Caste and class

Class Struggle in the Guise of Caste–I
Ranganayakamma

All of us are aware of the ghastly atrocities committed by the Tuurpu Kapu families (OBCs) on the Dalit families in Lakshimpeta of Srikakulam district about six months ago (on June 12, 2012). Atrocities of this sort have been taking place every now and then. Wherever an atrocity takes place, the people of even faraway places also think about it instead of ignoring it. Many people have been viewing the recent atrocity at Lakshimpeta with pronounced anger toward the incident and with sympathy for the victims. The depraved fellows who committed that atrocity too would have their own thoughts based on their 'victory'.

In Srikakulam district, at a place where three rivers converge, the State government had many years ago acquired four thousand acres of land from the farmers by paying compensation, under a scheme to construct a reservoir for the irrigation of agricultural lands and for the supply of water to the industries. The acquired land included not only the lands of Kapus but also small pieces of land of Dalits. While paying compensation, same rates were not given to the small pieces of land of Dalits as the ones paid to the bigger plots of Kapus. All the families of the farmers who sold their lands got scattered over various distant places. The OBCs who sold their lands and received higher rates have been carrying on their respective commercial activities.

Lakshimpeta, which was evicted from the reservoir area, emerged as New Lakshimpeta far away from the reservoir. In the New Lakshimpeta area, there remained 250 acres of land which was not utilized for the sake of reservoir. This left-out land too was part of the land acquired by the government. Thus, this land too belonged to the government. As per the available information, the houses of Kapus and Dalits in the New Lakshimpeta were built under Indira Gandhi Housing Scheme and hence they were side-by-side to each other and the houses of Dalits are not away from the village as a segregated Dalit locality. But according to the same information, the houses of Dalits are mentioned as separate localities. The Kapus have not been happy right from the beginning to have the Dalit houses near their houses in their neighbourhood. As a result there have been quarrels raised by Kapus with the Dalits. The OBC parents stopped their children from eating at school under the pretext that Dalit women were cooking the food under the mid-day meal scheme. When such a thing was happening, the government immediately engaged different persons as cooks! (Don't the OBC elders and children eat the stuff available in the market? Don't they eat at hotels? How do these people know as to which 'sacred' persons prepare food over there? Is this what the government should do instead of arguing with those OBCs and impart common sense?)

It turned into a quarrel when the foot-wear of a boy fell in front of the houses of Kapus while the Dalit children were playing in the street. A Dalit woman had never sat on a chair during her tenure as a sarpanch. She was never allowed to sit. It is said that Dalits were not given work under rural employment guarantee scheme. Whenever Dalits lodge any complaint in a neighbouring police station, the police officer does not register the case. Such terrible things have been taking place in the past in the New Lakshimpeta, as they happened everywhere else.

Another new problem, however, has cropped up in the New Lakshimpeta. The Kapus occupied land as much as they could—some of them to the extent of eight acres—out of 250 acres unused by the reservoir scheme and started cultivation. As per the available information, four or five Kapu families have occupied majority of the land. On the whole, nearly 190 acres of land was occupied by Kapu families. Dalits too have started cultivating pieces of land which they found here and there in the same area where Kapus were cultivating. Although Dalits occupied the land to the extent of 60 acres, none of their families has got even one acre. It is irrelevant whether the lands which Dalits occupied belonged to Kapus or Dalits in the past. They belong to the government since it acquired the land by paying compensation. But, when the Kapus of Lakshimpeta demanded that the lands which the Dalits are now cultivating once belonged to Kapus and hence Dalits must pay land rent to the present Kapus, the Dalits agreed to it as if it was an obligation. Dalits hoped that they would get the land if they pay land rent and hence started paying 10 bags of the produce per acre ever since. While the Kapus were resorting to such oppression, no government official showed concern about it.

Having realized that these lands are the property of the government, the Dalits have stopped paying land rent during the current year. This is the immediate cause for the recent atrocity.

