A life of struggle

Panchdev, Bihar

In 1974 in Bihar, a student’s movement had risen against unemployment, corruption and rising costs. I was studying at the Intermediate level at that time. Our exams had started on March 17, 1974. I boycotted the exams and committed myself to the movement. Slowly the movement spread to include farmers as well. After repeated requests by the students, Jayprakash Narayan agreed, after setting some pre-conditions, to lead the movement. The movement was taken to villages and hamlets and Janata government slowly came to power. This movement was able to encompass a wide range of people, except those in power. Somewhere down the line CPI withdrew its support as well. In Bihar groups committed to justice, equity and socialist ideals were fairly united.

The movement spread relentlessly. Disparate groups with their student and youth groups committed themselves to this movement. Their allegiance, however, was first to their group and then to the movement. In this situation JP mobilised students committed primarily to the movement to form a non-party and independent “Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini” on January 1, 1975. The movement of students and youth had active support of labourers and farmers as well. Even women were closely involved in the movement, as well as dalits and other marginalised communities. On June 5, 1975, addressing a gathering at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, JP gave a call for ‘sampoorna kranti’ (total revolution) against unemployment, corruption and inflation. With the rousing slogan of ‘jaati chodo janeu todo’ (leave your caste, break the ‘sacred’ thread) Gandhi Maidan was filled with mounds of discarded ‘sacred threads’. The movement gained force and went ahead.

Around the time, Allahabad High Court had declared Indira Gandhi’s election illegal. Subsequently, negating the High Court order, Indira Gandhi declared a state of ‘Emergency’. All rights of citizens were withdrawn, people involved with the movement were put behind bars without any reason or legal basis, and a variety of injustices were inflicted. After a secret survey when she felt that she could come back to power, Indira Gandhi announced fresh elections led by a dummy Election Commission. She suffered a humiliating defeat in these elections. The Janata Party formed the government and withdrew Emergency. For the first time people from poor and marginalised communities became Ministers, Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assemblies. For the first time these people were confident that they would be heard and that their own people were in power.

After the formation of Janata led government, the Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini, geared to the cause of Total Revolution, took up the issue of caste and class struggle and announced a movement against the Bodh Gaya Math. The movement spread to villages and people were rapidly organised. Women played a leading role in this. At the time, the people around Bodh Gaya Math considered the Math to be the government. They received one to two and a half kilos of rice for a day of work and rice gruel for breakfast. The labour community drank mahua liquor and beat their wives in drunken stupor. Women were organised to stop this.

Gradually the poor and marginalised people were organised and gathered strength to put an end to the power and control of Bodh Gaya Math. People immediately took control of the lands held by the Math. We also led struggles against caste injustice and exploitation by landlords in Panchmaniya and Bhatsimar of Madhubani district. From Panchmaniya, the struggle spread to several villages in its vicinity. In course of the legal support camps in Madhubani, we heard about the Koilakh temple. On going there we found that upper castes were allowed to offer prayers in the temple, the middle castes could worship from outside, but the dalits could not even touch the temple. We launched a campaign for entry of dalits into the temple. We also informed the administration about this issue. We began mobilising and organising people in and around the area for the campaign. And in course of the campaign also spread awareness of the various injustices perpetrated by upper castes. The night before we were to enter the temple with the dalits, my colleague and I were arrested by the administration. All night long we were abused by people from the upper castes. There were also threats to sacrifice me to Kali goddess. At the same time they were finding it hard to believe that I had masterminded and led the entire campaign. The next day there was a meeting attended by the villagers as well as the local administration. Dalits who were present at the meeting were too afraid to speak up, fearing repercussion from the upper castes. After years of subjugation and suffering, their confidence and morale was totally decimated. In fact the dalits, who had told us about the atrocities perpetrated by the upper castes, and had been with us throughout the campaign, started making allegations against us. Eventually, dalits were not allowed to enter the temple, but the administration also ordered the temple to be closed to all other castes. The confidence and arrogance of the upper castes was broken by this.

At the same time, people from the lower rungs of society gained some confidence, and this incident sowed the seeds for larger battles that were to follow. While working in the Panchmaniya region, we heard about the case of Domi Sharma, who had been wounded during an exchange of fire and was imprisoned on false charges between 1975 and 1978. Several people robbed his family of their meagre possessions of money, land and cattle, with the promise of realising him from jail. We discussed this within our organisation and after consistent efforts over four months and with our own resources, we were able to release him.

