Three days ago, news broke that bullies had set fire to a Dalit colony in Bihar. Along with important leaders of the country, even administrative officials and journalists in Delhi realized that powerful people in Bihar, namely Thakurs or Bhumihars, might have done the job. Politicians across the country attacked the Nitish government over the Bihar Nawada incident. BJP president Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mallikarjun Hag, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and others made a series of statements about the oppression of Dalits. But as the truth of the matter came out, Bihar politics or those who are engaged in politics in Bihar will now remain silent. Now the issue will not even be discussed at a large level. The accused in the Nawada incident was Paswan from the Dalit community. That is, the fight was between Mahadalits and Dalits. This incident also proves that whoever is in power, is the ruler. The people who are exploited are Dalits. Now you think that Dabangg is upper caste, that is your choice. But, this upper caste can also be bossy Dalit or Mahadalit.
1-Is there caste hatred or other reasons behind the Nawada violence?
The Nawada incident is not actually being discussed for the reasons it should be discussed. It is very important to understand the reasons behind the clash between the Musahars and the Paswans in Nawada. Because the reason behind the violence in Bihar is not caste hatred but a land survey that was conducted without adequate preparation. The Bihar government is conducting a land survey in the state. The significance of this survey is not about which caste owns how much land. Because in Bihar, every survey is about caste. This survey is basically to prepare proper land ownership documents to end land disputes. The government’s idea is good but the method of execution is weak. Apparently, it is only a glimpse now. Sparks have already started flying. Newspapers in Bihar are full of fights over land and fights over documents every day.
2- The ongoing land survey in Bihar will shed more blood.
In Bihar, about 50,000 acres of government land is illegally occupied by illegal people. In Nawada, people from the Musahar (Manjhi) and Ravidas communities live in huts on about 15 acres of land on the river bank. And cultivate the rest of the land. The Nawada Civil Court has been hearing the title lawsuit for this land since 1995 (22/1995). That is, the battle for land rights is in the court. According to Amar Ujala’s report, in the new investigation, the land was registered in the name of Ramzan Mian of Khatian, whose family members belong to the Paswan community of Krishna Nagar, the Yadav community of Lohani Bigha and the Chauhan community (Beldar caste). In addition to this, people from the Chauhan community (Beldar caste) of Raghunathpur in the Rahui police station of Nalanda district were also registered. Meaning, these people bought the land from Ramzan Mian. This happened on paper but as no changes were made and the land in the register remained in the same status as before, people from the Musahar and Ravidas communities were not ready to give up their possession of the land. Those who bought the land were determined to remove the encroachments during the land survey process.
Due to the land survey, people from all over the country who make a living are coming to the villages to save the land that they inherited from their grandfathers and great grandfathers. Many of them do not have any documents. Some people’s documents are not yet complete. For many years, co-owners occupied the land and the registration was done by multiple people. There are many such lands, and the real estate dealers and powerful people sold the land to many people. Many people have documents written in Kaithi script. There are no readers today.
3- But currently there is a discussion on who is the accused, upper caste Yadav or Parsi?
Why did this incident in Bihar grab national attention? It is not because Dalits were tortured in this incident. Discussions on this incident were spread across the country because leaders understood that the bullies were likely to be upper castes. It is also possible that this was spread intentionally. Because there is a competition among all parties today for media dominance. The biggest leaders of the state deliberately do such things to arrange their agenda and perhaps the same happened in this incident. If Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had not clarified, the entire Indian Union would have remained a flying knife in the air.
After Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi made a statement, people understood the truth that it was not a fight between upper castes and Dalits. It was just a conspiracy of some people to spread hatred between upper castes and Dalits. Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the Yadav caste people who were doing land business were targeting Dalits. Even in the Nawada incident, the people detained by the police were from the Yadav caste. People of the Musahar caste and Chamar caste had been living on the disputed land for many years. The overbearing Yadav played the whole game by promoting some people of the Dussad caste.
RJD was angry over Jitan Ram Manjhi’s statement. RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said Jitan Ram Manjhi had lost his mind. Misa Bhatti said that a Union minister should not make such remarks against a section of the society. Chirag Paswan demanded a judicial inquiry from the government.
On the other hand, Bihar government minister Janak Ram called the Nawada incident a conspiracy of the Grand Alliance. He said that the way Bihar was going, such a conspiracy was being planned to further destabilize it. The people of Bihar knew the Grand Alliance’s strategy.
Janak Ram said that during the rule of Tejashwi Yadav’s parents, hatred was spread in the society and there was a struggle between those who moved forward and those who moved backward. People are trying to vent the same emotions again. Dalits are being targeted.
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