20.03.2024.UNTOUCHABLES.NEWS.(Dalits,Tribals &Buddhists)by Sivaji.ceo.Budda Dhamma Academy.TVMalai.606601.
Scientists flag erosion of scientific temper, accuse Modi government of pushing ‘false narratives’
The scientists have accused the government of contributing to “multi-pronged” attacks that tend to undermine a scientific attitude among the public and have urged members of the academic community, the bureaucracy, and the political class to help uphold constitutional values
G.S. Mudur
Over 100 scientists have decried what they have described as the Indian government’s “antagonistic stance” to science and evidence-based thinking and its support to “false narratives, unfounded opinions, and a cloak of religiosity to instil adherence to a majoritarian idea of India”.
The scientists have accused the government of contributing to “multi-pronged” attacks that tend to undermine a scientific attitude among the public and have urged members of the academic community, the bureaucracy, and the political class to help uphold constitutional values.
The Indian Constitution requires every citizen to, among the other fundamental duties, develop a scientific temper, humanism and a spirit of inquiry and reform.
“The government and its various organs now actively oppose a scientific approach, independent or critical thinking, and evidence-based policy-making,” the scientists said in a statement released on Friday.
The scientists added: “This antagonistic stance is widely and persistently communicated to the public, perpetuating such attitudes.”
The statement did not name any government but its content — expressions of concern about the promotion of unproven or unscientific ideas, exaggeration of ancient Indian knowledge, certain responses during the Covid-19 pandemic — relates to developments under the Narendra Modi government.
The statement, under preparation for nearly six months, was finalised in Calcutta on February 28 at the national convention of the All India People’s Science Network, a consortium of 40 organisations engaged in the promotion of science education and scientific temper among the public.
It has drawn over 100 signatories — serving and retired scientists — from multiple academic institutions, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, the National Centre for Biological Sciences, the Raman Research Institute, among others.
They have also expressed concern that the government and allied social forces have promoted “pseudoscience and a belief in mythology as history” and used “false narratives… to construct a unitary majoritarian religion and culture, contrary to the diverse religious beliefs even among the majority community”.
The scientists have said government funds for research and development, already below comparable countries, when measured as a percentage of the gross domestic product, have “hit historic lows,” amid concerns that this might adversely impact India’s capacity to generate new scientific knowledge.
“Domestic assembly by cheap labour is misrepresented as self-reliance, thus underplaying the need for research and knowledge production,” they added, referring to what some signatories said was the government’s enthusiasm for local production alongside poor support for new knowledge generation.
The scientists have accused the government of contesting “on spurious grounds” development data and India’s position on various global rankings. The Centre has in recent years challenged India’s ranking on hunger and has also repeatedly described as “myth”, “speculative” or “flawed” estimates of excess deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic in India calculated by multiple academic groups.
The scientists said beyond image management, these tendencies undermine a scientific approach and evidence-based policy-making and “demoralise the knowledge production community, fostering anti-intellectual attitudes”.
“Unscientific claims by prominent figures in political circles, boasting of imaginary technological achievements and exaggerated ideas about ancient Indian knowledge are used to build and support a hyper-nationalistic narrative,” the statement said. “Such fanciful and boastful claims undermine many actual substantial contributions of ancient India emanating from various cultural streams and covering intellectual as well as artisanal and technical accomplishments.”
After 27 years, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union is going to get a Dalit President!
The process of JNU Students Union elections has started. Dhananjay, the candidate for the post of President of United Left Panel, is much talked about among the student community. There has been no Dalit president in JNUSU since Batti Lal Bairwa, who was the president of JNUSU in 1996-97. Considering the political situation of the country today, where Dalit society is the victim of the worst phase of feudal-Brahminist attack, Dhananjay’s victory will be very important.
Neelam Singh Chauhan,
Dhananjay is associated with the All India Students Association (AISA) and has been in active politics since December 2014, when the struggle against the Four-Year Undergraduate Program (FYUP) in Delhi University began. Currently he is pursuing PhD from School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU.
