The Castist’s Anger on Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Statue: A small report of the politics behind the Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Statue.

Recently around 7 statues of Dr. Ambedkar were desegregated; one was defiled on 26 January 2012. The 63rd Republic day celebration, was observed as a Black day by Dalit community and also they host black flags in protest.

The first and many of the Statues were desegregated in Amalapuram. The incident has rocked the Andhra Pradesh with many districts calling for bandh and on 30 January 2011, all the political party except Congress has given a call for bandh. The revolutionary singer Baldeer Gaddar says the police should arrest and bring out the political conspiracy behind this incident. This post will give a brief view of exactly what was the reason behind the incident. Prof. Kancha Ilaiya says you break one Ambedkar statue many will come.

Congress Party

This is a new battle within the congress after the YSR demises. YSR belongs to Reddy community and Reddy’s were a strong vote bank for the congress. After his death many leaders were fighting for the Chief Minister post. Y.S.R’s Son Jagan was trying his best to use his father’s clout to become the Chief Minister. The congress opposed. Till YSR was alive the congress party in Andhra Pradesh was within his control. Therefore after his death many people came out openly lashing at YSR. Since the Congress at the centre wanted to control the Andhra Pradesh congress, they denied giving any chance to Jagan Chief Ministership, thinking he would maintain his fathers clout. rejected Jagan floated a separate Part YSR Jagan party, this party has many chances of removing the maximum vote of Reddy population in the State. Therefore the Congress thought of a new alliance with some other community, it is only Kaapu, which is 12% in the state. Chiranjeeve is from a kaapu caste and he floated a party and had a good number of Kaapu support. And Congress and Chiranjeeve decided to align, therefore the Congress high command in delhi negotiated and made the Chiranjeeve party to merge with congress while giving important portfolio within the state. Hence, many seats were shuffled, and Dalit community became a scapegoat to woo the upper caste. As a result of Congress paying more attention to the Kaapu community, Dalits, Kammas, and the Andhra, Telengana, Rayalseema region people also came out openly against the Congress high command.

Therefore many communities within Congress expressed unhappiness and came out openly against the Congress high command.  The press too reported.

Those reports are:

Mr Harsh Kumar lamented that the party leadership is giving more importance to PR leaders than the SCs in the state who have been considered as a strong vote bank of the Congress for decades. “How can they give Cabinet posts to other communities who have not voted for Congress party in last elections and ignore SCs, BCs, STs and minorities who are the backbone of the party,” Mr Kumar wondered. He said that a legislator from the Mala community should have been inducted after the removal of Dr Shanker Rao from the Cabinet.

Some of the reports from the newspaper:

Postnoon

The proximity of APCC president Botsa Satyanarayana to Chiranjeevi, as both belong to Kapu community, too became a hot topic of debate.

Even as Azad was gearing up to meet the members of the coordination committee on the very first day on Saturday, Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao became the first to drop a bombshell, expressing anguish over the shabby treatment being meted out to ‘Kammas’, the ruling community in the Telugu Desam Party.

“We have been fortifying the party for several decades. Ever since the TDP came into being, our support became even more crucial. But we feel dejected and let down as the party is not offering any positions to us in recognition of our services. We are a poorly relegated community,” he told reporters in the Secretariat.

Times of India:

Congmen flood Azad with requests, complaints:                 

..a large chunk of Congress leaders informed Azad about the sudden importance being extended to Kapu community leaders at the cost of sincere Congress workers from other sections of society.

The Pioneer:

Where one Congress MP from Andhra region directly held Azad responsible for the state of affairs in the party, another MP from Telangana region warned that the Congress will be wiped out if Telangana was not formed. Congress would be wiped out in Telengana.

All these opposition from the dominant caste or group, however when a Dalit MP from Amalapuram gave a statement many of the Ambedkar statues was desecrated.

Who is this Harsha Kumar?

