2015 January Forward Press PDF

ISSN 2348-9286
First Fully
English-Hindi Magazine
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NEW DELHI Vol. VII No.01
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Pg. 23
Koregaon: Dalit
Victory Pillar
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Leaning on the Victory Pillar
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PAGE 13
PAGE 40
A killer health
department
SS

The end of the Peshwai

at the hands of the Mahars and Mangs
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PAGE 36
PAGE 20
Modis allAmbedkar
model
remembered Hindu
village scheme
PAGE 46
PAGE 33
ICCSR to conduct
research on OBCs
A master dissector
of Bihar society
PAGE 17
CAN THE JANATA DAL
BE RESURRECTED?
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PAGE 37
Twenty-two stitches for drinking water
PAGE 49
FEAR FOR YOU

HAVE TO
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PAGE 43
THE NEWS THAT DIDNT
MAKE THE NEWS
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PAGE 53
Proud to be
a Shudra
Forty years is a long time. In early 1974, at the

age of 22, I started my professional journalistic
career in Bombay. Among my very first pieces
was an article on the then new Dalit Panthers,
including a scoop interview with their founding
general secretary, J.V. Pawar. Then, in early 2014,
a mutual friend called from Mumbai and put
Pawar on the phone to me. Among his first questions: Do you have a copy of my interview?
As I wrote in my December editorial, At
T H I N K I N G
FORWARD Press we constantly hold two truths in
tension: Indians are largely an ahistorical people
and Journalism is the first rough draft of history. In the case of this months
Cover Story on the small but significant Battle of Koregaon we are doubly fortunate the valiant Dalit soldiers were under British command in the final
Anglo-Maratha war; hence the battle was meticulously documented and a
memorial built to commemorate their victory over the Peshwas forces.
Secondly, the novelist and poet Pawar has turned out to be more than a journalist; a true Ambedkarite, he has been documenting the post-Ambedkar history of
the Dalit movements. We welcome J.V. Pawar to the ranks of FP contributors
and trust he will keep writing for us.
Another contributor we welcome in this issue to FP is Tribal activist and
writer Gladson Dungdung. His detailed report on the beastly treatment of a
Tribal family in Jharkhand all because they dared to drink water from a
police station hand pump is part of the first rough draft of history of Indias
oppressed Bahujan peoples. Reading it, I felt the pain of the 22 stitches on the
head of the husband and felt for the whole family. The bravery of the wife in
preserving her blood-soaked sari gives me hope that even the poorest of the
poor seek self-respect and dignity.
Despite it being in the spotlight of the national media, Waseema Khans
report on the slaughter of 13 Tribal women in Chhattisgarh makes for bloodcurdling reading. However, the focus here is on the bestial preying upon poor,
illiterate Tribal women, many with little children, now orphaned. This is just
the latest case of how Tribals are treated in so-called tribal states, let alone in
other parts of the country.
(This times JAN MEDIA picks up this very incident to examine the
extremely lopsided coverage in a Hindi daily that claims to be the worlds highest circulating newspaper.)
These two reports, both involving Tribals, only help us understand what the
Sangh Parivar just does not, or refuses to, understand: Bahujans, especially SCs
and STs, do not need any allurement or threat in order to convert; all they need
is to be treated with love and dignity. On the other hand, allurements and/or
threats are usually required to drag people back to a home in which they never
felt welcome. That is assuming that Tribals and Dalits are part of the Hindu
home in the first place. Zahid Khan and Hussain Tabish analyze the recent
months revved-up ghar wapsi (homecoming) incidents. The common thread,
whether with Muslims or Christians, is that they are Dalits. Would the Sangh
Parivar consider organizing ghar wapsi for Kashmiri Muslims of Brahmin,
Rajput and khatri background? This exposes the casteist hypocrisy behind these
moves. The worse hypocrisy is of those in power who refuse to honour and
defend the fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25 of our Constitution
which they are sworn to uphold and defend.
F ORWARD
Until next month Truthfully,
Vol. VII No. 01 Bilingual
JANUARY 2015
Dr Silvia Fernandes
Chair, Aspire Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.
Prabhu Guptara
Patron and Chief Advisor
Satyaveer Chakrapani
Director and Advisor
Ivan Kostka
Editor-in-Chief
Pramod Ranjan
Consulting Editor
Amrish Herdenia
Assistant Editor (English)
Amarendra Yadav
Principal Correspondent
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Abhay Kumar Dubey (New Delhi)

Dilip Mandal (New Delhi)
Vishal Mangalwadi (India)
Gail Omvedt (Maharashtra)
Thom Wolf (New Delhi)
Rajan Kumar
Designer
Office : FORWARD Press
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in the
articles are those of the writers. The magazine will
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JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press
2015
JANUARY
Our Heroes, Our Dates
SUN
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18
25
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19
26
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20
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1910
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1784 Tilka Manjhi martyrdom day U

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DALIT
BAHUJAN
PAGE 3
Sahitya Akademi
award for Dalit novelist
NEW DELHI: Dalit Tamil writer Poomani has won the 2014 Sahitya
Akademi award for his historical novel Agnaadi. The novel covers a
period of more than 170 years from the beginning of the 19th century
and revolves around the lives of several families in the villages of Virudhunagar district. The 1,200-page novel, which looks at caste conflicts in
the region, has already won the inaugural Gitanjali literary prize.
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Streekaals Savitribai Phule award
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WARDHA: Feminist magazine Streekaal will soon announce the

winner of the inaugural Savitribai Phule Samman for feminist criticism.
The jury comprises Archana Sharma, Arvind Jain, Anita Bharti, Hemlata
Mahishwar and Parimala Ambekar.
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LUDHIANA: Functions were organized at different places in the
country on Dr Ambedkars Parinirvan Diwas. Sukhbir Singh Badal,
deputy chief minister of Punjab, was the chief guest at one such
programme in Ludhiana. (Turn to page 36 for details.)
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NEW DELHI: Sheoraj Singh Bechain being presented with

the Rashtra Bhasha Gaurav Saman on 22 November 2014 at
Parliaments central hall, New Delhi, jointly by Dr Sarojni
Maheshi (president, Sansdiya Hindi Parishad), Urmil Satya
Bhushan (president, Parichay Sahitya Parishad) and Santosh
Khanna (secretary, Vidhi Bharti Parishad).
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Battle of Koregaon: 1 January
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Leaning on the
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J.V. PAWAR
o one has to make that effort to remember the important

dates in the life and struggles of Babasaheb Ambedkar. It
comes to them naturally, be it a highly educated Ambedkarite
or a simple Dalit villager. The dates have been etched in their
hearts. They eagerly wait for these days year after year. Consider 6 December, the day, in the year 1956, when Ambedkar
breathed his last. Millions of people visit Chaitya Bhoomi, in
Mumbai, in the first week of December to pay homage to him.
Ambedkars birth anniversary in April is celebrated for up to
two months. A woman from a Maharashtra village begins
preparing for her journey to Chaitya Bhoomi 15 days in
advance. She visits her parents and braves the cold of the winter and the huge crowds as she arrives, carrying her baby in
her hands, at the place where Ambedkar was cremated.
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STORY
AMBEDKARS VISIT
TO KOREGAON ON
1 JANUARY 1927 MADE
HIM THE BABASAHEB WE
KNOW TODAY
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Dr Ambedkar with six soldiers of the Mahar Regiment in Delhi on 14 April 1950
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The first day of the new year is no different. For most

people, a new years resolution and a newfound energy go
hand in hand. For the rejected and the oppressed in India, 1
January means much more. They find new strength to live
with dignity when they look back at that day when the Peshwa
rule came to an end. Under the Peshwas, they werent just
untouchables, they were unseeables. These rulers even
cursed their shadows. They destroyed generations of Dalits.
The first day of the year 1818 marked the end of Peshwa dominance as the British flag went up, thanks to the bravery of
Mahar soldiers.
Captain Francis Staunton had 449 Mahars and a Matang,
who were outcasts in the Peshwa-led Brahmanical society of
the time. The huge army of the Peshwa was crushed by these
450 soldiers. The army of the Peshwa fought for food, clothing,
shelter for them, it was just another day at work. However, for
the untouchable soldiers, it was a fight for dignity. It was a fight
against slavery under the Peshwa. The Peshwas numbers were
no match for the moral courage of the Mahar soldiers. Until
the first day of the year 1818, these untouchables hadnt felt
that joy of defeating an entire social order that had reduced
them to slaves. It is proof that the people who have a dream
will find a way of making it come true. Society, after all, is a
collection of people with different mindsets, the few who
nurture a dream and the many who live meaningless lives.
The Peshwas soldier was a free man. Unlike the
untouchables, he had never experienced oppression and
slavery. The untouchables knew there is nothing worse than
the darkness of slavery and nothing better than the light of
freedom. These 450 men fought for freedom from the
slavery at the hands of the Peshwas. They were not selfish or
cunning, and hence commanded respect from the British,
who built a victory pillar in the memory of the soldiers who
supported them. This pillar stands even today in Koregaon,
the place where the battle took place, and the names of the
brave Mahar and Matang martyrs have been engraved on it.
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The huge army of the Peshwa was crushed by these 450 soldiers. The army of
the Peshwa fought for food, clothing, shelter for them, it was just another day
at work. However, for the untouchable soldiers, it was a fight for dignity. It was a
fight against slavery under the Peshwa. The Peshwas numbers were no match
for the moral courage of the Mahar soldiers
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It was on 1 January 1927 that Babasaheb visited Koregaon
for the first time. For the rest of his life, Babasaheb, who loved to
say we are not foxes but lions, visited this memorial for the lions almost every year. Now, on every New Years Day, his
followers throng to the battlefield where their ancestors
attained glory.
But on 1 January 1927, when Babasaheb spoke at Koregaon,
he didnt just reflect on the bravery of the Mahar soldiers. He
took the opportunity to attack the British governments ingratitude. The untouchables whose forefathers had fought bravely
and given their lives for establishing British rule were being
denied recruitment in the army. He said this was a kind of
deceit. Mahar soldiers fought the Peshwa because he and his
predecessors had treated them worse than dogs. It was to bring
an end to the Peshwas inhuman ways that the Mahar soldiers
had stood with the British. But then, instead of thanking them,
the British had taken away their weapons and their right to join
the army.
A little later, on 14 February 1927, the British government
appointed Babasaheb as a member of legislative assembly of
Bombay. Then from 19-20 March, he led the Mahad satyagraha.
Babasaheb was no longer a common citizen, and the
administration, including the district collector and police, was
forced to show him respect. Thus that visit to the Koregaon
Victory Pillar on 1 January 1927 paved the way for more mass
movements. So, it was after that day, when Dr Ambedkar stood
next to the pillar and spoke, that every untouchable came to
know who he was.
Since that day, every New Year has begun with a new zeal for
social revolution. The tradition of meeting at Koregaon on 1
January has continued unbroken. Soon the other anniversaries
followed: the Kalaram Temple entry satyagraha on 2 March,
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11
COVER
12
STORY
But it is not all just about remembering; it is about remembering in a way that
honours him. An Ambedkarite makes it a point to visit the memorials.
Unfortunately, they show up not as a follower of Babasaheb but as a
representative of their parties. They organize open-air meetings and promote
their own selfish agendas, bringing disrespect to Babasahebs idea of organizing
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Mahad satyagraha on 19-20 March, Babasahebs birth
anniversary on 14 April, Babasahebs conversion to Buddhism
and rejection of Hinduism on 14 October, the Constitution Day
on 26 November, Babasahebs death anniversary on 6 December,
the burning of the Manusmriti on 25 December. These are some
of the dates Ambedkarites have not forgotten to this day.
What dishonours Ambedkar

