Burden of Past and Vision of Equality: Political Sociology of Social Exclusion and Jat-Dalit Conflicts in Punjab

Ronki Ram (Dr.)
Dept. of Political Science
Punjab University, Chandigarh – 14, India.

The recent spate of Jat-Dalit conflicts in the north Indian state of Punjab has exploded the myth of the casteless character of the Sikh society. Dalits in Punjab are no longer better than their counterpart in other parts of India. However, what distinguished Punjab from the rest of country is that caste inequity persists here more in terms of landownership, social identification and dominant cultural patterns than of Brahminical orthodoxy. Though over the years the Dalits of Punjab have strengthened their economic position through sheer hard work, enterprise and affirmative action but they failed to achieve a commensurate improvement in their social status. Armed with the weapon of improved economic conditions and social consciousness, the Dalits mustered enough strength to ask for a concomitant rise in their social status. Such moves of the marginalised find staunch critics among the Jats who often view Dalit assertion as a form of challenge to their dominant status in the agrarian society of Punjab. This in turn has sharpened the contradictions between Jats and Dalits that ultimately led to a series of violent clashes between them.

Caste has never been as assertive in Indian politics as it is today. Over the last few decades, however, it has entered the corridors of electoral politics with full force. Scholars, of late, have started recognizing the fact that once caste structures get politicized they help in the deepening of democracy, which in turn empowers the marginalised (Yadav 1999; Palshikar 2004). Delivering a lecture on “Democracy and its Critics” organized by the United Nations Foundation, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said, “There is a need for caution, however, for those who believe that invocation of caste in any form in democracy is an evil force. As long as caste is invoked in speaking for a lower caste or uniting it, it is good” (Hindu: 16 December 2005). Such a pragmatic view of caste eclipses the common conjecture predicated on the idea that the onset of the modernity project would inevitably render the institution of caste invalid as a power index in the long run. This study is a modest attempt to understand the institution of caste in Punjab and its implications for the recent spate of Jat-Dalit conflicts in the state.
The recent Jat-Dalit conflicts in Punjab have exploded the myth of the casteless Sikh society. They have brought forth the dormant contradictions between the landless and socially secluded Dalits, and the landowning and dominant peasant caste of Jats in Punjab. Dalits in Punjab constitute the largest proportion of the Scheduled Castes (SC) population in the country (29 percent [2001 census]). Interestingly enough, Punjab has also been the only state in India where the share of the Dalits in the agricultural land is the lowest (2.34 percent). In other words, despite the fact of their being in highest proportion in the population of the agrarian state of Punjab in the country, a very small number of them are cultivators. Their share in the trade, industry, financial sector, health, and religious establishments in the state is also almost negligible (Sharma 2003).
However, over the years the Dalits of Punjab have strengthened their economic position through sheer hard work and enterprise. Although the constitutional affirmative action played an important role in the upliftment of the Dalits, in general, the monopoly of the Dalits on the leather business in the famous Boota Mandi in the Doaba sub-region of Punjab, and remittances turned out to be of crucial importance in overcoming their economic hardships. In addition, they have also been polticised to a large extant by the socio-political activities of the famous Ad Dharm movement1 and of the various Ravidass Deras2 (religious centers) that have inculcated a feeling of self-respect among them3.
Thus armed with the weapon of improved economic conditions and social consciousness, the Dalits mustered enough strength to ask for a concomitant rise in their social status. However, the Jats interpreted this Dalit assertion as a challenge to their long established supremacy in the state. This in turn has sharpened the contradictions between them and the Dalits. The Dalits, who for centuries have been subjected to humiliation and untold miseries, now learnt to say a firm no not only to the instances of violation of their human rights, but are also ready to take up cudgels with their tormentors. Consequently, this has led to a series of violent caste conflicts between the Dalits and the dominant peasant caste of Jats in Punjab over the last few years. The Jat-Dalit conflicts thus signify the emerging Dalit assertion and its serious implications for the asymmetrically structured agrarian society of Punjab. Such conflicts are in no way a manifestation of communalism in the state. They are infact, signs of emerging Dalit assertion, which has all the possibilities of snowballing into serious violent conflicts, if kept ignored for a long time.
This paper is divided into four sections. The first deals with the regional specificities of the state of Punjab and its impact on the phenomenon of caste discrimination in state. It also underlines the phenomenon of Jat-Dalit conflict formation in the state. The second section delves deep into the history of the Jat community in the state and its links with the emergence of the caste system within Sikhism. What are the patterns of caste discrimination in the Sikh society and how it forced the Dalits to seek a separate identity is discussed in the third section. The fourth section documents some cases of Jat-Dalit conflicts in the pre and post partition Punjab.

