SISAULI, APRIL 2 : Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait may have apologised for his alleged derogatory and casteist remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati — he was arrested and granted bail after he turned himself in today, maintaining that the remarks were “a slip of the tongue” — but in a Dalit locality in his Sisauli backyard, there’s a deafening silence, the fear of a caste backlash palpable.

On Tuesday, even as Tikait supporters claimed that the standoff with Mayawati had nothing to with caste, a crowd collected nearby, raised anti-Dalit slogans and set fire to an effigy of the BSP leader. The slogans grew louder as the crowd walked past Dalit homes. Today, after Tikait’s arrest, some Dalits said they feared that they would be the target of Jat ire.

Speaking to reporters, close associates of Tikait maintained that there was nothing much to his remarks about Mayawati, that he had used terms “very common” in these parts. There were no differences, they said, between Jats and Dalits in Sisauli.

Sehensar Pal, Jansath tehsil president of the BKU, said: “There is an organic link between the Jats and the Dalits. We both work on land — the only difference is that we own some land and they are agricultural labourers.”

But people close to Yograj Singh, the BSP’s Jat MLA from Khatauli who doesn’t quite get along with Tikait, said that Dalits in the village were too scared to speak about the insults they have to put up with.

As in many villages, Saisauli has a neat caste divide despite the so-called economic interdependence. Dalits of the cobbler caste have their own Ravidas Mandir, their own priest. Similarly, the Valmikis have their own Valmiki temple, their own priest. The divide is not just between Dalits and the rest but also among the Dalits.

“There are some 800 Dalit families in Sisauli. Not even 100 own any land. Our family, however, has six bighas. Many Dalit families leave for Punjab and Haryana in December to work in the brick kilns. They lock their houses and leave with their children who too work there. The families return after July and stay on till next December. They work as labourers, in the fields or at sites where houses are under construction,” said a 50-plus Dalit resident who did not wish to be named. Most Dalit children, he said, can’t go to school because they have such a routine.

Asked whether Mayawati’s return to power had raised their hopes, the Dalits respond differently. While one youth said that Jats were aware there could be police action if a Dalit were to complain, another youth said Mayawati’s return did not mean that the lowest sections of society had been empowered.

“She is powerful, but we remain powerless and dominated by others in our village,” the youth said. But his father had a different take. “We remain subordinate, especially on caste lines. But we are proud that one among us has risen to be Chief Minister without support from anyone,” he said.