TIMES OF INDIA[ MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2002 12:20:07 AM ]
GURGAON: Nearly 80 Dalits, including family members and relatives of the five Dalits lynched by villagers in Jhajjar on October 15, converted to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity from a single stage in a bylane next to to the Ravi Das mandir here on Sunday.
On October 15, the five Dalits were taking hides and a dead cow in a mini-truck from Farruknagar in Gurgaon district to Karnal when they stopped outside the Dulena police station and decided to skin the cow as they could not stand its smell. Thinking that the Dalits were skinning the cow alive, the villagers lynched them.
At Sunday's ceremony, Shankar Lal Khairalia, a Valmiki by caste, caused a flutter when he announced he would embrace Islam. By chosing to call himself Saddam Hussain, Khairalia scored a bigger symbolic point.
"I know how the western world is after Saddam. He is a hero," is all Khairalia could say seconds before he read the kalma along with Mohammad Rafiq Azad and got converted. Nearly 20 others followed Khairalia to Islam.
"I am in my senses. I challenge the VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS to reconvert me. I will give up my life but never be a Hindu again," he said angrily. Silence prevailed as people from the nearby Hanuman temple watched the Dalits denounce and desert Hinduism.
The relatives of the Jhajjar victims were the first to be converted to Buddhism by priest Bhante Sheel Ratan. Udit Raj of the All-India SC/ST Confederation conferred 22 vows that Ambedkar had administered on October 14, 1956, to half a million Dalits.
Watching the conversion was filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who had come to express outrage over the Jhajjar incident.
As photographs of the bodies of Virender Singh and Dayachand — lynched on October 15 — made the rounds, the Dalits raised their pitch in anger.
"We do not want to be a part of religion where there is a premium for dead cow," said Chhatar Singh, nephew of Dayachand and cousin of Virender.
Udit Raj made a pointed attack on VHP leader Giriraj Kishore who reportedly said he had no regrets over the Dalits' killing.
"The system which has the cow and Giriraj Kishore is not worth it. We denounce it," he said. He even criticised what he termed as double standards of the Hindus when it comes to cows.
"The cow is referred to as the mother by caste Hindus; then why do they leave their mother on the street after it stops giving milk? Why do they sell their mother to the Dalits?" he asked.
Bhatt was, however, sceptical if the conversion would solve the problem. "This would not bring about any real change. The Dalits need to fight to become part of the mainstream," he said.
There was a minor scuffle when a Valmiki resented some comments by upper caste Hindus from nearby shops. But the situation was soon brought under control.
Dissent came from within too. A section of Valmiki youth openly termed the conversions a "sham". "This is a disgrace to every Valmiki. How will conversions change our daily existence? Can we stop doing business with caste Hindus? Will Muslims give their daughter to Khairalia in marriage?" asked Vijay Kumar.
Fellow dissenter Kishore Kumar had a more extreme solution to end the oppression by the upper castes: "Kill 50 for five and everything will be alright."
But it is difficult to tell if Sunday's conversion here could become a mini-Meenakshipuram or not. Yet, the event spurred by the Jhajjar lynching was the most potent symbol of protest that the subalterns registered 21 years after the 181 Dalit families converted to Islam in Tamil Nadu's Meenakshipuram.
It is our loss that we were not able to treat Dalits fairly. It is our loss that we persecute those amongst us. It is our loss that we have not been able to eradicate the evils of the caste system. Hopefully in time we can make amends. But will it be too late?
Maybe the Dalits will realise that Islam is evil in different ways. Right now they seem to find attraction in the fact that Islam is belligerent and therefore strong. This maybe because the Dalits have been wronged by us and are themselves in a belligerent mood right now.
Whatever we do to make amends should not be too little too late.