Aaron C. Fallen, K-32345/MI-E-13U, PO Box 409000, lone, California 92376, USA: While writing the publication, African Presence in Early Asia (Transaction Books, Rutgers, The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, USA), I was informed of your organisation and struggle from that book. Please send me information on how to obtain your publication and also any free literature the book spoke of.
Enver Masud, Madrasah Books, The Wisdom Fund. PO Box 2723, Arlington, VA 22202, USA: Thank you very much for sending me a copy of your book, India’s Muslim Problem. I look forward to reading it, the two issues of Dalit Voice and the other booklets. So far I have only glanced through the material, and I am particularly intrigued by your identification of the forces and methods being used to expel Islam from India. What I find remarkable is that such perceptive thinking, and brotherly compassion is the work of the least appreciated non-Muslims of India. If you would like to submit articles appropriate for our website, please email them to me. I hope your concern about minorities in India reach a wide audience, and wish you success in your important work. I shall also be sending you a copy of my book The War on Islam, announced in the DV July 16, 2000 р.18).
Dr. Dorothy Anne Masters, Anthropologist, PO Box 78, Centurion Park, Bitterne Road West, Bitterne, Southampton SO 18.1 QN, UK: I watched a piece on “Smith, Mugabe & The Union Jack” on June 25, 2000 by David Dimbleby on the BBC. It was an excellent. objective reporting. I observed, however, that he referred to Zimbabwe as a “Pariah” state. The word “Pariah” comes form India, It is used to describe the most wretched beings on earth. The “Pariahs” of India are also called Untouchables. They number some 150 million people three times the population of the UK. The “Pariahs” of India have no basic rights. India is the only country in the world that practises Apartheid on this scale dividing up human beings in this way. M.K. Gandhi was their greatest enemy. It is popularly held that Gandhi stood for the abolition of the caste system. Nothing is further from the truth.
“……that people should continue in their hereditarily ordained professions: a cobbler should remain a cobbler, a sweeper a sweeper… That, according to me is Hinduism.” (Vikram Seth. “A Suitable Boy p. 1039, quoting Gandhi)
Without caste, Hinduism would not exist. Caste is basic to Hinduism. Hindus carry their caste wherever they go. They cannot and do not mix. Hence they are hated all over the world. In Fiji, in Trinidad, in Guyana, in Uganda, in Kenya, in Tanzania, in South Africa and here in Great Britain. The pejorative use of the words like “New, Nigger” or “Pariah” is most offensive to people. Educated and enlightened people should eschew the use of them. My daughter is married to a Brahmin. I lived in India for 15 years. I know what I am talking about.
Gopal Gurung, PO Box 2828, Kathmandu, Nepal: Thank you for announcing my book, Untouchables of Nepal & Sikkhim (2000, pp. 40, Rs. 15 Indian) in the DV of June 16, 2000 р. 7. An American woman is decorated with Ph.D. degree by the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, on our Mongol National Organisation in May.
P. Kommu, OSD to Chairman, National Commission for SC & ST, Room No. 24. A-Wing, Fifth Floor, Loknayak Bhawan, New Delhi 110 003: All the members of the Commission are very much interested in going through your publication regularly. My email is: ods@ncscst.delhi.nic.in and phone numbers are 4631683, 463 2298.
Prof. K.S. Chalam, Prof. of Economics, Andhra University, 5/34, Siripuram, Andhra University, Vizag -530 003: Upper caste property-holders asked Swami Muktanand Saraswati of Hind Sant Samaj to prepare a model constitution on the lines of Manudharma in 1981. They have distributed copies of it on the fateful evening of Dec.6, 1992 after the Babri Mosque was destroyed. So, Dalits and the majority of the Indian public are justified in suspecting a conspiracy in Constitution review. Interestingly, the minority community, which is now in power and its lackey are alone supporting the review. The majority community feels threatened with the idea of Constitution review. It is a mockery that the minority castes are ruling the majority for the last several generations under certain machinations of the brahminical dharma. It is paradoxical that the Constitution review itself is unconstitutional. There is no provision for review except for amendments under Art. 368.
