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Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
NISHAD party demands national memorial at Kanpur ghat
The Nishad Party, a BJP ally in Uttar Pradesh, demanded that the Satti Chaura Ghat in Kanpur be declared a National Memorial. The demand comes in remembrance of the 1857 incident where British forces allegedly massacred people from the Nishad community at the same ghat, and the party is marking the anniversary as 'Smriti and Sankalpa Diwas' for Nishads. 'We will rewrite with our blood the history that is not written in books,' said party chief and minister Sanjay Nishad, adding the ghat is a witness to the sacrifice and first spark of freedom by Nishad community. He said Satti Chaura Ghat be declared a national memorial and the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 be included in school syllabus to educate future generations about their ancestors.
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Satti Chaura, Massacre Ghat should be declared national monuments'
1 2 Kanpur: Minister of fisheries and national president of the Nishad Party Sanjay Kumar Nishad, stated that this river bank is not just the edge of the Ganga, but is a witness to the sacrifices, bravery, and the first spark of freedom of the country by the Nishad community. "In 1857, Nishad boatmen drowned the British in the Ganga here, shaking the foundations of British rule. In retaliation, hundreds of Nishads were hanged without trial at the Massacre Ghat, and in 1871, the Criminal Tribes Act labelled the Nishad community as 'born criminals,' and humiliated them," said Sanjay Nishad while addressing a gathering in a programme organized in the memory and on the occasion of the Resolution Day of the Nishad community at Satti Chaura Ghat on Friday. Sanjay Nishad said, "Today, we are fighting our battle through the Constitution, pen, and vote to ensure separate reservations for the Nishad community." He demanded that Satti Chaura and Massacre Ghat be declared as national monuments and that the truth about the Criminal Tribes Act be included in school curriculum, emphasizing that Nishad children should learn about their ancestors' bravery to instil pride and prepare future generations for leadership. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Избавляемся от боли в суставах с помощью натуральных средств! Здоровые Суставы Undo The Nishad community leader detailed various welfare schemes initiated by the Central and the state govts for the upliftment of the fishing community, such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Mukhya Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Fishermen Accident Insurance Scheme, Kisan Credit Card, Intensive Fish Farming Aeration System, Nishad Raj Boat Scheme, Mata Suketa Cage System, and Fish Farmer Welfare Fund. These schemes are being transparently delivered to the community, with pond and reservoir leases being prioritised for the Nishad community, and the government is fully committed to removing illegal encroachments and protecting water resources, he added. Regarding the Etawah Katha Vachak controversy, the minister condemned the incident as highly reprehensible, and said that the Indian Constitution grants all citizens equal rights to perform and conduct religious rituals, and no caste can be deprived of this. When asked about the removal of the words 'socialist' and 'secular' from the Constitution, he remarked that any constitutional amendment requires a parliamentary majority, questioning the basis on which the Congress had added these words during the Emergency when democracy was nearly suspended. He suggested that there should be a debate in Parliament on this issue, and if the words are deemed necessary by it, they should remain; otherwise, they should be removed. "In a democracy, no amendment can be made without collective consent of the people and Parliament," he said.
Indian Express
a day ago
- General
- Indian Express
From margins to political mobilisation: The story of the Nishad community
The story of the 'Nishad' community occupies an important place in the socio-economic and political landscape of north India. It illustrates how people from different jatis have come together to forge a common identity to bolster their numerical strength and translate it into political power. Nishads, also known as 'Gangaputras', comprise boatmen, fishermen, and net makers whose livelihoods are centred around rivers and water bodies. Although members of the community are known by different names in different regions, like Kaibartas in Assam and Jaliya Kaibartas in West Bengal, the term 'Nishad' has emerged as an umbrella identity among members belonging to different sub-castes or jatis in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Nishad community includes 22 sub-subcastes, including the Mallahs, Binds, Manjhis, Kewats, Kashyaps, Turhas, Majhwas, Bathams, Beldars, Chaiye, and Tiyar, among others. They are classified as Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Uttar Pradesh and Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) in Bihar. Traditionally, they are associated with fishing, boating, and riverbank agriculture. In rural Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, many Nishads are also engaged in daily-wage labour such as sand mining/dredging and manual work. Migration to metros such as Mumbai and Delhi in search of employment is common. In cities like Prayagraj and Varanasi, where rivers and ghats are vital to the economy, the community is engaged in boating and religious tourism. The term Nishad began gaining prominence in the early twentieth century as part of a broader effort to forge a collective caste identity for members belonging to different sub-castes. According to the 2023 caste-based census of Bihar, the Nishads make up approximately 9.6% of the state's total population, spread across regions like north Bihar and Mithilanchal, especially in districts such as Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Vaishali, Madhubani, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger, and