If Dalits continue to pay land rent for the land which they are cultivating, that land will not be their private property. In such a situation, the benami landowners can extort some portion of the crop from the Dalits every year. But the fact that the Dalits refused to pay rent indicates that they tried to own the land. Actually, occupation of 60 acres of land by Dalits appeared as a threat to the Kapus of that area. Dalits are expected to live as agricultural labourers and farm servants! How dare they turn into farmers and acquire property! They must live like coolies without interfering with the land! Therefore, we must teach Dalits a lesson with swords and daggers -this was the objective of the Kapus of the Lakshimpeta. Once the objective is set, attacks upon and murders of Dalits remain to be carried out!
How could the Kapus dare to resort to attacks and killings? They got money from the sale of their previous lands and the subsequent commercial activities. Moreover, they got support from the political leaders of that constituency for whom they voted. All sorts of political leaders have the same perspective of grabbing land from the Dalits and turning them into coolies. Among those political leaders, persons like Botsa Satyanaryana, the minister and Botsa Vasudeva Naidu, the president of the Mandal were OBCs by caste but as per the division of classes, they possessed exploitative property. Kondru Murali, who is both the sitting MLA of the constituency as well as a minister in the state cabinet belonged to a Dalit caste but his class had changed a long time ago. A person of any caste, once he takes the path of securing exploitative property, will rely mainly on the strength of his class rather than his caste.

'Government' [='State'] has been the committee of exploiters since the days of slave masters. All its laws provide rights to exploit labouring classes and thereby earn land rent, interest and profit. All the politicians who rule in accordance with those laws are defenders of exploiting class. Even those Dalits who are immersed in acquiring properties and other politics will transform from the labouring class into the exploiting class. This is how we have to understand Kondru Murali, the minister in the Lakshimpeta atrocity. See later what role he played in this context.

The daily atrocities on the Dalits of Lakshimpeta have been going on since a long time. For instance, when a Dalit woman named Ramudamma was collecting cow dung in the fields of the Kapus, the Kapus beat her up. When she lodged a complaint in the nearby police station, she was ignored. The Kapus conducted campaigns here and there that they would kill a couple of Dalit youth who usually take the initiative and dare to go to the police station. The Kapus beat those Dalit youth when they went to find out the facts. When Dalits lodged a complaint, a police officer (an ST person) took up the case and those Kapus were arrested. But it was a short lived joy. Those culprits came out on bail within 3 days. Since then, the slogans of the Kapus that 'we must see the end of the Dalits' began to spread among the Dalits. On the requests of Dalits, somehow a police picket was set up there. But the police picket was removed from there on 11-6-2012 on the pretext that a bye-election was going to be held in some constituency and the policemen were needed there. In fact, the policemen of this picket need not go to a single place where election was going to be held. It was merely a pretext to send away these policemen from here. It is not possible to remove police picket from here if Kapus do not have the support of the political leaders. It means all the political leaders including the Dalit minister had schematically planned to carry on the killings of Dalits. In case the Dalit minister was not a party to that plot, he should have reacted seriously when he came to know about the removal of the police picket from there. But no such thing has happened. We don't mean that had there been a police picket, the police would or could protect the Dalits. The absence of police would instill more confidence in those killers who were sharpening their knives, wouldn't it? See how quickly killings were carried out after the police left!

The moment the police left on June 11, a festive mood spread across the houses of the Kapus in the Lakshimpeta. Other Kapus from the neighbouring villages started arriving by auto rickshaws and tractors.

Having noticed the whole noise, the Dalits were terrified and called the sub-inspector of the neighbouring village. But he said something vague and ignored the complaint. The Dalits spent the whole night without food and sleep. The very next day, that is on the morning of June 12, in the early hours, bombs were hurled at Dalits' houses. Around that time, a Dalit who woke up early in morning went out and made a phone call to the sub-inspector. When he said, "They are hurling bombs at our houses", the sub-inspector did not pay any heed.

At that moment, the Dalits were involved in various activities in their houses : some were eating their early morning food before leaving for work at distant places; women were cooking; kids were still sleeping; some men were fetching water. On hearing bomb blasts some people fled from their houses.

