http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Eklavya+bows+to+arjun+no+more&artid=lZYR7hRqmnY=&SectionID=f4OberbKin4=&MainSectionID=f4OberbKin4=&SEO=political+parties,Dalit+parties+,+militant+group&SectionName=cxWvYpmNp4fBHAeKn3LcnQ==Eklavya bows to arjun no more
G Babu JayakumarFirst Published : 28 Feb 2010 10:23:00 AM ISTLast
Updated : 26 Feb 2010 10:55:56 PM IST
Driving through Chennai's roads, it is hard to miss those ubiquitous
hoardings, posters, wall paintings and signboards with a common
picture of a man with a moustache. Even the most politically ignorant
modern-day urbanite knows the name of the man. He is Thol
Thirumavalavan, founder of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).
Though all those who have heard his name also know that he is a Dalit
leader, many people may not know that he is also a member of the Lok
Sabha.
His recent entry to Parliament, however, signifies just one of the
many successes of Dalit parties in capturing political and social
space in Tamil Nadu, which, despite being the home of social justice,
till recently, had not seen many leaders from the Dalit community
capturing the imagination of the common people, particularly in the
urban areas.
Today the situation has changed with urbane and educated persons like
Dr K Krishnasamy and P Sivakami, a former IAS officer, heading parties
that strive for a casteless society. In fact, it was Krishnasamy who
was the first leader of a Dalit organisation to win an election. He
was elected to the state assembly from Ottapidaram in 1996 when he
headed the Devendra Kulla Vellalar Federation.
Even before that, Tamil Nadu had been the pioneer in having Dalits in
legislative bodies: M C Rajah became member of the Madras Legislative
Council in 1920. But not many leaders from the oppressed classes
emerged on the political horizon which was dominated by the Backward
Classes.
Even Rajah, a contemporary of B R Ambedkar, was part of the Southern
India Liberal Front, popularly known as the Justice Party, which was
started on a plank to fight Brahmin domination in all spheres of life.
Though several other intellectuals and scholars from the Dalit
community, like Ayothia Dasar and Rettamalai Srinivasan, have been
part of the struggle for social justice, the oppressed communities,
mainly in the villages, led miserable lives, often being at the
receiving end of violence unleashed on them by the better-off
communities.
One of the main causes for the Dalits being unable to assert
themselves was their lack of a distinct political voice. Of course,
Ambedkar, who remains the universal icon of Dalits, had ensured
representation for them in the state legislatures and Parliament by
reserving constituencies for Scheduled Caste representatives. But the
nomination of candidates was made by the other political parties,
whose top rung leaders never had Dalit empowerment as an agenda.
As Krishnasamy says, "Big parties chose their own henchmen and they
were not independent Dalit representatives." Those party members
elected to Parliament and state legislatures could voice only the
party's viewpoint and not present any case from a Dalit perspective.
Krishnasamy, who launched the Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) party in late
1997 feels the same forces that dominated and oppressed Dalits in the
social sphere continue to treat Dalit parties the same way in the
political sphere, too.
Listing the hurdles he faces in running PT as an independent party, he
cites lack of money as the main reason behind the inability of Dalit
parties to challenge the mainstream political parties. Next, he says,
is the press. Accusing the mainstream media of projecting a negative
image of Dalit parties, Krishnasamy says the media always ignores the
Dalit parties and their candidates during elections.
Even Sivakami, who contested the 2009 Parliamentary election as a BSP
candidate from the Kanyakumari constituency, complains that the media
refuses to give sustained support to Dalit parties. Issues like
atrocities do not get the required the amount of coverage and
editorial analysis, she feels.
Sivakami, who recently launched her Samuha Samathuva Padai (Party for
Social Equality), adopts an activist's approach to Dalit issues. But
she is sure that more can be done to empower Dalits through electoral
politics than by being part of the bureaucracy. But even activism has
its limitations, particularly in the context of Dalit activism being
branded as violent, says Sivakami, who was also involved in activism
during her days with the government.
The main challenge in mobilising Dalit voters is in educating the
people, she feels. As she has started meeting the poorest of the poor
in the villages, she has found the ignorance of the people over
economic, social and political issues to be the first hurdle towards
their uplift. For instance, she says most of the downtrodden people
see a free television set as a bonanza. "I had to point out to them
that they would pay Rs 48,000 for cable charges in four years even if
they got the television set worth Rs 2,000 free of cost."