I

Regional Specificities and caste Hierarchies in Punjab
Though caste is prevalent throughout the country, it has never been monolithic and unilinear in its practice. Every region has its specific and unique characteristics that closely impact its socio-political and economic structures. Thus, for a correct understanding of the phenomenon of caste and untouchability, specificities of a region hold critical importance. In the following section an attempt is made to explore the regional specificities of the north Indian state of Punjab and their impact upon the phenomenon of caste.
The phenomenon of untouchability was never considered so strong in Punjab as in many other parts of the country (Ibbetson1883, rpt. 1970:15). Punjab has generally been known as a “notable exception” to the widely prevalent view of caste and untouchability in India owing to various historical factors (Puri 2004a: 1). But it does not mean that untouchability is alien to this part of the country. Dalits were never spared of social oppression and economic deprivations in Punjab. The repeated references to and loud condemnations of caste based discriminations in the teachings of the Sufi saints and the Sikh Gurus is a case in point. The social reform movements led by the Arya Samaj, Singh Sabha and Chief Khalsa Dewan further vindicated the presence of the institution of caste in the social set up of Punjab. Moreover, the roots of caste hierarchy were so well entrenched in society of the state that the reformatory measures undertaken by the all these social reforms movements failed to weed them out4. However, what distinguished it from the other parts of India is the material factor of the caste based discriminations in Punjab as against the over all-dominating pattern of purity-pollution syndrome.
Another feature that distinguished Punjab from the rest of the regions in the country was the phenomenon of widespread landlessness among the Dalits and the absolute monopoly of the Jats on the agricultural land in the state. The hold of Jats on the land was also reinforced by the Punjab Land Alienation Act (1901) that deprived the dalits along with other non-agricultural castes the right to purchase the land. Since Punjab happened to be primarily an agricultural state, the ownership of land assumed significant importance in determining social status. Nowhere in India, are Dalits so extensively deprived of agricultural land as in the case of Punjab. Despite their highest proportion in the country, less than 5 percent of them were cultivators (lowest in India, 1991 census). They shared only 4.82 percent of the number of operational holdings and 2.34 percent of the total area under cultivation (1991 census). Consequently, till recently the landlessness rendered a large majority of them (60 percent, 1991 census) into agricultural laborers and made them subservient to the landowners, who invariably happen to be Sikh Jats. However, a significant change has taken place over the last few decades. Dalits have entered into a number of professions, which were traditionally considered as the mainstay of the artisan castes (Ram 2004a: 5-6). This has led to a sharp decline in the share of Dalits in the agricultural work force in the state, which in itself has come down from 24 per cent in 1991 to 16 percent in 2001 (Singh 2005:3)
The hold of the Jats on the land was so strong that the lower castes were even denied the access to village common land (shamlaat). In fact, Dalits were never considered part of villages, as their residences were located outside the main premises of the villages.So much so that the land on which the Dalit houses were built also considered to be belonged to the Jats (Virdi 2003: 2 &11). This kept the Dalits always afraid lest the Jat landowners ordered them to vacate the land. The abysmally low share of the Dalits in the land seems to be the major cause of their hardships and social exclusion. It is also an indication of the historical denial of rights to them (Thorat 2006:2432). The slightest sign of protest by the Dalits for the betterment of their living conditions often provoked the Jats to impose social boycott on them5.
The patterns of domination by the Jats and that of the subordination of the Dalits also distinguished Punjab from rest of the country in a significant way. In Punjab the scale of social measurement differs from that of the other parts of the country. The social measurement scale in Punjab is not based on the purity/pollution principle of Brahminical orthodoxy. Instead, it is based on the hold of land, martial strength6, and allegiance to Sikhism, a comparatively new religion that openly challenged the rituals and dogmatic traditions of Hinduism and Islam. Unlike the system of caste hierarchy in rest of the country, the top down rank grading of Brahmin (priest), Kshatriya (soldier), Vaishya (trader) and Shudra (menian worker) carries no meaning in Punjab. In Punjab Brahmin is not placed on the top of the caste hierarchy. The Sikh Jats, who otherwise have been Shudra as per the Varna system, considered themselves socially superior to the Brahmins (Ibbetson1883, rpt. 1970:2; and Saberwal 1976:10; Tandon 1961: 77).In fact, in contemporary Punjab Jats have replaced Brahmins in terms of domination. The ideological undercurrents of social domination based on the principles of purity/pollution, and wisdom failed to hold ground in Punjab due to various historical reasons (Ibbetson1883, rpt. 1970:1-87; Puri 2004a: 1). Interestingly, the phenomenon of the domination in Punjab clubbed together different sources of power (social, economic, political, religious, and numerical). These sources, in turn, are invariably concentrated in the community of Jats. In other words, multiple identities coalesced in the Jats that make them a dominant community of Punjab. They are Jats by caste, Sikhs by religion, and landowners by their hold on cultivation. All these different identities reinforce each other and thus strengthened the position of the Jat community in the state.
Yet another factor that further strengthened the domination of the Jats in the state of Punjab was their numerical preponderance in the Sikh religion. Their large-scale entry into Sikh religion had not only rescued them from the labyrinth of their lower status in the Hindu society, it also turned them into a powerful community within Sikhism. According to the records of 1881 Census, 66 percent of those who returned as Sikhs were Jats. The second largest community within Sikhism was that of the Tarkhans/Ramgarhias (the carpenter caste) who just constituted 6.5 percent of the total Sikhs in Punjab. Next to the Ramgarhias were the Chamars/Ramdasias with 5.6 percent, followed by the Chuhras/Mazhabis who were 2.6 percent. If clubbed together these two outcaste groups (Ramdasias and Mazhabis) becomes the second largest group (8.2 percent) of Sikhs within Sikhism. Thus the numerical prepondrance of the Jats within Sikhism combined with their martiaand self-willed nature, and monopoly on the land ‘elevated them well above their humble origins’.
Such a combination and reinforcement of multiple identities and their concentration in the community of Jats is, however, conspicuous by its absence among the Dalits, which weaken their collective strength and unity. Dalits in Punjab are scattered in multi-identities. Under the impact of Sikhism, while Jats of Punjab have enhanced their social status and achieved spiritual coherence, the same could not happen in the case of Dalits who remained divided in different religious orders. Dalits are found in almost all the popular religions in Punjab. Their presence in Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity not only proves the presence of the institution of caste in all these religions, but also weaken the chances of solidarity among them.
The subjugation of the Dalits got further deepened during the course of green revolution in Punjab. The process of green revolution transformed the traditional subsistence character of the agriculture into commercial and mechanical farming. The market oriented agriculture pattern in the post 1960’s phase favoured the landowners, which further marginalized the dalits and widened the already existing divisions between them and the dominant peasant caste in Punjab. Interestingly, it was also during this phase of market-oriented agriculture that a new middle class of educated Dalits emerged in Punjab. The advent of this new class among the Dalits coupled with the rise of the Ambedkarite movement in the region led to the formation of Dalit consciousness in the state.
The emergence of the Dalit consciousness induced the Dalit agricultural laborers to ask for higher wages in the rural settings of Punjab, especially in its Doaba sub-region. The Dalit struggle for higher wages often employed pressure tactics of refusal to work unless the landowners increase the wages. In fact, it was during this very phase of transition in the agrarian economy of Punjab that the process of Dalit immigration to Europe, North America, and the Gulf got streamlined. However, it may be pointed that the emergence of the process of Dalit immigration from Punjab coincided with the phenomenon of the influx of migrant labour from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh into Punjab. The influx of migrant labour has further sharpened the contradiction between the dominant peasant castes and the landless Dalits in that it provided the former cheaper labour compared to the local ones. Moreover, the changed cropping system under the green revolution patterns of agriculture squeezed the extant of farm labour to a few peak periods – paddy transplantation, paddy harvesting-cum-threshing, and wheat harvesting. The traditional agriculture system, capable of providing almost round the year regular work, was changed into a commercial agriculture set-up that did not offer more than 75 days work annually (based on fieldwork, see also Singh 2001:5). In turn, they have to seek employment in other sectors for the rest of the year.
Thus, the Dalit labourers, sandwitched between the influxes of cheap migrant labour on the one hand and mechanized farming on the other, began to look for job in different sectors other than the agriculture. The alternative job opportunities reduced the dependence of the Dalits on landowners. The social mobility of the new middle class Dalits coupled with their relative emancipation from the economic dependence on the landowners led to the emergence of Dalit assertion in Punjab. The sustainability of this assertion drew strength from the politicization of caste on the one hand and from the failure of the asymmetrical caste structures to accommodate Dalits into its social space as equal citizen, on the other (Judge 2006:11). This new form of Dalit assertion and its recent exhibition in the form of Jat-Dalit clashes in the villages of Punjab demands a serious enquiry.
Yet another feature that distinguished the Dalits of Punjab from their counterparts in other parts of the country is their community wise heavy concentration in some pockets of the state. Dalits in Punjab have been categorized into 38 castes. Out of these 38 castes more than 80 percent of the total Scheduled Castes (SCs) population belongs to two major caste groupings of Chamars (leather working castes) and Chuhra (sweepers). These two caste groups consist of four castes – Mazhabi (30.7%), Chamar (25.8%), Ad-Dharmi (15.9%), and Balmiki (11.1%). The Chamar caste group includes: Ad-Dharmi, Jatia Chamar, Rehgar, Raigar, Ramdasias, and Ravidasias. The Chuhra caste group clubs together Balmiki, Bhangi and Mazhabi castes. The Chamar caste group is largely confined to the Doaba sub-region of the Punjab (comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Nawan Shahr districts lying between two rivers, Beas and Sutlej). And the Chuhra caste group is mainly concentrated in the smaller Majha region and the much bigger Malwa region of the state. At the district level, Mazhabis are largely concentrated in Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Faridkot, Mansa, and Bhatinda districts of Punjab. Apart from their heavy concentration in the Doaba sub-region of Punjab, Chamars are also numerous in Gurdaspur, Rupnagar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Sangrur districts. Among the Chamar caste group, Ad-Dharmis far outnumber other SCs in Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts in rural as well as urban settings. Mazhabis in the Chuhra caste group outnumber other SCs in Faridkot and Ferozepur districts (for more details see Gosal 2004: 26-39). Though, traditionally they have been condemned as polluted and impure because of their occupational contact with animal carcass and hides, Chamars are basically chandravanshi by clan and are also considered as the highest caste among the SCs in Punjab (Deep 2001:7).
The Ad Dharmi and Chamar of the Chamar caste group are not only numerically preponderent in the Doaba sub-region of Punjab, they also happened to be the most resourceful caste in comparison to the all other castes among the SCs of Punjab. Chamars and Ad Dharmis of this sub-region are ahead of the all other Dalit castes in almost all spheres. “Ad Dharmi Chamars are on the top of virtually every parameter – education, urbanisation, jobs, occupational change, cultural advancement, political mobilization, etc.” (Puri 2004:4). The famous Ad Dharm movement of the 1920s also emerged in this very region of Punjab. In the early 1930s, some of Ad Dharmi Chamars established a prosperous leather-business town (Boota Mandi) in the outskirts of Jalandhar city. Ad Dharmi Chamars of the Boota Mandi were among the early supporters of the Ad Dharm movement. Seth Kishen Dass, a leather business tycoon of the Boota Mandi, who won the 1937 Assembly election from Jalandhar constituency in Punjab, financed the headquarters building of the Ad Dharm Mandal in jalandhar city. Nowadays, this building houses Guru Ravidass High school and Sewing Centre. It is again from this caste group of the sub-region that maximum emigration took place to Europe, North America, and the Middle East. The Ad Dharmis abroad have not only excelled in business and skilled labour professions, they also established a strong networking of social organizations, International Dalit Conferences, Ravidass Sabhas and Ravidass Gurdwaras throughout Europe and North America.