But it is not all just about remembering; it is about remembering in a way that honours Ambedkar and the martyrs of
Koregaon. An Ambedkarite makes it a point to visit the
memorials. Unfortunately, they show up not as a follower of
Babasaheb but as a representative of their parties. They organize
open-air meetings and promote their own selfish agendas,
bringing disrespect to Babasahebs exhortation to organize. Be
it in Koregaon or Chaitya Bhoomi, the truth is Ambedkarites
gather to remember his remarkable legacy. But the parties,
taking them to be their mob, hold their meetings. This is an insult
to Babasaheb. On the last Ambedkar death anniversary (6
December 2014) members of two different Ambedkarite parties
got into a fight.
In front of Koregaon pillar we see different groups conducting
meetings, each with their own agenda. This shows, more than
anything else, that we arent organized. On that day, nearly two
centuries ago, 450 soldiers unitedly fought the Peshwas. All of
them had one, common agenda. Today, we should come
together and be organized, and truly honour
Babasaheb and his legacy.
J.V. Pawar, poet and novelist, was the founding general secretary of the Dalit Panthers.
He is best known for his1969 novel Balidaan and Naakebandi his 1976 collection of
poems, since translated and published in English as BLOCKADE. Among his many
books, he has devoted himself to documenting and analyzing the post-Ambedkar Dalit
movements in several volumes. A lifelong Ambedkarite, Pawar has been involved in
several Dalitbahujan social and political movements in Maharashtra
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The end of the Peshwai

at the hands of the
Mahars and Mangs
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HOW THE BATTLE OF KOREGAON BECAME A SYMBOL
OF THE DALIT ANTI-BRAHMIN MOVEMENT IN COLONIAL
AND POST-COLONIAL INDIA
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n 1796 Baji Rao II became the Peshwa ruler of the

fractured Maratha confederacy. As historian Anirudh
Deshpande has observed, Events proved him a true
son of a disgraced father. During his rule (1796-1818),
the Marathas fought two wars with the British East India
Company forces. These led to the sunset of the Maratha
confederacy and the noonday of the British forces in
central and western India.
Baji Rao II had been seething at being reduced to a
puppet in Pune, and quietly scheming too to chase the
British out of the land where he and his Brahmin predecessors had been de facto rulers for almost a century after usurping power from the Maratha Bhonsale dynasty.
But in 1817, the defection of his mercenary English
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COVER
14
STORY
commander Captain Ford and his troops to the

British Resident Montstuart Elphinstone put
paid to his plans. He fled the capital of his
ancestors with his Brahmin followers, who
feared that the end of the Peshwai would bring to
an end their domination of Maharashtrian
society. The East India Company battalions went
after the Peshwa and his army and defeated
them in battles fought at Khadki, Yervada and
Koregaon all in the Pune area. After watching
the rout of his troops from a hill overlooking
Khadki, Baji Rao II fled the battle, earning the
derogatory nickname palputaa or the fleeing
one. Only the battle of Koregaon is still
remembered, and even celebrated, today, in a
country that otherwise, officially, celebrates
independence from British rule.
The Battle of Koregaon

Korygaom is a moderate sized village,
immediately overhanging the steep bank of the
Beema; but owing to the immense beds of the Indian rivers, which are never filled except during
the rains, the channel occupied but a small part
of the space between the banks, so that the
village was 50 or 60 yards from the water. There is
a mud wall which, at one time, probably
surrounded the village, but it is now full of large
breaches on the side next the river, and on the
east it is completely open, wrote James Grant
Duff (1789-1858), a captain in the first regiment
of Bombay Native Infantry, in A History of the
Mahrattas (Volume III), adding in the footnote,
I write this description of the village from
recollection; I have not seen it for seven or eight
years: not indeed since the morning after
Captain Staunton evacuated it, when though I
carefully examined that scene of recent and
desperate conflict, I at that time had no intention
of publishing an account of it.
Korygaom (for the British then) or Koregaon (today), near Sirur and around 30 kilometres from
Pune, was where the last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, made
his last-ditch effort to wrest back power from the
British, more than a decade after he surrendered
sovereignty to the East India Company. On 31
December 1817, Captain F.F. Staunton led 900 Company troops, including a large number of Mahar
and Mang soldiers of the Bombay Army, from Sirur
towards Pune, where the troops were expecting
reinforcement to defend a possible attack by the
Peshwa and his army.
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However, there was soon a turning point. An injured British officer led a
contingent of native infantry and valiantly regained control of the gun: the
sepoys, thus led were irresistible, the gun was retaken, and the dead Arabs,
laterally lying above each other, proved how desperately it had been defended
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The battalion commenced its march from Seroor on the
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consisted of little more than 500 rank and file, and was supported
by two six-pounders, well manned by 24 Europeans of the
Madras artillery, under a sergeant and a lieutenant. It was also accompanied by 300 of the newly raised irregular horse [cavalry],
and the whole were under the command of Captain Francis
Staunton. Having marched all night, by ten oclock on the
morning of New Years Day, Captain Staunton reached the high
ground above the village of Korygaom, on the Beema, where he
beheld the whole of the Mahratta horse, consisting of about
25,000, on the opposite side of the river. He continued his march
towards the bank, and the Peishwas troops believed that he
intended to ford, but as soon as he had gained the
neighbourhood of the village, he immediately took post in it.
The Peshwas infantry, consisting of the Arabs, Gosaeens and
regular infantry, stormed the village. Many of the houses were
set on fire by a relentless shower of rockets. The village was
immediately surrounded by horse and foot, and the storming
party was supported by fresh troops. All access to the river was
speedily cut off; Captain Staunton was destitute of provisions,
and this detachment, already fatigued from want of rest and a
long night march, now under a burning sun, without food or water, began a struggle as trying as ever was maintained by the
British in India. Every foot of ground was disputed, several
streets were taken and retaken.
The Arabs had even managed to seize one of the guns and kill an
artilleryman. Half of the European officers lay wounded, without
even a drop of water to soothe their pain. Those still on their feet
and fighting were seen collapsing due to dehydration. Some of the
Europeans in the artillery regiment even suggested that they should
surrender. However, there was soon a turning point. An injured
British officer led a contingent of native infantry and valiantly
regained control of the gun: the sepoys, thus led were
irresistible, the gun was retaken, and the dead Arabs, laterally lying
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COVER
16
STORY
When the night fell, the Peshwas troops scaled down the offensive
and the Company troops were able to obtain a supply of water to
quench their thirst. Soon the firing ceased, and the Peshwas army was
nowhere to be seen until next morning, when Captain Staunton
ordered his men to fire the guns at those still hovering round the
village. The Peshwas army withdrew and that night, under the cover
of darkness, Captain Staunton took the wounded with him to Sirur,
where he arrived the next morning. The Company suffered 175
casualties while the Peshwa lost 500-600 of his men.
Koregaons legacy
Later, back in the battlefield, Koregaon, a 60-foot obelisk was
constructed to commemorate this feat of the Company troops. The
marble plaques in English along with Marathi translations adorning
the four sides of the monument declare one of the proudest triumphs
of the British army in the East. But that means very little to even the
British today, let alone their former colonial subjects. What is relevant,
though, are the names of native casualties inscribed on the pillar:
more than 20 end with the suffix -nac Essnac, Rynac, Gunnac
used by untouchable Mahars and Mangs who served as soldiers.
R.V. Russell, the superintendent of Ethnography, Central Provinces,
provides a peek into life under the Peshwas in The Tribes and Castes of
the Central Provinces of India (1916): In Bombay a Mahar might not
spit on the ground lest a Hindu should be polluted by touching it with
his foot, but had to hang an earthen pot round his neck to hold his
spittle. He was made to drag a thorny branch with him to brush out his
footsteps, and when a Brahman came by had to lie at a distance on his
face lest his shadow might fall on the Brahman. Even if the shadow of a
Mahar or Mang fell on a Brahman he was polluted and dare not taste
food and water until he had bathed and washed the impurity away.
No wonder Koregaon is remembered today as the battle where a handful of Mahars and Mangs (under British command) brought to an end the
brutal Brahmanical oppression sanctioned by the Peshwas. The last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, remained on the run in central India until he surrendered
to the East India Company troops in Mhow, near Indore, on 3 June 1818.
He was then banished to Bithur, near Kanpur.The word Corregaum and
the obelisk were incorporated into the insignia of the 2/1 Bombay Native
Light Infantry, which later became the Mahar Regiment of the Indian
Army. The valour of the Mahar regiment was again in evidence in the
battles of Kathiawad (1826), Multan (1846) and the second Afghan War
(1880). However, after some sepoys of the regiment joined the Indian
mutiny against the British in 1857, the Mahars were barred from joining
the army. Speaking during a function at a school run by the Depressed
Classes Mission in October 1910, R.A. Lamb of the Bombay Governors Executive Council pointed out that there were many names of Mahars who
fell wounded or dead fighting bravely side by side with Europeans and
with Indians who were not outcastes and regretted that one avenue to
honourable work had been closed to these people.
Ambedkar, himself a Mahar born in Mhow to a retired army subedar,
visited the Koregaon memorial on 1 January 1927. Today, thousands of Dalits visit the memorial every year to commemorate the valour of the Mahars
who helped overthrow the unjust Brahmanical rule of the Peshwas.
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Can the Janata Dal

be resurrected?
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SHAHNAWAZ KHAN
he recent get-together of the leaders of the parties that were

born from the debris of the Janata Dal has led to speculations
about reunification. Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav of the JDU,
Laloo Prasad Yadav of the RJD, H.D. Deve Gowda of the JD (S)
and Dushyant Chautala of the INLD met at the Delhi residence
of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party supremo. After
the meeting, Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar announced that
the Janata Dal parivar would reunite and position itself as an
alternative to both the Congress and the BJP. Poll statistics suggest that if this happens, there will be major changes in the
political landscape. But the question is whether the constituents of the erstwhile Janata Dal can come together? And if
this happens, can it offer an alternative brand of politics?
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POLITICAL
18
ANALYSIS
THE CHANCES ARE SLIM, FOR ANY IDENTITY-BASED POLITICS CAN ONLY LAST
SO LONG BEFORE IT IS SUBSUMED BY A BIGGER IDENTITY, AND THE PARTYS
FRAGMENTS HAVE JUST SUFFERED THIS FATE AT THE HANDS OF THE BJP
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Before dwelling on these issues, let us recap
Vishwanath Pratap Singhs experiment that brought the
Janata Dal to power and also how it broke up owing to
its internal contradictions. On 11 October 1988,
Vishwanath Pratap Singh turned a rebel and walked out
of the Congress Cabinet. He cobbled together the Janata
Dal by bringing the Lok Dal, the Congress (S) and his
own Jan Morcha on a common platform. There were
three key reasons behind the Janata Dals success in capturing power. First, the serious allegations of corruption
against Rajiv Gandhis Congress government in the
Bofors case had angered people across the country.
Second, on 1 February 1986, the locks of Babri Masjid
had been opened, angering the Muslims, who then
began looking for an alternative to the Congress. Third, a
new, energetic leadership was emerging from the OBCs,
particularly the Yadavs, in the two politically crucial
states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. These three factors
helped the Janata Dal, led by V.P. Singh, capture the
imagination of the people.
Now, if we juxtapose the political scenario of 1988
with the one in 2014, we will discover that there is little,
if any, possibility of the resurrection of the Janata Dal. To
begin with, the parties that are planning to position
themselves as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress
have a poor track record as far as fighting corruption is
concerned. Top leaders of these parties, including those
who have been chief ministers, are themselves in the
dock for graft. Laloo Prasad Yadav has been convicted
and is barred from contesting elections. Hence, the leaders of the to-be-formed Janata Dal would have no moral
right to talk of corruption. At the same time, barring the
JDU, the top posts in all other parties are out of bounds
for the janata who dont belong to the families of the
party supremos. Even in the case of the JDU, nepotism
may not be palpable in the structure of the party organization but it is very much there at other levels. It is
apparent that the issue of leadership of the proposed
Janata Dal would be a contentious one. It would be a
herculean task to build unanimity on the party presidency and other important positions.
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Then, the Janata Dal leaders had come to power in

their respective states courtesy of the support of the
Muslims. But what did the Muslims get in return?
Miserable life and communal riots. Nitish and Deve
Gowda have even run governments in coalition with the
BJP. And Mulayam has been ruling Uttar Pradesh for the
last three and a half years with the tacit support of the BJP.
Thus, one of the biggest vote banks of these parties has
got disillusioned with them. If, in some pockets, the
Muslims are still supporting these parties, it is only
because of the lack of an alternative.
Thirdly, the OBCs, whose sociopolitical identity Laloo,
Nitish and Mulayam were claiming to establish, are no
longer under the sway of their respective parties. Their
parties no longer represent the aspirations of these castes.
The reason is the BJPs success in building a wider
Hindutva unity through its social engineering. The BJP
has been promising to give the OBCs and the Dalits their
due place in keeping with their self-respect. Another reason why a sizeable, decisive chunk of OBCs is backing the
BJP is that for the first time, an OBC has become the
prime minister of the nation. Thus, Laloo, Mulayam and
Nitish have lost their caste base as well.
If these parties are today in a pitiable state it is also
because they used the slogan of secularism only to garner
Muslim votes. They never seriously tried to infuse the values of secularism into their caste-based supporters or to
change their mindsets. Once elections were done with,
these parties shifted to the soft Hindutva mode so as to
keep the castes under their sway within the ambit of the
Savarna-dominated Hindutvadi sociopolitical space. That
is why, after the mid-1990s, the SP-BSP forgot the slogan
Mile Mulayam Kanshiram, Hawa mein ud gaye Jai
Shriram (We have got Mulayam and Kanshiram, Jai Shri
Ram has been blown away), which was their battle cry
during the days of the ascendancy of the Ram temple
movement. They also never demanded abrogation of
Article 341 of the Constitution, which would have enabled
Dalit Muslims to get reservations. These parties have fallen between two stools of secularism and communalism.
Against this backdrop, the efforts to resurrect the
Janata Dal seem to be more a desperate attempt of a
bunch of frustrated leaders to maintain their stranglehold
over their caste base than a genuine initiative to provide a
viable alternative to the people. The chances of success of
this attempt are very slim. In any case, any identity-based
politics can only last so long before it is subsumed by a
bigger identity. Whether one likes it or not, the BJP
has managed to engineer just that. The time is up for
an SP-RJD-JDU conglomerate.
Shahnawaz Alam is a freelance journalist and social activist
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20
ANALYSIS
Modis all-Hindu
model village scheme
SHAHNAWAZ ALAM
he hidden criteria that seem to have been used to

select villages for adoption under the Prime
Ministers much-touted MP Model Village Scheme
have raised suspicions that the real objective of the
scheme is to further a political cause.
According to the news website Scroll.in, in Uttar
Pradesh, which sent 71 BJP MPs to the Parliament,
16 of the 20 villages picked for the scheme are those
which have no Muslims. Although it would be
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unfair to draw any conclusions from a survey that covered only

