DERA SACHKHAND BALLAN AND DALIT IDENTITY

DERA SACHKHAND BALLAN AND DALIT IDENTITY DEV KUMAR Assisstant Professor, SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur). INTRODUCTION: A.dera is technically the headquarters of a group of devotees, who follow the teachings of a particular spiritual guru and generally have a living representative of the guru who is equally revered. The representatives of the guru who hold the gaddi are normally appointed by their predecessors. Although an exact number of deras related to different sects, cannot be given, it is estimated that there are around 300 major deras across Punjab and Haryana.Out of these, a dozen have substantial following over one lac devotees each and there are hundreds of others which are restricted to a few villages each. So far as the question of number of devotees of dera Sant Sarwan Dass Sachkhand, Ballan is concerned, it runs into crores, spread over not only Punjab and other Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Maharashtra etc. but also abroad. The sharp rise in the number of deras in Punjab can be attributed to a number of causes. Keeping in mind the fact that the main following of such deras comes from the under privileged sections of Indian society as Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes, the first and the foremost cause responsible for the growth of these deras is the grouse of the members belonging to the so-called lower castes of Indian society against the so-called higher castes, who according to them do not allow them to hold responsible positions in Gurudwara management committees. Also inside the gurudwara campuses dominated by the Jatt Sikhs of Punjab, the devotees belonging to lower castes are not treated at par with their higher caste counter-parts. A true incident proving the above mentioned fact is worthwhile to mention here. A young man from the chamara caste became a baptized Sikh. When he was distributing prasad to the devotees present in the gurudwara, a lady from the Jatt Sikh community refused to take prasad from a chamara boy. Apart from this, in another incident in a village named Talhan in Jalandhar district of Punjab, the Sikhs refused to give a share to the dalits in the management of the gurudwara Shahidan in 2003. Secondly, as all these deras have their respectable living gurus, (A concept which the mainstream Sikhs see as ant agnostic to the tenets of Sikhism, whereby there cannot be any living guru. Their guru is Guru Granth Sahib, the revered scripture of the Sikhs. The devotees of these deras find a respite from a tense life, while taking refuge in the feet of a living guru, who not only interprets the hymns, incorporated in different holy books to them, but also counsels and guides them on various issues concerning their lives. Thirdly the consciousness taking place among the under- privileged sections of India society about their civil and human rights, also drives them to the concept of unity and brotherhood which they think can be attained through the formation of a common religious institution namely the dera. Fourthly as mentioned earlier a dozen of the deras in Punjab have a following of over one lac each, these, therefore, attract the opportunistic Indian politician to a great extent. Thus these deras are seen by all the political parties as a substantial vote-bank for them. Therefore these political parties provide patronage to these deras in different forms, resulting in the mushrooming of such deras. Last but not the least, some unscrupulous elements find it easy to achieve popularity through a short-cut route. They first attain some healing powers through the tantrik and yoga cults and apply these on their followers to win their confidence. Side by side these elements spend a part of the devotees offerings on 11

social projects to attain legitimacy in the eyes of the public. This results in increase in the number of their followers, ultimately leading to the institutionalization of the followers into a dera. The deras in Punjab have mobilized the people on caste lines, though some of the deras can be termed as an exception to this. These deras have played and are praying a significant role in the socio-economic progress of the state. They are creating awareness among the people of Punjab regarding various social issues such as female- feticide, drug - addiction, environmental pollution, dowry, and evils related to women etc. Apart from this, some of the deras have opened charitable hospitals and educational institutions for the poor. Thus they play an important role in the field of healthcare and education. Baring a few of these, all the deras have remained non - controversial since their birth. Therefore it would not be appropriate to out rightly rule out any impact of these deras on the sociol economicpolitical life of the people of the Punjab. A few of these like dera Sant Sarwan Dass, Sachkhand Ballan, have become a symbol of dalit consciousness. To quote Dr. Raunki Ram, a Professor in Political Science at Punjab University Chandigarh, Dera Ballan became a paragon of Ravidassia movement in north west India and it made concerted efforts for the formation of a separate dalits identity independent of both Hinduism as well as Sikhism. It is in this context that dera Ballan has emerged as an alternative religious site for the dalits, with its own code of conduct that paved the way for a separate dalits identity. The deras, devoted to the spread of ideologies of different religious icons have played a significant part in creating caste and sect consciousness among their respective followers, which at times, attains dangerous proportions resulting into bad repercussions for society. Dera Sant Sarwan dass ji, popularly known as Dera Sachkhand Ballan, is situated at a distance of 8 kilometers from Jalandhar, on the Jalandhar-Pathankot-Jammu national highway at a village named Ballan. It is named after the second pontificate of the dera viz. Sant Sarwan Dass. This dera is devoted to the spread of Guru Ravidass s philosophy. To quote Mark Juergensmeyer, The dera of Pippal Dass is typical as an expression of the Ravidassia panth in this respect,since it has no formal structure, either of organization or of beliefs. SANT RAMANAD S ASSASSINATION AND ITS AFTERMATH: Sant Ramanand had been a prominent figure of the dera. He had been serving the dera as a deputy to the present gaddi nashin Sant Niranjan Dass till his assassination. He had been instrumental to a great extent in the spread of Guru Ravi Dass s philosophy to the far flung areas through his untiring efforts. It was due to his contribution that the message of the dera could be carried to various foreign countries. He had been a great source of inspiration for the singers and writers, who contributed in their own way to the spread of Guru Ravi Dass s philosophy. Sant Ramanand was born on February 2, 1952 in the house of Sh. Mehnga Ram and Smt. Jeet kaur at a village named Ramdasspura in the Adampur town of district Jalandhar. In his boyhood, Ramanand was a religious-minded person. He got his education up to graduation from Doaba College Jalandhar. He used to be happy in the company of sadhus. Seeing his religious bent of mind, his parents tried to keep their ward away from the company of sadhus but in vain. After trying unsuccessfully his parents send him to the dera Sant Sarwan Dass at Ballan for religious services. At that time Sant Hari Dass was the head of the dera. Sant Ramanand used to serve his master with true devotion. One day when Sant Hari Dass came to know that Ramanand s parents were against their son s religious, tasks but had given up due to the stubbornness of their son, he send Ramanand back to his home. But as devoted to the religious tasks he was, Ramanand started visiting the dera at frequent intervals. One day when at the dera Sant Hari Dass asked Ramanand as to what his intentions was, the later replied humbly that he wanted to live his remaining life sitting at the pious feet of the former. Sant Hari Dass granted 12

Ramanand the permission to stay at the dera. After this, Ramanand started serving the dera with full devotion. In the year 1973, the Makar Sakranti festival was celebrated in the dera. Ramanand actively participated in the festival and carried out the instructions of his master with full commitment and devotion. Later Ramanad got the bestowal of the naam, from Sant Hari Dass. After the demise of Sant Hari Dass, Ramanand served the new dera head Sant Garib Dass with same devotion. He started performing kirtan (religious singing in the congregation) at the dera in his melodious voice. Ramanand learned the performance of kirtan from Sant Hari Dass. During the headship of Sant Garib Dass and Sant Niranjan Dass, Sant Ramanand became a prominent religious figure of the dera rendering katha and kirtan services. During the headship of the present gaddi nashin Sant Niranjan Dass, Sant Ramanand became his deputy and actively carried out various projects of the dera including starting of the Begampura Express train services, exclusively meant for carrying the dera followers to and fro to Seer Govardhanpur, at Varanasi in Uttar Pardesh for the celebration of birthday of Guru Ravidass, every year and releasing many a cassette and C.D. of his own and many other singers containing religious songs, devoted to Guru Ravidass. He wrote prefaces of many religious books. He had full command over bani of Guru Ravidass. When he gave religious discourses to the masses the latter got spell bound by the sheer magic of his sweet and humble voice and his mastery over the topic, taken for discourse. Apart from being a great performer of kirtan and organizer of various functions held at the dera, Sant Ramanand had a literary bent of mind too. Besides writing prefaces of many a religious book as mentioned earlier, he himself edited a book in Punjabi named Dera Sachkhand Ballan Jalandhar (itihas). He had been up to his death, the chief editor of the weekly journal Beghampura Shaher, devoted to the spread of Guru Ravidass s philosophy. It was the fateful day of May 24, 2009 when Sant Niranjan Dass, the present dera head and his deputy Sant Ramanand reached Vienna, the capital of Austria to take part in a religious function in the Guru Ravidass temple. When both the Sants were sitting on the dais and Sant Ramanand was delivering a religious speech, some unidentified assailants, present in the congregation and already armed with weapons, attacked both the Sants. During this course both the Sants got injured and admitted to a local hospital. Sant Ramanand, who was fired in his head and was seriously injured, succumbed to his injuries and died in the early morning of June 25, 2009. As the news of his demise spread like a wild fire back home in Punjab, the followers of the dera took to streets in protest and indulged in violent attacks on government as well as private property. The followers were in a great shock over the demise of their revered and beloved Sant. They could not believe that a personality like Sant Ramanand, who respected all faiths and religions and had never heart religious/ communal feelings of any communal group, had become the main target of assailants.that Sant Ramanand and not Sant Niranjan Dass, the persant dera head was the chief target of assailants was evident from the fact that Sant Ramand was sitting on the dais a bit behind Sant Niranjan Dass and yet he received more severe injuries. Why Sant Ramanand was the main target of the assailants would be dealt in detail a bit later. The Doaba area of Punjab encompassing the districts of Jalandhar (where the dera is based), Hosiharpur, Kapurthala, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) became the epicenter of violent reaction. It is note- worthy here that the Scheduled Castes who were 28.8% of the total population of Punjab as per the census 2001, their population is most dense in the above- mentioned four districts. A huge majority of the followers of the dera belong to the Scheduled Castes. During the eleven days from May 25, 2009, the day of demise of Sant Ramanand to June 5, 2009, the day of cremation of Sant Ramanand, Punjab burned end shouldered. The violent protesters put buses, trains, government offices, private vehicles, on fire. Huge government as well as private property got damaged during this course. A Youngman belonging to the Scheduled Caste community named Vijay 13

Kumar got killed in police firing. As for the loss of property, it was reported that public property worth Rs.6000-7000 crore got damaged in Punjab while only the industrial sector suffered a loss of Rs. 400-500 crore due to the violent protests by the dera followers, in two days (May 25, 26, 2009.) Major industrial towns like Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Phagwara were most affected due to violent street protests. Most of the boiling and furnace units in these areas were affected due to bandhs, suffering a Rs. 150 crore loss, a day. Though the authorities of the dera, made appeals to the agitated followers through print as well any electronic media, to maintain peace and calm and not damage public or private property; their appeals fell flat on the deaf ears of the protesters. It is not -worthy here that during the violent protests of the dera followers, the state police did not play an active role in calming down and controlling the protesters and maintaining law and order. On the part of the state government of Punjab, it s lackadaisical attitude could have been due to political obligations, as the by-elections to the Nurmahal (Jalandhar) assembly constituency was nearing and the government would not have risked to face the wrath of Scheduled Castes and a huge loss of their votes,by talking a stern action against the protesters. Therefore, the state police forces by and large, remained mute spectators during the violent protests. It was only after the, deployment of the paramilitary forces by the central government that, the out-of-control situation could be controlled and peace and lawness restored in Punjab. Political leaders belonging to all the major political parties of Punjab including Parkash Singh Badal, the then Chief minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Badal the then deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amrinder Singh, the former Chief Minister of Punjab and Mayawati, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pardesh, attended the departed Sant s funeral. It is to be noted here that the departed Sant was given a state funereal by the Punjab government. It was estimated that over one lac devotees gathered at the dera to have a last glimpse of their revered Sant. Such was the religious stature of Sant Ramanand that the persons who went to take home, the body of the departed Sant were headed by D.S. Guru, the then Principal Secretary to the then Chief Minister of Punjab. The entire expenditure involved in the bringing home the dead body of the Sant was borne by the Punjab government. When the Sant s dead body reached, the IGI airport at New Delhi in the wee hours of June 4, 2009, the then union minister for information and broad casting Ambika Soni, the then union minister for state for external affairs Parneet Kaur, the then union minister Kumari Selja and many MPs belonging to Punjab, received it. Now we come to the question: why Sant Ramanand was made the main target by the assilants? The answer to this question can be had, if we throw a glance at the working of the dera, till the demise of Sant Ramanand. It had been mentioned earlier that after joining the dera, Sant Ramanand, who had a sweet voice and was a great organizer and manager, had made a strong impact among the followers of the dera. When after the demise of Sant Garib Dass, the fourth pontificate of the dera on July 23, 1994, Sant Niranjan Dass took over as his religious successor, Sant Ramanand became his deputy. As Sant Niranjan Dass is a little introvert and mostly remain mute or loss spoken during religious programs held at the dera or elswhere, it was Sant Ramanand who performed kirtan and give religious discourses to the masses during such functions. It was the sweetness and humility in his voice that the masses used to be spellbound during his discourses and kirtan. He was single-handedly instrumental in opening of new Guru Ravi Dass temples in many countries like Greece, Italy, France etc. and spread of Guru Ravi Dass s philosophy there. Thus dera Ballan became a well- known name abroad too. Sant Ramanand inspired many an artiste and writer to release cassettes, CDs and write books, devoted to the philosophy of Guru Ravi Dass as mentioned earlier. He himself edited a book related to the history 14

of the dera. Such cassettes and CDs, books became the centre of attraction of the dera followers during religious functions held at the dera and elsewhere. It was due to efforts of Sant Ramanand that a program me named Amrit bani Shri Guru Ravi Dass Ji was started on Doordarshan Jalandhar. In this program me the Sant himself and various other religious singers recite the hymns of Guru Ravi Dass and the Sant interpreted the hymns. In this way Sant Ramanand made a huge effort to popularize the ideology of Guru Ravi Dass through print as well as electronic media, as he was fully aware of the strong impact these two mediums have on the minds of the masses. The birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Dass is celebrated by dera every year at the seven-storied. Guru Ravi Dass Janam Sthan Mandir at Seer Govardhanpura in Varanasi district of Uttar Pardesh. To take part in this annual celebration, lacs of devotees from all over India and abroad throng to this place. Keeping in mind the problem faced by the devotees of the dera residing in Punjab, in reaching the far off Varanas,i Sant Ramanand conceived a plan of starting a special train between Jalandhar and Varanas,i exclusively for taking the devotees to Varanasi and transporting them back to Jalandhar city. This project was put into practice and the train named as Beghumpura Express, got started with the help of the Northern Railway officials. This train is reserved exclusively for to and fro journey of dera devotees from Jalandhar to Varanasi on the occasion of celebration of birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Dass. At every stoppage of the train during its long journey, the devotees of the dera receive the train with great warmth and serve tea and food to the devotees on board. This project of the dera started due to the efforts of Sant Ramanand has become a huge hit with the followers of the dera, as every year, there is a huge rush of them to reserve their berths in the train. Sant Niranjan Dass, along with his deputy Sant Ramanand took revolutionary steps for establishing Guru Ravi Dass temples across the world. They visited England, Canada, U.S.A., Italy, Greece, Austria,France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai to see the followers of Guru Ravi Dass. With the efforts of Sant Ramanand, the dera has built a big and beautiful satsang hall with domes, where over 15000 devotes can easily sit. He was the first person to start information technology in the dera with the help of his followers to propagate the teaching of Guru Ravi Dass. He had even recorded spiritual discourses on tapes and CDs, which got much popularity among the dera devotees. To quote one of the prominent dera followers, Seth Sat Pal Mall, It is because of his (Sant Ramanand s) hard work that the dera has been providing education and medical facility to everybody on minimum changes without any condition. In reality, we have lost a top quality diamond of the community. DERA BALLAN AND THE RISING DALIT CONSCIOUSNESS: The dera has played a great role in arousing the consciousness of the dalits, especially the followers of Guru Ravi Dass who are spread all over the world, owing to the efforts of the dera in different fields like social service, medicine, education etc. It has emerged as a central institution of the Ad-dharmi community. The dera has been instrumental in mobilizing the scheduled castes. Due to efforts of the dera, Guru Ravi Dass temples have been constructed in foreign countries like Italy, France, Greece, etc. As every religious community in the world has its own religious insignia, owing to the great efforts of the dera Sachhkhand, the Ravidassia community also has its own religious nishan : Har in Gurumukhi. This insignia was got registered by the Guru Ravidass Sadhu Sampardai Society (a conglomerate or all Guru Ravi Dass deras) under the copy right act 1957 on march 6 1987 under registration no. A48-807/87. 15

The common insignia of the Ravidassia community has played a great part in enthusing a feeling of unity and oneness among the scheduled castes and bringing them together on a common plate from. This insignia has 40 rays around it, which signify the 40 hymns of Guru Ravi Dass incorporated into the Adi granth, which enlighten the minds of the readers. In the inner layer of the insignia are inscribed the words : naam tere ki jot lagayee, bhayo ujiyaro bhawan saglare (I have lit the lamp of thy name; the whole universe is illuminated). These words are taken from one of the hymns of Guru Ravi Dass. In the resent times, there has been a sharp increase in the construction of separate Guru Ravi Dass gurudwaras in Punjab villages, which testifies the fact that with each day passing, dalits are becoming more end more conscious regarding their religious rights. They address their dalit sants as Guru and not as Bhagat as is addressed by the people of the so called higher castes. The Ravidassia youth have started inscribing on their bikes and other vehicles, the words Putt chamaran de (sons of chamars ) taking a cue from the words, Putt jattan de inscribed on the vehicles of the Jatt youth of Punjab. Apart from this the Punjabi film and music industry has of late using the word Jatt in films titles and songs to glorify the positive attributes of the jatt community of Punjab. Now dalit artists have also come out with music albums like Bibe putt chamaran de (gentle sons of chamars), Ankhi putt chamaran de (self- respecting sons of chamars). ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DERA OF A SEPARATE RELIGION OF THE RAVIDASSIA COMMUNITY: On the occasion of celebration of 633 rd birth-anniversary of Guru Ravidass at Sri Guru Ravidass Janam Sthan Mandir, Varanasi, Uttar Pardesh, the drea announced on January 30, 2010, the founding of a a seperate religion for the Ravidassia community namely Ravidassia. It was announced by the dera that the Ravidassia community shall have a separate religious book namely Amritbani Guru Ravidass Maharaj Ji ; a separate religious symbol ie. Har and a separate religious wish ie. Jai Gurudev. The congregation present on the occasion were informrd by the dera authorities that henceforth, the Ravidassia community shall not be called as Ad-dharmi, as was the practice hitherto, but as Ravidassia. A new scripture named as Amritbani Guru Ravidass Maharaj Ji, which contains 240 hymns of Guru Ravidass, was released by Sant Niranjan Dass, the present dera head. It was announced that the new scripture shall be placed in the Guru Ravidass temples. It is to be noted here that until now it was Guru Granth Sahib which was placed in the Guru Ravidass temples. The new religious insignia of the Ravidassia community will be Har, which will be inscribed on the Nishan Sahibs of all the Guru Ravidass temples. The people belonging to the Ravidassia community shall wish one another with the words Jai Gurudev, which means victory be with the guru. It was further announced on the occasion that the pilgrimage place for the Ravidassia community will be Sri Guru Ravidass Janam Sthan Mandir, Varanasi, Uttar Pardesh. The objectives of the Ravidassia religion according to the dera shall be: 1. To propagate the bani and teachings of Satguru Ravidass Ji, Maharishi Balmiki Ji, Satguru Namdev Ji, Satguru Kabir Ji, Satguru Tarlochan Ji, Satguru Sain Ji and Satguru Sadhna Ji. 2. Respect for all the other religions 3. Love for humankind 4. To lead a virtuous life. Although the above-mentioned step by the dera was opposed by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee, the apex Sikh body for the management of all the Sikh gurudwaras in India except for New Delhi, Sri Guru Ravidass Sadhu Sampardaye Society Punjab, yet it is worthwhile to note here that this step of the dera in question will go a long way in providing the Scheduled Castes especially the Ravidassia community, a distinct religious/cultural identity of their own. 16

Such efforts of the dalits try to challenge the hegemony of the so called higher castes in the social setup of Punjab, represent the self assertive feelings of the dalits. The way the Scheduled Castes, especially the Ravidassia community reacted and came on a common platform after the assassination of Sant Ramanand of the dera, is a proof enough of the rising dalit consciousness to carve out a separate identity of its own. REFERENCES Article in Indian Express dated May 25, 2009 Manjeet Singh Dalla, Dera Ballan Sikhi ton ulat, par iss da jawab Sikh parchar June 2009 edition of Khalsa Fatehnama Arvind Chhabra, In the name of religion, The India Today, June 25, 2009 Census, Registrar General of India, 2001. Chandrajeet Banerjee, Director General CII, quoted in the news- item: Losses in Punjab estimated, at Rs. 7000 cr, The Tribune, May 27, 2009 Kamaljeet Pant, Mapping out the dera, The Hindustan Times, May 30, 2009 Vijay Kumar Hazara, Har Ke Naam Bin Jhoothey Sagal Pasarey, Guru Ravidass Mission Publication, Jalandhar, 2009 News Item, The Times Of India, February 2, 2010 Beghampura Shaher, February 8, 2010 Mark Juergensmeyer, Religious Rebels in the Punjab, Ajanta Publication, New Delhi, 1987 17