Golden words : Gandhi's treachery against Dalits

This will show why I insist that there is no use of discussing the question until the actual proposals of the Mahatma are put forth.

I must, however, point out that I cannot accept the assurances of the Mahatma that he and his Congress will do the needful. I cannot leave so important a question as the protection of my people to conventions and understandings. The Mahatma is not an immortal person, and the Congress, assuming it is not a malevolent force, is not to have an abiding existence. There have been many Mahatmas in India whose sole object was to remove Untouchability and to elevate and absorb the Depressed Classes; but every one of them has failed in his mission. Mahatmas have come and Mahatmas have gone. But the Untouchables have remained as Untouchables.

I have enough experience of the pace of reform and the faith of Hindu reformers in the conflicts that have taken place at Mahad and Nasik, to say that no well-wisher of the Depressed Classes will ever consent to allow the uplift of the Depressed Classes to rest upon such treacherous shoulders. Reformers who in moments of crisis prefer to sacrifice their principles rather than hurt the feelings of their kindred, can be of no use to the Depressed Classes.

I am, therefore, bound to insist upon a Statutory Guarantee for the protection of my people. If Mr. Gandhi wishes to have the Communal Award altered, it is for him to put forth his proposals and to prove that they give a better guarantee than has been given to us under the Award.

I hope that the Mahatma will desist from carrying out the extreme step contemplated by him. We mean no harm to the Hindu society when we demand Separate Electorates. If we choose Separate Electorates we do so in order to avoid the total dependence on the sweet will of the caste Hindus in matters affecting our destiny. Like the Mahatma we also claim our right to err, and we expect him not to deprive us of that right. His determination to fast himself unto death is worthy of a far better cause. I could have understood the propriety of the Mahatma contemplating such extreme step for stopping riots between Hindus and Mohammedans or between the Depressed Classes and the Hindus or for any other national cause. It certainly cannot improve the lot of the Depressed Classes. Whether he knows it or not the Mahatma's act will result in nothing but terrorism by his followers against the Depressed Classes all over the country.

Coercion of this sort will not win the Depressed Classes to the Hindu fold if they are determined to go out. And if the Mahatma chooses to ask the Depressed Classes to make a choice between Hindu faith and possession of political power I am quite sure that the Depressed Classes will choose political power and save the Mahatma from self-immolation. If Mr. Gandhi coolly reflects on the consequences of his act I very much doubt whether he will find this victory worth having. It is still more important to note that the Mahatma is releasing reactionary and uncontrollable forces, and is fostering the spirit of hatred between the Hindu community and the Depressed Classes by resorting to this method and thereby widening the existing gulf between the two. When I opposed Mr. Gandhi at the RTC there was a hue and cry against me in the country and there was conspiracy in so-called nationalist press to represent me as a traitor to the nationalist cause, to suppress correspondence coming from my side and to boost the propaganda against my party by publishing exaggerated reports of meetings and conferences, many of which were never held. "Silver bullets" were freely used for creating divisions in the ranks of the Depressed Classes. There have been also a few clashes ending in violence.

If the Mahatma does not want all this to be repeated on a larger scale, let him for God's sake, reconsider his decision and avert the disastrous consequences. I believe the Mahatma does not want this. But if he does not desist, in spite of his wishes these consequences are sure to follow as night follows the day.

Before concluding this statement, I desire to assure the public that although I am entitled to say that I regard the matter as closed I am prepared to consider the proposals of the Mahatma. I however, trust the Mahatma will not drive me to the necessity of making a choice between his life and the rights of my people. For I can never consent to deliver my people bound hand and foot to the caste Hindus for generations to come.

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Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings & Speeches, Vol. 17, Part - 1 (p.148- 150)  2003, Rs. 125. Publishers, Member-Secretary, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee, Higher Education Dept., Maharashtra Govt., Order book from Manager, Govt. Central Book Depot, Near Charni Road Railway Station, Netaji Subhash Road, Bombay - 400 004.

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20 million dalits from Bangladesh threaten to embrace Islam

As a result of partition and "independence" of India, Pakistan is created and given to the Muslims as their homeland. Consequently, Hindus, who were original inhabitants of the territory demarcated and allotted to Pakistan, had to leave their ancestral home and take shelter in the new-born "independent" India. The process of migration of Hindus from West Pakistan to India was rapid at the very beginning and almost all the Hindus from W. Pakistan came to India before the constitution of India came into force. However, the "Hindus" of East Pakistan were reluctant at the initial stage of "independence" to leave their ancestral homeland and very few had come to India before the constitution was made. But they gradually changed their mind and started migrating to India believing their Hindu brethren in India. The migration of "Hindus" from East Pakistan continued for long in many phases. Both the "Hindus" and Muslims fought together to liberate East Bengal from the Punjabi-dominated Pakistan and finally with the aid of Indian troops East Bengal was liberated and Bangladesh came into existence. But  the problems of "Hindus" were not solved. Of those who migrated from East Bengal (now Bangladesh), 90% are Untouchables and that is why they have not yet been granted Indian citizenship. They are over 20 millions. They had to leave their homeland thinking they are "Hindu". Had they embraced Islam, they could have lived peacefully in Bangladesh and as a governing class. Believing that they are Hindu they came to Hindustan and have become objects of Hindu tyranny. The Hindu rulers of India declared them as illegal migrants and not permitted to attain Indian citizenship. For the Bengali Untouchables it was a jump from frying pan into fire. I have said this in DV many times but Hindu the stone- heart does not melt.