Sivakami even found that the poor had no idea about taxes. "Ask them
what taxes they pay, and they'd talk about electricity charges and
water charges. They have no idea about commercial tax that every
consumer of any goods pays," notes Sivakami, who has taken upon
herself the task of mobilising the people through education and
creating awareness on issues that impact daily life.
But as the third Dalit party to emerge on Tamil Nadu's political
horizon, does Samuha Samathuva Padai underline the dearth of unity
among Dalits? Not necessarily, says Sivakami, pointing out that all
Dalit parties have the same ideology and agenda. There are no
differences on core issues like reclaiming land for Dalits, the thirst
for a personal identity, a casteless society and of course having
Ambedkar as their idol, she says.
In fact, she feels that no single leader can manage to mobilise the
state's entire Dalit population. "It is hard work," she says,
suggesting that different leaders can take care of the interest of
people in different areas. Perhaps there is no proper strategy now to
coordinate the work of the various parties, she feels.
N Ravikumar, MLA and ideologue of the VCK, flinches at the suggestion
of 'Dalit disunity', asking which caste, religious or ethnic group
enjoyed total unity. He feels the idea of 'disunity' has been
constructed in order to weaken Dalit politics. But, Ravikumar, who was
a CPI(ML) activist before taking up a role at the vanguard of the VCK,
is convinced that electoral politics brings in more gains than
activism.
When the VCK was known as the Dalit Panthers of India and was more
into activism than politics, the popular image of the organisation was
that of 'militant outfit', though the fight was only for just causes.
But after the party started contesting elections in alliance with
other parties in 1999, the leaders gained a more respectability and
acceptability.
Besides that, the Dalit community and the party leaders were taken
seriously by the mainstream parties. However, listing the hurdles that
parties like his face in the political sphere, Ravikumar says there is
always a bid to brand them as a 'militant group' and also isolate
them.
But then in a state where the Dravidian movement launched by E V R
Periyar (1879-1973), who transformed the elitist SILF into a common
man's party and also spoke in favour of Dalits, has been dominating
electoral politics, when was the need to have a separate party for
Dalits felt?
For the present VCK, the Venmani incident of 1968, was the defining
moment that created a stir among the Dalits, while for the PT, it was
the murder of Immanuel Sekaran in 1957. Sivakami, however, feels
Periyar himself did not encourage Dalits to take up leadership roles
and sees the social justice movement as a revolution that took place
at the middle level of society and not as one that started from the
grassroots level.
In Venmani, a village near Nagapattinam, caste Hindus massacred 44
agricultural labourers, including 20 women and 19 children, on
Christmas Day. The incident that took place a year after the DMK had
captured power and when C N Annadurai was the chief minister, made the
Dalits in the region lose their faith in the party, according to
Ravikumar.
Krishnasamy sees the murder of Immanuel, a politician owing allegiance
to the Congress, that took place in 1957 at Mudukulathur in
Ramanathapuram district during a peace talk between communities, as a
turning point in Dalit politics. That incident prompted the educated
Dalits to look for an alternative to the mainstream political parties,
Krishnasamy, who was also associated with the CPI (ML) earlier, said.
Yet the Dalit parties have not been able to win elections
independently and have had to rely on other bigger parties for
support. Do they see a time coming when they will able to win
elections on their own? All the leaders feel that there is no need for
that. Their parties are not exclusive but only inclusive. The parties
have no qualms about having people from other castes and communities
as their members and office-bearers. In fact, they are functioning
even now in that fashion.
"Puthiya Tamilagam means a new Tamil Nadu sans caste differences and
discriminations," explains Krishnasamy, while Ravikumar says, "We want
to go beyond caste. Our aspiration is to achieve a casteless society
so we do not discriminate between people on the basis of their caste.
We take in everybody."
Have these leaders and their parties, through their electoral politics, helped
Dalits? In many ways, says Ravikumar. The classic example is the Tamil
Nadu government's recent announcement about replacing 21 lakh mud huts
in the state with concrete houses. "For the past three years I have
been speaking in Assembly in favour of a hut-less society. The
government has now heeded my plea," Ravikumar says and adds that more
than an activist, a legislator can bring changes in the life of the
people he represents.
Does that mean that the ex-Maoist feels that his former comrades,
currently holding the government to ransom, should also enter
electoral politics? "Yes," says Ravikumar. "In fact, I would like to
send across the message to all those poor and low-caste people going
with the Maoists to take a practical route towards empowerment."
— babujayakumar@expressbuzz.com
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