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DALITS
AND THE AD DHARM MOVEMENT IN PUNJAB
Punjab has been a
site of invasions, conflicts, agitations
and martyrdoms. It has also been a
boiling cauldron for various social and
political movements. Its history is rich
with innumerable instances of people’s
upsurge against the tyrant systems.
However, what makes the case of Punjab,
a unique, is that its tirades against
the system of oppression and violence
remained always progressive and secular.
They were not against a particular caste
or community but against systems of
tyranny and oppression.
It
is interesting to note that in all of
the struggles and movements, the
contribution of the lower castes and the
untouchables was second to none. The
share of these deprived sections of the
society was equally tremendous in the
sphere of Bhakti movement. One can
quickly count the names of Dhanna, Sadna,
Sain and Ravidass who were among the
prominent stars of the Bhakti movement.
Their share is equally remarkable in the
struggles of the Khalsa against
the then system of oppression and
injustice. The popularity of the
Rangretas (scavengers converted to
Sikhism) has been established by a rhyme
Rangreta Guru ka Beta (the
Rangreta is the son of Guru). This rhyme
is attributed to the Rangretas on
account of the valorous act of bringing
the severed head of Guru Teg Bahadur
from Delhi to Anandpur Sahib, the seat
of 9th and 10th Master of the
Sikh faith by a Rangreta Sikh named
Jeeta.
Yet another movement
which rose in the 1920s in the Doaba
region of Punjab brought together all
the Scheduled Castes (then known as
Depressed classes) on a single platform
to fight against the system of social
oppression, economic deprivation and
political indifference. Though this
movement laid the foundation of dalit
consciousness in Punjab, it could not
succeed in getting the serious attention
of scholarship. However, Mark
Jurgensmeyer’s pioneer work Religious
Rebels in the Punjab (1988) remained
the only reference to the share of
Punjab in the ‘Adi Movements’ in India.
This movement is known as Ad Dharm
movement. It draws its inspiration from
the Bhakti movement, especially from
Kabir, Ravidass and Namdev. It also
assigns equal importance to the
teachings of Valmiki. What makes this
movement the most relevant case for
study is its being a purely low caste
character and its fight against social
structures of domination. Ad Dharm was
the only movement of its kind in the
Northwestern region of the country that
aimed at securing a respectable place
for the scheduled castes through
cultural transformation and political
assertion rather than seeking patronage
from above. Another important feature of
this movement was that it intended to
bring social transformation and
spiritual regeneration in the lives of
the downtrodden. Although, this movement
ceased to exist in its vehement form
after the first general election in
independent India, its emphasis on
social transformation and political
assertion against structures of social
inequality and oppression continues to
attract the Ad-Dharmis and other
scheduled castes of Punjab. At present,
the movement finds its sustenance in
Punjab through the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
and Ambedkarite organizations.
Ad
Dharm Movement: The Genesis
The
beginning of the 20th century
witnessed a series of political
developments, which among others led to
the formation of Adi movements in
different parts of the colonial India.
The main objective of these movements
was to liberate the downtrodden,
poverty-stricken-oppressed classes,
contemptuously branded as untouchables,
from the most oppressive and obnoxious
practice of untouchability meticulously
observed by the Savarna Hindus,
and to bring the former at par with the
socio-cultural level of the twice born
so that they could lead a life of
dignity with a sense of equality. The Ad
Dharm movement was one of them.
Although, the
abolition of untouchability was also on
the agenda of the protagonists of social
reform movements (Brahmo Samaj,
Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj and Singh
Sabha), they wanted to achieve it
without changing the basic structure of
caste system. Since these movements were
operating on the social reform front of
the nationalist struggle, they could not
totally devote themselves to the removal
of untouchability. The immediate goal of
the nationalist movement was to liberate
the country from the British
imperialism.
The most virulent
opposition to the system of caste
emanated from the lower caste movements.
For these movements, the immediate
important issue was caste domination,
not Western hegemony; social
emancipation, not political autonomy.
The struggle against imperialism and
other such issues were of secondary
importance. These anti-caste movements,
of course, constitute an inseparable
part of the broader revolutionary
democratic movement in India, alongwith
the national movement and communist-and
socialist-led working class and peasant
movements. The main exponents of these
movements were, among others, Jyotiba
Phule, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, E.V.
Ramasamy Naicker, Naraynaswami Guru in
Kerala, Achutananda in U.P. and Mangoo
Ram in Punjab.
The
present paper confines to the Ad Dharm
movement in Punjab. It aims at exploring
the social situations and political
configurations in colonial Punjab during
the 1920s, which led to the rise of this
movement. Another objective of the study
is to document the present status of the
movement in Punjab.
It
would be appropriate to focus on certain
aspects relating to the rise of this
movement in 1926 and its so-called
demise in 1946. Some of the close
associates of the Ad Dharm movement,
however, did not approve the closure of
the movement in 1946. They were of the
opinion that Ad Dharm continued to play
an important role for the upliftment of
the untouchables even after 1946.
In 1946 Mangoo Ram got elected to the
Punjab Assembly and remained there to
espouse the cause of the Ad Dharmis till
the first general elections in
independent India. By that time, Mangoo
Ram had grown fairly old. According to
Chanan Lal Manak, a close associate of
the movement, Ad Dharm could not produce
any one of the calibers of Mangoo Ram to
replace him. The rank and file of Ad
Dharm was more interested in their
individual vested interests rather than
in the upliftment of the Dalits as a
community. However, Mangoo Ram till his
death did not surrender the herculean
task that he had taken on his shoulders
for the dalit consciousness and their
upliftment (Interviews with Ishwar Das
Pawar, Chandigarh, April 23, 2001;
Chanan Lal Manak, Jalandhar, May 1,
2001; and Chattar Sain, son of Mangoo
Ram, Garshankar [Distt. Hoshiarpur],
April 27, 2001). What were the
circumstances in which the Ad Dharm
movement was originated? Who were its
protagonists? What objectives did they
seek to achieve? What were the tactics
and strategies they adopted for the
realization of these objectives? Whether
such objectives sharpened the struggle
against social oppression or led to
blunt the very struggle itself? Was it
really a struggle against social
oppression or only a ploy to gain some
incremental change for meager benefits?
To whom the Ad Dharm considered its
sympathizers and also its adversaries?
What status did such sympathizers and
adversaries hold in the socio-economic
and politico-administrative setting of
the Indian society? What is its present
status? What are its goals and
objectives? And how it intended to
realise them?
Ad
Dharm: Socio-Political Settings
Ad
dharm movement was born out of a
volatile social and political background
in the early 20th century.
Although, the similar socio-political
situations were prevalent throughout the
length and breadth of the country, the
presence of various communal
organisations in Punjab makes the case
of the latter a peculiar one. The
communal organisations like Arya Samaj,
Christian Church, Sikh Khalsa Diwan and
the Ahmadiyya movements were active in
their endeavors to promote their
respective communal interests.
It
was exactly during this period of
socio-political uncertainties that the
British government passed the Land
Alienation Act of 1900, Indian Counsel
Act of 1909 and The Government of India
Act of 1919. These acts provided further
impetus to the ongoing competition among
the various communal organizations.
Although, the Land Alienation Act of
1900 was aimed at preventing the
transfer of land from the hands of
agriculturist castes into the
non-agricultural money-lending castes,
it has by its very nature debarred many
castes to own land.
Untouchables, who were already kept
deprived of land according to the
Varna-vyavastha system of the Hindu
caste hierarchy, were now legally
debarred from land ownership. The system
of separate electorates introduced in
1909 and 1919 further exacerbated the
communal and separatists stance of
politics. It brought serious
implications in the province of Punjab
where Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs had
their respective political organisation
to strive for their vested interests.
Since Scheduled Castes did not have
their own organisation to articulate and
defend their interests, they became the
center of attention of all the communal
organizations. Each of these
organizations was trying to woo them on
its side to secure an edge over the
others in terms of numbers. This was,
perhaps, the first time in the history
of the Scheduled Castes that their
numerical strength became important in
the calculation and formulation of
social and political forces. The
provision for separate electorate also
raised their expectation to enter into
political arena as an independent force
rather than to be used, by the
Arya-Samaj, Congress or Akalis, as a
pawn on the chessboard of electoral
politics.