Already about 200 Kapus, both men and women, pounced upon the houses of the Dalits. It was the job of the Kapu women to spill chilli powder on the faces of Dalits whoever they came across. While the Dalits were unable to find their way out due to the chilli powder in their eyes, the Kapu men began to pierce them with daggers, stab them with knives and slice them with axes! When some Dalits closed their doors with fear, a huge mob broke open the doors with crow bars, dragged out the people hidden in the house and pierced with spears! Every murder took place in front of the crying children. Pools of blood across the streets and houses of the Dalits! Torn chilli powder packets everywhere! Scattered housewares! The terror lasted for more than an hour with obscene abuses such as, "Do you want land?" Four Dalit men died on the spot. There were 42 blows of spear on the body and deep stabs in the head of a dalit named 'Sangamesu'! Finally 6 people, including Ramu-damma, died. 28 people were wounded severely : hands, legs and backs were cut open.

Having exhibited their valour using chilli powder, spears, axes etc, the Kapu men and women swiftly returned home after fulfilling their objective and probably sat on their sofas gloating over their valour in terms of the number of times each of them stabbed the Dalits excelling one another!

The houses of the Dalits are not far away from the houses of the Kapus. Both men and women, young and old move daily in front of the Kapus. They used to talk to one another at least on occasions. Yet they attacked those neighbours; they attacked them with swords and spears to commit murders. This does not mean that they could do it to people who lived faraway from them.

The Kapu women, instead of scolding their men and throwing cow-dung water at their faces in protest, took the initiative, moved swiftly with the chilli powder packets to commit the atrocities. Why did it happen? Here one thing is clear. Whatever contradictions may be there between these men and women, there is no distinction between them in terms of caste and class. Both men and women are alike in such matters.

In the context of Lakshimpeta, whether we treat Kapus as a caste or a class, women of these Kapu families retain hatred towards securing of land by the Dalits. In general, people describe women as more compassionate and nobler than men, but such descriptions are nothing but stupid talk. We have no knowledge as to how women behaved in various other contexts in which men resorted to murders but the incident of Lakshimpeta exposed the real face of women. It proved that women too can behave cruelly, savagely and meanly. Since this atrocity had really taken place, we are forced to believe it.

In order to understand the cruelty of these days, we have to imagine the cruelty of ancient times when people of one tribe used to attack and kill the people of other tribes. People of those times were like beasts and we can't find fault with the beasts. During those days, except for freely available natural resources, there were no land rents, interests and profits. Today all these are available. Hence these cruelties which exceed the cruelties of the past and begin with nothing less than bombs.

The truth implied in the ghastly atrocity in Lakshimpeta is that it is a premeditated conspiracy hatched by the exploiting propertied class of people and the politicians representing that class for the sake of land and rent.

Lakshimpeta atrocity happened on June 12 and on 14th a Fact Finding Committee consisting of a few people visited the place. I have taken some details from that report published in 'Kula Nirmuulana'( Annihilation of Caste), a Telugu bimonthly, dated May-July 2012.

See the comments of Botsa Satyanarayana on the Lakshimpeta atrocity: "...This clash has taken place because the Dalits entered into the lands which were not submerged by the reservoir and on which the Kapus had ownership rights in the past. In that clash, BCs also suffered injuries and are now undergoing treatment in the hospital". This is his judgment on the atrocity.

