Jatavs are considered the core supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party — Mayawati herself belongs to the caste, the largest Dalit group in Uttar Pradesh. But in a village in the Kanth tehsil of Moradabad, known for manufacturing gauze, the Jatavs are standing strongly behind the BJP. A communal dispute two years ago that pushed the village to the edge and threatened to polarise the region, continues to distance them from Muslims, the predominant population in the locality as well as the Assembly seat with a population of 1.75 lakh.
“Kanth: the town of love and peace. Let’s strive for harmony of communities, diversities of cultures, rejection of violence, resolution of conflict, reconciliation of differences and freedom of expression.” This plaque outside the Kanth police chowki greets you as you head towards Nayagaon-Akbarpur. A broken road with drains running over it leads you to the village’s main temple, nestled among Jatav households; Muslims live on the other side of the land in close quarters.
Anil Kumar, a Dalit labourer, recalls the incident in 2014 when local people, mostly Dalits, along with BJP leaders, clashed with the police after they removed a loudspeaker from the temple, allegedly after Muslims objected to its installation. The Dalits alleged that the administration was acting on the instructions of the Muslims, especially the MLA Anis-ur-Rehman, who is the SP candidate this time but had won last time on the Peace Party ticket. Many Dalits were arrested, so were BJP leaders, accused of instigating the violence.
“The police desecrated the temple. They climbed over it with shoes ... working under pressure from Muslims,” says Anil Kumar.
What troubles the Dalits in this village is that many of their youth still face criminal charges in the loudspeaker case — 18 persons, including four women, were booked then.
Allegations of partiality
If they blame the SP government for partiality towards Muslims, the Dalits are upset that the BSP did not stand up for them in the crisis. “No BSP leader came here when our women were dragged out by the hair and beaten. The bazaars shut for 13 days. Only the BJP people braved the lathis for us,” says young Kuldeep Kumar, among the many booked in the case.
The Dalits, however, insist that they had no rift with their Muslim neighbours.
When he was asked for his view on Mayawati’s strategy to bring together Dalits and Muslims, Kumar, a labourer, says: “There is no chance of that when we are not allowed to put up loudspeakers in out temples. On the other hand, look over there [points to the minaret of a mosque]...a new mosque is coming up. We are treated like filth here,” says Kumar, who is joined by a group of Jatav women, men and children at the village crossing. Many of them say they would not vote for the BSP as the party had again fielded a Muslim, Haji Nasir Qureshi. “It would mean the same old story for us,” said a Dalit man.
The Dalit displeasure towards the SP is not restricted to communal issues. They also blame the government for neglecting their colonies.
The Muslims in the village claim that everything is peaceful and dismiss allegations of high-handedness. However, when the intricacies of the loudspeaker issue are raked up, the communal differences pop up.
“The use of loudspeaker is not a big problem on its own, but the fact that they are starting a new tradition is what we oppose. There were no loudspeakers at the temple earlier. When we [Muslims] start a new tradition, they go berserk and start objecting. There is a mosque in Kanth where the roof is still not made after objections by them,” says Qasim, another Muslim youth.