Moreover, the adoption of the removal of
untouchability by the Indian National
congress as an integral part of its
policies in 1917 provided a further
impetus to the scheduled castes in their
efforts to seek a respectable place in
the Indian society. The California based
Ghadar Movement was another
important political development which
fascinated the youths of Punjab who were
eager to bask in an egalitarian system
free from discrimination and colonial
tutelage. The Babbar Akali movement was
yet another significant political
development that catapulted Punjab into
the vortex of revolt against injustice
and foreign rule. In addition, another
important social and political movement
that swept the cities and countryside of
Punjab was the loud appeals of Arya
Samaj to restructure the Indian society
on the basis of equality and social
justice. Ghadar movement and the Babbar
Akali movements were revolutionary and
militant movements in comparison to the
non-violent and passive postures of the
Indian National Congress and Arya Samaj.
Interestingly enough,
the Ad Dharm movement, particularly,
some of its key protagonists had close
affiliation with the Arya Samaj before
they became active in the movement.
Obviously, the rise and growth of the Ad
Dharm had to be deeply influenced by the
Arya-Samaj.
The
trio that initially conceived the idea
of the Ad Dharm movement consisted of
Vasant Rai, Thakur Chand and Swami
Shudranand. They were also active in the
Arya Samaj Movement. Vasant Rai was
associated with the Arya Samaj as a
teacher. Swami Shudranand was a
missionary of the Samaj and Thakur Chand,
though a Dalit like Vasant Rai and
Shudranand, was called pandit because of
his association with the Arya Samaj.
They were either pracharaks
(preachers) or Updeshaks
(missionaries) of the Arya Samaj. Even
after their absorption into the newly
formed Ad Dharm movement Arya Samaj
offered them important role in the
movement to lure them back. Mention may
be made here that they quit the Ad Dharm
movement and returned to the Samaj.
Mangoo Ram And Ad Dharm
Mangoo Ram literally took the movement
to the doorsteps of the untouchables in
the Doaba region and soon emerged as a
cult figure of the Dalits in Punjab. He
was born at Mugowal, a village in the
district of Hoshiarpur, on 14th January
1886. His forefathers were practising
the occupation of tanning raw hides.
However, his father, Harnam Dass, had
abandoned the traditional caste-based
occupation of tanning and preparing
hides, and taken up the profession of
selling the tanned leather on commercial
basis. Since the leather trade required
the knowledge of English language to
read the sale orders, he was eager to
have Mangoo Ram receive education to
free him from the begar (forced
labour), which he had to do in lieu of
English orders read for him by the upper
caste literates. Initially, Mangoo Ram
was taught by a village Sadhu
(Saint), then after studying at
different schools he joined a high
school at Bajwara, a town few miles away
from his home. Being a chamar,
he had to sit separately from the other
upper caste students. In fact, he used
to take a gunny bag from his home for
sitting in a segregated place outside
the classroom. In 1905 Mangoo Ram left
the high school to help his father in
leather trade. For three years he
helped his father develop leather trade
into a thriving business. However, in
1909 he left for America to follow into
the footsteps of his peer group in the
Doaba region.
Interestingly enough even in America
Mangoo Ram had to work on the farms of a
Punjabi Zamindar who had settled in
California. In other words, even in
America he had to experience the same
relations of production as back home in
India. How a shudra immigrant
worker, who works on the land of an
Indian upper caste landlord settled
abroad, feels and experiences work
conditions and its resultant relations
of production is an altogether a
separate question. However, while in
California, Mangoo Ram came in close
contact with the Ghadar Movement - a
radical organisation aimed at liberating
India from the British rule through
armed insurrection. In fact, he
participated in the weapon smuggling
mission of the organisation. He was
arrested and given the capital
punishment but was saved from the death
sentence by a chance as someone else in
his name was executed. The news of his
supposed death reached his village.
According to the tradition of his
community, his widow, named Piari
married his elder brother. Mangoo Ram,
on reaching India, remarried and had
four sons from his second wife named
Bishno.
After his return from abroad where he
spent as many as sixteen years, Mangoo
Ram did not find any change in Indian
society that was still infested with the
disease of untouchability. He said
While living abroad, said Mangoo Ram, I
had forgotten about the hierarchy of
high and low, and untouchability; and
under this very wrong impression
returned home in December 1925. The same
misery of high and low, and
untouchability, which I had left behind
to go abroad, started afflicting again.
I wrote about all this to my leader Lala
Hardyal Ji that until and unless this
disease is cured Hindustan could not be
liberated. In accordance with his
orders, a program was formulated in 1926
for the awakening and upliftment of
Achhut qaum (untouchable community)
of India.
Having settled in his native village, he
opened up a school for the lower caste
children in the village. Initially, the
school was opened up, temporarily in the
garden of Risaldar Dhanpat Rai, a
landlord of his village. Later on,
Lamberdar Beeru Ram Sangha, another
landlord of the same village, donated
half-acre land for the purpose of
formally opening up the school. The
school had five teachers including
Mangoo Ram. One of the teachers of the
school was a Muslim, Walhi Mohammad and
one was Brahmin, who was later on
converted into a Shudra. The conversion
ceremony comprised of an earthen pot (Douri),
which contained water mingled with sugar
balls (Patasha) and stirred with
leather cutting tool (Rambi).
Thus the prepared sweet water considered
as holy was given to Brahmins to baptize
them into Shudras (Interview with
Chatter Sain, 27 April 2001). Now a
days, the school land has been declared
as Shamlat (common land), and no
remnants of the building exist except
the old dilapidated structure of the
well meant for drinking water in the
school. It was in that school that the
first official meeting of the Ad Dharm
movement was held on June 11-12, 1926.
There is another version about the
school that traced its origin to the
support provided by the Arya Samaj.
However, given his close association
with the Ghadar movement in California,
Mangoo Ram’s relationships with the Arya
Samaj was not as close as that of Vasant
Rai, Thakur Chand and Swami Shudranand.
Moreover, his personal experience of
being treated as an equal in America,
particularly by his fellow Ghadarites,
inculcated in him an intense desire and
inspiration for equality and social
justice. This led him to lay the
foundation of the Ad Dharm movement to
streamline the struggle against
untouchability. Soon he emerged as a
folk-hero of the dalits who started
rallying around him, particularly in the
dalit concentrated areas of the Doaba
region. However, after a while the Ad
Dharm organisation got factionalised
resulting in a split in 1929 into two
groups: one headed by Vasant Rai and the
other by Mangoo Ram. There emerged two
independent organisations: the Ad Dharm
Mandal with its office in Jalandhar was
headed by Mangoo Ram and the All Indian
Ad Dharm Mandal with its headquarters in
Lyalpur was headed by Vasant Rai. The
All India Ad Dharm Mandal got disbanded
and merged with the organisation led by
Dr Ambedkar in 1933 and after some years
the same fate fell on Ad Dharm of Mangoo
Ram, who closed the office of the Ad
Dharm Mandal and changed its name to
Ravidass Mandal. However, close
associates of the Ad Dharm movement
contested this observation. They said
that Ad Dharm Mandal was not changed
into Ravidass Mandal. In fact, later
on, Ravidass School was opened up in the
premises of the Ad Dharm Mandal
building. So it was Ravidass School,
which merely came to occupy the space of
the Ad Dharm Mandal building rather than
its being taken over by Ravidass Mandal.
(Interviews with: late Chanan Lal Manak,
Jalandhar, May 29, 2001; K.C. Shenmar
I.G. (P) Pb. (retd.) Chandigarh, April
28, 2001).
The
Vasant Rai group of the Ad Dharm Mandal
was thoroughly soaked into the ideology
of the Arya Samaj. In fact this group
was lured back by the Arya Samaj.
Although the Arya Samaj dominated
section of Ad Dharm Mandal withdrew
itself from the Mangoo Ram’s group in
1929, the latter played an active part
in the politics of Punjab for a period
of two decades from 1926 to 1952.
Mangoo Ram set a clear agenda for Ad
Dharm movement. The agenda was to
create a new religion for the lower
caste. The Hindus who for political
motives considered them as part of their
religion treated them shabbily. Arya
Samaj was making frantic efforts to
bring the Shudras back into the
Hindu fold who had proselytised into
Islam, Christianity and Sikh religion.