N.T. Prabhakaran, (Retd. Administrative Officer, ICAR), Prabha Nikethai, Alleppey – 688 006: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is a stinking death cell for SC/ST. Honest and loyal SC/ST officers are always subjected to severe harassment, humiliation, injustice, torturing and persecution. I was working under the CPCRI from 12.9.1972 to 20.7.1991. Later, I was constrained to take voluntary retirement as a protest against the severe harassment of the ICAR and the Director of Central Plantation Corps Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasargod. The Director, CPCRI, Kasargod, deliberately spoiled my career advancement, which was proved in OА 233/ 97 before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Emakulam Bench, Kerala, in the order dated Nov. 16, 1999. The CAT in its judgment directed the ICAR and others to consider my case for promotion to the post of Admn. Officer as on 13.7.1987 by a review DPC in accordance with the rules and it found eligible the applicant shall be given consequential benefits of notional promotion with effect from the date of promotion of the junior. The CAT emphasised that my case for promotion as Senior Administrative Officer shall also be considered and if I am adjudged suitable for such promotion, I shall be given the notional promotion, fixation of pay and other consequential benefits. The CAT also directed the respondents to incorporate the 14 year state service along with the 20 years ICAR service and recalculate the pensionary benefits and all payments found due shall be paid within four months from the date of receipt of the order. The CAT, while disposing my petition, said, “No grading of the application as “outstanding”, very good. good, average or unfit or any other indication as to why the applicant did not quality to be promoted is discernible from the records produced by the respondents”. The CAT observed:
“However, we searched throughout the records produced for our perusal by the learned counsel for the respondents but failed to see anything which would indicate that the DPC made the grading of the applicant and other candidates considered”.
The CAT added:
“Against the name of the applicant in the consideration list, it was noted that permission of ICAR was solicited for initiating disciplinary proceedings against him. It is not known whether this was the reason for his supersession…”.
The Dalit community all over the world should go deeply into the matter and understand the tricks applied by the Aryan rulers, who are well accustomed to pull down the Dalit intellectuals to the hell in a concerted manner. According to the statement furnished to the DPC, I was also fit to be promoted to the post of Class-1 Administrative Officer. But the Aryan rulers wilfully made a destructive noting in the remarks column against my name in the statement, where my name appeared as item number 7. The BSO with a malafide intention wrote that the Institute has solicited ICAR’s permission to initiate disciplinary action against me. I have never been punished after taking any disciplinary action against me during the entire service for 34 years. If the CAT had not insisted on them to produce the records, this criminal offence would not have come to the notice of the CAT or Dalits. This situation has deprived the DPC ignoring my case for promotion in 1987. This was the main reason of my tendering application for voluntary retirement during 1993, as a protest. Later, the CAT in 1999 after about seven years found that the ICAR has not considered my case properly in the DPC in 1987. Accordingly, the CAT directed the respondents to convene a review DPC as on 13.7.1987 and consider my promotion as per rules. The officers who are responsible for spoiling my service and chances for promotion at the appropriate time during 1987-1991 are to be prosecuted as per the provisions contained in the Scheduled Casts and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Director, CPCRI. Kasargod on 31.12.1988, came over to Kayamkulam and harassed and mentally tortured me for not agreeing with the back-door appointment of a lady to the post of junior steno, a relative of a senior officer at the ICAR. On this account, the director shouted at me and threatened in the chamber of the Jt. Director, Kayamkulam, in his presence, after keeping the red- light switched on outside the door for quite a long time. The Director, CPCRI, Kasargod, never permitted me to live peacefully. He always stood in the way of my promotion. This has been established and proved by the order of CAT dated 16.11.1999 where my claims were granted. I never wanted to be a stooge or a loyal dog of the Director or any other BSO, while I was working at the CPCR, Kerala. I never wanted to dance to the tunes of anybody or burn my fingers to safeguard their vested interests. When I came to know that a number of officers junior to me were promoted (including some new recruits) I wanted to quit the service on the ground of persecution. The Dept. obtained written legal opinion from the Central Senior Standing Counsel of the Karnataka High Court. He advised that all the allegations are to be denied first before considering the application for voluntary retirement. But, the Director-General, ICAR, New Delhi approved the application for voluntary retirement under Rule 48 of CCS Pension Rules, 1972, without denying any of the allegations levelled by me against the ICAR. This is a typical example of cruelty shown by the ICAR against a Dalit officer. Upper caste ICAR officers wanted to send me out of ICAR somehow or other. They wilfully ignored the written legal opinion of the senior Central Govt. Standing Counsel. As such, I am entitled to get all promotions and salary from 30.4.1993 to 31.3.1998, the normal date of retirement. My integrity was never challenged by any authority at any time during my entire