Ujjain/Neemuch: Madhya Pradesh has recently witnessed incidents of Dalit boycott in Dewas, Ujjain, Indore, Ratlam and Neemuch. On May 14, members of upper castes boycotted Dalits of Kundi Kheda village of Mahidpur tehsil in Ujjain district, after a Dalit youth’s wedding procession was taken out for the first time in the village. 

The next day, Savarna Samaj members called a meeting at the Ramkrishna temple in the village, where the order to boycott the Dalits was issued. 

During the boycott, Dalits had to fetch water from a source four kilometres away. However, with the intervention of administration, Savarna Samaj called off the boycott after 15 days. Not only water, the Dalit community wasn’t allowed to use the flour mill in the village also. As a result, they had to travel 20 kilometres to get wheat flour. 

Manoj Parmar, a local Dalit activist, said the district administration supported Dalit community, but the mentality of the people hasn’t changed and thus, the Dalits are still living in fear even after the boycott ended. 

While Dalits have to depend on the Savarna community for employment, Parmar revealed, only 50 Dalit households against 350 households of the upper caste community has created an imbalance.

Dule Singh Suryavanshi, a relative of the groom, compared the 15 days of boycott to a nightmare. He said the upper caste community had cut off all links with them after the boycott. Since the shops in the village belonged to the members of upper caste, the Dalits had to travel 15 kilometres for purchasing groceries, revealed Suryavanshi. 

A similar incident was reported from Barbodna village of Ratlam district. In May, the wedding procession of a person belonging to a lower caste, Daya Ram Chauhan, was attacked. 

Chauhan claimed the people belonging to upper castes assaulted him and his relatives, while also asking him to cancel the ceremony. After they lodged a complaint with Namali police station, the upper caste community blocked the water supply of the area and prevented water tankers from supplying water to their colony. 

The boycott was called off after a few days after the intervention of the Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaurav Tiwari. 

Recently, a wedding procession was carried out with heavy police security arrangements in Enabad village of Dewas district. The Dalit groom Bhagwan Singh Pawar approached police 15 days before the marriage and requested security measures. He informed a Dalit wedding procession was attacked 15 days ago, and he had assumed his wedding party would be attacked, which is why he approached the police. With the help of police, he visited the Ram temple in the village to offer his prayers. “Upper caste [people] would have never allowed me to perform pooja in the temple after marriage," he added. 

Neemuch boycott

Few days after the boycott in Ujjain was called off, the state faced another incident of Dalit boycott in Neemuch. Six to seven Dalit families of Mahagarh village in Neemuch district were boycotted after a minor strife.  

Samrat Gawari, a resident of Mahagarh village, said the clash began when he was having a cold beverage at a shop in the village. “A person from the Rajput community asked me how can I sit and drink in front of him," he said.

People from the Rajput community announced a boycott after this incident. Gawari revealed the owners of water tankers in the village are Rajpoots and thus, they have been deprived of water. 

A group of people went to the office of the SP of Neemuch with an application seeking protection from the Rajput community. A probe has been initiated. While the administration had deployed guards to guard the houses of Dalit families, it’s not enough to protect them, feared Gawari.

An upper-caste resident said the Dalits are now venturing out to other parts of the region for jobs. After coming back, he revealed, they show off. “They used to work in our fields and depend on us. If they are earning now, it does not mean they will get [same] treatment as upper castes,” he added. 

Discrimination and exploitation

Gopal Narayan Apte, a Dalit activist working for the rehabilitation of bonded labourers with his organisation Dalit Sangh, said the people from upper caste employ a Dalit offering low wages, and if they refuse, they start conspiring against them. “Boycotting is also a way to mount pressure on them so that they can be exploited financially," said Apte. 

Lack of employment and debts are contributing to continuing discrimination and exploitation in villages, revealed Apte. He cited the example of a Dalit labourer he had rescued in Bhatgaon village. The labourer spoke against his employer—who belonged to the Patel community—in the court and was set free. However, after six months he had to return back to the same house owing to financial problems. 

Manoj Parmar said even if the Dalits try to break the norms, there are harsh consequences that follow. He added that there are very few people who dare challenge upper caste people. Most of the cases do not come to light as Dalits are not ready to take the risks to clash with people of upper castes as there are harsh consequences attached to such actions, he revealed.