The youngest of six siblings, Dhananjay hails from Gaya district of Bihar, which is known as a deeply feudal society. Obviously he faced the brunt of caste discrimination. This discriminatory incident in the society made him a fighter for good education so that no one else has to face discrimination like him. His village consists of 20 houses and is on the outskirts of Guraru, where he lived with his parents and siblings. His father is a retired policeman who faced caste discrimination at the hands of the villagers. He was addressed only by his caste name and was not given due respect for his role as a policeman. Due to these experiences, his father asked him to do engineering, so that Dhananjay could live his life with respect. Even though Dhananjay had a good academic record, he could not get admission in a government college and private education was beyond his family’s means. However, the family, living a life of financial hardship, gave priority to education. Dhananjay says, “The concept of social justice is not accepted in our society. Our qualifications are always questioned and so are our academic records and interests.” Since Delhi University was known for concessional and quality education for SC community students, he took admission in BA in Political Science in Sri Aurobindo College in the year 2014. Subsequently, she pursued post-graduation in Performance Studies in 2019 from Ambedkar University, which also provides subsidized education for Dalits, and later completed her M.Phil in Theater and Performance Studies from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU.
Political activism
He completed his schooling from Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Ranchi (Jharkhand). This school is believed to be run by RSS. In his school itself, he saw how Hindutva politics was being propagated in moderate voices, in which there was no scope for secularism. He also saw how RSS shakhas were run to create a feeling of hatred and division among young children. Given the caste dominance of Hindutva ideology, Dhananjay, who hails from the Dalit community, also experienced caste discrimination during his school days.
Despite all efforts to inculcate the ideology of hatred among children in such RSS-run schools, there are some people like Dhananjay who have been dreaming of an alternative world since the early days of their lives. Dhananjay read in newspapers about the struggle of tribal and Dalit people in Bihar and Jharkhand, which is being led by CPIML (CPI-ML). He saw how tribal lands were being taken over by the state and corporates and the houses of poor people were being mercilessly demolished. He read the statements of CPIML which was fighting for the tribals and the marginalized people against the injustice done to them. Since he hails from rural Bihar and did his schooling in Jharkhand, he was inspired by the class and anti-caste struggles led by the CPIML. This is what helped him join AISA during his Bachelors at DU.
When AISA started the fight against FYUP in 2014, the issue affected Dhananjay too. He observed that FYUP would have an adverse impact on poor and marginalized students, as it meant an increase in fees. Being inspired by CPIML, it was natural for Dhananjay to join AISA and lead the ‘Rollback FYUP’ campaign. In his early days, he played a leadership role in the AISA movements in DU. When there was a massive movement to validate bus passes for students in DTC’s red buses, he gathered hundreds of students and led the successful movement. It was a victorious movement under the leadership of AISA.
Dhananjay says, “I did left politics because I believe that only by bringing together the struggle of class and caste, we will be able to eliminate caste from our society. I do not want the discrimination that happened to me to continue. I want to transform the society that provides equal and affordable education to all students and respectable employment to our youth.”
Getting into JNU was his dream and in November 2020, which was his first day of M.Phil., Dhananjay participated in the AISA-led ‘Re-Open JNU’ protest. In which it was demanded that the students who were sent back home during the lockdown of March 2020, should be called back and the campus should be reopened for the students. During this period, JNU was transformed into a fort, making it impossible for students to return to the campus. During the lockdown, the harsh reality of the digital divide came to the fore, adversely impacting the pathan-pathan of students. This conflict significantly changed the face of the campus. He was part of a 21-day dharna organized at the Dean of Students office as part of the ‘Unlock JNU’ movement in June-July 2021, where he stayed in a tent day and night demanding offline classes and hostel allotment for students. During the lockdown, he along with his other AISA activists stood together in the struggle for the rights of JNU employees.
She ranged from raising her voice for safe working conditions of sanitation workers and against the retrenchment of contractual workers under the guise of lockdown and to migrant workers, slum dwellers and other informal workers to provide essential relief material, such as ration, safety gear, oxygen. Also join AISA’s Covid Helpdesk initiative to deliver cylinders and medicines.
