Dalit Identity Issue – United We Stand and Divided We Fall

Dalit Identity Issue – United We Stand and Divided We Fall

Sant Niranjan Dass and Late Sant Ramanand

Of late, the issue of dalit identity as Ad-dharmis or Ravidassias is currently making waves in the social media. Sometimes, new Buddhists, it seems, also get tempted to jump on the bandwagon of ‘Identity’ zealots or they are unnecessarily dragged by the stakeholders. Occasionally, I have also joined the debate and commented on various posts floating on Facebook or other social media organs like WhatsApp etc. First of all, before I come to the real issue, let me add with some satisfaction that more and more dalit youth are getting access to the social media though they are yet to realize the full impact of this very important tool to express themselves in the situation where they don’t have the luxury of enjoying the attention of the mainstream media both print and electronic. I wish more and more dalit educated youth join and avail of facilities like Twitter, Youtube etc. and express their view point. We need to be more serious and involved in the process and should not limit ourselves to “Jai Gurdev – Dhan Gurdev or Jai Bhim – Jai Bharat. Say more and be full-fledged stakeholders in this important issue. Only then your views will count in the corridors of power in Delhi and the State capitals. It is a matter of some gratification that in the ensuing debate the national media has

shown some interest. I have seen detailed stories in the Times of India and the Indian Express, of late, besides the vernacular media. It is a good development but the purpose and motivation of the media, generally found aloof or unconcerned, is yet to be understood. It seems, as usual, many forces, both genuine and vested, are interested and working on the issue and obviously. Of course, it is an important issue, Identity of Dalits, has a direct bearing on the social and political edifice of the country. I am saying this not as an expert but an interested layman and an ordinary citizen of the country with an open mind.

Sant Niranjan Dass ji with PM Narendra Modi an CM Adityanath Yogi

Before I proceed to discuss the meager details and cursory information I have on the issue, let me, with all humility, share my views on the ongoing debate on ‘Dalit Identity’ in the larger interests of the community and the society at large, knowing well that these may not find favour with the Principals of both the camps i.e. Ad-dharmis and Ravidassias and even the Buddhists. The ‘Dalit Identity Issue’ being discussed currently is an unnecessary debate which will bring no benefit and dividend and even advantage to the community in the given social and constitutional background. The assertions of both the Ad-dharam Movement and the Dera Sachkhand Ballan with regard to their proclaimed religious identity as Ad-dharmis and Ravidassias are fully, to my mind, laced with ‘divisive tendencies’’ which will further divide dalit communities. It will be detrimental to our overall interests in the run up to get a due space and share in the polity and society of India. My gut feeling is that this avoidable debate has been purposely instigated by the vested interests who directly gain from the situation in which dalits remain divided. I stop here and will, if need be, specify these inimical forces who follow the age old dictum of ‘Divide and Rule’ at some later date as I don’t intend to add to existing unfortunate social animosity. The premise of both the stakeholders i.e. Ad-dharmis and Ravidassias on the issue is based on fallacious and unfounded understandings on the issue. The Ad-dharmis rely and stand on the thoughts of Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia under the umbrella of Ad-dharam Mandal of yesteryears and the fact of the census of 1931 and 1941

