Casteaways

It is a Kafkaesque world where the caste of a victim decides whether she actually faced the horrors that she spoke of before dying. The shadow of the accused’s caste looms large too as her brutalised body is consigned to flames by lathi-wielding policemen in secrecy, under the cover of darkness, depriving her family the right to perform the last rites. As flames of the pyre cast eerie shadows on the sullied land and embers glow red like angry eyes, the image of this dystopia is complete.

On a September night, when four upper caste Thakur men allegedly gang-raped and  strangulated a 19-year-old Dalit woman—her spine was broken in the brutal assault—Hathras emerged as a microcosm for a community whuch has historically faced oppression.

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What happened in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh on September 14 numbed a nation where everyday atrocities on women often become an inside-page, single column news. Lines between empathy and electoral gains blurred and political leaders of all hues descended on the village. There were dramatic scenes with the UP government unleashing its authority in full force as Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tried to make their way through numerous blockades, probably towards a much-needed political revival.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary faced a brutal baton charge by police on his way to meet the victim’s family. Bhim army chief Chandrashekhar Azad also met the girl’s family despite being stopped by the police and now faces a case for violating prohibitory orders. Derek O’ Brien, leader of Trinamool Congress—a party that has no base in UP—was also roughed-up by police on his way to the village.

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As the multiple fault lines of caste realities in UP were laid bare, the party in power, the BJP, preferred to maintain a distance. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath sent his senior police and administrative officials  but no political leader. From blaming the Opposition of trying to stoke caste violence to claiming an “international conspiracy” to engineer riots, Yogi made different statements as he ordered a CBI probe. The only local association of the saffron party was a meeting organised by a former MLA Rajvir Singh Pehalvan, a few kilometres outside the village, in defence of the upper caste accused. Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale, minister of state for social justice and empowerment, met the family later and said, “the incident puts humanity to shame”.

It is evident that while it is an opportunity for the Opposition parties to realign Dalit public opinion in their favour, it is a political dilemma for the BJP. “The BJP needs to do a delicate balancing act between the Dalits, who have been voting for the party in the last few elections, and its traditional upper caste supporters that include the Thakurs. It is a tough situation for the BJP. It could also have an impact on the coming Bihar elections,” says political analyst Badri Narayan, a professor at Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad.

The Valmiki community, to which the victim belonged, wields considerable clout in the state. Dalits constitute 21 per cent of the state’s population, of which five per cent are Valmikis. The BJP cannot afford to antagonise them just now. Not only can it have an impact on the Bihar elections, it could also put the BJP on the backfoot in the 2022 state polls. Valmikis are politically powerful in other states, including Punjab, West Bengal and Delhi. The BJP has over the years managed to woo a substantial number of non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits in UP.

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The BJP’s problem is that it cannot estrange its traditional upper caste voters of which Thakurs constitute eight per cent and Brahmins 12 per cent. “The arithmetic is problematic for the BJP,” explains Narayan. And for other parties like the Congress, it is more about gains in terms of perception rather than electoral gains. A lot can change between now and the elections.

RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary agrees. He tells Outlook that election dynamics have changed so much and incidents that happen closer to the polls matter. However, political parties have to stay in the reckoning and fight. What does a political party do in such a situation, he questions. If a leader of a political party goes to meet the family of a victim, it will be seen as politicisation. “Politics is seen as a cold-hearted profession. Whatever one does is seen from the prism of electoral gains. But in a case like Hathras, it’s better than not going. It is about extending support to the family. They are fearful about what would happen once the media glare is gone,” he says.

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Chaudhary, son of Ajit Singh, questions the way the Yogi government has handled the case. “It seems like some sort of an emotional roadblock for the chief minister. It is complicated and involves leadership among a caste. I only want to raise one issue. What if the case was reversed with the girl from an upper caste and the accused were from Dalit community? Or if the accused was a Muslim? Would the Yogi government have handled it in the same way?”

Leaders of the BJP—who made political capital out of the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a paramedical student in Delhi—have maintained a studied silence, refusing comments on the issue beyond party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accusing parties like the Congress of indulging in “political vulturism”. On the other hand, the two main opposition parties in the state—the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP)—have faced criticism for not leading the agitations from the frontline or responding late.

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BSP parliamentarian Kunwar Danish Ali, however, dismisses the allegations. “From day one, we are with the victim’s family…The UP government is trying to defend the indefensible. On one hand, they are saying there was no rape and, on the other hand, an FIR has been filed under section 376 of IPC. They burnt the body without allowing them to perform the last rites. All this has happened because the victim is a Dalit and it shows the feudal mentality of the ruling dispensation,” Ali says.

Mayawati’s lukewarm response has been interpreted as the party’s appeasement policy towards Brahmins, who seem to be upset with the Yogi government after the recent shootout of gangster Vikas Dubey. The Jatav-dominated BSP is looking to expand its base by attracting a section of Brahmins.

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To fill the vacuum, the Bhim Army chief is taking the lead over other Dalit parties in taking on the UP government and leading the protests. The young leader is expected to generate political capital with the Dalit community extending solid support. This will be a shot in the arm for his new political outfit, the Azad Samaj Party (ASP), as he is looking to expand his political base in the state ahead of the elections.

The Samajwadi Party says that since the Dalit community is fast losing trust in BJP after a series of such incidents, the onus is on the opposition to fill the vacuum ahead of the assembly polls. However, SP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari says it is too early to predict any shift. “Political disenchantment is a natural reaction to every incident. It won’t shift automatically to another party unless the party presents itself as a serious contender. Only time will tell,” says Tiwari.

President of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Prakash Ambedkar believes that Dalits are looking for a new party and predicts a realignment of Dalit votes that will be visible in the Bihar elections. The grandson of B.R. Ambedkar says parties like the Congress are only shedding crocodile tears. “When it was in power, it did nothing for the Dalits. As for BJP, it speaks for Hindus but follows the Manusmriti. There is a need to go to the Hindu tradition of saints that teach brotherhood, peace, love and humanity, and which is against the caste system. BJP needs to give up on the thought that caste and religion are main pillars of society. Unless that happens, atrocities against women and Dalits will continue,” he says.