Bihar Elections: Who Gives 'Moksha' to the Liberators? The Doms of Bans Ghat Live in Official Apathy.

Bans Ghat/Patna- "Sometimes, when no bodies come for cremation, we have to go to sleep hungry. I have three children, a wife, but no home. We live in a shack on government land. No one listens to us, so how will the government?"

This is the painful lament of Jugnu, a member of Bihar's Mahadalit Dom community, who has been providing services at cremation grounds for years on Patna's Bans Ghat. In a conversation with The Mooknayak, his weary eyes made it clear these were not just words, but shadows of a lifelong struggle.

Jugnu questions further, "What has the government done for us? Can't you see our condition? We do society's most difficult work. It is our hands that bring peace to humans after death. But what did we get in return? Hunger, helplessness, and promises that were never kept."

When The Mooknayak's team reached Bans Ghat in Patna, the scene was silent. The peace spread along the banks of the Ganges was broken only by the crackling sound of burning pyres. Members of the Dom community were fulfilling their tradition, carrying loads of wood on their shoulders to prepare a pyre for the final journey of an unknown body. Their faces showed no expression, only a silent sense of duty. It was a moment that highlighted the deepest chasm between life and death, a responsibility society has always placed on their shoulders.

The scene made it clear that the Dom settlement around Bans Ghat still stands on the margins of society. This is the community that has for centuries shouldered the responsibility for the "liberation" of others, preparing the pyres at the cremation ground, conducting last rites, and upholding traditional rituals. The irony is that those who grant "moksha" to others remain trapped in chains of poverty, neglect, and discrimination.

The livelihood of families in the Dom settlement still depends on the cremation ground and related work. Many people make ends meet by selling wood, building pyres, or cleaning the ghat. This work, passed down through generations, has never been considered socially respectable, which is why the Dom community has always lived with the stamp of being an "untouchable," "low caste."

Perhaps the Dom community has now lost hope for help from the government and administration! Jugnu says further, “Politicians make promises during elections, but the people who come to our settlement have never kept their promises.” Jugnu said, “I want my children to not do this work. They should study and do something else. But how? The government never considered us human. If they had, we would have a roof over our heads.”

Education and Health Conditions are Deplorable!

Most children from the settlement do go to school, but poverty and discrimination stop them mid-way. Many children are forced to drop out and take up labor. In the settlement, paved roads, clean water, and health facilities are still virtually non-existent. When people fall ill, they have to run to distant hospitals, where a lack of money often becomes a barrier to treatment.

The biggest battle for the people of this settlement is to gain respect in society. The cry, "We are humans too, we also have our own identity," rises repeatedly from the lanes of the Dom settlement. Many young people now want to leave traditional work and move towards jobs or small businesses, but a lack of opportunities and caste discrimination block their path.

In a conversation with The Mooknayak, another youth from the Dom community, Bheemram, said, “The municipal corporation demolished our homes here, calling them illegal encroachments. Now only a few shacks remain; the rest have had to find shelter elsewhere. I have children and a whole family to support, but it's very difficult to feed everyone on daily wages of 200-300 rupees.”

He further said, "The electric crematorium has taken away whatever little earnings we had left. When the ghat is flooded, people use the electronic cremation ground, which means we don't get the money we would from the traditional cremation (agnidaan) ritual."

The Bihar government has run several schemes for Scheduled Castes- scholarships, self-employment, pensions, and educational opportunities. But the people of the Dom settlement say that most of them don't even receive information about these schemes, and even when they do, the benefits get lost in bureaucratic procedures and middlemen.

Tufan Ram, a former member of the Bihar State Mahadalit Commission, also comes from the Dom community. He has spent a large part of his life struggling for the upliftment of his community and raising his voice continuously.

In a conversation with The Mooknayak, Tufan Ram said that the condition of the Dom community is no secret to anyone. Even today, due to the caste system, untouchability, and an ingrained sense of inferiority, this community has not been able to overcome its backwardness. A lack of education, employment, and respect remains its biggest problem.

He said that their struggle is ongoing. "We are constantly making demands to the government to provide economic and social justice to the Dom society. This movement will not stop until we get equal opportunities and the right to equality."

Who are the Doms?

The Doms are a traditional community, placed at the lowest level of India's caste hierarchy. This community has been primarily associated with last rites (especially cremation at the ghats) and work like playing drums. They were considered untouchable in society and were deprived of education, land, and respect for a long time.

In Bihar, the Dom community is classified as a Mahadalit group. Their population is significant, but their socio-economic status remains extremely backward. Due to untouchability and discrimination, they are forced to live in separate settlements in villages and cities. Despite this, the history of the Dom community has been one of struggle and patience, and even today, this community is fighting a battle for equality, respect, and rights.

Over time, the Dom community has continued its fight for existence and rights. They also participated in the freedom struggle in many places, but socio-economic backwardness persists even today. After independence, governments placed them in the Mahadalit category and launched some schemes, but the deep roots of casteism and untouchability have made their path to progress difficult. Despite this, this community is still struggling for respect and equal rights.