Amidst all the brouhaha over social empowerment of weaker sections, here comes the naked truth of ‘social justice’ in Bihar. A Dalit mukhiya was denied his right to unfurl the national flag at Durgavati in Sasaram on the 60th Independence Day.  The mukhiya of Dumari panchayat, Ram Sinhasan Ram, was not only assaulted for daring to hoist the tricolour but chased away from the Panchayat Bhavan when he, along with the panchayat secretary, a Dalit, had reached there to unfurl the flag. Apprehending more trouble, the duo sought police assistance. Though sub-inspector Sarvadeo Singh and SAP (State Auxiliary Police) jawans were dispatched from Durgavati police station, even the cops’ presence did not cut much ice with the feudal mindset.

All this happened in Sasaram, which was the fiefdom of one of India’s tallest Dalit leader and former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, who represented the constituency for more than three decades.

Incidentally, his daughter Meira Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, now represents Sasaram. And still the district remains in the news for atrocities against Dalits.

What’s cooking?
Last week, a Dalit woman, Lali Devi was prevented from cooking mid-day meal for the school children at Rohtas (near Sasaram). When Lali still dared to go ahead, the school secretary Umashankar Tiwary, a Brahmin, and his henchmen dragged the woman out of the kitchen, assaulted her husband publicly and damaged the chullah (hearth).  Before taking away the utensils, the henchmen also warned the Dalit woman of dire consequences if she dared to enter the campus again.

It was only after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took serious note of the incident that an FIR was lodged against Tiwary. But even elsewhere, the feudal mindset remains unchanged. On August 15, a deputy mukhiya Subodh Kumar Paswan, another Dalit, was, in a similar fashion, not allowed to hoist the tricolour at Arajpur panchayat in Madhepura.