“BJP only for Vedic Hindus, what about Bahujan Hindus”

Whether it is the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad or three cases of Ahmednagar, wherein members of a Dalit family from Javkhede-Khalsa village who were killed, three Dalit youth who were murdered from Sonai village and the Dalit youth of Kharda village, who was murdered for falling in love with a girl of a higher caste, atrocities on the community are becoming an everyday affair. Adv Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar, grandson of Bharat Ratna Dr B R Ambedkar, father of the Indian Constitution and leader of Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, spoke on Dalit atrocities in an interview with Chitra Sawant.

Q:Looking at all these cases, do you think there is failure to respect, protect and ensure the fundamental rights of the Dalit population? Are these groups still vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation and violence? Do you think the Prevention of Atrocities Act is being used effectively?

A: Report of Atrocities Act states that there is not even 3% conviction under the act. It is basically the police who are implementing the law are not sensitised, secondly the training that is necessary regarding collection of evidence in such cases is not being imparted. The police don’t have the required knowledge, they are not able to collect proof at crucial junctures. In case of a murder, the important evidence is the weapon, second is the motive and third is who is involved in it. But in case of caste atrocities, these things are important but at the same time here you need a person who has been witness to the crime. This requires entirely different type of training and sensitisation.

Q: Do you think Right to Education, free from discrimination is not secured for children from Dalit and other oppressed communities?

A: Three girls committed suicide as they were unable to pay the fees. These students are not Scheduled Castes or Tribes, if students from general communities feel the pinch, what must be the case of marginalized classes. What is the use of Right to Education without having proper infrastructure to implement it. Education is one of the costliest issue. The government is systematically keeping education out of reach of certain classes. That policy was followed by the Congress and BJP is following the same policy. BJP talks about Hindutva, they speak of only vedic Hindus, they do not care for Bahujan Hindus.

Q:Political parties and politicans talk about caste-free society but do you feel castes exert influence and have a bargaining power?

A: For the younger generation, caste is becoming irrelevant. In case of children born to couples engaged in inter-caste marriages there should be a provision that the father’s caste should not be carried forward by the child as the mother’s caste is different from that of the father. In Maharashtra, Vedic Hindus have been the backbone of RSS and BJP so they have become rigid. The Marathas would only vote for Marathas, there is only marginal change, nearly 3%. These communities speak of caste power. Rest do not have caste equation. Therefore they depend on development for sustainability.

Q: The reservation policy has enabled individuals from the lower castes to emerge as leaders but very few are seen assuming key power positions in the government.

A: Reservation in education does not build leadership. It only leads to employment, self-improvement, enlightenment. Only where there is commitment, strong leadership emerges. Ram Vilas Paswan did not speak on Rohith. During the Parliamentary proceedings, he should have demanded that the Vice Chancellor should proceed on leave. Even such small demands cannot be made by him. He is mere representation of the community, who gets fattened at the cost of the community. Dalit leaders outside BJP, Congress actually fighting for the marginalized can be qualified to fight for the cause.

Q: The most powerful factor is caste in India. The more dominant a caste, higher is its share in power. What do would you like to say on this?

A:Brahmins are dominant in administration, Marathas have absolute political power.

Q: As the Indian social system is organised around caste structure, do you think therefore, caste and politics can never be separated.

A: The students from Hyderabad are agitating under Ambedkar Students Association. During the sixties and the seventies, people were pursuing their cause by different ideologies like Gandhiism, Marxism, Ambedkarites, etc. same process has begun now.

The RSS and VHP, base their politics on religious basis that suits them. The RSS, BJP and VHP’s core group is a minority caste. If they continue to allow caste politics they become a microscopic minority so they have shifted politics from caste to religion. They are involved in religious politics. Religion controls life of everybody. Though Shivaji was a king , he had to go through the ceremony. When the local priest refused to perform his coronation ceremony he could not put him to death and had to find someone else to perform the coronation ceremony. There is this control rein over religious politics.

 Q: The three (rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, CPI leader Govind Pansare and writer and scholar MM Kalburgi) were allegedly killed by rightwing Hindu groups for expressing their views, do you think even intellectuals are under threat now?

A: Basically these three were believers of equalisation and generalisation. While, these groups playing vedic religious politics are against generalisations and equalisation, there is a direct conflict. Dr Dabholkar began challenging superstition, comrade Pansare began talking about Shivaji’s coronation, his politics and administration, his abolishing of Sardarki system and introduction of revenue system.

Q: How can our Constitution function effectively considering there are so many different castes, communities and various sects in our country?

A: Though in the past, we as a nation, were heterogeneous, so it remains separate. Administration has brought these heterogeneous groups together. Administration is governed by IPC, CPC, Hindu code and Muslim law. In this heterogeneous acceptance, there are pockets of unification which brings the masses together. Reservation is one such pocket which holds the masses together. Reservation guidelines given in the  Constitution to hold heterogeneous masses together is slowly becoming the main force. Slowly by slowly, divisions are getting blurred, creating a new walk of life. If this walk of life is continued we can have a movement of convergence. BJP is against this convergence. Therefore there is threat to the society. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has advocated a rethink on caste-based reservations. This statement amounts to dichotomy. This is spreading hatred within society and creating caste war. Reservation is becoming convergence for a class of society. But such statements are hitting hard and that is bound to react. As far as it is in words it is okay but if it changes in deed it becomes dangerous.