service. No CR adverse entry was communicated to me on any occasion. There was no vigilance enquiry or any judicial proceedings instituted against me during the lengthy span of 34 years in service. I have proved my professional competence throughout my service. I was promoted to the post of Class-1 Admn. Officer by the ICAR in their office order dated 25.3.1991 given to me by the Director, CPCRI, Kasargod, only on 13.6.1991. It has now been proved that the remarks made in the statement presented to the DPC was absolutely false and deliberately done to pull me down ever since 1987. The Director has to be prosecuted for this grave offence. What our Editor, V.T. Rajshekar, has said has come true that nowhere in the world “merit” and efficiency are given so much importance as in India. Here “merit” goes with the high-born blue blood. I was really shell-shocked when I came to know that the Director and the ICAR deliberately manipulated the records presented before the DPC on 13.7.1987 to deprive me of promotion to the post of Admn. Officer. It was more a sin than a crime. I never thought that the Director would be so much venomous. During the period from 1987 to 1991 whenever he met me he used to ask “what about your promotion to class I Administrative Officer?” Now I understand that he was the protagonist who spoiled my career. The entire persecution against a Dalit officer has to be inquired into by the National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi, and the SC/ST Commission. The order of CAT made on 16.11.1999 in my favour was ignored and never implemented within the stipulated time of four months. My legitimate rights approved by the CAT were purposely denied by the ICAR with a malafide intention to persecute me further, in spite of having lapsed seven years since 1993. It is absolutely unfair, unjust and unreasonable to penalise a pensioner. The CAT order was not implemented as it was in favour of a Dalit officer, Otherwise, it would have been implemented long before the completion of the stipulated time. Now, I am between the devil and the deep sea. The CAT had done justice to me. But the ICAR stood as a stumbling block to deprive me of my legitimate rights. I am not aware why the order of CAT is not implemented or what the ICAR is going to do. The action of ICAR necessarily attracts contempt of court. The indifferent attitude of ICAR is clearly a case of harassment which is very much horrible to suffer further. Justice to a retired Dalit officer is far away from reality in ICAR. I am very much indebted to our beloved Editor of DV for his wonderful book, Merit, My Foot (DSA 1996), which is the Magna Carta of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to fight against the BSO. I am equally grateful to him for giving me a copy of the Supreme Court judgment. pronounced by Justice V.R. Krishna lyer in the ABS Sangh case (1981) to challenge the hollowness of the merit and suitability theory of BSO. I have no hesitation to put on record that these two effective weapons gave additional strength and vitality to me to fight against the Aryan rulers in a very systematic manner. I strongly recommend that every SC/ST officer in India, Central or State, should possess a copy of this book, Merit, My Foot. Throughout my service, CPCRI and ICAR were fighting with me as I was following a policy against nepotism, extravagant expenditure and backdoor appointments. The ICAR has deplorably failed to convince the CAT why I was not promoted to higher positions at the appropriate time, since 1987. As long as I was not declared disqualified as per the procedure laid down in the rulers by the Govt. of India, I am entitled to get promotion to the post of the Administrative Officer, Senior Administrative Officer, Chief Administrative Officer etc. consistent with my educational qualification, seniority in service and experience in the administrative line. It may be noted that my claim for promotion to the higher positions was based on my merit and suitability. The Supreme Court in a case referring to the suicide of ICAR officials said in 1984 that these were not stray incidents but the outcome of persecution, emanating from the polluted environment in ICAR and its affiliates. The judges further said that ICAR and its Institutes were so backward looking in their approach to the members of the staff that the court wasted considerable time of this court’s writ jurisdiction which would imply that they have skeletons to hide. The court observed that it was constrained to note that even after two decades, things in ICAR have not improved at all. Now, it is undoubtedly established that the ICAR has not improved its attitude towards their staff, even after the lapse of 16 years more, since 1984. The ICAR is interested to fight with a retired officer to persecute him further on flimsy grounds in spite of having passed a favourable verdict by the CAT. This situation necessarily attracts the attention of the National Human Rights Commission as the offence committed by the ICAR amounts to be a case of commission of atrocity against a retired officer and as such, it violates articles 2,5 and 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Nani Gopal Das, 17-Dattabad Road, Salt Lake, Calcutta 700 064: I have gone through your two Editorials of March 1 and 16, 2000 in Dalit voice (“The Second Partition of India – Sunset on the Dalit World” 2000, Rs. 5 DV publication). In it you have expressed your acute pain. We also feel the same pain and suffer with you but we are helpless. Still we encourage you so that you may not break-down. Babasaheb also shed tears sometimes but he did not step back. Success will come after many failures. So, please don’t get disheartened. Your services will be remembered on par with Mahatma Phule, Periyar E.V.R, Babasaheb, Sri Narayan Guru and other leaders of the oppressed Indians.
