Dec. 1-15 1981
“DALIT LIFE IS THE CHEAPEST IN INDIA”
The editorial deals with the cold-blooded murder of 24 Dalit (Jatav) men, women and children at Deoli, Mainpuri district of UP, on Nov. 18 1981 – the worst massacre of Dalits since the Dec. 1969 burning alive of 42 Dalits in Tamil Nadu’s Kilvenmani village. But no Shankaracharya, Gandhian or a Hindu hero, who had poured out gallons and gallons of tears out of their eyes and had rushed to Meenakshipuram during the recent mass conversion of Dalits, was seen in Mainpuri. Not one “Hindu” hero expressed any sorrow. Because they were silently enjoying the massacre. They cried over Meenakshipuram because Untouchables going over to Islam weakened the foundation over which the Hindu pyramid was built.
The brahminical forces did not want the Untouchables to get converted to other religions because that would reduce the “Hindu majority” – claiming to be 85% of the Indian population – into less than a 15% minority. They oppose conversion and make the govt. ban conversions not because they love the Harijans. If they had any love for the Harijans, why they did not go during the mass murder of Harijans at Kilvenmani, Belchi, Kafatla, Pipra, asks the editorial.
Jagjivan Ram, who had loyally served Hindus for decades and allowed himself to be used by Hindus to malign Babasaheb, is an angry man these days. He spoke in Delhi on Oct. 29 (1981) and bitterly criticised Hinduism and criticised Hindu rulers for wasting money on Harijan welfare. “Untouchability will not go with their economic uplift”, he said warning them that their problem was not poverty but social cultural and political.
An article by Prof. Kadiravelu of Madras University, “RSS recruiting Thevars in TN”, says the TN RSS unit is headed by a Thevar. The Meenakshipuram mass conversions were due to the Thevar atrocities on Untouchables. Thevars are classified as a BC but this community of BC (classified as robbers by the British) is today acting as the loyal dogs of RSS.
Union Home Minister Makwana, who visited Meenakshipuram, defends the mass conversion of Untouchables at a speech in Calcutta.
Virubhai Bhairavia, who is now (1992) a judge in the Gujarat High Court, writes from Ahmedabad in the “Letters” column that DV and DSA literature are very inspiring.
M. Mazharuddin writes from Illinois, USA, that Dalits of Meenakshipuram did the right thing in embracing Islam and says that the Blacks in US are also going over to Islam after facing discrimination in the Christian church.
Moulana Mir Jaffar Ali, one of our esteemed friends who died about six years ago, writes on the BAMCEF Chandigarh convention (Oct. 14 to 18) which he attended. BAMCEF, formed in Delhi three years ago, is progressing well under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.
In Bangalore, the Karnataka Dalit Action Committee on Nov. 23 1981 organised a massive “High Court chalo” to protest against the anti-Dalit action of the communal- minded then Lingayat Chief Justice D.M. Chandra Shekar (who today after retirement is working with some Hindu nazi organisations). The Editor of DV was one among the 1,000 Dalits and Muslims who were arrested for the action.