Harsha Kumar, a Dalit leader, hails from Konaseema region where scheduled castes and the Kapus have bitter rivalry and cannot stand each others. Already Harsha Kumar who is from a Dalit community was opposed by YSR to contest lok sabha election. However, with his influence he got a ticket to context in his area Amalapuram. It is a general constitutency also in this particular region Kaapus and Malas (dalit community) always had a rival. Dalits in Amalapuram are the strongest votes to Congress. Therefore when Dalits were removed from important position and those were given to non-dalit community Harsha kumar opposed. It is also to be remembered that even Kamma’s another dominant group were against the Congress high command for wooing Kaapu community. Dalits say that they were voting for congress , and Kaapus who contested against the congress is now given more priority and dalits are looked down upon.

Harsha Kumar also questioned the wisdom and the rationale behind not taking any Scheduled Caste representative in place of minister P Shankar Rao, who was sacked from the Cabinet.

He said Azad was responsible for this situation in which the Dalits were feeling neglected by the Congress party. He said that the castes which had played an important role in bringing the Congress party to power in the State were being ignored by the party.

As a response to him, the Kaapus in that region broke Ambedkar’s statue. Dalits protested against the act but still more statues of Dr. Ambedkar was defiled. Few media act too add more to the insult, they said dalit icon Dr.Ambedkar. It was none other than Deccan Chronicle IBNLive:  NDTV:   Daily pioneer:

many more like this and few addressed just his name without even giving respect: NDTV

etc. These mainstream English media never had any discussion on this matter. Which means they support the violence of the upper caste. In other words, these same media talks once in a week about Mayawathi statue, and say it is useless. And now these media’s are not talking about why the upper caste breaking the Dr. Baba Sahed B.R. Ambedkar’s statue. To put in black and white these media too do not want any dalit’s statue to be present therefore the media oppose the move in the name of ‘progressive’ and the upper caste in ground level break them.

Also adding to the point these media’s never ever had any discussion on Caste discrimination, rather they would always speak about anti-reservation and Mayawathi’s statue.Though every one knew, even few politicians and the press(not the Hindu), spoke about the caste tension between Kaapus and Malas. The police did not take any action. After the Dalits across the state protested, the police caught hold of three Dalits and blamed them as responsible. And also told they did it while they were drunk. It is so surprising that till before Harsha kumar spoke no drunkards ever broke, as soon as Harsha kumar spoke about the Kaapus, these drunkards broke. When few of the political leaders and Osmania University representation met Home ministry and told about the arrest, as a reply the Home minister laughed.

Mr. Krishank   says those three were from Scavenging community. Also he says that from the Ralegan siddhi to Amalapuram there is a big conspiracy against Dalits, Adivasi, Muslim, OBC.

Though all the political movement expect Congress called for a bandh, the mainstream media said dalits have called the bandh. Which was another insult and humiliation to the dalit movement. Where the media’s never allow Dalits, Adivasi, Muslim and OBC’s to come under one platform. The bandh had a big impact, though the media said everything went normal. On the day of Bandh few national English media approached approached OU Sc/St President Mr. Kumarasamy , hoping there would have been some violence, but they did not hear anything in the campus. Hence they did not publish the report.A popular English media which fools dalits often saying they are progressive, published a news Claiming An OU student, Krishank, later called up and informed media persons that he was responsible for the incident. When I enquired Krishank said he never called the media or they called him. Mr. Kumarasamy also feels that all political parties are just giving statements and doing nothing. 

 Today i was speaking to a person from police department, I asked about the ambedkar statue desecration in Amalapuram. He said in those districts if a police officer has to be posted, the respective officer should assure that he will not allow anyone to file any case under the SC/ST atrocity act.

More about Krishank click Postnoon

watch more video:

Violent English Media should stop acting as Gandhians!

