Suddenly the Dalits’ conversion to Islam in India is big news. Just about everybody who is anybody and who is an enemy of the Dalit has made a comment or two about these conversions.
The masters are refusing to accept the the dignified, consciously free Untouchable. So, what is behind the sudden wave of conversions to Islam? First of all, there is nothing new about the Dalits’ leaving the dung heap of the so-called Hindu society in search of equality, fraternity and human dignity. This happened in the Buddha’s time when millions of Dalits sought refuge in Buddhism escaping from the torture and degradation of the Hindu caste society. The very popularity of all the medieval saints lay in their emphasis on the equality of man. Most of the Indian Muslims are descendants of the converts. Militant Sikhism arose because of the revolts of the Dalits in the 20th century. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar led above 20 lakh people to the path of Buddhism as a last resort in his search for dignified status for the Dalits. No positive proof has emerged regarding the allegations about foreign money being behind the conversions. It is possible that the host Muslim community would tend to help the new converts as is natural, comparatively speaking, the Muslims are better off and theoretically there is such a thing as equality in the brotherhood of Islam, which Hinduism denies on theological/political grounds. The fact is that Tamil Nadu tops in atrocities on the Dalits. The practice of untouchability is so extreme, so barbaric and so inhuman that even the Apartheid system of South Africa seems like a mere misunderstanding between the races.
“In Travancore some of the Untouchable castes were literally slaves or serfs, and were given away, bought, sold and mortgaged like other property” (Indian Caste Customs, L.S.S.O. Malley). It was not till 1855 that the slaves were nominally freed. Nevertheless: “In this state the untouchables were subjected to various vexatious restrictions, such as being forbidden to wear shoes or carry umbrellas; but what was most felt and resented was a state order that Shanan women should not wear any clothing above the waist.” The Shanan women’s right to wear clothing above the waist was won through hundreds of deaths and widespread rioting. In the second half of the 20th century the dalits are still denied the right to use public facilities, to wear ornaments and good clothes, to walk the public highways and in some cases to breathe the same air as high caste Hindus, as the breath of an Untouchable still pollutes! It is not too long ago that Kilevenmani happened. The so-called high caste Hindus incinerated hundreds of Untouchable men and children by burning 25 huts, for daring to go on strike for an extra 2 rupees a day (one rupee-6 pence). The murderers were allowed to go free because in the words of the trial judge “Owners of cars and good houses are incapable of committing such acts”. (Times of India, Bombay, 14 June 1973).
Some newspapers have pointed out that the villages where widespread conversions took place are precisely the locations which were not subjected to mass terror, burning, rape and looting by the high caste Hindus, thus implying that atrocities and oppression are not a factor in these conversions. While this contains a germ of truth, the very opposite is the case. It is precisely the most conscious elements among the dalits, namely the Dalit Panthers, who have encouraged these conversions; the very same Panthers who were traditionally pro-Ambedkar and pro-Buddhist! Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism and rejected Islam because he thought that Islam was a non-Indian ideology. If conversion for the change in religion was the aim, the Dalit Panthers would be encouraging their brothers to adopt Buddhism instead of Islam. So why the conversions to Islam? There is no doubt that the Indian Muslims suffer from social oppression, whatever their economic class may be. In Tamil Nadu Muslims are a small minority. Also their class character ranges mostly from poor peasant to that of petty bourgeois, the elements which can be helpful in the people’s democratic revolution. It is natural for the people who suffer from the same exploiters to group together. The reason why the Untouchables have not been able to win over the so-called high caste poor peasants is the very real, and barbaric aspect of the caste system. It is the combination of class and social oppression that has brought the two communities together in TN, just as it did in the recent Gujarat riots. (See the article on Reservations in the Punjabi section of Lalker.) The reason why it has taken so long for this to happen is to be found in the backwardness and very low political consciousness of the Dalits, who are not only economically, but politically, socially psychologically oppressed as well. Hence, the Dalit Varg’s reason for conversion to Islam is not for the love of Islam but for consciousness, the right to take water from the village well and for the right to walk on the public road without being whipped or cut to pieces for this offence. (The reason these converts can now draw water from the same well is because they have the muscle of the whole Muslim and Untouchable communities. If any so-called Golden Hindu gives them a hard time, they risk starting a communal riot.)
Times do change. Some Untouchables are demanding equality on the threat of leaving Hinduism and embracing Islam. It is in this context that the hysteria generated by the enemies of the Dalits becomes understandable. They do not care one atom for mere conversion to Islam. That in itself does not change anything. What is being felt dangerously in their minds is the idea that for the first time in their lives the slaves are feeling that they are slaves. What is more they are daring to voice the opinion that Hinduism and by implication the present political/social system is rotten to the core, by the practical act of embracing a religion which is diametrically opposed to all the worst aspects of Hinduism. So it is not Hinduism that the Dalits are giving up but the mentality, for Dalits, by the very definitions of the Hindu sages were never a part of the swarana (golden) Hindu community. They were outside not only theoretically but also practically, as is amply reflected in the custom of Hindus of forcing the Untouchable to live outside the villages.
Conversion to Islam or Buddhism in itself will not bring any fundamental change to their economic/political status. As a matter of fact the converts lose the “reservations”. The Dalit Panthers know this, the converts know this and the government is also very much aware of this fact. The conversions are also a kick in the teeth for the government’s double-edged reservation policy; a policy which promises a great deal, gives more or less nothing, but in turn not only turns the so-called high caste Hindus against the Untouchables, but also corrupts the most educated segment of the Dalits by making them dependent on the government mercy. The government is also aware of this fact as well. The conversions indirectly are also exposing and exploding the myths of reservation (The Chief Minister of TN said he would “not hesitate” to ban conversions if caste differences are exploited. Away from TN in Kanpur the authorities have invoked the National Security Act which permits detention without trial, against the Dalit Panthers involved in backing conversions.)
But why not conversion to socialism? What is stopping the Dalits embracing the path of Karl Marx, Lenin and Mao? This is a question which has never been debated seriously by the communists in India. The reasons for the Dalits not embracing communism are complex, but in the final analysis very simple. “Workers and oppressed people of the world unite”, was Lenin’s motto. How far is this motto applicable to India, the land of Manu Smriti, the land of 18,000 major Dalit atrocities every year, the land where you can still buy a man or woman for Rs 200, the land where one may be hacked to death for polluting someone? The answer is that India is still very backward. To talk about socialism to a Dalit is tantamount to discussing micro-chip technology with a person whose only tool for counting is his ten fingers. Before socialism can be achieved, people’s democratic revolution is a must. Before that the unity of the people is mandatory. Before that can happen, an active struggle against the practice of caste, though not its total annihilation, is essential. Otherwise in the context of India, Marxism becomes a textbook formula: dry, meaningless, dogmatic and as far removed from life as a Vedic mantra.