Cultural activism
Inspired by Safdar Hashmi, Gaddar and Kabir Kala Manch, Dhananjay became a writer, poet and theater artist. With the Delhi-based cultural troupe ‘Sangwari’ he wrote revolutionary plays and composed songs, which were presented as a form of resistance and used to politicize the working class. During the 2019 DTC strike, Dhananjay played an important role in keeping the spirit of the striking employees high by performing a street play ‘Machine’. He has traveled and performed in more than 8,000 street plays across the country. He has regularly performed street plays in slums across Delhi.
He says, “Culture bridges the gap between politics and society. This is the best medium to reach the general public. “People understand the language of expressive arts like music and theatre.” She believes that through cultural activism people can be informed about caste and gender issues and change can be brought about. He protested against Sabarmati Dhaba, JNU over the wrongful imprisonment of Pricol workers in Tamil Nadu. Performed in.
Be it political activism or cultural activism, Dhananjay sees a dream for JNU that will nurture its vibrant democratic culture, where students actively participate in debate, dissent and discussion. He wishes to preserve the glorious legacy of tireless struggle and commitment towards the student community. She is committed to fighting for social justice and an inclusive campus, against the commercialization and corporate takeover of education, against sexual violence and gender discrimination, and protecting campus democracy.
Courtesy: Hindi News
‘Baba Saheb used to collect books, but I collect people’
Baba Saheb Dr. After Bhimrao Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram (who is also known as ‘Saheb’ and ‘Manyavar’ by his supporters and admirers) said goodbye to this world on October 9, 2006 after a long illness, and was continuously active in the Dalit movement. Despite the increasing distractions and disintegration, hardly anyone could have imagined that even two decades would not be completed after this goodbye and their fight for Dalit self-respect would turn 360 degrees on its axis – so much so that the Bahujans would be deprived of all the opportunities available in the politics of that time. The ‘principle’ of Paltimar politics which he had given for use in the interest of the people, will also become ‘something of great use to the Manuwadis’.
Not only this, their mission of ‘Bahujan’, which has transformed into ‘Sarvajan’ for power, will reach a point where they will reach the point where they will get hold of the state power while hearing slogans like ‘Haathi is not Ganesh, Brahma, Vishnu is Mahesh’. Instead of trying to keep it with himself, he would not be ashamed to be seen happily handing it over to the same ‘Manuwadis’ whose determination to overthrow the monarchy was not acceptable to him even in the days of counter-insurgency politics.
It is important to know here that for him the key to state power was an absolutely indispensable means of opening the closed locks of socio-economic changes beneficial to the Bahujans and he believed that the Bahujans could get an upper hand in the social and political systems of the country only when this key was in their possession. Stay close. Otherwise, they will have to keep dancing on the axis of whoever has this key in their hands or control.
It is noteworthy that under this belief, he had rejected the offer of becoming the President given to him by Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his Prime Ministership, saying that he wanted to become the Prime Minister and not the President because the real power of the country lies in this post – Bahujans. Also the key to open the lock hanging on the closed door of the future.
Despite all this, it would be wrong to say that the distractions and disintegration of the Dalit movement have made their fight futile or have diminished its importance. By counting some of the mistakes and omissions committed during the fight, he cannot be held solely responsible for the reasons due to which as soon as he fell ill, a series of allegations and counter-allegations started among his disciple Mayawati and her family.
Not only this, the country’s first Dalit woman Chief Minister, who was elected in 1995, soon lost her identity by allegedly turning into a ‘daughter of wealth’. As a result, not only did their good earnings reach the point of being ‘sold’, but the slogan ‘UP is ours, now it’s Delhi’s turn’ also reduced to ‘Neither Delhi, nor UP’ and ‘Neither in three, nor in thirteen’. As it happened.
However, by the time Kanshiram turned twenty-one, he had started his struggle and it was clear in his heart and mind from the beginning what he had to do next. Born on this day in 1934, on March 15, in a Dalit community named Ramdasia, in a village called Khawaspur in Ropar district of Punjab, he had completed his B.Sc. by 1957 and joined the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Pune, Maharashtra. ) had become an assistant scientist in the Explosive Lab.
