INSTEAD OF BEING RULED LET US BE RULERS

Kanshi Ram Tells Dalits

SPECIAL SPEACH DELIVERD BY MR. KANSHI RAM Ji
AT 1ST WORLD DALIT CONFERENCE IN MALAYSIA ON 10TH & 11TH OCTOBER,1998

Dalits should become rulers instead of being ruled. We must not be always at the receiving end, instead become the givers, Dalit Leader Mr. Kanshi Ram told the world dalits. It's long we have been ruled. It is long we have been taking. Now it is time we change the destiny to rule and give, he said. Mr. Kanshi Ram who is the Founder Prisident of Bahujan Samaj Party delivered a key-note address at the opening of the 1st World Dalit Convention 'A new vision towards a casteless society' at the Kuala Lampur Mines Resort City.

The two day convention held on 10th and 11th October 1998 was well attended by more than 700 delegates throughout the world including famous politicians noted leaders from dalit movement, champions of down-trodden, social reformers, renowned economists, famous educationists and great scholars.

The Malaysian Manister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik officialy opened the conference which saw the opening very colourful with Malaysian cultural and traditional dances performed by Indians, Malays and Chinese.Mr. Kanshi Ram garlanded the Portrait of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar while Dalit Sena President Ram Vilas Paswan garlanded the portrait of the great Periar.

Mr. Kanshi Ram in his speech continued to trace the history of caste and Braminical social order. He asserted by virtue of his vast experience that elimination of caste was impossible at this stage. He also elaborated the very purpose of creating caste.In context of caste oppression and justice Mr. Kanshi Ram refered the role of Dr. Ambedkar. He commended the merit of 'Communial Award' which he achieved after a long struggle.

Dr. Ambedkar could not sustain the going due to the constant pressure of the mighty upper caste Hindus, Mr. Kanshi Ram told the delegates who packed the hall.'Babasaheb Ambedkar was able to get reservation for the oppressed in legislative houses, job opportunities in government departments and also places in higher educational insitutions.

I wish to stress upon that reservation is not the soultion to oour problem. We must become rulers instead of being ruled, givers instead of being takers, Mr. Kanshi Ram told the crowd to a thunderous applause.It is my duty to prepare my people not to get reservation but to grant reservation. Who can granreservation? Only rulers can grant reservation. Hence, I will prepare my people to become rulers.If we do not become rulers, our problems will remain forever, Kanshi Ram said.

In order to become rulers we must learn how to handle caste. Dr. Ambedkar, Nehru, Gandhi and Indra Gandhi were experts in handling caste. Nehru handled caste so well that he made Dr. Ambedkar helpless and retain the Brahminical Social Order. Indra Gandhi also handled caste well to benefit the Brahminical Social Order.Dr. Ambedkar prepared the SC/ST to handle Caste. That is how we could get many benefits from the British, he added.

Mr. Kanshi Ram expressed concern for 10 crores slum dwellers who are deprived of proper drinking water and electric supply.People migrating from villages to cities are also being denied of many facilities and end up in polluting the enviornment.But those refugees who came from Pakistan after independence were duly taken care of by the then government and a special budget was allocated to meet their basic necessities, he pointed out to the delegates.
According to Mr.Kanshi Ram ,slum dewellers presently living in urban areas are the Dalit refugees who have migrated from the villages because of acrimonys & atrocities committed by upper case Hindus.They have not been able to influence the Planning Commission and the Government of India to allocate separate budget to provide them bread, clothes and shelter.

A decent life is a matter of fundamental right of every citizen in accordance with the constitutional mandate, Mr. Kanshi Ram asserted.He advocated separate settlement for dalit people as once formulated by Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar.He was very critical of the evil impact of caste-system in India.
Wherever the Indians went they never failed to carry with them this spreading disease he told the lauging and cheering crowd.The Indians are prepared to leave anythign behind. They leave behind their little property, small land and their huts.But they will never leave behind their caste. They carry with them wherever they go, he said.While urgimg the dalits to unite he also called upon the Dalit intellectuals to shed away the approach of existing analysis only.

They should instead come with forward-looking approach in education, economic and social problems.They must also come up with some sort of effective solution programme, Mr. Kanshi Ram added.Mr. Kanshi Ram impressed upon the delegates that Dalit problem can only be solved through political power to rule the country.'We must become the rulers instead of being ruled,'he told the cheering and applauding delegates.

Courtesy: Mr.M.G.Pandithan, New Vision. (First World Dalit Conference )

MAYAWATI AND THE SECOND SOCIO-CULTURALREVOLUTION
IN UTTAR PARDESH

RONKI RAM (DR.)

PANJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH (INDIA)
ronkiram@yahoo.co.in

Mayawati, the BSP supremo, sworn in as 40th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on May 13, 2007. This is the second socio-cultural revolution in the history of Uttar Pradesh where during the medieval Bhakti movement Guru Ravi Dass, an untouchable poet-saint of very high repute, convinced the Brahmins that it was not caste but ones deeds which are important. Brahmins and Rajput Kings prostrated before him and Ranis and Maharanis of the then rulers and the rulers themselves became his followers. It seems that history was repeating itself when Brahmins and Thakurs among others were touching the feet of BSP supremo Mayawati during the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet at Lucknow. Once again Mayawati has proved that hollow prestige based on birth when put on trial in the democratic court of social justice failed to stand any more. But proving that is much easier said than done.