Chaos in Bihar assembly: a new low for democracy
Democracy took a back seat in Bihar, as Opposition legislators indulged in unruly behaviour for the second consecutive day in the Assembly on Wednesday, stalling proceedings.
-The Hindu, Thursday, Jul 22, 2010
A real class act: July 25, 2010- Hindustan Times
In Kashmir, pelting stones for a price Amount ranges between Rs 5-8 lakh
'A new form of gunless terrorism'
Last updated on: February 8, 2010 15:45 IST, rediff news

The above news would shock most of us, and such News could be seen as a breaking and in no time they will have a special programme on how to stop such activities. Every one of us would think the same way and even I do feel in democracy there should be some ‘decency’ in the Assembly. Our thinking has very important influence of our Indian National Congress freedom struggle, especially Gandhi’s ideology.
In India the ‘Gandhianism’ has a very big pressure in every one’s mind whether community or an individual state of mind. The reason is whether you know about AyanKali, Phule, Ambedkar, Kashmiri history or not but for sure you would know Gandhi, Nehru, etc we are all one nation since your child hood. Therefore our school teaches us at our early stage that India’s greatness by Gandhi’s greatness of non-Violence movement. It is the result from the so-called mainstream national struggle (May be I could call Brahmins struggle for power) of Congress for ages. The question of ‘Nation’ is also a caricature in our mind created by these people. What the so-called Indian Government means by non-violence is that apart from ‘non’-violence everything is violence. There is no any clear distinction between these two categories in practical terms. Since, this is not my place to disagree Gandhis ideology of non-violence, I would just give the term non-violence explanation and go ahead with discussion.
Non-Violence: Love of the enemy, or the realization of the humanity of all people, is a fundamental concept of philosophical nonviolence. The goal of this type of nonviolence is not to defeat the enemy, but to win them over and create love and understanding between all.
Though every time we hear that Gandhi is the Father of our Nation, we are surprised the way the Indian government deals the non-violent protest with brutal violence. Hence, it is as if Gandhi is father for non-Congress people or non-national parties’ father. Because, the state sponsored violence is all put under the ‘Red’ Carpet. Either, the CPI in Nandigram, INC in Telengana, Naxal affected areas, Kashmir, North-east, etc. BJP in Ayodya etc.
Coming to the point: When a person immolated or throws stones or burns bus/train we get the information very quickly. These information’s are shown to us with a special attention the media and the government imposes on the audience, which we are always victim of the Act. When they show such activities they divert the issue and ask public opinion of such activities. They try to divert us emotionally and we fall trap to it most of the time. The simple question we should remember that there are many groups in New Delhi, Janata Mantar taking a hunger strike 24/7, how many news channels are interested in giving scrolling breaking news or live telecast. In Kashmir the media shows people pelting stones in the first page, why don’t they show Indian Army brutally using the force, and raping the civilian. Maoist killing police we can get the information immediately but not police raping innocent tribal women. Therefore even the so-called Brahminical media is interested to demonize the lower class/Caste people.
Readers would wonder how can suddenly class/Caste could appear. My explanation is when Tharoors allegiation popped, NDTV chief editor Burka Dutt had a live broadcast to make him he is right. Karunanidhi went on a fast in Tamil Nadu for Sri lankan Tamils the Sun TV/Kalaignar TV crew was broadcasting live and immediately his drama got result. If Hindu N.Ram wants to oppose/promote any issue like he did for Kashmiris issue he would certainly appear in editorials. Or his crew would report accordingly without an ‘a’an’ ‘the’. If P. Chithambaram, Home Minister wants to say lies on Kashmir issue suddenly you could see CNNIBN, NDTV, TIMESNOW, THE HINDU, and etc show suddenly stone pelters. Even the Media went ahead and said there are terrorists who are instigating the protest, without even verification. Kashmiris, Maoists, Tamil Eelaam, Telangana issues are not public issues because none of the National parties/Medias are supporting it. And it is obvious that National Parties/Media are owned by Brahmins, So that the National issue which concerns the nation as we hear is a created idea by the Medias, in that we are caricature.

