Skip to main content

Attack on Bhima Koregaon: As 2019 polls approach, BJP/RSS will seek to polarize people on caste, communal lines, create civil strife

By Umar Khalid*
I went to Maharashtra as I along with other activists and intellectuals were invited to come there. I along with others was a guest there. And I would remember fondly the love and support that I received in Pune and Mumbai. I would remember the resilience and enthusiasm of the people I met and their resoluteness to fight Manuvaad and centuries old casteist tyranny. I would remember the immense inspiration that I felt, when we paid homage to Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule in Phule-wada, Pune.
And, no I will not let two days of media trials by a few TV anchors, who are more of professional howlers, spoil these wonderful memories. I will not let their criminal cacophony and mindless vilification of me, Jignesh & others shadow my beautiful memories of Maharashtra.
The state of Maharashtra as well as the rest of the country is at a critical juncture today. On the one hand are forces in power who want to push our country back to many centuries and on the other are people who are resisting this neo-Peshwahi, casteist-communal-fascist regime of BJP-RSS. In my speech at Elgar Parishaad on 31st December 2017, I had said that the year 2018 is going to be a very challenging one. The last three-and-a-half years of the Modi Sarkar has exposed the BJP’s jumlas of Ache Din and Vikas as hollow, bitter and brutal lies.
As the General Elections of 2019 approach, BJP/RSS will now resort to creating civil strife amongst the people, polarising them on the basis of caste and religion and unleashing attacks on Muslims and Dalits. The developments over the last few days vindicate me, a little too soon. Several regions of Maharashtra are in the midst of an acute agrarian distress. Both Marathas and Dalits are victims of this agrarian crisis that has been precipitated by the policies of both Modi and Fadnavis. The BJP/RSS regime has no resolution to offer to the farmers of Maharashtra. Therefore, unleashing attacks on Dalits through their hoodlums and portraying it as a caste clash between Dalits and Marathas will remain their only strategy.
The attack on the Bhima Koregaon, gathering happening a day after the Elgar Parishad in Shanivarvada, Pune, is also not surprising. Contrary to what is being portrayed, the Elgar Parishad was not a gathering of only Dalits and Ambedkarites. Yes, they were in the forefront but there were Left, adivasi, farmers, minority, women and even Maratha organisations. The historic conference witnessed an incipient unity of the oppressed, that spoke about caste atrocities, agrarian distress, attacks on minorities, attack on adivasis, and the cannibal economic policies of the current regime. Thus, the desperate attacks and desperately vicious media campaign!
A section of the ‘media’ ran a vicious trial where they tried to implicate me and Jignesh as the culprits who had “incited violence”. The ridiculousness of this shrill campaign is apparent from the fact that there are videos of the attack where those brandishing saffron flags can be seen attacking Dalits. Their exclusive focus on the two of us is just an effort to divert our attention away from the real culprits – the likes of Shambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote. And mind you, these are no fringe elements. Bhide is admired by no one less than PM Modi himself who claims to be inspired by him and described him in January 2014 as a “Mahapurush” and “Tapasvi”. The current CM of Maharasthra was also on the stage when Modi made these comments.
But then these channels are not worthy to be called as new channels, they are stooges of the Modi Sarkar funded and patronised by BJP. They are only doing their duty – i.e., lying and fabricating news to shield their ideological brethren. These channels announced to their viewers that our speeches were provocative and had led to the violence.
They scanned both our speeches hard, only to be left lurching in the vain (both of our speeches are in the public domain, and you can access them too). Finally, they played a small excerpt from Jignesh’s speech where he had said that we need “sadko ki ladai” to end caste and class oppression. Voila, the formula was cracked. The “street war”, the “caste clash” happening across Maharashtra was therefore Jignesh’s doing! Dimwits that they are, they don’t even understand metaphors. Let me explain to them what “sadko ki ladai” looks like.
The country-wide student movement against the banning of the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle in IIT-Madras, the historic 100 day strike by FTII students, the historic 114 day #OccupyUGC movement against the funds cuts in education, the spectacular movement demanding #JusticeForRohith, the celebratory #StandWithJNU movement, the rage-filled movement of the female students of BHU, the spirited student agitation against fee hikes in Punjab University – this is what “sadko ki ladai” looks like.
Wait, there is more! The outpouring of the Dalit rage for self-respect & dignity in Una, Saharanpur and now across Maharashtra; country-wide protests against lynchings of Muslims; the farmer rallies and the Workers’ Mahapadav is what opposition on the streets looks like. When the Modi Sarkar came to power, it was said that there is no formal opposition left in the country. But despite and in-spite of that, people came out on the streets repeatedly & showed this fascist regime what real opposition looks like.
These channels might have chosen to vilify these movements, or blacked them out from the TV screens. But, these have haunted their master terribly and given him many sleepless nights. He knows, that on the ground, away from the TV screens these movements are now coming together & uniting. He is even more sleep deprived. He knows that this unity will prove to be his undoing. He has therefore deputed these TV anchors – 21st century version of Goebbels – to brand, threaten, silence and scare us into submission. But it is they who are scared – scared of our unity, our conviction and vision of an India of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar’s dream. Let me end by explaining their fear in the words of the poet Gorakh Pandey:
वे डरते हैं, किस चीज से डरते हैं वे
तमाम धन-दौलत, गोला-बारूद पुलिस-फौज के बावजूद ?
वे डरते हैं, कि एक दिन
निहत्थे और गरीब लोग
उनसे डरना, बंद कर देंगे
---
*Research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and activist with the Bhagat Singh-Ambedkar Students Organization (BASO) 
This article was originally published in https://kafila.online/

Comments

TRENDING

Defeat of martial law: Has the decisive moment for change come in South Korea?