When the management of this lab suddenly canceled the holidays on the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Gautam Buddha, he termed it as insulting to the Dalits and started a struggle for their reinstatement. Then his life started going through a long series of such struggles and he had to take a pledge that he would neither marry nor own any property and would dedicate his entire life to achieving the goals of the Phule-Ambedkar movement.
Due to this pledge, he left his six-year old job in DRDO in one fell swoop and moved towards becoming the ‘commander’ of the fight for Dalit self-respect. After this he never looked back. He worked in the Republican Party of India for seven-eight years, but in 1978, when he became disillusioned with its policies, he formed the Backward Minorities Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) and started spreading it across the country. For this he made long journeys on bicycle. In 1981, he also formed Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti i.e. DS-4.
The very next year in 1982, he wrote a book titled ‘The Chamcha Age’ and strongly condemned those Dalit leaders who, let alone Bahujans, did not even work for the socio-economic upliftment and protection of self-respect of their Dalit community and Congress. Kept working with such parties on their terms for personal gain. This book made his political line and tendencies clear to a great extent. Yes, his attitude towards Congress also.
Ultimately coming to the conclusion that the Dalit movement could not flourish without a political base, he formed the Bahujan Samaj Party on April 14, 1984. According to experts, he took the word ‘Bahujan’ from Pali language and his concept of Bahujan included minorities along with Dalits and backward people.
The past is witness to the fact that as long as they could remain politically active, the slogans and morals of this party were completely different from those of other parties. Didn’t even refrain from making them their opposites in many ways. He often used to say that the first election is fought to lose, the second to defeat someone and the third to win.
In the historic by-election of Allahabad Lok Sabha seat in 1988, he lost to Vishwanath Pratap Singh by 70,000 votes, while in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, when he became a candidate from East Delhi seat, he came fourth. But after this, he contested Lok Sabha elections for the third time from Etawah seat in 1991 and was successful in repeating his victory from Hoshiarpur seat of Punjab in 1996.
When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Parivar made Ayodhya their laboratory in the latter half of the ninth decade of the last century, they moved ahead and made the country’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh their political laboratory. Their organizations like BAMCEF and DS-4 were already running aggressive ground campaigns there against Manuwadis and upper castes. At that time, his workers not only had very aggressive slogans like ‘Tilak Taraju aur Talwar…’ and ‘Babhan, Thakur, Baniya Chhod…’, they also had vulgar slogans like ‘Vote our rule is yours, it will not work, it will not work’. . Aspirational slogans like ‘Will take CM-PM by voting, SP will take DM by reservation’ and ‘Whoever talks about Bahujan will rule the country’.
Naturally at that time BSP seemed ready to turn everything upside down – it wanted to change the system. His leadership and organizational abilities made him a renowned spokesperson for the self-respect of Dalits.
In the difficult circumstances after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, he formed an alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh (it is also claimed that Mulayam formed this party only on his request) and When he contested the state assembly elections, the results had left the sky ablaze with the slogan of ‘Mile Mulayam Kanshi Ram, Hawa Ho Gaye Jai Shri Ram’.
But due to some contradictions, the life of this alliance could not be long and soon BSP started making mistakes with BJP. Then Kanshiram gave a new political philosophy. That they will not hesitate to use any available means to hand over the keys of power to the Bahujans. Not even by turning again and again. However, as has been said earlier, later on, these revolutions started being motivated less by ensuring the upliftment of the Bahujans by following the path of system change and more by sharing the benefits of power.
Due to this, Kanshi Ram came to be considered in many circles as the second biggest inspiration for Dalit politics and movements after Baba Saheb, then while explaining the difference between himself and Baba Saheb, he used to say that Baba Saheb used to collect books but I collect people. . This work of gathering people over a long period of time made him respected and respected by his followers during the period of Mandal and Kamandal.
He had announced that on October 14, 2006, on the occasion of completion of fifty years of Babasaheb’s initiation into Buddhism, he would follow his path and convert to Buddhism. That means, even if you are born like them as a Hindu, you will not leave the world as a Hindu. But even before this date, the threat of death did not allow his wish to be fulfilled. Thus, he used to call himself a member of the Ajivaka sect, which was once founded by Makkhali Gosala (Goshalak) and whose philosophy was the most influential philosophy prevalent in India before the rise of the 24th Tirthankara Mahavira and Mahatma Buddha in the fifth century BC.
