The Bharat bandh by the Dalit community came as a shock to me, as much as it did to many others, I am sure. I had expected some picketing and protests in a few cities. What I did not anticipate was the horrific violence. There is news of seven people having died in the violence. On the face of it, the bandh was just over the changes ordered by the Supreme Court in the SC/ST Act, but there was anger over many other issues that had been simmering below the surface.