How long are we to remain as slaves ? And as slaves enjoying our slavery?

In the morning session I spoke at length on the achievements of DV. But now permit me to deal with our failures. I have a list of the minus points to place before you because we cannot get another occasion like this.

My morning speech might have flattered you and made you proud but now I will be the exact opposite being self-critical.

As there will be no more occasion like this family get-together on such a big scale, it is necessary that I as the Editor should open my heart. Self-criticism is more important than patting our own back. As Dalits and that too the most important think tank of the country we should admit our failures also as that would help us to correct ourselves.

WANTED A FRANK ANSWER

I will begin with a question for which I need your frank answer. The question is:

How long are we to remain as slaves of Brahmins? How long should we lead this miserable life without self-respect, denied equal citizenship? This land belongs to us. But the Aryan Brahminical people have stolen it and made us slaves. And this slavery is continuing for over 3,000 years? How long should we rot as slaves?

ELITE DALITS FAILED

My blood is boiling. Babasaheb, our Father, died a sad man. He gave us all the weapons to fight the enemy. But we failed. We failed on all the fronts.

Today I am a very sad person —disappointed, frustrated, tired and also angry. But helpless.

Brahmins write to me saying that the rest of the Dalits in India are silent. “Only you are getting angry. You are instigating the Dalits to fight”, they say threatening me in their emails and website.

In Wikipedia, somebody not known to me has put several pages of write-up on DV and myself. But the hate-mongers constantly hack it, remove my pictures and insert all sorts of insults against me. Of course, our friends immediately restore the deleted portion and correct the things. Both the things are going on simultaneously. The point is our enemy is very alert and active.

I am a very much disappointed with the response of our English educated Dalit brothers. They are not getting angry at all. Quite a lot of them got Brahminised marrying Brahmin girls.

Critics of DV get full encouragement, awards and rewards from the enemy oppressor. Their only job is to criticise me and DV — not our common enemy. But we are not bothered. The dog goes on barking but the caravan moves on unperturbed.

I have done my duty. I have done my part of the service to Babasaheb but when educated and highly placed Dalits betray Babasaheb I find my heart breaking.

Babasaheb Ambedkar wept on his last days on such a betrayal of elite Dalits. This was 50 years ago. Since then the speed and the quantum of betrayal and Brahminical bum-licking has gone up many times. The national toilet papers give such betrayers wide publicity and make them heroes out of zeroes. But we are not bothered. But we are worried about the masses of Dalits who have not only become slaves but slaves enjoying their slavery. How long should we continue as slaves?

Not only we have become slaves but India is the only country in the world where we can find slaves enjoying their slavery.

What can a poor man like me do to avert the world’s most serious form of apartheid, slavery and serfdom?

That is why about seven years back I wrote an editorial titled “Sunset over Dalit World”.

EDITOR’S CALL IGNORED

I announced in DV that we should call for a debate on this Editorial by assembling “100 best brains”.

But I am sorry to tell you the whole thing fell on deaf ears. There was no response. Look at the intensity of our slavery.

Even my repeated appeals to each individual family member to enrol one new member was ignored. If this had been done, our circulation would have become simply double.

Except some 100 noble persons in different parts of India:

(like Dr. Madhava Rao of Hyderabad, Bavouria of Jammu, Dr. M. Vasu of Trivandrum, Ram Parshad of Chandigarh, Dr. Chisty and S. Biswas of Calcutta, K.P. Singh of Baroda, Haridas from Ankleshwar, Dr. Vijay Kumar Mahure of Nanded etc.)

our call was simply ignored.

TWICE SHIFTED TO DELHI

We twice shifted to Delhi (in the year 1991 and 1998) and twice we had to come back suffering immense loss to our meagre finance.

In 1991 or so when V.P. Singh became the PM, we shifted to Delhi on the request of Ram Vilas Paswan, George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav etc. But V.P. Singh right then announced implementation of the Mandal Commission report and there was so much of violence in Delhi. Curfew was clamped. I had no food for two days. My house cum office in Vasant Vihar was attacked by the anti-Mandal upper caste boys. We could not bring out DV.

I suffered huge a loss and we had none to help us.

My father died at this time but I could not even go to Bangalore at to see his body.

I faced all-round crisis, financially and many other ways. I decided to shift back to Bangalore.

Again in 1998, I shifted to Delhi and took up a house cum office in Vasant Kunj. Dr. K.K. Sidhu was the only person who stood by me in those days.

PERSONAL PROBLEMS

But unfortunately my wife suddenly fell ill and her cancer was deteriorating. As there was none to assist her in Delhi I was forced to shift back to Bangalore again facing so much of loss. But in my second visit to Delhi I could remain at least for about 3 years.