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Muzaffarnagar district, last year, has adopted an all-Hindu
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wrong with it. Sanjeev Baliyan, MP who, as independent
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investigations revealed, was the prime conspirator behind the
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Muzaffarnagar communal violence has adopted the village
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caste but also the tolas or clusters of different castes, especially

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22
ANALYSIS
Annihilation of caste would not be on the agenda

at all. Varna-based discrimination would remain
in place while at the same time, OBCs and Dalits
would be brought under the Hindutva umbrella.
According to a report prepared by
Ahmadabad-based Navsarjan Trust in association
with three US-based organizations Kroc
Institute for International Peace Studies
(University of Notre Dame), University of
Michigan, and Robert F. Kennedy Center for
Social Justice & Human Rights 98 per cent of
the Dalits in Gujarat are served tea by tea-stall
owners in separate cups called Ram Patra. The
report is based on interviews with 98,000 Dalits
of Gujarat. Here, it is important to note that a
large section of Dalits in Gujarat votes for the BJP
in the name of Hindutva. It is this Gujarat
model that the Sangh Parivar wants to implement across the country through the MP Model
Village Scheme.
The second objective of the scheme is to bring
the worldview of urban Indians, who form the
core of the BJP supporters, to the villages. This is
an easily achievable given that the urban middle
class and lower middle class still stay in touch
with their ancestral villages. The Sangh knows
that this will help residents of villages and cities
think and behave alike, and will politically unify
rural and urban India. This is also a formula
imported from Gujarat, where, according to
Achyut Yagnik, a well-known sociologist and a
keen watcher of the Sangh Parivars politics, the
demonization of Muslims was used to obliterate
the difference in electoral preferences of villagers
and urbanites. The Sangh and the BJP united the
Hindus of various castes by raising the spectre of
a Muslim takeover, and the villagers, who used to
vote for the Congress, were forced to toe the line
of their BJP-voting urban counterparts. The signboards at the entrance of villages, declaring them
as Hindu Grams (Hindu villages), are proof of
this phenomenon. That was partly why communal violence, which was hitherto an urban phenomenon, engulfed the villages too in 2002. Over
the last two years, villages have become the epicentre of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh,
be it Faizabad, Kosi Kalan (Mathura), Asthan
(Pratapgarh) or Muzaffarnagar. Given this history,
there is clearly more to the MP Model Village
Scheme especially in Uttar Pradesh, which is
fast becoming the hotbed of communal politics
than meets the eye.
d is well aware that

The saffron brotherhoo
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of the BJP, it is imperativ
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and this is possible only
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Hindutva feeding on MIM
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HAVE ASADUDDIN OWAISI AND THE BJP
ENTERED INTO A TACIT AGREEMENT TO
TURN THE NATIONS POLITICS INTO A
CONTEST OF RELIGIOUS FANATICS?
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SHARAD JAISWAL
t a time when divisive Hindutva politics is on the

rise in the country, Asaduddin Owaisis All India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is trying to
expand its footprint outside Hyderabad. After an
unexpected victory in two constituencies in the
recent Maharashtra Assembly elections, MIM is
readying itself for spreading its wings in Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi. Since elections are round the corner in Delhi and Bihar, a
sense of urgency informs MIMs efforts to strike
roots in a hitherto-uncharted territory.
The leaders of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP
believe that once MIM makes an entry into the
state, it will provide the saffron outfit with an opposition that shares its communal outlook and ideology. In fact, wherever it goes, MIM is set to strengthen the majoritarian communalism and enhance the
acceptability of the BJP.
While the 80-year-old MIM has always been charged
with fanning Muslim communalism in Hyderabad, its
supporters see it as an outfit capable of taking on antiMuslim and radical Hindu communal organizations.
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24
POLITICS
A failure of all secular parties

M
ajlis-E-Ittihad Muslimeen (or Council of Muslim Unity)

was founded in 1927 as a federation of Muslim sects
and communities to support and advice the then ruler
(Nizam) of Hyderabad. After the defeat of his razakars and
the merger of Hyderabad into the Indian Union, MIM
remained dormant till about 1957, when it was revived by
Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi to back up your (Muslim) argument with political muscle. In 1960, the MIM got 19 out of 30
seats it contested in the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad
(MCH); in 1967, three MIM candidates were elected to the
state assembly; and in 1986, MIM was elected as the single
largest party in the MCH. With the rise of the Telugu Desam
Party in Andhra Pradesh, MIM predicted a division of nonMuslim votes in Hyderabad between TDP and Congress.
Through its rabble-rousing, it aimed at polling a chunk of the
35 per cent Muslim votes in the 1984 general elections and
has been winning the seat since. Muslims could be rallied
behind MIM due to the perception of insecurity among the
community that arose from the series of communal riots in
the 1980s in the cow belt, along with the campaign for the
demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Some recent political developments indicate that BJP

and MIM are helping each other in spreading communalism in the country. Both the parties have been jointly running the Nagpur Municipal Corporation since the elections that took place last year. By absenting themselves
from a vote of confidence in the Maharashtra Assembly,
the two MIM members indirectly supported Devendra
Fadnavis government. What is the real motive of these
parties? What is the ultimate objective of their politics? A
pertinent question here is whether BJP and MIM have
entered into a tacit agreement to turn the nations politics
into a bipolar, Hindu-communalism-versus-Muslim-communalism contest.
MIM is planning to field candidates in the Delhi
Assembly elections. If that happens, the electoral battlefield
of Delhi may well witness a clash between Hindutva and
Nizam-e-Khalifa. This politics of communal polarization is
bound to put on the back burner the fundamental issues of
concern to the common man such as food, clothes, education, housing, employment and healthcare. One need not
be a rocket scientist to understand that majority and
minority communalisms are two sides of the same coin.
Both want to stifle democracy. However, Nehru had
prophetically said that majority communalism is much
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MIM gained its first significant victory outside Telangana in the
2012 Nanded Municipal Corporation elections. MIM won 11 out of 81
seats in the city where 30 per cent the population is Muslim. That was a
reaction to the arrest of innocent Muslim youths from Aurangabad,
Malegaon and other places, and their implication in cases of terrorism.
The election of Imtiyaz Jaleel from Aurangabad Central and Warris
Pathan from Byculla, Mumbai, to the Maharashtra Legislative
Assembly is the continuation of the same trend.
After MIMs wins in these two constituencies in Maharashtra, a
Muslim youth told this author: We are not scared of the rise of Hindu
nationalists and ready to face all the consequences. Nothing worse
can happen. We must now have our [Muslim] communitys demand.
MIMs expansion through aggressive assertion and rabble-rousing
should be seen as a failure of all secular parties in safeguarding the
rule of law and checking Hindu nationalization of the state. MIM is
the mirror image of the Modi-ized BJP. As Modi is catering to the aspirations of the youth from the majority community, MIM is catering to
the aspirations of the Muslim youth. The disillusionment with MIM
too will set in sooner rather than later, as it did with Nihal Ahmeds
politics in Malegaon. MIM fills the youth with the false pride of the
glorious history of Muslim rulers in India.
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more dangerous than minority communalism because the former often wears the garb of patriotism and simple-minded
commoners fall into its trap; by the time they realize their folly,
it is too late.
There is nothing surprising in the news that MIM is planning to try its luck in the Delhi Assembly polls. The recent spike
in communal incidents in Delhi is evidence enough of some
fixing. MIM may well open its account in some Muslim-dominated areas of the city. One doesnt know what strategy the
party proposes to employ in Delhi whether it will resort to its
time-tested formula of polarizing the Muslims or Asaduddin
Owaisi has a new trick up his sleeve. In Maharashtra, the party
had tried to forge a Muslim-Dalit alliance by raising the slogan
of Jai Bheem, Jai Meem. MIM is known to concentrate on
areas where the Muslim population is 20 per cent or higher.
The fact of the matter is that the political objectives of parties such as the BJP and the MIM are the same. Owaisi and
those of his ilk must remember that no one who militates
against the secular core of this country can hope to play a long
innings in politics. The Owaisis of the country are being
used to serve the ends of Hindutva and the BJP. Their utility
begins and ends there.
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Sharad Jaiswal is an independent journalist
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25
26
REPORT
Sangh Parivar tramples

on religious rights
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orth India has witnessed two related incidents in the

recent past. First, in late August, at Asroi, about 30 km
from Aligarh, UP, around six dozen Christians were
brought back into Hinduism. In the second incident
in early September, some people returned to Hinduism
from Islam in the Bukarra village of Khaniadhana
tehsil, Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh. The shuddhikaran (purification) of these persons was done in
the benign presence of the police and the media. The
Sangh Parivar is elated over the two homecomings. In
Asroi, as a bonus, the local church was converted into a
Shiva temple. Thus, besides humans, the place of worship was also purified. The RSS and other radical
Hindu organizations have termed this switching of
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FOR THE SELF-APPOINTED CUSTODIANS

OF HINDUISM, CONVERSIONS ARE AN
ISSUE BUT CASTE-BASED EXPLOITATION,
REPRESSION, SOCIAL BOYCOTT AND
DISCRIMINATION ARE NOT
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religions not conversions but homecoming. It is clear that these

homecomings are a part of the saffron brotherhoods strategy to
polarize the nation on communal lines. Conversions are back on
the Sangh Parivars agenda and quite aggressively so.
What is of consequence is the fact that all the 72 people who left
Christianity and rejoined the Hindu fold at Asroi are Dalits of the
Valmiki caste. They had embraced Christianity about two decades
ago. The neo-converts of Shivpuri are also Dalits, having adopted
Islam just in February this year. Obviously, the Sangh Parivar was
rattled by this development and the Hindu organizations were
doing everything they could to reconvert them. Their hard work
bore fruit and ultimately, the misled people came back to their
home. Such incidents are growing by the day. Dileep Singh Judeo
had launched a formal campaign in Chhattisgarh to bring Christian
converts back into Hinduism. He coined the term ghar wapsi
(homecoming). In Gujarat, Swami Aseemanand, who, at present, is
cooling his heels in prison as an accused in the Samjhauta Express
bomb blast case, had also overseen a mega campaign to bring back
Tribal Christian converts into Hinduism in the Dang region of the
state. The campaign enjoyed the full backing of the erstwhile
Narendra Modi government and ran for quite a while on a large
scale. Besides these states, reports of homecomings are also pouring in from Jharkhand and Odisha two states with a substantial
Tribal population.
An objective analysis of these conversions would show that most
of the people who adopted Islam or Christianity were either
deprived Dalits or impoverished Tribals. The low social status of
these castes and their members having to put up with the obnoxious
behaviour of the so-called upper-caste people is no secret. The
upper, dominant castes treat them worse than animals. They face
discrimination at every step in their lives. They are not allowed to
enter temples. They are exploited and repressed. Any resistance is
met with social boycott, compounding the problems of these people
already reeling under poverty, ignorance and deprivation.
In these circumstances, if a non-Hindu religious preacher evokes
hope in them or if they themselves feel that they can lead a better,
respectable life and break free from social oppression by adopting a
particular religion, they do get attracted to other religions. In northeastern India, Christian missionaries, through their work in the fields
of education and health, managed to win the admiration of the marginalized Tribal communities. The humiliation the weaker sections of
Hindus have to face every day has been an important factor in them
taking refuge in Buddhism or Christianity. Moreover, our Constitution
guarantees religious freedom to every citizen.
A constitutional right
Besides being mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution,
religious freedom is also part of the chapter on fundamental rights.
Article 25 guarantees Freedom of conscience and free profession,
practice and propagation of religion. Thus the Constitution not
only gives citizens the right to practise the religion of their choice
but also to change their religion. But the forces of Hindutva brand
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REPORT
The (Un)freedom of Religion Act
()S
any change in religion as forcible conversion. Their propaganda machine proclaims that the coversions are an international conspiracy and that the Hindu religion is in danger
because of them. The stray incidents of conversions are
blown out of proportion, especially the forcible dimension.
It doesnt matter at all if the person concerned has converted
to another religion out of his own free will.
For the self-appointed custodians of Hinduism, conversions are an issue but caste-based exploitation, repression,
social boycott and discrimination are not. To take the
instance of Bukarra village, the Dalits there were leading miserable lives. They were not getting jobs under MNREGA, and
PDS foodgrains were being denied to them. Though the
Madhya Pradesh government had allotted agricultural land
to 22 Dalit families of the village, the musclemen of the
upper castes never allowed them to till their fields. They were
driven away whenever they tried to take possession of the
land that was legally theirs. But these basic problems of the
Dalits did not concern the Sangh Parivar.
The Dalits and the deprived do not need gods and religion. They need two square meals a day and a life of
dignity. If they got these, why would they contemplate converting to other faiths?
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he Madhya Pradesh government has promulgated an anticonversion law. Under its Shabri campaign, the Sangh had
brought back many converted tribal Christians into Hinduism.
In the Shivpuri district of the state, four persons were arrested
for violation of the Freedom of Religion Act. Of them, two
Maniram and Tularam were already facing prosecution under
the same Act. The police later registered cases under sections 4
and 5 of the Act and section 188 of the IPC against Manirams
wife Makho and her son Keshav, alias Kasim. After Maniram
and Tularam were released on bail, the saffron organizations reinducted them into Hinduism. Preliminary investigations by the
police revealed that the families of Maniram and Tularam were
planning to settle elsewhere after selling their land. The superintendent of police, M.S. Sikarwar, has constituted a SIT to
probe the entire incident. The police also checked their bank
accounts but did not find evidence of any unusual transaction.
Keshav, alias Kasim, says that he had decided to change his religion on his own. Why, he asks, should he not adopt a religion
that gives him a chance to live with his head held high and be
treated like a human? - HUSSAIN TABISH
Zahid Khan is an independent journalist. He is the author of Azad Hindustan