Sant Satwinder Hira with RSS Activists Banveer Singh and Dr. Varinder Garg

in which Ad-dharam was accorded some sort of recognition as distinct from the Hindus and Sikhs as a pre-cursor to the Communal Award of 1932 of PM Ramsey MacDonald. The Poona Pact of 1932 between Gandhi and Ambedkar followed by the India Act of 1935 and finally culminating in the constitution of independent India changed the entire scenario and the Ad-dharam Movement became dormant and was made irrelevant. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s embracing of Buddhism, an epoch making event in the history of India, in October, 1956 further eroded Ad-dharam’s base and rationale. I need not go beyond this. The Ravidassia Dharam floated by Dera Sachkhand Ballan of Jalandhar is comparatively a recent development of 2010-11. The genesis of it lays in the gruesome and cold blooded murder of Sant Ramanand of the Dera Ballan in May, 2009 in Vienna the capital city of Austria. The present Principal Sant of the Dera Niranjan Dass ji was also grievously wounded in the murderous attack by some Sikh hardcore militants. Till then the Dera was faithfully following the Guru Granth Sahib and lofty tenets of Sikhism and Sant Ramanand himself was one of the known and revered preachers of Gurbani enshrined in the great Guru Granth Sahib. The Ravidassia Dharam, to put it briefly as a matter of fact, was a spontaneous and half baked reaction which came to the fore in anger and with a sense of retaliation against the Sikh culture and society, if not against the Sikh religion. Otherwise, the daily ritualistic routine at the Dera and also the conduct of the Sants there remained the same minus the exalted presence of Guru Granth Sahib which was replaced by the hurriedly compiled Amritvani, a new holy book dedicated to Guru Ravidass ji. It will not be out of place to mention that it was a mysterious tragedy, soon thereafter, that the motley group of Sants and other senior functionaries at the Dera who were instrumental in floating the new religion i.e. Ravidassia Dharam, were shunted out of the Dera by the current dispensation in control of the Dera. The political outfits and their leadership - Congress, BJP, Akalis, BSP, as and when convenient placate the Dera including the establishment and control of the holy sites at Seer Govardhanpur at Varanasi in UP for their political axe to grind owing to the Dera’s considerable clout among the Chamars/Ad-dharmis in and around Doaba region of Punjab and dalit Diaspora abroad.  The Dera and its leadership take it, I think, mistakenly, as support to their new venture, Ravidassia Dharam which is, in fact, not the case. It is, to my mind, an ill-conceived idea having no social and constitutional background and backup. I may appear to be candid and frank in expressing my opinion on the subject but I do it in all good faith as a humble Ad-dharmi or Ravidassia with utmost respect and

Ambassador Ramesh Chander with revered Sants of Dera Ballan at Vienna

reverence for the Dera Sachkhand Ballan and its leadership including Sant Niranjan Dass ji whom I had met a couple of times in Vienna and at my humble abodes in Delhi and Jalandhar, besides my personal good rapport with Sant Ramanand and that of my brothers with Sant Garib Dass of the esteemed Dera. As regards Ad-dharam, the idea had exhausted its utility with the new constitution of India. Banta Ram Ghera, a tireless community activist who was instrumental in searching and establishing the birth place of Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi, picked up the flag of Ad-dharam to counter Dera Sachkhand Ballan who gained control of the holy site and condemned Banta Ram

Ambassador Ramesh Chander with Sant Satwinder Hira

Ghera to die as an ‘unsung’ hero. This feud between the All India Ad-dharam Movement under the stewardship of Sant Satwinder Hira of Khuralgarh Sahib  in Hoshiarpur, Punjab and Management of Dera Sachkhand Ballan on the issue of identity may be seen in this background. It is just a coincident that I knew Banta Ram Ghera personally and Sant Satwinder Hira, a qualified Engineer by profession, is also known to me as are the high-ups at the Dera Sachkhand Ballan.

Now coming to the crux without further prolonging the background, I would like to share the likely fallout, to my mind, of this ‘Dalit Identity” with the concerned and interested in both camps i.e. the proponents of Ad-dharam and Ravidassia Dharam. The immediate and definite fallout is further division in the society which will do much harm to the overall interests and concerns of dalit communities at large. It will also adversely affect the social cohesion and harmony with the mainstream of the society. There is no constitutional provision, as of now, to accommodate the submissions, proposals, demands made to the government in this regard. If the government tends to accept these demands, let us believe so hypothetically, a constitutional amendment would be needed. Do we have that strength, support and wherewithal to take forward the matter? I don’t think so, given the state and mode of our representations, memorandums and letters to President, PM and other authorities – lacking in good and flawless drafting, lacking in content and intent, bereft of thrust and goalpost to say the least. It only shows that we are not serious. But nevertheless we wish to stand on ego and ceremonies to carry on the limited agenda to be seen as the flag-bearers of the community.