Motihari. Their demographic strength, coupled with geographical spread, enables them to exert considerable influence in a large number of electoral constituencies across the state. It is this numerical strength that the community now seeks to transform into political mobilisation. Across North India, the development or nurturing of political consciousness among marginalised communities has been a gradual process, shaped over decades, where events like the Mungeri Lal Commission in the 1970s, the Mandal Commission in the 1980s, and the post-Mandal politics in the 1990s have acted as catalysts to hasten this process of political awakening. Colonial roots Despite their numbers, the Nishads remain among India's most socio-economically disadvantaged communities. A key reason is the colonial classification of certain sub-castes — such as Mallahs (the most dominant among the Nishads) — as criminal tribes under the British colonial Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. As cultural anthropologist Assa Doron writes in her book Life on the Ganga: Boatmen and the Ritual Economy of Banaras (2013), 'The Mallah caste was listed as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act. Notifying certain groups as such under the Act had important implications.' Such a classification allowed the state to 'resettle those notified under it, in other words, to impinge upon and actively reshape and mould the existence of the notified tribes, amplified their social marginalization, for any interaction with such groups could be seen as breach of the law.' (ibid.) This classification not only stigmatised the community but also restricted their negotiating powers, leading to further marginalisation. The 'stigma' of being referred to as the 'criminal tribe' was finally lifted in 1952, five years after India gained independence from British rule. Reclaiming history through Ramayana and Mahabharata The stigma attached to the modes of colonial governance had a deep influence on how the community decided to rewrite its history. In the post-Mandal era of the 1990s, many caste journals emerged in the Hindi heartland, aiming to narrate history through the lens of marginalised communities. One such caste journal, Nishad Jyoti, invokes a mythological past, where the Nishads were portrayed as prosperous and were second to none in terms of wealth, opulence, and knowledge. Intellectuals from the Nishad community, such as Lotan Ram Nishad, who edited Nishad Jyoti, sought to link the mythological past with a historical lineage, an attempt that is commonly visible in the rewriting of several caste-history narratives prevalent among the marginalised backward castes. As Doron writes, 'Mythical stories are a common part of the Nishad identity which reinforce the narrative as imagined evidence for their dignified status in the past and how the injustices they are suffering in the present are due to particular high castes like brahmins who want to deny them their exalted status in history.' These journals frequently reference the Hindu epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Figures like Satyavati and Eklavya from the Mahabharata and Guharaj Nishad from the Ramayana are portrayed as central characters whose roles were crucial in shaping the course of these stories. These accounts emphasise that these figures are not mere footnotes, but pivotal protagonists whose actions significantly influenced the epics' trajectories. For example, it was Satyavati's fisherman father, Dashraja, who forced Bhishma to pledge celibacy for life to protect the interests of the children born out of his daughter and Bhishma's father, Shantanu's marriage, who eventually went on to become the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Similarly, in the Ramayana, Maharaj Guharaj Nishad or Nishad Raj Guha, is depicted as a king of the Nishad community, who was not only a contemporary and compatriot of Lord Rama but was also his friend or 'bal mitr'. He is celebrated as an equal contemporary of Rama, with his kingdom near modern-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. A statue of Guharaj Nishad embracing Lord Ram in Shringverpur today symbolises this bond and has also been promoted for political mobilisation among the Nishad community. Nishads refer to these narratives of their caste history, closely embedded in Hindu mythology, as a source of authority for their claim to respectable social status as well as to challenge ideological domination and to affirm their legitimacy to conduct rituals at ghats, which are dominated by Brahmin priests or pandas. From oppression to political mobilisation The re-telecast of the Ramayana on television during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 and ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, gave the Bharatiya Janata Party and various religious organisations working among the Nishad community an opportunity to leverage the symbolism of Kevatraj or Guharaj Nishad for political mobilisation, using slogans like, 'Guharaj Nishad ne ram ki naiyya paar lagayi thi, aap log (nishad ke vashanj) humaari naav paar lagaiye (Your ancestors helped Lord Rama cross the river, now you as their follower must help us (who uphold the name of Lord Rama) cross this (electoral) river).' However, long before this wave of Hinduised mobilisation, it was the Samajwadi Party under Mulayam Singh Yadav that played a key role in nurturing and bringing a distinct political consciousness to the Nishad community in the 1990s. In the post-Mandal phase of politics in the Hindi heartland, when political parties were looking for subaltern symbols of leadership, Yadav elevated the surrendered bandit Phoolan Devi, who belonged to the Bind caste, as a symbol of resistance against patriarchy and the hegemony of the Thakurs (upper castes). The Samajwadi Party took back all cases registered against her and brought her into the political mainstream of Uttar Pradesh, forging a strong connection with large sections of the Nishad community, who