At present, his birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘Bahujan Inspiration Day’, but losing sight of the fact that the greatest tribute to him can be paid by reviving his struggles for the Dalits-Bahujans in all their moral glory. Can only be given. This is why the matter has now reached the level of their attempts to fraudulently convert ’85 vs 15′ into ’80 vs 20′.
Courtesy: Hindi News
Dalit youth brutally beaten, plea for justice in SSP court
Uttarakhand: A case of brutal beating of a Dalit minor youth by an RPF jawan and his son has come to light in Railway Colony under Lalkuan police station area in Nainital district. Due to the brutal beating of the minor by the RPF jawan and his son, the youth suffered serious injuries on his eyes, head and other parts of his body.
The injured youth was admitted to Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani for treatment for two days, where after treatment he was sent home.
Meanwhile, the family members of the victim youth have sent a written complaint letter to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Nainital, demanding action against the RPF jawan and his son, pleading for justice. There is huge anger in the area regarding this incident. Also, many social organizations have warned of agitation if immediate action is not taken in this matter.
Let us tell you that the 17 year old minor son of Sanjay Kumar, resident of Railway Colony Ward No. 7, Ankit Kumar Sagar, was brutally beaten by RPF jawan Shyam Singh Bora and his son, who were intoxicated by Bardi. In this incident, the young man suffered serious injuries. . After this incident, the said RPF jawan and the victim’s family are being continuously threatened. Due to which the victim’s family is scared.
Regarding the action taken against the accused RPF jawan and his son, the family members of the injured minor have sent a written complaint letter to the Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police, pleading for justice and demanding strict action against the accused.
Here, the father of the injured youth told that on March 12, at around 6 pm, his son Ankit Kumar had gone for a walk in another colony located near the house.
He told that in the meantime, RPF jawan Shyam Singh Bora and his son called Akint near them and accused his son of plucking flowers and insulted him by using caste based words, when Ankit protested, this angered the RPF jawan and his son. Together they beat Ankit brutally.
In which Ankit got seriously injured, blood started flowing from his eyes and nose, seeing which the RPF jawan and his son ran away from the spot, after which his family brought Ankit to Lalkuan police station in an injured state and informed the police about the matter, but the police Instead of taking action, they ran him away from there, after which the family took Ankit to the local Vishwas Clinic for treatment, where he was given first aid and later, seeing his serious condition, Ankit was sent to Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani.
Where Akint was treated for about two-three days. The family members, who reached home after treatment late yesterday evening, sent a registered post to Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police Prahlad Narayan Meena this morning, pleading for justice.
Here, the victim’s family said that since the incident, they are being continuously threatened by the RPF jawan, due to which there is fear in the family. They have demanded action from the SSP against the accused RPF jawan and his son in this case. This incident There is huge anger in the area regarding this. Also, many social organizations have warned of agitation if immediate action is not taken in this matter.
Courtesy: Hindi news.
Dalit woman’s report filed after two and a half months
Lucknow. In order to settle the case of murder registered against a relative, a bully along with his unknown associates entered the house of a Dalit woman, beat her with kicks and punches, injured her and threatened to kill her and ran away. On the complaint of Dalit woman, Rahimabad police has registered the case after about two and a half months.
A Dalit woman resident of village Gahdon of Rahimabad police station area has alleged in the report lodged in the police station that Akash Singh of her own village along with his unknown associates came to her Pan-Masala Gumti on December 20 and took a cigarette with the woman. Registered by the sister of. Akash’s relative started pressurizing him to settle the murder report registered against Chantu alias Kamleshwar Singh, resident of village Siswara.
After which Akash Singh, along with his associates, abused her and entered the house and beat her with kicks and punches. Whose information was given by the victim to dial 112. But Rahimabad police filed the report after two and a half months.
Courtesy: Hindi News
Canadian city honours BR Ambedkar, declares April as ‘Dalit History Month’
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward issued a proclamation on March 20, recognizing the significance of April for Dalit communities, marking the birth and death anniversaries of prominent Dalit leaders and social reformers such as Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule.