mein Musalman and Sangh ka Hindustan
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Behind the conversion

scenes in Agra
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HUSSAIN TABISH
he city of the Taj is in the news these days. On 8

December, in the Ved Nagar area of the city,
around 150 members of 57 Muslim families were
allegedly converted to Hinduism at a function
organized by RSS associates Bajrang Dal and
Hindu Jagran Manch. The neo-converts have been
living in the slum cluster in Ved Nagar for the last
15 years or so and make a living by scouring the
garbage dumps for saleable things. Most of them
hail from different districts of West Bengal.
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REPORT
THE CONVERTS OF THE VED NAGAR AREA DISCOVERED THEY HAD

SWITCHED RELIGION WHEN PHOTOS OF THEM HOLDING IDOLS OF KALI
APPEARED IN THE NEWSPAPERS
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When the news about their conversion was published in newspapers the next day, all hell broke loose. Before the news
appeared in the papers, even the converted people did not know
that they had switched religion. They protested and said that they
had been converted forcibly or had been lured with incentives.
According to Ismail, one of the converts, for the last month or
so, activists of the Hindu Jagran Manch had been talking to the
Muslim residents of the slum and persuading them to become
Hindus. A day before the conversions, the activists told them that a
camp was being organized in their area for making voters ID
cards, and that Aadhaar cards and ration cards would also be given
to those who didnt have them. The foundation stone of a Kali temple would be laid on the occasion, said the activists. The offer of
voters ID cards and ration cards was too tempting to turn down,
and almost all of them reached the designated place. To their dismay, there was no such camp. Instead, a religious function was
underway to mark the beginning of the construction of the Kali
temple. The men were made to wear skullcaps and everyone was
asked to join in the havan. They joined in, albeit unwillingly.
Afterwards, photographs of them holding idols of Kali were taken.
When some women objected to being photographed, they were
pacified by promises of money in return.
Next day, when the newspapers published reports of 200
Muslims embracing Hinduism, the slum dwellers were shocked.
The women started wailing while the men were angry. Ismail himself went to the local police station and got a case of forcible and
fraudulent conversion registered. Though the names of the people
who were present at the havan were mentioned in the complaint,
the Hindutva organizations, very shrewdly, managed to save
themselves. Only Kishore Valmiki, a local Bajrang Dal activist, and
some of his associates were named as accused in the FIR.
Ajju Chauhan, district president of Bajrang Dal, dismissed the
charge that force or deception was used to persuade the
Muslims to convert. These persons had genuine faith in Hindu
religion and they have become Hindus out of their own free will.
Their ancestors were also Hindus, Chauhan said. The converts, however, insist that they dont follow the Hindu faith.
They were deceived into joining the havan and were declared
Hindus. One of the victims of the fraud, Sufia, said that her family had been Muslim for the last several generations. I am not
aware if my ancestors were Hindus at any time, she said.
Another woman Sakina recited Ayats from the Quran and said
that there was a copy of the holy book at her house. I did not
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Though the names of the people who were present at the havan were
mentioned in the complaint, the Hindutva organizations, very shrewdly,
managed to save themselves. Only Kishore Valmiki, a local Bajrang Dal
activist, and some of his associates were named as accused in the FIR
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want to change my religion, Sakina said. I had gone there
for getting a ration card. Since most of the people performing the havan were Dalits from the neighbourhood, people
she knew, she joined in.
The issue soon turned into a row. The Muslims of the city
opposed this forcible conversion and demanded arrest of the
accused. According to Sulabh Mathur, SSP of Agra, many people have been made accused in the case. A magisterial
enquiry has also been ordered. He said that strict action
would be taken against those found guilty.
Champat Rai, international vice-president of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad, who described this conversion as a homecoming, was looking at bringing back one lakh such Muslims
and Christians, whose ancestors were Hindus, into the Hindu
fold by the end of last year. VHP sources claimed that there
was nothing new in such conversions. The VHP organizes
such homecomings of Muslims and Christians every year.
In 2013, according to him, the VHP had held similar functions
at Badaun, Bijnore, Bareilly, Kasganj, Shahjehanpur, Mainpuri
and Firozabad districts in which thousands of Muslims and
Christians were brought back into Hinduism.
The issue rocked Parliament too. From 11 December
onwards, the opposition parties did not allow Parliament to
function and demanded the prime ministers explanation.
The government, however, disassociated itself from the controversy. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu
said that the government was contemplating enacting an
anti-conversion law. This was, however, opposed by the
members of the opposition parties who said that there should
be no ban on conversions. According to these parties, it
should be left to individuals and families to decide which
religion they want to adopt and practise.
Hussain Tabish is an FP correspondent. He is also a human rights activist and has
researched the language of media
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31
BRIEF
32
NEWS
Udit Raj: Weve already

lost so much time
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NEW DELHI: BJP MP Udit Raj organized a SC-ST rally at Ramlila

Maidan on 8 December. The rally was addressed by Union Minister
and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Apna Dals Anupriya Patel
and many prominent BJP leaders. BJP President Amit Shah was also
invited to the programme but he was not present. Speaking at the
function, Gadkari said that the opposition parties only used Dalits
to serve their political ends while we are committed to their
progress and growth. Udit Raj presented a ten-point charter of
demands of Dalit-Tribals, including reservations in promotions and
strengthening of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989. Udit Raj said that this is the right time for
getting our demands accepted, although we have already lost so
much time. Around 5,000 people were present at the rally, which is
being seen as an attempt to associate Dalits with the BJP. -FP Desk
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Labour organizations denounce reforms
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NEW DELHI: On 2 December, around

15,000 labourers from different parts of
the country and activists took out a rally
and held a public meeting under the
banner of Abki Baar Hamara Adhikar
(This time, our rights). A number of
peoples organizations lent support to this
protest against the BJP government
tinkering with the MNREGA, the so-called
reforms in the labour laws and changes
in the Right to Education Act. Representatives of many peoples organizations,
including Aruna Roy, Medha Patkar and
Nikhil Dey, led the protest. Annie Raja of
NFIW, Kavita Krishnan of AIPWA and MPs
D. Raja (CPM), Ali Anwar (JDU) and
Manishankar Aiyyar (Congress) were
among those who spoke at the public
meeting. The peoples organizations held
a workshop at the Ambedkar Bhawan,
Jhandewalan, for two days (30 November1 December) followed by the rally at
JantarMantar.
-FP Desk
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33
Manus effigy burnt

PATNA: The Sankhyapati Bhagidari Party took out a march from
Kargil Chowk to Dakbangla square on 23 November to protest the
humiliation of Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and burnt an effigy
of Manu. Suryoday Paswan, president of the party, said that Manus
laws were the springboard for casteist discrimination and Aryannon-Aryan division.
-FP Desk
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Bhagwandas Morwals Narak Masiha released
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PATNA: How good a writer is depends on the structure of his
stories and his capacity to communicate. It also depends on
how well he can create a picture with words. Narak Masiha, a
novel of Bhagwandas Morwal, meets these criteria. Morwal has
a powerful pen, said well-known Hindi critic Nandkishore
Nawal at a function held during Patna Book Fair for the release
of Morwals novel. He chaired the function, and along with
economist Shaival Gupta and Ushakiran Khan, released the
book from the main stage of the fair on 14 November. Many
cultural activists, including Avdesh Preeti, Vinod Anupam,
Poonam Sinha, Firoz Mansoori, Pushparak, Jaiprakash, Vineet
and Aneesh Ankur, were present at the function organized by
the cultural organization Bagdoor.
-Arun Narayan
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ICCSR to conduct research on OBCs
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NEW DELHI: The ICCSR has launched a major project for research on the backward
classes movement. Under the two-year project, the OBC movement and its impact on
politics, literature and on the process of social development in India would be studied.
The project director and a professor in Osmania University, S. Simhadri said, Under this
ICCSR-funded project, research would be conducted on the OBC movement and
politics in 12 states and on anti-caste OBC thinkers like Buddha, Phule, Periyar, Narayan
Guru and VP Mandal. As part of this project, a national seminar on OBC politics in New
Delhi has been proposed for February next year.
-Arun Kumar
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BRIEF
34
NEWS
A protest over vacant teaching posts
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi University

administrations indifference towards filling up
teaching positions in the reserved quota came
under fire from teachers and students
organizations holding a joint demonstration on
14 December at Jantar Mantar. MPs of BJP,
Congress, CPI and CPM also joined the protest.
Addressing the protestors representing Delhi
University Teachers Association (DUTA),
Academic Forum for Social Justice, SC/ST
Teachers Association and All India Backward
Students Parliament, CPM MP Sitaram Yechury
said that he would meet the Union HRD Minister
with the demand that the roster system of
appointments in the varsity be improved. He said
he would also raise the issue in the Parliament.
BJP MP Udit Raj said, We have been struggling
on this issue for a long time and we would continue our battle. Congress MP Manishankar Aiyar
also expressed Congress commitment to the policy of reservation. DUTA has forwarded a
memorandum containing its demands to the
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani. -FP Desk
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V.P. Singh remembered at Delhi University
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NEW DELHI: A programme was organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Asamanata Virodhi Manch in the law faculty campus of Delhi University on 27
November, the death anniversary former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap
Singh, the pioneer of social justice and the messiah of the OBCs. Speaking at
the function, Professor Hansraj Suman said that the battle for social justice
must be fought right from the streets up to the educational institutions. Suraj
Yadav said that it was because of great men like VP Singh, who used
reservations as a weapon for bringing about social justice, that today, DalitOBC students, who once did not have even the right to study, are being
appointed to top posts. President of All India Backward Students Forum
Jitendra Yadav, Dr Pravesh, Mohammed Abu Tariq, Suraj Mandal, Satendra
Thakur and others spoke at the function. Prof K.P. Singh Yadav delivered the
presidential address while Ratan Kumar was the moderator. President of
Law Faculty Students Union Brijesh Yadav led a team comprising
Chandraprakash Kapoor, Upendra Kumar and Dharmaveer Yadav Gagan
in organizing the function. Besides them, Jagdish Saurabh, Ram Ekbal,
Ashish Magan and Harminder Singh were also present. -Jagdish Saurabh
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Be inspired by your great men: K.G. Balakrishnan
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NEW DELHI: According to K.G.

