Atrocities against the Dalits continue unabated as Maya plays the caste card

The Dalit Diva of Indian politics, Mayawati seldom misses a chance to flash her Dalit card. This week when UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi stung the UP chief minister with her reprehensible remarks, Mayawati played her Dalit lineage and invoked the dreaded SC-ST Act that led to the arrest of the Congress president of Uttar Pradesh. The BSP national president also played the victim who was at the receiving end of slander owing to her caste!

Little did she forget, or for that matter most people do not know, that in the last two years since she rode back to power with an envious mandate, atrocities on SC, STs have grown manifold. Snubbed by her original vote bank of the Dalits, prior to her dalliance with the ’sarva samaj’, in the Lok Sabha polls, Mayawati has fallen back on the core constituency and has unleashed a series of initiatives to win them back.

Whether they pay off or not is a matter that only time will tell, or may be the forthcoming by-elections to the five assembly seats, but amongst the series of acts to damage control the fast weaning away of the Dalit votes by the Congress is the decision to invoke NSA in case of land grabbing, or killing or rape of a Dalit, visit within 24-hours to the scene of incident by the UP Director General of Police and disbursement of an ex-gratia or compensation in person by the DGP.

This government order which has seen the DGP Vikram Singh heli-hop across the state - 18 places in the last two months alone. Other than precious and expensive aviation fuel being burnt, the move is also causing ripples in the upper caste, who were instrumental in the brute majority that Mayawati enjoys in the state assembly. While they feel that the state should be seen as fair to all when it comes to crime and atrocities, the Dalits too are not too amused by what they call is a “hogwash”.

And they have plenty of reasons to think this cynical way. If statistics of the state home department are to be held indicators of the crime-against-Dalit, its shows an upward turn and is indicative that stern measures by the state government have refused to act as deterrents in this caste-riddled state. Sample this: On an average day, the state reports as many as 19-20 FIRs by the Dalits. More than 1000 cases have been lodged of atrocities against Dalits in the first half of the year.

This, officials say, is by and large because of the atmosphere of fearlessness created during Maya’s regime. There are many however who contest this bravado of the government. Even the statistics dished out by the government speak of an upward spiral in crimes against the Dalit. A recent state government publication, issued by the home department, titled; ‘Actions and Achievements of the UP Police’ for the year 2009-2010 cedes that in the last two years such atrocities have grown by 37.30 percent.

In 2006 when Mayawati’s arch rival Mulayam Singh Yadav was at the helm, 5056 cases of Dalit harassment were registered which grew on to 6628 in 2007 and in 2008 this figure shot through the roof to touch an alarming 6942 cases. Officials while admitting of the upward spurt however say this is because now the cases are being registered unlike earlier when they were brushed under the carpet.

Under various sections of IPC such cases have increased phenomenally too - in 2006 they were 2238, in 2007 3064 and in 2008 to 3543. Rape of Dalit women were pegged at 255 in 2006, rose to 339 in 2007 and in 2008 they touched a shameful 333. In 2007, 313 dalits were killed/murdered while in 2008 this number was 229. Mayawati reacted with unusual elan when Congress state chief used a derogatory word against her but she probably does not have time to look at the stats of women harassment under her government.

From 16 thousand 539 cases of atrocities against women in 2006, this number has seen a 28.27 per cent rise to touch 21,215 cases in 2008. Women kidnappings have increased by 41 per cent while rapes have increased by 29 per cent. BAsed on these findings, there would be many, like me, who feel, that Rita Bahuguna Joshi erred in her statements against the UP chief minister, but I, like many others do endorse the later statement of Rahul Gandhi that while the words chosen by her were wrong, the underlying sentiment was indeed not-so-inappropriate!