(Vinay
Kumar)**
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Abstract:
The Dalit initiated to form formal
voluntary associations much along the lines of pressure groups, early in the
20th Century, existing in Indian politics. Calcutta, being the
metropolis of the British Empire, was the greatest centre of commercial and
Christian missionary activities in India. The people in this city were
inspired by the example of the societies formed for the beneficial purposes
by the Europeans in the town, like the Asiatic society of Bengal in 1784, the
Calcutta School Book Society in 1817, the Calcutta School Society in 1818 and
the Agricultural and Horticultural Society in India in 1820. The early
associations founded in India were mere interest groups who put pressure on
the British government to fulfill their demands in a very simple manner. In
this series, the first interest group was founded in India with the name of
the Landholders’ Society at a public meeting held in the town hall of
Calcutta on 19th March, 1838. This meeting was attended by over
two hundred Zamindars and a few Anglo-Indians which rose to its gathering of
about five thousand participants in its meeting held in the end of 1838,
where a petition was drafted to submit to the British against the resumption
of rent-free lands. It was the beginning of modern politics in India. The
rapid spread of the English education also generated some new ideas of public
spirit and patriotism. The young men left college with the ideas of the
political degradation of the people of India and very ardent desires to raise
themselves and their fellow-countrymen above their fallen state. Gradually, a
few such political associations got a ground in Bengal which became
significant in Indian politics during the late 19th and the early
20th Century.
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The Dalit consciousness had been brought about
by various factors existing in the society which institutionalized and formed
into a mass-based movement, reckoned with as a force. It was, however,
necessary to form organizations for upward mobility of the group as a whole. In
the caste-based society of India, the individual qualifications and
achievements have little significance. The Dalit had to survive to elevate
their collective status by forming organizations and raising the moral and
material status of their brethren. In such circumstances, the struggle against
imperialism and other similar issues were of secondary importance.[1]
Under this impression, many Adi movements were formed in the different parts of
the country. The Dalit
initiated to form formal voluntary associations much along the lines of
pressure groups, early in the 20th Century, existing in Indian
politics. Calcutta, being the metropolis of the British Empire, was the
greatest centre of commercial and Christian missionary activities in India. The
people in this city were inspired by the example of the societies formed for
the beneficial purposes by the Europeans in the town, like the Asiatic society
of Bengal in 1784, the Calcutta School Book Society in 1817, the Calcutta
School Society in 1818 and the Agricultural and Horticultural Society in India
in 1820. The early associations founded in India were mere interest groups who
put pressure on the British government to fulfill their demands in a very
simple manner. In this series, the first interest group was founded in India
with the name of the Landholders’ Society at a public meeting held in the town
hall of Calcutta on 19th March, 1838.[2]
This meeting was attended by over two hundred Zamindars and a few Anglo-Indians which rose to its gathering of
about five thousand participants in its meeting held in the end of 1838, where
a petition was drafted to submit to the British against the resumption of
rent-free lands. It was the beginning of modern politics in India.[3]
The rapid spread of the English education also generated some new ideas of
public spirit and patriotism. The young men left college with the ideas of the
political degradation of the people of India and very ardent desires to raise
themselves and their fellow-countrymen above their fallen state.[4]
Gradually, a few such political associations got a ground in Bengal which
became significant in Indian politics during the late 19th and the
early 20th Century. With the passage of time, the Dalit also realized that it was necessary
to form organizations to raise the upward mobility of the group as a whole
because in the caste based society, the individual qualifications and
achievement had no significance as such. They felt the need to start the
struggle for temple entry, access to watering places and roads, educational
institutions to spread education among themselves and the conferences to press
their demands for employment in civil and military services.[5] The awakened Dalit leaders started their work to
mobilize the community by forming some
organizations in various parts of the country.
