It was a volcano in the winter of 1974. Young men and women streamed out of their dilapidated government chawls and into the narrow streets of central Mumbai – their hearts strengthened by the hope of a future free from the stench of caste prejudice and economic injustice.
Today, there are rows of shops selling shirts and mobile phones on the road where their dreams were shattered. Sumedh Jadhav is struggling to pinpoint the spot where his elder brother Bhagwat was hit by a stone during a march in suburban Worli on January 9, 1974. In 50 years, large parts of the suburb have been gentrified. The road where Bhagwat fell and died has two flyovers on either side, and damp, discolored chawls now exist only in a few inner lanes. Jadhav’s uncertain steps now make him struggle even to cross familiar roads. “But we can never forget Bhagwat Dada. He was the first martyr of the Dalit Panthers,” he said.
Building on the ideals of the Black Panthers, the Dalit Panthers were founded in 1972 on the 25th anniversary of independence as a response to the growing discontent among the marginalized community. But just as they were gaining ground, the violence of 1974, known as the Worli riots, sapped their energy and created disunity in the ranks. “Violence and riots continued for months. A generation of young Dalit men were thrown into jail. The family accused the police of brutality. It broke our momentum. People were also scared. How long could we fight?” asked JV Pawar, one of the founders of the Dalit Panthers.
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triggered by a Lok Sabha Following the by-election, the Worli riots changed the course of Dalit politics in the state where Dr. BR Ambedkar was born and which is often considered the cradle of the movement. This weakened the Panthers, eliminated the possibility of Dalit-led political organization and strengthened the mainstream parties. Over the past 50 years, the script has remained largely the same.
But the 2024 assembly elections may bring a twist in that path. In these exceptionally chaotic elections contested by six big and at least 20 small organisations, the Dalit community is going through its own churning, exemplified by the clash between two opposite issues that excite voters – fear around the Constitution versus quotas. Promises of subclassification.
important swing vote
Dalit communities constitute about 12% of Maharashtra’s population and 28 of the 288 assembly seats are reserved for them. In an unpredictable election, which each party believes will be tightly contested, they could act as a crucial swing vote.
In the Lok Sabha elections – the first electoral exercise after the split of the two largest regional organizations, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party – Dalit communities largely supported the Maha Vikas Aghadi, fearing that the Constitution might be changed and reservations would be scrapped. may cause damage. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition won the majority in Parliament.
Rohit Jadhav was one of those who voted for MVA. The 36-year-old, resident of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, belongs to an Ambedkarite family. “My father is a follower of Prakash Ambedkar (grandson of BR Ambedkar and chief of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi). But during the Lok Sabha elections, I switched to the Congress because local leaders were boasting about plans to change the Constitution,” he said.
The MVA won 30 out of 48 seats, including all five Lok Sabha constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes. Mahayuti (led by BJP) won only 17 seats. However, this time he is not so sure. “After all, this is not a national election, there is no threat to the Constitution from the state government,” he said.
Also running in his mind is a late gambit by the BJP government – setting up a one-member judicial panel to consider the question of subcategorization of the SC quota just before the elections. In August, the Supreme Court allowed states to internally subdivide the SC quota, arguing that some communities’ access to reservation benefits was unequal. This landmark decision immediately sparked a fierce debate, with some groups welcoming the decision and others alleging that it would politicize the quota and create divisions within marginalized castes.
The BJP took advantage of rising anxiety among smaller SC groups in the assembly elections in Haryana with a similar strategy – create a panel, promise benefits under sub-categorization and successfully corner a portion of the votes supporting the opposition in the Lok Sabha. Take possession. In Haryana, its target was the second largest SC group – the Balmikis. In Maharashtra, it is the community of Jadhav – Mang.
division within the group
They are the second largest SC community in Maharashtra, constituting slightly less than a third of the Dalit population. But the Mangs often complain that they lag far behind the Mahars, the largest group, in socio-economic indices and political power.
“The presence of demand in education was historically low. This gave rise to tremendous grievance,” said BS Waghmare, former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. “And while the Mahars were Buddhists, a large number of the Maang remained in Hinduism.”
The first political expression of this concern came in 1986–87, when Mangas demanded a separate development corporation. This culminated in 2003, when the state government constituted a judicial commission which ultimately recommended subclassification.
“We found that for example, in the revenue department there were 70 Mahar deputy collectors and two from Mang, 53 tehsildars from Mahar and four from Mang. Waghmare, who compiled the report, said 12,619 Mahars achieved technical diplomas, while in 2004 Mangs also had the same degree.
In the current campaign, the high-decibel pitch for Dalit votes is a demand for a caste census from the MVA, and a word of caution from the BJP, which is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “one is safe” refrain. If we remain united, we will be safe)” the slogan underlining the so-called threats of the opposition demands.
But under the radar, similar to its covert campaign in Haryana, BJP leaders are fueling their promise of subclassification, in the hope of taking away a portion of the demand votes from the MVA.
work on the ground
A key driver of this campaign is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has worked among the Mang community in the hinterland of Maharashtra for decades.
“For a long time, the RSS was opposed to the demand caused by Babasaheb (Ambedkar). But Baba Saheb’s followers were not eager to take us with them after him. Whereas, RSS worked on the ground. With time, the RSS opposition softened,” said Sanjay Gaikwad, vice principal of SB College, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
Across the 46-seat Marathwada region, from villages inside Beed to low-income urban slums in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar – deep feelings of resentment and neglect are simmering amid the demand. Some people are upset that their children are not able to succeed in government examinations, some people are upset that the community is getting few government jobs, and some people are upset that they are lacking respect. Feeling it. And this is a sentiment that even those who oppose the RSS accept.
“If more demands are becoming part of Hinduism, it is because of bad behavior from the other side. The youth of our community have low self-confidence. They don’t believe it’s a level playing field. And the more people oppose sub-categorization, the more inroads the RSS will make,” said Ishwar Danke, an activist.
A new voting dimension
The debate around subcategorization has added a new dimension to an already fractured campaign, with even ideological voters confused about which faction to vote for. But materially, it may not mean anything in the immediate future for Mangs, who has secured only a handful of tickets from any major alliance.
KG Kamble is familiar with this feeling of disappointment. Chhatrapati, a resident of Sambhaji Nagar, was a member of the Dalit Panthers in its heyday, carrying coded messages from its leaders to grassroots workers for protests and road blockades. One of independent India’s longest-running movements unfolded before their eyes – the 16-year-long renaming struggle by Dalit activists to rename Marathwada University as Dr. BR Ambedkar University. Today, the university gate is topped by a red and yellow cement arch; A remnant of the struggle is a small memorial to Pochiram Kamble, who was killed by upper castes in 1978 for demanding a name change.
“I remember we had to hide under bridges, or spend the night in the fields, to escape from upper caste people and the police. But we did not let the unity of our movement break even once,” he said.
Now approaching 70, Kamble pointed to the tough choices facing the community – Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA has vociferously opposed subclassification, the MVA has remained silent, and while the Mahayuti has supported it, it has offered the community only Some tickets have been given. “The Dalit Panthers had people from every community, as Babasaheb had intended. But now, our next generation has lost faith, and our movement has lost unity,” he said. “Our abolition will only harm the movement.”
