Will the Dalit Leader Abroad a Helicopter Emancipate Dalits?

Will the Dalit Leader Abroad a Helicopter Emancipate Dalits?

S.R. Darapuri I.P.S.(Retd,) National President, All India Peoples Front

 

Before writing anything on this subject, some discussion on this picture is necessary. As you can see, the person with black goggles and blue skins descending from the helicopter is Chandrashekhar Azad alias Ravana and below him is Pappu Yadav, a leader of Bihar accused of murder. This scene is probably from Patna in Bihar. This time in Bihar elections, Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) and Chandrashekhar’s Azad Samaj Party (ASP) have formed an alliance. Chandrasekhar is from Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh and is the president of Bhim Army and Azad Samaj Party. Pappu Yadav alias Rajesh Ranjan has so far won four Lok Sabha elections in 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2004 as Independent, SP, Lok Janshakti Party and RJD Party candidate. In this election, Pappu Yadav formed PDA (Progressive Democratic Alliance) with Chandrashekhar’s Azad Samaj Party and SDPI. This alliance is claiming to contest 150 seats and win 50-60 seats. This alliance has made Pappu Yadav a contender for the post of Chief Minister. The election manifesto of the alliance is yet to be released. An announcement has been made that if their government is formed then no tax will be taken from the traders.

After the above brief introduction, let us now discuss the title of this article. As you are aware, Chandra Shekhar came into the discussion in the case of violence on Dalits in Shabbirpur village in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh). He and several of his associates were arrested in connection with the case of confrontation with the police and Chandra Shekhar was arrested and NSA was imposed on him by the Yogi government, but later he was suddenly released. It is noteworthy that the DM and SP of Saharanpur themselves went to the jail in the night to get him released from jail which is an unusual incident.

After this, he again came into the discussion in Delhi last year when he and his associates were arrested in the case of Ravidas temple, collision with the police and vandalism. He was released after spending many days in jail. After this, he recently featured in the press in connection with the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Hathras. In this very year, he has also formed a political party named Azad Samaj Party – Kanshi Ram. He calls himself the true successor of Kanshi Ram and talks about pursuing his mission. He calls Mayawati his aunt while Mayawati says he is doing so forcefully and the BSP has nothing to do with him.

Chandrasekhar has not published any agenda of his party as to what is his action plan for the upliftment of Dalits. So far, he is only talking about advancing Kanshi Ram’s mission. It is well-known that Kanshi Ram’s mission was to somehow gain power, for which he also took pride in being opportunistic and unprincipled. That is why in his life time, BSP had made Mayawati the chief minister by joining hands with the anti-Dalit party BJP thrice. This did not benefit the common Dalit but some brokers definitely got an opportunity to earn money, including Mayawati. Apart from this, the BJP strengthened its weak position by supporting the BSP in Uttar Pradesh. If we look closely, the main credit for strengthening BJP in North India goes to Kanshi Ram / Mayawati.

It is also worth considering that Dalit leaders like Kanshi Ram / Mayawati, Udit Raj and Ram Vilas Paswan have been talking about a share in the present political power, which they got to some extent. But did it improve the condition of the common Dalit? The answer cannot be yes in any case. It is clear from this that the upliftment of Dalits cannot come from the share of the present power but only through radical changes in the present system. For this, it is necessary to adopt a radical agenda for Dalit politics which is possible only by the allocation of land, employment, uniform education, health facilities, development of agriculture and establishment of socialist system. Therefore, when Chandrashekhar talks about advancing Kanshi Ram’s authoritarian mission, it is worth considering if he gets some share of power, will it help in the upliftment of Dalits.

It is also well known that the goons to whom  Kanshi Ram / Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh used to sell tickets, did not do any work of Dalits after winning. On the contrary, when they committed atrocities on Dalits, Mayawati used to defend them instead of punishing them, as in Azamgarh, Dalit Engineer Junglee Ram was beaten to death by BSP leader for not verifying fake bills and BSP MLA Anand Sen in Faizabad Yadav was saved in the case of murder of Dalit girl Shashi. Similarly, BSP’s Bahubali leader Dhananjay Singh was accused in the murder of his rival Sonkar, a dalit, in the 2007 elections in Jaunpur. Not only this, the Mayawati government had labelled it a suicide, not a murder.

It was also seen that during the BSP period, the Dalits who were fighting against the anti-Dalit / mafia / goons, Mayawati got them elected by giving them tickets and getting the votes of the Dalits, but it did not do any good to the Dalits while the goons got protection of the BSP and they prospered more. Therefore, Dalits should be careful with the leaders with other’s helicopters and support the party which fighting for their issues. The All India People’s Front, which has been fighting effectively on issues of Dalits, Tribals, minorities, laborers, farmers and women through democratic politics for a long time, can be a better and effective option for which they should seriously consider.

As regards the alliance with Pappu Yadav in Bihar, it is noteworthy that this alliance is not just about any program or ideology but only opportunistic electoral alliance. Anyway, Chandrashekhar’s Azad Samaj Party (ASP) does not have a solid presence in Bihar but is based only on some membership of the Bhim Army with which some Dalit youth are associated. It is also noteworthy that ASP is a completely new party which cannot be expected to have much of funds. Then who is reimbursing the cost of the helicopter of the President of ASP, whose fare for one hour is not less than one lakh. However, whoever is incurring this expense is not doing it for the benefit of the Dalits but for his own benefit.

Therefore, Dalits should think that without any transformative Dalit agenda, Dalit leaders only engaged in some kind of stake in power will not be able to save them. All India People’s Front is engaged in establishing an alternative politics through democratic politics with a transformative agenda in which all democratic individuals / organizations and parties are welcome.