II

Sikhs, Jats and Caste
Punjab is a Sikh majority state. The Sikhs constitute 63 per cent of its total population. About 72 per cent of the Sikhs in Punjab live in villages. In villages caste, as occupational division of labour, constitutes an integral part of routine social life (Kaur 1986: 229). Although Sikh doctrine does not assign any place to the institution of caste, the same is not true in its social practice (Puri 2003: 2693). In the Punjab Censuses between 1881 and 1931, more than twenty-five castes were recorded within the Sikh community, including Jats, Khatris, Aroras, Ramgarhias, Ahluwalias, Bhapas, Bhattras, Sainis, Lobanas, Kambohs, Ramdasias, Ravidasias, Rahtias, Mazhbis, and Rangretas (Verma 2002:33). Out of these, eleven castes – two agrarian castes (Jat and Kamboh); two mercantile castes (Khatri and Arora); four artisan castes (Tarkhan, Lohar, Nai, and Chhimba); two outcastes groups (Chamar and Chuhra); and one distiller (Kalal) – remain the principal constituents of the Panth (McLeod 1996: 93-4).
The Outcastes groups of the Sikh community, popularly known as Dalit Sikhs, are divided into two segments: Mazhbis and Ramdasias7. The Dalits whose profession is scavenging and cleaning are called Mazhbis.“Mazbi means nothing more than a member of the scavenger class converted to Sikhism” (Ibbetson1883, rpt.1970:294). Some of the Sweepers who embraced Sikh religion are also called Rangretas. However, in spite of Mazhbis and Rangreta Sikhs’ meticulous observance of the Sikh religious principles, they are not considered equals by the upper caste Sikhs. The upper caste Sikhs refused to associate with them even in the religious ceremonies (Ibid.). In other words, even after converting to Sikhism, they were not relieved of the taint of hereditary pollution. The other segment of Dalit Sikhs consists of Ramdasias, also known as Khalsa Biradar. They are chamars who have converted to Sikhism. Most of them are Julahas (weavers). They are often confused with Ravidasia chamars who are mostly engaged in the profession of leatherwork (Ibid: 300).
Mazhbis/Rangretas and Ramdasias are not equal to the Jats, Khatris and Aroras within Sikhism. Even their status is also lower to Ramgarhia, Ahluwalia and Bhapa (trader caste) Sikhs.Thus, the change in the caste titles of the Dalits after their conversion does not make any difference to the dominant castes. The dominant castes continued to identify them by their earlier titles – Chuhars and Chamars. Though the Mazhibs or Rangretas abandoned the occupation of scavenging, they still are classed with Chuhras (Ibettson [1883] 1970:268-69). As far as Dalits themselves are concerned they too continued to observe caste among them even after their conversion to Sikhism. Within Sikhism, Ramdasia Sikhs considered themselves superior to the Mazhbi and Rangreta Sikhs. Although Ramdasias and Ravidasias have originated from Chamars, the former [Sikh] considered them superior to the latter [Hindu] (Ibid: 297, 302).
In the Sikh caste hierarchy, the Jats claim to occupy the top position (Singh 1977:70). To quote Pettigrew, an Anthropologist who did intensive fieldwork on the Sikh Jats, “All Jats alike are brought up to be proud irrespective of what they possess in terms of education, wealth or power. No Jat definies himself as subservient and none can actually be trampled upon” (Pettigrew 1978:20). Mostly concentrated in villages, the Jats are primarily landowners and agriculturists and are also widely considered to be the backbone of the Punjab peasantry. “So close has become the connection of the Jatts with peasant-agriculture in the Punjāb that, besides being a caste-name, the word Jāt can mean an agriculturalist and Jatakī similarly can mean agriculture”(Habib 1996:97). By virtue of their hold on the land they are popularly known as the dominant peasant caste in the state. “The Jat might be employed as a school teacher, or service in the military but he sees his primary role as that of an agriculturist; his connection with land is what he holds most dear and what identifies him” (Kaur 1986:233). They have also diversified into transport business and considered employment in the armed forces highly prestigious.
Jats in Punjab are also considered the backbone of the Sikh community. Although all ten of the historic Sikh Gurus belonged to the Khatri caste, traditionally the majority of their followers have come from the Jat caste (Kaur 1986:225). In the Misl (military bands) system of the eighteenth century the leadership was largely under the control of the Jats and “eventually it was a Jat misldār, Ranjīt Singh, who secured total ascendancy” (McLeod 1996:18). The overwhelming majority of the Jats (since 1962) in the leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the main political party of Sikhs, made it “virtually a Jat political party” (Puri 2004a:10).
Sikhs are identified by their appearance based on the five symbols (a Kirpan [steel dagger], a Kara [steel bangle], Kachchh [short breeches], a kanghha [comb], and kesh [uncut hair]) that they wore in accordance with the Rahatnama (the Sikh code of conduct). However, Sikh Jats are generally liberal in observance of the Rahatnama. The majority of them trim their beard, cut their hair, and many often smoke or chew tobacco. They rarely visit Gurdwaras (Kaur 1986: 222-23). In spite of their lackadaisical approach towards the Khalsa discipline, Sikh Jats in their own eyes and in those of others remained Sikhs. “For others castes it is very different. If a Khatri shaves he is regarded as a Hindu by others and soon comes to regard himself as one” (Mcleod 1996: 98). The Sikhs who strictly followed Rahatnama belong to the lower class of north Punjab (Singh 1953: 179).
The Khalsa symbols were considered to be associated with the influx of Jats into the Sikh religion during the eighteenth century (McLeod 1996; Pettigrew 1978:25). However, with the passage of time, they (symbols) became permanent part of the Khalsa discipline in 1699. Since these symbols were part of the ‘Jat cultural patterns’ much before the entry of Jats into Sikhism, their adherence by the Jats could not become an identification mark of their being Sikhs. Even before they became Sikhs they used to keep uncut hair, wore a thick Kara, and the turban, as a measure of protection in warfare. Hence, the importance of these symbols did not make much difference to them after their becoming Sikh. So, in their case it was not the adherence to these symbols that made them look like Sikhs. They remained Sikhs even without wearing these very symbols sometimes. In other words, the entry of the Jats into Sikh religion did not dilute their ‘caste identity’. On the contrary, it got further strengthened. Jats considered themselves as the saviour of the Sikh religion who defended it militarily throughout its entire turbulent history. In the words of Pettigrew, “Each Jat felt tremendous pride that it was his section of the community that had built up the military organization which led to the establishment of Sikh rule in the Punjab. He felt that prestige lay with the Jats because of this” (Pettigrew 1978:41, emphasis in original).The Jats often treated other castes as timid and incapacable of defending themselves. They called Aroras Kiraar (coward), and commonly applied the term ‘Bhāpā’ (which carries a perceptible degree of opprobrium) to Khatris and Arorās who migrated from the Pothohār areas (McLeod 1996:100;andPettigrew1978: 41).
The Jats are generally considered to be of Indo-Scythians stock, and are said to have settled in the Indus valley, especially in central Sind, in the seventh century (Habib 1996:94). They were ruled over by the Brāhmana dynasty of Chach that imposed harsh constraints on them (Ibid: 95). Their appearance became apparent in Punjab by the beginning of the 11th century (Ibettson [1883] 1970:97; and Habib 1996:95). The entry of the Jats into the Provence of Punjab must have based on their migration from the Sind (Habib 1996:95). However, for a period of four hundred years between the 11th and the 16th there is no account of them in the chronicles of Punjab. The absence of the Jats in the chronicles for such a long period simply shows their insignificance in the Punjab society. Alberuni, whose historical account covered the period of 11th century, designated them as “cattle-owners, low Shūdra people” (quoted in Ibid). They were known as people “of an unfeeling temper” and “hasty disposition”; who were free from the dichotomies of ‘small or great’ and ‘rich or poor’.