Written by:TNM Staff
The city of Burlington in Ontario Province, Canada, has officially declared April as “Dalit History Month” and designated the 14th of April as Dr BR Ambedkar Day of Equity (Ambedkar Jayanti). Mayor Marianne Meed Ward issued a proclamation on March 20, recognizing the significance of April for Dalit communities, marking the birth and death anniversaries of prominent Dalit leaders and social reformers such as Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule.
“April holds significant importance for Dalit communities, encompassing the birth and death anniversaries of pivotal Dalit leaders and social reformers in the movement against systemic discrimination based on caste, such as Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule. Therefore, I, Marianne Meed Ward, Mayor of the City of Burlington, do hereby declare April 2024 as “Dalit History Month” in the City of Burlington. I commend its thoughtful observance to all citizens of our municipality,” the proclamation read. The Mayor issued another proclamation, announcing that April 14 will be celebrated as Ambedkar Jayanti.
The province of British Columbia in Canada, was the first province in North America to designate April as “Dalit History Month” in 2022. Burnaby, a city in British Columbia, took steps to combat caste-based discrimination by adding caste to the list of protected categories in 2023, following a similar move by the city council of Seattle in the USA.
Courtesy : TNM
Plan manifesto to curb caste violence, says Dalit Intellectual Collective
The collective also urged the political parties to distance themselves from perpetrators of atrocities against Dalits and those propagating caste pride and hatred.
CHENNAI: The Dalit Intellectual Collective issued a statement on Tuesday urging political parties in the state to include action plans to eradicate caste atrocities against Dalits in their election manifesto.
Highlighting the importance of election as a platform to raise social issues, the collective stressed the need to address the ‘continued neglect’ of atrocities against Dalits. Caste violence should not be dismissed as a mere law and order problem, but seen as a political issue requiring a political solution.
“Sadly, political parties remain either passive or immune to these, save for the rhetorical condemnation bereft of any action,” the statement said.
The collective also urged the political parties to distance themselves from perpetrators of atrocities against Dalits and those propagating caste pride and hatred.
“Political parties should visit the place of atrocities and extend solidarity with victims. Each political party should hold inner-party consultation to put an end to casteist violence and recommend to the government appropriate measures. Every party should take steps to rejuvenate the self-respect movement — removal of caste surnames from individuals and institutions. Political parties should also engage in discussion with various groups and prevent caste-related violence,” the statement said.
Courtesy : TNIE
West Bengal politics has to be de-Brahminised. Dalit aspirations get dismissed daily
A ‘casteless Bengal’ is a carefully curated facade by the upper caste ‘Bhadralok’ society, which gets a free pass and is never questioned.
Subhajit Naskar, (Edited by Prashant)
The politics of West Bengal is often characterised as ‘progressive and casteless’ while the disparaging use of ‘caste politics’ is reserved for North India’s Hindi belt. What is conveniently overlooked, however, is that there are two Bengals—one of Brahmin, Kayastha, Baidya upper castes, and the other of marginalised Dalit and Adivasi communities. It is the caste-based intergenerational privilege that separates Bengali savarna upper castes from their oppressed Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe counterparts.
This separation is not geographical but manifests in terms of social capital, economic resources, and political dominance. The ability of Bengali urban mainstream society to ignore the existence of caste-based hierarchy and its impacts, sustained by persistent denials to propagate itself as progressive, is never questioned, giving the so-called ‘Bhadralok’ a free pass. This perception of ‘progressiveness’ is largely constructed upon the caste consciousness of Bengali upper castes.
Dalit aspirations get subsumed and dismissed every day in Bengali society, media, academia, civil society, and particularly in politics, under the façade of a ‘casteless Bengal’ and the carefully curated upper caste narrative of ‘Poschimbonge UP Biharer moto jatpater rajneeti cholena (West Bengal has no caste politics like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar)’. Notably, during a meeting of I.N.D.I.A coalition partners in Mumbai, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee vehemently opposed the idea of a caste census, aligning with the BJP’s stance. A statewide caste census in West Bengal may expose the magnificent social progress achieved by upper castes and bust the Communist myth of Bengal’s binary caste structure of rich and poor, similar to how Bihar’s caste census revealed social deprivation to be highest among Dalits and lowest among Kayasthas.
