MEMORIES of atrocities against Dalits in the Marathwada region still besiege Balasaheb Jawale’s recollection of his childhood spent in Beed district. The 35-year-old, who now has a PhD and teaches at a local college, is haunted by the caste-violence inflicted on the region’s Dalit community, spilling the boiling caste cauldron over onto the streets of Marathwada with brutal killings, rape and destruction of properties being the order of the day. The murder of a Buddhist Dalit, Dadarao Dongare in Sonna Khota village in Beed in 2003 in particular, is etched in his memory.
As local authorities looked the other way and the police refused to file a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the upper-caste perpetrators, it was the Republican Party of India (Athavale) that aided the victims’ quest for justice. The Amberkarite party’s network was well-entrenched at the village, taluka and district levels and more importantly, Dalits looked at the party’s founder, Ramdas Athavale, as a credible community leader. “Within the Ambedkarite political movement, Ramdas Athavale commanded a tall position. We looked up to him as a grassroots leader who was connected to the pains and aspirations of the Dalit people,” recalls Jawale.
Times have changed and so has Jawale’s opinion of Athavale. Today, Jawale resents Athavale for abandoning the interests of Maharashtra’s 13 per cent-strong Dalit population and joining hands with the ideological opponent, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “He has surrendered the entire RPI (A) for the sake of a single ministerial post. Politically, he has no identity and despite being aware of this. he is still holding on to power,” says Jawale. “This is the defeat of Athavale’s politics.”
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin November 21, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin November 21, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Trump's White House 'Waapsi'
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election may very well mean an end to democracy in the near future
IMT Ghaziabad hosted its Annual Convocation Ceremony for the Class of 2024
Shri Suresh Narayanan, Chairman Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited, congratulated and motivated graduates at IMT Ghaziabad's Convocation 2024
Identity and 'Infiltrators'
The Jharkhand Assembly election has emerged as a high-stakes political contest, with the battle for power intensifying between key players in the state.
Beyond Deadlines
Bibek Debroy could engage with even those who were not aligned with his politics or economics
Portraying Absence
Exhibits at a group art show in Kolkata examine existence in the absence
Of Rivers, Jungles and Mountains
In Adivasi poetry, everything breathes, everything is alive and nothing is inferior to humans
Hemant Versus Himanta
Himanta Biswa Sarma brings his hate bandwagon to Jharkhand to rattle Hemant Soren’s tribal identity politics
A Smouldering Wasteland
As Jharkhand goes to the polls, people living in and around Jharia coalfield have just one request for the administration—a life free from smoke, fear and danger for their children
Search for a Narrative
By demanding a separate Sarna Code for the tribals, Hemant Soren has offered the larger issue of tribal identity before the voters
The Historic Bonhomie
While the BJP Is trying to invoke the trope of Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the ground reality paints a different picture pertaining to the historical significance of Muslim-Adivasi camaraderie