Hindu by birth, but a Muslim now: Upper caste atrocities force Dalits in Haryana village to convert

“I’m Satish Kajla, a Hindu by birth, but I’m a Muslim now”. Earlier, his identity among fellow Hindus was that of a Dalit, an untouchable, an outcaste, a landless labourer in a village of Haryana, who was deprived of his basic rights and facilities that the government has granted them. But, now the white skullcap on his head, a kafia (scarf) around the neck has changed at least his religious identity. [caption id=“attachment_2395996” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] This is not just about one Kajla, but many like him, who have recently embraced Islam in Delhi, after leaving their ancestral village Bhagana in Haryana forever. They have embraced Islam by choice, not by force. According to them, they were compelled to do so, to escape the wrath of fellow Hindus — the upper castes in village Bhagana. Kajla, a 34-year old Master of Sanskrit, with a B Ed degree, sporting unshaved look, wearing an unclean white Kurta and a pair of trousers can be found sitting under a canopy at a corner in Jantar Mantar — the place allocated by the Delhi government for demonstration and protests. Despite embracing Islam, why Kajla and others continue to have Hindu names. “We’ve recently embraced Islam (8 August) and haven’t changed our Hindu names, simply to tell the government and the people that we were originally Hindus and haven’t got converted to Islam to be a part of religious politics. We’ve embraced Islam, after having faced atrocities for years and not getting any justice. We’ve been socially ostracised and were compelled to flee our ancestral village, maybe forever,” Kajla told Firstpost. His fractured right arm, supported by a plaster, is evidence of the fact that even after escaping from his village Bhagana, his ill-fate continues to chase him. As the Dalits from Bhagana village, who have been on a sit-on dharna since 16 April, 2014 demanding justice, were allegedly beaten up by the Delhi police and ‘unidentified goons’. The confidence of these Dalits has been badly shaken, as even after being beaten black and blue allegedly by the police and some ‘unidentified goons’ on the night of 9 August at Jantar Mantar, these poor families couldn’t muster courage to file an FIR against the accused. “All of a sudden, the policemen and a few unidentified men started beating us with lathis and told us to vacate Jantar Mantar immediately. Besides others, I was also beaten up badly and my left arm got fractured. A few volunteers of Swaraj Abhiyan, who tried to intervene, were also beaten up badly,” alleged 65-year old Mahender Kajla, father of Satish. These poor villagers of Bhagana had been facing atrocity of the upper caste Jats for years, but the worst happened in 2011, when a 280-acre government land (Shamlaat Zameen), which used to be a playground and was meant for social functions of the Dalits, was usurped by the upper-caste villagers. “The Khap Panchayat of Bhagana distributed the land among themselves, to which we strongly protested. As a result, the upper-caste members of the Panchayat and village strongmen started unleashing atrocities on our families. The village women were harassed, girls were raped and men were beaten up. Firing took place in 2014. They made our lives difficult and 137 families had to escape,” said Virendra Singh Bagoria, another nouveau Muslim. According to the villagers, the upper-caste Hindus – comprising mostly the Jats — called for a ‘social boycott’ of the Dalits. If anyone was found helping these Dalits, a fine of Rs 1100 was imposed on that person. “We were deprived of all facilities — from drinking water to a barber, from organising our social events to work in the agriculture farms. The Chamar Chowk meant for our social festivals was seized by them and a wall was constructed to prevent our entry. There was social and economic sanction on us. Even, complaining to the police and the administration was of no help. Instead, we were implicated in false cases,” he said. The Dalit families left the village and moved to Hisar, where they started demonstration near Mini Secretariat, demanding justice. “We had met then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, other ministers and officials. But, no action was taken against the culprits. Some of our members were arrested and false charges were slapped on them. Then we decided to move to Delhi and started our demonstration at Jantar Mantar,” said Rajesh, another convert. Life became worst for the Dalit women. Atrocities against the remaining Dalit families were scaled up by the upper caste members of the village, who were also big landholders. The village witnessed alleged gangrape of four minor Dalit girls on 23 March, 2014. For the protection of these women, the Dalit families left Bhagana and took shelter elsewhere. Even Delhi didn’t prove to be safe for these villagers, comprising Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes. “On 8 August, 70 people belonging to Bhagana embraced Islam. That night police arrested 12 among us and we were told that we couldn’t stage any demonstration. Later, a few people claiming to be from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad came and asked us for ‘Ghar Wapsi’ – re-conversion. They threatened us of dire consequences, if we don’t get back to Hinduism. We told them, it would be possible, only, if out of the four Muths (religious seats) of the Hindus, two were given to Dalits,” added Bhagoria. Lata (name changed), a 19-year old girl, who has taken shelter at a relative’s place at Faridabad said, “We were under constant threat of molestation and rape. Police failed to take any concrete action. It was unsafe to step out of our houses even during the day. To protect ourselves, we’re forced to leave our village.” The Dalit villagers are frustrated and dissatisfied with both the Congress and the BJP, as none could provide them justice. Added Kajla, “Earlier, we had met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and other ministers in the UPA government. But, nothing happened. Later, when the BJP formed government in Haryana, we met Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar four times. He agreed with our problem, but failed to do anything due to pressure from Khap Panchayats. Baba Saheb’s (BR Ambedkar) writings inspired us. He too had faced severe discrimination during his time and embraced Buddhism. But, we didn’t choose any other religion, because, these were off-shoots of Hinduism. Only, the Islam can be a fitting reply to Hinduism, and fellow Muslims welcomed us without any discrimination. We’ll continue our fight for justice, come whatever may happen.”