According to the 2011 census, West Bengal ranks among the top three states with a high percentage of Scheduled Caste populations, but the census data also reveals stark demographic disparities between upper caste communities and SC/STs. While the SCs comprised 23.51 per cent in West Bengal, their share in Kolkata’s population was merely 5.4 per cent; similarly, the STs were 5.8 per cent statewide and only 0.2 per cent in the state capital. This shows how inadequately empowered the two groups are, resulting in their abysmally low urban mobility. The political and social patronage of upper castes have been internalised by the Bengali society at large to such an extent that the crude socio-historical reality of the oppressed caste groups continued to be perpetuated time and again.
Asserting Brahminism
During the 2021 West Bengal assembly election, the BJP made pointed attempts to politicise Hindu backward classes with the promise of OBC reservation. A rattled Mamata Banerjee had to invoke her Brahmin identity against her BJP opponent, Suvendu Adhikari (a TMC turncoat): “I would like to tell him that I belong to a Brahmin family and he should not play the religion card with me. Don’t teach Hindu dharma to me.” Adhikari responded similarly: “I am a Brahmin’s son. I do the chandipath every day.” In glaring opposition to this, CPI(M)’s upper caste leaders have practised Bhadralok politeness to shrug off their castes while playing the role of gatekeepers in politics and within the rank and file of the party for their own community members.
Intellectual Hindutva, casteless gentry
Historically, West Bengal’s upper castes have been radically aware of caste as a socio-religious category, unlike their lower caste counterparts. Author Sumanta Banerjee has written how upper-caste Bhadraloks in 19th-century Bengal organised Hindu melas targeted at the educated upper caste-class Bengalis as a way to revive puritanic Hindu religion. At the political level, Congress’ Surendranath Banerjee, a Brahmin, was organising the Bengali Hindu youth around the concept of all-India nationalism. In 1892, Chandranath Basu, a Kayastha bhadralok, had published an article in Bangla titled, ‘Hindutva, Hindur Prakrita Itihas (Hindutva, the Authentic History of the Hindus)’.
Celebrated Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore too subscribed to the evil idea of caste as the basic organising principle. According to him, “India’s caste system is the outcome of a spirit of toleration.”
Therefore, the perception of Bengal being caste-blind is predominantly manufactured by the upper caste Bhadralok gentry, co-opting marginal assertions and aspirations into the mainstream socio-political spaces of West Bengal.
Denial of Dalit representation
When the Communists came to power in 1977, Chief Minister Jyoti Basu did not initially appoint a Scheduled Caste minister in his Cabinet. He did only after their party’s Scheduled Caste leaders put pressure on him to ensure the community’s representation that Kanti Biswas was inducted as the minister for youth services. Biswas, who served as Bengal’s primary education minister from 1982 till 2006, shared in an interview that his appointment had “riled the CPI-M’s upper-caste membership”, which sent hundreds of complaint letters. Monobina Gupta, author of Left Politics in Bengal: Time Travels Among Bhadralok Marxists, referenced one such letter in an article: “A certain Bhattacharya, a brahmin from Bhatpara, wrote, “though Biswas had proven his skill, how could upper caste brahmins take lessons in education from a ‘chandalputra’ [Son of a chandal — a slur used for lower castes]?”.”
All this goes to show how Brahminism is deeply embedded in the collective psyche of Bengal. The representation of SCs in the state Cabinet ministers has always been either negligible or highly disproportionate to their share in the state’s population.
In the 2021 assembly election, TMC started ‘Tapasili Sanglap’ (Conversations with Dalits). The initiative has resurfaced again as the 2024 Lok Sabha election draws near. Such seasonal outreach attempts are nothing but electoral gimmicks because the truth is that none of the parties of West Bengal has a roadmap for the empowerment of SC/STs. So far, onwards to the upcoming Lok sabha elections 2024, the politics of west bengal has heated up as BJP showcases Sandeshkhali’s organic outrage against TMC and TMC tries to invisibilise the incident but in whole the rise of margin is lost which is a historical template of denial in every marginal assertions in west bengal.
