Petitions
The Kashyap Rajput Central Sabha
26 August 1949.
The Kashyap Rajput Central Sabha, based in Delhi, wrote to Rajendra Prasad, Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, on 26 August 1949. ‘Kashyap Rajput’ was an umbrella term for Kahars, fishermen, boatmen, and all communities connected with aquatic professions. The Sabha claimed the community numbered around ten crores, making it the largest single caste group in the country.
The petition asked that the Kashyap Rajput community be included in the Scheduled Castes list in every province, so that it could access the benefits provided for backward classes. In some provinces the community had been classified as equal to the upper castes, which the Sabha called a cruel joke given its actual condition. The community was overwhelmingly uneducated, had almost no representation in government services, and had been treated as menial Sudras since the time of the epics. Even in the Fishery Development Departments set up by the government, the community with hereditary expertise in the trade was being ignored, with responsible posts going to upper-caste officers.
The letter also raised the condition of Kashyap Rajput refugees from Partition, who had received no government assistance and were living in makeshift roadside huts. In the new towns being built to house refugees, the Sabha alleged, those in charge were rehabilitating their own community members first.
The tone is bitter and accusatory. The Sabha suggested that the leaders now in power were still governed by the Manusmriti despite professing modern ideas, and that the government’s declarations of equal opportunity in a secular India sounded hollow when the community could not afford to send its children even to primary school. Previous memorials to the government, the Sabha noted, had been acknowledged and promises of attention made, but nothing had come of them.
THE KASHYAP RAJPUT CENTRAL SABHA.
DELHI
Ref No: MAR-207/49
Dated: 26-8-1949.
SUNDER BLDGS, near
church FATEHPURI.
To
Hon. Dr. Rajendra Prasad
chairman I.C.A
New Delhi 423/49 ….
Dear Sir,
The Kashyap Rajput is an euphemism and it stands for Kahar, fishermen, boatmen and all the communities connected with the acquatic professions. From the times immemorial (as far back as Ram Rajya) these communities have been looked down upon by the high castes as menials or Sudras, not to speak of imparting education they were even debarred from praying and doing penances to attain higher self. In short, they still are and have all through been reckoned as lowest of the low.
Being a mass of uneducated people they could not forge ahead in the days of the British Rule. With the change in Government they had expected that those who hold the reins of the Government will try to face the facts. The memorials submitted by this community which forms the largest single unit in this country (being more or less 10 crores) were not given any heed. Our letters were acknowledged by responsible men in the Government. We were promised fair deal. The matter was receiving attention, but nothing came out of it. We are where we were.
These men who are at the helm of affairs have shut their eyes upon the deplorable economic, social and educational condition of the Kashyap Rajput. It is a cruel joke to term Us as equal to the high castes in some provinces. The community has begun to feel that these Pan-dits who rule us are still clinging to that damned book “Manu Samiriti”, though they pro-fess to be modern in ideas. This community should in every province be included in the list of scheduled castes.
People are anxious to help the refugees but our refugees do not attract any body’s attention. They were never a burden upon the Government. They are leading a miserable life. The improvised flimsy huts they have constructed by the roadside without any help from any quarter can not ward off the inclemencies of the weather. There is none to help them. They have been left to rot by the roadside. Being illiterate they can not frame co-operative societies and secure monetary help. In every town that is being constructed to house the re-fugees, care is being taken by those who motivate such movement to rehabilitate as large a number of their own community as they can. This state of affairs if allowed to continue will turn the families who belong to this God-forsaken community into nomads.
Hitherto, the fishermen have been label-led as impious Sudras for their trading the in fish. Though the high castes take fish in some provinces but the sight of a fisherman in society makes them nauseate. In all other departments the represen-tation of the Kashyap Rajputs is pitiable. The Government had started Fishery development De-partments in every province but the community with the knack for this trade is being completely ig-nored. The men who are sent to other countries for training do not belong to this community. Every responsible post in this Dept. falls to the lot of a “Verma” or a “Sharma”.
The Government may go on declaring that in a Secular India there are equal opportunities for all the citizens but the claim sounds hollow when we take into account the predicament of the poor classes who, not to speak of a college can not afford even to send their children to a primary school. This hypocrisy must not be indulged into by those who assume to be the just custodians of the national welfare.
It is beseeched that you should draw the attention of the Constituent Assembly to the sad plight of this community. The community should be included in the scheduled castes in every pro-vince, so that it may derive the benefits provided for the backward classes.
Yours faithfully,
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