They are the favourite targets of the reformer and the zealot. Nomenclature may have changed, but not their plight. Within Hinduism, the Dalits continue to battle for dignity. From outside, they are offered equality before the eyes of a different God and His disciples. Some still hope for the former. Some have given up all hope. Like Harishanker Bairwa, a Dalit and former member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad who was a kar sevak during the Babri Masjid demolition. Harishankar recently called upon his community to "give up this religion which thinks we are less than human".

Babulal's costly dip in Chakwara's temple pond: Now the Dalit needs a guard while the Jats refuse to use the pond

Three recent incidents have once again brought the Dalits and their position in Hinduism's rigid caste structure to the fore. In Rajasthan, a community of Dalits was persecuted by upper caste Jats for using a temple tank. The Supreme Court judgement that non-Brahmins, including Dalits, can become temple priests may have gladdened some Dalit hearts, but not this particular community. One can only wonder what they thought of the ordinance issued by the Tamil Nadu government banning conversions by the use of force or allurements.

By taking a dip in a tank the use of which was restricted to the Jats and Meenas of the Chakwara village, Babulal Bairwa, a former security guard, unwittingly set off a chain reaction that led to the Dalits deciding to convert to Buddhism. Strangely, it was not the Rajputs who objected to Babulal's use of the pond but the Jats, who, a couple of years ago got themselves declared as backward class (see box) in order to become eligible for reservation in government jobs (Meenas are actually a scheduled tribe group, who are dominant due to their big presence in the government services).

Babulal's dip in the pond led to the entire Bairwa community being fined Rs 50,000 by the Jat-dominated village panchayat. When they refused to pay, the community was excommunicated. "No one would sell us anything, give us work or talk to us," says Harishankar Bairwa, a relative of Babulal. Then the Jats and the Meenas came looking for Babulal and his family. An FIR did not improve matters. "Our womenfolk could not even go to answer the call of nature for fear of being attacked," says Babulal. In desperation, he wrote to various people including P.L. Mimroth, convenor of the Centre for Dalit Human Rights, who decided that collective action was needed.

On September 21, a Sadbavana march by the Bairwas to the village pond was blocked by nearly 20,000 Jats and Meenas gathered from the nearby villages. Violence erupted with nearly 10 policemen being injured. As of now, the Dalits are bathing in the pond under police protection, while the Jats and Meenas have stopped using it.

With Babulal now moving around with a personal security guard provided by Rajasthan Police, Chakwara residents await the return of peace. "A peaceful settlement will only be possible when the Jats realise that we too are humans," says Harishankar. "The Bairwas are not willing to live like animals anymore."

A return to an original Hindu practice: VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore Dalits everywhere, who have at one time or the other suffered humiliation and worse from the upper castes, are echoing that sentiment. They are also working to gain the political clout necessary to ensure that the existing laws on untouchability and other disciriminatory practices are enforced. To the extent that it is any consolation, the courts have often ruled in their favour. As Eleanor Zelliott, professor emeritus at Carleton College, Minnesota, and the author of From Untouchables to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement wrote, "unlike in the past where laws and legislation followed social reform movements, today we see an increasing trend of activists using progressive laws as levers to affect reform".

The latest being the Supreme Court verdict that effectively breaks the monopoly of the Brahmins' control of templesÑan important source of wealth, patronage and influence throughout the country. "This verdict is like a beam of light at the end of a tunnel," says Bojja Tarrakkam, a senior Andhra Pradesh High Court advocate. "Dalits had begun to shun the temples as they had become a symbol of upper caste supremacy," said Avantika Prasad Marmath, president of Ujjain's Dalit Sahitya Academy. "This decision will restore our faith in temples."

The courts will probably soon have to take up another contentious issue, the Tamil Nadu ordinance promulgated by Governor P.S. Ramamohan Rao just a fortnight ahead of the scheduled Assembly session, banning conversions by force or allurements, with stringent punishments for those found guilty. And where it is by choice, the law insists the district magistrate be informed within a specified period. Christian organisations were quick to criticise the ordinance. The first salvo came from the president of the United Minority Forum and Madurai Archbishop M. Arokiasamy, who said: "If the government fails to withdraw the ordinance, the minorities would launch an agitation." He has threatened the closure of all minority educational institutions in the state. Muslims in Tamil Nadu responded with indifference, saying they do not indulge in forcible conversions.

Many Dalit intellectuals view the ordinance as anti-constitutional. "It works against the Dalits," said M. Lakshmaiah, coordinator, Centre for Dalit Studies in Hyderabad. "In Tamil Nadu the current rulers are the upper shudra communities such as the Vanniyars, Chettiars, Nadars, etc. They fought against Brahminism and attacks against Dalits, at one time. These people have now become Brahmins themselves, which means they are against the Dalits."

