Denial of basic rights

IF Uttar Pradesh is to play a role in the BJP’s intended victory in 2019, it is crucial that the state is governed efficiently, responsibly and even-handedly. Contrary to the bluster about change, things are going from bad to worse. It is beyond comprehension why the Yogi Adityanath administration has displayed such intolerance towards Dalits planning to hold a press conference/discussion on “atrocities against Dalits”; or why a group of some 50 Dalits from Ahmedabad had to be offloaded from a train by the Jhansi police. All that they wanted to do was to present a 125-kg soap to the Chief Minister. A more tolerant and pragmatic administrator would have apologised for the insult to Dalits and the matter would have ended there. Not allowing a press meet or even a protest march to happen is a sign of paranoia. 

When the Dalit-Thakur clashes happened in Saharanpur, the Yogi Adityanath administration did not let them spread to other districts. On the directions of the Central leadership the Chief Minister tried damage control and even shared a lunch with Dalits in Gorkhpur. But the Kushinagar incident in which soaps were offered to Dalit families before the CM’s visit undid all the efforts towards earning Dalit goodwill.  

The BJP may have tried to send a positive pro-Dalit signal nationally by fielding Ram Nath Kovind for the Republic’s highest office, the gesture is unlikely to have its impact  to the extent intended as ground reports of increased injustices with Dalits keep appearing, and that too mostly from the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The presidential candidate announcement met with an uncomfortable observation made at a Dalit rally in Gujarat: “Till today, did we get to know what caste Pratibha Patil belonged to? Or Pranab Mukherjee? Now, they say it will be a Dalit Rashtrapati and that they are ours. We all know how much the Centre loves us; we have seen that in the last 65 years.” Such questions are bound to arise whenever any party tries to play clever Dalit politics or pay lip-service to Dalit causes.