The names of castes and their identity have always been a very sensitive and decisive issue in the politics of Bihar. On Friday, once again the genie of naming castes came out of the bottle in Bihar Assembly. The controversy started during the attention session of the Assembly. BJP president Jivesh Kumar asked the state government that when this caste is mentioned as Bhumihar-Brahmin in old government and revenue records (like Khatian), then why only Bhumihar is being written in the current government caste list and caste certificates?
Deputy CM Bijendra Prasad Yadav, while clarifying the government’s stand, said that only Bhumihar caste is mentioned in the official government list of the state. The Deputy Chief Minister argued that writing Bhumihar-Brahmin in the certificates can create huge confusion at the society and administrative level. Citing the provisions of the General Administration Department, Bijendra Yadav said that certificates will also be issued on the basis of the name by which the caste is listed in the government records. After this reply, political controversy was seen in the House on this issue. Let us know why the Bhumihar community is demanding the name ‘Bhumihar-Brahmin’, what is the historical and social logic behind calling itself Brahmin…
What is the logic of Bhumihar society?
The Bhumihar community and their leaders argue that their caste is clearly recorded as ‘Bhumihar-Brahmin’ in old Khatians (land records), British era documents and many old revenue records. The society believes that ‘Bhumihar’ is not a separate caste, but it is a sub-class of those Brahmins who left worship and took up agriculture and landlordism as their profession. He argues that removing the word ‘Brahmin’ from the government list is like denying their historical and religious existence.
Why do Bhumihars want to call themselves Brahmins?
The Bhumihar community has been wanting for a long time to be recognized as Brahmin. The biggest reason for this has been to strengthen its high social identity and religious respect in the society. In history, Bhumihars are counted among the forward or Dwij castes of Bihar. This class includes Brahmins, Bhumihars, Rajputs and Kayasthas. Therefore, the Bhumihar community considers itself associated with the Brahmin tradition and wants to go with the same identity.
To strengthen this Brahmin identity, ‘Pradhan Bhumihar Brahmin Sabha’ was established in 1889, whose main objective was to bring moral, social and educational reform in the community. By 1899, this Sabha had emerged as the strongest caste organization of Bihar. The entire focus of this organization was on giving the society the status of Brahmin. For this he opened schools teaching Sanskrit and tried to free his community from dependence on other Brahmin priests. Even the famous farmer leader Swami Sahajanand Saraswati was initially associated with this ‘Bhumihar Mahasabha’, so that the claims of Bhumihars as Brahmins could be strengthened.
More than 100 years old fight
This fight for identity is not of today, but is more than a century old. Before the 1920s, the economic, political and cultural life of Bihar was mainly dominated by the Bhumihars and other upper castes. At that time, these upper castes owned more than 78% of the total cultivable land of the state. The Bhumihar caste included a large number of big landowners and ryots (farmers). Despite having wealth and muscle, they wanted the highest position in social and religious rituals, which was traditionally enjoyed only by Brahmins. To achieve this identity, he started organized efforts.
British government survey and census in 1920 In the 1920s, various caste groups of Bihar started mobilizing their people for political purposes. Many claims were made regarding the identity of castes in the documents of the survey conducted by the British government around 1920 and then in the census of 1931. According to the census data of 1931, at that time the share of Bhumihars in the total population of Bihar was 5 percent. In these surveys and documents of the British era, the Bhumihars had organized themselves and registered themselves as ‘Bhumihar-Brahmin’, which today leaders like MLA Jivesh Kumar are basing on.
Bihar Government Commission in 2015
This identity dispute got legal and administrative form when the Bihar government constituted the ‘Savarna Commission’ (State Upper Caste Commission) in 2015 to assess the socio-economic status of the upper castes. Deputy Chief Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav cited the rules of this commission and the General Administration Department in the House. The government clearly believes that in the recommendations of the Commission and the notified list, the name of this caste has been fixed only as ‘Bhumihar’. If the name of any other caste (Brahmin) is added before any one caste, it will create legal anomalies at the reservation, certificate giving and administrative levels.
Why is the government trying to avoid controversy?
Even though Bhumihars constitute around 5-6% of the population in the state, their influence in the politics, bureaucracy and agriculture sector of Bihar has been much more than their numbers. Despite the implementation of the Zamindari Abolition Act, 1950 after independence, this society remained close to power due to its strong political will. If ‘Bhumihar’ starts being written as ‘Bhumihar-Brahmin’, then a new controversy may arise in the category of certificates along with ‘Maithil Brahmin’, ‘Kanyakubj Brahmin’ etc., to avoid which the government is rejecting it.
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