Twenty-six-year-old Mettli Naresh, a Dalit man from Telangana’s Vikarabad district, was almost lynched by a mob of nearly 200 persons on January 31. An electrician by profession, Naresh is a resident of Devanoor village in Yalal mandal. It was a conflict over the installation of a statue of BR Ambedkar by the Dalit community in the village that snowballed into a communal attack. However, the attack on Naresh cannot be seen in isolation. There seems to be a larger agenda to target Ambedkarites in Telangana by the Hindu right-wing, especially after the outrage against a speech made by Bairi Naresh, an atheist who follows Ambedkarite ideology.
On TNM’s visit to Devanoor, the road that leads to the village was dotted with statues of Swami Vivekananda, a figure now appropriated by the Hindu right-wing. These statues are a common sight in Tandur, where many villages have committees of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), a militant organisation that describes itself as “a fierce cultural and social organisation dedicated to Hindutva and nationalism.” It was founded by the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath.
As we neared the village, the water tank of the village had not one, but two saffron flags, competing with a green flag hoisted by the Muslims, making obvious the presence of a “turf war” in the village. Two police persons in plain clothes were seated under a tree near the entry point of the village. With no other people in sight, the village was enveloped in an eerie silence.
Statues of Swami Vivekananda dot the road to Devanoor
Following the incident, Naresh was arrested by the Yalal police. On January 31, when he was kept in the Police Station’s cell, a large mob, mostly members of the HYV, entered the police station and assaulted him until he fell unconscious. A police officer was also assaulted in the incident.
The attack against the Dalit man has created tensions in Devanoor, which has a population of over 3,000. The Backward Classes (BC) — comprising the Mudiraj, Yadav, and Goud communities — are numerically strong in the village. Among them, the Mudiraj are the dominant community, with a population of nearly 700. The Dalits — Malas and Madigas — make up around 500, while the Muslim population is around 150, according to Devanoor village sarpanch Shiva Kumar. Although few in number, Muslims are still able to assert themselves in public spaces, as evidenced by the green flag.
Like in most villages, there is a clear segregation in Devanoor between the places where Dalits and other castes live. Dalits are commonly relegated to the eastern end in the village, and it is no different in Devanoor. The violence against Naresh has made the divisions even deeper. Dalits have been defying BC ‘supremacy’, thus irking the other caste groups, says Krishna, Naresh’s relative. The murderous attack against him was also a consequence of this, alleged the Dalits in the village.
The Ambedkar statue that triggered the chain of events was donated by Tandur MLA and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Pilot Rohith Reddy, who has been donating similar statues in several villages. “The BRS party donated an Ambedkar statue to our village. We were elated over this. But Mohana Chary (a member of the HYV) from the Vadla community (BC) objected to it. Instead of Ambedkar’s statue, they wanted Chatrapathi Shivaji’s statue,” recalls Surya Prakash, another relative of Naresh. Shivaji is a figure that has been appropriated by the right-wing as the Hindu king who fought against the Mughals. Despite being irrelevant in the Telugu-speaking state, many statues of Shivaji have sprouted in Telangana. TNM could not reach Mohana Chary for his comment as he had fled the village.
Surya Prakash (left) and Srikanth (R), relatives of Mettli Naresh
Naresh’s relatives disclosed that they are supporters of the BRS. “Dalits are mostly supporters of the BRS, while the BCs are supporters of the BJP,” Surya Prakash says. The BJP, as part of its national political strategy, has been trying to mobilise the BCs in the state as a counter-strategy. The party’s intervention in Devanoor appears to be part of this larger plan. As a result, Dalits are leaning further in favour of the BRS.
Many villagers have fled Devanoor post the violent incident. According to Surya Prakash, “They could not digest the fact that the first statue that was to be installed in the village happened to be that of Ambedkar.” It was brought to the village at 5.30 pm on January 27. “The same evening, there was a wedding procession, and our boys overheard Mohana Chary talking with his friends about his plan to object to the installation of Ambedkar’s statue,” he recalled. On December 29, Dalit elders confronted Mohana Chary for creating an issue. “After we asked him what his problem was and why he has been behaving strangely, he apologised and said that he has no problem with the statue,” Krishna, a relative of Naresh says.
