No Horse for Dalit Grooms

A new pattern of violence has emerged where Dalit men have been attacked for riding a horse on their wedding day. Most such cases have been reported from northern India. Sometimes, the groom’s family is often warned on the wedding day not to perform the horse riding ceremony in their wedding program. These cases also include villages that have seen their first Dalit grooms to ride a horse. For instance, Kerodi village in Kotputli (rural Jaipur) in Rajasthan was set to record its first Dalit groom to ride a horse. Police were also deployed at the request of the bride’s family to ensure safety but this deployment could not stop an attack of stone pelting which injured many guests (Times of India, 2021). In Mehsana village of Gujarat, the first Dalit groom to ride a horse was under police protection. However, the next morning this led to the complete SC community being boycotted by the rest of the village (PTI, 2019). Moreover, a fine of Rs. 5000 was imposed on the villagers who tried to communicate with them. As a result, the villagers from the SC community were denied milk, and tea and even declined auto rides.

In a village in Meerut (UP), police protection was allotted when the groom’s family cited the previous cases where Dalit youths had been stopped for riding horses. In Chadi village in Rajasthan, the local administration and the police jointly launched ‘Operation Samanta’ in January 2022 against similar cases against this prohibition on Dalit grooms. Operation Samanta Committee comprised two persons from every community in the village, Sarpanch, Gram Rakshak, Police Mitra, CLG member, Suraksha Sakhi along with local VDO in every village of Rajasthan (Times of India 2022). In both cases what is also disclosed is that the upper case section of the village was also upset over the ‘pomp and show’ attached to these weddings. Any gaudy celebrations with music, dance and royal imageries were a big issue when performed by Dalits. These visuals question the traditional imagery of helplessness and frugality attached to Dalits.

What are the origins of these instances? What happens when symbols of masculinity historically aid in the creation of caste identity? Are they ultimately masculine symbols or caste symbols? How is exclusivity in masculinity maintained through caste and historical claims? Why do Dalit grooms not ride horses?

Re-enacting Historical Connections

These attacks have been performed in the past as well. The Kafalta massacre is an infamous case of caste atrocity.  On May 9, 1980, a baraat (marriage party) which was travelling to the bride’s house, was approached by 4 women in a Kafalta village of Almora district of Uttarakhand state (then UP). These women asked the groom and the approximately 40 people present in the marriage party to come down from the horse as the Doms were not allowed to cross the Thakurs and Brahmin houses while seated on a horse.

When the Doms retaliated, women called for men from their community who also brought weapons like knives, sticks, and stones and attacked the people in the marriage party. Alarmed by the attack, some people hid in the house of a Kafalta villager from the same caste but the culprits locked the house from outside, sprinkled kerosene and set it on fire killing 6 people who were present inside. A total of 14 people were killed in the Kafalta massacre. Forty-two years later in Almora district, in May 2022, in Salt Village, re-enacting the role of upper caste women in Kafalta Atrocity case, five women approached a marriage party and said, “If the groom does not get down (from the horse), all baraatis will be killed like in the Kafalta incident”.

Crisis and Rescue Mechanism of Hegemonic Masculinity in Northern India

One of the popular forms of hegemonic masculinity (Connell 2008) in northern India is the king-like masculinity constructed through the production and reproduction of literary traditions and bardic tales in pre-colonial and colonial times. I argue that this Kshatriya model of masculinity underwent crisis in three phases: a) the failure to capture majority control against the Mughals, b) the arrival of imperial British martial masculinities, which prompted the creation and revival of masculinities of Indian martial classes through nationalism and c) the dissolution of princely states and instating modern democratic nation-state with state policies like reservations, land reforms neo-liberal development with increasing Dalit political and electoral participation and social and economic mobility.

It is important to note that hegemonic masculinity does not need to harmonize with the actual personalities of the majority of men. It needs the “creation of models of masculinities which are specifically fantasy figures” which can in turn be disconnected from the everyday lives of men but persists in their lives as an unattainable ideal. In this context, a contrasting figure was drawn through ‘Maharana Pratap’ of the Sisodiya dynasty in Mewar which provided much-needed solace and escape for the Sisodiya Rajputs (Bahuguna 2011).  The production of literary works about the legends of Rana Pratap mostly began after the war of Haldighati and continued much after his death. These literary devices motivated a continual reprisal of the collective memory and historical consciousness of those who believe in them (Bahuguna 2011).

