People's Democracy

Kanpur: Seminar on Casteism, Oppression of Dalits

THE anger of the Shudras living at the bottom level of the Hindu caste system is fully justified but not sufficient. So felt noted Hindi writer and theatre artist Mudra Rakshas while speaking about the problems of casteism in the country. He was releasing a book titled We must Demolish the Walls of Casteism at Jagdamba Sahai Inter College Hall, Kanpur, on September 19. The book was published by Parivartan Prakashan.

Addressing the seminar that was organised on this occasion, Mudra Rakshas said the Shudra castes were in fact the artisans of their time. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma too refers to them as artisans. The Amarkosh, the officially approved dictionary of Sanskrit language, also refers to the Shudras as artisans. In fact, in India only the Shudras were poor, constituted a majority of the exploited class and still remain so, and there has been no major change in their socio-economic and political life. It is the women of the Shudra caste who sow rice for 10 hours in a day and carry night soil on their head. The spirit of slavery is inculcated in them from their very childhood. Mudra Rakshas described the issue of blacks and whites as similar to that of casteism and recounted a number of tales of oppression on the blacks, which the audience heard with bated breath. He further said the struggle for social justice and equality, for a casteless and classless society and against gender inequality will have to be intensified.

T N Gupta, a senior High Court lawyer, said a large chunk of the people of Tathagat Buddha have become the pallbearers of BJP. The discussion on constitution review reflected the dictates of Golwalkar. The BJP wants to review the constitution so that it gets an opportunity to impose its version of a state on the country. While the government is not making adequate provisions for the education of children, the saffron brigade burns Priest Staines alive when he teaches. When the Muslims open madrassas, they are branded as agents of the ISI. History bears testimony to the fact that Chitpaavan Brahmins created numerous obstacles to prevent Jyotiba Phule and Savitri Phule from educating the Dalits. It is irony of the present times that the patient is trying to treat the doctor. Today we shall have to choose our true friends which, according to Gupta, only the Left movement can be.

Justice Pratap Singh, who has dedicated himself to Dalit movement, said that in order to make article 15 of the constitution relevant, the crimes against inequality should be made punishable like those under article 17. Justice Singh said that those fiercely opposed to the implementation of the Mandal commission, who were then busy organising the rath yatra and provoking the youth for self-immolation, are today trying to project themselves as champions of the backwards and Dalits with an eye on the UP elections.

Subhashini Ali, president of the Uttar Pradesh state unit of the All India Democratic Women’s Convention, said that whenever talking of a society we do have to consider the systems of social stratification. Today, the problems of class, class and gender exploitation exist in most acute forms in this country. Despite the reservation, Dalits still lack economic means and resources. There is no change in the plight of the landless agricultural workers. Dr Ambedkar had said that eradication of casteism is essential, and this must be part of each and every democratic struggle. In the last 10 to 12 years there has been an increasing urge among the Dalits for attaining power and prestige, and this is a good development. As a result of this, there are voices of dissent against the upper caste hotheads and feudal oppression. But this precisely is not palatable to the BJP and its associates who want to maintain the status quo, to perpetuate the caste system. It is precisely because of this that the oppression of Dalits had sharply increased in UP, and crimes against Dalit women --- rapes, disrobing and even murder ---have reached an apex. Dalit women constitute about 90 per cent victims of exploitation and oppression.

Focusing particularly on gender inequality being used by those with a feudal mindset to degrade the Dalit women, she urged the Dalit organisations to work for ending this exploitation outside as well as the insults within the household. Many streets bear caste names and many derogatory phrases and proverbs are mouthed in UP. The abuses invariably degrade the feminine gender. This is a reflection of our social attitude toward women. Today, in their struggle for equality, women must determinedly rise against the gender exploitation.

Subhashini Ali also attacked the media for attempting to distort the truth; she said higher caste pride has also entrenched in the media. She further said the tendency to convert the news of communalism into communal news, and to brand the struggle against caste oppression as casteism must stop. We must understand whether the people who have been oppressed since ages are casteist or those sitting at the apex of Hindu varna system are. Today, the fourth estate will have to discharge its role in an honest, impartial and pro-people way.

Explaining the relevance of the seminar, eminent lawyer and Parivartan Prakashan’s convenor Sayeed Naqvi described the Parivartan Prakashan as a mission, which needed the unstinted support of all those present and of the democratic movement at large. The publishing house is involved in the Herculean task of providing people-oriented literature at nominal prices, ranging from two to five rupees. He commended the role and brilliant efforts of printer and publisher Anil Khetan of Current Book Depot, Kanpur.

In her presidential address at the end of the seminar, veteran freedom fighter and Padma Bhushan Captain Laxmi Sehgal said the recruitment form for joining the INA did not have any column for caste. With his farsightedness, Netaji had realised that caste could fuel the feelings of superiority and inferiority and should not have place in the army. Drawing inspiration from Netaji, she said, we must unite all the oppressed and exploited sections in a democratic struggle against casteism.

Anil Kumar and Pratap Sahani organised a stall of democratic literature. Others who actively participated included poet Shiv Dayal Singh of Ambedkar Mission, CPI(M) district secretary Bhagwan Mishra, Lal Bahadur Tiwari, Mohd Jaif, Dr Anand Srivastava, Ramlakhan Gaur, Ramashankar Sharma, "Praveen," Razia Naqvi, Triyugi Pandey, Kumkum Shobha, Narendra Singh Bhushan, Gangaram Nagar, Dayashankar Saini, Rahulan, Babulal Aherwar, Ramesh Kapoor, Ganesh Mishra, Munnalal Bharati, Dalit writer K Nath, Umakant Vishwakarma, Chakramani Dikshit, Devikrishna Mishra, Lalman Azad and Pramod Kumar.