Arya Samaj and the Christian church were
not the only organisations, which were
trying to win over the lower castes.
Sikhs and Muslims were equally
interested in bringing them into their
respective religions. Mangoo Ram thought
it appropriate to intervene at this
juncture to espouse the cause of Dalits
by carving out a separate identity of
their own.
In
the poster announcing the first annual
meeting of Ad Dharm Movement, Mangoo Ram
devoted the entire space to the
hardships faced by the untouchables at
the hands of the caste Hindus. He also
made an appeal to the Achhuts to
come together to chalk out a program for
their liberation and upliftment while
addressing the Chamars, Chuhras,
Sansis, Bhanjhras, Bhils etc. as
brothers, he said,
We
are the real inhabitants of this country
and our religion is Ad Dharm. Hindu Qaum
came from outside to deprive us of our
country and enslave us. At one time we
reigned over ‘Hind’. We are the progeny
of kings; Hindus came down from Iran to
Hind and destroyed our qaum. They
deprived us of our property and rendered
us nomadic. They razed down our forts
and houses, and destroyed our history.
We are seven Crores in numbers and are
registered as Hindus in this country.
Liberate the Adi race by separating
these seven crores. They (Hindus) became
lord and call us ‘others’. Our seven
crore number enjoy no share at all. We
reposed faith in Hindus and thus
suffered a lot. Hindus turned out to be
callous. Centuries ago Hindus suppressed
us sever all ties with them. What
justice we expect from those who are the
butchers of Adi race. Time has come, be
cautious, now the Government listens to
appeals. With the support of sympathetic
Government, come together to save the
race. Send members to the Councils so
that our qaum is strengthened again.
British rule should remain forever. Make
prayer before God. Except for this
Government, no one is sympathetic
towards us. Never consider ourselves as
Hindus at all, remember that our
religion is Ad Dharm.
The
way, the leaders of Ad Dharm chose to
restore dignity and freedom to the
untouchables was to completely detach
them from Hinduism and to consolidate
them into their own ancient religion -
Ad Dharm - of which they had become
oblivious during the age-old domination
by the ‘alien Hindus’. In fact, the task
of the revival of their ancient religion
was not an easy one by virtue of the
fact that during a long period of
persecution at the hands of the
Savarnas, the untouchables had
forgotten their Gurus and other
religious symbols. In fact they were
never allowed to nurture an aspiration
to have their own independent religion.
They were condemned as profane and were
declared unfit to have their own
theology. Thus to revive Ad Dharm was
tantamount to developing an altogether a
new religion for the Achhuts.
Mangoo Ram’s appeal that the Dalits were
the real inhabitants of this land made
an enormous psychological impact on the
untouchables who were treated as, even
inferior to animals in Indian society.
The appeal inspired them to come out of
their slumber and fight for their
freedom and liberty. The Ad Dharm
provided a theological podium to sustain
and reinforce the new Dalit identity.
For centuries, they were bereft of any
identity and remained in the appendage
of the hierarchically graded Hindu
society.
Before 1920’s, especially before the
rise of Ad Dharm movement, the
untouchables in Punjab hardly envisaged
the idea of seeking a separate
identity. The growing communal politics
and resultant unrest within Punjab in
the 1920’s coupled with the emergence of
Dalit organisations in different parts
of the country, offered them a good
opportunity to carve out such an
identity. In the pre-partition Punjab,
untouchables constituted one-fourth of
the total population. Since scheduled
castes did not have their separate
religion, they were being counted as
Hindus. In a system of communal
representation, Muslim leaders were
thinking that the Achhuts, who
were never considered as equal by the
caste Hindus, should be separated from
them and equally divided between the
Hindus and Muslims.
It
was not only Muslims who alone had such
an approach, even the Sikhs, Christians,
and Hindus also wanted to absorb them
into their respective religion for
political benefits. In the absence of
any other alternative open to them, a
large number of the Achhuts of
Punjab converted into Christianity
(especially the chuhras of
Sialkot and Gurdaspur), Sikhism (in
Sialkot and Gurdaspur), and Islam (Rawalpindi,
Multan and Lahore division).
Consequently, the
Hindus in the province had been reduced
from 43.8% in 1881 to 30.2% in 1931
while the Sikhs increased from 8.2% to
14.3% and the Muslims from 40.6% to
about 52% and in the British territory
the population of the Hindus, the Sikhs
and the Muslims in 1931 was 26.80%,
12.99% and 56.4% respectively (Census of
India, 1931, Vol. xvii, Punjab Part i,
p. 291).
Obviously, it alarmed the Arya Samaj to
put an end to the conversions of
Achhuts lest it turned out as a
political suicide for Hindus. Lala
Lajpat Rai’s “Achhut Udhar Mandal” at
Lahore, Swami Ganesh Dutt’s “Antyaj
Udhar Mandal” at Lahore and Lala Devi
Chand’s “Dayanad Dalit Udhar Mandal” at
Hoshiarpur came up in response to these
conversions. As a matter of fact, the
Arya Samaj started Shuddhi
campaign to bring the converted
Achhuts back into the Hindu-fold.
This also brought the Arya Samaj into
confrontation with the Sikhs and the
Muslims. “In a famous incident in 1900,
Sikhs rebelled at the Arya Samaj’s
practice of publicly shaving lower caste
Sikhs and offering them Shuddhi”.
It
was at this stage that Ad Dharm entered
into the volatile territories of
communal politics in Punjab. There was
no one to welcome it. However, they
received some support from the British
government as it had helped in weakening
the growing unity in the country.
Dominant Castes, Violence And Ad Dharm
The Ad Dharm faced
stiff opposition and its followers fell
victim to physical violence at the hands
of both Hindus and Sikhs.They
were also denied entry into meadows and
common lands to fetch fodder for their
cattle, access to the open fields to
answer the call of nature, and were
interned in their houses by the Sikhs
and Hindus for no other fault than that
of their being registered as Ad Dharmis
in the census of 1931. In Ferozepur
district, two chamars were burnt
alive because they registered themselves
as Ad Dharmis. In Layalpur district, the
innocent daughter of an Ad Dharmi was
murdered. In Nankana Sahib, the Akalis
threw ash into the langar (food
prepared in bulk for free distribution)
meant for those who came to attend the
Ad Dharm meeting. In Village
Dakhiyan-da-Prah of the Ludhiana
district, the Sikh boys abducted
Shudranand from the dais of the
Achhuts’ public meeting. In
Baghapurana, many Achhuts were
beaten up and their legs and arms were
broken. In many villages of Ludhiana,
Ferozepur and Layalpur, the Achhuts
were boycotted for two months. These
Achhuts were living in villages
where the Jat-Sikhs or Muslims were in a
dominant position. The Jat-Sikhs had
compelled the Achhuts to record
themselves as Sikhs. However, despite
repression and intimidation the
Achhuts did not give in and recorded
Ad Dharm as their religion. In village
Ghundrawan of the district Kangra, the
Rajputs even smashed the pitchers of the
Ad Dharmi women who were on their way to
fetch water. When denied water from the
village pond the Ad Dharmis had to
travel for three miles to fetch water
from the river. The ongoing torture at
the hands of the Rajputs ultimately
compelled them to leave the village to
settle in Pathankot. It was only after
the interference of Sir Fazal-i- Hussain,
Chief Commissioner, on the request of
Mangoo Ram that their grievance was
looked into and eventually they were
rehabilitated in their native village.
In face of opposition by the upper caste
Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, the leaders
of Ad Dharm had tough time at the
Lothian Committee to prove that they
were neither Hindus or Sikhs or Muslims
nor Christians. The Lothian committee
(Indian Franchise committee) was
constituted in December 1931 under the
Chairmanship of the Marquees of Lothian,
C.H., and Parliamentary Under Secretary
of State for India. It consisted of 18
members. Dr. Ambedkar was one of them.
