Chengara / Varkala : Beware of the Dalit
By Sudeep K.S.
Chengara. More than two years back, over 5000 families of landless Dalits, Adivasis and others started this protest on 4th August 2007 claiming 6000 acres of land that was illegally kept by a plantation company in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. Around 20,000 people from different parts of the region moved to this area, with tents with poles and plastic sheets.
Protest at Chengara. Photo: Ajilal
The media as well as the government completely ignored this non-violent occupation for almost an year. The trade unions — left and right alike — threatened those people by abducting women, blocking all access to outside world.
It was also labeled Maoist and the demands were written off as “revolutionary jingoism”. The people did not give up, nor did they turn violent. Outside the mainstream media the struggle slowly gained support.
Even the middle class who were initially outright angry at the `unrealistic demand’ for land and housing reluctantly started accepting the fact that there are sections of society that were denied basic land rights. The opposition parties and media also were forced to talk about this struggle.
The ruling CPM and their trade unions continued with the threats. The chief minister called the occupants thieves. The court also intervened and ordered that the people be driven out of this illegal occupation. However, the Government finally had to give in. Earlier this month on October 5 2009 there was a settlement formula announced. The plan included giving land to 1432 of the families, and some financial help to build houses.
One acre of land for landless Adivasi families (5 or 6 of them), 50 cents for Dalit families and 25 cents for others. Execution of this plan is supposed to happen over next three months. Laha Gopalan, who led the struggle, said the formula was a farce but they will accept this ‘pittance’ offered to them and they are calling off the struggle for now.
Does this mark a victory or a defeat, what are the questions that remain unanswered, we will come to that later.
* * *
Now, cut to Varkala. A town near Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala. About a week before the Chengara settlement, a man was murdered while on his morning walk. The next day police claimed that they had information a Dalit outfit was behind this murder. Not just that, the outfit did it so that the people get to know about them, they added.
Predictably, life became hell for Dalits soon. Dalit youth were picked up by the police and harassed, branded as DHRM sympathizers. Apparently there were offers that if one joined Shiv Sena, one could escape this harassment. The Municipal chairman claimed that the outfit’s aim was to destroy the left. (It was interesting to see both the mainstream left and the extreme right finding a common enemy in the Dalit.)
Malayalam newspapers and television channels dished out terror stories ranging from how ‘peaceful existence has become impossible for the common people’ to ‘how poor Dalit youth gets misled’. The court rejected precautionary bail pleas of Dalit organization leaders, claiming there was a threat to normal life in the state.
Ajith Kumar, a Dalit Musician, shared his angst in a blog:
“The situation constructed by the media and police have forced the dalits in the pubic sphere – individuals and organizations – to take uncomfortable positions to prove one is a good dalit and not a bad dalit. Some dalit organizations have suddenly condemned the activities of DHRM, to prove perhaps that they are ‘good dalits’ and thus escaping this new stigma. What is interesting is that most of the dalit organizations always had to face the allegations of foreign funds or naxal connection, but then new organizations emerge the old ones are spared and the new ones are branded as more `dangerous’..”
[http://thefishpond.in/ajithkumar/2009/good-dalitbad-dalit/]
Meanwhile, Madhyamam (Malayalam), India Today and Tehelka dared to carry articles that went againt the ‘mass wisdom’. Their reporters who visited Varkala got to see a DHRM that was completely different from the terror outfit we were all familiar with by then. About the reforms they brought about in the Dalit community and about the acceptance they had locally. [See references below].
Even later, veteran journalist B R P Bhaskar and team that went to Varkala came up with many more stories of atrocities — both by the police and by the Shiv Sena. Localites who spoke to the fact finding team were apparently harassed by the police.
* * *
Chengara had raised some important questions. The most evident one was about the sections who were left out from the land reforms that happened in Kerala. That question is only partially answered with this settlement, even if it gets implemented.
It is only a small fraction of that excluded population, and even for them, the few cents of land or a hundred thousand rupees do not fulfill their demand for a dignified life. Another question was about the huge amount of land that is illegally occupied by private plantations, many years after their lease expired. The government does not want to address this question at all, and it got only more complex with the trade unions teaming up with the plantation owners.