Balakrishnan, former chief justice of the
Supreme Court and chairman of National
Human Rights Commission, society can
grow only if it draws inspiration from its
great leaders. He was speaking at a seminar
organized jointly by Dalit Tirth Isthan
Utthan Nyas and Babu Jagjivanram Kala
Sanskriti Evam Sahitya Academy on the eve
of the Constitution Day at the Constitution
Club.
On this occasion, T. Tethan, Rajesh Bagga,
Kamaljeet Singh Soyi, Suresh Rathore, Sadhvi
Bahan Prachi, Purnima Vidhyarthi, Manoj
Gorkila, Suraj Bhan Kataria, Devendra Vaditi,
O.P. Yadav and Dr Sukhdev Hoi were
presented with national awards 2014 named
after Dalit personalities.. In attendance were
Union Minister of State for Social Justice
Vijay Sampla, former Union Minister and MP
Dr Satyanarayan Jatia, former Union
Minister Dr Sanjay Paswan, Nepalese MP
Jiwan Pariyar, Indresh Kumar and Anita Arya.
A large number of journalists, litterateurs,
artistes and former MPs and ministers from
all over the country also attended the
function. - Surajbhan Kataria
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Ambedkar memorial to be built in Mhow
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MHOW (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan has urged the Ministry of Defence to hand over the land that
surrounds the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar memorial in Mhow. The state
government wants 4.52 acres of land around the memorial in Ambedkars
birthplace and is ready to hand over an equal area of revenue land to the
ministry in return. A large number of people assemble on this piece of land
on 14 April, the birth anniversary of Ambedkar, every year. There is no other
appropriate place for the grand memorial that the state government plans
to build. The Madhya Pradesh government also plans to organize
Ambedkar Mahakumbh in Mhow and Ravidas Mahakumbh in Ujjain.
Many Dalit organizations have welcomed the move of the state
government. -Hussain Tabish
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REPORT
Ambedkar
remembered
any programmes were organized in different parts of the

country on 6 December 2014, the 58th death anniversary of
Babasaheb Ambedkar. In Ludhiana (Punjab), a function
was organized under the auspices of Bharatiya Valmiki
Dharma Samaj (BVDS) at Guru Nanak Bhawan. Sukhbir
Singh Badal, deputy chief minister of Punjab, was the chief guest. Dr Dev
Singh Advaiti Maharaj, national chief of BVDS, garlanded a statue of
Ambedkar. Speaking on the occasion, Badal said that Valmiki Tirth
would be built in Amritsar at a cost of Rs250 crore and that in Ludhiana,
the construction of Ambedkar Bhawan had already begun.
In Bhagalpur (Bihar), Bihar Pradesh Dalit-Mahadalit Yuvak Sangh
celebrated the day as Sankalp Diwas. At dawn, the Ambedkars statue at
Ambedkar Chowk, near the railway station, was garlanded. Later in the
day, a seminar was organized at the Ambedkar and Social Work
Department of the Tilkamanjhi Bhagalpur University. The seminar was
inaugurated by A.K. Rai, pro-vice-chancellor of the university while Dalit
thinker Dr Vilakshan Ravidas chaired it. In Delhi, a function was organized at Mansarovar Hostel, University of Delhi, by the Mansarovar Hostel
Students Union. Many intellectuals, Ambedkarite thinkers and research
students were present. In Basti (Uttar Pradesh) hundreds of people participated in a candle march organized on the eve of Parinivan Diwas.
They shouted Buddham Sharnam Gacchami and Jai Bheem. The
march was led by Ram Prasad Arya of BAMCEF. At Narnaul (Haryana),
the day was celebrated by Haryana Anusuchit Jati Janjati Karamchari
Kalyan Sangh with gusto. Retired Tehsildar Lalaram Nahar was the chief
guest while B.S. Soonthwal chaired the function.
In Lucknow, Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
offered flowers on the urn containing the ashes of Babasaheb. Addressing
the function held on the Ambedkar Mahasabha premises at Vidhan Sabha
Marg, Naik said that Ambedkar had carried out the daunting task of drafting of the Constitution, adding that he had the good fortune of seeing Dr.
Ambedkar as a child. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said Ambedkar was a
messiah of the Dalits and Backwards. On this occasion, the governor felicitated Sukesh Rajan, Dalit entrepreneur and vice-chairman of DICCI. The
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Ratna award was conferred on Dalit student Sakshi
Vidhyarthi. Among those who were present on the occasion were Dr Lalji
Nirmal, president of the Mahasabha, minister Rajendra Chaudhary, former
DGP Shriram Arun, former IGP S.R. Darapuri, president of Kinnar Sangh
Sonam Singh Yadav, theatre personality Shyam Kumar and Virendra
Kumar, president of Akhil Bharatiya Picchda Varg Karmachari Mahasangh.
-Rajesh Manchal, Om Sudha, Jagdish Saurabh, Kumar Sen, Sanjay Mann, Ankit Pal
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Twenty-two stitches
for drinking water
GLADSON DUNGDUNG
t was seven in the morning. On the way back from

Latehar, our team had reached a village called Gaadi. It
is located in the Barwadih police station area of
Jharkhands Latehar district, northeast of Ranchi. We
saw a man in his 30s sitting on a platform. He was
looking morose. When we got talking, he told us that
his name was Nagendra Singh and he was a Chero tribal. There were 22 stitches on his head. These stitches
were the price he had to pay for using the hand pump
at a police checkpoint near the Betla sanctuary. Can a
person be punished so severely in a free country for
trying to get some water to drink? It was unbelievable.
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JHARKHAND
THERE IS STILL NO FIR ON THREE DRUNK JHARKHAND POLICEMEN

WHO ATTACKED AND INJURED A TRIBAL FOR TRYING TO GET SOME
WATER TO DRINK FROM A CHECKPOINT HAND PUMP
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We were shocked and angry. Beyond doubt, it was a
shameful and condemnable incident. We sought details
from Nagendra. Initially, he was surprised. He could not
believe that a group of strangers could be interested in his
tale of woes. Even more so because those whom he voted
for had no time to hear his problems and no sympathy for
his pain and anguish. Once elected, they never made an
appearance till the next polls. Nagendra was also fearful
that he may have to suffer again for sharing with us what
he went through. It was only after a great deal of persuasion that he opened up and revealed his harrowing tale.
Nagendra is a daily-wage labourer in the Betla sanctuary. He provides for his family his wife Geeta, 30, daughter Durgiwati, 8, and son Shrishant, 7 with the Rs177 he
gets for a days work. Every year, a fair is held at the Palamu
fort, which draws a large number of visitors. As Nagendra
Singh had gone for work, his wife Geeta went to the fair
along with their two children. After his days work was over,
Nagendra too joined them at Palamu. In the evening, the
family started back. It was around 6pm when they reached
the Betla police checkpost.
Durgiwati was thirsty. When she saw the hand pump
near the checkpoint, she asked her father to fetch water for
her. Nagendra had barely laid his hands on the pump
when a policeman, Upendra Paswan, posted at the checkpoint, started abusing him. You are a Naxalite. Why are
you drinking water from here? he asked him. Nagendra
replied, Sir, I am not a naxalite. I am a daily-wage labourer
at Betla sanctuary. But Paswan would have none of it. He
started hitting Nagendra. Soon, two other constables,
Ramesh Mahto and Bindeshwari Singh, joined him, and
the three of them punched and kicked Nagendra and
rained lathis onto him. All the three men were dead drunk.
When Gita tried to shield her husband, she too was hit
with lathis on her right hand and her back. The jawans did
not spare the kids either. Nagendra was hit on his head.
His skull cracked and blood began to ooze out. He fell
unconscious. Gita tied his head with her sari to stop the
bleeding. After some time, when Nagendra regained consciousness, they decided to resume their journey. However,
the policemen did not allow them to use the main road.
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Nagendra still appears terror-stricken but his wife Gita is brave. She has
kept the blood-soaked sari safely. She wants to fight against the police
atrocities. She is not ready to accept such a heavy price just for using
the handpump at a police station
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They somehow reached a hospital. Timely treatment saved
Nagendras life. He got 22 stitches on his head and had to
spend Rs 5,000 on the treatment.
On 2 November 2014, Nagendra reached the Barwadih
police station to register a case against the three policemen.
The thanedar, however, refused to file an FIR. But Nagendra
was not one to give up easily. He persisted, and ultimately,
the thanedar took his written application and gave him a
copy, acknowledging the receipt of the complaint. A copy of
the complaint with the signature of the policeman was
enough for Nagendra to take his battle ahead.
The same evening, at around 4, Dhananjay Prasad, the
daroga of Barwadih police station, along with armed
policemen, reached Nagendras home. He asked Nagendra
to withdraw the complaint. A crowd soon gathered there
and started pressurizing him on behalf of the police. The
police officer gave Nagendra Rs8,000 for his treatment and
asked him to wash the blood-soaked sari. He also made
Nagendra sign on a letter which said, We have reached a
compromise and we will not quarrel with each other
again.
Nagendra still appears terror-stricken but his wife Gita is
brave. She has kept the blood-soaked sari safely. She wants
to fight against the police atrocities. She is not ready to
accept such a heavy price just for using the handpump at a
police station. What crime had we committed to be beaten
like animals? she asks. I am ready to fight against the
policemen. The Jharkhand Human Rights Movement has
taken up the matter with the National Human Rights
Commission. Isnt this a shame for the worlds largest
democracy?
Gladson Dungdung is a human rights activist and writer. Dungdung, who comes
from a displaced family, holds a postgraduate degree in human rights from IIHR,
New Delhi. He is the author of the book Ulgulan Ka Sauda and the convener of
Jharkhand Indigenous Peoples Forum
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39
40
CHHATTISGARH
A killer health
department
SS

WASEEMA KHAN
t is now clear that the 13 Tribal women who died after

tubectomy in Chhattisgarh were administered poison in
the name of medicine. A recent report has confirmed that
the medicines that were given to the women after the surgery were lethal. Earlier, the principal secretary of the
health department had admitted that traces of zinc phosphide a rodenticide were found in the medicines.
Immediately after the tragedy, Chief Minister Dr Raman
Singh tried to do damage-control by suspending some officers of the Department of Health and Family Welfare and
initiating action against the company that had supplied
the killer medicines. But the question is, who is responsible
for this criminal negligence? Will the guilty get the punishment they deserve? As is its wont, the government has
appointed a committee to investigate the incident.
Chasing targets
The incident took place in the first fortnight of
November. Sterilization operations were performed on
83 women at a private hospital in Sakri village
(Pendari), Bilaspur district. The hospital was the venue
of a family planning camp organized by the
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THE CHHATTISGARHS GOVERNMENT SHIES AWAY FROM TAKING

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE AT A TUBECTOMY
CAMP THAT COST THE LIVES OF 13 TRIBAL WOMEN
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Department of Health and Family Welfare. After the surgery, the
women were given the medicines and discharged. Within 24
hours, the condition of the women began deteriorating. They
were brought back to the hospital with complaints of vomiting
and headache. Thirteen of the women taken ill died while others
battled for life in various hospitals of the city of Bilaspur for days.
Among the deceased is a woman of the Baiga tribe. As the tribe is
on the verge of extinction, it has been designated protected
and the government had banned sterilization of both its women
and men. However, the women of this tribe were also brought to
the camp and sterilized just to meet the family planning targets.
Ironically, Bilaspur is the home district of the state health minister, Amar Agarwal, and the place where the incident took place is
barely 5km from his ancestral house.
It is not for the first time that tragedy has visited the camps
organized by the Chhattisgarhs Department of Health and Family
Welfare. In a cataract camp, 83 persons had lost their eyesight and
at another camp, the sensational incident of removing the uterus
of 1617 women had taken place. But the government failed to
learn any lessons and, as the latest incident shows, continued with
its negligent ways. The residents of the village charge that only one
doctor, aided by a few paramedics, performed 83 surgeries in just
six hours. Experts say that it takes 8 to 10 minutes to perform one
surgery using the laparoscopic method. About three to four minutes are required to anaesthetize. This makes it apparent that the
doctor was in a tearing hurry. Besides Pendari, women were sterilized like animals in another camp too. In that case, tubectomy was
performed on 26 women in one hour, ie, one surgery every two
minutes.
Women are easy prey