The committee began its work, of hearing
the views of the parties concerned and
the provincial franchise committees
constituted by the respective Provincial
Legislatures, at Delhi on 1st February
1932. It conducted its enquires in
Lahore on 31st March and Ist April,
1932. Ad Dharm Mandal and Dayanand Dalit
Udhar mandal represented the depressed
classes of the Punjab before the
committee. The Ad Dharm Mandal
delegation consisted of eighteen members
including Mangoo Ram (President) Hazara
Ram Piplanwala (General Secretary), Hans
Raj (Vice-President), Ram Chand Khera
(Editor, Adi Danka), Pt. Hari Ram
and Sant Ram Azad (Ahir 1992:8-9). The
Sikh representatives claimed that since
many of the Achhuts believed in
Guru Granth Sahib and solemnised their
marriage ceremonies in accordance with
the Sikh customs half of their
population should be added to the Sikh
religion and the other half be merged
with the Hindus. Likwise the Muslim
representatives told the Lothian
committee that since some of the
Achhuts perform Namaz (offer
prayers), keep rozas (long fast
kept in a particular month) and bury
their corpses in cemeteries instead of
burning them, they should be divided
equally between Hindus and Muslims.
Similarly, the Hindu representatives on
the other hand stressed that since the
Achhuts believed in Vedas and
perform their marriage ceremonies in
accordance with the Hindu customs no one
except the Hindus have the right to seek
their allegiance. Above all, Lala Ram
Das of the “Dayanand Dalit Udhar Mandal”
(Hoshiarpur) and Pandit Guru Dev of
“Achhut Mandal” (Lahore) informed the
franchise committee that there was no
untouchable in Punjab. According to
them the untouchables were the backward
class of Hindus who were made at par
with the rest through the performance of
Shuddhi. Hence, no separate treatment
for the untouchables in Punjab.
In addition, the
various religious groups in a bid to
scandalise the movement also hurled
insinuations and condemnations at the Ad
Dharm Mandal. The leaders of Ad Dharm
were alleged to have hob-nobbed with the
Muslims during the crucial time of
communal representation where Hindus and
Muslims were juxtaposed against each
other. The Ad Dharm’s political alliance
with the Unionist Party during the
Punjab Assembly elections, first in 1937
and then again in 1945-46 was an eye
sore both for the congress and the Hindu
Sabha. The Hindu leaders did not like
the Ad Dharmis’ growing links or
association with the British
government. In fact, the British
secretly in the 1937 election supported
the Ad Dharmis.
As regards the Ad
Dharm’s closeness to Muslims, it was
more of political expediency rather than
a blind alliance. It was, in fact,
Mangoo Ram, who categorically said no to
the mandarins of partition (Chumber
1986:52; Sain 1985:37). But on the issue
of communal representation for the
Achhuts, he showed keen interest in
its implementation for the Achhuts.
When Gandhi sat on fast-unto-death at
Poona against the separate electorate
for untouchables, Mangoo Ram followed
suit declaring “Gandhi if you are
prepared to die for your Hindus, then I
am prepared to die for these
untouchables”. On this Mangoo Ram was
accused of being a casteist.
Gandhi
pleaded on behalf of the Sudhras
and tried to live like a Bhangi
among them to experience what hardships
they faced. But Mangoo Ram was one of
them. He was a Chamar who
experienced the pangs of untouchability.
Thus, his response to the epic fast
against separate electorate was not
merely pragmatic but also an existential
one. When Dr. Ambedkar compromised with
Gandhi and the Poona Pact was signed,
Mangoo Ram rang up Dr. Ambedkar in an
angry mood and expressed his anguish as
to why he agreed to the Pact. Dr.
Ambedkar said that he had to sign the
Poona Pact on human grounds to save the
life of Gandhi. The Ad Dharmis perceived
that the scheduled castes had lost much
more than what they gained in the Poona
Pact (Chumber 1986: 51). That is why
Mangoo Ram continued his fast even after
the Pact was signed. He broke his fast
only after the government made the
declaration that eight seats were
reserved for the untouchables in
Punjab. The fast undertaken by him
continued for 28 days from 20th
September to 17th October
1932 until the Pact was received at
Jalandhar. Mangoo Ram used to say “those
people (Hindus) who had humiliated us
for thousands of years how we could
trust their promise”. Thus the followers
of Ad Dharm movement were put to severe
hardships and violence for carving out
an identity for them and asserting for
their rights. In spite of all types of
pressures and hardships, the Ad Dharmis
succeeded in registering ‘Ad Dharm’ as a
separate religion for the lower castes
in Punjab in the 1931 census.
Ad
Dharm And Dalit Identity
A
close study of the objectives set forth
by the Ad Dharm founders and the methods
adopted by them shows that they
endeavored to establish a religious
identity for the lower castes than
building up the subaltern
consciousness. The Ad Dharmis wanted to
remove the stigma of untouchability from
the face of their community and secure
equal rights and respect for the lower
caste people. However, the methods and
ways adopted by the Ad Dharm leaders
ended up with creating another religion.
The Ad Dharmis were asked to salute each
other in the name of Jai Guru Dev
(Victory to the divine guru) and in
response to that the reply was Dhan
Guru Dev (blessed be the divine
guru). These greetings were meant to
differentiate them (the untouchables)
from the other religious communities
having their own specific nomenclatures
to accost each other within their own
social circles. For example, the Hindus
address each other by ‘Namaste’, Sikhs
by ‘Sat Sri Akal’ and Muslims by
‘Salaam’. The salutation of Jai Guru
Dev and Dhan Guru Dev as a
response to that provided a separate
identity to the Ad Dharm, a new religion
of shudras.
Sant Ravidass was projected as a
spiritual preceptor and Guru. Bhagwan
Satguru Namdev, Maharaj Kabir and Rishi
Valmiki were also included in the
theology of Ad Dharm. The Sanskrit
phrase sohang (I am that) was
adopted as a mantra by the new
religion, Ad Dharm. It is still being
used in the wall calendars showing Guru
Ravidass’s picture. As far as the
salutations are concerned, they have
become memorabilia of the Ad Dharm
movement.
The
protagonists of the Ad Dharm movement
also strived to provide their new
religion with a sacred book called Ad
Prakash, the original light. The
purpose of such a move was to
institutionalize the newly created
religion. Mangoo Ram expressed his will
among his closest circle that on his
death only the sacred couplets from the
Ad Prakash should be chanted. So
after his death, only the Ad Prakash
was recited on the death ceremony. At
that time only a hand written copy of
the Ad Prakash was available.
Subsequently, Sant Isher Dass of village
Nandgarh of District Hoshiarpur compiled
the holy book. Thus the Ad Dharm
movement provided a new sense of
identity to the untouchables that they
lacked earlier. In fact, the Ad Dharm
developed into a qaum (a
community) similar to those of Muslims,
Sikhs and Hindus.
The
Ad Dharm made substantial contribution
to the social and political life of
dalits in Punjab. It tried to generate
an awareness among the Dalits for
bringing a cultural revolution in the
society perforated with the evil of low
and high caste dichotomy. Although, a
large number of social organizations had
sprung up since the early twenties for
the benefits of the untouchables, all of
them were patronized by the upper castes
and failed to bring any significant
change as far as the trajectories of
varna system and caste configuration
of the Indian society were concerned.
Given the obnoxious contents of the
social taboos and the anti-Dalit social
practices, it was adventurous for the
untouchables to think about forming an
organisation to fight for the cause of
social liberation. Why Ad Dharm had to
project Dalits as a separate qaum
with an independent religion, was not
only a sociological issue but had deep
political undercurrents in an
inegalitarian social system where some
people were excluded from the mainstream
on the basis of their birth.
Interestingly enough, their being
untouchable was more pronounced in terms
of denying them the benefits of
facilities available in the civil
society and less in terms of seeking
their menial services.
However, with the introduction of the
adult franchise the untouchables have no
longer been ‘untouchable’ so far as
their votes are concerned. But they are
hardly encouraged to aspire for the seat
of power. The game of numbers has made
it imperative for the Hindus to have
claim on the untouchables. Even in the
instruction guide for the 1931 census
mention was made that
[a]ll chuhras who are
not Muslims or Christians, and who do
not return any other religion, should be
returned as Hindus. The same rule
applies to members of other depressed
classes who have no tribal religion
(1931 Census, Punjab, Vol. 20, Chap. 11,
p. 289, as quoted in Juergensmeyer
1988:73)
The
emancipatory project launched by Mangoo
Ram inspired the lower castes to make
efforts for their upliftment. The scope
of the project, as vividly enunciated in
the resolution passed in the first
meeting of the Ad Dharm posited emphasis
on the social equality of the Dalits and
stressed on creating social and cultural
awakening rather than merely seeking
jobs and other benefits from the
government. The Ad Dharm Report listed
ten basic principles and twelve duties
of the Ad Dharm organisation and
fifty-six commandments to be followed by
the Ad Dharmis. The report of the Ad
Dharm Mandal, 1926-1931 was published on
May 15,1931 in Urdu. Mark Juergensmeyer
and Surjit Singh Goraya translated it
into English (Jurgensmeyer 1988). C. L.
