Defecating In Open: One May Be Killed Even.
Yes, it is true if one happens to be a dalit living in the Bhavkhedi village of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh. Their children run the risk of being thrashed to death if they go in open to relieve themselves.
It is nothing short of a hubris that ensues automatically when those belonging to the majority caste in the village exercise direct or indirect control over the other villagemen condemned to live in social and economic deprivation imposed by tradition. The cause of such control emanates from helplessness of the poor who are, generally speaking,dalits.
This is what appears to be the case of Bablu Valmik- Mehtar by caste in the community of Dalit earning livelihood by serving the powerful through agriculture labour and the like.
If the news item published dated 26.09.2019. in an English daily 'The Hindu' is to be believed in full (it is a common perception that this daily twists the news to fulfil the gap of intellectuality of the political hue it subtly represents),
it was twenty years ago that Bablu had come to settle in Bhavkhedi village with the permission of the village elders to render services of sorts.He earned from these elders the right to play Dhapli on the auspicious occasions in the village and homes of these elders. Needless to say these elders virtually ruled over the Co-villagers of so called humble caste. Government machinery have to act accordingly to buy 'peace' from these people personifying power based on caste, money and political connection, the latter emerging as latest factor of the power base. The siblings while defecating were beaten to death by the brother of the same Rameshwar Yadav at the door of whom Bablu played Dhapli on the various celebratory occasions. So association by service carried little meaning to the powerful elders seeking service of sorts from Bablu. Rameshwar's brother along with an associate Hakim Yadav went on beating hysterically their children that ended in the tragic death of the two siblings. Their defecation in open proved to be an anathema.
This type of power owned by the elders makes them audacious. They treat the poor and low caste with impunity and scorn. The slightest fault on part of the dalits who are resourceless(not all are so) turns these elders wild. They fume and shower foul words upon these unforunates. It is altogether different that very soon they pay the price of their misdeed or misconduct bordering on criminality. It results in veiled oppression of those who are simply resourceless vis a vis these elders. Discrimination imposed upon the community led Bablu and many like him to send to school their children with utensils of their own for being served with mid day meal there. Their children being disallowed to sit by the side of the elders' children. They were to stand in waiting in order to fetch water from village hand pumps till all others belonging to the family of these so called rulers had their utensils filled.
I am reminded of recount of what Baba Saheb told about his ordeal during his school years, where he, too, had to sit in separation and drink water from a pot not to be used by other students. Do we mean that situation still is more or less the same? Cannot say, perhaps no. Incidents of this character is a rarity and hence this misdemeanor should be punished with due firmness.
Put simply, I hold discrimination as a mental violence of sorts, but here in this case it included physical violence also of the basest order. It is simply inconsolable. Those responsible for this inhuman behaviour taking lives of the two siblings should be given exemplary punishment. It is an administrative failure whereby the black zeal, if any, against open defecation has been allowed to take shape like this.
No social cause is to be espoused in the bestial way. It is not unknown that at many places the persons from administration have been seen to resort to clapping collectively, or shooing away the people seen sitting to relieve themselves. This is indefensible. This is not the proper way of raising consciousness or awareness. ODF cannot be achieved at the baton point or resorting to humiliation. We must not forget that attitude and habits take time to change which is more effective if pursued with care and caution and accompanied by matching infrastructure. All I can say is that still we are miles away to create infrastructure that provides blanket toilet facilities in the village. In that case people will do go in open to attend the call of nature. Besides, still there are many who are denied toilet facilities in absence of their capacity to fulfill the demands of illegal gratifications of the babus of blocks.
When discriminations go unabated and the system stands in collusion with those powerful elders nothing can be ruled out. Rape and murder of dalit in many cases happen on account of feudal disposition which resurfaces on the soil whenever the rule of law stands compromised and law and order machinery is throttled to underperform under political pressure.
We have still miles to go to build a system free from oppression, exploitation, hypocrisy and high handedness of such macabre magnitude. The system must be so built in order that it deters one to act illegally, bestially and aggressively to take even life of an individual, let alone that of a dalit under the pretext of this or that.
