Issue 265

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NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS
30/08/2018
21
Hindus, Sikhs and BJP in nexus to
repeal British Caste Legislation
Good Evening everyone. Greetings
to you all on the occasion of Indian
Independence Day. I am not anti Indian.
I wish the Indian people every happiness,
good health, prosperity and
wealth.
Its on occasions like this that we take
a few moments to reflect on what is
happening in India today. There is no
doubt independence deserves to be celebrated
but there is a darker side that
Independent India has not lived up to
the dreams of its founding fathers.
Blame game
It is argued that 71 years is not long
enough for a young democracy to
resolve all its problems. All the ills are
blamed on the British, if not the British
then the Muslims, if not the Muslims
then religious minorities and then Dalits
– the scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes who number over 250 million
people. Not much is said about taking
personal responsibility. It is always the
other that is blamed.
Ideological Shift
There is a shift towards right wing
politics the world over accentuated by
the election of the US president Donald
Trump. India had already led the charge,
on a national scale, towards right wing
politics since the election of the BJP
government in 2014. This lurch towards
the right is also seen in Britain when the
country voted to leave the European
union. Clever politicians play into the
fears and prejudices of people and try to
befool and beguile the masses into a
false sense of security. This lurch
towards right-wing politics must be
resisted as it threatens progressive and
liberal values built over centuries.
Indian constitution burned
A strange event occurred on 9th
August 2018, in India at Jantar Mantar
New Delhi when the Indian constitution
was burned. I say strange because, firstly,
the holding of the event was given
clearance by the police and secondly,
the Indian constitution was burned
whilst the police were present at the
scene.
When burning the constitution, the
Organisers were yelling slogans like :
Savidhan jalao, desh bachao !
Ambedkar Murda Bad ! Manuvad
Zindabad ! SC /ST Act murda bad
Not until a FIR was filed against the
mob, with video evidence, that the
police took notice and swung into action
resulting in the arrest of two people as
reprted by the media.
The video showed 20-30 people (perhaps
more) directly engaged in sloganising
and burning the Indian constitution.
The entire mob should have been
charged and arrested under the
Prevention of National Honour Act
1971 which states that whoever in any
public place or in any other place within
public view burns, mutilates, defaces,
defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples
upon or otherwise shows disrespect to
or brings into contempt the Indian
National Flag or the constitution of
India or any part thereof shall be punished
with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to 3 years or with
fine or both.
During their probe, police found that
two organisations — Youth Equality
Foundation (Azad Sena) and Arakshan
Virodhi Party held the protest at
Parliament Street.
No senior ranking politician of the
BJP led government has condemned the
burning of the Indian constitution.
Mainstream Television channels have
not condemned the incident and have
moslt stayed silent. The dilution of the
SC/ST Act by Justices AK Goel and UU
Lalit caused a nationwide protest which
has now resulted in the restoration of
the SC/ST act by a recent vote in the
Indian Parliament
The burning of the Indian constitution
came in the wake of the Indian
Parliament passing that Bill to restore
the SC/ST act on Thursday 9th August.
You will recall , way back in December
28, 2017, Union Minister Anant Kumar
Hegde reportedly said that “Today, we
follow Ambedkar ‘smriti’… it will
change in the future. We are here to
change the Constitution.” He later withdrew
his remarks accusing the media of
‘twisting’ his comments!
So what do we see in India today
under the present BJP-led
Government
In India Mob lynching has been
taken to a whole new dimension. The
cow is sacred but not human life. In the
name of Gau-Rakshak, mobs are free to
roam around to kill with impunity. I
wish to share with you that during the
Vedic period, the cow was ceremoniously
slaughtered and offered in a sacrifice
to the gods. No god came down to
earth to consume the slaughtered cow
but humans assumed the role of god,
namely Brahmins who called themselves
bhudevas to consume the slaughtered
cow.
Today, emboldened by the BJP in
power, the rise of Hindutva ideology is
threatening the social fabric of India
with its escalation of attacks on religious
minorities and Dalits in particular. This
emboldened ideology is antinational.