References to them began to surface again after a long gap of four centuries in “the Āin-I-Akbarī and its record of Zamīndār castes, compiled about 1595” (Ibid: 96). During the four centuries of their incognito the Jats must have expanded and metamorphosed from a pastoral to an agricultural community in Punjab (Ibid). This was, probably, also the period during which cultivation expanded substantially in Punjab. The introduction of the Persian wheel, reiterated Irfan Habib, was the main driving force behind the “critical change in the agricultural situation of the Punjab” (ibid: 98). The expansion of cultivation in the province of Punjab might have led to the massive shift among the Jats from pastoral to settled agricultural community. It is safe to say that it might have also elevated their social status in the political economy of the rural society of the state. It would not be out of the context to say that what Green Revolution was to the post 1960s Punjab, the introduction of the Persian wheel was to the Punjab of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. In both the cases, it was the Jat community that remained the main beneficiary of the transformation process in the rural settings. But, how the pastoral Jat community transformed into a settled agricultural community and established its control over the land? This question cannot be answered simply by asserting that since the pastoral Jats were tending cattle, and cattle are generally relared with the agriculture so they adopted the agricultural profession. Agriculture is not merely a profession; it is also an asset that bestows on the owners of the land a special status of Zamindar. Jats’ hold on the agricultural land, probably, made them an important community. In the sixteenth century when many of the Jats turned to cultivation, they “…were not only entirely peasants but, in so many localities of the Punjāb, also Zamīndār …” (Habib 1996: 99; see also Ibbetson [1883] 1970:103). Infact, it was their hold on the land that became a marker of their ‘Jat identity’. Jat and the profession of agriculture, thus, became synonymous.
However, their improved economic conditions failed to push them up on the caste scale within the Hindu social order. Thus to escape the oppressive and suffocating structures of Hindu social order the Jats of Punjab embraced Sikhism – a newly emerged religion, free form the hierarchies of caste and gender.(Habib 1996:99; see also McLeod 1996:13). They saw in this new religion a hope and a promise to win over the dilemma of the incommensurability between their improved economic position and humiliating social status. Since Jats constituted a large segment of the population of the Punjab, their entry into the Sikh religion quickly made them the preponderant community. Infact, the large-scale entry of the Jats into the Sikh religion, had not only expanded the base of this new religion, it had also seriously impacted its social outlook. It introduced elements of militancy and caste in its organisation. The militant outlook of the Panth (Sikh community) especially after the martyrdom of the fifth Guru Arjan Dev is generally attributed to, what McLeod called the preponderance of the ‘Jat cultural patterns’ within Sikhism. The preponderance of such patterns also turned Jats into a dominant caste within the very religion that purged them of the taint of their lower caste status. In the due course of time they came to be known as the dominant caste in whole of the state.So much so that the Punjabi culture and identity is seen in terms of Jat culture and identity only (Jodhka 2006:13). In the words of Grewal,
Although due to the present agricultural crisis in Punjab this community is in an unfortunate and painful condition, but still if anybody asks who is most powerful in Punjab, we would have to acknowledge that these directionless, Jatt Sikh families of Punjab, that is committing suicide [sic], are the ruling class here (Grewal 2006:16).
The transformation of the Jats from the pastoral community into an agricultural one, and their allegiance to the Sikh religion revealed an interesting case of the empowerment of a lower caste community and the role of religion in that regard. Infact, what the Jats were fighting for in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Dalits of Punjab seems to have been struggling for the same over the last few decades in the contemporary Punjab. They have been fighting for an equal share in the sources of power in the state and for a respectable status in the society. Though they have received some progression over the years in their economic status due to the constitutional affirmative action and ventures abroad, their lower social status remained intact. Unlike the lower caste Jats of the 17th and 18th centuries, they failed to overcome their social disability by embracing Sikhism. The Mazhbis of Punjab is a case in point.
The Mazbis take the pauhl, wear their hair long, and abstain from tobacco, and they apparently refuse to touch night soil, though performing all the other offices hereditary to the Chuhra caste…. But though good Sikhs so far as religious observance is concerned, the taint of hereditary pollution is upon them and Sikhs of other castes refuse to associate with them even in religious ceremonies (Ibbetson [1883] 1970: 294).
However, there is one major factor that distinguished the Dalit case from that of the Jats in the formative years of their struggle for the improvement of their social status. Jats were cultivators, landowners, nonchalant and a martial race. They also outnumbered other communities by their numerical strength within the Sikh religion. Moreover, the contradiction between the principal communities of the Khatris – the community to which all the ten Gurus belonged and also the one, which provided the initial following to the Sikh religion – and the Jats, was never sharp. Whereas the Jats remain a rural community heavily committed to agriculture, the Khatris are essentially urban-based and a mercantile community (McLeod 1996:98). To quote McLeod, “Unlike the Jats the Khatris have never shown any interest in Sikh identity as a means of enhancing social or ritual status …” (Ibid: 99). Nor the markers of new identity ever provoked them.
But in the case of the Dalits in Punjab, the situation is entirely different. Dalits in Punjab are posited in direct confrontation with the Jats over the struggle for social justice and dignity. Unlike the Jats of the eighteenth century whose opponent (Khatris) were in no way directly entangled with them in their profession (agriculture), some of the Dalits of Punjab are still tied with the Jats in the sector of agriculture. It is in this context that that the Jats, the landholders, and the Dalits, the landless agricultural workers, find themselves in a situation of direct confrontation. But there are many Dalits in the state who have improved their economic conditions by dissociating from their caste occupations and distancing them from the profession of agriculture. Some of them have joined Government services, went abroad, and established their own small-scale servicing units [carpentry, barber, blacksmith shops etc. (for details see: Ram 2004a: 5-7). In this case they have not only improved their economic status, but have also liberated them from the subordination of the Jat landowners. Now, they feel no longer obliged to respect their erstwhile masters (Jats) in the feudal way. Thus their changed economic relation has not only improved their economic status, it also propelled them to aspire for a commensurate social status. This is what that pitted them against the Jats, who take it hard to digest any such attempt, which would press them to dilute their dominant position in the rural society of Punjab. The Dalits’s struggle for equal social status, thus, has led to the violent caste conflicts between them and the Jats in the state, and has all the probability of escalating into many more such conflicts in the near future.

