In recent times, a series of atrocities on Dalit youths and women all over India have terrorized the entire nation. NCCI's Dalit Concerns Programme and Vidarbha Centre for Labour Concerns along with Bahujan Rangbhumi thought it best to to voice out the issue in the press and take it to the streets. A Press Conference was organised at the Tilak Patrakaar Bhavan on the 28th July 2016. Dalit leaders and activists at the conference including NCCI Secretary for Dalit concerns, Mr. Pradip Bansrior, and Mr. Rajesh Jadhav, Coordinator, Vidarbha Centre for Labour Concerns addressed the Press and condemned the atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, MP and other parts of the country. The event was duly reported by local Marathi newspapers, as well as the English Daily, The Hitavada:
The press conference was followed on 30th July 2016 by a protest Dharna and a street Theatre depicting the atrocities on Dalits and challenging the people to rise up to the occasion.
In spite of the heavy rains, around 200 people participated in the protest at RBI [Samvidhaan] Square, Nagpur at 11-00. am; they came from different walks of life, religious institutions, dalit organisations, like-minded organisations and NGOs, including men, women, and youth, to show their solidarity and to fight together against injustices faced by Dalits and all marginalised sections of our society in the country.
Many Activists, Theatre artists and NGO leaders like Dr. Yashwant Manohar (Social activist), Mr. Rajesh Jadhav (Vidarbha Centre for Labour Concerns- NCCI), Dr. Dhanraj Dahat ( Ambedkarite Sahittik), Mr. E.M. Narwane ( Ambedkarite Poet), Mr. Surendra wankhede (Writer and Director), Mr. Virendra Ganvir (President of Bahujan Rangbhumi), Mr. Khemraj Bhoyar (Activist), Mr. Amit Ganvir ( Theatre artist and Activist) as well as Mr. Pradip Bansrior (Executive Secretary, NCCI Dalit and Tribal/Adivasi Concerns) addressed the gathering and urged the people not to remain silent regarding the atrocities and injustices happening in our society. Youth from different organisations along with Ms. Ngalaton Ningsen- NCCI Intern on Tribal and Adivasi Concerns, also shared their concerns and demanded stern action against the cow vigilante groups all over the country.
The press conference was followed on 30th July 2016 by a protest Dharna and a street Theatre depicting the atrocities on Dalits and challenging the people to rise up to the occasion.
In spite of the heavy rains, around 200 people participated in the protest at RBI [Samvidhaan] Square, Nagpur at 11-00. am; they came from different walks of life, religious institutions, dalit organisations, like-minded organisations and NGOs, including men, women, and youth, to show their solidarity and to fight together against injustices faced by Dalits and all marginalised sections of our society in the country.
Many Activists, Theatre artists and NGO leaders like Dr. Yashwant Manohar (Social activist), Mr. Rajesh Jadhav (Vidarbha Centre for Labour Concerns- NCCI), Dr. Dhanraj Dahat ( Ambedkarite Sahittik), Mr. E.M. Narwane ( Ambedkarite Poet), Mr. Surendra wankhede (Writer and Director), Mr. Virendra Ganvir (President of Bahujan Rangbhumi), Mr. Khemraj Bhoyar (Activist), Mr. Amit Ganvir ( Theatre artist and Activist) as well as Mr. Pradip Bansrior (Executive Secretary, NCCI Dalit and Tribal/Adivasi Concerns) addressed the gathering and urged the people not to remain silent regarding the atrocities and injustices happening in our society. Youth from different organisations along with Ms. Ngalaton Ningsen- NCCI Intern on Tribal and Adivasi Concerns, also shared their concerns and demanded stern action against the cow vigilante groups all over the country.
Dr
Yaswant Manohar, a Dalit activist,
said that a majoritarian worldview, where
might equals right and violence is considered as an acceptable substitute for
dialogue and debate, is being rapidly rolled out across the country – in
Parliament, in schools, in community organisations and government institutions.
Our sense of being Indians, our pride in the rich diversity of beliefs,
traditions and practices; our syncretistic culture and ways of life; our
respect for difference; our ability to extract consensus from disagreement,
debate and argument – all of these are being attacked and erased through brute
force.
Rajesh Jadhav, VCLC Coordinator, expressed that the
saffron assault on educational and cultural institutions has been stepped up.
People with no intellectual or professional qualifications other than their
loyalty to the Hindutva agenda are being parachuted into position as VCs of
universities, directors of national institutions for the promotion of the arts
and sciences, heads of institutions of research, chairs of professional and
technical bodies. The saffron worldview, where myth masquerades as history,
where belief is elevated to knowledge, where superstition overtakes
rationality, is actively promoted by these “thought-leaders” who are guided and
supervised by the backroom vigilante boys of the RSS.
Pradeep Bansrior, Executive
Secretary of Dalit and Tribal/Adivasi Concerns, NCCI voiced that the Una atrocity
is a crackdown on democratic dissent and freedom of expression. The right to
protest is brutally stripped off of even the pretense of legality. Student
movements, Dalit movements, women's movements, movements against corporate loot
of national resources, are all being branded attacked as anti-national. The
benchmark of patriotism
has been re-calibrated to a simple formula where dissent equals betrayal of the
nation. Unthinking subservience and blind obedience to the saffron diktat are the only acceptable markers of
Indian-ness. Any deviation is quickly condemned and crushed.
Our Resolve
The right wing
agencies in Una, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and elsewhere are designing to terrorize Dalits all over India. This stark reality has unleashed
a huge wave of protests and resistance and has brought millions of people out
on the streets. The Samvidhan Square protest is a sign of hope and a signal
of solidarity. Let us not forget that every attempt to crush this resistance cannot silence the voices of protest or weaken the
strength of people's resistance. Let us not forget that the struggle has created
new solidarities among people's movements, students, workers groups, farmers,
intellectuals, and political activists to reclaim democratic space and
build the foundations of new struggles.
Pradip Bansrior
Executive Secretary
Dalit and Tribal / Adivasi Concerns
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Rajesh Jadhav
Coordinator
Vidarbha Centre for Labour Concerns
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National
Council of Churches in India
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