DV failed to inspire people to fight Brahminism
I have been one of the greatest admirers and supporters of Dalit Voice all these years. But I am gradually getting disappointed with you.
I began examining why Dalit Bahujans have not been successful in rebelling against Brahminism. That is when I realised that they never had any culture of armed resistance, except in the very rare case of the late Ayyankali of Kerala who successfully butchered the Aryan cowards.
DV’S DEFEATIST ATTITUDE
I was also forced to examine the entire tradition and socio-cultural habit which was hindering this. That is how I realised that even you are very much responsible and that too directly.
Even though you have spoken about the need for more anger, very subtly, you too have been adopting a very timid and nonviolent position in your own writings. Of course, this has been a defect of the Dalit Bahujan leadership right from the very beginning itself. You too seem to have internalized all its cultural flaws.
I don’t think people who seem to be very proud to be called “Persecuted Nationalities Denied Human Rights” will ever have the courage to stand up and butcher their enemies.
You have been disseminating a very defeatist attitude and mentality. You keep on saying that political power will never come without cultural struggle. But what is the use if the culture that you yourself disseminate is one of “Oh, people of the world, take pity on us. Oh somebody help us poor weaklings. Help, help…”. How long must we keep on saying that we are “persecuted” and that “we are denied human rights”?”
Anybody will tell us “If you are persecuted, then hit back severely”. So, this persecution complex and defeatist despairing culture simply won’t do.
“CASTE IDENTITY” IS WONDERFUL
Frankly, it is of no use at all and unless you stop spreading defeatist despair-no revolution will happen. You can have the best theory of “caste identity” and “caste war” which happen to be a very historical ideological breakthrough, but unless
you inculcate a culture of mass revolutionary violence, you will not get anywhere at all.
You may argue that you have been doing enough by fighting for Lotes Sutra. Well, you are right-but you are wrong. Simply change that defeatist slogan on your masthead which seems to actually convey some sort of enjoyment of the pain of being persecuted in a most masochistic manner and screams: “Voice of the Persecuted Nationalities Denied Human Rights. Enough breast-beating, moaning and groaning.
IDEOLOGICAL ERRORS
You simply substitute it with: “War cry of the persecuted and angry nationalities thirsty for revolution”.
Are you willing to do this? I have serious doubts. You may argue that “No, this may make the Brahmins angry and they may shut DV down”. I say: “so be it”. Let them get as much angry as they want. We are here precisely to make them run for their lives. I don’t care if our circulation comes down to even a single digit figure. I actually mean this.
Only those who are interested in armed struggle need to read Dalit Voice. Those who are in a mood to beg, moan, weep and enjoy doing so can stop reading Dalit Voice and do anything else. In fact, you must tell this to your readers very, very clearly.
You must stop all sorts of defeatist despair by sweetening and glamourising the pain of moaning. groaning and weeping. Stop promoting this bloody masochism immediately. Sadists get pleasure by cruelly troubling others, while masochists get pleasure out of troubling themselves. Stop making such masochistic pain, the opium of Dalit Bahujans, immediately. Are you willing to do it?
Of course, this point is merely supplementary to your very serious ideological errors, where you have been adopting absolutely non-revolutionary positions with regard to Sri Lanka / LTTE issue, the Muslim question, China etc. You cannot adopt non-revolutionary pacifism sometime and then
become slightly “revolutionary” the next day. This kind of dilution sends out precisely the wrong message
But I will write in detail not because I have any hopes of changing established social and cultural habits but only because you must know why people get tired of Dalit Voice and stop reading it after some fime.
STOP DV AT LEAST TEMPORARILY
Also, you have to be given a chance to defend yourself ideologically. I must also tell you that there is a very good connection between your personal actions at the micro level and your public actions at the macro level. Both are very much inter-related to socio-cultural habits and norms
Unless you yourself – who still happen to be the leadership of most advance section among genuine revolutionaries decide to change, precisely nothing positive will ever happen. You have to change your methods and destroy established socio-cultural mindsets and habits.
Without such constant flow of refinement and improvement, nothing revolutionary will happen. For that, you will have to lead by example. This is all the more important.
Because, really stunning and unprecedented things are happening all over the world. If we have to take positive advantage of all this, then personally you yourself will have to change first
And let me tell you very frankly -running DV this way is not going to achieve anything. Not because I have anything against you or DV, but because to be effective, we must be willing to change. It would be a good idea to shut down DV for at least sometime, if that will help you take it to a higher and more effective level.