R.R.Prabhakar.
27.09.2019.
It is nothing short of a hubris that ensues automatically when those belonging to the majority caste in the village exercise direct or indirect control over the other villagemen condemned to live in social and economic deprivation imposed by tradition. The cause of such control emanates from helplessness of the poor who are, generally speaking,dalits.
This is what appears to be the case of Bablu Valmik- Mehtar by caste in the community of Dalit earning livelihood by serving the powerful through agriculture labour and the like.
If the news item published dated 26.09.2019. in an English daily 'The Hindu' is to be believed in full (it is a common perception that this daily twists the news to fulfil the gap of intellectuality of the political hue it subtly represents),
it was twenty years ago that Bablu had come to settle in Bhavkhedi village with the permission of the village elders to render services of sorts.He earned from these elders the right to play Dhapli on the auspicious occasions in the village and homes of these elders. Needless to say these elders virtually ruled over the Co-villagers of so called humble caste. Government machinery have to act accordingly to buy 'peace' from these people personifying power based on caste, money and political connection, the latter emerging as latest factor of the power base. The siblings while defecating were beaten to death by the brother of the same Rameshwar Yadav at the door of whom Bablu played Dhapli on the various celebratory occasions. So association by service carried little meaning to the powerful elders seeking service of sorts from Bablu. Rameshwar's brother along with an associate Hakim Yadav went on beating hysterically their children that ended in the tragic death of the two siblings. Their defecation in open proved to be an anathema.
This type of power owned by the elders makes them audacious. They treat the poor and low caste with impunity and scorn. The slightest fault on part of the dalits who are resourceless(not all are so) turns these elders wild. They fume and shower foul words upon these unforunates. It is altogether different that very soon they pay the price of their misdeed or misconduct bordering on criminality. It results in veiled oppression of those who are simply resourceless vis a vis these elders. Discrimination imposed upon the community led Bablu and many like him to send to school their children with utensils of their own for being served with mid day meal there. Their children being disallowed to sit by the side of the elders' children. They were to stand in waiting in order to fetch water from village hand pumps till all others belonging to the family of these so called rulers had their utensils filled.
I am reminded of recount of what Baba Saheb told about his ordeal during his school years, where he, too, had to sit in separation and drink water from a pot not to be used by other students. Do we mean that situation still is more or less the same? Cannot say, perhaps no. Incidents of this character is a rarity and hence this misdemeanor should be punished with due firmness.
Put simply, I hold discrimination as a mental violence of sorts, but here in this case it included physical violence also of the basest order. It is simply inconsolable. Those responsible for this inhuman behaviour taking lives of the two siblings should be given exemplary punishment. It is an administrative failure whereby the black zeal, if any, against open defecation has been allowed to take shape like this.
No social cause is to be espoused in the bestial way. It is not unknown that at many places the persons from administration have been seen to resort to clapping collectively, or shooing away the people seen sitting to relieve themselves. This is indefensible. This is not the proper way of raising consciousness or awareness. ODF cannot be achieved at the baton point or resorting to humiliation. We must not forget that attitude and habits take time to change which is more effective if pursued with care and caution and accompanied by matching infrastructure. All I can say is that still we are miles away to create infrastructure that provides blanket toilet facilities in the village. In that case people will do go in open to attend the call of nature. Besides, still there are many who are denied toilet facilities in absence of their capacity to fulfill the demands of illegal gratifications of the babus of blocks.
When discriminations go unabated and the system stands in collusion with those powerful elders nothing can be ruled out. Rape and murder of dalit in many cases happen on account of feudal disposition which resurfaces on the soil whenever the rule of law stands compromised and law and order machinery is throttled to underperform under political pressure.
We have still miles to go to build a system free from oppression, exploitation, hypocrisy and high handedness of such macabre magnitude. The system must be so built in order that it deters one to act illegally, bestially and aggressively to take even life of an individual, let alone that of a dalit under the pretext of this or that.
R.R.Prabhakar.
27.09.2019.
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