Madhubani district is situated on the border of Nepal. It has a population of about 35 lakhs. A majority of the population consists of poor labourers and backward castes and dalits, while upper castes constitute only 15-17% of the population. The upper castes however control land and other production assets. Even government jobs and administration were largely controlled by the upper castes. They considered it their right to look down upon dalits and the lower castes as their servants. Khadi from this region is widely popular, so are the local crafts. At one time this region was considered culturally very rich, but in my opinion this too benefited the upper castes more than the others. A variety of injustices were perpetrated on the lower castes and dalits, who bore it stoically as if it were their destiny.

With the dam being built on river Kosi, most of the land in this region has been destroyed. The destruction and damage caused by this dam far outweighs the benefits. The recurring havoc caused by floods in North Bihar is widely known. There is a shortage of livelihoods resources today, though the land used to be highly productive. People are therefore forced to sell their labour and migrate to different parts of the country to earn their livelihoods and for survival. Even some people from the upper castes are reduced to this condition. These labourers are exploited in every possible way, and often get caught in false cases.

One such incident happened among the musahar community in the Sundar-virajit area of Madhepur block in Madhubani district. About 50 families from this hamlet migrate to earn their living and provide for their families. At one time the labourers went to Rampur village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh. They were engaged by a contractor who was building a road. One day there was an altercation between two contractors. One of them died in the fight that ensued. The next day all the labourers were rounded up and taken to the police station on the allegation of theft. The labourers pleaded and cried in denial, but to no avail. They were all taken to Rampur Police Station, where seven able bodied labourers were detained and accused of murdering the contractor, while the others were beaten up and released. When the trial began in Jaunpur district court, the labourers had no money to engage a lawyer or fight the case. The government appointed a lawyer to defend them, but that was of no use, and all seven labourers were given a sentence of life-imprisonment. They were then sent to the Central Jail in Varanasi. Their families kept making efforts throughout to garner some support for them, in course of which a lot of money was spent, but in vain.

I visited Sundar-virajit area in course of the campaign and heard of this incident. I returned and discussed this with my colleagues. Later I visited the Central Jail in Varanasi and got detailed information regarding the case. I then collected the relevant documents from Jaunpur district court, engaged a lawyer and made an appeal in Allahabad High Court. Once the appeal was accepted, I put in an application for bail. All seven labourers were granted bail. However, in spite of several efforts, there was no guarantor. I appealed again in the High Court. There was a strike of lawyers at the time, and hence I had to present the case myself in front of the judge. I appealed that the labourers were honest and hardworking and leaving their families behind had come here only to earn a living. They have been falsely implicated in the case. They belonged to the landless musahar community, and despite being granted bail, they could not be released in the absence of a guarantor. In these circumstances I appealed that they be released, or the rules for guarantors be made slightly flexible. The judge pronounced that this case should be heard as a special case by the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. The judge and my friends counselled me to take the matter to the Chief Justice, but I thought that if the rich could get bail, even the poor should be able to do the same, and decided to take the matter to the Supreme Court instead. All these events took up a lot of time and resources. The labourers obviously had no resources, and neither did I, but I got support from a range of people associated with the movement, during my stay, for food and travel, etc.

In Delhi, when I made the appeal in the Supreme Court, I had no money. I made contact with a lot of people with the help of AVARD. The Secretary of AVARD, Pyaremohan Tripathy and socialist leader Surendramohan, especially provided a lot of support. Tripathy ji would repeatedly warn me of the futility of my efforts but this did not affect his support for me in any way. Here too friends and associates came forward to help in every possible way. Humanist V.M.Tarakunde submitted the appeal in the Supreme Court without taking any fees. The case was heard and the Supreme Court ordered that the bail be granted to all seven, on the guarantee of two ordinary guarantors. After this verdict, Tripathy ji congratulated me for my courage and perseverance. Others including Dalit-Adivasi Commissioner Sri V.J.Sharma ji also expressed their happiness.

I returned and placed this information before the District Court in Jaunpur, but was told that they had received no such communication. I returned to the Supreme Court and got a copy of the relevant judgement, and presented this again at the District Court in Jaunpur together with two guarantors Parasnath Mishra and Raghuvanshmani Pandey. All seven accused were granted bail and ordered to be released. Even at this stage, the official serving the order for release asked us for a bribe, but when I explained how the case had been fought without giving any fees, let alone bribes, he quietly confessed that his would be the first time that he had not taken a bribe.

People associated with the movement organised a function in Varanasi to felicitate me and the seven labourers, but they were scared and reticent that they did not touch the food or sweets. When I accompanied them back to their home, their families and others were surprised at how I had been able to release them without any resources. I had gone through a lot of struggle in the process and there were many ups and downs, but in the end we had succeeded in the fight for justice.