Sunday

Untouchability of Nitin Gadkari and Rahul Gandhi

Both Congress and BJP have started their propaganda for the next parliamentary elections. They exhibit a similar game plan towards Dalit and Untouchability confirming that they are one and the same. Both Gadkari and Rahul appear clean personally not loaded with any liability of the past, are considered future Prime minister candidates. But they are too childish to deal with untouchability

BJP is starting a fresh innings under a new captain. Mr. Nitin Gadkari who is crowned as the leader of the political wing of Hindutwa brigade is projected as a balanced leader accommodating all sections of society. This maneuver is to show him as another Vajpayee of soft Hindutwa to win back the friends and allies solely to recapture the power.

Mr. Nitin Gadkari

In the recent annual national council meeting of BJP gathered at Indore on February 18 and 19 Gadkari admitted that “The issue of untouchability is a part of our political commitment.” But Mr. Gadkari has ignored the reality that Dalit people are now enough sensitized to understand that it is not the “issue of untouchability” but the “untouchability” itself which is a part of the Indian establishment. Mr. Gadkari could not elaborate on his plans to eradicate untouchability since there can be no such plans in BJP who believe in Hindutwa a brand of racism in which Dalit are considered lesser than a cow.

Mr Gadkari had painfully undertaken a trip to the late Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth-place Mhow to show his respect to Dr Ambedkar and he declared later “Dr Ambedkar’s philosophy and activism was akin to that of Dr King,’’ In one of the media reports it was phrased as “Gadkari lavished praise on the father of the Indian Constitution” Is it so lavish a praise for Ambedkar to put him on par with Martin ? Mr. Gadkari in his effort to praise Ambedkar to gain votes has exposed himself his inability to praise a great leader. His comparison shows a deep entrenched ignorance about the life and times of Ambedkar and his achievements.

Why Mr.Gadkari cannot compare the activism of Gandhi with Ambedkar as for as untouchability is concerned? Why he should invite Martin Luther king?

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 – and died in 1948. He is more known to the world as a symbol of Non Violence and not as an annihilator of Indian caste system. He on the other hand was in favour of continuing the inhuman caste system and argued to justify it. Gandhi said

1. I believe that if Hindu Society has been able to stand it is because it is founded on the caste system.

2. The seeds of swaraj are to be found in the caste system. Different castes are like different sections of military division. Each division is working for the good of the whole….

3.A community which can create the caste system must be said to possess unique power of organization.

4.To destroy caste system and adopt Western European social system means that Hindus must give up the principle of hereditary occupation which is the soul of the caste system. Hereditary principle is an eternal principle. To change it is to create disorder. I have no use for a Brahmin if I cannot call him a Brahmin for my life. It will be a chaos if every day a Brahmin is to be changed into a Shudra and a Shudra is to be changed into a Brahmin.

5.The caste system is a natural order of society. In India it has been given a religious coating. Other countries not having understood the utility of the caste system, it existed only in a loose condition and consequently those countries have not derived from caste system the same degree of advantage which India has derived. These being my views I am opposed to all those who are out to destroy the caste system.

We can see that BJP which aims for a Hindu based society should fully endorse above pointed views of Gandhi. Therefore BJP is the party which can implement Gandhian caste principles and cannot follow Ambedkars vision on untouchables. BJP is a political party with open exclusive agenda for Muslims and secret exclusive agenda for Dalit.

Our state and propaganda machineries are at work to show Gandhi as a leader who fought against untouchability and caste which is false. The struggle Gandhi undertook against untouchability was only a part of his gimmicks to show himself as a leader of all. Gandhians cannot explain why untouchability continue even after the work done by their Gandhi . Ambedkar has answered that question.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1889 and died in 1956. He is more known to the world as a fighter against caste and untouchability.

Ambedkar said that

1.“Gandhism is nothing but the philosophy of the rich and the privileged class and Mahatmas may come and go but untouchables will remain untouchables.”

2.”Gandhi is the greatest enemy the untouchables have ever had in India.”

It is the history recorded at Pune where Gandhi used his non violent method against non violent oppressed people to prevent untouchables to get political freedom. He proved to be a Hindu fanatic. If another Hindu terrorist killed Gandhi it was not for his breaching of Hindu laws on untouchability but for his compromise towards Muslims.