Even as it opens up a lot more questions than it answers, I think Chengara land struggle is a landmark struggle in Kerala’s history and it is a sign of things to come. One important thing about this struggle was that it was not led by established left parties in the state. Nor by the Maoists, as the Government and CPM wanted people to believe.
CPM is known to have extreme intolerance to any struggle that is not led by them, and it was evident in their approach to the struggle. They said it was foreign funded, they said it was a Maoist uprising, and the CM had called them thieves. After all this, when it reached a settlement finally, it showed that if people decide to fight for their rights, it cannot be ignored for a long time.
It also says that the Kerala society is not ‘dead’, as the middle class and some intellectuals want to believe. (They are happy that way, but they shed a lot of tears for the ‘good old’ revolutionary days). The sections of the society who were betrayed by the revolutions are only coming alive. And it disturbs our peaceful lives in many ways.
That is why we were all desparate to contain the ‘Dalit Killer’. That is why the ‘bourgeois’ media and the Police and the CPM and the Judiciary are all on the same side when it comes to the ’safety and security’ of the middle class even as they hardly agree on anything else (consider the Paul George murder case where the media rejected the police version of the story claiming it was a CPM version).
One section of supposedly progressive intellectuals took a line that the media should stop the Dalit bashing reciting baseless stories planted by Police but — that is a big but — we should be aware of the ‘growing militant tendencies’ among Dalits in Kerala. I really don’t know what they mean, since the Dalit movements in Kerala have been characterized by non-violent struggles.
These ‘intellectuals’ echo the official CPM voice in their apologetic lament that the Dalits are led by ‘armchair’ Maoists. I know that is the only way they have known Dalits — as people who could be used by others, including CPM and the Maoists — for their short-term political gains. No wonder that they can not come to terms with the fact that those days are over, at least in Kerala.
The message that the police and the media gives is that ‘beware of the Dalit extremist’. The message that comes out clear in this whole episode, even as they try their best to hide it, is that ‘beware of the Dalit, as they are not your slaves any more’. They are increasingly becoming aware of their rights that we have robbed of them for generations.
Don’t be under the impression that you can kill it by calling them terrorists.
——-
Some references:
Chengara Land Struggle in Kerala (The South Asian / Dec 2007)
Two Dalit leaders of Kerala speaking about the struggle (Insight Magazine / July 2009)
A film on Chengara by C Sharatchandran
A Vicious Manifesto (S Sanjeev / Fishpond, Oct 2009)
Ab Aap Police Station se Samachar Suniye (Nivedita Menon / Kafila, Oct 2009)
(And now, the news read from the Police Station)
Ambedkar’s Lost Boys? (Ajit Sahi / Tehelka, Oct 2009)
What has made DHRM possible? (Jo, on his blog, he quotes from the India Today report, Oct 2009)
B R P Bhaskar writes after visiting Varkala, on his Malayalam blog (Oct 2009).
[Image courtesy: Ajilal's photoblog Nirangalil Sepia]
Thanks Sudeep, for writing and connecting these two points in our very fresh contemporary memory. Go deeper into time and wider into space and the line connecting more such points will take us back to other kinds of media, ‘intellectuals’ and ruling classes and their interpretation of the dalits/marginalized assertion. We could make a list of these descriptor words chronologically to create an ontology. Should we name it ‘suppression tactics’ or should we call it an ontology of ‘oppressor anxieties’? I wonder.
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Asianet TV channel is running one fact-finding report now, that goes behind the original police stories. There is pressure, surely. And Shiv Sena is now calling B R P Bhaskar a Pakistani agent.
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The Chengara movement has clearly exposed that whether it is CPM or Congress or their so called trade unions, all of them together with the media represents the interest of only the ruling castes and consider any Dalit assertion ‘dangerous’.
I will not be surprised if the so called ‘dalit terrorism’ is a product of xenophobic tendencies of left government which fear the autonomous dalit movement the most as such thing will clearly take away their claim of working for the poor and marginalized.
