Ours is a battle, not a battle for wealth or for power; it is a battle for freedom.” These are the words of the father of our Constitution, Dalit icon Dr B.R. Ambedkar. It is this urge for freedom and the reassertion of Dalit identity that is manifest in the proliferation of deras in Punjab, and in the political fallout of that growth.

Dalits, and other under-privileged sections of society, have shared in the growth and development of one of India’s most prosperous states — schemes like subsidised atta-dal and NREG have few takers here in Punjab. But what is still elusive is social assimilation and respect. Despite conversions to Sikhism, Buddhism and even Christianity, all aimed at gaining social acceptability and freedom from caste-based Hindu society, their lot has remained much the same. This in a state with the largest proportion of Dalits — 29 per cent — and which is the birthplace of another top Dalit leader, the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Kanshi Ram. (It is another story that he shifted elsewhere, virtually neglecting his home state.)

His BSP never made massive inroads in Punjab mainly because extreme social malaises, such as untouchability, didn’t exist. Sikhism and the Arya Samaj ensured that the concept of hereditary “purity-pollution” was eliminated. But there is still discrimination, and with a rise in awareness levels and incomes, comes identity-based assertion.

This discrimination is evident in any typical Punjab village. Besides separate gurdwaras, Dalits are made to live in a separate cluster, generally towards the west; they are denied birs, or the holy granth, for marriages and other functions. It may shock those not aware of ground realities in Punjab that the “lower castes” even have separate cremation grounds. “The discrimination does not end even after death,” in the words of Ramdev, a local Dalit leader. Studies of local centres of power — local gurdwara committees, the SGPC, Sikh deras and the Shiromani Akali Dal — turn up further evidence. One study found out that over 80 per cent of administrative posts are with the Jat Sikhs, 15 per cent with the other castes and only five per cent with the Dalit Sikhs.

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