R.S. Harit, 24-Bhogal Road, Jangpura, New Delhi-110 014: Gloom and sunset. That is what you have been writing for sometime. It has its own value indeed. But there is always a sunrise after the sunset. Actually the sunset had occurred long back when the Brahmins ousted and killed Budhism. A new sunrise was there. But only after Babasaheb Ambedkar came on the scene. If the theory of Budhism of cause and effect has to operate, it did operate with the rise of Babasaheb. All good deeds show their results on the misdeeds. The thousand years of misdeeds of the Vaidik Brahmins were exposed by Babasaheb with the result a large section of people of India and elsewhere got enlightenment. His force of belief and arguments put a sane man on the thinking path: Change of mind results in change of man. That is what Babasaheb has done. This ideology continues to enlighten the millions and shall do so in future also. See the miracle that occurred in UP, the largest state of India and the bastion of BJP, in the latest panchayat elections. (DV July 16, 2000 p.5: “Caste consolidation in UP spells doom to BJP“). It is all rural voting. The BJP says the rural population needs no education. But the rural innocent, unlettered folks are far better educated than their Vajpayees and Joshis. There is total gloom inside the Hindu nazi house. All these people who have voted in the panchayat elections will also vote in the Assembly and Parliament elections. A silent revolution is taking place in UP. The demolition of Babri Masjid, the attacks on Christians, the tactics of getting judgments from the apex court, the saffronising of education, the posting of governors, killings of Scheduled Castes in Bihar and elsewhere. all these things have their own effect on the minds of the general public. The latest trick of an autonomy resolution on Kashmir has its own effect on the minds of the people and the image of Atal and Lal Krishna They forget that they are not there to rule for ever. When the next elected setup comes up, what will be the fate of these six saffron governors, nobody can say. The UP panchayat elections should come as a solace to you. It should dissipate your gloom. Babasaheb’s efforts have not gone waste and so also yours.
Panchanan Parida, Advocate, Editor, Dalit Varta, At/ PO: Sovarampur, Balasore 756 001: It pains me so much to narrate the truth about stopping the publication of Oriya DV. The causes are many. Hindu Badar Pratika Ravan Podi, an article published in 1997, was not liked by the Hindu nazis. They managed to register a case against me. I went to the High Court and the case is pending. Even postal concession to my paper is being denied. Besides, local leaders of the BSP did not cooperate with me despite all our support to BSP. An year back Kanshi Ram came to Bhubaneswar when I put him a question:
At Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) you said: “So far I had organised 400 castes. That is how BSP became the 4th largest party of India. If 1,000 castes are organised BSP will become the No.1 party. Why Mayavati then made alliance with BJP in UP?
This question it seems “hurt” the local BSP leaders. On Feb.17, last a constable of the Sadra Police Station, Balasore, produced two Adivasi people before a Balasore court which freed them. But the constable refused to free them unless he was bribed. I was the advocate in that case and when I protested, the police misbehaved with me. The enraged people attacked the constable. And the Balasore police filed a case against me under the Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities Act because the constable was a Dalit. The same day when I was away at Balasore campaigning for a BSP candidate (P.K. Jena), the police attacked my house in the night. They broke the gate and pulled down the roof. My wife lodged a complaint against the police but the judicial officer did not take any action. In the Jan. issue of Oriya DV, we had criticised the judiciary We cited a Bhopal example in which an upper caste judge washed the chair with Ganga water because a Dalit judge was earlier occupying that chair. The entire judiciary at Balasore took offence over this report. When I was undergoing all such pinpricks not a single Dalit intellectual or Ambedkarite came to my rescue. I want to invite you to Bhubaneswar. I will write to you after fixing the date.
