The unending attacks on Dalits in this State proves that the entire govt. machinery is working as a private army to back up the upper castes/ Hindus to retain their position in the caste hierarchy. The latest Algi (B) village incident is yet another proof of this.
Afzalpur is the most backward and neglected taluk of Gulbarga district and dominated by the Dalits and Muslims. It is named after a famous Moghul King, Afzal Khan, who was treacherously killed by the Maratha ruler Shivaji at a dinner arranged by him. Such a treachery continues even to this day by the Lingayats against Dalits and Muslims.
Lingayats (or Veerashaivas) are not Hindus. Theirs is a protest religion against brahminism, like Sikhism. But just as Sikhism was swallowed by the BSO, Veera Shaivism too gradually became a part of it. And in North Karnataka, Lingayats are the oppressors of SC/ST/BCs and Muslims. The State’s Hindu nazi party is headed by a Lingayat. Most Chief Ministers of the State were also Lingayats.
Fight against Nizam: Algi (B) is a well awakened village of the district. Bheemsha (68) was the moving spirit behind this awakening. He was a brave freedom fighter who fought for the merger of princely Hyderabad. He led an armed battle against the Razakars of Nizam. He had cut down the toddy trees and burnt the revenue records of the Nizam with the same fighting spirit. He came to this village after “independence”. Till his arrival, Dalits of the village were literally the slaves of lingayats.
The well-built Bheemsha put an end to the bonded labour (slave) system and servile jobs. In course of time, including himself, some out of 40 Dalits families became land-owners. Every Dalit child got educated and many became graduates. It is impossible to see such a progress even among the 400 Lingayat families of the village. All these developments caused the short supply of labour. In the surrounding villages the average daily wages varied from Rs. 10 to Rs. 18 whereas in Algi (B) it was Rs. 30 to Rs. 35.
Buffalo slaughter: The village godess, Lakshmi, till June 1, 1992 was under the control of Dalits. They were also the priests of the temple on rotation. However, the annual festival of the Devi was stopped by Bheemsha as it involved the insulting ritual of buffalo slaughter. Three years ago, the festival was restarted following an agreement between Dalits and Lingayats. Though the Dalits took the lead in the festival, they refused to slaughter the buffalo offered by the Lingayats. This led to a tight police security and the Lingayats failed to force the buffalo slaughter. This was considered by Lingayats as a blow to their caste pride. They determined to teach a lesson to Dalits. Caste rules are above the law of the land and though the law was on the side of the Dalits, the Lingayats had the support of their religion.
In May 1992, Lingayats collected lakhs of rupees and purchased the willing Hindu police officials. They were bent upon eliminating Bheemsha as they found him the sole stumbling block in their bid to enslave the Dalits.
Police side Lingayats: On June 1, the festival started. Lingayats refused the temple entry to Dalits for refusing to sacrifice the buffalo. Dy. S.P Venkappa Naik (ST) Siddaramappa Sannura (BC) and their van – load of police did not take notice of anything though they were camping right in the centre of the village. They were camping there not to keep the situation under control but to help the Lingayats to execute their criminal plans. On the same night, the Lingayats rained stones non-stop on the houses of Dalits. Even then they remained silent.
On June 2, some Dalits activists, along with the Tahsildar on their visit to the village, saw the Dy. SP. and the Circle Inspector boozing at a party hosted by Rudra Gowda Patil, the Lingayat leader of the village.
Hearing the grievances of Dalits, the Tahsildar Ramachari Haravalkar (Brahmin) ordered the Dy. SP. to escort the Dalits to Afzalpur the next day to submit their complaint. On the unfortunate day of June 3, about 30 Dalits under the leadership of Bheemsha started to Afzalpur. Police declined to escort them. As planned, over 300 men with deadly weapons circled Bheemsha and his unarmed men in the middle of the road. They could not escape and the attack went on mercilessly on the innocent, helpless unarmed Dalits by the goondas engaged by the Lingayats. They stabbed three men to death. They cut off his head and kicked it. More than eight men were injured. The news reached the Tahsildar and he rushed to the spot. He himself witnessed the massacre. He too had to run for his life back to Afzalpur.
Muslims support Dalits: As the news reached Afzalpur, the whole town came to a standstill. Dalits of the taluk got frightened and feared more serious violence. However, Muslims of the town came to their rescue. All along, the entire police force was silent. Dalit police constables were deliberately kept away from the spot. The news of Algi massacre spread throughout the district.
When the fact-finding team of the SSD reached Afzalpur on June 13, BJP and Raitha Sangha were leading a procession demanding resumption of bus services, cancellation of suspension orders against the Dy. SP. and the Circle Inspector and cancellation of warrants against Rudra Gowda Patil and his brothers. That is why the State Raitha Sangha and BJP are dominated by the Lingayats.
After 3-4 days, Home Minister Dharam Singh, Revenue Minister Kharge and Social Welfare Minister Shivanna, all belonging to the same district, visited the spot. They announced a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to each deceased. They also expressed that the govt. was thinking of issuing guns to Dalits. These fools have not understood the village structure of India.
Separate settlement: The SSD has been for long demanding separate settlements for Dalits. But the residents of Algi (B), who had escaped death from the hands of the tyrannical Lingayats, demanded on their own that if they had to remain secure they should be resettled in separate villages away from Lingayats – meaning separate settlement.
They demanded such permanent solutions rather than eyewash stunts like throwing some money at them. They are quite certain that this attack is a blow on their pride, self- respect and progress and they are sure that such attacks would continue.
We in the SSD are hopeful that Algi would pave the way for a serious thinking on separate settlement for Dalits for which we need not depend on the govt. If we decide on moving unsafe Dalits to secure villages, separate settlement is automatically formed. This is the most important task facing all Dalit organisations in the country. (see p.2: Thus Spake Ambedkar).
(Read: Three separations: Reprint of DV edit of Jan, 16 ’92 Re.1).