III

Jats and Caste Discrimination
Caste discrimination in Punjab is unique in comparison to its observance in other parts of the country. The Brahminical tradition of social stratification, as discussed above, has never been so effective there. The word Brahmin did not carry a sacerdotal connotation in Punjab. It was used, rather, derogatorily. The down play of the Brahmins in Punjab by the Sikh Jats might have diminished the purity-pollution practice to the benefits of Dalits (Saberwal 1973:256). However, it did not in any way help the Dalits to improve their socio-economic status.
The centre of power in Punjab revolves around the axle of land. Much of the land is owned by the Sikh Jats. Although Scheduled Castes in Punjab constitute high proportion of the population (29%) in comparison to the all India average of 16.3%, their share in ownership of land is negligible. Their being landless forced them to depend on the land-owning castes in the absence of alternative jobs in the agrarian economy of rural Punjab in the pre green revolution phase. Since cultivation required the services of the Dalits in its various operations, it was not feasible to strictly follow the system of untouchability based on the principle of purity-pollution. It does not mean that the Dalits were not discriminated in Punjab. They were very much discriminated. However, the context of their discrimination was different from that of the many other parts of India. The practice untouchability in Punjab was based the scheme of keeping the Dalits bereft of land ownership and political power in the state. Dalits were forced to confine to their lowest status in the villages of Punjab lest they dare to ask for a share in the power structures (Puri 2003: 2698). In other words, despite the absence of the purity-pollution syndrome, the presence of the deep asymmetrical structure of power in the agrarian village economy of Punjab has subordinated the Dalits to the land-owning upper castes (Jodhka 2002: 1815).
The villages in Punjab like the rest of the country are divided into upper caste and Dalit settlements. Dalit settlements are located, invariably, on the side towards which the dirt of the village flowed. Dalits were not allowed to build pucca (concrete) houses because the land on which they lived did not belong to them. In the villages, Dalits were often involved in the unclean occupations – carrying and skinning dead animals, scavenging and working as attached labourer – Siris. Now a day, such type of work, is performed on non-jajmani basis. In Malwa region, there are many dalits who still have been working as Siris. According to a latest study of 26 villages in Malwa region, 21 had dalits working as Siris (Jodhka 2002: 1816). Another study found six Jats working as Siris with other Jats in a village in the district of Sangrur (Singh 2001:3). However, the situation is entirely different in the Doaba region of Punjab where the majority of the Dalits have dissociated themselves from such types of menial works. Although Dalit had interaction with Jat-Sikhs, being agricultural labourers and siris, they used to keep their own tumblers and plates to take meals or tea or water from the upper caste Sikhs.
The upper castes Sikhs are a separate identity and like the upper caste Hindus they also follow the ideology of a graded human society. … The Sikhs may take food with the dalit-Sikhs in Gurdwaras, but they have no bond of fraternity with them (Singh 2002:333).
To quote Singh again, “the impact of Hinduism and caste is visible on the adherence of Guru Nanak and they monopolised Sikhism and could not accord an equal social status to the lower caste Sikhs in Punjab” (Ibid.). Dalit Sikhs in Punjab are cremated on separate cremation grounds along with their counterparts in the Hindu religion. Even in some villages the land meant for the cremation grounds in the Shamlat (common land under the control of Panchayats) have been grabbed by the upper castes. In such a recent case the dominant caste persons of the village Todder Majra of the Mohali district of Punjab grabbed the cremation ground land of the Dalits in the village (Desh Sevak, 2 January 2005). This shows that the social position of the Dalit Sikhs in Punjab is no better than that of other dalits in elsewhere within Hinduism in the country (Ibid: 334).
Dalits Sikhs did not get equal treatment in the Gurdwaras of the upper caste Sikhs. “Mazhabis were forbidden to enter the Golden Temple for worship; their offering of karah prasad was not accepted and the Sikhs denied them access to public well and other utilities” (Pratap Singh 1933: 146-47, 156-57 cited in Puri 2003: 2697). Dalit Sikhs were not allowed to go beyond the fourth step in the Golden Temple and the members of the four-fold varnas were instructed not to mix with them (Oberoi cited in Ibid). Evidence of untouchability against the dalit Sikhs is vividly reflected in a number of Gurmatas (resolutions) adopted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee from 1926-1933 (Ibid.). Although removal of untouchability figured in the Singh Sabha movement, no strenuous effort was made in that direction. “It was not surprising. For the Jats, who composed 70 % of the Akalis, and other high castes, caste equality or removal of untouchability was contrary to their disposition for social domination and hierarchy” (Ibid.). This has forced the dalit Sikhs to establish separate Gurdwaras, which in turn has further led to the strengthening of the already existing caste divisions among the Sikhs8 (Ibid: 2700; Jodhka 2002: 1818; Muktsar 1999 and 2003). Moreover the observance of caste prejudices against the dalit Sikhs has compelled them to ‘search for alternative cultural spaces’ in a large number of deras, sects, and dargahs of Muslim Pirs and other saints (Puri 2003: 2700).
However, for the last few decades the Dalits of Punjab have “discovered the right remedy to cure their wounded psyche” in the famous Dera Sant Sarwan Dass situated at village Ballan in the Jalandhar district of Doaba Punjab (Rajshekar 2004:3). This Dera, popularly known as Dera Ballan, has become a paragon of Ravidass movement in Northwest India. It has been playing a leading role in promoting cultural transformation and generating social consciousness among the Dalit of the region. The dera has a library on its premises, publishes a tri-lingual weekly, distributes free Dalit literature, honors Dalit scholars, runs a model school, and a hospital for the service and upliftment of the downtrodden. It made concerted efforts for the construction of a separate Dalit identity. The saints of Ballan developed their own religious symbols, flags, prayers, dress, salutations and rituals of worship. Of all the major contributions that the Dera Ballan mad, the construction of a mammoth Temple of Shri Guru Ravidass’s Birthplace at Seer Goverdhanpur in the vicinity of Varanasi city is the most significant. This temple has acquired, perhaps, the same importance for the Dalits as the Mecca for Muslims and the Golden Temple for Sikhs.
IV

