The mountains of Himachal are serene and anyone visiting its majestic sceneries doesn’t remain untouched by the beauty that these jagged hills possess. But as we know every flower is surrounded by some thorns. And so, this mountain flower also has its share of social thorns.
In my article, I am a Scheduled Caste and I’m not Impure, we went through the menace of caste discrimination and how this social evil still continues to clutch the state of Himachal in its talons. In this one, we will go through some of the recent examples of caste discrimination and many other casteism practices that may not have found their way into the mainstream newspapers but exist nonetheless in daylight and darkness alike.
Himachal Pradesh or the Abode of Gods has a population of around 70 lacs. About 25% of this population belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. According to the 2011 census, close to 7000 villages in our state have an SC majority while there are many others that have SC inhabitants although not in the majority.
Add to this the 5.7% share of ST (Scheduled Tribes) and 13.5% of OBCs (Other Backward Classes), and you’ve got a minority major state.
Although a separate government entity called ESOMSA (Empowerment of SCs, OBCs, Minorities, and the Specially-Abled) has been made responsible by the Himachal government to improve the condition of the Scheduled Caste community through social development and justice activities. But the fight against casteism is far from over.
The state of Himachal has a literacy rate of 89% but more than 80% of its population still lives in rural settings.
As a result, the age-old practices of untouchability, casteism and superstitions continue to prosper like the mould in an old wooden villa that doesn’t go away even after refurbishment.
It is not unknown that Scheduled Castes have always been forced to live in isolation and in segregation from other parts of the community.
But do you know that in many Himachal schools, the general caste students and the ones from untouchable communities are still forced to sit in a separate line? Not only this, but the mid-day meal cooks are also selected based on caste so that no high caste student has to eat a meal cooked by a lower caste person.
In Kerala, some temples are now allowing Dalits to become head priests, but in Himachal, the palanquin bearers of a major god’s procession (a position of high respect) are still high caste individuals. The lower caste people are reserved for the role of bajantris or the ones who play music in the procession but they are neither allowed to touch the palanquin nor the god residing inside it.
A couple of years back Rajiv Saizal, the health minister of the state and a local MLA Vinod Kumar were not allowed inside a major temple in the Mandi district simply because they belong to the Dalit community. Saizal raised the issue in a special session of Vidhan Sabha but little to no heed was paid to his cries of equality.
Actually, let me give you the biggest cultural shock of your life.
The Kullu Dussehra is famous not only throughout India but also around the world. In fact, Himachali festivals like Shivratri of Mandi and Dussehra of Kullu are international events attended by famous singers and bands from all over the world. Other than fun and frolic, both of these festivals consist of a gathering of all major gods and goddesses of the surrounding areas who come to greet the presiding deity of the festival. For Kullu Dussehra, it is Shree Ram in his Raghunath form and for Mandi Shivratri, it is Lord Shiva.
For a week, the gods and goddesses of the surrounding villages and towns belonging to Brahmin and Kshatriya clans are gaily brought to visit the festival by their ecstatic followers. Their palanquins are decorated with jewellery of gold and precious gems, and everyone dances the week away. It is a party to be seen by the generations.
However, no god or goddess of the Scheduled Caste community is invited to these festivals. Not even the most famous and revered deity of Himachal’s SC community – Baba Bali.
You may know him as Bahubali from the South Indian movie of the same name. In fact, I’ve only mentioned two festivals here. There are hundreds of major and minor festivals happening around the year in Himachal, where every Devta is invited but not the ones belonging to the SC community.
You might have realised till now that Devtas (deities) are not ordinary beings in Himachal. In the entire India and all Hindu religions, there are a plethora of gods and deities (yes, there’s a difference between the two). But in Himachal or the Land of Gods, Devtas are not stone idols who are bathed in milk or decorated on special occasions. Our Devtas are living beings who are consulted on every major and minor matter of the village. They are invited to all major festivals and occasions including weddings, naamdaan, and Grih Pravesha. Their advice is taken on matters like whom to marry as well as land disputes, of which there are many in Himachal. And the word of the village deity is final. It can’t be contested, not even in courts.
Not inviting the Devtas of the SC community is not only an example of caste discrimination but also the deep-rooted ostracism of the scheduled castes. It is an example that high caste people continue to make sure that the SC community doesn’t flourish or evolve in Himachal or anywhere else for that matter.
In a place where even gods can be untouchables and yet can’t be untouched by the malice of human discrimination, what chance is there for humans? You tell me.
In the lower-lying hills of Himachal, you can still come across towns or villages that have the same name but are categorised by caste.
There is a village not far from Solan district headquarters called Siharri with three names: Siharri Brahmana, Siharri Musalmana, and Siharri Chamara.
For the uninitiated, Brahmana means “belonging” to the Brahmin caste, Musalmana to the Muslim community, and Chamara to the Ramdasia community, a scheduled caste which continues to bear the maximum brunt of casteism in Himachal alongside the Valmiki caste.
Yet another village named Aanji with the same Chamara and Brahmana suffixes can be found on the way to Shimla, our capital. One might think that these are casual names used by the local residents only but that is not the case. In fact, we found these names and several other villages with similar caste suffixes in official government documents including the 2011 Census of India.
This is happening right now, in 2022. These examples and the others prove that the claws of casteism are still embedded deep inside the psyche of the people and the state institutions alike.