Beyond politics, the Bihar caste survey is a revolutionary document.
A public document, the first ever after 1931, allowing for people to stand up and be counted.
We go down to the wire, on what each of the numbers unveiled mean.
Who are the people referred to by percentages in the survey?
Today we look at Lalbegi (2,720 people).
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No one likes being abused, but the Lalbegi face it every day. Their very name is used as an invective.
Among Hindus, those who do similar work as the Lalbegis are called Chuhad. At some places they are also called Chuhra. Derogatorily addressing them as chor-chuhad is quite common for ‘upper’ caste people. The word Lalbegiya is also used in a similar fashion.
Lalbegis are both Hindus and Muslims. It is possible that they were all Hindus initially but owing to caste-based discrimination and antipathy, they converted to Islam. However, religious conversion did not bring about a change in occupation for them and they have, for generations, been engaged in sanitation work. Even today, people belonging to both religions are sanitation workers and sweepers. They clean roads and dirty drains, and remove excreta.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
In Hindu religion, they are addressed as ‘Valmiki’, but invoking occupation they are also called ‘Bhangi’ or ‘Chuhra’. Similarly, upper strata Muslims have also coined a new term and address them as ‘Hasnati’. In both the religions, there are many names for them which have in turn become various castes such as Hela, Dom, Halalkhor, Bhangi, Chuhra, Bansphod, Naamshudra, Matang, Mehtar, Mahar, Supach, Beda, Boya, Hunter, Mazhabi and Koli.
Besides sanitation work, they also make various bamboo items. They do not possess any land or property. There might be a few people in the community who own property or capital but that has not brought them social acceptance.
Due to the provision of reservation in the constitution, a handful of people from this caste group have managed to participate in governance, but there has been no change in their social status. Things have hardly changed from the time when Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, despite having returned after studying abroad and accepting an important post in the government of Baroda province, was considered a Mahar. He has expressed his painful experience in his autobiographical account Waiting for a Visa.
Now, one might ask why they are a separate caste group. The only answer is that even today the dominant castes in the society do not want them to unite. Therefore, they have been divided into Lalbegi (2,720), Dom (263,512), Halalkhor (7,611) and Bhangi/Valmiki (69,914). The untold policy is to keep them from uniting and becoming important players in the political arena.
Instead of Lalbegi, Hela, Dom, Halalkhor, Bhangi, Chuhra or Bansphod, they are sometimes referred to as sanitation workers. But is it not a kind of injustice to them? Imagine how it would affect the tender minds of children of these families?
Legends about their origin have been concocted by both Muslims and Hindus. But they do not establish the origin of Lalbegis. The religious texts in Islam contain nothing about them.
Many similar things have been said in Hindu religion as well. However, one member of the Chuhra caste, Valmiki, was honoured as the author of Ramayana. These were, in fact, attempts to Brahminise this caste. Otherwise, how and why would the Brahmins, who could not think of a decent name for the caste and could not even bear to step into the shadows of its members, read the writings of Valmiki? Where did the concept of untouchability go then? Valmiki might have belonged to some other caste and the Brahmins fabricated the story about him being a sweeper, to keep the caste group connected to Hinduism.
Such efforts may have taken place after the arrival of Muslims in India, when fed up with the oppression and atrocities caused due to discrimination in Hinduism, some of the people of these caste groups must have converted to Islam.
The present situation is that despite being categorised as Scheduled Caste under the constitution, Lalbegi, Hela, Dom, Halalkhor, Bhangi, Chuhra, Bansphod, Naamshudra, Matang, Mehtar, Mahar, Supach, Beda, Boya, Hunter and Koli, are not united. It was Dr. Ambedkar’s dream for all such caste groups to unite and agitate. Today, people of these castes worship him, but they have forgotten his basic teaching, “Be educated, be organised and struggle.”
Translated from Hindi by Naushin Rehman. Read the Hindi original here.
Read earlier parts of the series on the following communities by clicking on their names: Ghasi | Santrash | Madaria | Koeri/Kushwaha | Chaupal | Nai/Hajjaam | Pasi | Rangrez | Chamar | Gorkan | Jutt | Yadav | Kamar | Chik | Bari and Bauri | Dhuniya | Donwar | Sinduria Baniya | Bhathiyara | Dabgar | Kumhar | Amaat.