Social Exclusion and Violence in Colonial Punjab
The Dalits of Punjab faced stiff opposition and became victim of physical violence at the hands of the dominant castes during their struggle for dignity and equality in the colonial period. They were, said an eyewitness, “Chased everywhere and hounded out of bounds of towns and villages by the Hindus and quite often they had to hold their meetings and conferences in open fields. One such incident also took place at Una”(Pawar 1993:77). They were also denied entry into meadows and common lands to fetch fodder for their cattle, access to the open fields to answer the call of nature, and were interned in their houses by the Sikhs and Hindus for no other fault than that of their being registered as Ad Dharmis in the census of 1931. In Ferozepur district, two chamars were burnt alive because they registered themselves as Ad Dharmis (Chumber 1986: 51). In Layalpur district, the innocent daughter of an Ad Dharmi was murdered. In Nankana Sahib, the Akalis threw ash into the langar (food prepared in bulk for free distribution) meant for those who came to attend the Ad Dharm meeting. In Village Dakhiyan-da-Prah of the Ludhiana district, the Sikh boys abducted Shudranand from the dais of the Achhuts’ (Dalits) public meeting. In Baghapurana, many Achhuts were beaten up and their legs and arms were broken (Bakshi Ram Pandit n.d. 56-57). In many villages of Ludhiana, Ferozepur and Layalpur, the Achhuts were boycotted for two months. These Achhuts were living in villages where the Jat-Sikhs or Muslims were in a dominant position. The Sikh Jats had compelled the Achhuts to record themselves as Sikhs. However, despite repression and intimidation the Achhuts did not give in and recorded Ad Dharm as their religion (ibid: 54-56). In village Ghundrawan of the district Kangra, the Rajputs even smashed the pitchers of the Ad Dharmi women who were on their way to fetch water. When denied water from the village pond the Ad Dharmis had to travel for three miles to fetch water from the river. The ongoing torture at the hands of the Rajputs ultimately compelled them to leave the village to settle in Pathankot. It was only after the interference of Sir Fazal-i- Hussain, on the request of Mangoo Ram9 that their grievance was looked into and eventually they were rehabilitated in their native village.
In face of opposition by the upper caste Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, the leaders of Ad Dharm had a tough time proving to the Lothian Committee that they were neither Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims nor Christians (Piplanwala 1986:10-15; and Ahir 1992:9-11). The Sikh representatives claimed that since many of the Achhuts believed in Guru Granth Sahib and solemnised their marriage ceremonies in accordance with the Sikh customs half of their population should be added to the Sikh religion and the other half be merged with the Hindus. Likwise the Muslim representatives told the Lothian committee that since some of the Achhuts perform Namaz (offer prayers), keep rozas (long fast kept in a particular month) and bury their corpses in cemeteries instead of burning them, they should be divided equally between Hindus and Muslims. Similarly, the Hindu representatives on the other hand stressed that since the Achhuts believed in Vedas and perform their marriage ceremonies in accordance with the Hindu customs no one except the Hindus have the right to seek their allegiance. Above all, Lala Ram Das of the “Dayanand Dalit Udhar Mandal” (Hoshiarpur) and Pandit Guru Dev of “Achhut Mandal” (Lahore) informed the franchise committee that there was no untouchable in Punjab. According to them the untouchables were the backward class of Hindus who were made at par with the rest through the performance of Shuddhi. Hence, no separate treatment for the untouchables in Punjab.
Untouchables generally were being subjected to strong pressures by Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others, each community seeking to pull them into its own fold, at least for the day of the census: it was common then to seek to influence census results as a prelude to political claims (Saberwal 1976:52).
Thus Dalits were put to severe hardships and violence for carving out an identity for them and asserting for their rights in the colonial period.