Another relevant fact is that Nemichand Hospital, where the camp
was organized, had been closed for the last six months. Neither the
operation theatre nor the surgical instruments were sterilized before
the surgeries. Some of the instruments were reportedly rusted. The
same needle was used for removing the stitches of many women.
Every year, the state government sets targets for sterilization
operations. As men are reluctant to get themselves sterilized,
women become soft targets. Truckloads of women are brought
to the camps. According to official figures, in 2010-11, family
planning operations were performed on 50 lakh people, of
which 95.6 per cent were women.
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CHHATTISGARH
Among the deceased is a woman of the Baiga tribe. As the tribe is on the
verge of extinction, it has been designated protected and the government
had banned sterilization of both its women and men. However, the women
of this tribe were also brought to the camp and sterilized just to meet the
family planning targets
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The report of the initial probe into the incident suggests that the substandard generic medicine, which was given to the women immediately
after the surgery, was mainly responsible for the deaths. The condition of
the women started deteriorating minutes after they took the medicine. To
save its skin, the Chhattisgarh government immediately sealed the manufacturing unit of Raipur-based Mahavar Pharma Private Limited.
Many questions, however, still remain unanswered. For instance, why
were medicines purchased from this company when it was already blacklisted by the department? Did corruption play a role in the purchase of substandard medicines? The purchase of medicines by the government is a big
decision that involves the health minister too. Shouldnt the health minister
have quit? After the incident, an unfazed Amar Agarwal said that he was
ready to take moral responsibility for the incident but would not resign.
Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh bandied about the absurd argument that
the health minister does not perform surgeries. The Chhattisgarh government, thus, feels that it has no responsibility vis--vis the tragedy. The
Bilaspur incident is an example of criminal negligence and insensitiveness on the part of the local administration and the state government.
Waseema Khan is an independent writer who specializes in womens issues
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The news that didnt

make the news
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NEWSPAPERS SEEM TO HAVE
FORGOTTEN THAT IT IS AGAINST THE
ETHICS OF JOURNALISM TO DEPRIVE
THEIR READERS OF ANYTHING THEY
DESERVE TO KNOW
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ANIL CHAMADIA
ainik Jagran claims that it has the highest readership

among all newspapers in the world. But on 12
November 2014, the readers of the Ara (Bihar) edition
of the newspaper would not have known about the
death of 11 women at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh who
had just undergone tubectomy. The readers of the
Araria (Bihar) edition too would have missed the
news. Dainik Jagran has hundreds of editions. A study
of a couple of them would reveal that thousands of
readers of this newspaper with the highest
readership in the world would not have come to
know of the Bilaspur incident. While some editions
gave the news a complete miss, the ones that did
carry it had different ways of presenting it. If there was
any method to this exercise, this author was unable to
discern it. For instance, in the Delhi city edition, the
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JAN MEDIA
news was on page 1. It was on page 14 in the Almora edition and on

page 11 in the Asansol edition. The readers of the Allahabad edition
had to turn to page 15 to read it while in the Azamgarh edition, it got
a single column on page 13, which is meant for business/national
news. In the Meerut edition, the news was 108-word long and was
buried between all kinds of news items. In the edition published
from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, it could be read on page 16.
In Lucknow, capital of Indias largest state, a reader dependent only
on Dainik Jagran for news would have not even known that such an
incident had taken place.
In journalism, what happens in the aftermath of a big incident is
also given due importance. There are follow-up news items. But
Dainik Jagran did not consider this news item worthy of a follow-up.
Interestingly, the Bilaspur correspondent of Nai Dunia had covered the incident for Dainik Jagran. The owners of Dainik Jagran
also own Nai Dunia. This shows how news reaches lakhs of readers.
If the correspondent conceals one particular fact, he can deprive
lakhs of persons from knowing the whole truth. His influence can
only be imagined. It is also important to know what a newspaper is
suppressing or ignoring. The placement of the story is also
important. For instance, the Ranchi edition of Dainik Jagran had
published the news just below the photograph of the glamorous
Miss International. Some other editions had placed it next to the
picture of actress Aishwarya Rai. Thirdly, the news did not mention
that, of the 13 women who were killed, 12 belonged to the backward
classes and one was a Baiga tribal, and that there has been a ban on
the sterilization of Baiga women since 1984 as the tribe is on the
verge of extinction.
Given this is how the incident has been covered, there is a very
feeble chance of reporting on related developments or of follow-up
stories. The news items did not have a word on why no central
government minister or top BJP leader visited the place of the
incident.
When Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti made the
communal haramzade comment, it was widely reported that she
belongs to a backward community. When the demand was made in
the Parliament for her resignation, the newspapers argued that the
opposition parties were after her as she was a Dalit. Thus, here, her
belonging to a backward caste was used as a defence.
How newspapers sift through news

We are curious about the criteria adopted by newspapers for
selecting news items for publication. Is it not against the ethics of
journalism to deprive readers of a piece of news or not present it in a
proper manner? Why are the readers deprived of news items
concerning the deprived sections of the society, especially ones that
expose their socio-economic exploitation or repression?
There are growing complaints that newspapers have no place for
news related to the miseries and problems of the OBCs, Dalits,
Tribals, minorities and women. The TV channels, from the very
outset, have been allergic to such news. In every district, the readers
should draw up a list of the news items and details of which they
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have been deprived by each newspaper. The residents of a district are

not only interested in what is happening in that district. Newspapers
link the readers of every district with each other. The readers are also
interested in what is happening in their state and in the country and
even in the world. But the newspapers presume that they are
concerned only with the news of their districts. People want to share in
the mirth and misery of their compatriots living in other parts of the
nation. But the newspapers seem to feel that merely by linking their
readers with the market, they are linking them to the country.
For the last several years, the Media Studies Group has been
monitoring the kind of news that is not published or telecast. Here are
examples of what is published and what is not so that the readers can
understand the economics, sociology and politics of the phenomenon.
Someone from Banaras informs me that Mukesh Ambani and his
wife Neeta Ambani visited a Ganga ghat. The occasion was the birthday
of Neeta Ambani. The Benaras editions of the The Times of India and
Hindustan Times published the news as a lead story, along with
photographs. On the other hand, a group of hundreds of Buddhists, who
were participating in a march, were stopped from reaching the ghat so
that the Ambani couple could spend some peaceful time together.
Although the Buddhists were marching in support of the Clean Ganga
Campaign, there was not a word in the two newspapers about them.
L.S. Herdenia, a former journalist and now a social activist working
for secularism, telephoned me. He was perturbed over news relating to
peoples movements not being reported in the media. He told me that
on 3 December 2014 more than 3,000 people gathered in Bhopal to
demand fundamental changes in the educational system. They had
reached there as yatras that had begun in Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Jammu
& Kashmir, Kerala and all other states of the country. The yatras
congregated in Bhopal to express their solidarity with the Bhopal gas
tragedy victims. Cultural programmes were also organized on the
occasion. It was highlighted how children from poor families were being
edged out of the educational system as education became prohibitively
expensive. This was a very important event. It was an expression of
national concern over the educational system of the country turning increasingly exclusive. But the newspapers gave it a complete miss.
Herdenia said that a couple of days later a big event was organized
in Bhopal to oppose the so-called reforms in the labour laws that were
aimed at making them favourable to the employer. Almost all nationally known trade unions, including the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the
trade union arm of the RSS, had joined the protest. But again, the newspapers did not deem it fit to carry this news.
Herdenia gave a list of such overlooked news to me and pointed out
that the RSS, BJP and hundreds of associated organizations get space
in newspapers quite easily. Their press releases and the news of their
activities are published prominently. But the media ignores the voices
against the Sangh and its associates. While anti-constitutional
utterances of members of the Sangh Parivar are accommodated,
their opposition is blacked out.
Anil Chamadia is a senior Hindi journalist, associated with media research. Currently, he
edits Jan Media and Mass Media, Hindi and English journals on media issues
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OUR
46
HEROES
A master dissector
of Bihar society
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ARUN NARAYAN
uryanarayan Choudhary was a diligent and far-sighted

journalist with a sharp intellect. He came from the
extremely backward Kewat caste of Bihar. He was a socialist and worked for various socialist organizations, spreading their ideas and joining their agitations. Right from the
1974 Bihar agitation, he was associated with the trade
union movement. Having quit his job with the railways to
serve society, he saw grinding poverty. He was elected a
member of the Bihar Legislative Council but passed away
before he could make any meaningful contribution.
Suryanarayan Choudhary was born on 12 January
1933 in Mirzapur village of Madhubani district and he
grew up in an atmosphere where education was not a
priority. His father Ramlakhan Choudhary did not get
much of a formal education. There was no tradition of
reading and writing in the family. Whatever
Suryanarayan Choudhary attained in his life was
through his own struggle and experience. While studying
at Darbhanga College from 1950 to 1954, he chose the
ideological path he wanted to take. He became a fulltime social worker while pursuing his BA and Visharad
course. He joined the land movement launched under
the leadership of socialist leader Surajnarayan Singh. In
1969, Choudhary founded a literary organization Rachna
in association with Phanishwarnath Renu. Under its
aegis, a number of seminars and meetings were organized on literary, social and political issues. During the
Bihar agitation, he organized street plays, poetic meets
and photo exhibitions.
Suryanarayan Choudhary
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IN AN ERA WHEN JOURNALISTS WERE DEPENDENT ON STATE PATRONAGE,

SURYANARAYAN CHOUDHARY REMAINED FIERCELY INDEPENDENT,
TOURING VILLAGES AND WRITING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE
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Politico-cultural contribution
In 1981, inspired by Karpoori Thakur and in association
with Laloo Prasad and JPs secretary Sacchidanand, he organized the Sampoorna Kranti Evam Quami Ekta Sammelan at
Rajgir, bringing litterateurs, intellectuals and politicians on
one platform. Having been closely associated with the All
India Railwaymens Association, he was arrested in 1968 in
connection with the strike in the railways and imprisoned.
Choudhary was also arrested during agitations against the
Press Bill and for implementation the recommendations of
the Mandal Commission. In 1986, he was nominated as a
member of the state executive of Lokdal. In 1989, he was
mercilessly thrashed by policemen during a gherao of AIR
and Doordarshan. A year later, he was elected member of the
Bihar Legislative Council. He took oath as a member on 7
May 1990, but within a year, on 14 April 1991, he succumbed
to cardiac arrest at New Delhis Batra Hospital.
Ear to the ground

His reports, interviews, analyses and reminiscences were
published in prestigious magazines such as Dinmaan,
Dharmayug and Ravivar and in newspapers such as
Hindustan, Aaj, Aryavarta, Patliputra Times and Navbharat
Times. As an alert social worker, he was deeply concerned
about the problems of Bihar. While offering serious analysis,
he also discussed national, state-level and local issues. His
book Bihar Kee Asmita (Identity of Bihar) is testimony to this.
It is one of the rare books that objectively analyzes the political, social and literary-cultural developments in Bihar from
the early Sixties up to the Nineties. Some of his interviews,
especially those with Karpoori Thakur, Jayaprakash Narayan,
and B.P. Koirala, are very interesting. Similarly, his reminiscences of Lohia, Ramanand Tiwari and Renu; his articles
Bihar Andolan and Bodhkagaya Ka Bhumi Sangharsh; and
his sociological piece Patna Kee Mahilaon Kee Pehchaan Kya
Hai (What is the identity of Patnas women ) were much
talked about in their times. He had an extraordinary understanding of literary and cultural issues and also issues relating to social justice. His pieces titled Mithila Ke Lokkathakar
Manipadam (Mithilas folk-tale writer Manipadam), Coffee
House Ka Guzra Hua Zamana (The days gone by of the
Coffee House) and Mrityu Ke Baad Ka Karmakand (Postdeath rituals) are instances of this.
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47
OUR
48
HEROES
He wrote a report in Dinmaan on Jagjivanrams parliamentary constituency.

The report titled Kya Aap Sasaram Nahi Aayengein? (Wont you come to
Sasaram?) busts many a myth about Jagjivanram. It shows how Jagjivanram,
for the sake of votes, worked against his own caste in his constituency
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He chose to be a peoples journalist in an era when journalism in
Bihar was dependent on state patronage and had a feudal bias. His
journalism was about the villages, social justice and ideological commitment. He was perpetually on the move. Today, the identity of Bihar
has become an empty slogan, mere rhetoric, but Sachhidanand Sinha
and Suryanarayan Choudhary were the first journalists, in colonial and
independent Bihar, respectively, to have come up with logical and concrete ideas about the identity of Bihar. In his article Bihar Kee Asmita,
Choudhary gave a sequential and logical explanation of how Bihari
sub-nationalism came into being. He wrote a report in Dinmaan on
Jagjivanrams parliamentary constituency. The report titled Kya Aap
Sasaram Nahi Aayengein? (Wont you come to Sasaram?) busts many a
myth about Jagjivanram. It shows how Jagjivanram, for the sake of
votes, worked against his own caste in his constituency.
Choudhary toured many states of India and closely studied the life
of the people there. What he experienced has been published in the
book Samay Kee Yatra (Journey in time). A series of five stories on
Poorvanchal, including interviews and travelogues, was published in
Dinmaan. Being associated with the socialist movement from my
student life and impressed by Dr Lohias views about Poorvanchal,
during my 40-day tour of the region, I tried to comprehend his political, social and cultural life, he wrote in one his letters. I dont know
how successful my endeavour has been and how useful you will find
this description and report. Today, the new generation needs this brilliant, committed and thought-provoking journalist more than ever. He
can be a beacon for the nation and society in these directionless
times.
Suryanarayan Choudharys literary journey

Published books: Bihar Kee Asmita, Samay Kee Yatra
Under publication: Poorvanchal Ka Yatri, Samkaleen
Parivesh Kee Kali Yaad and Ek Kavya Pustika
Arun Narayan is a critic who has done research on modern Hindi journalism in Bihar. His
book on journalism is under publication
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Fear for you have to
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THE RESISTANCE OF THE DOMINANT BRAHMANICAL FORCES HAS