We should not forget the other important things that are happening in news media especially, NDTV, CNNIBN and Times Now these Medias are acting as if they are the government/police/CBI/ Supreme Court of India. For an example when Kasab a person was caught the Media portrayed he is a Pakistian terrorist and before the court ruling they said he is the number one terrorist he should be given death sentence. It was done as they wished. How many Medias are propagating against Reservation. If you are for Anti-Reservation, they the Medias would be on your door step. If you are protesting for Reservation then no Media would come forward but throw a stone, block the road, the Media would be on your feet, But by showing you as a uncivilized person, still your message would be passed a bit. Can the media term RSS as a terrorist organization, they can never do that the simple reason is RSS has its own clout and a magazine too to claim their voice. But a frustrated common person can only show his protest to the hegemonic Brahmin media by pelting stone and throwing papers in Assembly. If these things has to change then first Brahmin Medias should give a space for subalterns and think that every issue is important and not the issues only they are interested in like Tharoor, and stop becoming mouthpiece of the Indian Government. The subaltern should verify the news.
These are the means to show their frustration, therefore the Media would carry the news at least by abusing/scandaling the issue.
This tradition would not continue for a long time, because of the Internet, Facebook, blogging, orkut, tweet are becoming very popular in protesting and expressing their views.

What is between Tharoor and NDTV?

For a long time I have been watching NDTV 24/7, though I did not like the stand it often takes on various issues, either in Naxal’s issue, Women’s Reservation, or dealing with Ms. Mayawathi, (to give a few examples), I did not have an option to shift to any other channel. Therefore I had to continue with the same channel and I concentrated on debates such as “The Buck Stops Here”, “The Big Fight” etc. Basically the channel is against anything/anyone who belongs/fights for the subalterns (dalits, Tribes, Muslims, Backward Castes). As it is the normal behavior of any so-called “Mainstream” media I did not bother to write about it. If I have to write on it then my whole life would be spent on this. But I found an interesting thread that this NDTV promotes or supports. To understand this, the recent IPL fiasco should be followed.
Last week Mr. Shashi Tharoor was on news. Usually he comes on Twitter etc., but now on a daily basis he was on television for allegation. He gave an exclusive interview to Barka Dutt in NDTV. The channel gave too much importance to Mr. Tharoor, since the IPL allegation. Barka even called him as PLU -“People like Us”, (I think Barka meant people like her rather than general public). Barkha Dutt even explained what she meant by this –“well-read, articulate and graduate from elite institutions.” The channel cannot be any clearer on its social affiliation. In the same breath, she also asks that why is that Tharoor can’t stay in politics while politicians can get away doing worse things. And the politicians they mentionmed included Lalu Prasad and Mayawati.

But since that does not absolve us of further clarifying who is this “people like us”, let us have a look at Tharoor and Barkha Dutt.

Tharoor belongs to a traditionally landlord caste from Palakkad. He was born in London studied there and did his B.A in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He represents the constituency Thiruvanathapuram, which is highly populated by well educated and settler population.
With the about gist of his biography, can we ever think he belongs to the common person!
Then what did it mean when Barka dutt said in NDTV that he is “people like us”. To understand this we should also know something about NDTV and the common factor that brings Mr. Shashi Tharoor with them.
Basically Tharoor, Barka Dutt (group editor NDTV) and Vikramaditya Chandra( Senior Editor of NDTV and CEO of NDTV networks) are people have studied in St. Stephens College, New Delhi. This is the connection they have, all three of them closely related since Tharoor became an important person. Therefore when Barka Dutt says it is “people like us”, it really means “people of St. Stephen’s College”.

Ok,let the NDTV function like an alumni association of St. Stephen’s College; but why haven’t they given the same coverage for Telengana issue, Naxalite issue, Sri Lankan issue, Women’s Reservation and everytime showing Ms. Mayawati as the Demon of Indian Democracy.

At last they not only have soft corners for St. Stephen’s college but anyone who is against the above mentioned issues. Therefore they give a good coverage for Mr. Rahul Gandhi too.