The Hindu brothers of India are so hostile to our people that a Hindu organisation of Assam had challenged the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act 1983, in the Supreme Court. In 2003, the BJP Govt. brought a Bill to amend the Citizenship Act to deprive the Bengali migrants of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), who are Untouchables, the Indian citizenship. L.K. Advani initiated the Bill. Bengali Hindu leader Pranab Mukherjee supported it. This is how the Hindu leaders of India treated us as enemies.

The Supreme Court in its judgment on IMDT Act has poured petrol on the burning fire. The verdict on the is clearly anti-Dalit. The court has not deeply thought of the impact of its judgment on the mankind as a whole.

Over 20 millions of Bengali-speaking "Hindus" of Bengal origin have been made destitute, homeless gypsy. What offence these people have committed to mankind has never been explained by any of the authorities for which such a drastic action against them has been directed to be taken. The court makes over 20 million persons destitute for the sake of Hindu religion. Hindu religion has turned 20 million people to be destitutes and foreigners in India. If the govt. implements amended Citizenship Act and Supreme Court's direction to detect illegal migrants, these people of Bengal origin, who lost their land for the sake of political gains to a micro-minority of Hindu and Muslim communities, will lose their very natural rights as human beings. Hence if a community or class of people, who have already lost their ancestral homeland due to religious clash and partition of country as political solution are not granted citizenship of the country they took shelter in, to save their lives and religion, they will become outcast of the civilized humanity. They may turn to anarchy as a result of the thoughtless, arrogant and despotic enactment of parliament and merciless judgment of the Supreme Court. If the govt. sticks to the policy of depriving these millions of people, majority of whom are Dalits, from citizenship of India, they may revolt against it and endanger to Hindu religion itself. They will hold Hindu religion and Hindu rulers responsible for their distress. They may even renounce Hinduism and embrace Islam to gain support to establish their right.

DV May 1, 2005 p.22: "Conspiracy against Bengali Dalits: 2-crores facing genocide?".

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IMDT Act to be amended

New Delhi: The Centre will not bring in a new law in the place of the scrapped Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunals Act, 1983) ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam. The term of the Assembly expires in May. Instead, the Govt. of India will amend the Foreigners Act to ensure a fair hearing to a person before declaring him or her foreigner. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, here on Feb.10, 2006. (Hindu, Feb.11, 2006).

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Slow death of N.E. people: victims of hinduisation

In North-East India, the Bodos were hinduised (enslaved) in the 18th century and now many of them have forgotten their own surname. Their actual surnames have been replaced by the word Brahma. By the last part of the 17th century the Ahoms were hinduised. Although  they ruled Assam for 600 years,  today  they are reduced to shudras and OBCs. The Dimasas, a branch of the Bodos, were hinduised in the 18th century by the Bengali Brahmins and now most of them identify themselves as Barmans, and they lost their kingdom. They have forgotten their own surnames.

The Kokboroks  of  Tripura  were  hinduised  by the Bengali Brahmins in the 17th century. Their surnames were replaced by the word Debbarman. The name of their kingdom Tuipa was also changed to Tripura and occupied by the Bengalis. Kokboroks are  now  only  27 %  in  their own state.

The Meeteis of Manipur were hinduised in the 17th century by the Bengali Brahmins. Their history was twisted. They were made to believe themselves to be Aryans and made to discard their own surnames and called themselves "Singh", not realizing that however strong a lion may be it is an animal. Srimanta Sankardev also converted many Karbis and other Mongolian tribes people into Hindus.

They were made to discard their own names and surnames. They were made to identify themselves as Koch and Saranias. They have forgotten their own language, culture, history and tradition but this process of submersion has been termed as assimilation.

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Hinduisation means, in fact, enslavement of a people. Brahminical people have been systematically doing it for centuries. The single largest victims of this enslavement drive are the Untouchables (Dalits) comprising 20% of the Indian population. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the first person to check this trend by giving them a separate identity. The NE people must learn from Dalits and the Dalit Voice will tell them how to fight the Hindu terrorists — EDITOR.