In fact it was the Kapus who attacked the Dalits and their houses. The Dalits did not attack the Kapus. It is crystal clear. Well, then, why did the Kapus attack the Dalits? Was it because the Dalits took away their (Kapus') lands? How are we concerned about the past ownership rights, namely, whether those lands previously belonged to the Kapus or the Dalits? The government had purchased those lands. The previous owners of those lands received money and left the lands. The Kapus have already been cultivating 190 acres of the government land. If the Dalits cultivate the other 60 acres of the government land, how does it amount to taking away the Kapus' lands? In case the Dalits have illegally encroached upon those lands, don't they have the courts, laws and the government to set it right? Do they have to pounce upon them and kill them? While it is clear that six Dalits were killed, and many more were seriously injured and while the blood spilled all over the houses of the Dalits which were damaged with crow bars, the minister just commented, "the Kapus too were injured!" While this minister commented that way, see how Kondru Murali, the Dalit minister, had behaved. See the following paragraph from the Fact Finding Committee Report: "It is an open secret that the Kapus dared to resort to Lakshimpeta genocide since they had the support of Botsa Vasudeva Naidu and the blessings of Botsa Satyanaryana. While the Dalits of Lakshimpeta were saying that Botsa Vasudeva Naidu was the real conspirator, Kondru Murali, the Mala (SC) minister, who is the stooge of the upper caste rulers, is making phone calls threatening them not to reveal the name of Vasudeva Naidu. From this, it is evident beyond dispute that this attack was carried out clandestinely with the support of the upper caste state". This comment of the Fact Finding Committee is useful for us to understand how a 'Mala minister' behaved. Those who argue that the reason for this attack is 'upper caste' and that it is 'beyond dispute' should grasp the reason as to why even a Mala minister gave up his caste and became a stooge of the upper caste. The caste of that Dalit minister had disappeared and the class had usurped its place.

Since those who attacked the Dalits belong to the exploiting class, those who receive official positions and money from that exploiting class also belong to the class of exploiters. Every step that they take would be in accordance with the class only and not the caste. When a person belonging to the caste of those helpless victims of a cruel attack threatens his own caste people not to reveal the names of the attackers, without any sympathy whatsoever, would that person belong to a caste or class? Only when we analyze from this perspective, we will be able to understand any person.

The Fact Finding Committee has also put forward before the government 8 demands on behalf of the Dalits after the Lakshimpeta atrocity: (1) Arrest under sections of attempt to murder all the Kapus who participated in the attack. (2) Suspend the local police officials who did not care to act on the complaints of the Dalits. (3) Suspend officials like Mandal Revenue Officer who did not act on the land issue till it led to the killings. (4) Take departmental action against the district collector who violated the law that a collector must reach the place of killings within 24 hours. (5) Remove Botsa Satyanarayana, who is the main conspirator of the Lakshimpeta genocide and Kondru Murali, who is trying to shield the killers, from their ministerial positions. (6) Distribute the reservoir surplus land of 250 acres to Lakshimpeta Dalits. (7) Arrest those who beat Ramudamma to death. (8) Set up a special court in Lakshimpeta and start the trial immediately. These are the demands of the Dalits.

No one needs to oppose any of these demands. However justified the demands of the victims, it is the government which must meet them since the struggle of the victims is carried out within the legal framework. Even if the government takes a couple of immediate measures, we need not trust those measures. Some of the Lakshimpeta killers (including the Kapu women) were arrested but they will soon come out on bail. [Note: The attackers got bail while this essay was being submitted for publication in Telugu]. These cases will lie buried in a corner for about 25 years or so. Nothing more will happen due to the mercifulness of the government.

Many Dalit leaders do not grasp the fact that the government is a committee that manages the affairs of the exploiters and it won't take any steps against the exploiters. The Dalit leaders do not like to grasp this fact because if they consider the government as that of the exploiting class, that consideration won't stop there. It will take them to the concept of hostile classes and they will have to acknowledge the class contradictions.

The leaders of the Dalit movement teach the Dalits only one lesson: the Dalits too should become capitalist. These leaders do not like to understand that if one Dalit individual becomes a capitalist, a thousand Dalits would turn into workers and that individual capitalist would luxuriate in riches and wealth by exploiting those thousand Dalits.

An intellectual of any caste who does not try to understand the concepts of exploitation of labour and the hostile classes cannot understand at all what a government is. That is why, whenever the exploiters humiliate or attack the working masses, the victims believe that the government would take serious steps. Whether they believe the government or not, the victims definitely have the right to demand the help of the government for their protection. But no organizer of the Dalit movement understands the fact that working masses do not get any protection from the government; that in the case of any individual of any caste, his class changes while his caste remains as it is; that those working class persons whose class has changed would not turn their attention towards the working class masses, however higher position they may occupy. A person who understands these facts cannot but turn into a Marxist.

It is not only important but justified to understand the anger and the agony of the Dalits as evident from their demands. However, out of all those demands, doubts and debates are evident over only one of those demands. It is the demand that 250 acres of government land in Lakshimpeta must be allotted to the Dalit families.