In the 2021 assembly election, TMC started the ‘Tapasili Sanglap’ (Conversations with Dalits) programme. As the 2024 Lok Sabha election approaches, this initiative has resurfaced. However, such seasonal outreach efforts are merely electoral gimmicks. The reality is that none of the political parties in West Bengal has outlined a roadmap for the empowerment of SC/STs. As we move closer to the polling date, the political landscape of West Bengal has intensified. BJP highlights the organic outrage in Sandeshkhali against TMC, while TMC attempts to invisibilise the incident. But in all this drama, the rise of the marginalised has been forgotten, which is a historical template of denial in every assertion of the marginalised sections in West Bengal.
The political landscape of Bengal has largely been shaped by the upper-caste Bengali imagination, which is why it’s also highly Brahminised and nowhere close to experiencing the churn of being led by a Dalit chief minister. In fact, it is not even a talking political point. Therefore, West Bengal needs to de-Brahminise its socio-political worldview, abandon the upper caste lens, address caste blindness, and embrace transformative social justice politics to meet the longstanding aspirations of Dalits for social empowerment.
Subhajit Naskar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University. He tweets @subhajit_n. Views are personal.
Courtesy : The Print
2 booked for threatening, abusing Dalit woman
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Divya Jadav (22), who alleged that she and her family members were allegedly threatened by a neighbour on Monday and when she called the Bopal police station for help, “a policeman who received the call” abused her.
The Bopal police on Tuesday booked a man and a “police personnel” under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act for allegedly threatening and abusing a Dalit woman in Ahmedabad.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Divya Jadav (22), who alleged that she and her family members were allegedly threatened by a neighbour on Monday and when she called the Bopal police station for help, “a policeman who received the call” abused her.
Along with the neighbour, Utkarsh Barot, the police have booked the “unknown person who spoke on the phone” to Divya.
The police said Divya lives in a rented accommodation with her family. In her complaint to the police, she accused Barot of “trying to choke her mother” and using casteist slurs while asking the family to vacate the house.
According to the FIR, following this, Divya called up the Bopal police station seeking help “since Barot was knocking on their door”. She was informed by a policeman who took her call that a police vehicle will reach them soon. However, as the vehicle did not arrive, Divya again called the police station.
The FIR stated that policeman who then took Divya’s call told her that “police are not their slave”. The policeman then used vulgur abuses against her, the FIR added. As the call recording feature on Divya’s cellphone was on, the conversation got recorded, the FIR said.
Divya further said that later, a police vehicle reached them and they eventually filed a complaint at Bopal police station. According to the FIR, at the police station, a policeman asked Divya if she was the one who made the call and threatened to get “all her degrees suspended”.
Patna, March 20 (IANS) A police outpost in Bihar's Vaishali was attacked on Tuesday and two personnel were injured, after a Dalit woman alleged that her son was beaten up for filling his bucket from there, while she and her daughter faced misbehaviour when they intervened.
The district police, however, denied the allegations of assaulting the youth, identified as Rohit Paswan, 17, and accused the locals of littering the area.
The incident was reported from the Jadhua outpost under the Town police station in the district.
After the youth's allegations, his family members and neighbours assembled there in large numbers and pelted stones on the outpost, leaving outpost in charge Dharmendra Kumar and constable Sunil Kumar injured.
Police detained 4 persons, including Paswan for creating a ruckus.
According to Paswan's family, he went to the police outpost around 9 a.m. to fill water in a bucket.
"When he was filling the water, the outpost in charge called him and beat him up. Rohit apologised for it and said that he would not come there again but the in charge did not listen. When my daughter and I went there to rescue him, he also beat us and tore my clothes," his mother Malti Devi alleged.
SDPO, Sadar Range, Om Prakash, said that a cyber police station and a police outpost are operational in Jathua.
"The local people were littering inside the premises. On Tuesday, a teenager came there and the outpost in charge asked him not to litter there. Soon, a large number of people assembled there and created a ruckus. They pelted stones on the outpost. Two police personnel were injured in this incident. We have detained 4 persons and taken them to the town police station for questioning," he said.
Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the Sakshi Post team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.
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