Even before the Chundur mass murder of Dalits is forgotten, six Dalits of Sargur village, Mysore dt. Karnataka, are cut into pieces in November last and thrown into the flowing Kabini canal. (“Chundur proves non-Hindus can’t live with Hindus” DV Sept.1 1991, p.3). Though these two “caste wars” – Chundur and Sargur – have occurred in different states and times, there are very many striking similarities between them. (“Mysore Caste War DV Dec. 1 ’91, p.20).
The origin of the Sargur Hindu barbarity is in the alleged “quarrel” over a cinema ticket between Dalits and Lingayats of Anchipura. This is just a pretext to conceal the truth.
Dalits of Mysore dt. have a glorious history of fighting the tyrannical brahminism. Hindus in this area had never tolerated Dalits and the hostility between the two had been increasing.
Rule of Dalit Kings: Mysore dt. and the surrounding areas were once ruled by Dalit kings. They were .Buddhists and always opposed the brahmincal ceremonies like killing of animals (yagnas). Mahishasura was a powerful ruler with a mighty army. He had defeated all. petty principalities and built a large empire called Mahishasurana Ooru (Area of Mahishasura). The Buddhist rule put a stop to Brahmin yagnas and they too were forced to work like others.
Chamundi used: Brahmins, having lost their only source of livelihood, had a tough time. As they could not fight Mahishasura face to face they used a Dalit woman, Chamundi (also called Durga or Durgi), to poison him to death. Later, they manufactured stories to malign the great king and worshipped Chamundi as an incarnation of goddess ‘Shakti’.
“Mahishasurana Ooru” later became “Mysooru”. Mahishasura’s was not the first or the last battle against brahminism. After his death, his empire got divided and weakend.
Lingayats Hinduised: Mahadeshwara, a Buddhist saint, had waged a furious battle against brahminism. But he was soon absorbed by Veerashaivism which later got corrupted and Hinduised. Most of today’s Veerashaivas (Lingayats) were once Dalits.
Our Dalit culture was also co-opted by the Brahmins. They branded us as Holeyas and Madigas. But the Dalits have not forgotten the heinous role played by Brahmins and hence this hatred between the two continued. That is why the Brahmins and the allies of Brahmins are so much afraid of Dalits and impose every possible restriction to keep us away.
This is the glorious history of Dalits of Mysore. Our late Chief Minister Devaraj Urs, who also hailed from Mysore dt, was pro-Dalit and Backward Caste. Even today, many villages in this district are dominated by Dalits. In some of the villages, the hatred against Dalits is acute.
Highly educated Dalits: Sargur is one such village where the Dalits are acutely conscious of their glorious past and the brahminical treachery. Of the 250 houses of Dalits, over 30 have graduates, 5 post-graduates. Over 50 boys and girls are now studying in colleges. At least, one educated person is found every house.
Bogappa, a young graduate, was the first person to light the fire by propagating the ideals of Babasaheb and craving for self- respect among our people. Today, over 150 Dalit houses have their own lands.
The Sargur Dalits did not limit their activities to their village. They influenced nearby villages where Dalits were not allowed to wear chappals in the village limits. This ban was ended by the Sargur Dalits. In the Mandal elections, Bogappa was elected Upa-pradhan. This was a big blow to the Lingayats.
Insult to Babasaheb: On the “Independence Day”, Dalits wanted to place Babasahebs’ portrait along with that of M.K. Gandhi. The Lingayats objected’ and threw out Babasaheb’s portrait. This was taken as a serious insult by our people and in retaliation they stamped over Gandhi’s photo and broke it. This was the beginning of the battle. Lingayats stepped up persecution of Dalits. They put fire to their ragi stacks on the night of Nov. 9, 91.
Things reached a boiling point on Nov. 11 when the Lingayats of Anchipura alighted from a State bus bound for Sargur and abused the Dalits. The verbal fracas exploded into a fist fight. Lingayats attacked three Dalits and hurled them into the canal. But the sturdy Dalits saved themselves. Dalits then smashed the heads of two Lingayats and threw them into the flowing Kabini canal.
The Hindus thought that the Dalits would silently submit. They never expected the Dalits to hit back. They did not realise the revolutionary changes brought about by Babasaheb’s thoughts. The brave heroes of Sargur made history and joined their ancestor, Mahishasura.
Hindu Police help Hindus : The Lingayats of Anchipura, who had no guts to face Dalits sought the help of police. Dalits expected this and had made every preparation. But they never expected that the police too would turn Hindu and support the Hindus. Scores of policemen with guns and lathis beelined into the colony and attacked the Dalits. Men fled away and as they were fleeing the Lingayats hiding in the fields caught hold of the Dalits and butchered them. They killed in all six Dalits and threw them into the Kabini canal. Six more Dalits are suspected to have been killed. The Hindu police excelled the Hindu villagers in brutality. Women were stripped, their houses looted and burnt and children beaten up. The joint attack lasted for five hours.
Shudras & BCs warned: It is true that the total loss of life and property suffered by our people was much higher than that of Hindus. But an important lesson of Sargur is that it proved to the world that the Dalits would no longer simply submit and tolerate loss of self-respect and their human rights.
Murder is permited for self-defence. Sargur has exploded the Hindu myth that the Dalits are meek, weak and cowardly.
SCs not enemies of BCs: Though we appreciate the Dalit self-defence efforts, we should note that our oppressors in rural areas are Sudras and also BCs. They are not Brahmins but brahminised. In Sargur, the backward castes also joined the Lingayats in anti-Dalit violence. So, it is our duty to warn these idiotic, unthinking BCs that Dalits are not the, enemies of BCs. The dispute between Dalits and others at Sargur is the by-product of brahminical oppression. The village economy is controlled by cities which are mainly dominated by Brahmins and Banias. It is because of these elements, villages are decaying. Compared to industry and services, agriculture is a losing industry. But the people (Dalits and BCs) have no other alternative, owing to lack of education and technology.
Principal contradiction: India’s Brahmin-Bania combine . is deliberately promoting minor contradictions into a major antagonistic contradiction so that the Dalits and BCs keep fighting. Such a clash between two non- antagonistic people will help the real enemy to hide itself. As the Brahmin-Bania combine has the press, it can engineer such clashes and fan the fire of hatred between the two. The shudras and BCs must note that they too are oppressed by the very same brahminism. All of us are oppressed by a common enemy.
So it is for the BCs and Shudras to realise that their liberation is possible only when we all join hands to fight and eliminate brahminism which is the principal contradiction in India. As long as brahminism continues not one of us can be happy.
BCs are also indigenous: Dalits have always joined and led the movements of BCs and Shudras like the Mandal agitation. In fact, we firmly believe that the BCs, like Dalits, are also indigenous people. Today, they are made to cling to unproductive agriculture by not allowing them to switch on to industry. Shudras and BCs are brainwashed to do this.
They must go up in the ladder of production system rather than come down to fight Dalits. Sooner they realise this supreme truth better it would be. Until they realise this truth, we cannot keep losing our lives and property. Brahminism cannot be eradicated so soon and so easily. Hence, we need to think of separate settlements as Babasaheb suggested.
