Namantar Andolan

Background

Namantar means name change and andolan means social movement. The Namantar Andolan was a 16-year-long Dalit campaign to rename Marathwada University in recognition of B. R. Ambedkar, the jurist, politician and social reformer who had proposed that untouchability should be made illegal. He aimed to make Dalits aware of their social condition and to awaken them to their rights. To conceptualize this determination he coined the slogan Educate, Agitate, Organise. The Caste system in India denied education to Dalits so he worked to establish new hostels, schools and colleges in Maharashtra and Karnataka. He intended that education institutions should transcend historic differences between various communities but he failed in this goal of integration and instead the various colleges each became characterised as being specific to one or other group, such as the Scheduled Castes, the Muslims and the Brahmins.

Ambedkar had been born into a family of Mahars, a community who were considered Untouchables in the caste system of India. Although historically an oppressed community in Hindu society, as with all untouchable groups, the Mahars had sought socio-Economic advancement and were both better educated and more politically aware than many of their fellow Dalits, such as the Chamars and Mangs. They were restricted to the lowest status roles which were associated with ritual impurity; for example, leatherwork, butchering, cleaning streets, latrines, and sewers, removal of rubbish and animal carcasses. They were not allowed to enter Hindu temples and had to live outside of villages. When the British rulers started a mass education system for Indians in 1850 upper caste Hindus required Untouchables to sit outside of Class groups or they were not allowed in schools at all. Some of their work such as message delivery for government officials and Employment in the army of the British Raj heightened their aspirations.

With the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1949, Discrimination based on caste was prohibited, untouchability was outlawed and later Reservation policy to benefit those now called Scheduled Castes was established. Cultural changes were slow to come. In abandoning their old socially demeaning jobs, Dalits found themselves competing with caste Hindus for positions in bureaucracies and professions. This caused unemployment, economic uncertainty and resentment on all sides. In addition, many Mahars converted to Buddhism, following the example of Ambedkar to separate themselves from the strictures of the Hindu caste system.

Non-Dalit student groups initially supported the demand to have the university renamed but did so less for reasons of dogma than for the pragmatic desire to bring the Dalit, mostly Mahar, students into the general fold. Dalit students had traditionally shown no interest in supporting such causes as lower fees and cheaper textbooks but they constituted around 26 per cent of the student population and a quid pro quo was anticipated. A march involving Dalit and non-Dalit students was organised with the intent of petitioning the council of the university for the change. The procession met with another, headed by Gangaher Gadhe, a Dalit Panther leader, who launched a tirade of abuse at the non-Dalit contingent as he asserted the right of the Dalits to take all the credit for the change in name. This alienated the non-Dalit students and, according to Dipankar Gupta, "the division was caused not so much by caste Hindu prejudices and reticence to support the renaming of the University, but rather by the splittist and sectarian position taken by Gadhe", who might also have been concerned that any alliance between Dalits and non-Dalits could affect the potency of the Panthers. Among left-wing organisations, only the Students' Federation of India and Yukrant continued to support the campaign.

In 1977, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vasantdada Patil, promised that the renaming would occur and in July 1978 the Maharashtra Legislature approved it. Uttara Shastree notes that the campaign at this time reflected the desire of Neo-Buddhists for an improved image and position in society, as a significant part of which they called on the symbolic ideas of Ambedkar that had preceded his rise to prominence. The University Executive Body passed a resolution to rename the University and this series of decisions was the catalyst for rioting, which began on 27 July 1978 and lasted several weeks.

Commentators such as Gail Omvedt believe that the violence was a caste war based on hatred whilst others, such as Gupta, believe that the causes were more varied. Both Omvedt and Gupta note that the violence was aimed at the Mahars and did not extend to other Dalit groups, while Gupta also notes that it was concentrated in the three districts of Marathwada — Aurangabad, Nanded and Parbhani — where Dalit registrations in schools and colleges were particularly high, and economic competition was most fierce. In particular, the centres of the unrest were urban areas, where the impact of Mahar aspirations would most deeply affect the employment, social and economic roles which caste Hindus considered to be their preserve. Troubles were largely absent from the other two districts of Beed and Osmanabad, and the spill of problems into rural areas generally was patchy. These issues of geographic and demographic targeting, according to Gupta, indicate that the real causes of the violence were more subtle than war between caste Hindu and Dalit. There were also instances of violent acts taking place under the pretext of the riots elsewhere but in fact to settle very local and personal scores unrelated to the broader causes. In contradiction to these views, Y. C. Damle maintains that the violence "specially affected the Scheduled Caste people in the villages although the agitation for renaming the Marathwada University after Dr. Ambedkar was spearheaded by Dalit Panthers and such leaders mainly in urban centres. ... In giving a call for agitation, hardly any effort was made to protect the villages or villagers."