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RSS bid to swallow Budhism

Dalits are still struggling to understand the exact significance of the attempts of RSS to appropriate the Ambedkarite plank. It is wrong to consider that the "intuitive emotional distrust" of Ambedkarite masses will protect Dalits from such attempts. Let me try to explain my understanding of their strategy.

1. While evolving their "Hindutva plank" to make it appealing to Dalits, Hindutva has had to concede some ground to Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement. I refer to the fact that Meera Nanda and Dattopant Thengdi admit that Dr. Ambedkar represents an unparalleled intellectual and philosophical challenge to Hindu culture, ignoring which is not an option at all.

2. That our Dalit movement has not yet managed to pose the above challenge adequately in practice by correctly following the prescribed medicines of the learned Doctor Ambedkar is a tragedy.

Currently Dalits get defined by their non-Hindu stances and not by the positive content of their own internal culture and values. Only by rigorous practice of their "cleaned-up" religions, will the right values emerge in the social life of Dalits. And only when these social values emerge, will Dalits become a self-sufficient culture, independent of and disinterested in Hinduism. When such a role model Budhist (and other rational anti-caste religions) society emerges in reality, comfortable with its past, present and future and actually starts impacting popular Indian culture through books, movies, TV-serials in a manner, which is fully independent of the "Hindu", that will be the real day when every Hindu will start wanting to be a Baudh.

RSS fears: That will be the master-stroke of Dr. Ambedkar. This is the fear of people like Dattopant. These fears might not come true, if Dalits focus on Hindu-hatred alone and do not practice the excellent religion bequeathed to us by Dr. Ambedkar. There is nothing that Dr. Ambedkar's legacy cannot give Dalits, if only they imbibe his legacy in thought, speech and action. It will bring social, economic and political power.

3. The risk of RSS succeeding in stealing the Ambedkarite plank is high and the implications can be drastic for the movement.

See the following article for example: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0500/53.html

There are a few other books about initiatives of SSM and the Dattopant Thengdi team of people. Some material is available online.

Corrupt Dalit leaders: RSS is systematically destroying the credibility of the corrupt leaders among Dalits by exposing them. I predict that this trend will only accelerate.

And if Dalits do not start practising Ambedkarite Budhism, I predict that it will not take long to see the fellows like Bhikuji Idate create a strong Ambedkarite Budhist contingent inside the RSS with some fancy theory to fit hitch them to the Hindutva bandwagon.

Once this happens, the radical independence of the Dalit “Budhist” plank from the Hindutva bandwagon will be lost. If even a few senior Dalit Budhist leaders get misguided into the RSS flock due to lack of social understanding, the dangers are massive. If this happens, the main reason why Dr. Ambedkar chose Budhism for Dalits (radical independence) will be lost. The Hindutva folks will get to say lot of things which will become increasingly difficult for Dalits to question and debate. Once this happens, if they set up a proper working religious structure for Ambedkarite Budhism, which the Baudha Jan Panchayat and the Baudha Mahasabha have failed to popularise in general, that can pose a significant challenge and misguide generations of Ambedkarites. That is the strategy of Hindutva.

They might steal thus our Ambedkarite legacy from right under our noses, because most Dalits are not rigorously practising it. The most important defence to stop them is to evolve our religious structure quickly and practice religion rigorously.  (prataptambay@hotmail.com)\

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Nagpur meet

Brother Pratap Tambay has raised a very important question which we have raised many times in DV. Though we are Budhists, we are pained to note that the Brahminical people have fooled our Budhists and virtually hijacked it using our innocent but unthinking people. Dalit Budhists are getting fooled in the name of vegetarianism, meditation (Vipassana), non-violence. Maha Bodhi Society led by Brahmins is actively involved in sabotaging Babasaheb's Budhism. We request Budhist leaders like Pratap Tambay to call a conference of selected Ambedkarite Budhists at Nagpur to save Budhism from Brahminism — though we feel it is too late — EDITOR.

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Who said Periyar was anti-Dalit?

Three scholars rebut criticism that Periyar was anti-Dalit subjecting all his speeches, statements,

life and mission to scientific test.

A big industry is being promoted by Brahminical people in Tamil Nadu to malign, if not

 destroy, the Periyar movement by identifying

Backward Castes as enemies of  Dalits while hiding the true role  of Brahmins in engineering

the BC-Dalit clashes.

Authors: Dr. W.B. Vasanta Kandaswamy of the IIT, Madras, Florentin Samaran Dache, Prof. of Mathematics at New Mexico Univesity, USA, &

Dr. K. Kandaswamy of

Madras University,  Tamil Dept.

2005       pp.400          40US$

HEXIS, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Books may be ordered from : Vasanta Kandaswamy

D-3-1, First Link Road, IIT, Madras - 600 036.

Photocopy available with DV office: Rs. 350

website: http://mat.iitm.ac.in/~wbv