By Steven Lee  Late at night on December 3, soldiers stormed into South Korea’s National Assembly in armored vehicles and combat helicopters. Assembly staff desperately blocked their assault with fire extinguishers and barricades. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had just declared martial law to “ eliminate ‘anti-state’ forces .”

70,000 migrants, sold on Canadian dream, face uncertain future: Canada reinvents the xenophobic wheel

By Saurav Sarkar*  Bikram Singh is running out of time on his post-study work visa in Canada. Singh is one of about 70,000 migrants who were sold on the Canadian dream of eventually making the country their home but now face an uncertain future with their work permits set to expire by December 2024. They came from places like India, China, and the Philippines, and sold their land and belongings in their home countries, took out loans, or made other enormous commitments to get themselves to Canada.

EVMs: Govt must prove beyond reasonable doubt it's upholding mandate for free, fair polls

By Jerald D’souza  With the growth of India’s population, concerns about electoral fraud associated with ballot papers, also began to escalate. In 1989, the People’s Representation Act was amended to enable EVMs to prevent electoral fraud. In 1998, EVMs made their debut during legislative assembly elections and for the first time for general elections in 2004. However, criticisms against the EVMs and questions about their integrity have been raised by political parties, civil society and the general population. On 2 February 2024, there was a noteworthy demonstration of dissent where numerous individuals, including Ambedkarite advocates, legal professionals, and other members of civil society  convened at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding the prohibition of EVMs. In 2024, the Supreme court had slapped down a petition to return to paper ballots on the basis that machines give “absolutely accurate results” unless human bias maligns them. The court stated that it was open to testi...

This Indian British Marxist blamed USSR's collapse in 1991 on Khrushchev's 'revisionism'

By Harsh Thakor*  Harpal Singh Brar, British Indian Marxist scholar and communist leader, has passed away in Chandigarh. He was 85. He was a lifelong supporter of socialism, Marxism, and the working class. He will be remembered among British Communists.

Chalapathi's death in encounter suggests Maoists' inability to establish broader mass support

By Harsh Thakor* The Maoist movement experienced a significant loss during the Ramagudem encounter on January 21, with the death of Chalapathi (Pratap), a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist). His death, along with 15 others, marks a major setback for the movement. Reports suggest that his location was revealed to security forces through a selfie with his wife.

A groundbreaking non-violent approach: Maharishi’s invincible defense technology

By MajGen (R) Kulwant Singh, Col (R) SP Bakshi, Col (R) Jitendra Jung Karki, LtCol (R) Gunter Chassé & Dr David Leffler*  In today’s turbulent world, achieving lasting peace and ensuring national security are more urgent than ever. Traditional defense methods focus on advanced weapons, military strategies, and tactics, but a groundbreaking approach offers a new non-violent and holistic solution: Maharishi’s Invincible Defense Technology (IDT). 

Operation Kagar represents Indian state's intensified attempt to extinguish Maoism: Resistance continues

By Harsh Thakor Operation Kagar represents the Indian state's intensified attempt to extinguish Maoism, which claims to embody the struggles and aspirations of Adivasis. Criminalized by the state, the Maoists have been portrayed as a threat, with Operation Kagar deploying strategies that jeopardize their activities. This operation weaves together economic, cultural, and political motives, allegedly with drone attacks on Adivasi homes.

Why do we mostly resist and refrain from communicating on sanitation topic?

By Nikhil Kumar, Mansee Bal Bhargava* According to UN SDG Progress report (2022), at the present moment no targets for SDG 6 are expected to be met by 2030. In 2022, 2.2 billion people had no access to safe drinking water and 3.5 million lacked safe sanitation. Approximately 50% of the world’s population was reported to have been under resourced in enough water for part of the year and a quarter of that population was living under “extremely high” water stress. Add to it, droughts have affected over 1.4 billion people between 2002 and 2021.

CCG raises concerns over Indian State of Forest Report 2023 in open letter to environment minister

By A Representative  The Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), a collective of former civil servants, has expressed serious concerns over the Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 in an open letter to the Union Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change. The group has criticized the report's delayed release, flawed methodology, and misleading claims regarding the state of India's forests.

अल्पसंख्यक कार्य मंत्रालय का बजट निराशाजनक: 19.3% अल्पसंख्यकों के लिए मात्र 0.0661% ठोस आवंटन

- मुजाहिद नफ़ीस*   1-2-2025 को भारत सरकार द्वारा संसद में वर्ष 2025-26 का बजट वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण जी ने पेश किया| इस वर्ष का बजट 5065345 करोड़ है जो कि पिछले साल के संशोधित अनुमान से लगभग 7.39% की बढ़ोतरी हुई है| वहीं अल्पसंख्यक कार्य मंत्रालय का बजट मात्र 3350.00 करोड़ है जो कि कुल बजट का 0.0661% लगभग है|  पिछले साल 2024-25 में 3183.24 करोड़ था|