Back to my favorite blogging topic -- Politics --
A sequence of events highlighted in media
Date : Nov:29 : Baba Ambedkar's statue vandalised in Kanpur. Media reports indicate that it was beheaded. Immediate protests in UP, but police able to control the situation.. The detailed reports of the incident splurged across the nation by media.
Date : Nov:30 :
Angry protests rock Maharashtra. Stone pelting and rioting across the Marathwada region. Four dead, more than 60 injured as per the official estimates.
Date : Nov:30:
Four coaches of Deccan queen torched by protesters. The burning coaches fuel disgust among the general public.
Dates : Dec 1,2 : Blame game. .The uppermiddle class points the finger at police, Police blame the media, some people blame Dalits for getting into this hysteria ( if u can call that ), some blame politicians..This goes on.
-- These are the main events that everyone came across..However, there is a backdrop to this. which was not highlighted very much by the media (atleast the national media )--
Those are ...
Date : Sep-29 :
At Khairlanji in Bhandara district , Four Dalits of a family including two women are killed ..Reports indicate that two women ( Mother and daughter ) were gang-raped and killed .Subsequent cover-ups by the police and politicians led to mass protests..Supposedly owing to political pressure, the IGP at Nagpur made a premature public statement that the killings did not involve rape. But, the regional media highlighted it and protests began to mount..Some sanity into the probe was restored. The preliminary probes by the Government indicted a top cop. The case is finally with the CBI. Some of the related news links are 1, 2 , 3 , 4
And manymore if u search in Google ..
My take
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I firmly believe two wrongs cannot make a right. But thats not the case with everyone.Think about why rioting took place in Maharashtra ...Is it because the state has more Dalits -- No, Uttar Pradesh has the most..Is it because opportunist politicians wanted to exploit the Dalit votebanks ? - No, because the elections are not impending in Maharashtra, its coming up in U.P.. And there are equally good opportune politicians in UP and Bihar ...Then why did the riots happens there ? In reality Dalit anger was simmering in Maharashtra over the past two months or so over the Khailranji killings and subsequent attempted cover-ups. Coupled withthe already deteriorated agrarian crisis and the routine farmer suicides, this was just an outlet of frustruation..If not the desecration of statue, some other incident would have comeup over that..It could have been done by someone in U.P to incite a mass protest there and polarise the votebank before the elections ( As per the U.P police , a person in an inebriated state vandalised it and no politcal motives were attached to it ) . I would say , its time to treat the root cause , rather than symptoms..
Even after decades of Dalit mobilization and Mandal politics, the condition of bulk of Dalits remain the same ..To get a feel of that, take a journey through rural Andhra / Karnataka.. Illiteracy,poverty, insanitation and much more will make you wonder where the money spent for Dalit upliftment has gone to..
The purported 'saviour of Dalits' - the Republican party of India is splitting and forming new groups every now and then..As per the latest stats, there are six groups claiming to be the real representatives of R . P . I , not to speak about the numerous factions. These goes on , and nothing other than votebank politics result from these...Unimaginative politicians fight for quotas in higher education for a populace which doesnt have primary education. And, none of the much 'acclaimed' upliftment plans of various Governments reach the needy people..
For the bulk of the high-class Indian citizens, the images of burning Deccan Queen would have added nothing but disgust and hate towards Dalits..At first I too was shocked by seeing the images..Only a few would have really looked into what the actual picture is. In couple more weeks, the media would get a new issue and the old ones will be relegated, atleast thats what has been the sacrosanct tradition of Indian Media.
An angry and discontent populace produces sporadic incidents like this..It'll destabilize the democracy. If not now, it'll lead to bigger troubles.. Its high time that we focus and bring the needed focus into the neglected masses., the other side of 'shining India'...Dedicated work in the field of education, housing , employment etc has to happen...The big Q is, " Is anybody bothered about that ??? "
Ajith
