Will beat BJP, no issues with Mayawati, have same blood: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar
Around 1 pm Friday, Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar, who was released from UP’s Saharanpur jail at 2.45 am after more than a year, stepped out of his home in Chhutmalpur to meet supporters and well-wishers. Within minutes, the mob crowded around him, and he fainted.
“First, we didn’t let him sleep through the night in our excitement. Now, since morning, people are not letting him take rest. He is not saying no, either. He hasn’t even eaten anything since last night,” says an associate, as Bhim Army workers help their leader back on his feet.
The popularity that Chandrashekhar enjoys here among the Dalits, particularly the young, is no less than that of a Bollywood star. Since morning, the small public space near his one-storey house in Saharanpur’s Chhutmalpur has been teeming with people arriving in batches from as far as Haridwar and Aurangabad. Most of them are in their 20s, sporting moustaches like their icon and seeking nothing more than a selfie.
Chandrashekhar obliges them, hugging and thanking everyone. Then, twirling his moustache, it’s time for politics. “Our sole aim is to defeat the BJP. We will support whoever that can do it. If we see the Mahagathbandhan is not coming through, we will create social pressure on the BSP to join hands with other parties. We will hold rallies across the state. Everyone must understand that it is important to defeat the BJP,” he says (interview, page 13).
Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar (centre) with supporters at Chhutmalpur village after his release from Saharanpur jail after more than a year. (Express photo/Gajendra Yadav)
So does that mean support for Mayawati, who once described Bhim Army as the BJP’s B-team? “She has struggled a lot along with Saheb (Kanshiram), and after was gone. It is now our turn to do something. To build the society, to boost the morale of our people, to empower them with education. She can continue doing her electoral politics. We both have the same blood. She may have some issues with me, I have none with her. It is not in my values to speak ill of my Bua (aunt). Our only aim is to defeat the BJP,” he says.
His supporters, meanwhile, watch in awe. “This is the kind of leader we want. Thok-ke bolta hai (He minces no words),” says Deepak, 21, a welder sporting a T-shirt with Chandrashekhar’s silhouette printed on it. Deepak and a friend, 22-year-old Amit who runs a food stall, decided not to work today to be with Chandrashekhar. “He stayed in jail for us for 14 months. What’s losing a day’s work for him?,” they say.
Protest against Violence and Persecution of Dalits & Adivasis by Bheem army at Parliament Street.
The anger is palpable and directed at the BJP government for Chandrashekhar’s prolonged incarceration. “Yeh toh Thakuron ki sarkar hai (This government is for Thakurs),” is the refrain directed at the Yogi Adityanath government.
Echoing the mood around him, Chandrashekhar says that despite the BJP’s efforts, Dalits will not vote for the ruling party. Asked if the BJP will gain political mileage from his release, he says, “Until I am free and alive, I will not let that happen. Main voton se BJP ki nasbandi kar dunga (I will sterilise BJP with my votes).”
On speculation that he was released as a part of the BJP’s strategy to divide Dalit votes, he claims he was released because the state government knew it was going to be reprimanded by the Supreme Court, where a petition was up for hearing Friday. “In any case, I am not going to fight elections. I want to keep away from electoral politics and engage at the social level. But I will support the right kind of people,” he says.
On Thursday, the UP government revoked the National Security Act (NSA) against Chandrashekhar, setting the stage for his release more than a year after he was jailed for his alleged role in clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Saharanpur in May 2017.
Chandrashekhar was arrested along with two others — Shiv Kumar, pradhan of Shabbirpur village, and Sonu, a resident. The Bhim Army chief was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in November 2017 before the government detained him under the NSA. On Friday, Kumar and Sonu were also released.
In the crowd surrounding Chandrashekhar, meanwhile, is a sizeable number of Muslims. The Bhim Army has been pushing for Dalit-Muslim unity, and had extended support to the Mahagathbandhan’s Muslim candidate in the Kairana bypolls.
“Chandrashekhar is doing what Kanshiram always dreamed of — Dalit-Muslim unity. Today, no political party wants to associate with Muslims. But he is openly embracing Muslims,” says a Muslim teacher, who does not want to be identified.
As for Bhim Army fans, the road ahead is clear: Chandrashekhar should fight the elections. “So what if Mayawati is not supporting him? He should fight as an Independent. He will win. Without political power, there is no power,” says Kuldeep Kumar, 26, a Dalit journalist from the area.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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