[Reader-list] Fwd: [indiathinkersnet] Ambedkar’s Lost Boys? - Ajit Sahi

Thu Oct 22 20:04:06 IST 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Abhiyya <abhiyya at yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Subject: [indiathinkersnet] Ambedkar’s Lost Boys? - Ajit Sahi
To:

   *"DHRM teaches against drug addiction and alcoholism and encourages dalit
education. How can it be a terrorist organisation?"*
* *
*"We propagate the ideals of Babasaheb [BR] Ambedkar and the Buddhist values
that he preached. All dalits should follow Ambedkar’s life"*

*Ambedkar’s Lost Boys?*
**
*A DALIT ORGANISATION IN KERALA IS ACCUSED OF TERRORIST LINKS*
*AJIT SAHI,** Editor-at-Large*
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne241009ambedkars_lost.asp

  [image: image] *Men in black* DHRM activists
*PHOTOS:* AJIT SAHI AT FIRST sight, 27-year-old VV Selvaraj looks more the
assistant manager with Idea Cellular that he was until six years ago than
the firebrand — and controversial — dalit leader he has quickly turned out
to be in Kerala. He appears even less the man with the dubious distinction
of being India’s first dalit activist the police say they are probing for
possible links with terrorism, as they indeed are.
It all started on the morning of September 23, 2009, when Siva Prasad, 61, a
retiree in an idyllic suburb 50 km north of the state capital
Thiruvananthapuram, was brutally attacked with swords on his morning walk
and died on the way to the hospital. Once a driver for US Embassy officials
in New Delhi, Prasad earned enough to build a house in this suburb of
Varkala, where he returned 13 years ago to join his wife, daughter and son.
By evening, police had arrested K Das, a top functionary of the Dalit Human
Rights Movement (DHRM), a quasi-political outfit floated by Selvaraj in
December 2007, and accused him of masterminding the killing. Over the next
few days, six others, including DHRM’S legal adviser, known as ‘Advocate
Asokan’, were picked up for Prasad’s murder.
Then, on September 29, Kerala Director- General of Police (DGP) Jacob
Punnoose made a stunning claim. “We know the existence of the organisation
[DHRM] and its activities,” he told reporters at Kochi. “We are now looking
into [allegations] whether it has any terrorist links.”
  ‘DHRM teaches against drug addiction and alcoholism and encourages dalit
education. How can it be a terrorist organisation?’
*SHASHIKALA,*
*44, DHRM Member*
The state’s topmost police officer’s sensational claim brought sharp focus
on Selvaraj’s fledgling outfit. The police are yet to offer any evidence to
back the DGP’s claim. (The DGP’s office said he was travelling overseas and
unavailable for comment.) Prasad’s widow, Saraswati S, told TEHELKA that her
husband had no political interests, and she hadn’t heard of the DHRM until
the police told her that the group had killed her husband. Varkala police
chief, P Anil Kumar, refused to divulge their leads on DHRM’S involvement in
the murder. “They killed Prasad to get public attention and prove their
strength in their ranks,” Kumar told TEHELKA.
  [image: image] *Hapless* DHRM members Podiyan and Shantha, whose son
Shivalal is among the missing In Varkala, a clutch of villages with roughly
40,000 people, the divide among dalits over the DHRM has got sharper since
the murder. Shiv Sena activist N Babu — yes, Bal Thackeray’s party has
struck roots here — claims that DHRM men regularly attack dalits, including
him, who refused to join them. “They are criminals,” Babu says. Several
women in his municipal ward, with about 300 dalit families, claim DHRM men
often roughed them up.
But then, many others in the same ward swear by the DHRM. “My husband would
drink all day and was a total waster,” 29-year-old Kochumol, a mother of
three, says. “He turned a teetotaler after attending DHRM study circles.”
Soon, she followed him to these Sunday gatherings where, over five hours,
Ambedkar’s life would be recalled and advice given on daily affairs.
Cultural shows at the end were a big hit. Despite their meagre earnings as
wage labourers — they call themselves ‘coolies’ — everyone would gladly pay
Rs 30 for the events.
  ‘DHRM activists are the prime accused in Siva Prasad’s murder. Now people
want to have nothing to do with them’
*V SIVANKUTTY,*
*BJP District President, Thiruvananthapuram*
But today, Kochumol’s husband, also named Babu, has gone underground,
fearing arrest.. Selvaraj says 35 DHRM men are in police custody or jails,
picked up over the last three weeks. Hundreds have possibly run away. In
village Thachode, Podiyan, 52, and his wife, Shantha, are clueless on the
whereabouts of their son, Shivalal. All three are DHRMmembers. The say that
on September 22, a day before Prasad’s murder, two plainclothes policemen
dragged Shivalal away. “My son has never caused anyone harm,” says Shantha.
“I beg the police to free him.” (Varkala police chief Anil Kumar denied that
Shivalal was in their custody.)
For now, DHRM has stopped all activities. Having taken anticipatory bail,
Selvaraj is lying low. He called this reporter to a village in Ernakulam
district, 260 km north of Thiruvananthapuram along the coast, to a house not
his own. After the interview (see box), he quickly left the area. Selvaraj’s
fear of the police may not be entirely misplaced. When I visited dalits in
Podiyan’s village on October 12, about a dozen policemen landed up suddenly
and began questioning me. “Your T-shirt had us worried,” their boss said.
HIS REFERENCE is to the black T-shirts with Ambedkar’s face, which Selvaraj
made mandatory for DHRM members. Selvaraj also mandated they wear jeans, a
practice few follow since the arrests began.
Selvaraj may have a point in saying that neither the political parties nor
the government has taken kindly to the DHRM. In a state where centuries old
anti-dalit violence is legendary, DHRM has spread its influence quickly by
articulating the dalits’ desire for dignity. DHRM also issued I-cards to its
volunteers. Selvaraj says its total membership topped 10,000. Alarmingly for
the political parties, it has political ambitions. A DHRM activist fought —
and lost — this year’s Lok Sabha elections as an Independent from the
Attingal constituency, winning about 5,000 votes.
Perhaps the BJP, striving to grow influence among Kerala dalits, feels the
greatest threat from the DHRM. “I was once a BJP member,” says Selvaraj.
“But dalits need to be on their own because every political party treats
them as pawns.” For now, though, Selvaraj’s social reform and political
ambitions are subordinated to the needs to extricate his and his outfit’s
name from charges of terrorism.