In
South India, a movement for the upliftment of the dalit had already started under the
banner of Adi Dravida in the leadership of M. C. Rajah. He was the chief
spokesperson of the Madras untouchables in the legislative council ‘the best known dalit in India’. The Adi Dravida Mahajan
Sabha came into existence in 1890 and later on, got the name of Pariah Mahajan
Sabha. This organization sent a petition to the contemporary Madras Government
in 1890 requesting the agrarian concessions to the Pariahs. They requested the
government to lower the standard of the qualifying test prescribed for
admission to subordinate medical services. The government, however, conceded
their demand in 1899. This Sabha appealed to the government to abandon their
disgraceful name ‘Pariah’ and to give them the highly respectable name ‘Adi
Dravida’, denoting the original inhabitants of Dravida land. The Sabha succeeded
to get the resolution passed in the Provincial Legislative Council in 1922, in
which the recommendation was made to give the name Adi Dravida to the Pariahs.
They even demanded separate electorate for the Depressed Classes in the
constitution while submitting a memorandum to the Indian Statuary Commission
headed by Sir John Simon.[6]
It was the first movement started in India to formulate the concept that the
Scheduled Castes are the original inhabitants of India. The same idea was
accepted and propagated by the Ad Dharm Mandal in Punjab.
The
Adi Hindu Social Service league was founded by Bhagya Reddy Varma in 1911 at
Hyderabad with the objectives to eradicate social evil of intemperance, to
eradicate the system of animal sacrifice, to eradicate the custom of dedicating
girls to deities, to prevent child marriages and to create friendly relations among all the untouchable castes
and the people of the high castes. This organization also started English
monthly namely ‘The Panchama’ and, J.
S. Muttiah was appointed as its editor. This organization, later on, also
started pleading for the political demands of the Adi Hindus, like the separate
representation of the dalit in various Legislative Assemblies in the differe4nt
provinces.[7]
In
East India, All Bengal Namasudra Association was founded by Mukunda Behari
Mullick in 1912 at Calcutta. The organization gave a memorandum to the Indian
Statutory Commission in 1929 to make a provision of the franchise right for the
Depressed Classes people who pay the choukidari
tax of Re. 2/- or the Cess of Re. 1/- or Re. 1/- as Municipal tax. The organization also demanded for the
reservation of about 17% seats in the provincial legislature in proportion to
their population. This organization supported Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar in his
movement for the political rights of the Dalit in India.[8]
Another
similar organization which came into existence in November 1917 was Adi Andhra
Mahajan Sabha, at Vijayawada. The conference of this organization held under
the leadership of Bhagya Reddy Varma of Hyderabad. The conference was convened
by Guduru Ramachandra Rao. The organization, in its conference, passed the
resolution to consider all the untouchables as ‘Adi Andhra’ in the Andhra
region. They also requested the government to nominate Adi Andhras to the
statutory bodies, to admit their children into common schools and to dig
separate wells to provide them the water to drink. Very soon, it became a
significant organization of the region and the government accepted the
nomenclature of ‘Adi Andhra’ vide its order no. 817 of 25th March,
1922. The government also nominated N, Devendrudu S. Venkayya and Gangadhar
Sarma, to the then Madras Legislative Council. It was their significant victory
as they were given recognition.[9]
Dr.
Bhim Rao Ambedkar founded ‘Bahishkrit Hitkarni Sabha’ to bring the
socio-political awareness amongst the Dalit of India, on 20th July, 1924 at Bombay. The
significant objectives of the Sabha were to promote the spread of education and
culture among the Dalit, by opening libraries and social centers, to advance and
improve the economic condition of the Dalit by starting industrial and agricultural schools and to
represent their grievances before the government. He not only proposed all the
objectives on papers, but he also opened schools and hostels for the Dalit. He launched the movement for
equality of rights all over India. He strongly pleaded the case of the Dalit in front of the Statutory
Commission and worked for the franchise right to the Dalit. This organization worked very
effectively for the social and political awareness amongst the Dalit of India.
