http://www.countercurrents.org/teltumbde111110.htmCaste'ing Live Chitradurga's Madigas And Nayakas
By Anand Teltumbde
11 November, 2010
Countercurrents.org
Caste in India is a terrible thing. It can surface anywhere in a
weirdest manner and forms. In the Chitradurga district of Karnataka,
famed for the rule of Nayakas, the chieftain whose descendents have
strangely found a place in the schedule for Tribes, prepared by the
independent India to do them social justice, it still survives in its
pristine glory. Nayakas, who in no way reflect their regal connection
today however have a complex of being the rulers of the region for
over two centuries after the fall of Vijayanagara empire and until
Hyder Ali dislodged them in 1779. Their ancestors were known for their
bravery that had compelled the mighty Vijayanagara king to concede
Chitradurga governorship to their Timmanna Nayaka and which had
returned Hyder Ali's attack twice before he finally managed to defeat
them; they try out their bravery over the poor Madigas in every
village. Result, a strange and bizarre casteism perpetrated by the
Scheduled Tribes over the Scheduled Castes that are uncritically
clubbed together as 'dalits'.
Whispering Crimes
The misdoings of Nayakas have been pervasive but occasionally they
precipitated into a notable incident that found place in local
newspaper but rarely leaked past the district boundaries. Through the
network of rights and dalit activists the attenuated whispers of crime
sometimes reached out. Taking a cumulative stock of them we organized
a fact finding cum a survey of the condition of Madigas, the victims
of the Nayaka overlordship. Along with me Adithya of PUCL, Karnataka,
Abhishek of Swabhimani Dalit Shakti, Bangalore and Harish of
Pedestrian Pictures, Bangalore comprised the team. Within our
resources we just managed to visit four villages on two days, 27 and
28 October 2010 and scratch the veneer of quietude they wore and sense
the terrible undercurrent of caste atrocities.
While all the villages superficially projected a macro picture of
Madigas being traditionally oppressed by the Nayakas into submission,
the micro reality revealed streak of awakening among the former.
Although the poverty and numbers of Madigas rendered them generally
tolerant to the tyranny of relatively rich and numerous Nayakas, there
were enough signs that they were prepared to resist. The very
incidents of atrocities were rather the proof enough that the Madigas
were resisting. Submission does not beget atrocity; resistance
definitely does. The attitude of the administration and the media was
typically apathetic. They would first get into denial mode and then
would jump onto generalizations that such happenings were not unique
to the district and could be found all over the state. May be, but
then it is more terrible!
Bhagyama of Laxmisagara
There was a shocking incident last year of 30-40 people attacking and
parading a hapless dalit woman naked in a village Laxmisagara, some –
km away from Chitradurga. Bhagyama and her husband Sukanand, who live
now in distant Kolar district, where Bhagyama was given a job in a
school by the government, had come on one of their dates to attend the
court. Bhagyama, a well built young woman in her twenties narrated her
harrowing tale wiping the tears welling into her eyes as she spoke.
She was attacked because the Nayakas suspected her to be behind the
elopement of their girl –Mamata with a Madiga boy- Kumar. Mamata and
Kumar, in love with each other, had run away from home to Davangere on
17 January 2009 to marry. The Nayaka mob entered Bhagyama's house,
beat her up and her husband, tore her clothes away, paraded her naked
to the panchayat office and locked her up there. Three other boys,
Ashok, Manju and Kippesamy, who came to help her also got beaten Some
one reported the matter to Baramsagara police station. When the police
arrived, they picked up Bhagyaman in the same state, her husband along
with the three youth to the police station. When they stopped at a
dhaba for breakfast, a person recognised Bhagyama and gave her a cloth
to wear but the police did not allow her. She just wrapped it round
her bare body. At the police station they took her signatures on blank
papers and threatened her that they would burn her if she spoke about
it outside.
The Nayakas, with the help of Baramsagara police station learnt of the
whereabouts of Kumar and Mamata and went to Davangere. They had
married and were at the Gandhinagar police station. While the
Baramsgara Police were bringing them back at 9.30 pm, on the way the
Nayakas attacked Kumar but he managed to escape. Mamata was brought
home and taken to the police station the next day. It was only when
Mamata testified that Bhagyama did not have any role in their affair,
that the police had released her. She was admitted into the government
hospital for eight days for severe bleeding at her private parts.
