For decades, Dalits have been the Achilles heel of the Hindu nationalist movement, led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its numerous outfits. Although the movement professes to work in the interest of all Hindus, its upper caste ethos disregards Dalits’ demands for social, economic, and political equality.
It claims to oppose untouchability, but does not reject the caste system per se. To paper over these contradictions, the RSS, its political wing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their cultural allies strive to unite the different castes by inculcating aversion for groups that are not Hindu. The most prominent amongst these are the Muslims.
The agenda of the Hindu nationalists is thus designed in a manner that allows Hindus as a whole to exert dominance over this religious minority. Discussions with Dalits in the districts of Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh reveal high levels of support for the key demands of this agenda.
This support reflects Dalits’ indifference towards the rights of Muslims, but importantly, is not accompanied by outright prejudices for the group. This presents a crucial opportunity in the efforts to stop the juggernaut of Hindu nationalism.
Construction of the Ram temple
The Ramjanmabhoomi campaign began in the 1980s to agitate for a Ram Mandir at the site of the sixteenth-century Babri Masjid, built by the Mughal emperor Babur. The demand lay on the assertion that the mosque was constructed over a temple that marked the exact birthplace of Lord Ram, a claim that lacks undisputed evidence. The mosque was made a symbol of Muslims, having little regard for the religious sentiments of Hindus.
Most of the Dalits who I spoke with welcomed the construction of the Ram Mandir. Women, in particular, participated in the celebrations on its grand opening. They attended the religious ceremonies organised in their locality and lit diyas in their homes and on 22 January, as instructed by the Prime Minister.
A forty-year-old woman from Saharanpur, who went to Ayodhya in June this year, said that the local economy of the city was revived, as auto rickshaw drivers charged a sum of Rs 30 to take people from the railway station to the temple.
Others were less enthusiastic about the Ram Mandir. A young man in Gorakhpur said that the temple should have been constructed on a smaller scale. One of his neighbours added that the government should not have publicised the temple so much. Many considered the temple a waste of money and thought that the government should have instead established schools, colleges, hospitals or factories to give employment to people.
Some criticised the widespread evictions and other hardships faced by the poor in Ayodhya, because of the construction of the temple. A young woman in Gorakhpur heard in the news that offerings made by Dalits were rejected by the priests of the temple. According to a 25-year-old man in the city, the temple was built only to get Hindu votes.
However, no one brought up the Babri Masjid in the conversations on the Ram Mandir. When I asked about the demolition of the mosque by the Ramjanmabhoomi campaign in 1992, only a handful of people expressed disapproval for it. A few cited the claim that the structure was built over a temple.
They appreciated the Supreme Court’s decision of allowing the construction of the Ram Mandir at the site of the Babri Masjid and allocation of a separate piece of land for a mosque. They saw this as a peaceful resolution to the long-standing dispute over the site. The rest seemed unaware of the demolition.
Ban on cow slaughter
While Dalits’ opinion was somewhat divided on the Ram Mandir, it was less so on the ban on cow slaughter – a demand that can be traced back to the nineteenth century. The significance of the cow lies less in its holiness for Hindus and more in its consumption by Muslims. Almost all the Dalits who I spoke with, supported the ban.
Dalits who identify as Hindu opposed the killing of the cow as they consider it sacred. Other Dalits did not think it right to kill an animal, especially one that gives milk. Although some of them did admit that the ban had increased the population of stray cattle, which destroy crops and cause accidents on roads.
When asked about the fairness of the cow slaughter ban for Muslims, some just commented that the group still eats beef on the sly. None of them seemed much concerned about a community having to clandestinely eat a food item. Although a young man in Gorakhpur pointed out that there is outrage when Muslims slaughter but not on the deplorable conditions in which the animal is forced to live.
Reading down of Article 370
The reading down of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has been another longstanding demand of the Hindu nationalists. Framed as a measure to secure the integrity of the country, the demand stems from the desire of ending the autonomy of the sole Muslim-majority state of the country.
All Dalits aware of the BJP government’s decision to revoke Article 370 praised it without any qualification. However, they did so on the basis of some misinformation or the other. According to a woman in Gorakhpur, India wrested control of Kashmir from Pakistan through this move.
Another woman in Saharanpur said that insurgency ended in the erstwhile state after 2019. A man in the same locality commented that people in the rest of the country can now to enjoy fruits from Kashmir and travel till there.
Dalit-Muslim relations and consequences for electoral politics
Conversations on these Hindu nationalist issues, however, never led to anti-Muslim tirades. Dalits did not express any biases against this religious minority, even when I inquired about communal tensions in their area or their views on the extent of patriotism amongst the different ethnic groups in the country.
They shared instances of discrimination by upper-caste Hindus, but never by Muslims. This was true even for Dalits who understood their Hindu identity as one that primarily distinguished them from Muslims.
Dalits’ tolerance of Muslims is also evident by the limited importance that they attach to Hindu nationalism. Although generally appreciative of the abrogation of Article 370, ban on cow slaughter and construction of Ram Mandir, these achievements of the BJP government did not compensate for its abysmal failure to provide secure jobs, quality education or respite from inflation.
Opposition parties leveraged these failures to mobilise Dalits with some success, which left the BJP with only 26 percent of the vote of this group in Uttar Pradesh. However, if in future the BJP government is able to improve the material lives of Dalits, the party is likely to reap electoral dividends for it. To keep Dalits away from the BJP, the avowed secular parties must take a loud and clear stand on Hindu nationalism, which most of them currently lack.
Ankita Aggarwal is a PhD candidate in the political science department of the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