All the sufferings that you had to undergo are actually like the pain that a woman undergoes while delivering a child. Yours is a peanut before our sufferings which we accepted with great satisfaction. Because every blow the BSO gives is actually a good conduct certificate to our work. We had a letter from P.K. Jena about a move to start Oriya DV from Bhubaneswar. That is a better idea. Anyway, we will decide all this at our proposed meeting at Bhubaneswar- EDITOR.
K.M. Tanti, D-28, Block-5, Jayadev Vihar, PO RRL- 13, Bhubaneswar-751 013: I will get your pamphlet, The Second Partition of India, translated into Oriya and circulate in Orissa. As regards Dalit Barta, we have decided to revive it and publish it as a fortnightly from July 16, 2000. Like you, I am also very much worried about the unity of the Bahujans.
Pramod Kumar Bindhani, Qt. No. P-IV/10, Nayabazar, Paradip Port Trust-754 142: I have read the arguments of Balwant Singh (DV June 16, 2000 p.12) and Shailendranath Roy (DV May 1, 2000 p.15). Both are correct. I want to give the example of an elephant. The elephant has two types of teeth. The teeth seen outside are a show-piece to outsiders but no use for purposes of eating. The teeth used by elephant to eat are not visible to the outsiders. Balwant Singh has seen only the outside teeth of the elephant but not the inside teeth which are very well covered by the thick black skin. Roy has given description of inside teeth, but did not admit the existence of the outside teeth.
S.P. Singh, Takiapar, Danapur, PO Digha, Patna – 800 012: Our Editor wants a “Conclave of 100 best brains” in some central place in India to discuss his Editorials “The Sunset on the Dalit world“. The point raised in the Editorial are:
1. The educated SC/ST/BC and Muslim/Sikh/Christians who are supposed to protest the exploitation have been corrupted and co-opted by the Aryans. (2) President K.R. Narayanan is fighting alone battle and he is being ridiculed by the savarnas. (3) Bureaucracy, judiciary, media, legal profession, educational institutions are all collapsing. (4) Anybody challenging the Aryans are being dubbed terrorists.
I have a different view altogether. In the name of Babasaheb there are not less than 100 organisations. and some of them have their own publications. If it is a Dusadh organisation, it has no concern for the Chamars. The Chamars and Mahars are two different identities. They get further subdivided on political party basis and have separate conclaves. The Chotanagpur Dalits have no concern for either of these. The Namasudras of Bengal are yet another separate identity. The South Indian Dalit subcastes (Mala, Madiga, Pariah etc.) do not know who are these Chamars and Dusadhs. Another group of social revolutionaries were Periyar EVR in South India, Mahatma Phuley in Maharashtra and men like. Choudhry Brahma Prakash of Delhi and R.L. Chandapuri of Patna. Except Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, none of these political-cum-social leaders had any idea of the Indian caste, religion or history. I had some idea. of the caste because I have read H.H. Risley’s book The Tribals and Castes of Bengal, as early as 1950 but I had no knowledge of Babasaheb’s writings or his struggle for the emancipation of the Dalits. I read. his book, Riddles of Hinduism, in Hindi only in 1993. Now I am fully equipped with all his writings. I was a student of philosophy. Naturally I am acquainted with Western, Greek and Indian philosophy. In India, philosophy turned itself into religion and got spoiled. Science went down. But when I witnessed the havoc played by brahminism on the Indian masses, I went through the entire Sanskrit literature (as Babasaheb has done it) and now I see the mischief played by a class of people who call themselves “high-born”. The original fight was between the Devas and the Asuras. The Devas were finally defeated. The two race virtually merged. Parsuram rose, took up arms and began to annihilate the Kshatriyas. The Brahmins had a heyday. They were in great demand to procreate children for Kshatriya widows. A new class of Kshatriyas came up but they had subordinated themselves to the Brahmins in every affair. By the time Budha came on the scene, Indian religion became entirely ritualistic in which large number of animals were killed (including the cow). Beef was a necessary item in the worship of the Brahmins. Budha’s revolt wiped out brahminism. from the