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Electoral politics has its own
strange logic. While Gopinath Munde, the leader of BJP was
hobnobbing with Congress (June 2011), in recent times the leaders
from Shiv Sena, Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam have joined
Congress in recent years, Ramdas Athawalay, of Republican Party of
India, a party claiming to be the party of Dalits based on the
ideology of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has allied with Shiv Sena and are
holding joint election rallies. It defies total logic as to how
the avowed votaries of Hindu Rashtra (Rane, Nirupam) glibly shift
to the Congress, formally a secular party, a party opposed to the
goal of Hindu Rashtra. How Gopinath Munde, who has been working
for the goal of Hindu Nation, Ram Temple was trying to switch over
to Congress. Equally surprising is the fact as to how, Indian
National Congress, with the legacy of Gandhi and Nehru can think
of taking these politicians, with opposite ideology into its camp?
More surprising than this has been
the RPI, Shiv Sena alliance. One recalls that from last few years
a slogan was floated in the political circles that Shiv Shakti (Shiv
Sena)+Bhim Shakti (Followers of Ambedkar, RPI) is equal to Desh
Bhakti (Patriotism). And since then this hobnobbing has been in
progress. As such the politics of both these parties is very
strange and logically totally opposed to each other’s agenda.
Shiv Sena was propped up by the
Mumbai Industrialists, in collusion with the section of Congress
leadership to break the hold of Left trade unions in Mumbai in
1970s. From there it went on to launch the tirades against South
Indians, (Lungiwallahs), and in a series of ‘hate other’ politics
it targeted Gujaratis and later North Indians. During this period
it did indulge in street violence and intimidated these
regional-linguistic groups. Later it latched on the Rath (Chariot)
of Hindu Rashtra and boasted to be a part of Hindutva politics in
alliance with BJP. Its leader Bal Thackeray boasted that if his
Shiv Sainiks have been in the lead of demolition of Babri Masjid,
he will be proud of that fact. Shiv Sena also has been seriously
implicated in the post demolition Mumbai violence by Shrikrishna
Commission report.
As far as its political agenda is
concerned it has been the most vociferous party opposing the
issues related to dalits. After the publication of Dr. Ambedkars
collected works, the volume on ‘Riddles in Hinduism’, book heavily
critical of Lords Ram and Krishna, was opposed by Shiv Sena on the
streets, it opposed the move to change the name of Marathwada
University to Dr. Ambedkar University and to cap it all; it was
the only electoral party which opposed the implementation of
Mandal Commission.
On the other are the leaders of
dalit movement, the so called inheritors of the legacy of Dr.
Ambedkar. Ambedkar all his life talked of annihilation of caste,
opposed the notion of Hindu Rashtra and went on to convert to
Buddhism on the ground that Hinduism is based on Brahminic
theology which upholds caste and gender inequality at deeper
level. His core political legacy was to educate, organize and
agitate for the democratic rights of dalits. It is in this
direction that he formed Independent Labor Party (1936), Scheduled
Caste Federation (1942) and laid the outline of the political
principles for the Republican Party of India (RPI).
This RPI soon suffered the fate of
splits; it was also co-opted by various bigger parties like
Congress and BJP. The major agitation launched by Dada Saheb
Gaikwad of RPI, did galvanize the dalit movement, but after that
the dalit leadership has been groping for the path of its future
agitations. The formation of militant Dalit Panthers in the decade
of 1960s peaking in 1970 was a brief lasting phenomenon, again
leading to splits and weakening of the cause. The equation of
politics started changing with Kanshiram who took another path to
power. He want on to train the cadres for long time, focused the
power in his hands and soon became politically successful, passing
the baton on to Mayawati, who through different trajectories
succeeded in becoming the Chief Minister of UP. She did ally with
SP and BJP on the way, canvassing for Narendra Modi in Gujarat
Elections, and justifying the Gujarat carnage as being due to the
Godhra incident. Today BSP is the ruling party in UP, it has given
a boost to dalit identity but the condition of dalits has far from
improved.
Where does the dalit movement go
from here? A section of dalits has benefitted form the
reservations, education and other accompaniments of affirmative
action for dalits. At the same time the reaction to enhancement of
dalits position in society has been the rise in the politics of
Hindu Rashtra, something which aims at subjugation of dalits and
woman. This politics of Hindutva as such resurfaced with the
attacks on Dalits and OBCs on the ground of reservation and later
on in a clever move has strategized to co-opt Dalits and OBCs and
is using them against religious minorities, killing two birds in
one stone. Interestingly the political strategies of RSS-BJP-Shiv
Sena are too shrewd and ‘clever’. So far their symbolic use of
section of leadership of religious minorities and dalits have
served the cause of RSS politics very well, barring probably in UP
where Mayawati did succeed in coming to power. Still here there is
a change in her own language while trying to retain power, from
Bahujan (Dalit, OBCs) to Sarvajan (All). This slogan while looking
good on surface does hide the changing dynamics of Mayawati in
which the old upper caste are trying to regain their upper hand in
a hidden way.
The Shiv Sena-RPI alliance is plain
opportunism from both the sides. Shiv Sena is totally opposed to
the Ambedkars’s values of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, while
RPI was meant to reflect the aspirations of dalit masses for
social equality, political place in the society and a dignified
life. At core these have values diametrically opposed to each
other. Can they be political allies? For RPI, this path has been
chosen on the plea that since Congress has not given adequate
political power to the leaders of RPI, and they want a share in
the power. They think alliance with Shiv Sena-BJP is the path to
dalits political power. Time alone will tell the righteousness of
this strategy but one thing is sure, if at all, this alliance will
give power to a couple of leaders of RPI but the issues of dalits
cannot be addressed by the more dominant political allies, the BJP
and Shiv Sena, whose very agenda is against the interests of
downtrodden masses.
While Shiv Sena-BJP has shrewdly
tried to wean a section of dalits for its electoral advantage,
they may also be able to use RPI leadership for their own
calculations of electoral power. As far as dalit movement is
concerned, the challenges are immense and playing junior partners
to the parties totally opposed to the political values of Ambedkar
will be counterproductive. The only path for dalits for an
empowerment seems to be social agitations and movements around
their material issues, issues of security, equality and dignity.
This though a painful path is the only option available for the
better future of vast sections of those deprived from last many
centuries. There can’t be shortcuts for the goal of Equality, in
all spheres of social economic and political life of dalits.
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