*WRITER’S EMAIL*
ajit at tehelka.com<http://us.mc583.mail.yahoo..com/mc/compose?to=ajit@tehelka.com>
  *‘CBI Should Probe Whether We Have Terrorist Links’*
*V V Selvaraj of DHRM claims its ideology is non-violent*
  [image: image] *Is DHRM linked with terrorism?*
We demand an inquiry by the CBI to investigate this false allegation. Five
lakh dalits have been influenced by our ideology, which is non-violent.
There was not a single criminal case against us until Siva Prasad’s murder.
Why isn’t the Kerala Police showing any proof?
*What is the ideology of DHRM?*
We propagate the ideals of Babasaheb [BR] Ambedkar and the Buddhist values
that he preached. All dalits should follow Ambedkar’s life.
*Have you converted to Buddhism?*
We don’t have to convert to Buddhism to follow its principles.
*Do you give arms training or do your members bear arms?
*Never.
*Why should the Kerala Police be hostile towards you?*
Our influence among dalits has alarmed all the political parties, including
the CPI(M), the Congress, the BJP and the Shiv Sena. They have all ganged up
against us because dalits don’t go to their rallies anymore. DHRM is now the
mainstream.
*The police claim to have proof of DHRM involvement in Siva Prasad’s murder.
*They have no evidence. They arrested K Das because he was a popular leader.
*What are the activities of DHRM?
*We teach people how to read and write and fill applications to use
government schemes for livelihood. We hold study classes every Sunday.

  *From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 42, Dated October 24, 2009*

*With Regards

Abi*

“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and
justice he is the worst”

*- Aristotle*

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-- 

You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a
nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the
foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole.
-AMBEDKAR

http://venukm.blogspot.com

http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur

http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com