I was arrested four times. Once hand-cuffed and kept in Chandigah jail. This was in 1986.

Passport impounded for 20 long years. Two attempts on my life.

I would not mind all these personal problems had our family members stood by me. I am sorry to say that I did not get the full cooperation.

Financially, I suffered and suffered but the little income we get from sale of our books we put it into DV and continued publishing it without a break.

Brahmins and their “Hindus”, give all-out support to those working for the promotion of their Hinduism.

But here we find a case: repeatedly attacked by the enemy oppressor but those for whom DV is working are not even aware we that are working for them.

The enemy reads — rather carefully studies our writings — but those for whom we are working have not even heard of Dalit Voice. Have you heard of a greater wonder than this in the world?

DV WORKSHOP A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT

We announced Dalit Voice workshops for each state but so far we could hold workshops only in a couple of states: Orissa-very good, Karnataka - not good, Himachal -very good, UP - fairly good, and Gujarat not good, Punjab - very good.

We could not hold workshops in many states of India. Particularly in Maharashtra which pioneered the Dalit movement. Even AP did not come forward to hold a workshop.

Those who attended our workshops said it was wonderful.

It was well publicised in DV but none came forward to organise the workshop in Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Patna etc. Those who stage a tamasha in the name of Babasaheb and Budhism get all the money and encouragement but DV, the most powerful weapon of Dalits and all Bahujans is not encouraged. Brahminical infiltration into Dalits is total and complete.

GUJARAT — OUR WORST EXPERIENCE

You can take the horse up to the water but the horse has to drink the water itself. If it is not willing what can you do?

Gujarat workshop was our worst experience.

This is the place where the Hindu terrorist party used our own people, Dalits, to kill Muslims and staged the Gujarat Genocide of 2002.

Once upon a time (1980-81), when Gujarat had India’s first caste war, and I visited the state then twice, our circulation simply shot-up but today it has fallen. Hundreds of our people joined the BJP.

Today, nobody came here from Gujarat. It is true that we did not pay your travel or for your stay in Delhi. We have no money. Yet several hundreds have turned up today. This proves your devotion. But from Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, MP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu nobody came. If we do not suffer and sacrifice this much what purpose is there in this life? We have a fairly good circulation among Muslims but only among revolutionary Muslims. Muslims are another problem community of India. Muslims of India did not come from Saudi Arabia, Iran or Turkey. They are mostly converts from Dalit community or some from OBCs. But when they got a wonderful religion of Islam, they embraced it and forgot their brothers. For forgetting their own brothers — flesh of their flesh, blood of their blood — they are suffering today. Dalits no doubt are made slaves but not killed. Muslims are getting killed daily and their properties destroyed daily. They are made second if not third class citizens. And a suspect. They are dubbed terrorist and anti-national. And yet it does not strike them that they should join hands with us.

We were the first in the country to give a call for Dalit-Muslim unity, published a book itself on the subject by Dr. Ram Nath of Kanpur, went round the country several timed, met top Muslim leaders. They all welcomed the Dalit-Muslim unity.

Syed Shahabuddin and many other Muslim leaders are sitting here. We have the editor of Radiance of the Jamate-Islami. They all know about it, appreciated it but did nothing.

We have written several books on the Muslim problem.

In DV, we devote every fortnight several pages for Muslim problems. In fact, DV is called a better Muslim journal than the best of Muslim paper. They all appreciate it but after appreciating it they take no action. India has the world’s largest Muslim population. All over the world Muslims are fighting and dying.

But to this day Muslims of India did not produce any resistance. They are simply dying. The Quran gives full sanction to resistance. But the Indian Muslim leadership is against resisting Brahminical oppression.

In Feb. this year, the Jews and the “Jews of India” met in Delhi at the residence of L.K. Advani and signed a joint declaration that Muslims are their common enemy to be fought. I hope at least now they will wake up and join us. We assure the Muslims that we are your most sincere and trustworthy brothers. It is true that some Dalits have been purchased and made to attack Muslims. That doesn’t mean Dalits hate Muslims. You love them, they will come to you and fight the Brahminical people on your behalf.

We welcome Brother John Dayal of the All-India Christian Council and other Christian and Mangoloid Christian brothers from North-East.

Once upon a time we had several language editions of DV. But we had to close them one by one. Our Tamil edition was doing well under Brother Dalit Ezhilmalai. But it closed down. So also our Kannada edition. Telugu edition came out twice and died twice. Malayalam same story. Oriya edition too faced closure. Marathi too. Only Hindi is doing well solely because of the devotion of Sister Kuldip Kaur Sidhu.

