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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Modi should leverage his ties with world leaders to de-escalate war in West Asia: Omar Abdullah
Jammu (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said India can play a meaningful role in de-escalation in West Asia, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong relations with the warring countries and their neighbours.
He said Pakistan was leveraging ties with Iran and the United States, and that any effort towards ending the war should be welcomed.
"As I said in the House (Assembly), we would like the war to end as soon as possible. The role that the prime minister can play may not be possible for anyone else because of his good relations with all these countries," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
He, however, said any escalation would not be easy to manage.
"Any such move by US President Donald Trump, despite the long history of Iran resisting external domination, would not be easy," the chief minister said.
Asked about Pakistan mediating in the war, he said, "I will simply say that if any country can play a role in preventing this war, no one should have any objection to it."
He added, "I will repeat what I said … our prime minister has good and close relations with all countries — whether it is Israel, the United States, Iran, or the countries around Iran. If those relationships can be used to make some progress and help ease the situation, it would be a good thing."
Abdullah said attacks by terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, as suggested by a report from the United States, are not unlikely.
Meanwhile, he asserted that any efforts to end the war, be it from Pakistan, must not be resisted.
"Pakistan is using its good relations with Iran and the United States to its advantage, and it has done so. How can we object to that? If that angle helps in stopping the war, would you want them not to act and let the war continue? We want the war to stop. If any country can play a role in that, it should. And if we can play an even better role, then we should do so," he said.
On unemployment in J-K, the chief minister said the issue cannot be resolved overnight, and government jobs alone are not the solution.
He stressed the need to explore alternative avenues, highlighting the importance of Mission Yuva in promoting entrepreneurship.
"Mission Yuva provides not just funding but also support in preparing DPRs and post-startup assistance, such as marketing. In just nine months, distributing Rs 1,000 crore and approving numerous schemes is a significant achievement," he said.
Abdullah credited the coordination between the government and Jammu and Kashmir Bank for the scheme's progress.
