"Gujarat fares poorly when it comes to dispensation of justice to dalits in atrocity cases. Its neighbours Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh fare much better. Data released by NGO, Navsarjan Trust, on Monday showed that the conviction rate in atrocity cases in Gujarat is as low as 7.8%..."
Submitted by narendramodifacts on Mon, 04/28/2014 - 04:30
Several stories recently. The Navsarjan trust revealed that the Gujarat BJP government are not spending money allocated for dalit welfare: in Gujarat "over the last decade nearly Rs 3,689 crore of funds for targeted programmes to uplift dalits and economically and socially backward classes, went unutilized". Meanwhile in UP the BJP is spreading the communal lie that "Ambedkar disliked Muslims" in an attempt to break Dalit-Muslim electoral alliances.
"Why is the support of upper castes for the BJP secular, but that of Muslims for any party communal?... it isn't just the Muslims who are subjected to vacuous media representations. You hear of Dalit consolidation, OBC consolidation , and, occasionally, even Jat consolidation. But you never read about upper caste consolidation, presumably because their wisdom is nonpareil, inevitably inclining them to choose the nation over their selfserving group interests. In this narrative, only upper castes make rational voting decisions...
The Modi wave in UP is not exactly as the BJP wants us to believe. Complex caste politics and rivalry amongst BJP leaders means there are a number of "problem constituencies" for the BJP.
"At a rally in Muzaffarpur in March, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had stood beside dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party, and declared that the coming decade would be a "decade of dalits" and weaker sections of the country. Back in Gujarat however, over the last decade nearly Rs 3,689 crore of funds for targeted programmes to uplift dalits and economically and socially backward classes, went unutilized, according to dalit group Navsarjan..."
By spreading such communal propaganda without historical basis, the Sangh Parivar is attempting to break the Dalit-Muslim alliance which could keep them out of power in parts of UP.
"...At one level it is surprising that Modi is showcasing his caste, as the aim of RSS, whose trained swayamsevak (volunteer) he is, is to forge a monolithic Hindu identity, papering over the caste differences and underplaying its inherent hierarchy... There is a twin track strategy as far as caste question is concerned. On one side [the Sangh Parivar] aims to project Modi’s backward caste identity, and this is for an electoral appeal. At another level it also aims to bring in overarching Hindu identity over and above the caste identity, while retaining the caste pyramid.
"Not many people in the world, and specially Christians in India, will recognise Phalgun Amawasya, Kaliyug Varsha 5114 as April 10, 2013. But it is an important date to remember. That was the date that in the well-known Samant-wadi, a pretty place near the southern tip of the State of Maharashtra, saw a meeting of what they described as “devout” Hindus. Samantwadi, a former principality under the Bhonsales, is known for its Brahminic traditions.
"Can shit collection or cleaning of gutters—which has condemned lakhs of people to a life of indignity since ages—be considered a ‘Spiritual Experience’? Definitely not. Everybody would yell. Well, Mr Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, has a different take on this, which he mentions in the book ‘Karmayog’ (publication year 2007). The book is basically a collection of his speeches to high-profile IAS officials. Herein he discusses the age-old caste-based vocation of the Valmikis as an “experience in spirituality”.
"A beef-eating festival at a university in the Indian city of Hyderabad has led to clashes between rival sets of Hindu students, police say. They say that Hindus who regard cows as sacred fought with low caste Dalit groups who organised the event. About 1,500 people were fed beef biriyani as part of the festival late on Sunday evening. Dalit groups want beef on the campus hostel menu. Right wing Hindu groups say eating beef is not Hindu practice. Last year's event at Osmania University also ended in violence.