Predictably, outfits like the Hindu Munnani and Sangh parivar members like the VHP, who have for long been demanding state intervention to stop conversions, have welcomed it. Kanchi Sankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswati said the law would be a check against communal tensions, and other states should follow suit.

This support, of course, does not address the core issues of untouchability offences and the many instances of oppression of Dalits by upper caste Hindus, as documented in a study by the National Commission for SC/ST. The state, from where Gandhiji first proclaimed the demand for temple entry for the Dalits in the early thirties, can of course argue that it is only doing what Madhya Pradesh and Orissa have doneÑusing laws to safeguard the interests of the majority community.

But the timing of the ordinance is significant, coming close on the heels of reports of mass conversions at Madurai where poor Hindus embraced Christianity, the annadhanam free meal scheme in temples started a few months ago and budgetary provisions for protecting cows. With this new law, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has scored some brownie points with the BJP even as the Cauvery controversy strained her relations with the Centre.

As yet, politics has not intruded into the Supreme Court verdict. But reactions from Hindu leaders have been mixed. Dwaraka Sankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati said he is considering an appeal against the verdict. "While selecting a priest, qualification should be kept in mind but that should not overrule traditions which are the spine of Hinduism. This decision is in special reference to a temple in Kerala and such conditions do not prevail all over."

Not that Dalits becoming priests are totally new. Jagadguru Ramnareshacharya of Ramanda sect had made a Dalit a temple priest in Bihar a decade ago. The Week had recently published a feature on a school in Uttar Pradesh which had trained Dalits as priests. Maan Dahima, an IAS officer and president of the MP Dalit employees association, is planning to ask the state government to start training priests irrespective of caste. "To avoid social tensions, organisations like the RSS/VHP should allow Dalits as priests in temples," he says. Leaders of Sangh parivar outfits, too, have welcomed the verdict though their adherence to it in practice remains to be seen. "It is a return to an original Hindu practice," says Acharya Giriraj Kishore of the VHP. "The Varna Vyavastha or the division of Hindu society into four parts is a natural process, don't confuse it with jati or occupational groups."

"I don't want to get involved in caste controversies," says mahant Ramchandra Paramhans, chief of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas in Ayodhya. He adds: "This is a welcome step to promote equality among all the classes."

The symbolic value of the judgement, even though it was not a result of any campaign by Dalits, is significant according to Dr Yogendra Yadav, sociologist with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. "It is not as if overnight all Dalits will want to be priests, but that under the law a temple's door cannot be closed to them will make a difference," he points out.

Maybe. But the verdict does not do anything to address the basic issue facing the Dalits, as expemplified by the Rajasthan incident, and that is strict implementation of the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989. As Dalit human rights leader P.L. Mimroth said: "We first want to be able to live without fear."

Strange but true

The reservation for Jats was a politically expedient move by the Ashok Gehlot ministry. This has now come back to haunt the Congress as Rajputs, the erstwhile ruling class, and even Brahmins have started demanding reservations.

They too want reservations: Rajputs demonstrating in Rajasthan

As things stand, the reservation for Jats in Rajasthan under the agriculturist category and for certain Brahmins under the priests category has created the strange situation where the likes of state BJP chief Vasundhara Raje, a Jat from Dholpur, and Vishwendra Singh, the ruler of Bharatpur and one of the richest men in Rajasthan, are eligible for reservations, as is the head priest of Nathdwara temple!

Nine-year wait

The Kongorpilly Neerikode Siva Temple in Ernakulam is not a place which would prompt instant recall. In 1993, K.S. Rakesh, an Ezhava (non-Brahmin) was appointed the santhikaran or worshipper at the Siva temple. Rajesh, son of Paravur Sreedharan thantri, another famous non-Brahmin priest, was well qualified for the job. However, a devotee, N. Adhithiyan felt that the appointment of a non-brahmin to the post would be against the traditions of the temple. Which led to the case going to the Supreme Court after nine long years and the landmark judgement on October 3.

Taking a leaf from mentor MGR's book Jayalalithaa is once again proving what she said of her own Dravidian political identity during her first innings as chief minister, an identity the critics of the ban-conversion ordinance now are reminding her of. At that time, Jayalalithaa referred to her Brahmin background, and described her leadership of the Dravidian party as the final stage in the evolution of the Dravidian movement.

Great timing: Jayalalithaa scores with the BJP with the new law

Some also see the ordinance as Jalayalithaa's attempt to keep the Sangh parivar hardliners within the BJP and outside on her side in the current phase of her political career. At the same time, like her political mentor MGR, she is also seeking to address the Hindutva voters in the state over the head of the Sangh parivar, in her attempt to enter national politics. With the BJP still nowhere in TN, the AIADMK feels that Hindutva voters would turn her way, just as traditional Congress sympathisers with their anti-DMK, anti-Karunanidhi mindsetâ began looking up to MGR after the demise of K. Kamaraj in 1975.