Douglas R: Spitz, Department of History, Monmouth College, Monmouth, USA.: You may remember that this past March 4 | came to meet you: I’m most grateful to you for taking time to speak with me, and my only regret is that | was unable to meet with you for a longer period. | do hope that when | am next in India | will be able to meet you again and learn more of your views about the situation in India. | wish to subscribe to Dalit Voice. Our students here, and especially our Afro-American students, are very interested in the condition of the Dalits in India.
Victor G. Jackson, San Antonio, USA: The great, good Dr. Ambedkar was a man of his times. He thought internal warfare for India was inevitable. But he did not know that millions of US dollars would be given to Dalits, wealthy, influential, educated international friends were willing to support Dalits, computers and world-wide communications would be available for Dalits. Dr. Ambedkar did not fully make use of the international law and international minority rights, the United Nations and the World Court could come to the rescue of Dalits. The great, good Dr. Ambedkar, necessarily operated within limits of perception. But the time has come in this Dr. Ambedkar’s Centenary Year to internationalize the Dalit issue. Because India’s Untouchables together with the tribals constitute the world’s single largest indigenous population, perhaps exceeding the population of even Africa. Hence the UN, the World Court, international human rights organisations and all those concerned with justice and peace in the world will have to take note of the exploitation and persecution of Dalits in India. Dalit has become the world’s single most important problem needing urgent attention. Without solving the Dalit problem, no other problem can be solved. Dalits don’t need a war. Dalits need money, millions of US dollars, and international publicity. The Editor of DV must locate a lawyer who will work for the Dalits and is not afraid to take on the ruling powers. We can turn the world upside down. My research has revealed illegal conspiracies between certain multinational corporations and the US Govt. Will DV help break this conspiracy of silence? If a dedicated lawyer will work with my information, the Dalits can within one year gain international publicity and gain share in substantial out of court settlements and law suit awards. We can change the course of history. Will the Editor of DV help us?
K. Mohammed, Riyadh: Because of Dalit Voice the world has come to know the heart-rending story of Satyan (“Nazi crucifixion of a Kerala Brahmin boy to prevent his conversion,” DV Jan. 1, 91). Many people in India and outside think that the Indian courts are 12 Dalit Voice real courts of justice. DV has exposed the true character of the Indian courts. Poor Riberio reached Romania too late or else he could have taught Nicolai Ceausescu’s Securitate one or two Indian Nazi tricks in preparing his hit lists. In India, the Brahmins and other Aryan races want Dalits to go under the label of “Hindus” so that the Dalits will never realize their strength that they constitute 85% of the Indian population.
Ram Rattan Ram, New Delhi: In the last few issues you have been making campaign for V.P. Singh and asking us to vote for the Janata Dal-National Front. But when you shifted to Delhi and got the Delhi Edition of DV released by Ram Vilas Paswan, the then Union Welfare Minister, these people never came to your support when you unexpectedly landed in trouble following the sudden burst of violence by the anti- Mandal upper caste boys. In fact, DV was the only paper then supporting the Mandal Commission in the whole of capital. But those who invited you to Delhi and gave you all hopes never stood by you during this violence that forced you to close down the Delhi edition and retreat to Bangalore.
(You are partly right. Our support to Mandal and V.P. Singh is given not with any selfish motive. Remember one thing. We might have been forced to close down the Delhi edition and come back to Bangalore but within days of our retreat VP Govt. also fell. All of us became victims of Aryan war and violence. We have to recover the lost ground by voting VP back to power. Individuals do not count in the march of history — EDITOR).
S.K. Angurana, Jammu: On March 15, some Dalit workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party allegedly broke some parts of M.K. Gandhi’s samadhi at Raj Ghat in Delhi. The brahminical mass media magnified these and gave out of proportion publicity. Paid agents of the Congress and all other brahminical parties condemned the BSP and its chief, Kanshi Ram. We came to know of all these things from the “national toilet papers” which were vying with each other to tarnish the BSP. But none recollected the mischief done by M.K. Gandhi against the Untouchables and how Dr. Ambedkar, the Father of India, himself had ~ declared Gandhi as the Enemy No. 1 of the Untouchables.
Miss Sukanya Bharati, Nagpur: congratulate the – BSP workers for rightly taking objection to the word Harijan inscribed on the Hundi kept at the Raj Ghat. The authorities of the Raj Ghat defended this obnoxious word which means “bastard” in Gujarati. Gandhi by renaming our people as Harijans has only denigrated us. Our angry brothers took objection to this word which is not used in the Constitution or by the Govt. When the Raj Ghat people defended this unconstitutional and anti-national concept, the BSP people rightly protested. The whole country was happy over this incident.