Guru Ravi Dass fought a relentless battle against his tormentors who were adopting all fair and foul tactics to prevent him from entering into the mainstream of the social space. He unleashed a frontal attack on the long tradition of social oppression and untouchability. He took the battle right into the capital of the Brahmanical Social Order (BSO) and lay bare its fraudulent social structure. He employed Bhakti (loving devotion) as a method of protest against social exclusion. In his Bhakti he laid emphasis on compassion for all and absolute faith in God. His method was very daring and noble. He choose to challenge his tormentors by adopting the iconography of their dress code as a symbol of revolt which was not only highly objectionable but was equally deadly for a Shudra of his times. He rejected all forms of religious rituals and sectarian formalities. He challenged the tyranny of Brahmins and defied them by wearing Dhoti (cloth wrapped around the waist), Janeue (sacred thread) and Tilak (sacred red mark on forehead) that were forbidden for the untouchables. Though he attired himself like an upper caste, he did not hide his caste. He continued with his hereditary occupation of making/mending shoes. While adopting the prohibited dress and symbols of the upper castes, and at the same time sticking to his hereditary occupation he, probably, tried to show how lower castes could achieve their human rights without compromising with their separate Dalit identity. His Bhakti method of social protest reflected the democratic and egalitarian traits of his social philosophy. When challenged in their own estate and even in their own fiefdom of Bhakti, Brahmins had no option but to participate in a debate on the shastras thrown open by the Kashi Naresh (King). As Chandrabhan Prasad argues, “Ravidas’s genius found no match. The pandits turned pale, bending before the saint in recognition of his greatness. The saint rode the royal chariot through the lanes of Kashi, the King standing by his side. That was the Dalits’ first war of independence. Kashi was secured. The cow belt Brahmins never recovered from the shock, and were forced to reconcile to the Dalits’ cerebral superiority”.

History was repeated on May 13, 2007. The place was Lucknow, the current capital of power in UP. And the star of the battle was Mayawati. To be more precise this time the battle was not around the shastras but about the numbers in the game of electoral politics. To win in such a fierce modern battle is to prove ones metal. And more so when you have been fighting while sharing the chariot with the ones who were very recently sitting in your opposite camp. Mayawati did very well. She proved her metal and turned victorious. She has reinforced the ‘cerebral superiority’ of the Dalits once again. It is in this context that her grand success in the recently concluded assembly election in Uttar Pradesh can be considered as the second socio-cultural revolution in the heartland of the varnashram order. Mayawati has provided a single-party government after more than 16 years breaking the whirlpool of coalition politics in UP. In fact, Mayawati put an end to coalition politics and ushered into an era of "Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim-Thakur-Vaishya-Bhumihar-OBCs" sarvjan combined rule. This new form of "combined rule of sarvjan" under the leadership of the Dalits is certainly an advancement not only over the tight rope walk of the coalition system that India has been experiencing for the last many years, but also a new beginning of the coming of the marginalized into the center stage of power politics.

Mayawati's Dalit-Brahmin thesis and her emphasis on "sarv samaj" coupled with the social engineering formula would facilitate in laying down parameters for the mitigation of the gap between what Baba Sahib Dr. Ambedkar said "political equality and social and economic inequality" in India. In other words, this new system of ‘sarvjan combined rule’ would certainly help in deepening of the roots of democracy in India and inculcating positive feelings among the downtrodden that they too matter in this land where they were for centuries kept socially excluded, politically marginalized and economically deprived. Now they feel encouraged to come forward not to plead or ask for favors because they were neglected but because they are able to provide leadership to safely steer the ship to its destination. It was vividly clear from the oath taking ceremony dais where Smt. Mayawati was occupying the front seat followed by Pandit S.C. Mishra, general secretary of BSP. Is it not really a revolution in Brahmin dominated social set-up in India where they have agreed to not only sit behind Dalits but also to touch their feet? Imagine this even a few years before! Mayawati is absolutely right when she said that behind her great victory lays the philosophy of Phule, Naryana Guru, Periyar, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, and Babu Kanshi Ram. In fact, it is she who tried to put this philosophy into action and translated it into reality.

Whether the Savarnas were falling at the feet of Mayawati out of gratitude or of political expediency is not the point. The real point is that by putting the Brahmins and Thakurs in line and commanding respect, Mayawati has been able to evaporate the Laxman Rekha of Varnashramdharma. She has set the ball of self-respect and dignity of the so-called Avarnas rolling. She has brought the Savarnas and Avarnas on a single platform, of course, led by her. What is even more important is that she achieved all this through democratic way without firing a single shot. And people of all sorts (read castes) stood by her in her battle against social repression and jungle rule. In fact, this is not in any case less than a social revolution. This revolution needs to be replicated in other parts of the country too, if India really wants to shine as a world power in near future. If India wants to march ahead, social exclusion has to be ended first. Untouchability is not a problem of the Shudras only; it is a number one problem of the entire Indian society. It needs to be tackle immediately. Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar sounded a grave warning on November 25, 1949 in the Constituent Assembly on the completion of the Draft Constitution: “On the 26th January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality… We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so labouriously built up”. Mayawati has fired the first shot. The struggle has to continue.

Posted on May 15th, 2007