The East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation (), later the East Pakistan Scheduled Castes Federation (), was a political party in Pakistan. In the first years after the independence of Pakistan, the party was one of the two main political parties of the Hindu minority population in East Bengal (with the other being the Pakistan National Congress). After departure of its main leader Jogendra Nath Mandal in 1950, the party suffered a number of divisions. In the mid-1950s the party participated in different coalition governments at Pakistan Centre level and East Pakistan provincial level. After 1958 the party went into oblivion.
Background
The All India Scheduled Castes Federation had been founded by B.R. Ambedkar in Allahabad in 1942, as a political organization striving for the upliftment of Scheduled Castes/Dalits. In the years running up to the Partition of India there were formal alliances between the All India Muslim League and the Scheduled Castes Federation in Bengal, United Provinces and Punjab. In Bengal the Scheduled Castes Federation chapter led by Jogendra Nath Mandal championed maintaining the province united, a position the party shared with the Muslim League. When Pakistan was formed, Mandal joined the first Dominion of Pakistan government as Minister of Law and Labour after having received approval from Ambedkar to do so. In parallel Ambedkar held the post of Minister of Law in the Dominion of India. However, with the split of India and Pakistan into two separate entities, the Scheduled Castes Federation branches in Pakistan eventually broke their organizational links with the Indian mother party and held a party conference in Karachi in 1948. Overwhelmingly the Scheduled Castes Federation in Pakistan was based in East Bengal.
First years after Partition
Mandal was the president of the East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation in 1948. The party argued for separate electorate for Scheduled Castes, and had tense relations with the Pakistan National Congress on this issue. The East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation called for increased representation of Scheduled Castes based on 1948 population estimate. Notably the party was unhappy with the lack of Scheduled Castes representation in the East Bengal provincial government.
In 1949 the Working Committee of the East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation passed a unimanous resolution calling a joint minority electorate but with reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes.
In the wake of the 1950 Dacca riots, Mandal's discourse shifted significantly. He now positioned himself as a protector for Hindu and minority communities in East Bengal, and began downplaying the rhetorical separation between Caste Hindus and Scheduled Castes. By April 1950, after riots in Barisal, Mandal told his followers that he would no longer advise them to stay in Pakistan. Other leaders of the party rejected Mandal's statement.
East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation president D.N. Barori was sworn in as minister in the East Bengal provincial government in June 1950. Barori's nomination had been fiercely opposed by Jogendra Nath Mandal.
Electorate issue split
The issue of separate or joint electorate would split the party. Barori supported a separate electorate for Scheduled Castes.
An East Bengal Minorities Conference held at Comilla in March 1952, which called for joint electorate and denounced Barori. Out of 500 delegates at the conference, some 300 came from the Scheduled Castes. The Comilla conference called on the government to dismiss Barori and replace him with another representative with support from the minorities. The resolution of the Comilla conference stated that separate representation on communal basis is anti-national.
On December 19, 1953, the anti-Barori camp in the East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation organized a conference in Dacca and declared Barori and his faction expelled for having violated the party line on joint electorates. The conference had been called by Rasaraj Mandal, and Raj Kumar Mandal chaired the event. Invited speakers at the event included Maulana Bhasani, A. K. Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Basanta Kumar Das and Mahmud Ali.
Barori retained support in the East Bengal Legislative Assembly group of the party, whilst the dissident group (led by Rasaraj Mandal) controlled the party organization. A second minor split occurred in the Barori group, seemingly caused by personal issues.