N. Sreenivasulu, Gen. Sec., Dalit Youth Service Assn., Tada, Nellore, AP-524 401: | want to draw your attention to the services rendered to our people May 1-15, 1991 by R. Rajendra Prasad, a statistician in the MRO Office here. Sulur taluk in Nellore dt. has 70% SCs to whom Prasad has become a darling. But upper castes – never recognized his services only because he is a SC.
Mahesh Chandra & Baggy Lal Sankhwar, Kanpur: The residents of Atwa, Post Pokhrayan, Kanpur, are celebrating the Dr. Ambedkar centenary year by silently spreading his burning thoughts. We will be installing a life-size statue of Dr. Ambedkar on this occasion.
Mrs. Kamala Devi, New Delhi: With ref. to your editorial on DEF (April 16), | liked the way you ruthlessly exposed our well-fed upper caste “feminist” leaders. Kanshi Ram used to keep a name plate bearing the name of Phoolan Devi in his bed room in Delhi. | came to know that he kept this name board after you made him the request to get Phoolan Devi elected to legislature on a BSP ticket. To remember your request, he got this name plate made and kept it hanging before his eyes. DV has been campaigning for the release of Phoolan Devi. You hailed her as India’s greatest fighter for the human rights of Dalit women. But she is rioting in the Gwalior Jail even without a trial for the past decade or so. She is innocent. She can’t be called a dacoit because she killed only those Thakurs who raped her. In self-defense even murder is allowed. Actually, the country has to honour Phoolan Devi. She can be put up by the BSP to the Lok Sabha in this election. But no feminist leader took up her cause because she doesn’t belong to the Aryan race. Your edit is superb.
M. Punithan, Madras: DV has been enlightening us on our problems, our origin, because of our degradation, effect-solution etc. At the same time, when we debate, talk to others regarding the position of India, our different types of social problems, we feel difficult to express it in a convincing way. This is due to lack of statistical data, lack of knowledge about various problems apart from caste. For example, you have “educated us in such a way that we could easily and at the same empirically convince others. This is regarding the caste and communal problems. But we need to be educated in other ways also.
Ramachandryya, Bangalore: Your “Aryan tricks” editorial on DEF (April 16) came as a shock to me. Because | participated in the brahminical tricks, called Appiko, in North Kanara etc. Most of the Appiko heroes were Havyak Brahmins. | did not know the inside tricks until | got it confirmed by your edit.
Srinivasa Raju, Hyderabad: | endorse your edit on DEF (April 16). | approached DEF heroes three times to join our Andhra Dalit Mahasabha work here but they refused saying that we were undertaking a cattiest job. Most DEF heroes are upper caste Aryans. You are right.
G.H. Shanmugam, Madras: You are right in criticizing “the “feminist leaders” (April 16 edit). Brahminical Dalit Voice philosophy has no respect for women. The man, according to Manu, supplies the seed. The woman is only a bed on which the seed is sown. The credit therefore goes to the seed and not the bed. Our feminist leaders don’t repudiate Manu. Manu Vadis can’t be feminists. Periyar was a greater feminist leader than all our Indian feminist leaders put together. This edit must be translated to all Indian languages to educate the Indian races about the Aryan tricks.
R.L. Yadav, 2/18 Ramananda Nagar, Allahpur, (N) Daraganj, Allahabad, UP-211006: Your DV edit,” Hindu unity destroys Indian unity”, has been translated to Hindi and published as a pamphlet. Those interested may write to us.
Pranita Roy, Bagula, Nadia, W. Bengal: The “national press” controlled by the upper castes are building up the image of the Congress and the Nazi party, BJP. The Brahmin-Bania-Thakur gang up is total.
G.S. Mane, Bombay: | am employed in Bombay University. Since the inception of DV | am its reader. Here, we seriously discuss the issues raised by DV. Upper caste Nazis don’t agree with DV but they have no arguments to refute what is propounded in DV. So, they get defeated. To argue with these Nazis, | have kept all DV issues bound into a volume so that | can easily refer to the right subject. | have bound volumes from the year 1981.
Arun. Kumar Nerunkar, and seven other Dalit students of Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, Karnataka: We thank you for bringing out the truth in your report – “Dalit-Lingayat clashes in Gulbarga (DV Feb.1). Newspapers published false reports to tarnish the Dalits. Because of these we were all arrested and put in jail. The man behind this action is the Lingayat vice-chancellor of this university, Dr.N. Rudraiah. The university is being used to build up the Lingayat’s and other upper caste interests.