However, the issue did not die down with that. A day later, on January 30, Mohana Chary was passing by a few Dalit men sitting near the village’s bus stand, listening to Ambedkar songs. He commented, "These Mala-Madigas always listen to Ambedkar songs.” The Dalit men promptly questioned him about why he had a problem with it. The argument flared up and people from both sides started gathering at the bus stop. “I went there because I got a call from my friends saying that a fight is likely to break out. There were 10 of us, while their side had around 30. There was no assault, we just shoved each other,” says Naresh.
According to Mahesh Goud, a friend of Bodka Narender, Naresh humiliated and assaulted the latter who was observing a Shiva deeksha in the tussle. Dalits of the village refuted the allegations. A complaint was filed against Naresh that night at 11.30 pm with the Yalal police, said Mahesh. He was booked under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The next day, the Shiva Swamis (devotees observing the Shiva deeksha) who had congregated for lunch, called for a dharna at Lakshmanapuram junction, approximately 12 km from the village. The devotees demanded the immediate arrest of Naresh. Reportedly, the devotees made several phone calls to the police Inspector, who was busy at a Minister’s programme.
“The Sub-Inspector (SI) called me repeatedly. I went to the police station at 4.00 pm,” Naresh recalls. Though the Inspector informed the agitating crowd about the arrest and asked them to call off the protest, they instead went to the police station in large numbers. A photo of Naresh was shared on Facebook, accusing him of deliberately abusing a Shiva Swami, and gave a call for all the Shiva-Mala-wearing devotees to gather at the police station.
It was in the same Vikarabad district that Bairi Naresh, a member of the Backward Class community and the Telangana state president of the Bharata Nasthika Samajam (Atheist Society of India), was accused of allegedly making derogatory comments against the Hindu god Ayyappa.
According to Naresh, only two police personnel were present at the station at that time. “Though I was locked up in a cell, they overpowered the police, opened the cell, dragged me out, and attacked me,” he says. Videos of the violent incident have been shared widely on the internet. In the incident, the SI was also allegedly attacked by the violent mob, alleging negligence on his part.
Police have arrested six persons — Bodka Narender, D Narender Goud, Arvind Goud, Shiva Kumar, Kurva Ganesh, and the local BJP leader Murali Goud — in the case. Murali Goud is allegedly the instigator behind the violence. A few of them are absconding. The police also say that another fringe right-wing organisation Krishna Dharma Rakshana has also been instigating the devotees.
A police officer, who did not wish to be identified, said that the arrested persons have been booked under section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the IPC, and section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The officer said that they have invoked other sections too, but that such details are ‘confidential’.
Behind the present violence against the Dalit man is a deep political conspiracy. The assertion of Dalits, refusing to be defined by their caste in the village, remains the root cause for it. Conflicts over the observation of pothula panduga, a festival in which a bull, goats and chicken are sacrificed. Dalits are forced to perform the sacrifice as part of their ‘caste duty’. Politically-aware Dalits have been resisting such caste-based roles for at least a century now. “When asked why they wouldn't do it, the Dalits told the dominant castes that they can go ahead if they want to kill a bull, but that the Dalits cannot participate in it. This incident caused a fissure between the Dalits and the BCs,” the village sarpanch Shiva Kumar recalls. However, two years ago, there was another discussion about celebrating the festival, the response of the Dalit community remained the same. “Since then, some of these boys from the BC community have been waiting to pick a fight,” says Krishna. These disagreements have driven a wedge between Dalits and the BCs.
Dalits of the village have been influenced by Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) — a movement fighting for classification among the Scheduled Castes. The MRPS movement introduced them to Ambedkar. “Our boys are educated, enlightened, and they do not want to be anyone’s slaves. They understand why only we are asked to slaughter bulls and asked to eat its meat,” says Surya Prakash. Defying the orders of the village’s ‘elders’ led to an effective social boycott against the Dalits. “Dalits, in turn, boycotted them by not digging their graves or playing drums at their funerals,” Surya Prakash says, adding that resisting the BCs at every level has naturally angered them.
Meanwhile, the entry of the HYV, whose members are mostly BC men, four years ago also caused disturbances in the village, according to the Sarpanch. “Dalits started celebrating Ambedkar, and these people have been celebrating Shivaji and Swami Vivekananda. This has been happening for a while,” the Sarpanch says.