e n

Dalitbahujan Page 3, December 2015

According to Feminist thinker Vimal Thorat, “The attitude of society towards Dalits is more than that of intolerance. It is cruel”

dls

Dalit Lekhak Sangh’s initiative

Delhi: At a seminar organized on 15 November at Connaught Place, New Delhi, under the auspices of Dalit Lekhak Sangh, speakers expressed their views on “Reservations: Partnership of Dalit-OBCs” and “Who is responsible for growing intolerance?”. Feminist thinker Vimal Thorat said in her address: “The attitude of society towards Dalits is more than that of intolerance. It is cruel.” Ashok Vajpayee said: “We were underestimating communalism till now. Unless the deprived are included in the discourse on communalism, social inequalities cannot end.” Among others, Murli Manohar Prasad Singh, K.P. Chaudhary, Dr Ratanlal, Anita Bharti, Sanjeev Kumar, Sanjeev Chandan, Umrao Singh Jatav, Dr Sudhir Sagar, Surajpal Chauhan and Mamchand Rewadia addressed the audience. Karmsheel Bharti was the chair. “This is the time to awaken and it is also the right time to bring about a change as many organizations of writers have come together,” he said. “This energy should be sustained to forge ahead.”

 

9ef4a71c-6cb0-4f43-9060-af771e1cd2da
An image showing Baliraja and Vaman that appeared in the daily Lokmat’s Marathi edition and triggered protests by Maharashtra’s OBCs and Dalits

Protests against Marathi daily

Nagpur: Several OBC organizations and individuals of Vidharbha and other parts of Maharashtra protested against the publication of a picture of Bali and Vamana in the Dhulia edition of leading Marathi daily Lokmat on 12 November. It is noteworthy that the OBCs and Dalits of the state regard Baliraja as their ideal and celebrate Baliraja festival during Diwali. This year was no different: the festival was celebrated in Vidharbha and other parts of Maharashtra.

In Wardha, Maharashtra, Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) submitted a memorandum to the administration opposing the burning of effigies of Ravana. Chandrashekhar Madawi, district secretary of the ABAVP, said “we will not allow Ravana dahan from next year onwards”.

IMG-20151123-WA0016
Adivasi activists submit a memorandum against Ravana’s effigy burning

About The Author

FP Desk

Related Articles

SP’s ‘PDA’ is not an alternative to BSP’s ‘Bahujan’
Kanshi Ram’s emphasis on putting the principles of the Constitution into practice was fundamental to his view of Indian society, and BSP is inherently...
How Bengali scholars critiqued Ram Rajya
According to Dinesh Chandra Sen, the spotless character in ‘Ramayana’ was Bharat. During his rule, the revenue of the government increased significantly, the kingdom...
Laxman Yadav: ‘Manusmriti’ could only be taught alongside ‘Gulamgiri’ and ‘Annihilation of Caste’
‘The situation today is that even if the BJP loses the next election, teachers wedded to the RSS ideology will continue teaching students for...
Naming military action ‘Operation Sindoor’ unconstitutional, says retired CRPF commandant 
If you have still not realized who named the operation 'Sindoor' and why, look at what followed. Even more absurdly, BJP purportedly announced that...
When I attended a liberal Savarna’s poetry reading
Having read Om Prakash Valmiki and Suraj Pal Chauhan’s works and identified with the worlds they inhabited, and then one day listening to Ashok...