Attacks

Riots affected 1,200 villages in Marathwada, impacting on 25,000 Dalits and causing thousands of them to seek safety in jungles. The terrorised Dalits did not return to their villages in spite of starvation. This violence was allegedly organised by members of the Maratha community and took many forms, including killings, molestation and rape of Dalit women, burning of houses and huts, pillaging of Dalit colonies, forcing Dalits out of villages, polluting drinking water wells, destruction of cattle and refusal to employ. This continued for 67 days. According to the Yukrant leader, attacks on Dalit were collective and pre-planned. In many villages Dalit colonies were burned. The burning houses in Marathwada region affected 900 Dalit households. Upper caste rioters demolished basic household items that the Dalit possessed. They even burned the fodder stocks owned by Dalits. The bridges and culverts were intentionally broken or damaged to paralyse the military and police aid in villages during the time of attacks. Upper caste mobs attacked government property including government hospitals, railway station, gram panchayat offices, state transport buses, District Council-operated school buildings, the telephone system and the government godowns, the communal property of ₹ 300 million was damaged. The Marathwada region was under siege of violence for over two years. The Dalits were wrecked economically and psychologically. Many Dalit protesters were physically injured and nineteen died including five protesters who lost their lives during the police repression.

Much of the violence occurred in Nanded district. examples include:

Violence occurred in Parbhani district. Examples include:

Examples of violence in Aurangabad district included:

Examples of violence in Beed district included:

Examples of violence in Osmanabad district included:

Example of violence in Hingoli district included:

Examples of violence in Nashik district included:

Examples of violence in Nagpur included:

In Jalgot Village, Fauzdar Bhurevar was beaten and then burned alive by a mob at a police outpost. Violence was reported in Pune. Demonstrators in Mumbai were teargassed. Statues of Ambedkar and Buddha through the region were also damaged or destroyed. Dalits were banned from buying grocery items in their villages by non-Dalits and Upper caste Hindus. Particularly it affected the life of rural Dalits who worked on daily wages. The situation became worse when they had no food to eat for few days. They were physically, mentally and socially tortured by non-Dalits but the Dalits remained firm regarding renaming Marathwada University.

Media

The regional press played a biased role during the violence. The Marathi Newspaper, Prajawani and Godatir Samachar, opposed the Namantar "by giving wide publicity to the riots in the cities and suppressing news in the rural areas." According to Aurangabad daily, Marathwada the Namantar was cultural violation for Marathwada existence. The press did not publish about rural violence news. They did not report the declarations by the Republican Party of India and Dalit Panther. The front page of a famous Marathi newspaper published a notice for Upper caste Hindus to support the agitation. Similarly, people were urged through letters, flyers, hand-outs to join the agitation. Parliamentary Committee advised to reinforce the police intelligence and communication with radios, telephones and motor vehicles in talukas. But the media intensified on allegations that the PCR Act was being misused. Bhalchandra Nemade commented "All Marathi newspapers are communal and they thrive on the so-called 'freedom of press' to serve their own aims." The chief minister of Maharashtra admitted the one-sided role of the press.

Political parties

Shiv Sena, the Hindutva political party, initially declared itself opposed to the Namantar. During agitation the supporters of Bal Thackeray burnt homes of the Dalits. People were physically, harmed, including by attacks with swords. Interviewers explained that the attackers were from the Maratha community, who also burned Dalit properties in Nanded district. Supporters of the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) and Indian National Congress were involved in these burnings. In the same area there were allegations of two women being raped and three children killed but no legal action was instigated. According to Gopal Guru

PWP and Shiv Sena aggravated tension in Parbhani, Nanded, Beed and Osmanbad. Congress did not show any inclination to defuse the tension and whatever efforts were made particularly by the Congress leaders from Beed and Osmanabad districts were insufficient or localised. On the other hand, Congress leaders particularly from Latur, Aurangabad, Jalna and to some extent Beed districts identified with the Dalit cause and worked for the Dalit harmony in these districts to maintain political impression.

