JOIN USIn the heat of widespread agitation of the Dalits in Gujarat over the public flogging of a Dalit family by a cow vigilante group at Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluk, the BJP awkwardly sought to pass it as an unfortunate incident in the state that otherwise had low rate of atrocities on the Dalits. It also argued that the highest number of atrocities were reported from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the BJP is not in power.
Narendra Jadhav, who was recently nominated to the Rajya Sabha, tried to buttress the argument. During a panel discussion on the topic of cow vigilantism, Jadhav read out atrocity statistics, though totally out of context, in order to stress the point.
He repeated the argument in The Week (August 07, 2016): “In 2014, the top three states were Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. Gujarat, which is the centre of attention now, actually had much lower rate of crimes against the scheduled castes in 2014—2.4 per cent—whereas the above mentioned three states were all in the range of 17 per cent to 18 per cent.”
Jadhav was horribly wrong. By the rate of crimes against the scheduled castes (incidence of atrocities per lakh population of the scheduled castes), which he agrees as the real index of atrocity measure, the top three states were: Goa (66.8%), Rajasthan (65.7) and Andhra Pradesh (47.6) (See Column 6 of table 7.1, Crime in India 2014). Incidentally, all the three are NDA states, the first two being BJP-ruled and AP’s TDP being its ally. In fact, UP, whom he referred to as the top culprit, had the crime rate of just 19.5%, much below Gujarat’s 27.7%.
It may be erroneous to make a statement on the basis of figures for just one year. If one takes a look at the previous years, we might get a better idea about Gujarat’s relative rank in crimes against the Dalits. In 2013 when Narendra Modi’s publicity of Vibrant Gujarat had reached a crescendo in the wake of then upcoming general elections and his imminent coronation as the prime ministerial candidate, the rate of crime against the SCs was 29.21%, up from 25.23% in the previous year – 2012 – marking it as the fourth worst state in the country.
In both these years, it was about 1.5 times the national averages of 16.95% and 19.85% for 2013 and 2012, respectively. The order of the worst states in both the years remained the same: Rajasthan, Goa and Bihar. The much maligned UP had the atrocity rate of 15% (2013) and 17.16% (2012), far below the national averages for those years. The data for these two years convincingly establish Gujarat’s rank among the top tormentors of the Dalits.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in the earlier years, had erroneously used total population as the denominator instead of population of the SCs and corrected it only in 2012. Therefore, Gujarat’s vileness was understated in comparison with other states for those years. The corrected rates further reinforce our inference. In terms of the major class of atrocities like murder and rape also, Gujarat beats most states dry. The rate of these atrocities for the years 2012 and 2013 for the major states show how Gujarat ranks among the top few for the crimes against the Dalits.
In terms of the rate of murders, Gujarat has been ahead of all the states except for two in 2012 – UP (0.57%) and Madhya Pradesh (0.78) – is a clear winner in 2013. Actually, it ranked almost on par with UP, known for crimes against the SCs even in 2012. In 2014, it paired up with UP in both the rate of murders as well as rapes. It was much ahead of all the states except for MP and Rajasthan (0.7% each) in murder and behind MP (4.2), Kerala (4.0), and Rajasthan (2.8) in rape.
Widespread prejudice on part of the state functionaries in respect of the atrocities on the Dalits is reflected in the abysmally low conviction rate, which is just 2.9% as against 22% across the country. A study by the Ahmedabad-based Council for Social Justice of 400 judgments delivered under the Atrocity Act over 10 years since April 1, 1995 in the Special Atrocity Courts set up in 16 districts, revealed how police deliberately weaken cases in investigation and ensure eventual acquittal of the criminals.
Technical lapses
It even indicted judiciary in being eager to use alibi of technical lapses in investigation to acquit criminals but failing to use the provisions of the Act to punish those responsible for those lapses.
Gujarat’s middle caste feudalism is so repressive for its Dalits, who number less than half of the national average, that they could not build any sustaining resistance movement despite promising flashes of rebellion from time to time. One could easily see monumental discrimination in the resettlement colonies of earthquake victims in Kutch or scores of Dalits working as bonded labourers on the land of which they were the legal owners for decades.
The caste character of rural Gujarat was exposed by the Navsarjan survey of untouchability a few years back, which found that over 98% villages in Gujarat practiced untouchability. Under the garb of being Gandhi’s native state and the recent Modiesque propaganda of development, this gangrenous bosom of Gujarat remained hidden.
The problem is Dalit politicians and intellectuals, instead of exposing this malady and exerting pressure on the state to correct the situation, distort facts to the advantage of the ruling classes and reinforce status quo for their petty personal gains. To some extent, it may be understood as the class characteristic of these elements. But when their crop overwhelms the movement, it becomes a worrying matter.
(The writer is general-secretary, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, Mumbai)