Rana’s conversation with Man Singh in 1573 who persuaded Rana to join hands with the Mughals has been reiterated in many ways through songs and bardic tales. One of the legends says that Rana refused to eat with Man Singh because one of the daughters of the Kachhwara family was married to the Mughals (ibid). Amarkavyam, Rana Rasau and the battle of Haldighati are also described but he is portrayed as a strong warrior contributing to the construction of hegemonic masculinity. Through these cultural reiterations, hegemonic masculinity was established in the image of the king. In other words, the Rajput dynasty provided the king with the distinction of embodying the pinnacle of masculinity among males. Gupta shows how the Shuddhi and Sangathan movements during the 1930s were also an attempt at restoration of masculinity like that of Maharana Pratap and Shivaji (Gupta 2011). Consequently, the tales of individuals such as Rana Pratap and Prithviraj Chauhan, both of whom fought wars against Muslim rulers and lost, have undergone persistent reiterations. In a way, these individuals through these accounts have transmuted into emblematic archetypes, serving as inspirational emblems and ‘idols’ for Kshatriyas and many Hindu men in the twentieth century (ibid).

Amidst this crisis, it is clear that the claim of the authentic martial classes was weakened and therefore the narrative of the caste ideals had to adapt to the circumstances they were in. The stories of inflated masculinity and disasters suggest a reparative overemphasis on the tragic but heroic tales which resulted in destructive consequences. These values needed constant evolution, reproduction and circulation to fit the changing political situation. The cultivation of bardic tales in the early seventeenth century after the demise of King Rana Pratap was the beginning of the politicisation of the figure of Rana Pratap as a hero.

Without the traditional feudal order, the role of the king is lost in the past and what remains now are the legends, the literary traditions and collective memory. In independent India, this king-like masculinity is almost absent after the dissipation of princely states with the democratization of the country and the modernisation of the traditional workforce. The absence of physical representations of this hegemonic masculinity was supplemented by folklore, ballads and poetry which help in keeping the masculinity ideals alive. Despite this attempt, the total lack of an individual representative as a king, modernisation of the state and reconfiguration of the occupations have ensured a kind of extinction of the king or ruler. In the modern nation-state, traditional roles like those of a king become obsolete and the hegemonic masculinity becomes completely fantastical. In other words, the post-colonial structure and the consequential dissipation of princely states have led to a discontinuation of the possibility of reproduction of this kingly masculinity which could reach total historical fruition.

Moreover, the legal de-regulation of the practice of untouchability, the disintegration of the rural social life framework and a raised awareness of the oppressed groups are instrumental historical components for changes and shifts within the caste system in contemporary India (Jodhka 2017). The growing Dalit mobility as well as mobilizations have enabled many Dalits to transgress caste boundaries which has prompted a crisis in hegemonic masculinity for Thakur and Rajput men. The kinds of attacks as seen above on Dalit grooms and Dalit men in general are directly motivated by feelings of caste superiority on the accused’s part and a transgression from the other end producing a crisis in hegemonic masculinity. These attacks and incidents against Dalit men are also an attempt at rescuing this masculinity.

References:

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Bahuguna, Renu. 2011. The Historical Context of the Rana Pratap Legends of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 72: 294–301. Indian History Congress.

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O’Hanlon, Rosalind. 2017. Caste and its Histories in Colonial India: A Reappraisal. Modern Asian Studies. 51(2): 432–461.

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Tambs-Lyche, H. 2023. Caste and Kingship in The Oxford Handbook of Caste edited by Surinder Singh Jodhka and Jules Naudet. Pp. 127-138. Oxford University Press.

The Times of India. 2021. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/jaipur-dalit-groom-attacked-for-riding-horse-in-police-presence-10-held/articleshow/87941032.cms. Retrieved on 24 June 2024.

Press Trust of India. 2019. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/gujarat-mehsana-dalit-groom-rides-horse-community-faces-village-boycott-2035859. Retrieved on 24 June 2024.

The Times of India. 2022. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/bundi-admin-helps-dalit-groom-ride-horse/articleshow/89103019.cms. Retrieved on 24 June 2024.

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Vaishali Khandekar is a PhD student in social anthropology at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad. Her research interests are social movements, critical caste studies, area studies and elite studies.