Indian soil. Budhism became a missionary religion, covered / ” of the world population. Brahmins as a lazy class infiltrated and divided it and finally destroyed it. I do not know what Indian history Dalit scholars are going to write. When Babasaheb has himself admitted that Budhism could not do away with well-established caste system in Indian society (Vol. 1), I do not know what relief my neo-Budhist friends are going to get from this newly adopted religion. I am personally not against any religion but I am against subordination of my thoughts and feelings to any authority present or past. Freedom of thought and freedom of expression is my first religion. Islam is best, because it asks you to forget the feeling of high and low. Namaz is compulsory but more compulsory is zakat poor due. A Musalman who does not pay the poor-due (2% of his income) his prayer is not acceptable to Allah. Since all Indian religions (including Budhism) were spoiled by the priestly class, Islam was a welcome religion in India. According to Vivekanand, Islam came as a redeeming religion. The feeling of high and low cannot be wiped out in a day. It will take time. First, we have to know, how many varieties of downtrodden people are there in India. North Indian Dalits have not acquainted themselves with the lives and social structure of people called Mala, Madiga, Mang, Pariah, Koraga, Pulaya, Holeya etc. In North India, we have the pig-rearing Mushara and scavenging Mahtars and Doms. Have the North Indian Dalits Chamars, Dusadhs, and Mahars etc. ever thought of upgrading any Dom to high position? The greatest obstacle in our progress and unity are the Backward Castes (BCs) of India. They have not ousted, Brahmins from priestly functions in temples and their family ceremonies. They still go to fake rishis like Dayanand and Sri Ram Sharma to learn brahma- vidya. So, our first task is our own “education”. We have to select one man who will study the complete works of Babasaheb very thoroughly. Another man will study all the literature on Budhism (about 22 volumes). For the study of caste, we need at least 75 scholars, 5 allotted to each state. Then there are many other books on Tribes of India Santals, Munda, Oroon, Gond, Khond, Naga, Khasi, Bhils, Minas, Kolis and many other minor tribes. They are the real people of India. They did not accept Hinduism or brahminism in any form. In matters of religion our Bahujan Samaj shall include all the established religions of the world. Why should we say that Islam is a bad religion or Christianity? The only religion that is bad from the very beginning is Hinduism. The Hindus may declare the scavenging Doms and Mehtars as very low, but according to me the Brahmin priests rank lower than these night-soil carrying Mehtars. My first aim is to unite SC/ST/BC/Minorities politically. I cannot think of any kind of reservation unless we first put our own Dalit prime minister. The feeling of being a very low caste shall not vanish unless we are able to elect our own prime minister. The question of reservation and its distribution shall be decided by a large committee. of experts, set up by us. Since the upper castes are in power and man all the services, the changeover is not easy. We are in need of a great Backward leader of the calibre of Sahu Maharaj who introduced reservation in his state as early as 1902. He ousted the Brahmins from priestly functions. The Holy Koran openly says there is no mediator between you and four god. If ultimately I have to become a Budhist, shall talk direct to Budha, The Brahmins as a class of people were only a band of robbers. The Kshatriyas of the foreign countries (Scythians, Huns, Tatars etc.) were all robbers. When Brahmins fail in robbery, they take recourse to cheating (priestly job). When they fail in this also they reduce themselves to the status of a beggar. Budhism was a good religion but not for householders. It is well known that brahminism in India has survived on false propaganda and spurious Sanskrit literature. We have to get rid of them. A single article in DV concerning Shivaji made me go through the entire Maratha and Moghul history. DV cannot serve the Indian Muslims unless it first shows that more than 95% of them are of Indian origin. Is not S.P. Singh right in declaring the brahminical holy scriptures as devil’s voice? The Constitution amendment plan is probably to make the Brahmins immune from all criminal prosecution.