Buddhist Society of India, Ambedkar Bhavan, New Delhi-55: Over 5,000 delegates attended the Buddhist conference here which pledged to bring India under Buddhism. A mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism was the highlight of the conference. Ven.L. Aryavansha conducted the conversion ceremony. Prof. H.C. Joshi, president of our society, administered the oath. Ram Vilas Paswan was the chief guest.
C.Majumdar, Genese., All-India SC/ST Bank Emp. Fed., W. Bengal, Unit, No.14 India Exchange Place, Calcutta – 1: The birth centenary of Babasaheb and the second state-level conference of our Federation was held on Feb.16. Nikhil Chandra Biswas of the Central Bank was an elected as our new president with myself as the gen.sec.
M.C. Vimal, Dr. Ambedkar Weaker Section Welfare Society, Jammu: The J&K Govt. spends lakhs of rupees on purchase of books. But during the past 40 years it did not buy even a single book of Babasaheb. After two years of our fight, Rs.12,000 worth of Babasaheb’s burning thoughts (books) were May 1-15, 1991 13 purchased by the Mohd. Yusuf Teng, Director-General of Culture, Jammu. This is because of the pressure of Ambedkarite who were inspired by the work of DV and Dalit Sahitya Academy.
Daya Ram Meghwal, New Delhi: At a time when the Hindu Nazis are crying hoarse that they alone are the _ true nationalists, it would be interesting to recall their track-record of gross violation of the symbols of Indian nationhood. Thus, A.B. Shah, a Gujarati Bania, in an article in the Secularist (Jan. Feb. 1973) writes about a meeting organized by the Saraswat Brahmins of Maharashtra. “The conference was attended by the religious heads of the four Saraswat math’s of Kavale, Gokarn, Chhatarpur, and Kashi. The four swamis gave their blessings to the community but refused to stand up when the national anthem was sung….” (p.4). Shah adds that “years ago, a Shankaracharya reused to stand up when the national anthem was being sung at the PEN conference in Baroda. Nehru asked in his characteristic angry tone: Isn’t that the Swami going to stand up?” (p.4). Besides not giving any respect to the national anthem, it is also well-known that the RSS has always advocated saluting the Bhagwa (saffron) flag in place of the Indian tri-colour. The claims that the Hindu fascists alone are true nationalists and that the minorities are not, therefore, is proved hollow.
S.M. Pasha, Madras: DV article (April 1) by Dr. Upendra Baxi regarding the Gandhian perfidy on Untouchables was interesting and thought-provoking. You have to publish another article to expose India’s Nazi historians. My reference is to the conflict between Jinnah and Gandhi on separate electorate for Muslims — and the Untouchables. Such an article will help the posterity to know and decide for itself as to who the real villain of the piece was. For, little is known or made known that it was Gandhi’s unreasonable attitude despite opposition from Dr. Ambedkar towards the reasonable proposal of the British which was responsible for the failure of the Round Table Conference and the imposition of the “Communal Award.” Indian history would definitely have been written differently, and with it the destinies of the Muslims and Dalits, if Babasaheb had joined hands with Jinnah and clinched the issue on the reservation of seats to the Dalits.
Pastor C. Alghar, Emanuel Churches, Christian Pet, Palakol, AP-534 261: | am writing a thesis on the “Untouchables and their religious, social customs and conditions before and after their conversion into Christianity.” | was much impressed on reading DV and that is why | am seeking your guidance.
(Dalit Christians may directly supply him the needed material and prove how the church in India is controlled by the Aryan converts who continue to discriminate against the Untouchables even after conversion — EDITOR).
Raju Thomas, Madras: Dravida Kazagham chief K. Veeramani says in an interview to Alive pg. 18 7990) that” anyone who is not a Brahmin is a Dravidian.” Some writers speak of Aryans, Dravidians 14 Dalit Voice and Adi-Dravidas. Then we have the Mangloid races. Some writers say that the Untouchables are Adi- Dravidas and BCs are Dravidas. Romila Thapar, an upper caste historian, has discounted the Aryan « invasion theory (DV Jan. 16, 1990). Dr. Ambedkar — maintains that Dravidians of the South are the Asuras or the Nagas of the North. Dravida is not an original word. The word Dravida denotes the language they speak but not the race. Tamil was the all-India language before the Aryan invasion. So, Nagas and the Dravidians are the same people. Nagas was a racial name and Dravida their linguistic bame. So, there are only two races, the Aryans and the Nagas (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol. 7 p. 291 to 300). So, all non-Brahmins cannot be called Dravidas. DV musi clear this confusion.
