03 April, 2013

Untouchable but not Dalit (1 Picture & Texts)


 
     (Thanks VSSM to give this moment)
     Mangabhai Parmar (in picture); Lathi, District: Amreli, Gujarat; is a man of hard working. Sweat is nature of his body, and this nature has derived from social tradition, let me say from caste system. How? Briefly, Mangabhai belongs to Nat (not Marwadi Nut) community. Nat is the one of twenty eight nomadic tribes in Gujarat. Nat population is 10580 in 82 villages of Gujarat, this updated information given by Babubhai Solanki (Nat), Chotila, District: Surendranagar. Nat has traditional works like to walk on rope, to do very different kind of body exercises with rings, bamboo, swards etc. that give surprise and entertainment to viewers. Nat makes all these activities publically, but here one thing is very necessary to remember that traditionally Nut did not have social permission to show his typical art of body before all communities, but only Dalit communities, of village and town. Because of very less education and fast growing technology Nats are losing their traditional work and becoming drivers, farm labors, masons and similarly others. Nat’s dwellings have been in Dalit specially ‘Vankar (Weaver) locality for years, so here one another thing is necessary to remember that because of this compulsion imposed by the society, migrated from the state of the Rajsthan, Nat has been facing the untouchability in Gujarat for years.
     Nut community could not become beneficiary of reservation policy and of welfare schemes for Scheduled Castes (Dalit), even though victimized of the untouchability, because he is not in the list of the Scheduled Castes, and this is the surprise. Any community that is victimized of the untouchability must be in the List of the Scheduled Castes, for, that is its right. I cannot say Constitutional right because Constitution is silent about the definition of Scheduled Castes.  
(What The Constitution of The India says, - Article 341(1) - The president after consultant with the Governor by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of, or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be scheduled castes in relation to that state (or union territory, as the case may be) Article 341(2) – Parliament may by law include or exclude from the list of the Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.)
     The another surprise is that many years ago, Mochi community had been excluded from the List of the Scheduled Castes because of many kind of long term pressures created by the Dalit leadership and the Dalit communities, for, in Gujarat, Mochi community is not victimized of the untouchability like that in other states of India, so Mochi is in the List of OBC (Other Backward Classes).
     But question is that who would create the pressure on the Government to include Nut in the List of Scheduled Castes? A decade ago this kind of pressure was created by Nat community, leadership and NGOs, but result was nothing. I don’t know why, perhaps it was not strategic or it was short term or because of weaker political leadership or because of lack of political will of representatives of the Gujarat, anything could be, but now nobody thinks politically about Nat community that is one of Dalit communities, if someone does, what can be said about; guess about.