Bureaucrats

Many Dalits were harassed by the police as they continued to campaign for the change. The police allegedly reacted by adopting tactics such as delay and suppression of evidence. In a few villages Hindu police patils and sarpanchs of all riot affected villages teamed up with rich caste Hindu landowners to attack Dalit poor peasant and agricultural labourers. Police joined the mob in a violent way. The District Collector of Nanded was from Dalit community and was powerless when his assistant officers refused his commands. In Akola village, intentionally the police refused to lodge complains during violence against upper caste Hindus. In Nanded city the curfew was enforced during agitation. The sons of resident Deputy Collector, Home Inspector and Circle Inspector took part in riot. During restriction timings the Dalit homeguards interrupted them. A complaint was registered contrary to the homeguards. The complaints lodged by the Dalits were taken cold-bloodedly by the police. A Parliamentary committee concluded that the police were "mere spectators to the incidents" during the atrocities.

Situation after attacks

After the riots, many landlords refused to employ Dalits and even at public places such as hotels they were discriminated against. A silent boycott was created. Because of fearful environment the Dalits migrated to the cities, and did not return to their villages. The crops grown by the Dalits were set on fire. In 1985, in the Wakod village of Sillod taluka, the standing crops possessed by Dalits on their own land were ploughed up by the Sarpanch himself. A few college teachers and academicians formed a samiti to rehabilitate Dalit victims to restore harmony to the community. Muslims of Marathwada opposed the bandhs declared by Shiv Sena. They did not close their commercial establishments to show their support for Namantar. Parliamentary committee revealed that humanitarian aid provided to help Dalits was not sufficient to recover the losses. Moreover, Samiti observed the corruption in it.

Sooner after the atrocities around 3000 individuals were brought into the police custody but victims reported that the very few were taken into the court and the remaining cases were not much faster. Even natives pressured to dismissed all cases. The parliamentary committee advised "an automatic judicial inquiry in all cases of large scale arson and looting involved of Dalits." But, the judicial inquiry was opposed by the Maharashtra government.

Long March

On 4 August 1978 Jogendra Kawade led a March from Deekshabhoomi to District magistrate office in Nagpur to rename the university. On the same day there was a meeting in Aakashwani Chowk attended by the huge student crowd. Thereafter the people were going back homes zestfully. Violence was provoked when some anti-social elements started stone pelting at transportation links. To overcome turbulence police opened fire. After this incident the Long march was declared. Dalit protestors from Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu reached to Nagpur.

The violence caused the Dalits to suspend their campaign for a while but when a new incumbent as Chief Minister, Sharad Pawar, found various reasons to postpone the renaming, the reaction was the organisation of a Long March and instigating the Namantar Andolan. The march was inspired by the Chinese Long March and was intended to end symbolically with a convergence in Aurangabad on 6 December 1979, the anniversary of Ambedkar's death. According to Omvedt, "Long March was organised by very factionalised committees that included the Dalit Panthers, smaller Dalit organisations, the Republican Party factions, socialist individuals and groups, and the Communist parties." The protest march was led by Jogendra Kawade and caused the arrest of thousands of protesters as well as prominent leaders. According to Kawade "this was the fight for the protection of democracy and humanism".