? Hindutva forces continue to
unleash violent reign of terror and
repression on Dalits, Muslims and
other minorities.
The president of India , Shri Ram
Nath Kovind in his Independence day
speech said that Gandhiji’s most noble
mantra was to point out that the power
of ahinsa is far greater than the power of
hinsa.
Unfortunately this mantra clearly has
had no effect on the masses and those in
power , especially Dalits and religious
minorities continue to suffer violence.
? According to the NCRB data. A
total of 40,801 cases of crime against
scheduled castes were registered in the
country in 2015 compared to 38,670
cases in 2015.
? In 2016, the rate of crime against
scheduled castes of total cognisable
crimes in Madhya Pradesh was 43.4 per
cent followed by 42 per cent in
Rajasthan, 36.7 per cent in Goa, 34.4
per cent in Bihar and 32.5 per cent in
Gujarat. The all-India crime rate against
scheduled castes was 20.6 per cent last
year.
What is the main cause of poverty
in India?
High population growth rate is one of
major reasons of poverty in India. This
further leads to high level of illiteracy,
poor health care facilities and lack of
Sat Pal Muman , Chair of
CasteWatchUK, delivered a
speech at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, London on
Indian Independence day, 15th
August 2018.
access to financial resources. … Caste
system and unequal distribution of
income and resources is another reason
of poverty in India as acknowledged by
economists.
Dr Ambedkar : Political and
Communal Majorities
Ambedkar said what’s the point in
getting political freedom from the
British only to continue in slavery under
the caste Hindus. He demanded political
safeguards for the Untouchables as he
felt they would continue to be crushed
by the Caste Hindus.
During his early career, he tried to
stir the conscious of the Caste Hindus to
introspect about their religion. He wanted
to transform Hindu Society. But to no
avail.
He then turned to the British as the
sovereign authority to grant special protection
for his people. His power of persuasion
convinced the British that
Untouchables are special case so
deserve special protection in terms of
political representation and social
development. Congress Party under the
leadership of Gandhi opposed the
demands of the Untouchables. Gandhi
went onto fast unto death on Sep 16,
1932 resisting the political demands of
the Untouchables.
Gandhi conducted 17 fasts during his
lifetime . None of them were fasts unto
death apart from when Dr Ambedkar
won over the British to grant separate
electorates to the Untouchables.
Despite universal suffrage granted as
per the constitution, Dr Ambedkar continued
to feel helpless for his people
being able to exercise their vote effectively
as they were too poor and illiterate.
He started newspapers and established
colleges to educate them.
He demanded separate settlements for
the Untouchables and also at one time
out of desperation he recommended to
the Untouchables they should migrate to
foreign lands to escape the curse of Caste
and Untouchability – subject I will return
to later.
On political and communal majority,
Dr Ambedkar said, Majorities are of two
sorts:
(1) communal majority and
(2) political majority.
A political majority is changeable in
its class composition. A political majority
grows. A communal majority is born.
The admission to a political majority is
open. The door to a communal majority
is closed. The politics of political majority
are free to all to make and unmake.
The politics of communal majority are
made by its own members born in it.
Today, Caste and Religion continue
to dominate political discourse India.
In August, 2016, the Gujarat
Government withdrew a schoolbook on
Ambedkar because it contained the
oaths Dr Ambedkar which he had prescribed
when he denounce Hinduism to
embrace Buddhism in 1956.
India’s darkest hour
You will recall that 49 ex IAS officers
wrote o the Prime Minister of India in
the backdrop of Unnao and Kathua rape
cases and called it India’s darkest hour.
It was also reported that over 600 academics
and institutions also wrote to the
Indian PM expressing deep concern over
the escalation of rapes and murders.
Under the guise of developmental
agenda the country is sliding towards
dictatorship which is undermining and
threatening the social fabric. This internal
threat is far severe then any threat
from external aggression. The very core
of Indian polity is being torn to pieces
by the policies of the BJP led government
whether this be in the sphere of
social welfare, education, human rights,
law and order , judiciary.
