Assault on dalits with dalit president as cover?
Even as Sangh Parivar tries its best to cover casteism by selling the dream of ‘Hindutva’ as a lofty ideal, the wound is getting deeper with time. It has been proved time and again that wealth, power or office can never really compensate for the caste based discrimination a lower caste person feels in our country.People are getting killed for having ridden a horse on the wedding day, or riding a motorcycle, or for having deskinned a dead cattle, or for entering a temple so on and so forth. If the dalits consolidate against such tyranny, the government does not even hesitate to brand them naxals.
When the government tried amending and thus weakening act that protects dalits such as atrocity act, the dalits came together in solidarity. The government consistently silenced the voices. And amidst all this, the BJP government at the centre repeatedly says “We elevated a dalit to the post of Rashtrapati.” This fact, is really a matter of great pride to India. But then, how difficult it is to assault dalits by having a dalit man as cover?
President Ramnath Kovind has been elevated to the highest chair not just because he is a dalit, but because he has accepted the RSS ideals. He does not accede to Ambedkar’s ideology. A dalit leader can never be able to balance Ambedkar and RSS ideals together. Those ideals can never coexist.
Beyond this, it is an open secret as to what RSS’s stance is about dalits. And yet, if BJP and RSS desperately need a Kovind’s pretext to cover their lacunae, it is to stop dalits from consolidating against BJP and the RSS ideology.
Since they very well understand an upper caste man implementing RSS ideology can be quite dangerous, they need a dalit leader for the job. And hence, Kovind was put in the highest office in the country. If the country celebrates elevation of a dalit to the high office, the underlying agenda is quite disappointing. After him being made the President, cases of assaults against dalits countrywide have increased manifold.
On earlier occasions, assaults against Dalits were pretty individualistic and sporadic too. Assault on dalit consolidations were rare. System would hesitate to launch an assault on them. But in the recent times, upper caste people are consistently attacking dalits as a whole with the help of the legal system.
Sangh parivar members launched organized attacks on dalits during a march to oppose the court ruling, and Bhima-Koregaon march incidents. Whenever such incidents are cited, BJP shows Kovind as its safety net and escapes from serious charges. Which means, BJP will use a dalit against dalits and continue assaulting them.
But then, the real spirit of Manu ideology has come out in the open with the incident that took place in relation to the President in Puri Jagannath temple in Orissa. About two months ago, President Ramnath Kovind had visited the temple with his wife and he was stopped from entering the sanctum sanctorum. His wife was even pushed around. This is a shocking incident. That this incident was kept under wraps for two months is even more surprising for the nation. Now the government has ordered for an inquiry into the incident. This humiliation meted out against the President is an insult to the country.
Government should have immediately initiated some disciplinary action and saved the reputation of both the President and the country at large.
But the government probably deemed it important to save the reputation of the preists over the President. Hence everything was covered up so far. This incident has sent a very disturbing message that no matter how high a Dalit grows, he/she would always be perceived in the perspective of his/her caste and that they wouldn’t be allowed inside the temple.
This also emphasizes on the fact that other dalits also need to learn to swallow their self respect like President Kovind. Many years ago, the case of an MP receiving Prasad outside the premises of the temple had given rise to serious debate. He had even said: “I stood out so that their sentiments are not hurt.”
With that, he had insulted lakhs and crores of dalits. Unfortunately, even within BJP no one protested against this treatment to President Kovind. Even the opposition parties didn’t deem it fit to speak against it. Dalit organisations have also maintained strategic silence over this. Puri incident is a strong example of using dalit as a shield to launch assaults on dalit community. This has also shown the wound of caste is inflicted deep into the minds of this country and this won't be cured anytime soon.
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'Engineered narratives': West Bengal guv on alleged molestation charges against him
Kolkata, May 2: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by “engineered narratives” and the "truth shall triumph” after TMC leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.
In a statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,”
To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.
The Governor’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed this evening in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.
Though police sources said they received a verbal complaint, there was no official word on whether a formal complaint had been registered.
“BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.
Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is “shameful” that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to “torture a woman”.
“It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue,” she said.
According to sources in the Governor's House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.
"When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease," a Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.
The BJP said it has to be seen whether this a “conspiracy by the TMC” or has an “iota of truth in it”.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024
Shameful that a constitutional office holder should try to prejudice an impartial investigation by attacking the motive of the complainant. We have seen this happen in that infamous Saturday Hearing of the Supreme Court. Respect women! https://t.co/E6eJLQvFXO
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) May 2, 2024