Police did not take any action and rather registered a counter case on
her along with other Madiga boys. S Anjanayya, Ex MLA was prepared to
settle the matter but later denied that such an incident ever took
place. He said that the Madiga youth had committed a mistake and hence
the Nayakas had beaten some Madiga boys. Only after the matter was
flashed in DNA of 27 January 2010 the things began to shake. The
Swabhimani Dalit Shakthii (SDS) organised a rally in Chitradurga town
wherein Bhagyama publicly narrated her plight before over 1000 people.
The DC and SP who were in denial mode until then took cognisance of
the crime and arrested one Nayaka youth, Vasant. Around then Udaya TV
channel beamed an interview with Shivlingam, president of the SDS, who
spoke out all the details of this case. The CM ordered an enquiry into
the incident and Bhagyama was given Rs. 25000 and a job in Morarji
Desai Residential School, Dodda Ballapura in March 2009. She gets Rs.
2000 a month and stay in a rented house. But much of this money goes
away in her bus fare when she has to commute to Chitradurga for her
case and the counter case filed by Nayakas.
When we visited her village to see the places and meet with witnesses,
the fear was still palpable in the eyes of Madigas even after nearly
10 months were elapsed. We wanted to meet some of the Nayakas but they
feared that even we might be insulted or attacked.
Famished Fighters of Hosrangapura
Hosrangapura is relatively a tiny village of 22 Madiga and 85 Nayaka
households but has created a big history of caste oppression on
account of their battle for land. Initially, the Madigas cultivated 11
acres of Devasthanam land controlled by Nayakas. But later, the
Nayakas took away it and drove Madigas to occupy and cultivate 16
acres land at the other end of the village. For some years this
arrangement went smooth but the Nayakas began asking the land as
gomala (grazing) land. Nayakas attacked Madigas in 1991 when some 4-5
Madigas were injured and a case was filed against Nayakas in the
police station. Nayakas got scared and let the Madigas cultivate the
land. However, in 2001 the Nayakas filed a case before the civil judge
to get the land back as gomala land. The Jr Divisional judge ruled
against them in 2006 on the strength of the affidavit of the Tehsildar
that the land was under cultivation of the Madigas for over 25 years.
Nayakas appealed to Sr Divisional judge, who also ruled in 2009 that
the land was not gomala land and opined that the Tehsildar could
consider allotting it to the Madigas. Not satisfied with these
verdicts, the Nayakas appealed to the High Court but their appeal was
dismissed.
After the judicial process established that the land was no gomala
land, when the Madigas went to cultivate it in 2010, the Nayakas
attacked them allegedly with the support from Chandrappa, the local
MLA, injuring many of them.. SDS took up their case and organised a
rally in Chitradurga on 15 September 2010 and exposed the matter to
the district administration. Nothing however happened because the
Bagarhukum committee that allots the land called it a gomala land in
defiance of all the court judgements and declined to allot it to the
Madigas. It was found that the committee was wrongly constituted.
After the agitation of the Madigas under SDS, the government properly
constituted it with Basavarajan, MLA, Chitradurga as its chairman.
While the administration voiced sympathy for Madigas and even MLA also
is said to be in their favour, the fact remains that the Madigas did
not get their land back. They had a massive procession in Chitradurga
on 29 October which marked a indefinite dharana, starting with the
protest of children. The people who get Rs 30 for a whole day's of
hard labour have battled against the powerful Nayakas for the last 10
years for the land they cultivated for more than 25 years and still
justice evades them!
Budhihali to Budddhanagar in Desperation
Buddhihalli, some 35 km from a Chellakere town deceptively looked
normal, with entire of its Madiga community, save for five
blacksheeps, having left it to settle in the makeshift colony which
they named Buddhanagar, on the outskirts of Chellakere town to escape
oppression of the Nayakas and Golas. Madigas historically worked as
bonded labour and faced all kinds of oppression at the hands of
powerful Nayaka community. They narrated harrowing stories of how
Nayakas could do whatever they wanted, including sex with the Madiga
women with impunity. The village had a lot of government land which
was auctioned by the panchayat committee every year for cultivation
but it always went to Nayakas. Over the years, the Madigas developed
aspiration to escape the bondage of the Nayakas. On 22 December 2009
they cleared the bushes on the government land and took them as
firewood but were stopped by the Nayakas. On 25 December, Nayakas
called a panchayat meeting but the Madiga members refused to
participate. They were forcibly taken to the meeting. At that night,
around 10.30 pm, Nayakas attacked the Madigas, not sparing even their
women and children. From next day, they decided to observe undeclared
social boycott. Nayakas wooed five Madiga families on their side and
began harassing through them. Many skirmishes took place. The
harassment reached such a pitch that Madigas were left with no option
than leaving the village. Their exodus stopped at the outskirts of
Chellakere.
