Dalit Upsurge Unseats Gujarat CM

With the massive Dalit protest in Ahmedabad, finally the message has got through to the BJP brass. Mere lip service and tokenism will not dampen the anger of the Dalits. Somebody has to be sacrificed to assuage the Dalit anger. Anandiben, already under attack for mishandling the Patidar stir, is an easy choice. She is almost touching 75 -- Modi's superannuation deadline -- so can be parked in some convenient gubernatorial slot. That is why her offer to resign.

But this may be a step too late. The anger today runs much deeper, the Una atrocity being the proverbial last straw.

The brutal attack in Una on four Dalit youth has brought Gujarat to a boil. Suicides as protests, show the feeling of hopelessness among Dalits in receiving any justice from the BJP government. With these suicides, the simmering anger against such Dalit atrocities, and government's complicity in such attacks finally spilled over to the streets. The Dalit movement has crafted the novel protest of throwing dead cows in front of government offices, a powerful challenge to the upper castes who feel that they will be polluted if they touch a dead animal. Coming after the Patidar protests, this was a warning sign of a possible anti BJP coalition emerging in Gujarat.

While Muslims are the obvious targets, cow vigilantism has always extended to attack on Dalits. The Una atrocity is not just one stray incident: there are many examples many such attacks. Attacks on Dalits have always accompanied such vigilante mobilisations.

In the same period as Una, Bajrang Dal targeted Dalits in Kundur village of Chikamaglur district in Karnatka, the eighth such attack in the last two years. Five Dalits were killed in Badshapur, only 60 kilometres from Delhi in 2002 for skinning a dead cow. These are only two examples among the many. In each case, the stories are the same – cow vigilantes helped by the police, and justified by the Hindutva spokespersons. Cows are superior to human beings, presumably Dalits and Muslims who are beaten or killed

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, 47,064 cases of crimes against Dalits were registered in 2014, up from 39,408 in 2013 and 33,655 in 2012, a steady increase with the rise of BJP. Cow vigilantism is certainly an important element in this rising atrocities against Dalits.

The revolt of the Gujarat Dalits is of enormous significance. It lays bare the deep fissures in the Brahmanical order built on a division of labour that denies human dignity to those who are essential to its survival. The simple act of throwing a dead cow on the streets is a body blow to the purity pollution principle under which the Dalits are subjugated.

Anandiben's resignation may bring a temporary respite to the BJP in Gujarat. But it has already lead to Muslims and Dalits coming together. If the progressive sections can join with this bahujan forces, the regressive, Manuvadi minority alliance of the BJP will be in deep trouble. It is only such an alliance that can protect the secular character of the Indian state and take us forward.

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