Mail Today, New Delhi, Saturday, April 16, 2011 6 NEWS

Mahatma Gandhi had used theboycott mantra to great advan-tage against the British. Over 60years after Bapu passed away,upper castes in the state he wasborn used it against the Dalits. Butthey did not anticipate that theDalits would counter this movewith another of the Mahatma’steachings — self-reliance. Meetthe people who started their owneconomy in under three months

SHOWING courage andaptitude in the face ofadversity, 15 Dalit fami-lies in Rampar villagehave set a shining exam-ple by setting up their

own economy against all odds.When the dominant castes, angry

over the “untouchables” entering thevillage temple for the first time intheir lives, ordered boycott of the 15families on January 22, little did theyrealise that the Dalits would closeranks and fight back unitedly. In theprocess, the latter proved that theywere not dependent on the highercastes and could easily survive thepariah handicap.

Less than three months later, the Dalitsin Rampar village of Muli block inSurendranagar have created theirown, independent economy andare marching on in their journeytowards self-reliance. The village,220 km from Ahmedabad and 65km from Surendranagar districtheadquarters, is home to 750 peo-ple belonging to 75 families of theChualia Koli community, three ofthe Bharvad community and 14 ofthe Devipujak community, all ofwhom are OBCs. Besides, 15 fam-ilies of Kadva Patels also live inthe village.

“Caste discrimination anduntouchability have been major

FLASHPOINT: The Dalitsentered these templeson January 22 and werethen boycotted by theentire village.

By D.P. Bhattacharya in Rampar village (Surendranagar)

We don’t needthe upper castes anymore

Parshottam Chavda

They nevertreated us likehumans

Ratan Chavda

issues here,” social workerRomila Parmar said. “The uppercaste grocers would hand usthings from a distance andsprinkle water on our cashbefore accepting it,” RatanChavda said. “They nevertreated us like humans, but weput up with it,” she added.

But things changed this Janu-ary when Navsarjan, a pan-Gujarat NGO working for Dalits,organised a rally in Rampar vil-lage. “On January 22, we symbol-ically burnt untouchability out-side the village and entered thetemple for the first time in our

lives. Earlier, even the thoughtwas taboo,” Parshottam Chavdasaid.

“Though the headman hadallowed us permission for enter-ing the temple, the entire villageganged up to boycott us. Theyswore in the name of goddessMeldi (the village deity) thatthose crossing the line would beslapped with a `5,000-fine,” hesaid, adding, “They wouldn’t letus travel in their tempos, haveflour from the village mills or buygroceries.”

The 15 Dalit families werefaced with a hard time, not

knowing how to lead a normaldaily life. But rather than capit-ulating, they decided to makeredundant the existing systemand put into its place an alter-native supply mechanism.

“So we sat down together anddecided to have our own shopsand flour mill,” Parshottam said.“We approached the State Bankof India and got two loans worth`50,000 each,” he added.

Fast forward to today: Parshot-tam sits in his grocery shop, hisfriend Kala Chavda operates aflour mill and Narayan Chavdahas bought a rural tempo. “We

don’t need the upper castes any-more,” says Parshottam.

But it’s not all hunky-dory. “Weare not making any profits yetand, yes, we have to pay monthlyloan instalments. I am barelymaking `1,000 though I have topay around `1,800 a month tothe bank. So I work as a farmhand too. But our satisfaction isthat we don’t depend on them,”said Kala Chavda. Parshottamand Narayan are also in thesame boat.

Though the police filed an FIRand arrested 18 people, all ofthem have been released on bail.The matter has also beenreported to the National HumanRights Commission, which hasissued a notice to the state gov-ernment. But Gujarat social wel-fare board director P.K. Gadviand Surendranagar district col-lector Anupam Kumar deniedreports of the boycott.

The village elders also pleadedignorance on the boycott issue.“They (the Dalits) came,entered the temple and wentaway. We didn’t say anything,”said Pitambar Kavar. “Theydon’t come to our shops, is thatour fault? We can’t go to theirhouses and give them what theyneed,” he added angrily.

Gujarat Dalitsthumb nose atupper castes

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Kala Chavda grinds flour at his mill,which the boycotted Dalits set up in Gujarat’s Rampar.

WHEELS OF PROGRESS: Narayan Chavda drives a tempothat runs exclusively for the Dalits of the village.

PHOTOS: HANIF SINDHI

BATTLINGBOYCOTT

G U J A R A T

IN

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RAMPAR VILLAGE IN MULI BLOCK

SURENDRANAGAR