The Long March began on a Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din from Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, an area populated by many Buddhists, towards Aurangabad, blessed by Bhadant Anand Kausalyan. Each day protestors marched 30 kilometres to cover a distance of 470 kilometres in 18 days in the bitter cold. This was one of the remarkable andolan in Indian history after 1927 Indian Independence movement due to Dalit women’s active key role took part in Jail Bharo Andolan with pride. At every village masses of people joined in the Long March. ‘This march was the world’s third largest Long March.’ According to Yukrant leader, around 3 lakhs people were expected to join the Long March to rename the university after Ambedkar’s name. But a small percentage reached to Aurangabd but minimum 3 lakhs organized mass protest – satyagraha, Jail Bharo Andolan, March. The protesters clashed with police between 25 November to 6 December. Thousands of Long March activists walking from Nagpur, Udgir and Satara were taken into custody at the boundaries of Marathwada. Thousands were arrested during staygraha struggle at their towns and cities. Protestors were lathi charged, police fired on them on the day of 6 December, the death anniversary of Ambedkar. On the same day Vidarbha was bandh observed. On 27 November, the protestors were stopped by the police at Khadakpurna River Bridge in the afternoon. Thousands of protestors started sit-in at the Khadakpurna River Bridge. They were lathi charged after 12AM in their sleep during the course many ran away and hundreds were arrested.

On 3 December there was a protest by Dalit youths who burned buses, 4 of them died in clashes with police at Nagpur. Around 12000 demonstrators were arrested at Auragabad who planned to March towards University from Kranti Chowk. Demonstrators of Dalit Panthers were arrested at Bhadkal Gate and University entrance. Leaders and activist were arrested, physically harmed, lathi charged, shot with tear gas and air firing was done to disperse the crowd. The intention of the state was to control and disperse demonstrators and keep them from anti Dalits, who formed Namantar Virodhi Group (a group opposing renaming). Most of them were freed from jails on the same evening but few refused to leave Jails to continue satyagraha. Main agenda of this Long March was to battle against caste Oppression.

The movement became a part of Dalit literature. According to Omvedt " the upsurge, turmoil’s and frustration of the long march campaign brought the movement to a new turning point. The readiness for action shown by Dalit masses provided a demonstration of their powerful urge for revolutionary change." During Long March songs of martyrs were sung by men, women even children joined to boost this revolution. The andolan gradually turned out in Agra, Delhi, Banglore, Hydrabad where people protested by March. For 16 years many meetings were conducted, people demonstrated by March and many times they were arrested.

Namvistar Din

Govindbhai Shroff was against renaming university but he requested people to accept the new name with Nonviolence. Concurrently, he pressed a requirement to withdraw the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act cases against non-Dalits specifically the malafide ones. Tight security was deployed on the eve of the announcement but few incidents were reported in Parbhani and Amravati. Curfew was imposed at Tuljapur and police firing was reported in Beed. Again, after renaming the university at least four Dalits were stabbed, Dalit property was set on fire and again statues of Ambedkar were dishonoured at Parbhani, Osmanabad and Parbhani. However, in Osmanabad district, at Kathi Savargaon, the renaming decision was welcomed with celebration by Maratha sarpanch in village. Similar case was reported in Lohara.

Marathwda region has diverse cultural and historical background so many names were suggested. Finally 'University was renamed as "Dr Bababasaheb Ambedkar Marhwada University" to pay homage to the work done by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar for the Educational development of the Marahwada region.' The university name was eventually altered on 14 January 1994. The chosen form — Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University — represents an expansion of the existing name (a Namvistar) rather than complete change (Namanatar). Sharad Pawar also announced that it would be policy to encourage higher education for everyone, irrespective of caste, class, Religion, and ethnicity.Moreover, the newly named university was developed with improved facilities in some departments to conceptualize the dream of Ambedkar which was one of the important parameter for the University. At the same time, the university adopted the Ajanta arch with elephants as its primary logo, reflecting the Buddhist cultural significance of the Ajanta caves.

On 14 January each year, the followers of Ambedkar throng university. The political parties, organizations based on Ambedkar’s thinking celebrate this day. Many people visit the university to celebrate the Namvistar Din, so political parties arrange their rallies traditionally. The University building and gate is decorated with lights. Many people visit the Buddhist caves on this occasion. Women greet each other by applying Nil (Indigo colour powder). This day is also celebrated in educational institutes.

Legacy

People come to the University gate to have Darśana, which resembles Sanchi Stupa gate, and leave an offering as if the University were a place of pilgrimage. In 2013, Nagpur Municipal Corporation erected Namantar Shahid Smarak (Martyrdom Memorial) dedicated to Dalits who died in the movement at Nagpur.