Jeera Bharti: Spirited Voice of Dalits and Adivasis in Mirzapur
In the upcoming Assembly election in UP, Jeera Bharti is the CPIML candidate from the Madihan constituency.
On the way up the hillock to the Madihan Assembly constituency in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh is a village called Patehara with ‘kutcha’ mud houses, one of which is Jeera Bharti’s. Jeera Bharti has been raising her voice for the rights of dalits and adivasis for the last two decades, during which struggle she has had to face atrocities from dominant sections in the village. Many false cases have also been slapped on her by the administration.
Movement against eviction of adivasis in the village: A turning point in Jeera Bharti’s life
Jeera Bharti's association with the communist movement started during the movement against the eviction of adivasis from their land. She used to make a living by working in the fields with her four children in her village Patehara. The upper caste feudal forces of the village in cahoots with the administration launched a government campaign to evict the adivasis who were settled on this land for many years, in order to grab their land. In this situation, activists from the party with the red flag with the symbol of the hammer and sickle came to the village and along with the adivasis organized a dharna over a long period of time against the land grab. Jeera Bharti joined this dharna and led the women in the struggle. The power of the red flag and the large participation of the adivasis defeated the land grab conspiracy of the savarna feudal forces and the administration. This movement had such a great impact on her that she took membership in the party of the red flag, the CPIML and joined the communist movement. After this Jeera Bharti led many struggles of the poor, dalits and adivasis in Mirzapur.
Deadly attacks and fake cases could not deter Jeera Bharti's spirits
In the last two decades, Jeera Bharti along with the villagers led many battles not only for raising wages but also against the arbitrariness of ‘Kotedars’ in the PDS ration system and corruption in MNREGA. She also strongly raised the issue of women’s dignity and safety. As she directly confronted the administration and the dominant forces on women’s rights and the rights of the poor, Jeera Bharti had to many times face sexual assaults and lethal attacks. Many false cases were filed against her. Her family members were also subjected to violence by the dominant forces and false cases were slapped against them too.
Speaking about the barbaric feudal attack on dalits in Kolha village in the year 2018, Jeera Bharti says that under the Modi-Yogi regime, land mafia-lord Ambika Prasad Pandey in connivance with the administration made over the Patta and Khatauni lands of dalits in his own and his family members’ names. People from the dalit community opposed this and said that as their village is under ‘chakbandi’, these lands cannot be taken over. But the goons of the mafia ran over the unarmed agitating villagers (including many women) with a tractor. The women were also brutally beaten up by the goons. Four women were badly injured and a pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage. Many elderly people also sustained serious injuries in this attack.
Jeera Bharti says that this was such a brutal attack on dalits but their case was not even registered by the police. Far from talking about imposing the SC/ST Act, on the contrary fake cases were registered against 39 named Dalits and hundreds of unknown people. She says that the oppression of dalits and adivasis in the village has increased tremendously in UP since the Yogi government came to power in 2017 and the nexus between the savarna feudal land mafia and the administration has strengthened. Over the last five years dalits and adivasis are being evicted from their ancestral lands across Mirzapur. Even government officials, along with the land mafia, are getting the land of the poor made over in their own names.
Women take up reins of Jeera Bharti’s election campaign
Jeera Bharti contesting Madihan assembly constituency, is a well-known women’s leader in Mirzapur District. The women in the villages express their respect for and dedication to her, and are collecting money as well as food grains for the election campaign. When we talked about Jeera Bharti to Ranno, an adivasi woman of Patehra village, she said unhesitatingly, “Jeera Bharti is the companion of our sorrows and joys. We just have to give one call and she comes and stands with us, goes to jail for us, even takes police beatings for us. The rest of the politicians, like frogs in the rainy season, only stand with folded hands at our doors at the time of elections”.
Sukna, a Dalit woman from Riksakhurd village, said, “We women stand always with the leader with the red flag, Jeera Bharti, because she is our strength. She fights our battles from the police station to the courts. That's why today we are collecting money for her election campaign so that the voice of women can reach the Lucknow Vidhan Sabha”.
During the election campaign, we met 16-year-old Aradhana of Barsainta village of Madihan constituency. Aradhana, who had dreamed of becoming a doctor, could not pursue further studies after class 8 because there was no high school in her village. Aradhana is accompanying Jeera Bharti in the election campaign. She is raising slogans of 'Long live workers’ and women’s movements!'. Aradhana says, in our village many girls drop out due to lack of school and college. I am participating in Jeera Bharti's election programs so that the question of girls' education reaches the Vidhan Sabha.
In the Madihan Assembly constituency, cavalcades of influential leaders from many political parties are campaigning with several dozen vehicles. On the contrary, Jeera Bharti is going from village to village on foot and meeting the villagers, and people themselves are joining her election campaign. Women are laughing, singing, dancing, and arranging food for the campaigners.
Discussing the main issue of the people in the current election, Jeera Bharti says that the BJP government has suppressed the poor people in the name of development in the last five years. Adivasis are faced with an existential crisis, as well as land eviction which is being done on a large scale. In this government, systematic loot is prevalent down to the Panchayat level, due to which the poor do not get any benefit from any of the schemes. The government's 5 kg free food grains scheme makes a mockery of poverty. The biggest question is that of women's safety, and on this issue it is the BJP government and their police and administration that are in the dock. She says that if she wins the elections, she will raise her voice in favour of the poor because the power of the red flag comes only from the people and from nowhere else. She says, we also get energy for movements and struggles from the people and so our real capital is the people; my whole life is dedicated to the cause of the people.