The day dalits become assertive, the first thing they do is to question the caste composition of the party leadership and also their claims of speaking on behalf of dalits and marginalized and the LEFT dreads it the most.
Why is BSP silent on this. If Mayavathi wants to set up a national party she has to stand by the Dalits in Kerala. Why is there no kinship between the ruling dalits leadership in UP and kerala. It is time Dalit issues are connected at a national level so that the power of the Dalits can be showcased.
the way the criminal nexus between Kerala police, Siva Sena and CPM works out to counter the emrging political category of ‘Dalit’ is horrifying and it shows the extnd to which state can go to kill any movement of the marginalised. The malayalam media’s initial apathy towards the issue seems to be born out of the fact that Indian national media as a cultural entity exists as an extension of Savarna ethos/values. The mere “innocence” shown by malayalam media in parroting the police version of the whole saga remain testimony to it (contrary to the stand taken by it in Paul muthoot case as pointed by the author)
this article has successfullyexposed the violece ofthe myth called “Kerala”
we should also retrospect and challenge the various ways with which the state via the police machinary unleashes violence upon theassertive marginalised sections of the society.
the shameful submissiveness shown by radical/intellectual kerala society to an out-dated hindutva group like Siva Sena” is yet another thing to ponder over.. The fear of the ‘Dalit’ make both left and right to form bonds under the safe patronage of the state.. this shows the true political potential of ‘Dalit’.
Well, at the risk of being branded a bureigese and a rightwinger , let me say something.
Before the DHRM incident i was under the impression that the Dalits were a preveliged lot, atleast in Kerela, and that they have no reason to have greviences against goverment, so the question of millitancy doesn’t arise at all.
And if noteriery was DHRM’s aim, i would say that they have acheived their objective. The media (the, print, the visual, and the net (this blog included) have played right into their hands ).
My own pesonal opinion is that the murder was perpetuated by a few misled youth ( mind it , I have not said Dalit youth) .
Regarding Chengara, I agree with you though i think that Chengara was a struggle led by the underpreveliged in general, not a caste in particular. The Land reform law needs to be ameneded to include plantations too, and the goverment should frame a common law to deal with Land leases which have lapsed.
Any way this is a good blog, keep blogging
regards,
We have a very similar experience in Maharashtra.
The trade union led by left parties,is hand in gloves with the congress leaders in selling of large portion of Ceiling land.They have also consented to return huge areas of Ceiling land to the landlords many of whom are either congress leaders or related to the trade union leaders.The dalits and tribals who have occupied these land will be thrown out.The judge said we are thieves and we have no civil rights.
@ Anoop Pattat
At the risk of being called a caste fanatic, let me share that I am mighty pleased that after the DHRM incident at least u got aware that the situation of Dalit whether he/she is in Kerala or Bihar is not much different.
The only difference is the assertion of Dalit is little more in places like Bihar and Tamil Nadu and hence there is much more violence against them as you will soon witness in Kerala too. And who knows, and i will not be surprised, if the whole DHRM incident is just an indication of caste backlash against nascent Dalit assertion in Kerala.
And if this is the intention of CPM government, then it is bound to fail. You cant keep people suffering from hundreds of years slavery bog down for ever.
Murders are mostly committed by misled people only so nothing special here.
Dont know whether DHRM is involved or not but the way media and police are behaving in this case, things appear quite fishy to some of us here.
The brahminical police and brahminical media can not digest an organization,which tries to uplift dalits.
In jhazzar, Haryana, 400 policeman stood and watched the lynching of 5 dalits. We shall become united and fight against these Brahminic/Hinduist/Sanatanist upper castes.
Hi,
Plz, can any one send the details of DHRM organization, and contacts, so that I can start this organization in my home town.
ranjith_sutari@yahoo.co.in
@Anoop Kumar
Please, never ever compare the conditions of Dalits in Kerela to that of Bihar!!
And considering that a major portion of grassroot workers of CPI (m) in Kerela belong to the Dalit community , I can’t see how they could afford a Dalit Backlash.
The problem with Dalits in Kerela as I see it is due to the lack of Good Dalit leaders , may be DHRM sans Violence would be a good step in that direction
@ANOOP PATTAT
come on man.. the police-Siva sena atrocities on Dalits of varkala have proven that kerala is no differnt from bihar… tragedy of keralites is that they dont realise it !!