Ad
Dharm Mandal was founded in Punjab on 11th – 12th June,
1926 at village Muggowal in district Hoshiarpur with the efforts of Babu Mangoo
Ram. It was an effort to make a common platform for the significant Dalit
communities of Punjab. Very soon this Ad Dharm Mandal started following Dr. B R
Ambedkar on all the significant political matters. In the course of Round Table
Conferences, the leaders of Ad Dharm Mandal send telegrams to the British
government to accept Dr. B R Ambedkar as the only nominee of the Dalit. This
Mandal also contested the provincial elections of 1937 and even won seven seats
out of eight they contested in the province. With the passage of time, this
movement started concentrating on the religious issues of the community and
majority of its political activists joined Scheduled Caste Federation for the
political issues.
Samta
Sainik Dal was also founded by Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar in March, 1927. This
organization was formed to maintain discipline among the dalit generally and for the Mahad satyagraha
particularly, however, it was formally organized at National level on 20th
July, 1942 at Nagpur. It was an organization which helped Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar
in all of his movements with full zeal. Even today, this organization is
working in India very effectively. In Jalandhar (Punjab), this organization has
a very strong hold.
In
1928, Babu Jagjivan Ram formed Ravidas Maha Sabha at Calcutta with a view to
unite the dalit
of India in one significant organization. Later on, he joined Indian National
Congress and, in the annual session of the Ravidas Maha Sabha at Calcutta in
1934, he announced the formation of All India Depressed Classes League. A
similar conference was summoned at Kanpur in 1935 by him, where the office
bearers and executive members of the organization were elected unanimously.
Rasiklal Biswas was elected as President and Babu Jagjivan Ram and P. N.
Rajbhoj were elected its Secretaries. It became a pro-congress organization as
Indian National Congress itself was considering the increasing influence of Dr.
Bhim Rao Ambedkar a danger for the party.[10]
Another
organization namely Depressed Classes Association was formed in 1928 with the
efforts of M. C. Rajah. He became the President of this organization and
started working for the Dalit. He appointed Ganesh Akhaji Gawal as its General Secretary and G. M. Thaware as its Joint
Secretary. This organization was very active, particularly in the Vidarbha
region. However, it could not become much popular due to its opposition towards
the Ambedkarite organizations.[11]
While
studying all these organizations founded for the cause of the Dalit community,
one may come to the conclusion that it was the sole contribution of these
organizations which highlighted the actual problems faced by the Dalit in the
different parts of the country. They laid down the foundation for the strong
demand of social, political, religious and economic equality in the society
which is still in waiting. The Dalit have a deep sense of respect for these
organizations because these organizations created an environment for the Dalit
to fight for their valid and justified demands.
References:
Juergensmeyer
Mark, Religious Rebels in the Punjab,
Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1988
Kothari, Rajni
“Rise of the Dalits and the renewed debate on caste” in Partha Chaterjee (Ed.),
State Politics in India,
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998
Kshirsagar,
R. K., Dalit Movement in India and its
Leaders (1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994,
Mehrotra,
S. R., The Emergence of the Indian
National Congress, Delhi: Vikas Publications, 1971
Pai
Sudha, Dalit Assertion and the
Unfinished Democratic Revolution, New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2002
Virdi, S.
L., Casteism: The Eighth Worst Wonder,
Phagwara: Dalit Sahit Academy Punjab,
2001
[1] Rajni Kothari, “Rise of the
Dalits and the renewed debate on caste” in Partha Chaterjee (Ed.), State Politics in India,
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 51.
[2] S. R., Mehrotra, The Emergence of the Indian National
Congress, Delhi: Vikas Publications, 1971, pp. 1-2.
[3] S. R., Mehrotra, The Emergence of the Indian National
Congress, Delhi: Vikas Publications, 1971, pp. 12.
[4] S. R., Mehrotra, The Emergence of the Indian National
Congress, Delhi: Vikas Publications, 1971, pp. 26.
[5] R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp. 69.
[6]R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp. 72.
[7] R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp.
71-72.
[8] R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp.
74-75.
[9] R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp.
71-72.
[10] R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp. 75.
[11]R. K., Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India and its Leaders
(1857-1956), New Delhi: M. D. Publications, 1994, pp.
87-88.
