This Odisha man fought to open Brahmin cremation ground for Dalits. It’s called Heaven’s Gate

Kendrapara: The gates to the cremation ground in Odisha’s Hazari Bagicha village are wide open. Since November, it hasn’t been a Brahmin-only enclave. Officially, all the dead are welcome now.

But Dalits in the village are still not rushing to cremate their dead. Local activist Nagendra Jena, 53, is urging them to take the first step and break the caste barrier, which has kept them out of the now-liberated cremation ground for centuries.

Jena’s fight to end the age-old system of segregated cremation grounds has made him a hero of his town and community. He first wrote to the Kendrapara district authorities but didn’t receive any response for seven months. That’s when he approached the local press. In November, the Odisha government changed the cremation centre’s name from ‘Brahmin Shamshan’ to ‘Swarg Dwar’ (heaven’s gate).

There is still an uneasy silence in the village. The Dalit community hasn’t celebrated the landmark change and has yet to conduct cremations here. The Brahmins, on the other hand, are resentful that they could not prevent the change.

Caste-specific cremation grounds are the last vestiges of institutional casteism across India. The reform began slowly after Independence, but a few such grounds still remain in far-flung districts around the country. And every now and then, they are challenged in high courts. For Jena, the signboard carrying the name ‘Brahmin Shamsan’ was odious and anachronistic in the 21st century.

“As a child growing up in a nearby village, I would see Dalit families conduct the last rites in a separate ground,” he says. He joined the Bhim Army at the age of in his late 30s, and climbed the ranks to become the organisation’s Kendrapara district president.

It has become his personal mission to fight for Dalit dignity in death. And the problem isn’t just confined to Odisha, he says, citing news reports. “Dalits are denied access to cremation grounds to perform the last rites of their loved ones. It’s happening in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu.”

In Vellore in 2019, ‘upper’ caste Hindus didn’t allow the body of a 55-year-old Dalit man, Kuppan, to be taken across the bridge and through their land. Eventually, the family members were forced to lower Kuppan’s body from the bridge over a river and then cremate the body in a field. Despite national outrage, swift action by the administration, and a suo motu public litigation petition filed by the Madras High Court, change is stymied by prejudice.

“Land is always dominated by the upper castes, so the cremation grounds do belong to them,” Chandraian Gopani

The following year, ‘upper’ caste people from the Thakur community in Agra forcefully got the body of a Dalit woman removed from a funeral pyre, claiming that the ground was reserved for them. And in 2022, a Dalit family from Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh had to wait for five hours with the dead body by the roadside because the ‘upper’ caste residents had blocked access to the cremation ground erected on a government property. Finally, the police intervened, provided security to the Dalits and the last rites were performed.

Chandraiah Gopani, assistant professor at Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, Prayagraj, says it often comes down to who owns the land. “Every state has this issue in India. Land is always dominated by the upper castes, so the cremation grounds do belong to them. Most of the time, Dalits don’t have a piece of land to cremate their dead bodies. They are denied justice in death as well,” says Gopani.

Dalit cremation ground on the right side of Brahmin cremation ground with no gate and walls| Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

Dalit cremation ground on the right side of Brahmin cremation ground with no gate and walls| Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

‘Owned’ by Brahmins ‘for centuries’

Functioning since 1928, the cremation ground at Hazari Bagicha in Odisha’s Kendrapara district is maintained by the local municipal body. It was ‘Brahmin Shamshan’ in official documents as well, but that never raised any alarm bells among the local authorities, says Jena. In 2021, when it was being renovated, ‘Brahmin Shamshan’ was painted in bright yellow and green over the entrance gate.

Jena was furious when he saw the sign. “I felt disrespected and decided to do something about it,” he says.

Local residents told him that the land once belonged to a Brahmin family, which donated it. No official documents exist to support the claim, which is widely used by ‘upper’ caste people in the area to assert control over the land.

“Brahmins in the village still consider it as their property. When I asked about it, they said, ‘Yes, this land belongs to us; it has been like this for centuries’,” says Jena. Local Dalit residents didn’t want to speak out against Brahmins. Nobody “wanted trouble”—a phrase they keep repeating.

