Unable to digest upward mobility of many erstwhile untouchables, Dalits now face caste violence over the most mundane things including a moustache.
Smitha R | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI — Often associated with masculinity and virility, the not-so-humble moustache can sound the death sentence in India if it is sported by a man from the wrong caste. Rajat from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Suresh Vaghela and Piyush Parmar from Viramgam and Gandhinagar respectively in Gujarat and Jitendra Pal Meghwal from Pali in Rajasthan all paid dearly for sporting a moustache.
Meghwal was the latest casualty in the long list of Dalits killed by upper caste men for daring to do caste inappropriate things. In this case, his family claimed he was murdered for haviing a lifestyle and moustache that the upper caste did not deem appropriate for a Dalit. The Rajasthan police, however, has clarified that Meghwal was stabbed over a rivalry after he filed a case against the accused in 2020. Interestingly, that case too pertained to the men beating up Meghwal for daring to make eye contact with them.
Rajat from Uttar Pradesh was attacked and had his moustache forcibly shaved off in July 2021 by Thakur men who allegedly claimed it was their sole prerogative to keep one. Between 2017 and 2021, Suresh Vaghela and Piyush Parmar were just two of the several instances of Dalit men getting beaten or stabbed for having a moustache in Gujarat.
This is also a reflection of the larger trend of rise in violence against Dalits as many of them challenge deep-rooted caste discrimination practices and systems including the belief that only upper caste men can grow a moustache or shape their moustache in a certain way.
The National Crime Records Bureau in its report said crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) of which Dalits are a part rose by 9.4% in 2020 despite it being a pandemic year. Of the 28 states and nine Union Territories, 17 registered a rise in atrocities against SCs. A total of 50,291 cases against SCs were registered in 2020 against 45,961 in 2019. Only 216 cases from the 50,291 resulted in convictions in 2020.
UP reported the highest number of atrocities (12,714) against SCs, followed by Bihar (7,368), Rajasthan (7,017) and Madhya Pradesh (6,899). Rajasthan had the highest crime rate (which measures such cases relative to the population) against SCs.
Bhanwar Meghwanshi, an author and social activist who has extensively worked on caste issues in Rajasthan, told TwoCircles.net that the attacks over moustache is a reflection of a deeper malaise. “All men irrespective of their caste kept moustaches in Rajasthan. So moustache per se cannot be the trigger or it could be more about the style of moustaches that Dalit men are sporting and putting up on social media. Certain moustache styles, like moustaches twirled upwards, were always associated with kshatriyas (samants),” Meghwanshi said.
He said in this case, the accused does not belong to the kshatriya caste and in fact is a Rajpurohit, who call themselves the priest of the kings. “In all probability the attack has more to do with other caste dynamics than the moustache,” he said.
Meghwanshi, who authored the book I Could Not Be Hindu:The Story of a Dalit in the RSS, believes that as Dalits gain upward mobility many upper caste people are unable to come to terms with their crumbling prestige. “They still believe that Dalits should know their place and act accordingly. This means they should not dress, behave or celebrate the way upper caste people do, including showing off clothes, or riding a horse during a wedding,” he said.
In the Pali incident, Meghwanshi said the murdered youth was active in the Dalit movement that focused on gaining self-respect for the community and this could have rubbed many people the wrong way.
Smitha R is a journalist who has covered health, environment and social issues for over a decade for leading national and international media. She tweets at @SmithaR12