ALWAYS LENT NEW ENERGY TO THE BAHUJAN MOVEMENT
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SUNIL KUMAR SUMAN
azar saal purana hai unka gussa,

Hazar saal purani hai unki nafrat
Main to sirf,
Unke bikhre huye shabdon ko,
Lay aur tuk ke saath lauta raha hoon,
Magar tumhe dar hai ki,
Aag bhadka raha hoon
(Their anger is a thousand years old,
A thousand years old is their hate,
I am only,
Stringing their words together,
And returning them to you,
After setting them to tune and rhyme,
And you think I am stoking fire )
Gorakh Pandey had written this poem around 1975. At least

with regard to Bahujan movement, it is more relevant today
than when it was written. The Brahamanical system that
dominated this country for five thousand years only
brought hatred, humiliation, exploitation, oppression,
fraud and deprivation for the Dalits-OBCs. It was only after
the country became a republic in 1950 and adopted the
Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar that the
Dalits, Tribals and OBCs had access to education and the
right to an independent socio-economic existence. For
thousands of years, the voice of these deprived sections was
suppressed. But when, equipped with constitutional rights,
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49
FREEDOM OF
50
EXPRESSION
these communities began revealing their tales of misery and

wretched existence, the dominant sections termed it as an
attempt to stoke fire. The voice of the oppressed sections is not
merely a complaint or a cry of agony. And neither is it only an
expression of their angst. It is also a cry for socio-economicpolitical transformation.
It is not that the voice against injustice and domination is being
raised for the first time. When, 2500 years ago, Tathagat Gautam
Buddha raised the banner of revolt against the exploitative Vedic system, the Brahmanvadis pounced on him. This revolt, however, kept on
resurfacing from time to time through the words and deeds of the likes
of Kabir, Raidas, Swami Achootanand, Narayan Guru, Jotiba and
Savitribai Phule, Periyar, etc. The opposition never abated. Among the
tribals, warriors like Siddho-Kanho, Tilka Manjhi, Birsa Munda, Tantya
Bhil, Govind Guru, Rani Durgawati, Shankar Shah-Raghunath Shah
and Rani Gidalu fought tenaciously for their rights and even laid down
their lives. In modern India, Babasaheb Ambedkar had to struggle at
every stage in his life but he never let his voice of resistance fade.
To sum up, a fearless expression of resistance has been the tradition of the Bahujan community. That is why Dalit literature today,
inspired by the Ambedkarite ideology, has a noticeable presence in
Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil,
Telugu and almost all other Indian languages.
But initially, Dalit literature had to face stiff opposition from Dwij
litterateurs, who also tried to ignore it. What was surprising was that
the Savarna leftist writers almost universally opposed Dalit literature. But the casteist barriers could not stop Dalit literature and the
movement, infused as they were with radical ideas. And the caravan
continues to march ahead.
The sociopolitical consciousness that arose among the SCs, STs
and OBCs, courtesy of the constitutional provisions, only strengthened the Bahujan voice of resistance. Inspired by their ideological
icons, these groups now intend to reanalyze and reconstruct their
culture, literature and history. It seems the Bahujans want to settle
scores for what they went through in the last five thousand years.
Finding that their existence is not even acknowledged in the history,
culture, literature and social structure of the country, they want to
build a new social system based on equality.
Apparently, the Brahamanical order fears that such a move may
end its domination. It fears that the sleeping dogs may get awakened.
That is why an urgency informs their efforts to spread religious-social
pollution through superstitions and rituals and to crush the Bahujan
resistance. They are fearful. They are desperate. And that is why they
are using cowardly stratagems of oppression. But, probably, they are
not aware that this resistance of the dominant forces would lend new
energy to the Bahujan movement just as was the case with Buddha,
Kabir, Birsa and Ambedkar. The Bahujan movement should be ready
for bigger challenges and should hone its battling skills; it
should prepare itself well and sharpen the edge of its ideological
assault. Only this will make the Ambedkarite dream a reality.
Dr Sunil Kumar Suman is an Ambedkarite Tribal academician and social activist
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Media and Muslims
THE WIDER RAMIFICATIONS OF THE UNDER-REPRESENTATION

OF A COMMUNITY IN NEWSPAPERS AND TV CHANNELS AND
THE GOVERNMENTS INDIFFERENCE TO URDU
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ANIL KUMAR YADAV
n a 2006 study, Anil Chamadia, Yogendra Yadav and Jitendra

Kumar had collected and collated data on the social
background of 315 functionaries of the editorial departments
of 37 Delhi-based media institutions. They found that Muslim
presence in these institutions was next to nothing.
The book Media Aur Musalman (Media and Muslims),
based on research studies conducted by the Media Studies
Group, is a meticulous and thorough study and analysis of the
available data especially the state of Muslim representation
in the Hindi belt makes for an insightful read. The book also
breaks down Muslim representation to the upper caste
Ashraf and the lower caste Ajlaf, as well as by gender.
The book deeply analyses the effect the lack of proper
representation of Muslims in the media has on the social
fabric. For instance, in the first chapter entitled Principles of
Verifying News in the Age of Globalization, Anil Chamadia
questions the attitudes and biases of the media. If the media
can break free from its prejudices, it can easily identify the
sources that can help verify a particular piece of news. Journalists often have political biases. These biases, of course, affect
their writings. But more importantly, the use of biased sources
for verifying news builds a society that starts believing in a
fictional history. This fictional history is then publicized by
those political forces that stand to benefit from it. Thus,
journalists become mere instruments of political parties.
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READING
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ROOM
The book also tries to put in perspective the debate in the media
on the issue of terrorism and attempts to understand the kind of society it builds, starting with the grass roots. Mashuddin Sanjaris piece
on the media trial of Azamgarh is very helpful in understanding this
phenomenon. Minutely analyzing the media trial of Azamgarh
after the bomb blast in December 2010 at the Dashashamev Ghat,
Varanasi, the book shows how the media, instead of giving true
information and facts to the people, allowed their personal biases to
come in the way, and throwing journalistic values to the winds,
played into the hands of the government machinery.
In the chapter entitled Hindi-English Divide in News, Shaheen
Nazar says that Hindi newspapers dont give much prominence to
news about the daily life and problems of Muslims. For instance, in
the name of combating terrorism, security agencies have targeted
places in the country where the Muslims are socially and economically better off, but the national media has maintained a stoic
silence. Only the Urdu media has raised this issue and drawn attention to the violation of the civil rights of Muslim leaders and human
rights activists. The writer has shown how the Urdu and Hindi
newspapers of the same stable have different approaches and
present the same news differently. A news item that is carried on
the first page of an Urdu newspaper might find no mention at all in
the Hindi newspaper of the same group.
Mohammed Sajjad, assistant professor in Aligarh University,
helps us understand the role and nature of Urdu media in his
article titled Nai Dunia, Tab Aur Ab (Nai Dunia, Then and Now).
The governments concern for Urdu is exposed by a survey-based
research of Avneesh on DD Urdu. The number of media personnel
in different offices of DD Urdu and its organizational structure
show that if the channel is languishing, it is not because of the
language but because of the indifference of the government. In his
article, Samacharpatra aur Muslim netritva ke Vimukhta (Newspapers and the Aversion to Muslim Representation), Avinash has
sought to deeply analyze the thought process of the journalists of
Urdu newspapers.
The appendix of the book carries important articles and reports
under 16 heads written by Anil Chamadia.
This book is also important because it has analytical articles in
Hindi on newspapers of the Hindi belt. One doesnt know whether
the journalists of the Hindi belt will use it for self-analysis but the
book will definitely equip their readers given that it is written in a
language they understand well with a new
understanding of the writers and editors who put
together the newspapers they read every day.
Title : Media aur Musalman

Editor: Anil Chamadia
Publisher : Media Studies Group
Phone : 9868456745
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Proud to be
a Shudra
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PATNA: On 6 December, a Shudra Sammelan was held at SK Memorial Hall to
mark the death anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar. At the conference organized under the auspices of the social organizations, Bagdoor and Mission 341,
those present resolved to intensify the battle for social and economic change,
and to work with renewed vigour for securing respect and partnership. It was
emphasized that instead of being allergic to the word Shudra, one should feel
proud to be called a Shudra, and that Shudras need to shed their inferiority
complex. The function was chaired by Shashikant Maharaj.
Addressing the gathering, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Bihars finance minister,
said that the basic character of our social system was discriminatory and to
counter this discrimination, besides education, meaningful initiatives in the
fields of economy, politics and culture were needed. A campaign should be
launched to ensure adequate representation of the Shudras in all the four pillars of democracy executive, legislature, judiciary and media, he said, and
only a mass movement and revolution could bring about this change. The convener of the conference, Dr Aizaz Ali, a former MP, who has been running a
campaign for abrogation of the Article 341 of the Constitution, said that the
article was coming in the way of providing reservations to Muslim and
Christian Dalits. He said that there were many castes among Muslims and
Christians whose socio-economic status was comparable with that of Hindu
SCs. They should also get the same facilities as the Hindu SCs, he added. Social
activist and Patna High Court lawyer Arun Kushwaha said that there should be
reservations in the appointment of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme
Court. He said that thousands of OBC and Dalit lawyers were eminently qualified to become judges in the higher judiciary but were being denied this opportunity owing to discrimination on the basis of caste. The function was also
addressed by Mohammed Matloob Rab, Santosh Yadav of Bagdoor, Manish
Ranjan and Arun Narayan.
-Birendra Yadav
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53
54
ASK DADU
Knowing and
fighting injustice
D
ear Dadu,
From your first letter on how to fight injustice in the world, I noted the need for the right
external position or platform for me: (i) suiting my talents and abilities, compensating as
far as possible for my weaknesses and inadequacies,
enabling me to perform in the best possible way, (ii) matching the level at which I want to fight injustice, and (iii)
enabling me to build alliances that will assist and
strengthen my struggle against injustice.
From your second letter, I noted the necessity for internal
strengthening: focusing time and effort on understanding
and making my own that standard of truth and right which
is Gods, judging the actions and motivations of others with
generosity while judging my own actions and motivations
ruthlessly, asking for Gods forgiveness as well as forgiveness
from others so that I am enabled to change in areas of my life
where I need to improve by extending love even to those I
dont like or those who hate me, by ensuring that I maintain
purity and justice in the means that I adopt to fight injustice,
by repeatedly choosing to pay the cost of doing what is right,
by reading the biographies of great people who have fought
against injustice, by linking up with others who are committed to fighting injustice in a just and humane way, and by the
use of inspirational things such as music and songs.
All that is a hugely demanding list, which is beginning to
transform me. But am I finally ready now to hear what is
the best strategy for fighting injustice in the world?
Love,
Akanksha
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Dear Akanksha,
Wonderful! I am so glad that you are noticing that these
things are transforming you. However, the changes are much
deeper than you think: sometimes even we ourselves dont
fully see the changes but they can be seen much more clearly
and fully by our friends, by members of our family, and even
by our enemies. We dont need to worry about whether any
changes are visible or not, we need to focus simply on doing
the right things which you have noted carefully above.
So yes, you are indeed now beginning to be ready to think
about what is the best strategy for fighting injustice in the
world.
Sometimes there are individual injustices a wife being
unjustifiably rough on her husband or children, children
being unfair to parents, a husband beating his wife, someone
abusing you because of your caste or colour or gender, and so
on. Of course we should take up such cases of individual
injustice.
However, you will notice that many or even most such individual cases of injustice are embedded in wider ideas and
beliefs, or even the rules and forms of organisation of a school
or university, or the company in which you work.
Moreover, there are also beliefs, rules and structures that
operate in a comprehensive away right across our nation or
even right across the world.
For example, in our country, the traditional way of discriminating against the lowered castes was to banish them from
the most attractive and resource-rich parts of a city or village.
Internationally, the rules of trade disadvantage the producers of food and other basic goods, while advantaging big companies that make and sell industrial products.
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55
56
ASK DADU
INJUSTICE NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT AT ALL LEVELS, AND IT IS BEST

