caste villagers in Negru village in the Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh.

His crime: riding to his wedding on horseback. The upper caste villagers said that this was a privilege only they enjoyed, and no Dalit had their permission to ride a horse to his wedding. The police said that no Dalit groom had ever taken out such a procession in the village in the past.

The boys father had sought police protection under the law of the land, fearing violence against the procession. So there was this little procession going to the bride’s house, escorted by the cops, even as stones were hurled at them by the villagers belonging to the upper caste.

It is not understood why the police could not have stopped the stoning right from the onset. The cops claimed a compromise was struck earlier with many of the upper castes agreeing to close their windows and not look outside to block the ‘offensive’ sight of a Dalit boy violating the ‘social codes’ set by the upper caste villagers who clearly dominate village life.

However, the procession was stoned heavily when it reached the panchayat court, despite the claim by the district authorities of working out a compromise. At least six persons were injured. The baraat was stopped for over 90 minutes at the chowk. A FR has been filed against 72 villagers with the police claiming that 30 of those charged under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had been arrested so far.

The new aspect was the determination of the groom to ride on the horse, a clear defiance of the illegal rules set out by the upper caste community in the village. To the point where he wore a helmet to protect himself from the stones, but did not get off the horse. The same determination was seen in the procession, many of whom braved the stones, got hurt, but did not go home despite the threat of violence from the upper castes.

This is being seen as a welcome development although the police gave little more than token protection. However, this incident also highlights the dismal conditions in which Dalits are still living across India, with discrimination remaining at its peak. Action is not taken against the perpetrators of this discrimination by the district authorities, with even in the above case more than half of those named in the FIR still to be arrested.

In a letter to Parliamentary Affairs Venkiah Naiu, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has asked for a special session of Parliament on the discrimination against Dalits on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of B.R.Ambedkar. Yechury has pointed out that, “ the condition of dalits has worsened during the courseof the last two decades. Even while the practice of untouchability anddifferent forms of violence against Scheduled Caste communities takes place,the conviction rate of people accused in such cases continues to be low.Laws such as The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act need to be strengthened and fully implemented. The Manual Scavengers Act is also yet to be implemented. Large sections of Dalits in rural India are landless workers without assets. There is a huge backlog infilling up reserved posts. Development schemes lie unimplemented. Dalit Christians and Muslims have been denied recognition as Scheduled Castes, and are consequently excluded from benefits to which Scheduled Castes are entitled, in addition to existing quotas.”