Mrs. Surinder Kaur, Flat No. 32, 247/1-Minto Park, Alipore, Calcutta-700 027: The so-called marxists of West Bengal have started withering away thanks to the lumpen proletariat dictatorship established by them over the last 23 years. They have converted the Bengalis into a nation of Dalals, i.e. agents. The “Calcutta Kali” has snatched away the Panskura Lok Sabha seat in their red bastion. Now, she has rubbed salt on their wounds by snatching the Calcutta Municipal Corporation also. This is only the trailer. The real battle will be fought in Jan.2001 Assembly elections. As predicted in DV, the “Calcutta Kall’ is all set to win 162-171 MLA seats out of the 294. We will not be surprised if her tally even touches 180. The Hindu marxists have dug their own grave. Though the Govt. of India policy states that no IAS officer should be kept under suspension for over six months, these arrogant marxists kept Sher Singh, IAS for over six years, despite the fact that the chargesheet against him stood quashed with effect from 12.3.2000 as per the CAT order of 8.12.1999 in OA No. 1321 of 97. Now he has filed a contempt petition. Such anti-Dalit and anti-Muslim character of the Hindu marxists is now fully exposed.
Neerav Patel, 4-Hemant Park, Vejalpur, Ahmedabad -380 051: I read your book, India’s Intellectual Desert. As I have always said, I hold you in very high esteem obviously for your sincere struggle for Dalit liberation. I really very much like the enlightening literature you bring out issue per issue on Dalits. I can never afford to miss your thoughts and theories although not all the time agree with them. Needless to reiterate that you are the only Dalit of India to look upon with real hope. But at times Dalit intellectuals find you eccentric, dare-devil, a God gone mad. Your righteous indignation turns to venomous tirade devoid of all decency and dignity. A towering intellectual like you seems to have gone berserk.
Mohammed Abdul Azeem, C-Block 5/3, ESI Qtrs., SR Nagar, Hyderabad 500 038: I am an Indian Muslim. I came to know about your publications during a discussion with a relative on Indian politics and defence system. He is a subscriber of your journal. I am very much concerned about the upper caste tactics in branding Muslims as anti-nationals and their discrimination of “lower castes”. Please help to counter their campaign. I need information which an Indian Muslim should know to understand and counter upper castes. I need information on the following points:
1. Role of press in India. 2. The internal and external administration and fiscal policy and whom does it benefit. 3. What other people excluding upper caste think of Muslim, 4. The caste system when seen in world scenario. 5. History of ancient India where did. Brahmins come from and 6. What Muslims should do to come up and rule the country.
Please suggest some books which give more information on these subjects.
Khuram Parvez, Students Helpline, III Floor, Butt Complex, Madina Chowk, Gowkadal, Srinagar, Kashmir: The problems faced by the Kashmiri youth are manifold. The biggest problem is the Kashmir issue itself which is responsible for the uncertainty which, has been prevailing here ever since the liberation of India and Pakistan from the British rule. This uncertainty factor has hampered the progress of not only Kashmir but also that of the entire subcontinent. But it is the youth of Kashmir which has suffered the most due to this catastrophe. Moreover, the youth is confused as to why they have to face these problems as they have not created these problems because when they look at the youth from around the world they get an impression as they are the only ones who are deprived of their inalienable rights and liberties to which they are entitled to as human beings. The youth all over the world are leading from the front for the advancement of their society and hence opening up new horizons in the field of science, commerce and technology but the youth in Kashmir has to struggle even for its existence. Since the Kashmir dispute is unresolved no one is ready to invest in the state. The industries that we had in the past became bankrupt while new ones could not be established causing large-scale unemployment. Educated and qualified young men and women are feeling frustrated because they cannot get jobs. For one post there are hundred, rather thousands of candidates. Unemployment is causing brain-drain in the Valley because highly qualified doctors, engineers and teachers are leaving Kashmir. Education has been the worst hit field. When the security forces set up camps in educational institutions, the resistance forces in reply started burning and destroying the institutions. Due to abnormal situation, the normal functioning of the institutions is being effected. A Bachelor’s Degree, normally completed in 3 years, takes 5 years here. The educational standard is fast falling by day. There are round about 400 non-functional schools throughout J&K. Despite all this the state education minister makes huge false claims. This corrupt system favours the incapable and the vested interests that serve the corrupt system and its interests. Merit stands nowhere. If you have money or power, you have everything. If you haven’t this magic, you are ruined, even if you are meritorious. Our education system became victim of uncertainty when we tried to get out of the state we are being harassed and looked upon with suspicion. If we want to proceed beyond the borders