DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2009 - Indian Social Institute

Mane, national general secretary, says, “Our party alone has the vision to make the oppressed share
political power.” Kalpana Kannabiran, senior professor, NALSAR University of Law, says that the social
engineering formula of U.P. would not work here as Tamil Nadu had a political history of anti-caste
movements that was different. (The Hindu 13/5/09)
Dalit movements in State losing momentum? (2)
MADURAI: The Dalits want to be decision-makers and are for sharing political power. This is the theme,
not only of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP leader, Mayawati, but also of all Dalit leaders. The
Dalits who form 20 per cent of the State’s population remained largely with the Congress during the post-
Independence era, with the Communists in the Thanjavur belt, and in the late 60s with the Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam and later with MGR’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Dalit intellectuals
in the State feel that the Dravidian parties and their forms of populism have failed to consolidate the Dalits
within their fold. The emergence of Dalit parties during the post-centenary of B. R. Ambedkar indicates
the failure of social pluralism of Dravidian parties, they point out. The awakening following Ambedkar’s
centenary and the atrocities at the hands of intermediate castes made a section of Dalits organise
themselves under Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Puthiya Tamilagam (PT). Both PT and VCK
started as organisational entities and then forayed into electoral politics. But both parties have deviated
from addressing the core issues affecting the Dalits in their everyday lives. For example, the PT has been
attempting to emulate in southern districts what the PMK did in the northern districts. The DPI tries to be
the vanguard of the Sri Lankan Tamils cause. Hugo Gorringe, Lecturer, Department of Sociology,
University of Edinburgh (author of ‘Untouchable Citizens: The Dalit Panthers and Democratisation in
Tamilnadu’), told The Hindu that ultimately both the PT and the VCK need to grow beyond their Dalit vote
base if they want to succeed. From this perspective, their attempts at widening their appeal are
understandable. There is a precedent for this in the work of Communist parties in 1970s Thanjavur when
they managed to unite impoverished workers across the caste spectrum. “Politics in the State has
changed radically since then, however, and there has been an exacerbation of caste spirit.” Dalit writer
and intellectual Stalin Rajangam feels that it is not that they need not address these issues or dream to
form a broader coalition but prioritisation of issues is important. He says, “The Dalit parties have not even
established themselves as a pressure group whether they are part of the ruling alliance or not and no
important issue affecting Dalits like Special Component Plan has been addressed adequately.” The
momentum the Dalit movements had in the early 1990s has certainly declined. The Dalit identity then
transcended not only political boundaries but was also a socio-cultural identity that identified and
questioned the dominance in its various forms. Somehow, this momentum has been lost as just a couple
of seats have been allocated for the VCK in the DMK alliance and the PT could not get itself into any of
the major alliances. The BSP, with its social engineering and politically astute seat allocation for 3
Brahmins, 3 Muslims and OBCs, is expecting to make inroads. Suresh Mane, national general secretary,
says, “Our party alone has the vision to make the oppressed share political power.” Kalpana Kannabiran,
Senior Professor, NALSAR University of Law, told The Hindu that the social engineering formula of Uttar
Pradesh would not work here, as Tamil Nadu had a political history of anti-caste movement that was
different. “You need consolidation of a political dialogue and it is not enough if one is born a Dalit and
moreover, the term Dalit has a political etymology and the problem rests in how to use the identity on a
broader political framework.” Centre for Study of Developing Societies data show that during the 1999
Lok Sabha polls the PT and the VCK, which were part of Tamil Maanila Congress-led alliance, garnered
41.3 per cent of Dalit votes. (The Hindu 13/5/09)
Dalits protest ‘demolition’ of Ambedkar statue (2)
Angul: A number of people, including women, under the banner of Dalit organisations, on Thursday
demonstrated and gheroed the Collector’s office here in protest against the alleged demolition of Dr
Ambedkar’s statue at South Balanda in the MCL area of Talcher. The demonstrators broke the police
cordon and entered the Collector’s office premises to stage the stir. Leaders of the Dalit organisations Er
Bhajaman Behera, Abdul Ali, Er Dhanidrar Behera, Nihar Singh, Laxan Naik, Ritarani Das and
Muchharna Patnaik demanded immediate arrest of MCL officials responsible for the demolition of the
Ambedkar statue. They also demanded reinstallation of the statue at the same place. The administration
agreed in writing to take action. On the other hand, MCL director Syama Charan Padhi said the statue of
Dr Ambedkar has not at all been demolished at South Balanda. Even now, anybody can see the statue at
the place. However, some concrete pillars kept for unauthorised fencing were uprooted from the MCL