Punjab: A shrine and a struggle

[Anon Anon <inprekorr@xxxxxxxxx>]

Years of suppression of Dalits by the Jat community
culminates in Punjab's worst caste-related strife,
involving Jat and Dalit Sikh residents of Talhan
village near Jalandhar.

A shrine and a struggle
PRAVEEN SWAMI


ROADSIDE dhabas in Punjab do not have separate
tea-cups for Dalits, and Dalits are not massacred when
they ask for higher wages: and that, it is now
becoming clear, is about as far equality goes in
India's most prosperous State.

On June 5, Dalits and the dominant, landholding Jat
community blew apart the facade of caste peace in
Punjab, initiating clashes that have so far left one
person dead and dozens injured. The clashes began at
an annual fair held at the Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh
Samadhi, built in memory of a local Sufi saint in
Talhan village near Jalandhar (Frontline, May 9,
2003). The two communities blamed each another for
starting the violence, which took place as police
officials watched. Most of the injured were Dalits,
and most of the 10 homes damaged in the rioting also
belonged to Dalits. Within hours, Dalits in Jalandhar
city, incensed by the images of the violence telecast
on cable television channels, came out on the streets.
A 27-year-old Dalit, Vijay Kumar Kala, was killed in
police firing, which began after Dalits torched buses
and blocked traffic on the Jalandhar-Amritsar railway
line.

Violent clashes between the police and Dalits
continued in Jalandhar for several days. Although
curfew was imposed in Talhan, fresh clashes broke out
there on June 8. This time, Dalit assertion was
evident. A group of Dalits marched into a Jat-owned
field to harvest fodder, asserting a traditional right
denied to them ever since the landlords initiated an
economic blockade two months ago. Fodder stacked in
the field of Kewal Singh, a local Jat leader who was
instrumental in initiating the anti-Dalit blockade,
was set on fire. The violence in Jalandhar mirrored
this local conflagration, with young Dalits refusing
to respect curfew orders imposed by what they say is a
Jat-dominated police force and administration. The
violence has, without dispute, been the worst
caste-related strife Punjab has ever seen.

complete:
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2013/stories/20030704002703900.htm

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