According to the 2016 NCRB report, Rajasthan accounts for the third-highest number of crimes involving atrocities against the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), with Jaipur accounting for more than half the number of such crimes in metropolitan cities.
An interesting statistic that came out of that report was that Rajasthan was the only state that disposed of 38 such cases using the method of plea bargaining. A total of 1,063 cases were disposed of by the Rajasthan police in 2016 for want of evidence.
This is not the only indicator of the growing resentment that the Dalit community has against the ruling BJP government in the state.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had read down the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, saying a preliminary inquiry would be conducted before registering an FIR against alleged perpetrators and that the accused will now have a right to seek anticipatory bail. This enraged the Dalits, triggering mass protests across the country.
The tremendous anger in the Dalit community of Rajasthan was mobilized into aggressive protests on April 2 and nationwide bandhs. According to The Caravan, 311 FIRs were filed against people belonging to the SC/ST community after April 2, and none of them have been withdrawn.
The incident may have reminded the community of the Dangawas violence of 2014. In May 2014, there was a dispute between the Meghwals (belonging to Scheduled Caste) and the Jats over a 15-acre plot of land in the Dangawas village of Nagaur district. The dispute escalated quickly into a violent altercation, killing five Dalits, who claimed to be the caretakers of that land.
At that time, Meghwals ran from pillar to post seeking justice, but in vain. In fact, 16 of the 32 MLAs of seats reserved for SCs are Meghwals. Yet, none of them allegedly lent their support to the community at that time, including the MLA of Dangawas.
Rajasthan’s Dalits comprise around 18 percent of the total population, out of which Meghwals constitute more than 50 percent. The Meghwals are concentrated in the central and western part of the state.
Meanwhile, the other half of the Dalit community comprises the Bairwas, the Raigars, and the Jatavs who are concentrated in the eastern districts that border Uttar Pradesh. Besides, more than 20 percent of the community is urban and comprises the entrepreneurial Khatiqs, the Valmiki and the Jingar sub-castes.
Amongst these, Meghwals have been the most vocal about their exasperation with the ruling dispensation, and are most likely to vote for the Congress. The voting patterns of the Jatavs is similar to that of their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and they are likely to vote for Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party. While the urban Dalits are more inclined towards the saffron party, the Bairwas are torn between the Congress and the BJP.
The BJP, it seems, has taken cognizance of the issue and is treading on the path of course correction. As a part of their outreach programme, the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government announced a loan waiver amounting to Rs 114 crore in September this year.
However, the Dalits are piqued with their scanty representation in the higher judiciary and education sector, and the saffron party will have to work really hard to earn back the Dalit vote.
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