Social Exclusion and Violence in Contemporary Punjab
Atrocities on the Dalits continued even after India became independent. Moreover, the frequency and magnitude of such atrocities increased after the 1960s in the wake of the Green Revolution in Punjab. Over the last few years rarely a day passed when Dalits are spared of a social boycott by the Jats in the villages of the state. After the much-publicised violent conflict in the village Talhan, Punjab has witnessed a large number of similar cases. The pattern of conflicts in all such cases often remained the same. In almost all the conflicts social boycott was imposed on the Dalits who were asserting for equal rights in the structures of power at the village level. Pandori Khajoor village in Hoshiarpur district, village Bhattian Bet in Ludhiana district, Talhan, Meham and Athaula villages in Jalandhar district, Patteraiwal village in Abhor district, Jethumajra and Chahal village in Nawan Shahr district, Aligarh village near Jagraon in Ludhiana district, Domali and Chak Saboo villages in Kapurthala district, Abuul Khurana village near Malout in Mukitsar district, Dallel Singhwala, Kamalpur and Hasanpur villages in Sangrur ard Jhabbar village in district of Mansa are among the most prominent cases of Jat-Dalit conlicts in the state. In the following section Talhan and Meham conflicts are taken up for a brief discussion to analyse the underlying causes of the caste-based oppression in the contemporary Punjab. In both these cases the issue of contention was dispute over the control of local religious sites. In the case of Talhan the Dalits were denied participation in the managing committee of the Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh, whereas in the case of Meham the Dalits were forced to vacate their hold on the Udasi Dera of Baba Khazan Singh. Both of the cases fall in the Doaba sub-region of Punjab.
Talhan
The Talhan conflict was based on the issue of Dalit representation in the management committee of the Gurdwara Shaheed (martyr) Baba Nihal Singh. The Dalits were denied access to the management committee of this Gurudwara in village Talhan. The Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh was built on the tomb of Baba Nihal Singh, a local carpenter (backward caste) who died while laying Gandd (wooden wheel) at the base of a well. Since Baba Nihal Singh was popular for his expertise and died while working for the public cause in the village, his death was not considered an ordinary event. The fellow village people in the area declared him a shaheed. They constructed a small smadh (tomb) in this memory, at the place where he was cremated. Another smadh was also built nearby in the memory of Harnam Singh, an aide of shaheed Baba Nihal Singh, who for years cared for his smadh. To celebrate the martydom of Baba Nihal Singh, area villagers started organising an annual fair at the smadh. The popularity of shaheed Baba Nihal Singh began to attract a large number of devotees. The devotees brought offerings, mostly in cash. Subsequently, the smadhs were converted into shrines. In due course, another structure – a Gurdwara – was raised between the smadhs and the Sikh holy book was also placed there. The whole site, including the two smadhs, thus, turned into Gurdwara.
The primary motive behind the conversion of the Smadhs into a Gurdwara was widely seen as an effort to grab the large amount of money received as offerings at the smadhs by the Jats of the village and the adjoining areas. The Jats of Talhan (25%), who control most of the agricultural land in the village and until recently enjoyed unquestioned domination in the social and political life of the village, established their control over this Gurdwara through the office of the Gurdwara management committee. This committee manages a huge annual amount of money, approximately 50 million rupees ($1.1 million), which the Gurdwara receives in offerings from Punjabi diaspora and local devotees (Philip 2003). While there may be a difference of opinion on the exact amount of the offerings, as A. J. Philip has put it, “There is an agreement that the coffers in the Gurdwara have been overflowing with cash. Small wonders that anybody who is some body in the village wants to be a member of the Gurdwara management committee” (Ibid.).
Despite being a majority in the village, the Dalits of Talhan (72%) were kept out of the membership on the Gurdwara management committee. The numerically predominant Dalits, majority of who are landless, have achieved a considerable degree of mobility and autonomy over the last few decades. They have diversified into non-agricultural employment and found employment abroad. Their numerical strength, have also added to their importance in the electoral politics of the village. Consequently, they started vociferously demanding a share in the structures of power at different levels of Punjabi society, which hitherto have been dominated by the landholding castes, particularly the Jats. These demands for a share in the local power structure led to Jat-Dalit clash in Talhan.
The Dalits of Talhan employed every available method to seek entery into the Gurdwara management committee. They requested the Jats of the village to give them their due share in the membership of the committee in accordance to their population in the village. The Jats refused. Then, in 1999, the Dalits approached the local administration and the court of law. But the dispute still remained unresolved. However, the Dalits continued their efforts to acquire the membership in the committee. This ultimately led to a fight between the Jats and the Ad dharmis in January 2003. Subsequently, the Jats publicly announced a social boycott of the Ad Dharmis. The non-Dalits residents of Talhan were asked to severe their social and economic ties with the Dalits. Jats stopped visiting the shops run by the Dalits in Talhan. They also banned the entry of the Dalits in their fields. They were not allowed to use the fields even for latrines, thus forcing them to defecate in open, by the side of the village roads.
To fight against the social boycott and for representation in the committee, the Dalits organised a Dalit Action Committee (DAC) under the leadership of L. R. Balley, a prominent Ambedkarite of the region. The DAC organised sit-ins and hunger strikes in the village and Jalandhar city. Repeated appeals by the DAC to the Punjab government for legal action against the boycotters failed to move the administration (Singh Prabhjot 2003). On 5th June 2003, the conflict took a violent turn. And soon it snowballed into the adjoining areas. Boota Mandi, a suburban of Jalandhar city, became the epicentre of the violence. It was here that an Ad Dharmi, Vijay Kumar Kala, fell victim to the police firing, an event that suddenly propelled Thalan and Boota Mandi onto the national scene. Talhan and Boota Mandi were virtually converted into a garrison. And the village was sealed off for a couple of days.
The pressure of Dalit assertion compelled the government to solve the conflict without further delay, so that it would not turn into a serious political issue with wider implications. Moreover, it also cautioned the government to take necessary steps to prevent the victimisation of Dalits in other parts of the state, lest they replicate Talhan. Although the district administration and police controlled the violence, it took the contending parties 18 days to reach a compromise, and another two months for the agreement to come into effect. Eventually the Dalits of Talhan succeeded in securing representation in the Gurdwara management committee. Though Talhan conflict was a case of local Dalit upsurge, it has set a historic precedent in Punjab through Dalit assertion (for more details see Ram 2004b: 906-12).

Meham
Meham conflict is another case of recent Jat-Dalit confrontation, and a vindication of the existance of the institution of caste in Punjab. The village Meham has total population of 1967 out of which 893 (45%) belong to the Dalits. Most of the Dalits belong to the Balmiki caste. The Ad Dharmi, another Dalit caste, constitutes 20 percent of the total population (Judge 2006:14). The Sikh Jats are also about 20 percent of the total population of the village. Jats, Balmikis and the Ad Dharmis each have their own Gurdwara. In fact the Jats have two Gurdwaras. The Baba Khazan Singh Udasi Dera (the cite of dispute) is the fifth shrine in Meham. As has been the case in majority of the villages in the Doaba sub-region of Punjab, the Dalits in Meham have also diversified into various non-cultivation professions. This has not only helped them abandoned their customary caste based occupations but also liberated them from the dependance on the lands of the Jats. However, despite the fact of the Dalits’ dissociation from their hereditary professions and their distancing from the agriculture they failed to raise their social status in the eyes of the Jats. This has led to tensions between them.
Though the context of the Meham conflict is different from that of the Talhan, the patterns and forms of the oppression of the Dalits are same in both of the cases. In Talhan, the Jats denied entry to the Dalits in the management of the Gurdwara. Whereas in Meham, the Sikh Jats forcebly took over the control of the Baba Khazan Singh Udasi Dera that was being looked after by the Ad Dharmis of the village for the last six decades. They replaced all the Udasi symbols with that of the Khalsa, and also objected to the offerings of liquor and the distribution of the same as a prasad among the devotees at the Dera as it violates the Sikh code of conduct.
The Ad Dharmi retorted back by saying that the tradition of offering liquor at the smadh in the Dera is in no way violate the Sikh code of conduct as the Dera was never a site of Sikhism.They reiterated that the issue of Sikh code of conduct entered into the Dera in 2003 when the Sikh Jats of the village placed Guru Granth Sahib on the premises of the Dera. Moreover, the presence of the mazaars (graves) in the precincts of the Dera ruled out the possibility of its being a Gurdwara. In the Talhan conflict, Dalits also raised the same argument over the dispute of the grave of Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh. Another reason of the Jats’ control of the Dera could be the rising cost of the land in the state and the tremendous increase in the donations and offerings at the Dera over the last few years due to massive emigration of the Punjabis from the Doaba sub-region to Europe, North America and the Gulf (Kali 2003). However, unlike in Talhan, the timely intervention of the police brought the Meham conflict under the control and the dispute is referred to the court. For the time being the Dera is placed under a government receiver who has been assigned the task of the management of the shrine.
The conflicts in Talhan and Meham reflect the underlying layers of tensions between the hitherto all powerful and dominant Jats, and the newly emerged economically independent class of the Dalits. Whatever be the causes of these conflicts, it is clear that the Dalits in Punjab, esoecially in Doaba, had achieved a state of consciousness to assert for their rights. In contrast, the Sikh Jats, who have thrived amid the meek silence of the Dalits, are finding it difficult to grapple with the surging Dalit consciousness. Given the rising level of social consciouness among the Dalits, the dominant castes are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to ignore their demands for a share in the socio-economic structures of power at the local level.