Sudarshan
I have noticed the Shive Sena name continually popping up whenever DHRM is discussed. Anybody here from Varkala who could educate me about ground realities there, and how much political Clout they yeild ?
thanks
CPI[M] corrupting marks of s/c-s/t students in calicut university engineering courses.
For details google for “calicut university mark corruption”
hi all,
pls see an interesting piece by B R P Bhaskar on DHRM and Varkala issue
Monday, December 14, 2009
Commission proposes, government disposes
B R P BHASKAR
Gulf Today
The fate of a set of proposals sent to the Kerala government by the State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission illustrates how the political establishment scuttles efforts to address the problems of the weaker sections.
The commission, headed by PK Sivanandan, a former IAS officer, received on Oct.6 a complaint from VV Selvaraj, chairman of Dalit Human Rights Movement, alleging police atrocities against the organisation’s supporters in Varkala. It also received a petition signed by 536 Dalit women containing the same allegation.
The commission forwarded the complaints to the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and the Secretaries to the Home and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare departments. It received no response from any of them.
Varkala was the scene of a dastardly murder on Sept.23. The victim was a person named Sivaprasad with no known affiliation. Within hours of the murder, the police said DHRM members had killed him to proclaim the organisation’s strength.
Police swooped on Dalit colonies and arrested many DHRM workers. However, it has still not filed a charge-sheet in the murder case.
On Oct.21, the commission visited Varkala and gathered evidence directly from all concerned. It went to the Dalit colonies and spoke to both supporters and opponents of DHRM. It found the police version of events suspect and the testimony of DHRM supporters credible.
In the report, approved on Oct.29, the commission specially drew attention to the evidence of two women. One of them was a pregnant woman, who said police had taken her in a jeep and abandoned her on the roadside. The other was the mother of Das, DHRM organising secretary. She said the deputy superintended of police (DySP), Attingal, had taken her son to the police station and tortured him after a magistrate had remanded him to judicial custody.
The commission referred to the high-handed action of the circle inspector in locking the house of an arrested person and walking away with the key, denying his mother and sister access to their dwelling.
The key was returned to the family a day before the commission’s visit after the chairman took up the case with the superintendent of police.
During the visit to the Thoduve colony, noting the prevailing tension, the commission’s chairman directed the police superintendent to set up a picket there to prevent anti-social elements from taking advantage of the situation.
The report pointed out that if the police had taken adequate security measures, the clash on Oct.27 in which several women were injured could have been averted.
To put an end to the continuing strife, the commission suggested a visit to the colony by a high-powered government team, preferably under the leadership of the Chief Minister. It also proposed the formation of a committee comprising officials and elected representatives at the local level to maintain constant vigil.
The commission asked the government to order an impartial inquiry into the charges against the police, keeping the DySP and the Circle Inspector and Sub-Inspector of Varkala away.
The commission noted that many residents of Thoduve were living in tenements put up on government land. It proposed that they be given preferential treatment under the EMS housing scheme and rehabilitated.
Seven weeks have passed since the report was sent to AK Balan, Minister for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare, with copies to the Chief Minister, the Home Minister and a host of officials. So far there has been no action on the basis of its recommendations.
Inquiries have revealed that Balan, who is himself a Dalit, turned down the proposal for a visit to Thoduve by a team headed by the chief minister, saying it was impractical. He termed the proposal for rehabilitation of the colony residents also as impractical. He effectively killed the proposal for an impartial inquiry into the police conduct by referred it to the DGP.
The government’s inaction reflects the ruling establishment’s callous attitude towards the problems of the Dalits, who have been victims of discrimination for centuries. Since DHRM has been propagating the view that all established parties have betrayed the Dalits, it has invited the enmity of the entire political spectrum.
A campaign waged by DHRM has weaned away a large number of Dalits away from liquor and drugs. It has endeared the organisation to Dalit women but earned it the wrath of the drug mafia and those in its pay.–Gulf Today, Sharjah, December 14, 2009