Chumber translated it into Hindi and
Punjabi (Chumber 11 June 2000). The
Hindi and Punjabi translation include
the name of the five hundred members of
the Ad Dharm Mandal and its fifty-five
missionaries, which were not included in
the English translation.
The basic principles listed in the
Report are: (1) The essential teachings
of the Ad Dharm will always be the same:
no one can change them. They can stay
alive and persist only through the help
of a guru. (2) Every man and woman
belongs to the faith, but they may not
know it. To live without a guru is a
sin. (3) A guru should be someone who
truly and rightly knows the teachings of
the previous masters. He should be able
to distinguish between falsehood and
truth. He should be able to bring peace
and love within the community. (4)
Everyone should be instructed by the
lives of previous masters; progress
comes from following the masters’
examples. The practices of previous
masters should not be abandoned. This
leads to progress. (5) There should not
be any discrimination in regard to
eating with other castes. (6) Ad Dharmis
should abstain from theft, fraud, lies,
dishonesty, looking at someone else’s
wife with bad intentions, using anything
which brings intoxication, gambling, and
usurping other persons’ property or
belongings. All of these things are
against the law of nature and therefore
the law of Ad Dharm. (7) Every Ad Dharmi
has the duty to teach his children
current knowledge and also to teach them
to be obedient to the present king. (8)
Every Ad Dharmi should read the Ad
Prakash and act upon it. This is a
foremost duty. (9) Ad Dharm does not
believe in the caste system or any
inferiority or superiority of this sort.
(10) To learn and seek knowledge, and to
learn and seek progress is compulsory
for every man and woman.
The twelve duties mentioned in the
Report are as follows: (1) To publicize
and propagate Ad Dharm. (2) To take
pride in Ad Dharm. (3) To promote the
use of name of the community and to use
the red mark, which is its sign. (4) Ad
Dharmis should try to retrieve any
property of fellow Ad Dharmi that has
been usurped. (5) We should distinguish
among Hindus, Ad Dharmis, and other
communities of India. (6) Those books,
which have created the problem of
untouchability and led to
discrimination - books such as the Laws
of Manu and other Shastras – should be
completely boycotted and abandoned. (7)
We should celebrate the festivals of our
gurus and follow our faith to the
utmost. (8) Abandon idolatry. (9)
Receive education for ourselves and
others in the brotherhood. (10) Boycott
those who curse us as “untouchables” or
discriminate against us. (11) Bring all
demands of Ad Dharmis before the
government. (12) Abandon expensive
marriage and practice of child marriage.
The fifty-six commandments included in
the Report are: (1) Each Ad Dharmi
should know everything about the faith.
(2) For the betterment and salvation of
one’s body – physical and spiritual –
one should recite the word soham. (3)
Each Ad Dharmi should remember Guru Dev
for half an hour each morning or
evening. (4) When Ad Dharmis meet, their
greeting should be “jai Guru Dev.” (5)
We should be true followers of the
founders, Rishi Valmiki, Guru Ravi Das,
Maharaj Kabir, and Bhagwan Sat Guru Nam
Dev. (6) A guru is necessary, one who
knows about previous gurus and has all
the capabilities of being a guru. (7)
The wife of a guru should be regarded as
one’s mother, the guru’s daughter as
one’s sister. (8) Devotion to one’s wife
should be a part of one’s faith, for
therein lies salvation. (9) Every Ad
Dharmi should abstain from theft, fraud,
lies, dishonesty, and usurping the
property of others. (11) One should not
cause someone else heartache. There is
no worse sin than this. (12) Every Ad
Dharmi should enthusiastically
participate in Ad Dharmi festivals and
rituals. (13) There should be equally
great happiness at the birth of both
boys and girls. (14) After the age of
five, every boy and girl should be given
proper religious teaching. (15)
Extravagant expenses at weddings are
useless. Every marriage should be
conducted according to rituals of our
tradition. (16) Ad Dharmis should marry
only Ad Dharmis. To marry someone
outside Ad Dharm is not legal, but if
someone does marry an outsider, he or
she should be brought into the faith.
(17) All Ad Dharmis, both men and women,
should be obedient to their parents.
(18) After the death of both parents it
is the duty of each Ad Dharmi to cook
food and distribute it among the poor.
(19) The dead should be cremated, except
for those under the age of five, who
should be buried. (20) Ad Dharmis do not
follow any other law except their own.
(21) In the Ad Dharm faith only one
marriage is allowed, but a husband may
marry after the death of his wife. Also,
if the first wife does not bear
children, the husband may take another
wife, provided he has the consent of the
first wife. If this happens, the first
wife remains a legal wife, with all the
rights she had before. (22) Ad Dharmis
should marry their children to the Ad
Dharmis of the surrounding areas. (23) A
girl should be more than twelve years
old at the time of the marriage. The boy
should be four years older than the
girl. (24) It is illegal to receive
money for a bride; on the other hand,
there should not be a dowry. Those who
sell their daughters commit a very great
sin. (25) Offerings and sacrifices for
prayers should be given only to those
holy men who are Ad Dharmi and who have
shown themselves to follow Ad Dharmi
principles religiously. (26) It is
necessary for each Ad Dharmi to provide
primary education to both boys and
girls. (27) The girls should be educated
especially in household work such as
sewing and needlework. (28) Young girls
and boys should not be sent out to cut
grass and gather wood. (29) It is the
duty of parents not to allow young
widowed daughters to remain in their
household, because a young widowed
daughter is a cause of disgrace. (30) If
an Ad Dharmi widow with children wants
to hold a commemoration of her deceased
husband, but cannot afford it, then the
Ad Dharm Mandal of Jullundur and its
members will help her. (31) It is not
good to cry and beat oneself at a death
or funeral. To do so is to anger Guru
Dev. (32) Among the Ad Dharmis sons and
daughters should receive an equal
inheritance. (33) To eat the meat of a
dead animal or bird is against the law
of Ad Dharm. (34) To use wine or any
other intoxicants is a sin, except in
the case of sickness. (35) It is legal
to eat food offered at noon – Ad Dharm
marriages, but the food should be
decent, and not leftovers. (36)
Cleanliness is important. It guaranteed
good health. (37) It is forbidden to
practice idolatry and worship statues,
and one should not believe in magic,
ghosts, or anything of the sort. (38)
All Ad Dharmis should forget notions of
caste and untouchability and work toward
the unity of all people in the world.
(39) Each Ad Dharmi should help a fellow
Ad Dharmi in need. (40) One Ad Dharmi
must not work at a place where another
Ad Dharmi works until the first Ad
Dharmi has been paid his wages. (41) If
Ad Dharmis enter into a dispute with one
another, they should attempt to come to
some agreement by themselves or within
the community. If no agreement is
accomplished, they should refer the case
to the Ad Dharm Mandal, Jullundur, and
the Executive Committee will take
action. (42) Ad Dharmis should open
shops and business in every village.
(43) Every Ad Dharmi should be a
missionary for the faith. (44) Ad
Dharmis should call themselves such and
register in the census as “Ad Dharmi”.
(45) A Red turban on the head is
mandatory, for it is the color of our
ancestors. (46) Every Ad Dharmi should
work hard for the progress and peace of
the community. (47) Ad Dharmis hould
organize themselves into cadres called
martyrdom cells. They should work hard
on the Ad Dharm’s projects. (48) Each Ad
Dharmis hould separate himself form
Hindus, Sikhs, and members of other
religions. (49) Each Ad Dharmi should be
a good citizen, a patriot loyal to the
present government, and should follow
the law of the land. (50) Ad Dharmis
have the obligation to consider the Ad
Dharm Mandal of Punjab, city of
Jullundur, as their rightful
representative, and to recognize that
the programs of the AD Dharm are for
their benefit. (51) It is the duty of
every Ad Dharmi to trust the Ad Dharm
Mandal of jullundur, and to share its
work. (52) All local branches of the Ad
Dharm should be certified by the Ad
Dharm Mandal of Jullundur, and those,
which are not certified, should not be
considered genuine. (53) All Ad Dharmis
should save their fellow Ad Dharmis from
fraud and selfishness on the part of
other communities. If such a situation
arises, the Mandal should be informed.