Conclusion
What I have attempted to argue in this article is that contrary to the popular view of the casteless character of the Sikh society in Punjab, caste discriminations are very much part of its social set up. However, what distinguished them from that of the other parts of India is their indifference to the purity-pollution syndrome. Instead, landlessness and the preponderance of ‘Jat cultural patterns’ prove to be the fundamental cause of the discrimination and the oppression of the Dalits in the state.
In Punjab, Sikh Jats constitute dominant caste. Their domination, however, is not rooted in the graded system of caste hierarchy. They became dominant because of their hold over the land, and their numerical prepondrance in Sikh religion coupled with their martial nature. Dalits in Punjab, for various historical reasons, were deprived of land, and their entery into Sikhism could not relieve them of the taint of their lower status. Their landlessness, obviously, made them subservient to the land owning castes, majority of which happen to be Sikh Jats. However, the improved economic condition of the Dalits coupled with their rising social and political consciousness over the years has led to sharpening of contradiction between them and the Jats in Punjab, especially in its Doaba sub-region. In fact, Punjab has entered into a volatile situation wherein Jats and Dalits have entangled themselves in a whirlpool of old mindsets versus rising social consciousness. This in turn has resulted into a series of violent Jat-Dalit clashes in the state. What weaves the Jat-Dalit conflicts in Punjab together despite the difference in the issues and the locations of occurrences are the similarities of the nature and the pattern of their emergence. They invariably involve demands of Dalits for a respectable social space in the socio-political structures of power in the villages of Punjab commensurate to their improved economic conditions. Such moves of the marginals find staunch critics among the Jats who often view Dalit assertion as a form of challenge to their dominant status in the village society.
Despite the fact that agriculture has ceased to exist as a profitable profession for the last few years, land is still considered as the most essential status symbol in rural Punjab. Though many dalits have benefited from constitutional affirmative action, spread of education, social welfare measures and ventures abroad, a vast majority of them still are landless, very poor and vulnerable. While many dalits have abandoned their caste-based occupations and have also distanced themselves from the employment in the agricultural fields, their social status in the rural economy remained marginal, precisely because of their landlessness. In rural Punjab, land determined social status. It is a fact. Dalits did not own land, is another fact. It is also a fact, that dalits have achieved a significant awareness and political consciousness over the last seven decades in the history of dalit mobilization in Punjab. Now, they cannot be coerced any more to remain confined to the periphery. The contradiction between old mindsets based on proclivities of caste prestige and honour, and the emerging dalit consciousness for equal share in the power structures of the rural society is fast becoming a faultline between the Jats and the Dalits of Punjab. The ever-increasing number of caste conflicts in the villages of Punjab is a clear testimony to the emerging dissension between the Jats and the Dalits. Dalits have begun vociferously demanding a share in the structures of power at different levels of Punjabi society, which hitherto have been dominated by the Jats. Given the intensity of this conciousness on the parts of the Dalits, the Jats are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to ignore such Dalit demands without resorting to pressure tactics or force. This, inturn, often led to caste clashes between Jats and Dalits. A manifestatin of Dalit assertion, these clashes have sharpened the issue of Dalit human rights and have emboldened the downtrodden to actively engage themselves in the political process in the state for the realization of these rights.

Notes

1 Ad Dharm movement came into existence in 1925. It aimed at emancipation of the Dalits and their empowerment through cultural transformation, spiritual regeneration and political assertion. It was the first movement of its kind in North India that brought together the downtrodden to fight for their cause. It laid the foundation of dalit consciousness and assertion in Punjab. Mark Juergensmeyer’s seminal work is the pioneer study of this movement (Juergensmeyer 1988; see also Ram 2004).

2 According to a recent study, the number of such Deras has exceeded one hundred in Punjab (Qadian 2003). Since the publication of this study many more Ravidass Deras have been established in the state. In the year 2005 alone, the saints of Ballan have laid down the foundation stones of12 Ravidass Deras (calculated from the Begumpura Shaher [Jalandhar] weekly).

3 The Ad Dharm movement helped forge unity among the different Dalit castes in the state by bringing them together into the fold of Ad Dharm (an ancient and indigenous religion of the natives of India). This movement specifically focused on the ethnification of Dalit identity in the region than on treading the path of Sanskritization to move up the caste hierarchy, as was the case with the Adi Hindu movement (Jaffrelot 2003:149; and Chandra 1999:159). The Ravidass Deras provided the Dalits of Punjab the much-needed cultural space to connect them to their lost cultural heritage. These Deras also provided them the bare minimum of the infrastructure that required for the ethnification of their newly conceived Dalit cultural space. All these efforts helped significantly in the generation of the Dalit consciousness in Punjab.

4 However, the main concern of these movements was to transform the attitudes of the individuals rather than striking hard on the asymmetrical structures of the society (Grewal 1994: 116). The socio-religious movements had never taken up the issue of disproportionate landholdings that has been the crucial cause of social inequalities and economic deprivations of the Dalits in the state. Whatever small impact the saints and the socio-religious movements were able to bring in the minds of the people faded away with the passage of time.

5 Social boycott, a form of social exclusion, involves a ban on the entry of the Dalits in the fields /agricultural lands of the Jats. Social boycott involves severe deprivations of the landless Dalits who are dependent on the lands of the Jats for fuel, fodder and even to answer the call of the nature. The Jat landowners used to employ social boycott, during the wheat harvesting seasons in the early 1970s, as a weapon of suppression against the landless agricultural labourers who demanded hike in their wages. Nowadays, it is being used in the villages of Punjab by the Jats against the agitating Dalits who ask for equal participation in the formal and informal institutions of power at the local level. In the words of Judge, “It is the means to remind them that despite their improved conditions, they continue to be low caste” (Judge 2006:12).

6 The rise of militancy in Sikhism in the sixteenth century was generally attributed to the martial nature of the Jats (Habib 1996:100; see also Mcleod 1996:12) The ranks and leadership of the Khalsa from this period onwards were deeply predominated by the Jats so much so that the history of the Sikh religion that follows came to be known as “the history of the Jat section of the Sikh community” (Pettigrew 1978:26). For counter arguments on this theme see: Singh (ed.) 1986, especially the sixth part; and Singh 1985). In the rural areas of Punjab, one often heard a Jat saying that he would survive even if cut half when suggested to take medicine in case of sickness.

7 In Islam Chamars are known as Mochis, and Chuhras are called Musallis and Kutanas. In Christianity Chuhras are named Massihs or Isais. Some of the Chamars who joined Arya Samaj came to be known as ‘Chaudhary’ and ‘Mahashas’ (Judge 2006: 6).

8 Dalits have separate Gurdwaras in about 10,000 villages out of a total of 12, 780 villages in Punjab (Dalit Voice, Vol. 22, No. 17 September 1-15, 2003, p. 20). A survey of 116 villages in one Tehsil of Amritsar district showed that dalits had separate Gurdwaras in 68 villages (Puri 2003: 2700). Yet another field-study of 51 villages selected from the three sub-regions of Punjab found that dalits had separate Gurdwaras in as many as 41 villages (Jodhka 2002:1818); see also Muktsar 1999; and Muktsar 2003: 21-22.

9 Mangoo Ram (1886–1980) was one of the founders of Ad Dharm movement. Born in a Chamar family, in village Mugowal, Dist. Hoshiarpur, Punjab, he immigrated to America (1909) where he came in close contact with the Gadhar Party (a militant nationalist organization). After his return in 1925, he organized Scheduled Castes in Punjab against the system of untouchability. During the Roundtable Conferences in London (1930-32) he sent telegrams in support for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as the leader of the untouchables in India instead of Mahatama Gandhi. In 1946, he was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly and remained in legislature till 1952. On 15 August 1972, Prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi honoured him with a ‘Tamra Patra’ and pension (Rs 200 per month) for the services he rendered in the Gadhar Party for India’s freedom.

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