Slapped by Fate
The year is 2022 but some things remain the same in caste-bound Rajasthan. Inder Meghwal, 9, a Dalit student in a private school in remote Surana village in Jalore district, died after he was allegedly slapped by a teacher, Chail Singh, for drinking water from a pitcher meant for the privileged castes.
The case has created a storm in Rajasthan—and beyond—after the child’s father Dewaram filed an FIR on August 13 implicating the teacher. The incident happened on July 20, but the child died three weeks later in an Ahmedabad hospital on August 13. Apparently the punishment meted out by Chail Singh, a Rajput, aggravated an ear problem which caused the death. Soon, the issue created a furore with anticaste activists tying it to a pattern of endemic oppression. Even Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad made an appearance in Surana on August 24 morning, promising justice to the bereaved family.
As the case made headlines beyond Rajasthan, locals rallied to defend the school and village and, in due course, doubts were being introduced on whether it was a caste-related incident at all. Another child, Rajesh Darji, went on record to claim there was no caste discrimination and that he too was punished along with Inder that day. “There is no evidence for now to show the child was slapped over a drinking water issue or whether there existed a separate pitcher for Dalits,” claims M.L. Lather, the Rajasthan DGP.
The school has 352 students of which 73 are SC/ ST and 154 are OBC. Of its eight teachers, five are from SC/ST castes, one is OBC and only two are savarna. This includes Chail Singh, who is the school’s principal and co-owner. The testimonials of other Dalit students, denying they were ever discriminated against, too came in the wake of Singh’s arrest under a murder charge and the SC/ ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Vijay Sampla, chairperson, National SC Commission, backs the action but adds that harsh laws alone cannot end caste discrimination. “We still get reports of Dalit children being served mid-day meals separately in the state,” he says. Rajasthan registered 8,744 cases under the SC/ST Act in 2020 against 6,329 in 2018, a 38 per cent jump. The Ashok Gehlot government is scrambling to contain the fallout—the CM sent state Congress chief Govind Dotasra with Rs 20 lakh from party funds as compensation for the victim’s family. ■
The Dalit child died three weeks after he was punished by the teacher for his transgression