TO BEGIN WITH THE FIRST INCIDENT OF INJUSTICE YOU YOURSELF
NOW COME ACROSS WHICH ANGERS YOU
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Similarly, both the informal and the written rules of
finance give greater advantages to people who are already
rich, and greater disadvantages to people who are poor.
Starting small
Injustice needs to be fought at all levels, and it is best to
begin with the first incident of injustice you yourself now
come across which angers you because, in all probability, that incident will also anger others you know. In any
case, experience shows that it is one persons anger, one
persons actions and words that move others against that
injustice.
If you are faithful in fighting small injustices you will
find that naturally leading on to the struggle against bigger injustices. Though I am not an uncritical admirer of
Gandhiji, this principle is well illustrated by his life. He
left India to study in England at the age of 18 and, when
he was only 23 years old, went to South Africa as a lawyer
where he took on the struggle against racism, prejudice
and injustice against Indians there. It was his struggle
there for the civil rights of Indians that had prepared him
for taking over the leadership of our national movement,
in his mid-forties, within only five years of his return to
India.
Each of our choices leads to its own consequences and,
just as the best possible way is opened to us by our choices, so it is our experiences that reveal who our true
friends are. Some friends will fall away, but other and
much better friends will support us.
One final point: The fight against injustice takes place
by actions as well as by words. It becomes too easy to slip
into demonizing individuals. We must keep in mind that
our fight is not against human beings (however evil they
may appear to be at any moment), because they are
always capable of change. In the final analysis, the best
victory is when our worst enemies see the error of
their ways and move over to the side of truth and
justice.
Love,
Dadu
Dadu is an avuncular Indian gentleman who has lived and worked
both in India and overseas in the academic, business and cultural fields. He
welcomes your questions on broad social, economic and cultural issues
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Are you winning the

argument and losing
your marriage?
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CHITRA & RABBI JAYAKARAN
e are sure to disagree with our spouses often, be it about the

way they do or dont do things, the words they use or dont
use, or their decisions and expectations. Consequently we
may feel angry, upset, irritated or hurt. And often our first
reaction is to retaliate in kind. You shout, I shout louder;
you call names, I call worse names; you ignore, I ignore and
give you the silent treatment! Even with the best intentions
of wanting to be the kind, sensitive spouse we end up in a
situation of conflict becoming the exact opposite. And
the casualties are our own health, our marriage, our
children and even our work and colleagues.
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57
58
FAMILY
CONFLICTS CAN LEAD TO INTIMACY AND HEALTH IN

OUR RELATIONSHIPS ONLY IF WE STOP RETALIATING
AND STRETCH OUT A HAND OF RECONCILIATION
, U U h U U U
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We often begin to fear conflicts and see them as evil. But
conflicts are a sign that there are two unique and thinking individuals in the relationship. However, it is the way conflicts are
handled that can bring about either distress or intimacy.
Conflicts can lead to intimacy and health in our relationships
only if we stop retaliating and stretch out a hand of
reconciliation.
When you have been disappointed, let down, hurt or
offended, your first response may be retaliation because it is a
way of self-protection, a reaction of our ego or pride, our desire
to win the battle here and now. So we deliver killing blows
through words and looks, and enjoy the harm our blows have
caused even if for a moment. You hated your Dad! Well,
congrats, you are just like him or you will never come close to
my mother she managed our home and us kids
singlehandedly and you complain with nothing to do.
Retaliation does have its benefits and kicks but building a
healthier marriage is not one of them. Rather, it destroys the
very fabric of respect, trust and intimacy, and replaces it with
bitterness, hardness of heart and distance that is hard to
diminish.
So what is the alternative? If you love your spouse and this
marital relationship is important to you then you will have to
rein in your instinct to go for the kill and instead be willing to
extend a graceful hand of reconciliation.
Pathway to reconciliation
1. It begins with being willing to choose us winning over
I win, you lose. Once your focus is changed from me to us,
you will be willing to take the next step. The purpose of
reconciliation is restoration of intimacy, respect and trust in
your marriage.
2. The second step is to take the initiative to make peace.
Do not wait for your spouse to come and say sorry or even start
the conversation so you can apologize. Seize the initiative. Go,
make the first move. It does not mean you are weak or helpless.
Rather, it shows youve been courageous to make the first
move. Dont let pride stand in the way of resolution. Many couples have lived isolated lives under the same roof because both
were too proud to make the first move. Pride is the downfall of
a marriage.
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Ok, I am sorry. Lets forget it and get on with life.

Fine, I forgive you. Dont do it again. That kind of first
move isnt going to accomplish much. You are not here
to say the final word or quickly swallow the bitter pill
and head out but to be open and honest and have a
loving dialogue that heals hurts and builds intimacy.
3. Therefore, the third step is to sympathize with
your spouses feelings and seek to understand their
perspective.You need not agree with their point of view,
but it is important to understand and acknowledge it.
This can be done by listening without interrupting with
your point of view. Avoid trying to justify yourself. When
it is your turn to speak, steer clear of: You did this ...,
because of you ... and other such accusatory
statements. Rephrase it with I feel statements: I felt
hurt when I heard myself being called ... I felt angry
when I was let down in front of my friends.
4. Fourthly, take responsibility for your part in the
conflict. In relationships, it is not usually I am right
and you are totally wrong. If we are honest there will always be something we could have done better. Taking
responsibility for your part in the conflict will set the
other person free from the need to defend themselves
and they too will be open to acknowledge their
weaknesses. When discussing the issue, the golden rule
is tonever attack the person.You both are on the same
team tackling the problem and winning the trophy of a
stronger relationship. Name-calling and labelling can
destroy your spouses self-esteem and her/his love for
you.
5. Finally, your objective is not to resolve the issue
but to reconcile with your spouse. This is not a meeting
to find solutions, decide who did wrong and what needs
to be corrected. It is an intimacy-building exercise to
help you draw closer in spite of your differences.
Solutions will always be found in a healthy and loving relationship, but rarely in one marred by turf wars and a
need to be right.
When relationships are on the reconciliation
journey, trust will be built, respect and love
rediscovered, and intimacy ignited. When this happens,
many issues that we fight constantly over will wilt away
into insignificance. When our marriage is a safe place
where we are accepted for who we are and loved in spite
of our shortcomings, we will not lose sleep over the wet
towel on the bed and the hair in the sink.
You and your spouse are worth giving up the
temporary high of retaliation for the nurturing
joy of reconciliation!
Chitra and Rabbi Jayakaran are social workers heading Peacemakers, an NGO
engaged in finding radical solutions for conflict and violence, and sustaining
justice and peace. They are also family-life educators and counsellors
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59
SOCIAL
60
ANALYSIS
Shame on you!
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SUJATA PARMITA
rime Minister Narendra Modis sanitation drive has

become the flavour of the season. TV channels,
newspapers or social media it is being talked
about everywhere. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is
being seen differently by different sections of society, depending on their interests and perspective. A
TV spot on the drive is worth discussing here,
given that TV is a powerful medium with a wide
reach. In this advertisement, there are three main
characters, two female and one male. In separate
scenes, the women are shown littering and the
man is urinating in the open. While exhorting
viewers to keep their surroundings clean, film personality Anupam Kher says, Have some shame,
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A TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT MADE TO PUBLICIZE THE SWACHH BHARAT

ABHIYAN FEELS LIKE AN ATTEMPT BY THE GOVERNMENT TO WASH ITS
HANDS OF THE ENTRENCHED SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND DIRE POVERTY
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cleanse your thinking. If the admen didnt have to show someone urinating, they would have gone for three women. That is
because the so-called elite, the dwij, believe it is the poor Dalits,
especially the women, who are responsible for littering and
dirtying public places. These people of lower castes will never
change, they sit down anywhere [to relieve themselves] is an
oft-repeated comment that every poor Dalit has often heard.
Where does the real problem lie?

In these TV commercials, those responsible for dirtying
public places include Mannu aunty, who is a city dweller,
and Laxmi bhabhi and Sukhiya bhaiya, both of whom live in
a village. All of them are either lower or lower-middle class.
Mannu aunty throws garbage on the road from her first-floor
house. She misses, her garbage bag landing next to the roadside
bin, and the kids playing on the street shame her by clapping.
However, the admen have missed the point. The real problem is
that the garbage is not collected by the civic bodies and is allowed
to rot in the bins. There is no waste management system in the
poor, unauthorized residential localities. It is only when the people
complain that the municipalities turn their attention towards these
areas. And that too when some big leader happens to visit the area
or an accident takes place. Laxmi bhabhi goes to the village pond
to wash utensils and throws her household garbage into the pond.
Some women sitting on the opposite ghat clap to shame her.
Laxmi bhabhi may argue that the kitchen refuse will be consumed
by the fish. But this also shows that there is no water supply in
Laxmi bhabhis house, as is the case in most villages of the country.
(Imagine the plight of Dalits who live outside the villages!) Sukhiya
bhaiya is squatting next to the bus stop and urinating when a bus
arrives. When he boards the bus, the conductor and other passen-
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61
SOCIAL
62
ANALYSIS
gers clap. He is also garlanded. Even metro cities in India lack

adequate public conveniences, let alone a village, and wherever
they do exist, they are so filthy that no one uses them. That is why
men, whether they are poor villagers or Mercedes-owners, urinate
in the open. When everyone does it, why only laugh at Sukhiya
bhaiya? Why should only he be shamed?
The people of this class are being shamed even otherwise,
even if they have done no wrong. Due to a lack of basic facilities, they have always been putting their self-respect and
even their lives at stake. People of this class are born in filth;
they live in filth and die in filth. This is a centuries-old problem, which has its genesis in Brahmanical thinking and
Hindu religious beliefs. This set of beliefs denies all human
rights to women and Dalits, and forces them to endure injustice without complaining.
Lack of cleanliness is a social problem. To tackle it effectively,
we will have to first admit that it is a function of poverty and
injustice. Around 53 per cent of the households in India do not
have toilets. Government schools and hospitals, whether in
cities or villages, railway stations or slum clusters lining the railway tracks everywhere there is a lack of clean toilets.
Everywhere you can find puddles of stagnant water, open
drains and heaps of garbage that are breeding grounds of flies
and mosquitoes. This is the true face of India. This is why the
residents of these areas routinely fall sick and even ordinary ailments prove fatal for their children. The death rate in these
localities is higher than the average. Vector- and water-borne
diseases such as malaria, typhoid and cholera and contagious
ones such as TB have a permanent presence here and it is difficult for the people to protect themselves from these ailments
and, if afflicted, to fight them.
All Indians should now accept that in our country specific
castes have been assigned sanitary work. These castes have
been placed at the lowest rung of the social hierarchy. They are
neither educated nor have access to basic facilities. Human
scavenging, though outlawed, is still common in many parts of
the country, employing more than two lakh people. For want of
alternatives and awareness, the people of these castes continue to do this work. We all see how women sweep the streets
and carry garbage from homes every morning. They are forced
to pick up and carry rotting, foul-smelling garbage on their
heads. They neither have gloves nor shoes. They are paid so little that the men and children (having quit school) join in to
support their families. Their families live amid filth. Crores of
poor people of this country are condemned to this wretched
life. One needs to be sensitive to their pain. Garbage means
two entirely different things for the rich and the poor.
When we talk of Swachh Bharat, let us remember that
waste management is big business in India a business
that involves huge capital and moneybags.
Sujata Parmita is a well known Dalit feminist thinker and Ambedkarite critic. She
is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
urinating
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ISSN 2348-9286

NEW DELHI Vol. VII No.01

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Leaning on the Victory Pillar

The end of the Peshwai

FEAR FOR YOU

Forty years is a long time. In early 1974, at the

Until next month Truthfully,

Vol. VII No. 01 Bilingual

Abhay Kumar Dubey (New Delhi)

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

Our Heroes, Our Dates

1818 Battle of Bhima Koregaon U U

1890 Jhalkari Bai martyrdom day

1934 Kanshiram Ram jayanti

1897 Savitribai Phule death anniversary

1948 Draft of the Constitution of India presented by Dr Ambedkar

1377 Ravidas jayanti

1922 Jagdeo Prasad jayanti

1784 Tilka Manjhi martyrdom day U

International Labour Day UC

1873 Phules Book Gulamgiri published

1440 Kabir jayanti U

1874 Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj jayanti

1971 Bhikhari Thakur death anniversary

2006 Kanshirams death anniversary U

Ashok Vijay Dashmi

Mahishasur martyrdom day U

1830 Jhalkari Bai jayanti U

World Indigenous People Day E

1875 Birsa Munda jayanti

1928 Narayan Gurus death anniversary

1879 Periyar jayanti

1856 Narayan Guru jayanti

1947 Independence Day

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

Streekaals Savitribai Phule award

WARDHA: Feminist magazine Streekaal will soon announce the

NEW DELHI: Sheoraj Singh Bechain being presented with

Battle of Koregaon: 1 January

o one has to make that effort to remember the important

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

The first day of the new year is no different. For most

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

What dishonours Ambedkar

The end of the Peshwai

n 1796 Baji Rao II became the Peshwa ruler of the

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

commander Captain Ford and his troops to the

The Battle of Koregaon

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

Can the Janata Dal

he recent get-together of the leaders of the parties that were

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

Then, the Janata Dal leaders had come to power in

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

he hidden criteria that seem to have been used to

unfair to draw any conclusions from a survey that covered only

JANUARY 2015 | FORWARD Press

Annihilation of caste would not be on the agenda