of India in search of education or employment we are unable to get passport because in the eyes those who manage the state, every Kashmiri youth is a terrorist. Not to speak of the youth, women and infant children get their passports only after years of investigation. The Kashmir youth demands justice and genuine rights-not an iota beyond that. He demands a human treatment, equal rights and equal opportunities. We have a feeling that we are treafed like cattle. We don’t enjoy the rights ensured by the international law. Above all, there is the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives them a free hand to arrest, kill, torture anyone, anytime, anywhere. This is a draconian law. There is a sense of insecurity. The youth feels he isn’t safe anywhere not on the road. not in the institution not in his own house. Take for instance a young boy namely Farooq Ahmad Dalal of Anantnag who was taken into custody outside his home and was killed by security forces after pronouncing that he was a militant and involved int Chittisingpora massacre. There were 4 other people who were executed in this fake encounter. On one side the youth has to live in fear of such brutal killings and go through the excesses that were committed when people most of them youth raised concern for such innocent killings and were again subjected to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing killing at least 11 people and injuring many more. Recently in Sopore 6 young boys who were members of a non-political religious organisation were killed in a fake encounter. Last month, after a gun battle with the militants the security forces gate crahsed into the Hr. Secondary School at Pattan where the students were beaten mercilessly. In Sopore, two months back, after a firing incident two students a boy and a girl were killed. T Najeebullah Mir, 12th class student of Wadwan, Budgam dt., was dead near the gate of his house when he was returning from the local mosque after evening prayers. And his dead body remained there on the road for the whole night, no one was allowed to come out and take his dead body. Those youth who somehow happened to be associated with militancy but have shunned the path of violence are still the favourite victims of state security agencies. They have to report regularly to the army camps. If some incident occurs in their vicinity they are the ones who are arrested and tortured. They are being made scapegoats but the over ambitious officers of state security agencies who want to earn reputation of being expert in dealing with insurgency. If some militant is absconding his brother is arrested in order to catch him. There have been such instances where young sisters of absconding militants were molested and molestation was used as a weapon of terror. Even in some cases their houses have been blown off. If one documents the incidents of such excess committed against the youth it will be of great help for the international humanitarian organisations to assess the situation in Kashmir. When American forces were engaged in Vietnam there were so many Americans who opposed the US Govt. policies. When French forces terrorised Algerians, the same French people protested. Kashmir is desperately looking for similar Indians with conscience to protest state terrorism in Kashmir. (Excerpts from the paper read at a Srinagar human rights seminar on June 11 and 12, 2000). Email: khurram_99_in@yahoo.com.
S. Haque, Patna: Your Editorial, “Who is a Hindu in a Hindu India? UP exposes vaidik conspiracy to fan anti-Muslim hatred”, and the article “Hindu Rashtra unconstitutional and hence punishable”, by Dr. M.N. Javaraiah (both in DV July 1, 2000) asking the nazis that they must first define who is a Hindu, both are wonderful pieces. Long back Aryans themselves had given the answer to these questions. A protest was launched against the British Govt. law banning sati in 1830, and there was similar outcry in Western India 1 against the Age of Consent Bill introduced in 1891, seeking to raise the minimum age of marriage of girls to 12. The vaidiks’ darling, B.G. Tilak, wrote an article in the Kesri journal that those who support the Bill had “ceased to be Hindu”. That is why they throw their women (widows, old mothers, grandmothers etc.) in the “holy” centres like Benaras, Brindavan, On the recent killings in Bihar, Kanshi Ram said:
“He is very happy at the recent killings in Bihar because Bhumihars are also being killed where only Chamars were the victims earlier”.
After his statement, the BSO blood boiled. Many letters to editor appeared condemning his statement. Even the ex-darling of the BSO, Kalyan Singh, said Hinduism is the other name for casteism. He said RSS is the real follower of manuwad because they do not like Backwards, Dalits. There is no place for Backwards and Dalits in RSS, he said based on his experience. We pity this BC leader. How did he live in such a suffocated environment in which he spent over half a century. If Kalyan Singh accepts his crime and seeks apology for the Babri Masjid demolition, he would be remembered as hero who fought against his own crime.
M.A. Mohammad s/o Abdul Areez, Kolakeri Village & Post, Coorg-571 214: I got your books. Many thanks for your precious gift. This is the first time, I get an opportunity to read the DV. I congratulate you for the sharpness of your pen. I am doing MA in History at Mangalore University. My command over English is poor. But I am a good writer in Kannada.