A local activist Shiv Murthy of Human Rights for Dalit Liberation,
Karnataka (HRFDLK) took up their case and exposed the matter to the
outside world. DNA of 27 January covered the plight of Madigas,
focusing mainly on the sexual abuse of Madiga women. It shocked people
and many organizations, such as AIDWA, PUCL rushed for fact finding.
All these however failed to wake up the administration which still
remains unmoved over the plight of Madigas. On the contrary, it echoes
Nayakas' accusation that Shiv Murthy, who has since left his home and
been staying with the Budhihalli Madigas in a hut, as trouble monger.
Tension at Renukapuram
Unlike most villages, Madigas in Renukapuram compared well with the
dominant Nayakas in numbers but still they could not resist their
oppression because the other communities (Lingayats, Newars, Shettys,
etc.) ganged up against them rendering them a miniscule minority. In
1995, the Madigas first raised their voice against the 'two tumbler
system' being followed in the restaurants. They would be served
eatables in old newspapers whereas others were given it in plates. The
fight broke out and four Madigas were injured. While they were going
to police station in a bus to file a complaint, they were again
stopped and 14 people were beaten. The complaint was filed but the
Madigas had to flee the village for a fortnight as they were
threatened that they would be killed. The village declared social
boycott of Madigas. The case ran for 15 years. A compromise was struck
and the case was withdrawn. The normalcy prevailed for a couple of
months but again the Nayakas started harassing the Madigas. During the
last village festival, a Madiga boy was beaten in front of the police
sub-inspector for trying to participate in pulling the chariot. A
police complaint was filed but the tension in village is built up to
such an extent that the customary preparations for the Renuka festival
to be observed in November were still not in sight.
In 2007, this village had seen a gruesome murder of a Madiga bonded
labourer, Nagendra, who had fallen in love with the daughter of a
Lingayat landlord. Nothing ever happened and the case was hushed up as
suicide.
Conclusion
The four villages that we visited reflected their specific problems
but they all underscored the deep rooted practice of untouchability
against the Madigas by the Nayakas, the dominant community in the
Chitradurga district. Even the other castes like Lingayats and Golas
followed the Nayakas in oppressing the Madigas. This sample study,
without any claim to its scientific design, adequately supports the
surmise that the entire Chitradurga district (if not beyond) is
afflicted with the acute problem of untouchability, declared unlawful
through the Constitution. The apathetic attitude of the administration
is abominable towards this blatant crime. The civil society, media and
even the dalit leaders failed to take up the issues of the victims.
The latter divided in various factions appear scoring over each other
than working to ameliorate the plight of the Madigas.
Interestingly the perpetrators of the crime here are the people who
are scheduled tribes. While, it is stereotypically noted that the
Atrocity Act fails to apply to them, it is forgotten that these crimes
are cognizable in a normal IPC. Nayakas go scot-free not because of
the inapplicability of the Atrocity Act but because of the general
bias of the State against the Madigas, the Dalits. This bias marks out
the essential character of the contemporary castes that spells a break
between the caste Hindus and non-caste Dalits. Tribals, it must be
remembered are not untouchables; they are actually not a part of the
Hindu social order. The extension of special provisions for the
untouchables (SCs) to them was on account of their secular seclusion
for a long time and therefore possible bias of the society against
them. While there was an objective criterion of untouchability for
inclusion of people in the SC-schedule, there was no such objective
criterion for inclusion of people in the schedule for tribes. As a
result, many powerful communities got included in that schedule,
depriving the other genuine tribes from the Constitutional provisions.
The examples are replete with the cases of some single tribe in any
state usurping all the benefits of the STs. Nayakas are the definite
case in Karnataka. It may be noted that many communities agitate for
their inclusion into the schedule for tribes (e.g., – in Rajasthan)
but none demands being included as the scheduled caste.
It exposes the folly of definitional adventurism of Dalits that
casually combines the untouchables and tribes or the bahujan strategy
of the politicians and their cohorts that conceives the merger of
castes against the imagined enemy of Manuwada, ignoring the material
contradictions among these castes. Madigas of Chitradurga were
bewildered at the prospects of their emancipation because as anywhere
else they are structurally handicapped in the battle against the
dominant castes.
Dr Anand Teltumbde is a writer, political analysts and civil rights
activist with CPDR, Mumbai E-mail: tanandraj@gmail.com
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