Given the current and forthcoming scenario, we need no separate identity distinct and separate from Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. Currently, almost all Ad-dharmis, Ravidassias are either Hindus or Sikhs or Buddhists in accordance with the social and legal framework under the constitution of India. Our greatest icon in contemporary times, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, after deep thought and in-depth study and also due consideration embraced Buddhism in October, 1956 to shed the yoke of uncivilized, unbecoming, inhuman and exploitive behavior of the caste Hindus with their fellow human beings belonging to the so called lower strata of the repressive caste system. More than a million of his followers embraced Buddhism in a few days of the epoch making historical decision and action of Babsaheb Ambedkar. The history of religious renaissance in India would have been different had Dr. Ambedkar not passed away in December 1956, barely in less than two months of his reviving in India the great religion of the world, Buddhism. I am confident that the question of seeking new identity as Ad-dharmis or Ravidassias would not have risen. But that was not to be. Now, it seems, we are to content ourselves with our religious and cultural identity and affiliation with the main stream religions with identified with India that is Bharat. Generally as a common tendency and tradition one remains in the same religion in which one is born. Conversion to another religion remains a viable option which is legal and desirable as many of us did on the call of our leader Babasaheb Ambedkar. Still those who feel suffocated and marginalized in the Hindu or Sikh fold are free to adopt Buddhism or any other as they like. Moreover, India is a secular country. Religion is our personal choice and it should remain personal and private to our personal satisfaction.

Babaseheb Ambedkar

The question of identity still remains. I take the liberty of quoting from my recent interaction and exchanges on Facebook with one of my friends, Sunil Raju who is an ardent supporter and follower of Dera Sachkhand Ballan and also the idea of Ravidassia Dharam as much needed identity.  While we disagree on the question of religious identity as explained in this piece, I agreed with him when he wrote, “Our pain is common. Our struggle is common. Our challenges are common.”  Yes, we are to redress and remove the pain. We are to take our struggle to the next phase and we are to face the challenges together with grit and determination to identify, secure and preserve our due space in the society as dignified human beings as ordained by great Guru Ravidass and the greatest son of India Babasaheb Ambedkar. With a view to face the future challenges in a concerted way, to my mind, Ambedkar and Ambedkar alone, who enjoyed acceptance and recognition not only all over India but beyond in the international community, could be our Identity – Ambedkar Identity  as Ambedkarites to take care of our political and socio-economic aspirations while retaining and maintaining our religious identity as Hindus or Sikhs or Buddhists. There is no other way. We would ignore this reality at our own peril. Forces inimical to our interest are sitting close by. They intend to divide us and continue

Manyawar Kanshi Ram

to oppress and exploit us to their advantage. The mission of Guru Ravidass, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy , Manyawar Kanshi Ram could only be realized if we remain united under the Ambedkar Idenity. The dreams of Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia of Ad-dharam Movement and Sant Sarwan Dass of Dera Sachkhand Ballan, who collaborated and cooperated with each other for the empowerment of dalits would find echo in our unity to carry the caravan of the community forward to common advantage and benefit.

United we stand and Divided we fall

I conclude with a poetic rendition of Allma Iqbal:

Hawaida  Aaj Apne Zakhm-e-Pinhan Kar Ke Chorun Ga
Lahoo Ro Ro Ke Mehfil Ko Gulistan Kar Ke Chorun Ga

(I will surely exhibit all my hidden wounds today
I will surely change assembly to a garden with blood‐mixed tears)

Parona Aik Hi Tasbeeh Mein In Bikhare Danon Ko
Jo Muskhil Hai, To Iss Mushkil Ki Asan Kar Ke Chorun Ga

(If stringing these scattered pearls in a single rosary
Is difficult, I will surely make this difficult task easy)