Martin Luther King, Jr was born in 1929 and died in 1968. He is known to the world as a leader who lived and laid his life for the emancipation of Black americans and for their civil rights. He was influenced by Gandhi regarding nonviolence. While visiting India he said

“Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation.”

Martin’s reference “ oppressed people” are the whole of Indian people under the rule of oppressor British empire and not the untouchables.

If we go through the life of these three leaders their cause, their opponent and their methods of struggle, comparing Ambedkar with Martin shall be considered as one idea from a poorly read person. Ambedkar was born before Martin and died before the death of Martin. Ambedkar is a contemporary to Gandhi. Only Martin can be called as Ambedkar of America. Gadkari’s comparison is as inappropriate as saying “ The acting ability of Rajkapoor was akin to that of Amitab Bachan”. Mr. Gadkari’s comment reveals the manuwadi mentality of always putting the dalit intellectuals below someone else.

If Mr.Gadkari lacks any theoretical sense he also miserably fails in his symbolic gesture towards Dalit as he simply imitates Rahul Gandhi in dining with Dalit. Mr. Gadkari went to the house of a local BJP corporator Preeti Karosiya who hails from the Dalit Valmiki community for lunch. By citing this, the media focussed his pet theme as ‘Antyodaya’, serving the last man in the queue. They cannot explain why a Dalit is always a last man for so many centuries.

Mr. Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, the young leader of the Congress party, has cultivated a habit of visiting Dalit households in Utter pradesh as instructed by his image building team to win over Dalit votes. This was even criticized by BJP but now the new BJP president himself is practicing the same old tactic due to lack of imagination.

Dalit have witnessed enough such scenes in the last 63 years. If we narrate a story “ Dalit girl- buttermilk -Prime ministers” it will run like this.

“In 1960, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited a Dalit hut and took a glass of buttermilk from a 10 year old girl. In 1970 the girl turned 20 and Indira Gandhi came to the same hut and took a glass of buttermilk. In 1990 the she turned 40 and gave a glass of buttermilk to Rajiv Gandhi. Now she is a grand old woman living in the same hut and was asked to give a glass of buttermilk to Rahul Gandhi in front of media. Standing nearby in the same hut is a 10 year old dalit girl a grand daughter waiting to offer a glass of buttermilk to the grand son of Sonia Gandhi. Everytime Dalit loss a glass of buttermilk and gain nothing but India gets a prime minster from a royal family “

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati had criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visits to Dalit homes

His “Dalit-prem” (affection for Dalits) is a “mere eyewash”,
“He goes through a tedious purification process at home after such visits, washes himself with a special soap,”

A more thoughtful remark came from Ramdas Athawale the leader of Republican Party of India from Maharashtra

“The casteism and social disharmony will not go away just by visiting Dalit colonies or shaking hands with Dalit people… Rahul should marry a Dalit girl to bring in a true social revolution. I shall ask Sonia Gandhi to select a Dalit girl for Rahul,”

But according to great soul Mahatma Gandhi interdining and intermarriage cannot promote national unity. Gandhi categorically declared

1. I believe that interdining or intermarriage are not necessary for promoting national unity. That dining together creates friendship is contrary to experience. If this was true there would have been no war in Europe…. Taking food is as dirty an act as answering the call of nature. The only difference is that after answering call of nature we get peace while after eating food we get discomfort. Just as we perform the act of answering the call of nature in seclusion so also the act of taking food must also be done in seclusion.

2. In India children of brothers do not intermarry. Do they cease to love because they do not intermarry? Among the Vaishnavas many women are so orthodox that they will not eat with members of the family nor will they drink water from a common water pot. Have they no love? The caste system cannot be said to be bad because it does not allow interdining or intermarriage between different castes.

Then why Gadkari and Rahul ignore the words of Father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi in interdining but are not going for intermarriage? The truth is that both do not want to disturb the institutionalized untouchability. As predicted by Ambedkar, Mahatmas will come and go but untouchability will remain in one or other form. Similarly Rahul and Gadkari will come and go.

Gadkari and Rahul aspire to become prime minister not for eradicating caste and untouchabilty but to strengthen it so as to keep the Dalit to be last in the que always.Courtesy :Minanath Dhaske