http://scroll.in/article/812244/the-daily-fix-from-rohith-vemula-to-gujarat-dalit-anger-is-about-much-more-than-politics
>From Rohith Vemula to Gujarat, Dalit anger is about much more than politics 2 hours ago Updated 2 hours ago Rohan Venkataramakrishnan Dalit anger In Gujarat, the Dalits were stripped and beaten for skinning dead cows. In Uttar Pradesh, the country's foremost Dalit leader was called "worse than a prostitute". In Mumbai, Dalits are protesting their own upper class, which chose to demolish a part of their own history. The anger from Dalit protesters in all three places is palpable. The immediate implication, considering Parliament is in session and there are elections in Gujarat, UP and Mumbai's municipality next year (no coincidence), will be political. All of these movement will be looked at through an electoral lens, particularly in light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah's efforts to move their party closer to the Dalits. The straightforward conclusion suggests that the BJP is in danger of losing any gains that Shah and Modi may have put together over the last couple of years. It's likely that images of the assault on the Gujarat tanners and the "prostitute" comment will be used as part of the Bahujan Samaj Party's campaign for the next seven months. The ruling party is scrambling to insist that it is fully behind the Dalits. But the anger cannot be dissolved into politics. The story of Rohith Vemula, the Dalit student at Hyderabad University who committed suicide in January after a run-in with the authorities, was bigger and more tragic than its electoral implications. The sight of Dalits uniting in Gujarat after 30 years, leaving cow carcasses on the streets and attempting suicide tells a story that cannot be reduced to politics. Images of huge numbers of people coming out onto the roads in Mumbai and Lucknow to protest affronts against the lower castes can't be dismissed simply because elections are on the horizon. Development in India has often meant a more unequal society, one that is deeply casteist and continues to institutionalise discrimination. Progress continues to ignore those at the bottom and if they are stripped, name-called and beaten often enough they will attempt to fight back. This is not politics. It's deeper. It's time we paid attention. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
