Report of the fourth Dr R M Pal memorial lecture 2019

The fourth Dr R M Pal memorial lecture delivered by eminent Ambedkarite activist and author Mr Bhanwar Meghwanshi threw serious questions as why the caste does not disappear from India. Jaati in India is a nation, he said, echoing a statement long ago coined by V T Rajshekar, whose book : Caste as nations, was published years ago.

Bhanwar Meghwanshi is the voice of Ambedkarite movement blamed not only brahmanical system for it but also questioned those who are mobilizing people in the name of caste and keep their mouth shut when their castes misdeeds are questioned. He was categorical as how can we keep silent if the atrocities on Dalits are done by the middle castes. Should we just keep silent on such issues of violence on the Dalits just we are to make a political alliance with that ‘caste’.  He did not believe that removing surnames, inter-dining or temple entry would solve any issue of the caste.  He gave example of Bhutan where the government of that country decided a unique experiment of putting different surnames to each members of the family and therefore the concept of caste superiority in that country sieze to exists. Bhutan is a small country but in the Human Happiness Index, it is the numero uno for several years and country’s social environ is responsible for that. Annihiliation of caste must become the agenda of Ambedkarite if we have to create an egalitarian society. Bhanwar Meghwanshi also felt honored to be speaking in Memory of Dr R M Pal who was associated with PUCL for years and edited the bulletin for a decade. He was shocked that though he was also part of Rajasthan PUCL but never knew about him which was really sad.

                  Complimenting Bhanwar Meghwanshi and his eloquent lecture, the chair of the session well known author and educationist Prof Mohan Shrotriya explained in detail the source of caste system and why it is important that all the myths and symbols of caste superiority which also spread superstition must be rejected if we wish to progress. He felt that the left forces failed in India because they did not address the caste question.  The fight against caste system should not be confined to it but must join battle in fight against superstition as well as communalism. He also reminded people that it is the voice of reason which will challenge orthodoxy and was their main target. The murders of Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Gauri Lankesh were because they spoke against superstitions and discrimination.

                              Academic activist Sujatha Surepally spoke about the growing atmosphere of intolerance in her state of Telangana for which many laid down their lives. Today, Dalits face the biggest violence and they can not even raise their voice against injustice meted out to them. She referred to various cases filed against her just because she stood with the people seeking justice. Young boys and girls are being killed because they are daring to marry beyond their castes but state is not providing justice to them. ‘ I used to think that state only oppress those who pick up guns but last few years have shown that the biggest fear of the government is from its critique and those who are writing fearlessly. This is the saddest part.

                      Introducing the event, Vidya Bhushan Rawat, founder of Social Development Foundation, informed that this was the fourth lecture in the memory of Dr R M Pal after his death in October 2015. The first one was addressed by Prof Shamsul Islam on the growth of communal fascist forces in India.  The second was a panel discussion on the issue of discrimination against Dalits which included Dr Surepally Sujatha, Dr Goldy M George, Mr Manas Jena and Shri P L Mimroth. The 2018 lecture was delivered by Prof Chaman Lal.

                          V.B. Rawat, spoke of his association with Dr R M Pal and his contribution in strengthening the human rights movement in India and bringing the caste discrimination issue to the forefront of the mainstream human rights bodies who abhorred to speak about the subject for long. He also was the first person in the human rights circle who not only wanted to focus on state accountability on human rights violation but also societies particularly in our part of the world where state are bullied by society and social order remain the biggest violator of the human rights of the people.

                    Vidya Bhushan Rawat said that India is a hugely diverse country with different language, cultures, food habits and festivals but the only commonality among Indians is their sense of ‘glory’ of their castes, untouchability and oppression of the Dalits and women.  Indians take their caste along with them and suffer from the hatred in their belly even if they enjoy the liberal values of the West by living in so many years in USA, Canada, UK and Europe. Sadly, even in Africa, Indians live in their caste order which is a disgrace as well as shameful. As long as caste discrimination and untouchability exists in India, all talks of great civilization and trillion dollar economy will remain humbug and superficial, he said.

               A number of participants raised various questions. Some suggested to remove surnames, other wanted to avail literature of Dr Ambedkar, Joti ba Phule and other revolutionaries of Bahujan Samaj. Some spoke of Bhagat Singh and many about the inability to remove caste by the constitution. The panelist tried to explain many things but one day is too small to address the huge issue. We hope Bhanwar ji and Mohan ji will write about this in details in the coming days. I will also share my ideas on the issue in the coming days.

                  It was great that the gathering had participants from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha.