April 24, 2024

The battle of Bhima Koregaon finds little or no mention in mainstream history books but is folklore for the Dalits in Maharashtra. In the battle, less than 1000 soldiers of the Mahar Battalion in the British Army took on and beat a much larger army of the Peshwas. Mahar’s were a community that was treated as untouchables under the Peshwas. For them, it was not about foreign rulers beating an Indian ruler. For them, it was them beating the army of those who had oppressed their community for ages. It was celebration then and as Dalits continue to be oppressed today, it is celebration now on the occasion of 200 years of the battle.

But the upper castes will have none of it. To them, the Mahar’s sided with foreign rulers and were hence anti-national. So where is the cause of celebration? Peshwas were Brahmins. They severely oppressed and even brutalized the untouchables – as Dalits were known then. Hence, if the Mahars managed to put it across them in the battle, they were bound to celebrate. This is something the upper castes can never understand. For the oppressed, each victory, however small, is like a mountain climbed. The importance of that win and the celebrations can be gauged by the fact that despite it, the Dalits are still being oppressed, exploited, raped and killed, now both by the upper castes and the privileged among their own community.

Hence, the objections by the upper castes in Pune against the Dalits for celebrating the 200 years of Bhima Koregaon battle are out of place and mischievous. Each community has the right to celebrate what it considers watershed moments in its history. Even B R Ambedkar acknowledged the Bhima Koregaon battle as one. If the upper caste Rajput community can agitate against Padmavati (without even seeing the movie) for denigrating a Rajput queen, why are other upper castes so piqued when Dalits celebrate the defeat of those who oppressed them?