One of the reasons for the closure of our language editions is the pull of politics.

Dalits have three types of reservations: in education, employment and politics. Educated Dalits have no other avenue except govt. job but it needs a minimum qualification but politics needs nothing. So politics with its associated glamour holds the greatest attraction to our people. Some of our best young men and women have gone into vote politics where under the influence of upper castes, who control every political party, they soon get corrupted and co-opted. Govt. services and electoral politics have drained the cream of our youth. And once they get in their mouth is sealed and they get divorced from their uneducated village-dwelling Dalits.

Only about 5% of the Dalits have so far taken advantage of reservation. Over 95% of our people are still outside the charmed circle of reservation.

SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL

DV is pledged to save this 95% of the uncared for Dalit population with which Dr. Babasaheb was more concerned. The educated Dalits betrayed Babasaheb even when he was alive. Today, the betrayal is much more. In the whole of India not even 50 IAS and IPS Dalit officers are members of the DV family. Not one has turned up today for fear of being noticed by the Brahminical bosses.

DV circulation should have crossed 30,000 by now if only every member of the family had promptly renewed the subscription. But they did not. May be, we have only about 100 or so members who have been continuously sticking to DV. A majority continue for two or three years and then forget us. This may be partly because our members are mostly low paid govt. servants who are subjected to all sorts of persecution by their upper caste bosses, frequent transfers, financial difficulties, illness or just forgetfulness. How can our circulation go up at this rate?

Yes, we have a big readership on the internet but how many Dalits inside India can afford internet?

SALE OF DSA BOOKS

We have requested our members to order a full set of our books which are more important than DV. They can order a set and present it to a friend or they can even sell it. They can even open a bookshop stocking DSA books and DV. But hardly anybody bothered about our requests. But the enemy studies DV and DSA books very carefully and without missing a single issue of DV or our book.

WHOLESALE HINDUISATION

The situation is depressing. This is because of the wholesale hinduisation (enslavement) of our educated Dalits. Even the Ambedkarite thoughts are distorted. Budhism has become wholesale idol worship. Even Babasaheb is made a god. Brahminical terrorist party has co-opted Babasaheb. Brahminical people have an efficient machinery to corrupt our people and then co-opt them.

Yes. It is the duty of the enemy to subvert us and enslave us. But is it in our interest to get deceived?

We have spoken a lot. These are very serious matters on which I many a time think and silently weep. Dalit movement is the country’s only freedom movement. Brahminism is killing it and our educated Dalits are becoming a party to this crime. Thank you.

Gandhi torn to pieces within his own fortress

Gandhi Peace Foundation Hall, the venue for the historic Dalit Voice silver jubilee function, was not given to us free of cost. We had paid for it. The place is being used for all public meetings. It was booked because no other central place was available with easy access to people who come from outside.

I have no love for M.K. Gandhi and his illusions but those who criticised us for holding the meeting there should understand our difficulties. Being in the movement, we all know the differences between Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar, between Gandhi and Periyar and between Gandhi and Jinnah. Every one who comes to celebrate Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti knows these differences.

The meeting was not meant to discuss these differences though that too came for discussion. We need not agree with everything that V.T. Rajshekar says but his contribution is immense. When the DV programme was being finalised none came forward to support it. Myself and Sister Rajni Tilak organised the programme.

And finally Editor V.T. Rajshekar spoke and spoke as he often does against Gandhi. Perhaps for first time in the last 50 years, Gandhi was attacked in brutal terms in the very “hallowed hall” of the Gandhi Peace Foundation. None else in the history of this Foundation had this courage to tear Gandhi to pieces within his own Brahminical fortress. This fact was frankly accepted by John Dayal who spoke at the meeting. There is a lot to write about Gandhi but also to introspect about own self. Gandhi is feeding a huge crowd of upper caste “gandhians” as they have the best places to organise shows and conferences.

What are the critics of Gandhi doing? It is not that we do not have the funds. We do have but where is it going. Gandhi is dying. Please do not revive him, forget him, no need to give him importance.

No need to waste your time on him. Your obsession with him will only revive him. The Delhi meeting was a great show when people from all over the country came and spoke.

Pakistan as a failed state?

I was in Lahore (Pakistan) as an Indian Dalit delegate to the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar birth anniversary function organised by the Sir Ganga Ram Foundation. I was there for five days (April 12-16, 2007) and toured the whole city including its old parts, railway station, markets and some parts of the countryside.