(54) Each Ad Dharmi should report any
difficulty concerning the community to
the Mandal in Jullundur. (55) Ad Dharmis
should subscribe to the qaum’s
newspaper, Adi Danka. They should
receive it regularly, read it
regularly,a nd help support it
regularly. (56) Anyone violating the
laws of the Ad Dharm or of the guru, or
who insults these laws in one way or
another, will be liable to punishment,
even the greatest punishment – being
banished from the community.
The
main emphasis of these commandments,
principles and duties was on the
cultural, social and religious aspects
of the life. The Report also includes
twenty-five resolutions passed in the
first Ad Dharm Conference in 1926. The
government was requested to provide
special schools and scholarships for the
untouchable children (resolutions
7,10,11); proper representation in
elected bodies and government
departments (resolution 17); to
eliminate rayit-namma and not to
apply the Land Alienation Act to the
untouchables (resolution 13). The Ad
Dharm Mandal led by Mangoo Ram was able
to raise the religious and
organisational status of the
untouchables beyond imagination. The new
constitution of independent India,
adopted on 26 January 1950, incorporated
special provisions for Dalits to raise
their social status and to help them to
come at par with the rest of the
society. In fact, the voice for such
special provisions were first raised by
the Ad Dharm in 1926 and subsequently
documented in its report in 1931. In
1950, Mangoo Ram requested his qaum
to relieve him of active social service
life and called upon young Ad Dharmis to
come forward to take the flag of Dalit
liberation.
However, for two decades, i.e. from 1950
to 1970, Ad Dharm movement remained
dormant for reasons best known to its
leaders. In fact, most of the Adi
movements in different parts of the
country ceased to play an active role in
the post-colonial India until 1970. Some
of their leaders either joined the
Congress or, for some time, carried out
their political struggle under the
leadership of Dr. Ambedkar. Some
scholars believed that the Ad Dharm
movement was eventually absorbed into
Dr. Ambedkar’s Scheduled Castes
federation and finally transformed into
the Republican Party of India. It has
also been said that in 1946 the Ad Dharm
Mandal handed over the charge of
political struggle to Dr. Ambedkar’s
Scheduled Castes Federation and confined
itself to the social and religious
matters affecting the Scheduled castes.
However, facts do not support such an
analysis. After the 1937 Punjab Assembly
elections, in which the Ad Dharm won all
but one-reserved seats, the low-lying
factionalism within its organisation
came onto the surface. The main
factional confrontation was between Seth
Kishan Das and Master Gurbanta Singh.
Seth Kishan Das was a rich man of the
famous Boota Mandi, whose financial
support to the Ad Dharm Mandal was no
secret. He was also in the good books of
Mangoo Ram, President of the Mandal.
Master Gurbanta Singh was an Arya-samaji
turned congress sympathiser who had also
served Ad Dharm at one time as a General
Secretary. He projected himself as a
real representative of the untouchables
being one of them as a poor man. Seth
Kishan Das, a wealthy leather merchant,
in his view, could not empathise with
the poor untouchables. He contested 1937
Punjab Assembly election as a congress
nominee from the Jalandhar reserved seat
against Seth Kishan Das who was
supported by the Ad Dharm Mandal. Seth
Kishan Das defeated Master Gurbanta
Singh with a big margin. This further
widened the gulf between them. In the
meantime, Seth Kishan Das formed the
Achhut Federation, a Punjabi version of
Dr. Ambedkar’s Scheduled Castes
Federation. Mr. Gopal Singh Khalsa, an
M.L.A. from the Ludhiana reserved seat,
joined him as a Vice-President. Seth
Kishan Das formed Achhut Federation
without taking Mangoo Ram into
confidence who, in turn, got enraged by
his behaviour. Master Gurbanta Singh
exploited this opportunity and stepped
into the Ad Dharm Mandal. He managed to
come closer to Mangoo Ram. However,
Master Gurbanta Singh had also formed
“Ravidass Naujawan Sabha” and carried
out for some time ‘Ravidass Jaikara’, as
the publication of the sabha. Bhagat
Singh Mal, Pritam Singh Bala, Karam
Chand Shenmar were some of the prominent
members of the Ravidass Naujawan Sabha.
He, in fact, reportedly wanted to
emulate Mangoo Ram by forming an
organisation and a publication to match
‘Adi Danka’, the weekly newspaper of Ad
Dharm. In the 1946-47 Punjab Assembly
election, Mangoo Ram put his weight
behind Master Gurbanta Singh who was a
congress nominee against Kishan Das of
the “Achhut Federation”. This time,
Master Gurbanta Singh defeated Seth
Kishan Das.
However, by now the leadership of the Ad
Dharm Mandal got scattered into
different political segments, thanks to
the allurement of political offices.
Mangoo Ram himself got elected to the
Assembly with the support of the
Unionist Party from the Hoshiarpur
constituency. The “Ad Dharm Mandal”
building, which was constructed with the
financial support of Seth Kishan Das,
came under the control of Master
Gurbanta Singh who eventually became the
custodian of its property and Chairman
of Ravidass High School.
A
cursory glance at these developments in
the Ad Dharm conjured up a pessimistic
image about the Ad Dharm movement as if
it had ceased to exist in the late
forties. But what one needs to keep in
mind while analysing the scope of the
movement is that movement is too big a
phenomenon to be confined within the
boundaries of a compact organisation or
a political party. Political
organisations and political parties may
branch out from the domain of a
movement. And the movement may for some
time go into a gestation period to
resurface again.
The
“Achhut Federation” and the emergence of
an articulate dalit leadership, which
eventually joined the congress, was, in
fact, the product of the Ad Dharm
movement. The coming up of the Achhut
Federation and joining of the congress
party by some of the Ad Dharmis should
not be interpreted as the demise of the
Ad Dharm movement. Even when the
movement was in low ebb, Mangoo Ram and
his associates like Sant Ram Azad and
Chanan Lal Manak remained steadfast on
the principles and sustenance of Ad
Dharm movement.
Rejuvenation
Even in 1970 when Mangu Ram Jaspal made
efforts, another Ad Dharmi of the Doaba
region who had returned from England to
settle in Jalandhar, to revive the
movement, the veteran Mangoo Ram
promptly came forward to help
resuscitate the movement. Some other
distinguished Ad Dharmis, who remained
loyal to the movement even during its
gestation period, wrote series of
articles in the Ravidass Patrika
of the new Ad Dharm movement. The new Ad
Dharm movement got resurged and revamped
on December 13, 1970 under the banner of
“Ad Dharm Scheduled Castes Federation”.
There were striking similarities between
the “Ad Dharm Mandal” and the “Ad Dharm
Scheduled Castes Federation”. As a
matter of fact, Mangoo Ram commented
that ‘We’re back to where we were in
1925'. Until the objective conditions or
contradictions that initially propelled
the movement were altered or resolved,
the goals and ideology remained intact
to reemerge at the slightest
opportunity.
The
main objectives of the Ad Dharm movement
were to carve out an independent
identity for the untouchables and to
blot out the stigma of untouchability.
Although, the Ad Dharm movement played
an effective role in mobilizing Dalits
on these vital issues, the shift in the
then political arena, induced by the
electoral system, forced the movement to
adjust itself with the changed political
scenario. As the majority of the Ad
Dharm leadership got involved in the
electoral process to gain political
power, it eventually diluted its
emphasis on the goals of removal of
untouchability and the construction of a
separate identity. As a result the
‘objective conditions’ remained
unchanged. In spite of legal provisions
enshrined in the new constitution, the
traditional authority structures of
hierarchy resisted and stalled the
process of transformation.
“Our people, said
Mangoo Ram, in the government are still
treated like slaves. They fear their
superiors and high caste people.
