After Bhima Koregaon violence, residents of Dalit basti allege they are being forced to leave village, removed from their jobs

Sada Kamble (name changed) and his wife Savita, who stay in the second house from right after one enters the Dalit hamlet in Bhima Koregoan, are jobless and forced to sit at home. Earlier, they worked in the small factories lined along the Pune-Ahmednagar road which connects to Bhima Koregaon. However, on 10 January, a few days after the Bhima-Koregaon riots broke out in which Dalits were targeted by upper castes, their contractor told Sada that he needs to shift to Chakan to another branch of the same factory. While Savita was told that the position she was working in was no longer available. They had no luck at other factories in the area as well and now Sada works occasionally as a labourer at construction sites even though he is no longer fit to do such arduous work. Kiran Gadre, a 20-year-old who has studied only till Class 8, would work as a fitter at a private company. But he met the same fate. Post-January, his contractor told him that his job was no longer available. Later. he visited many factories in the area but to no avail. And just like Sada, he now spends his days hanging around the basti (hamlet) or helping his mother. Bhima Koregoan has over 25 Dalit families who stay at the basti. And there are many small and medium enterprises on the Pune-Ahmednagar road as it falls under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Factories here seek employment of helpers, labours, security guards etc. with a maximum salary of Rs 10,000; but they don’t need especially skilled manpower. Hence, Dalits, most of whom have hardly studied beyond Class 12, get an opportunity to work in these factories. [caption id=“attachment_4454043” align=“aligncenter” width=“825”] Policemen deployed in the Dalit basti at the Bhima-Koregaon village. Image courtesy: Varsha Torgalkar[/caption] A local senior citizen, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Seven to eight men who had been working for many years as helpers, fitters or assisting with packaging at nearby factories have suddenly lost their jobs. A barely educated Dalit can get such labour jobs only but now they have also been robbed of it." He added that earlier jobs at factories were considered to be secure and better than field jobs done under the sun but it is not the case anymore. He further said, “Contractors most of whom are from upper castes hire these youth. Thus, Dalits work for contractors and not for factories. After the riots, suddenly contractors started giving these young people from the basti different reasons for taking away their jobs. Those with families were asked to relocate to other branches of respective factories at Chakan or Rajangoan which are about 100 to 200 kilometres away. But since they cannot shift their houses and families, they leave the job." Yashwant Masankhambe, another youth, said, “The basti youth like us would work at these factories during summer vacations after our exams ended to earn money. But now we have been going from factory to factory in search of jobs. Once they hear that we are from Bhima Koregoan they don’t even show courtesy to ask us to come later nor do they politely tell that they don’t have jobs. Earlier, we would get jobs easily." Boys from the basti also told that they often hear intimidating comments from villagers but they ignore and return to the basti immediately. The Pune Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been deployed here since 1 January. However, few women of the area who work as sweepers for the gram panchayat and revenue offices don’t have the problem of job insecurity as firstly, they are in a government job and secondly, nobody from other castes would come forward to do the task of cleaning public places which is something looked down upon. A widow and mother of two young children said, “Since the riots no woman has gone on the job alone as we are still afraid. We go in a group and accompany each other till we finish our tasks." Sachin Kadlak, who owns a shop on the Pune-Ahmednagar road, had to pull down its shutters permanently after running it for over eight years. On being asked the reason for his decision, he said,“My decision has nothing to do with the riots or the pressure by upper castes men. Rather they are my friends. I am closing down my shop as a fight had broken out between two men near my shop and I did not want to get involved in the matter". But, when asked as to why he did not decide on this earlier, he didn’t answer. He does not know how he is going to survive now. He plans to open a paan shop at the Dalit basti but the question is; who will buy tobacco and mouth freshener every day in a residential area? Meanwhile, Dalits from Bhima Koregoan, Sanaswadi and Vadu villages who, during my earlier visits never spoke much, opened up this time around. They told me that they suspected the strangers visiting the basti of being from intelligence agencies and hence refrained from talking. One of them said, “After riots, there was no water supply and electricity supply to the b_asti_ was also interrupted for the next three-four days. Women in the basti were so afraid that they had gone to their relatives’ houses for a week. Even now, those from upper castes don’t talk to us. To go to a shop or a hospital is also a challenge". Subhash Sonaewane, a resident of Sanaswadi — another village where violence broke out on 1 January — said, “Even Dalits at Sanaswadi would have faced the issue of losing jobs. But half of the Dalit population here consisted of migrants who were staying on rent, hence they fled the village within a week of riots. They either went back to their villages or again went to other industrial areas like Chakan. So the contractors here did not get the opportunity to fire them. But that does not mean we have a job or live securely here". [caption id=“attachment_4454041” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Subhash Sonawane. Image courtesy: Varsha Torgalkar[/caption] However, Sandip Belsare, a member of an industrial association in Pune, said, “Local contractors generally supply human resources for unskilled jobs like housekeeping, packaging and so on. They work for contractors and not for factories. Contractors supply youth even if somebody leaves it in between though they will give a logical reason for it. Hence, even if Dalits are being asked to leave, factories have no role in this.” Another member said, “Contractors are mostly middlemen and heavyweights of the village with a close association with politicians. They will not tell you that Dalits were asked to leave jobs. They would give some politically correct explanation". On 1 January, riots broke out in and around Bhima Koregaon where Dalits had gathered at the war memorial to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregoan battle. They were attacked, and their vehicles were damaged. Dalits from all across the state gather every year at the war memorial to pay homage to martyrs who fought in the 1818 war from the British side against the Peshwas, who were oppressors of Dalits.