This is my first visit to Pakistan but the impression given in the Indian media is that “Pakistan is a failed state”. I found this totally wrong.

Not only it is not a failed state but in many respects it is much more advanced — particularly in the all-important social sector. The United Nations experts had told me that Pakistan had surpassed India in fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). I found this very much true. I did not find a single slum in the whole of Lahore, the country’s second biggest city after Karachi, while all the Indian cities are sinking with burgeoning slums. Calcutta was called a dead city by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi himself. Madras has become one vast slum. Bombay with a population of about 2 crores is stinking. Old Delhi is horrible. Bangalore, where I live, has become chaotic with its unmanageable traffic, population explosion and fast growing slums.

Health, sanitation, maternity and child care, food, clothing, shelter, education, environment, rural development are all neglected in India. Because of this villagers are simply flocking to cities adding more and more slums.

Magnificent showpiece: But that is not the case in Lahore. I did not find a single beggar during my visit. The Lahore airport is a magnificent showpiece like of which we have none in India.

Of course, there are rich and poor in Pakistan but the gap is not so wide as we find in India where about 15% of its upper caste rulers have become too rich. It is this class which controls the media and paints Pakistan as a failed state.

I met a number of Sikhs and they said “we are treated as VIPs in Pakistan” but in India they have become second class citizens. The Dalits in Pakistan said they were well protected and had no complaint. But as a representative of India’s Dalits, forming 20% of its population, I know how we are subjected to all sorts of racist discriminations. It is our people who have swelled all the slums and brothels of Indian cities. Slavery and racism may be disappearing elsewhere but in India it is getting stronger.

I met many Hindus and they all said they were well protected. But in contrast the Muslims, who form about 15% of the Indian population, are subjected to all sorts of discriminations, dubbed terrorists and killed. The latest Sachar Committee report has said all this.

India’s Manuwadi media is hiding the true face of India but calling Pakistan a failed state.

I call upon Pakistan to invite representatives of India’s oppressed sections (Dalits, Backward Castes, Tribals) who will be its genuine and lasting friends. Pakistan has solved its social problems to a great extent but the Indian ruling class has neglected the social sector fearing that would strengthen the country’s six oppressed sections — Dalits, Backward Castes, Tribals plus Muslim, Christian, Sikh — comprising 85% of the population. The social sector was neglected and the attention diverted to economic field resulting in a topsy-turvy development of the country.

Had the Indian ruling class given some peace of mind to Pakistan by this time it would have progressed much more. It is time the healthy minds on both sides think of a confederation of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (by retaining its existing boundaries) for a better and speedier development of the subcontinent.

Those interested can write for the vast literature we have produced on this subject.

(The above article was sent to Deccan Herald, a Bangalore English daily, but it refused publish it proving our charge that the media is hiding the facts).

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INDIA AS A FAILED STATE

V.T. Rajshekar

Gives a true picture of the “India Shining” — the boast of the Brahminical rulers.

2004 pp.25 Rs. 10

Dalit Sahitya Akademy

Write to DV office.

Caste system caused partition of India

His Excellency the Governor of Punjab, Dr. Yousuf Bokhari, Director of Gangaram Foundation, and my Pakistani brothers and sisters,

I am happy to be here in this historic city of Lahore where the “Father of India”, Dr. Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar, was once invited to address the annual conference of “Jat-Pat Todak Mandal” headed by Hindus way back in the middle of 1936 when this city of Lahore was part of the undivided India.

But Dr. Ambedkar could not come to the conference as the invitation was suddenly withdrawn by the organisers taking objection to some parts of his speech which was later published under the title, “Annihilation of Caste”. It was a historic speech that turned out to be the best document on the Hindu caste system of which we the Untouchables of India continue to be the worst victims.

Dr. Ambedkar in this speech prepared for the occasion had suggested destruction of the caste system which the Hindu organisers of the function did not like and hence withdrew the invitation to Dr. Ambedkar. As one who has made a deep study of the Indian history, I support Dr. Ambedkar’s argument that it was the caste system that was the primary cause of the partition of India in 1947, and the consequent blood-letting. The very name, “Jat-Pat Todak Mandal”, suggested that the organisation was intended to destroy the caste system but surprisingly the organisers themselves went against their very objectives and withdrew the invitation. The caste system continued and caused all the problems and finally resulted in the tragic partition of India (1947).

Had the Hindus of India heeded the warning of Dr. Ambedkar then there would have been no partition and the many tragedies that followed. But this did not happen. And the partition came in 1947 and rivers of blood flowed. But the events since 60 years have belied their hopes and both India and Pakistan continued to suffer. Dr. Ambedkar has since become so famous that he is hailed as the Father of India. Gandhi, the architect of the partition, is downgraded and reduced as the father of mere Hindu nation of 15%.