saw in her not only a caste kin but also a symbol of resilience and resistance against upper-caste oppression. Before the advent of the Hinduised political mobilisation, the Nishad community found its political consciousness in the framework of subaltern politics challenging the pre-existing mechanisms of upper caste dominance. The future In a society embedded with deep-rooted caste-based fault lines, the Nishads continue to face suppression. For instance, in 2022, authorities in Uttar Pradesh were accused of destroying several boats of the Nishad community members near Prayagraj, based on allegations of illegal sand-dredging in the Yamuna. The idea of political mobilisation among the community is emerging to challenge such injustices. Like other backward castes with a significant numerical strength, the Nishads aspire to find the strength to be able to create an identity akin to what Benedict Anderson calls 'imagined community'. Though the community has engaged in politics since the 1950s, people like Lotan Ram Nishad argue that the community has not seen any significant transformation in their economic, social, or political conditions. However, the emergence of political parties like the Nishad Party and the Vikassheel Insaan Party indicates a shift in the community's political preferences. Further Readings: Assa Doron, Life on the Ganga: Boatmen and the Ritual Economy of Banaras, 2013. Assa Doron, Caste Away: Subaltern Engagement with the Modern Indian State, Journal of Modern Asian Studies, 2010. Rama Shanker Singh, Nadi Putra: Uttar Bharat mein Nishad aur Nadi, 2022. Sarthak Bagchi, Understanding Small Caste-Based Parties in India, 2019
Indian Express
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Focus on Caste Census demand: Congress to launch month-long OBC outreach campaign in UP today
In a bid to woo the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Uttar Pradesh, particularly the Most Backward Classes (MBCs) such as the Nishad community, and to press for a caste-based census, the Congress will on Saturday launch a month-long outreach campaign across the state. Titled Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan: Jatigat Jangarna, Haq Hai Hamara, the campaign will kick off on Saturday, with All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Avinash Pande inaugurating the programme in Lucknow. Pande arrived in the state capital on Friday night and will camp in the city till June 19 to oversee the party's ongoing reorganisation efforts in Uttar Pradesh. Congress leaders said the campaign, scheduled from June 14 to July 14, will include extensive awareness drives in both rural and urban areas. Activities will feature the Bhagidari Nyay Padyatra at district headquarters, a 14-day outreach to college and university students, and discussions on key issues. The issues on the agenda are alleged misuse of the 'Not Found Suitable' (NFS) tag in admissions, growing interference of student unions in universities, the deteriorating state of education and employment in the state, and the party's ongoing membership drive. Additionally, the Congress will launch a village-level 'Chaupal' campaign, focusing on the demand for a caste-based census, an economic survey, and the push to raise the reservation cap beyond 50 per cent. The party also plans to spotlight the alleged rise in contractual government appointments and will run targeted campaigns in Nishad-dominated regions, demanding the introduction of a River Rights Law for the community. Meanwhile, Pande will conduct zonal review meetings during his six-day stay in Lucknow. He will hold one-on-one discussions with district-level office bearers to assess progress in the party's reorganisation and resolve any pending issues. The Uttar Pradesh Congress had revamped its district and city units earlier in March. It is now in the process of finalising district committees. However, a new state committee is yet to be announced. Party sources say the state unit has already submitted its recommendations to the AICC, but a final decision is still pending.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Reservation is our right': VIP chief Mukesh Sahani launches poll song, targets BJP on quota cap; ahead of Bihar elections
'Reservation is our right': VIP chief Mukesh Sahani launches poll song, targets BJP on quota cap PATNA: As the political parties are gearing up for the assembly election in Bihar due in October-November this year, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahani on Sunday launched its poll song, 'Hai Haq Hamara Aarakshan'. Sahani said this is not just a song, but the roar of his Nishad community. "It is the echo of every voice that is fighting for equality and rights. Reservation is our right and we will get it," Sahani said. He also said till BJP is in power, the scope of reservation for backward and SC people cannot increase above 50%. "Only when the INDI Alliance forms govt, people of all sections will get participation as per their population," he said. When asked about the comment of Krishna Allavaru, the Congress in charge of Bihar, regarding the CM face, Mukesh Sahani said everything is clear. "When someone makes a claim then there will be a dispute. If Congress talks about its CM candidate, then discussion on that is also possible," he said. Sahani said the CM face will also be declared soon. On LJP (Ram Vilas) president and union minister Chirag Paswan's announcement to contest all 243 seats in Bihar to ensure NDA win strongly, Sahani took a dig at him and wished him to contest the elections himself. "Chirag had contested 135 seats earlier also. You are the son of Ram Vilas Paswan. A lion's cubs are not like this. If you have courage then fight against everyone, why only against Nitish Kumar?" Sahani said and questioned Chirag's leadership quality. The VIP founder also said his party's fight is only on the issue of reservation and for that he will enter the electoral fray. He said the people of Bihar should not be fooled, but should talk directly about who will contest from where.