The first and foremost question is: is it possible for the landless people to get the lands (however terrible their conditions may be) by making demands on the government run by the exploiters? The second question is: 'what are the possible repercussions that arise in response to such a demand?' Answer to the first question is very simple: it won't happen. We need to get some clarity about the second question.

Tirugubatu (Revolt), a Telugu student and youth monthly (dated July 2012), affiliated to CPI-ML (New Democracy) published an essay on the atrocity in Lakshimpeta. The [English translation of the] title of the Telugu essay is: "Differences between the Communist Class outlook and the caste outlook of the Dalit organizer with regard to the solutions and attitude towards Lakshimpeta land dispute : An Analysis". The writer of the essay is P Prasad. The essay is in the form of dialogue between a Dalit organizer and a communist organizer. The first and the foremost thing one has to understand is why are there differences on any issue between Dalit movements and Communist movements? We will briefly touch upon this aspect and then begin the actual discussion.

According to Communist understanding: Every Society has a basis (foundation). It consists of production relations. These relations have been antagonistic relations between classes from the beginning. All problems emerge from the foundation of the society which consists of relations of exploitation of labour. Though reforms provide some relief in lieu of solutions to those problems, relief alone cannot change the nature of the foundation. Hence, the real solution involves analysis of the problems in the light of the nature of the foundation itself, that is in the light of classes.

According to the understanding of the Dalit leaders: Production relations are not the basis for society. Problems have independent identities. Each problem has its own identity. They have separate and independent solutions. Caste system is an independent/separate problem. Sub-categorization (e.g. within SCs) is a problem within the caste system. The class system is another independent problem. Male domination over women is another independent problem. Uneven development of different regions is another independent problem. Thus, every problem has its own separate existence (Identity). As caste system is specific only to India, we need to treat Indian society not simply as class society but as a 'caste-class society'. We have to annihilate caste system without reference to the classes. This is the summary of the arguments of the Dalit leaders.

As I agree with the Communist understanding, I would like to briefly state my views first and then focus on the debate over the land problem in Lakshimpeta.

If one would like to treat problems as separate and independent, without any mutual links, it is not enough to treat Indian society simply as a 'caste-class society'. We have to add other problems also to the list. If we add only the two problems, namely caste and class, what about those people who face other problems? Male domination is a problem in every society. Within the Dalit castes, we have the problem of sub-categorization. Regional inequalities constitute another problem. Conflict between religion and rationalism is yet another problem. In America, we find the problem of race (White vs. Black). In Sri Lanka we have the problem of nationalities: Tamil nationality vs. Sinhalese nationality. Wherever we find a problem, we ought to include it in our theoretical exposition. If we treat Indian society simply as a 'caste-class society', we can see only two problems and no other. Therefore, we have to add up all the problems. "Society of caste–class caste categorization-male domination-religious conflict-regional inequalities...." Thus, we have to recognize and add up all the problems and show them in our exposition. Those who assume that all problems are equal in their individual strength and individual impact ought to assign equal place to all and present them simultaneously. If we consider only 2 problems, namely caste and class, it amounts to unfair treatment towards other problems.

If castes exist in Sri Lanka, we have to describe it as a 'society of caste-class-nationalities-religions-male domination'.

If it is America, we have to describe it as a 'society of race-nationalities-religion-class-male domination'.

Whichever problem we find and wherever we find it, we must give it its due place.

Some people might argue: "We are not concerned with other problems. It is not our responsibility to fight for them. Different people would wage struggles to solve their corresponding problems. We don't know their problems and they don't know our problems. Ours is the problem of caste, theirs is class problem. Yet others have another problem. People will formulate their own respective slogans."-Those who think like this will have to look into the different aspects of society separately and individually. For example, organizers of the Dalit movement must treat India as a 'caste society'. They need not add other aspects. Organizers of gender identity may call India a male-dominated society. Other aspects are unnecessary for them. Thus everyone should have their own slogans.
[to be concluded]

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 36, Mar 17-23, 2013

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