Besides the Hindu-Muslim problem facing India, we the Dalits (Untouchables) of India are still plagued by the very problem raised by Dr. Ambedkar in his “Annihilation of Caste” speech. Muslims form about 15% of India’s population. For your information India has more Muslims than Pakistan. Dalits form another 20% of the population. Together, this 35% of the population continue to suffer. Partition did not solve our problems.

We are receiving complaints from Pakistani Dalits that even now they are being subjected to discrimination both from the Muslims as well as the Hindus. We will have to meet with representatives of Pakistani Dalits to find out a solution to their problems. We have some prescription to offer. According to the United Nations sources, Pakistan is much above India in social sectors since Islam is a revolutionary religion that not only believes in but assures equality and social justice. Our Dalit brothers here must be also considerably better off.

We request Dr. Yousuf Bokhari to send a delegation of Pakistani Dalits to India so that they may not only study how Dalits of India are suffering but how the revolutionary leadership given by the “Father of India”, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has made Dalits the country’s most explosive community. The Dalits form 20% of India’s population and together with the Adivasis (Tribals), we constitute a third of the country’s over 1,000 million population. We are also the poorest of the poor and yet the country’s main working force and the principal producers of food. We want to assure the Pakistani people that the overwhelming population of India (over 90%) is not anti-Pakistan or anti-Muslim. It is only a handful among the ruling class which goes on playing this game which gets wide publicity because of the media controlled by the same forces. So, we assure you that the masses of Indians are not anti-Muslim and want peace with Pakistan.

At the leadership level there may be some differences of opinion but not so at the level of the people. The masses of people are always good and innocent. So if the peoples of India and Pakistan promote people-to-people unity, friendship and exchange delegations, we are sure that in a decade’s time the two forcibly vivisected subcontinent to fulfil the needs of certain vested interests can once again get united.

A movement in this direction is worth promoting in the interest of the health and happiness of both the countries. Such a unity movement must take birth at today’s conference.

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Speech delivered at the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar birth anniversary celebration
and the Pakistan Dalit Conference called by the Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation, Lahore, Pakistan. Date: April 13, 2007.

Greatness of DV

Dr. K. JAMANADAS

Congratulations for completing silver jubilee of the Dalit Voice. Please accept my best wishes for future. I could not attend the function for health reasons. Looking back for last 25 years of struggle and fight with the established order, you must be feeling proud and satisfied though a bit disgusted with the milieu around. After leaving the Indian Express job of nearly a quarter of century, you were brave enough to start a journal, Dalit Voice, for the benefit of persecuted nationalities at not so young age, was very very courageous thing to do. To run a journal like this without any help from anybody and carry on the fight in hostile atmosphere was certainly not a cheese walk. The commendable thing is that you faced the persecution boldly, suffered physical torture, jail sentence, court cases, confiscation of passport and suffered inability to see children in distant lands, but did not give up your militant spirit and did not let the depression defeat you. They said your writings were polemic. You said yes, they have to be polemic if they have to achieve the purpose they are meant to fulfill. Your near dear ones also had differences of opinion with you, (including myself for some time), but you accommodated all divergent views, for you recognized that the aim of public purpose is more important than personal ego. I wish you the best of everything. At the same time you must be around your Diamond Centenary, completing 75 years of age, I wish you best of health and spirit and wish you a healthy long life to serve the persecuted nationalities.

INDIA SHINING

India’s “holiest river” becomes a gutter

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on April 24 pulled up the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for lapses in the implementation of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP), resulting in further deterioration of the water quality. The court expressed serious concern that though over Rs. 900 crore was spent on the implementation of the GAP. The water quality instead of improving had deteriorated and industrial pollution increased manifold. Rs. 900 crore had gone down the drain and the quality of water had further deteriorated to the extent of making it unfit for human consumption.

—(Hindu, April 25, 2007).

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Country facing food shortage

New Delhi: The State Trading Corporation on May 1 invited bids from global suppliers to import 1 million tons of wheat, the second successive year when India is buying the foodgrain from overseas to boost domestic stocks. In view of the likely shortfall in domestic procurement of the foodgrain, STC floated a global tender for import of wheat by July. Wheat procurement stood at 78.5 lakh tons out of the total target of 151 lakh tones. Procurement by govt.-run agencies such as Food Corporation of India is likely to fall short by 25 lakh tons.

—(PTI-Deccan Herald, May 1, 2007)

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