You will recall, there was an application
filed for the impeachment of the
Chief Justice of India . An event
unprecedented.
According to a recent NDTV survey,
political hate speech has risen 500 %.
Attacks on Dalits and religious minorities
have escalated.
After the Bhima Koregaon incident
tens of thousands were falsely arrested.
After the recent Bharat Bandh on 2nd
April inflamed by the supreme court
judgment that diluted the SC/ST
Atrocities act , thousands were falsely
arrested and charged and imprisoned.
Today, Dalits are rising to assert their
Social , Political and Human Rights as
guaranteed by the Indian Constitution –
values that are a direct challenge to
BJP-RSS hegemony and the rise of
Hindutva ideology who want to impose
the manusmirti upon the people of
India.
In his book Pakistan or partition of
India (1946 pages 354-355) , Dr
Ambedkar writes that
If a Hindu Raj does become a fact, it
will, no doubt be the greatest calamity
for this country … Hindu Raj must be
prevented at any cost
Ambedkar wrote in a memorandum
on the Rights of States and Minorities
dated March 24 1947 which he submitted
to the sub-committee on
Fundamental Rights, he wrote,
Unfortunately for the minorities in
India, Indian nationalism has developed
a new doctrine which may be called the
Divine Right of the majority to rule the
minorities according to the wishes of
the majority. Any claim for the sharing
of power the minority is called communalism,
while the monopolising of the
whole power the majority is called
nationalism.
Later in the constituent assembly
defending the special status of the
minorities he forewarned
To diehards who have developed a
kind of fanaticism against minority protection,
I would like to say two things.
One is that minorities are an explosive
force which if it erupts, can blow up the
whole fabric of the state. The history of
Europe bears ample and appalling testimony
to this fact. The other is that
minorities in India have agreed to place
their existence in the hands of the
majority… it is for the majority to
realise its duty not to discriminate
against minorities..’
Ambedkar warned that there is danger
of democracy giving place to dictatorship
in India.
Caste Legislation
I will now return briefly to my earlier
comment citing Dr Ambedkar’s
advise to the Untouchables to escape the
curse of Caste and Untouchability they
should migrate to foreign lands
Most of you will be aware that
CasteWatchUK began a campaign in
2003 to outlaw caste based discrimination
in Britain which the British
acknowledged does exist.
After a long fought campaign the
British Government caved into pressure
from Hindus and Sikhs and announced
on 23rd July 2018, it will not be implementing
the caste law as envisaged by
Equality Act 2010 Section 9(5) but
instead the government will now be taking
steps to repeal the Caste provision.
The government ran a public consultation
from 28 March 2017 to 18
September 2017.
Of the 16,138 consultation responses,
analysis indicated that:
• 8,513 respondents were ‘in favour
of relying on case-law’; • 2,885 respondents
were ‘in favour of legislation’; •
3,588 respondents rejected both
options; • 1,113 respondents were ‘not
sure’ which was the better option; • 1
respondent was in favour of either
option; and British Government says
that a separate Caste provision is not
required and suggest caste could be covered
by an existing ethnic origins provision.
This means reliance is placed on
case law to develop. This means the victims
will have to go through expensive
long drawn legal battle to get justice.
This alone is a massive deterrent for
victims to seek justice to the delight of
offenders who can continue to abuse
and harass people on the basis of caste.
In a press release , I said that :
Government has not lived up to its bold
commitment ‘that no one should suffer
prejudice or discrimination on any
grounds , including any perception of
their caste’ and sold out to the opposing
side, no doubt for political reasons with
an eye on Hindu and Sikh votes , a section
amongst them were the main antagonists.
No doubt Government also had an eye on
trade and commercial overseas interests.
The National Council of Hindu
Temples stated that it ‘ welcomes the
Governments conclusion and the proposed
course of action, regarding the
issue of “Caste Discrimination”
Legislation’ The NCHT stated that ‘ we
established links with the Sikh and Jan
communities and working very closely
with the HFB, amongst other groups
and together managed to encourage
over 8,000 British Hindus to respond.’
See on Page 23rd