(Juergensmeyer 1988: 258). In other
words, the evil of untouchability has
not been eradicated from the complex
social structure of the society.
“Physical untouchability has given way
to the mental untouchability”.
Moreover, the goal of constructing a
communal identity for the untouchables
by developing a separate religion,
though partly achieved in the 1931
census, was rolled back in 1932 by the
Poona Pact. Henceforth, from the status
of a religion, Ad Dharm was reduced into
a category of caste. So, instead of
elevating the status of the
untouchables, it had a negative impact
on the Dalit mobilization. A new caste
was added to the already long list of
Scheduled castes. Chamars were
further categorized into Chamars
and Ad Dharmis.
The
new Ad Dharm movement in the seventies
was organized against this background.
It pledged to revive the spirit of
social and cultural transformation, as
ignited by Mangoo Ram in the 1920’s.
Efforts were also made to keep away from
the vicissitudes of power politics that
had marred social and cultural stances
of the original Ad Dharm movement. The
Ad Dharm Scheduled Castes Federation
reiterated on the importance of communal
identity of the Ad Dharmis as a separate
qaum. In fact, the revived
movement was more theological. Religion
was employed as a rallying point for
harnessing the allegiance of the
untouchables. The construction of
Ravidass Temple in Benares and
highlighting the Ravidass temple (Dera
Sach Khand Ballan) in village
Ballan near Bhogpur town of Jalandhar
was the focal point of the new Ad Dharm
movement. The first conference of the
revived movement was held at a religious
place – Dera Sach Khand
Ballan. It focussed on the renewal of
the qaumi identity. However, in
due course some material demands were
also included. Land reforms and raising
the income limit from Rs.3600 to 6000,
for defining poverty, were among the
most important demands in this regard.
The
revived Ad Dharm movement attempted to
widen the scope of Ad Dharm religion by
including in its fold, the Chuhras
(sweeper caste), Mazhbi Sikhs,
Ramdasias, and the Ambedkar Buddhists.
In order to enlist the support of the
Chuhras, who got estranged from the
Ad Dharm, (Saberwal 1976:68) Valmiki,
the patron saint of the sweeper caste,
was assigned special importance in the
revived movement.
Although the “Ad Dharm Scheduled Castes
Federation” adopted the well-tried-out
formulae of Dalit mobilization, it could
not succeed in eliciting the same level
of response. The practice of
untouchability, the most important
‘structural factor’ in mobilizing
untouchables in 1920s, has been bridled
to a significant extent. Moreover, the
articulate leaders of the Scheduled
castes were co-opted in the congress
system, which operated like an umbrella
to incorporate various shades of
political orientations and
organizations. Moreover, what the Ad
Dharm was aspiring for during the
British regime, the congress delivered
the same in the postcolonial phase.
Even Mangoo Ram had acknowledged it and
said
Dhanwad karna congress raj wala chotte
waddhe da bhaid mitta ditta. Mahatama
Gandhi ji bauhat upkar kitta girian
kauman nu saath mila ditta.
(Thanks to the congress regime for
bridging the gap between the lower and
the higher. Mahatama Gandhi ji did a lot
of social service to bring the
downtrodden at par with the other
communities).
However, before the revived Ad Dharm
movement lost in the whirlpool of
militant fundamentalism in Punjab in the
1980s, fresh efforts were made to keep
the struggle alive by publishing
souvenirs, journals, and weekly news
bulletins to glorify the various aspects
of the movement. In January 1985, the
Mangoo Ram Mugowalia Souvenir Committee
released a souvenir in commemoration of
the 99th birth anniversary of Mangoo
Ram. The purpose of the souvenir was to
generate awareness among the scheduled
castes about the protagonists and
sympathizers of the Ad Dharm mandal.
Moreover, as a sequel to the Adi
Danka of the 1920s and Ravidass
Patrika of the 1970s, a Punjabi
monthly named Kaumi Udarian was
launched from Jalandhar in December
1985. It endeavored to give wide
coverage to the different aspects of the
Ad Dharm movement of the 1920s and its
contemporary relevance. In January 1986,
a special issue of the Kaumi Udarian
was published on the birth centenary of
Babu Mangoo Ram. Likewise on 12 January
1997 the “Bahujan Samaj Bulletin” (a
weekly newspaper of the Bahujan Samaj
Party) also focussed on various themes
of the Ad Dharm movement. It was, in
fact, through the columns of souvenirs,
journals and news bulletins that many of
the rare official documents of the “Ad
Dharm Mandal” were made public. In
addition, on 14 April 1986, the Ambedkar
Mission Society, Punjab, posthumously
honoured Babu Mangoo Ram with the title
of Kaumi Messiah (saviour of the
community). The important factor that
distinguished the revival of the Ad
Dharm movement in the 1980s,
particularly under the BSP, was that it
laid less emphasis on the appeal of
religion to seek support for the
movement. It is politics that has now
acquired the centrestage pushing
religion into the background. No doubt
the movement right from the very
beginning had shown interest in gaining
political power for purposes of bringing
about the basic social transformation as
witnessed during the Assembly elections
in 1937 and 1946-47. The Ad Dharmis
found it convenient to use religion as a
strategy to political power. However,
the real objective of the Ad Dharm
movement was to create an egalitarian
social structure where Ad Dharmis would
be proud of their community and feel
free to aspire for equal opportunities.
With an aim of achieving the same
objective, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
has become active in Punjab since 1985.
Of late the Party has claimed, “the
ideology of Ad Dharm has become the
spine, heart, brain, eyes, feet, and
arms of the struggle of the BSP”
(Bahujan Samaj Bulletin 12 January
1997:8). In 1996, it won three of the
thirteen parliamentary seats and
recorded leads in as many as seventeen
assembly constituencies in Punjab (Verma
1999). Kanshi Ram, founder of the BSP,
was elected to Loksabha (1996) from the
Hoshiarpur constituency, wherefrom 50
years ago Babu Mangoo Ram, founder of
the Ad Dharm movement, got elected to
the Punjab Assembly in 1946. More
interestingly, it was again in
Hoshiarpur that the BSP celebrated 75th
year of the AD Dharm movement on 28
February 2001. On this occassion ,
Kanshi Ram in his address exhorted the
“bahujan samaj” to follow the principles
of the Ad Dharm movement of which the
BSP has, now, become the torch-bearer.
The
pamphlet, issued by the BSP, also
emphasized that the Party had taken
forward the mission of the Ad Dharm
movement. It reiterated that although
Dr. Ambedkar tried to give political
freedom to the downtrodden by granting
them the right to vote in the
constitution, but in actual practice it
could not be realised fully. Further,
the Pamphlet stressed that the ‘Manuite
regimes’ have conspired to deprive the
Dalits of their hard earned rights by
proposing to amend the constitution. The
BSP, which drew inspiration from Ad
Dharm and Dr. Ambedkar, strongly
condemned such moves and sought support
in its tirade against the Manuite
government.
Simultaneously, the efforts have also
been made to revive the spirit of the Ad
Dharm movement abroad. Begumpura
Times Quarterly, a bilingual
publication of the “Ad Dharm Brotherhood
Intl. Wolverhampton, U.K.” (Started in
1999) has carried a series of articles
on various aspects of the Ad Dharm
movement and the steps taken for its
revival. The Ad Dharm Brotherhood Intl.
also celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of
the Ad Dharm movement at Shri Guru
Ravidass Community Centre,
Wolverhampton, on 11 June 2000. Earlier,
on 25 July 1976, it celebrated the
Golden Jubilee of the Ad Dharm in U.K.
where Babu Mangoo Ram was invited as the
chief guest and also honoured with a
pension of Rs. 1000 per month (Sain,
1985:37).
In
India, the Platinum Jubilee function of
the movement was organised at the Desh
Bhagat Yaadgar Hall, Jalandhar on 11
June 2000. On this occassion, Mr.
Chumber released the report of “Ad Dharm
Mandal” 1931 (in Punjabi and Hindi)
which included the names of 500 members
and 55 missionaries of the mandal. The
purpose of publishing the names of the
members and missionaries was to
acknowledge their contributions to the
upliftment of the dalit community and
also to generate an active interest
among the younger generation of their
families. The report also made a call
to the scheduled castes to record Ad
Dharm as their religion in the 2001
census as was done in the 1931 census.