Tensions were already high in the district. In September, members of Dalit and OBC communities clashed in village, allegedly over the cremation of a 90-year-old Dalit woman. “The police were called in, though no FIR was filed. Both parties reached an agreement,” says a local junior policeman.

In Hazari Bagicha, he decided to correct the wrong. “The government was protecting a segregated caste-specific cremation ground. I went to the administration first but nothing happened. Then I decided to talk to a journalist,” he says.

Bhim army’s poster on Nagendra Jena’s motorcycle| Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

Bhim army’s poster on Nagendra Jena’s motorcycle| Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

After the news broke, Kendrapara municipality was quick to take action. But the seeds of segregation have had generations to take root. Dalits are wary of using the cremation ground, while Brahmins see it as an attempt to take away their land.

“SC people have their own cremation grounds, but in many cases, they sell their land and forcibly try to acquire ours,” alleged Niranjan Mekap, a local resident from the Brahmin community.

“They (upper caste) can’t do anything about it because now the government has stepped in and opened the ground to everyone,” Jena

Every time Jena, who lives 4km away from Hazai Bagicha, visits Hazari Bagicha, he can sense the simmering resentment. Occasionally, a few ‘upper’ caste members confront him and accuse him of creating “problems” for them. “But they can’t do anything about it because now the government has stepped in and opened the ground to everyone.”

For now, the Dalit villagers continue to use the nearby open field to cremate their dead.

“When Jena initiated the fight to change the name, we were scared that it would create problems for us. We are proud of what he has achieved. It’s just that we don’t want any trouble for our families,” says a resident from the Dalit community who did not want to be identified.

On high ground, well-maintained 

The heavy rains during monsoon may force change in the area. The ‘Swarg Dwar’ is the only well-maintained cremation ground out of three in Hazari Bagicha. At the time of renovation, the boundary walls were painted and a new iron gate was installed. Images of swarg (heaven), narak (hell), skeletons, funeral pyres, and grieving families cover the boundary wall.

The other two cremation centres, used by Dalits and OBCs, including from four neighbouring villages, are just open plots overrun with weeds and vegetation. There is no boundary wall or even a dedicated spot for cremation. When it rains, the entire plot is waterlogged.

Cremation ground for OBC community people in Kednrapara| Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

Cremation ground for OBC community people in Kednrapara| Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

“The low position of the cremation grounds mirrors the place of Dalits in society,” says Jena.

Kendrapara municipality officials say there was no favouritism in choosing a cremation ground for renovation.

“We maintain nine cremation grounds in the district, but we got complaints only about this one, so we renovated it. We didn’t choose it because it was used by Brahmins,” says Praful Kumar Biswal, executive officer of Kendrapara municipality. However, Biswal took charge only a few months ago and was not part of the decision-making process.

Praful Kumar Biswal, executive officer of Kendrapara Municipality | Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

Praful Kumar Biswal, executive officer of Kendrapara Municipality | Nootan Sharma, ThePrint

Will a policy change it?

Across India, there are growing calls for a national policy for burials and cremations. D Ravikumar, DMK MP from Viluppuram in Tamil Nadu, had raised the issue of discrimination in Parliament in December 2022 but did not receive any response from the government.

“This must be the responsibility of the government to take such steps to erase such discriminatory practices from society,” he says.

In 2021, the Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to consider constructing a common burial ground in every village.

“Caste is the reality of Indian society and people function with that,” Manjula Pradeep

“Every citizen should be entitled to use the common burial/cremation grounds with all connected facilities and amenities attached thereto, without being discriminated or segregated,” Justice R Mahadevan had said.

The Tamil Nadu government has incentivised this move by announcing a cash prize of Rs 11.1 crore for 111 villages (three from each district) that build common cremation/burial grounds.

But despite repeated calls for dignity in death, caste segregation is practiced openly in many parts of India. In Gujarat, Manjula Pradeep, a Dalit rights activist and lawyer, says she has seen people write on the board that the land is reserved only for a select community. “Caste is the reality of Indian society and people function with that,” she says.

Back in Kendrapara, Jena is optimistic that change will come. “I want to see my people use this ground. Only then will I say that we have won.”

There used to be a lock on the door of the Hazari Bagicha cremation ground, but it was removed after the renaming. On a winter morning, Jena opens the gate and steps inside Swarg Dwar. Nobody stops him.

(Edited by Prashant)