Friday morning’s papers brought the news of yet another village boycotting its’

 Dalits near Viramgam.  I decided to see for myself what the story was.

I arrived at about 6 in the evening. On the main road leading to the village there was a posse of policemen. I stopped, introduced myself and asked what was going on. They said there had been a case filed on some temple issue and then introduced a man who said he was the Sarpanch. I asked him to explain what the situation was and whether he could take me into the Dalit vas. He gingerly admitted that actually his wife was the Sarpanch and then lead us in. Several more policemen were comfortably parked on cots under a shady neem in the middle of the vas. I asked to see the real Sarpanch and settled onto one of the cots. A crowd gathered instantly.

This is their story. On the night of the 30th there was a ceremony to install the Deity of Rama in a long unfinished temple. One of the Dalits was around the temple kitchen where a huge meal for the village was being cooked and someone one yelled at him to move away from the kitchen. He was addressed by a derogatory term. Soon after a group of Dalits went to give a donation of 11000 rupees for the ceremony and the Bharwads and Kolis refused the money and asked them to come later to eat. Upset by these happenings the Dalits refused to attend the function. Simabhai Bharwad then came to their vas and asked them to come and eat and when they said they were insulted and demanded an apology, casually walked away. At 9 pm the Bharwads declared a boycott of all the Dalits. The next day shops refused to serve the Dalits, the Bharwads refused to sell them milk or curds, private transport from the village refused them rides. They were threatened with dire consequences. They complained to the police, to the authorities but for three days nothing was forthcoming. Finally on the forth day with the help of workers from Navsarjan Trust, they filed an FIR though the police were unwilling to do so. Five people including Simabhai were arrested under the atrocities act, stayed in jail for a day and were let off on bail. The threats continued. 8 days later they lived in constant fear of reprisals, unable to leave or enter the vas, without work and near starving. The Bharvads had declared a fine of Rs 1100 for any interaction with the Dalits.

I then went to the Bharwad vas. We sat down outside Simabhai’s courtyard as people gathered around us. This is their story. All day all of them together had taken the idol in procession, bathed the idol and installed it. A priest had officiated. In the evening some young child from their community may have called someone from the Harijan community a bad name. They knew nothing of anyone offering money as a  donation and wouldn’t have taken it as a benefactor from Ahmedabad had completed the building of the temple and was paying for the entire event. Simabhai heard that the Dalits were upset and went into the vas to beg them to not ruin a village event that was to being them all prosperity. He apologised on behalf of anyone who had made derogatory remarks. He even took off his paghdi and begged them to come and partake of the meal. They refused. That night they declared a 1500 rupee fine for anyone who deals with the Bharwads or Kolis. From the next day the Dalits boycotted them. No one would repair their tractors. No one would come for work. They felt frightened and threatened. The atrocities act had been used against them in ’91 and they had to settle by paying 50,000 rupees. The following days five of them had to go to jail. They were willing to compromise but…..





Two completely opposite stories. What was the truth? I left and en route talked to some police officers involved and to my friends at Navsarjan. We decided to meet in the village the next morning to try and get both sides to sit and talk this through.

Positions had hardened the next morning. After we left a lot of police officers had come and, the Dalits said, treated them exactly as the other upper caste people treat them. Insultingly, as lesser beings. Soon after a group from Navsarjan arrived. I went from one group to another trying to get them to see reason that whatever be the legal status and the case filed they still had to live together; their issues of no work and no money were common; that we should try and get them work under the NREGS.

“Let the Bharwads come and swear at our Mataji shrine that they have not boycotted us and we will let them off”.

“Let the Dalits come to our Ramji mandir and sit with us and we will let them off”.

By late morning politicians were politicizing the issue. Tempers were getting frayed and the real issue of caste biases and joblessness and poverty were being overshadowed.

Whose side do I believe? A little of both. But the fact that our Dalits continue to suffer great injustice and ostracism can not be denied.