The Ad Dharm Brotherhood Intl., U.K,
made a similar appeal. Mention may be
made here that the Ad Dharm movement of
the 1920s had also received support from
the immigrant Ad dharmis settled in New
Zealand, Fiji, Singapore, U.K. etc. As
the ideology and principles of the Ad
Dharm movement greatly influenced the
dalits of the Doaba region, most of the
immigrants who supported the movement
from abroad also hailed from this very
region. The present BSP, under the
leadership of Kanshi Ram, which claims
to fight for the rights of dalits in the
framework of the Ad Dharm movement, has
high hopes from the Doaba region.
Moreover, given the significant number
of Scheduled Castes in Punjab (28.31% as
per 1991 census), there is a possibility
of the emergence of alternative dalit
politics.
The
Impediments
What stumbled the dalits in Punjab to
emerge, as a political alternative
despite their numerical strength is that
they have not been able to consolidate
themselves as a homogeneous group. In
fact, they form a conglomerate of
thirty-seven distinct Dalit castes with
different sub identities and diverse
religious affiliations. The Thirtyseven
Castes are: Ad-Dharmi, Valmiki
(Chura, Bhangi), Bangali, Barar (Burar
of Berar), Batwal, Bauria (Bawria),
Bazigar, Bhnajra, Chamar (Jatia Chamar,
Rehgar, Raigar, Ramdasi, Ravidasi),
Chanal, Dagi, Darain, Deha (Dhaya,
Dhea), Dhanak, Kabirpanthi (Julala),
Khatik, Kori- koli, Marija (Marecha),
Mazhbi, Megh, Nat, Od, Pasi, Perna,
Pheera, Sanhai, Sanhal, Sansi (Bhedkut,
Manesh), Sansoi, Dhogri (Dhangri,
Siggi), Dumna (Mahasha, Doom), Gagra,
Gandhila (Gandeil), Sapela, Sareta,
Sikligar, Sirkiband, (Census of India
1991, Series 17-Punjab). The rules
of the caste grammar treating one caste
as superior to another are equally
followed by the scheduled castes in the
state. A study based on the fieldwork
has found that 76.6 percent of the dalit
respondents ranked Ad Dharmi at the top
of the hierarchy of the scheduled castes
in Punjab. Being conscious of their
superior status the Ad Dharmis practice
endogamy to maintain their distinctness
from the other dalit castes. Further,
the study reported that 91.6 percent of
the Ad Dharmis had married within their
own caste. Another emperical study
reveals that among the Valmikis and the
Ad Dharmis in Punjab there exists a
substantial measure of active caste
consciousness, which further precluded
them, forging unity to fight out the
socio-economic and political
backwardness.
According to 1981 census, in terms of
their numerical strength the Mazhabis,
the sikh counterparts of Valmikis also
known as chuhras, were 13,66,843;
chamars (also called Ramdasias,
Ravidasies etc.) 12,21,145; Ad Dharmis
6,80,132; Valmikis 5,32,628; Dumnas
1,24,929; Bazigars 1,20,250; Meghs
78,405; Bawarias 62,624; Sansis 61,986;
and Kabirpanthis 56,888 followed by rest
of the scheduled castes in varied
smaller denominations. Out of the
thirty-seven castes, the Punjab
government declared thirteen as the
‘Depressed Scheduled Castes’. Seven of
these thirteen Depressed Scheduled
Castes are identified by the Punjab
government as the ‘De-notified Tribes‘
or the ‘Vimukta Jatis’ who were declared
by the colonial administration as
‘Vagrant and Criminal tribes’. These
thirteen castes together constituted
only 11 percent of the scheduled caste
population. Chamars, Mazhabis, Ad
Dharmis and Valmikis together constitute
nearly three-fourth of the total
scheduled castes population of Punjab.
Apart from above, the factor of economic
inequalities among the dalits in the
state is no less significant. The Ad
Dharmis of the Boota Mandi in Jalandhar
who control the leather industry are the
richest among the scheduled castes of
Punjab. Moreover, a group of scheduled
castes has established its hold over the
surgical tool-manufacturing units in the
Jalandhar town. Likewise, a small
number of scheduled castes households
also own cultivable land (around 0.40
percent of the total holdings in Punjab)
that makes them different from most
other Dlits whose mainstay of livelihood
depends on the income as manual and
landless labourers. Similarly, some
sections of the scheduled castes,
particularly the chamar and Ad Dharmis
have acquired administrative positions
in the state administration.
The
above analysis shows that Dlits of
Punjab constitute a motley group of
castes, economic strata and religious
identities. Besides, the Dlits lack an
all-Punjab leader to mobilize them
across religious and regional
variations. It was precisely because of
these intra-Dlit cleavages that they
could not emerge as a cohesive force to
reckon with in the politics of Punjab.
In the absence of a common platform,
some of the Dlits and their local elites
seek their salvation through different
political outfits including the Congress
and the Akali Dal.
Conclusion
What we have tried to argue above is
that the Dlit consciousness is a
consciousness of seeking justice and
equality,which was born in the early 20th century.
Another aspect of Dalit consciousness
that needs to be underlined is that it
has never been an exclusive domain of
Dalits only. Intermittently it continued
to receive inputs from non-Dalit
quarters as well. Be it a phase of
Bhakti movement, Sufis,
Indian renaissance or of national
freedom movement, there is an ample
proof of efforts being made by non-Dalits
in the direction of eradication of
untouchability. However, almost all of
them thought it appropriate to take
measures for the removal of
untouchability without doing away with
the inegalitarian social structure. This
has led to a sharp division between the
orientation of the Dalits and the higher
caste protagonists of social reform
movements. The rise of Ad Dharm movement
and Gandhi-Ambedkar dispute are
testimonies to such polarization between
the Dalits and the twice born. This
division in turn further strengthened
the process of consolidation of Dalit
consciousness in a framework of ‘we’ and
‘others’. The issues of caste and
untouchability instead of emerging as a
common social problem with a unified
response across the length and breadth
of Indian sub-continent has taken on a
path of confrontation and antagonism.
Dalit consciousness grew along these
fault lines. Indian freedom struggle
failed to provide an environment for the
emergence of a politics based on
consensus and common concerns. This was
probably the main reason for the
continuance of the ideology and
principles of the Ad Dharm movement in
Punjab through the efforts of the BSP.
More curiously,
Dalits became victim of their own Dalit
consciousness, which instead of
transcending caste and caste based
hierarchies strengthened caste
identities. Uptil very recently they (Dalits)
were condemned as untouchable because of
their being low caste, now they have
been given favours constitutionally, too
because of their being low caste. Hence
as far as the social status of Dalits is
concerned no significant change has
really taken place. The blatant
untouchability of yesteryears got
transformed into a subtle form. Once a
Scheduled Caste succeeded to raise his
economic status by making use of
reservation, he absolutely finds no
avenues to concomitantly raise his
social status also. He then desperately
seeks new identities in borrowing
religions and sometimes even borrowing
respectable sub-caste titles. Such
borrowed identities haunt him
incessantly because his new incarnation
failed to get recognition in the
hierarchical social set up.
It
is in this context that the contribution
of the Ad Dharm movement becomes
crucial. It helped the scheduled castes
to seek social recognition through the
process of cultural transformation on
the one hand and spiritual regeneration
on the other. It carved out a new
identity for them. It gave them a new
name: Ad Dharmi. The very title of Ad
Dharmi instills in the minds of the
scheduled castes a sense of pride. It
reminds them of their pristine rich
heritage. It also realised them as to
how they were deprived of freedom and
liberty and made subservient to the
twice born. The Ad Dharm movement
succeeded in raising the consciousness
of the downtrodden people of the Doaba
region of Punjab in particular and of
the entire state in general. It gave
them gurus to believe in, a qaum
to belong to and a sense of history to
relate with. It envisions them the
possibility and potentiality of a social
change whereby the scheduled castes
could think and make efforts to improve
their lot. The process of cultural
transformation and spiritual
regeneration started by the Ad Dharm
movement under the leadership of Mangoo
Ram continued to reverberate the cities
and villages of Punjab into the 21st
century through different platforms and
political formations |
