Sangh drafts action plan to contain caste fault lines, reach out to Dalits
NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its political protégé BJP were blindsided by the events that led to the caste violence in Maharastra’s Bhima-Koregaon, and steps must be taken to check its recurrence.
This was the conclusion after a series of meetings, where decision makers in the Sangh Parivar confabulated on combating the growing unrest among Dalits.
People aware of the developments at these meetings said the RSS, which blames “communists” and those who sympathise with the “ultra-Left” for stoking the caste clashes, has decided to redouble its efforts to reach out to Dalits and stop the caste fault lines from widening.
On the agenda are protracted interactions with Dalit communities, distributing speeches of former Sangh chiefs with specific references to their call for abolition of caste discrimination and giving salience to the Sangh’s perspective
THE BJP, TOO, HAS BEEN ADVISED TO COUNTER THE “COMMUNAL FORCES” BY AGGRESSIVELY PUSHING THE “DEVELOPMENT FOR ALL AGENDA”.
on caste.
The Sangh cadre has also been instructed to sniff out incipient caste friction in their areas and take immediate steps to prevent a flare-up. “The Sangh has underlined that superficial segregation on the basis of caste is against the formation of a Hindu Samaj (society), which cannot be complete without Muslims and Christians. This wave of friction between Hindus (Dalits and so-called upper castes) is the handiwork of parties whose base is shrinking,” said a senior Sangh functionary.
The BJP, too, has been advised to counter the “communal forces” by aggressively pushing the “development for all agenda”.
“The Koregaon incident has revealed that more needs to be done to check the subversive, divisive politics of the communists and the Congress,” the functionary said. After the unrest that was set off by Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s suicide at the Hyderabad Central University that spread to several campuses across the country, followed by the clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur and the flogging of a Dalit family in Gujarat’s Una, the RSS and the BJP had drafted an outreach to quell the growing caste friction. The RSS, which runs samarasta (social harmony) campaigns, carried out meetings with Dalit representatives to buttress the need for unity in the Hindu society.
In a gesture of comity, it invited Sant Nirmal Das Maharaj, a Dalit Sikh religious leader from Jalandhar, as the chief guest for its annual Vijayadashami function in Nagpur.
“In the run-up to elections in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, RSS cautioned against caste-based polarisation and explained how conflict between communities would affect the country’s politics. It also impressed upon the BJP the need for building bridges with the Dalits and OBCs to ensure its support is not eroded,” the functionary said.
Even as the RSS has periodically come out with statements castigating atrocities against Dalits, many within the community are circumspect. Dalit ideologue Chandrabhan Prasad told HT that the saffron group was “uncomfortable with Dalits asserting their identities.”
“The RSS prefers Dalits who can be easily dominated. They have a problem with Dalits as victors or as people with benevolence. This is what was manifest in Bhima-Koregaon where the community gathered to celebrate the valour of Dalits,” he said.
Scholar Anand Tumbade also questioned the RSS’s assertion that Dalits were part of the Hindu society. “If Dalits are Hindus, then what is the problem? They (Dalits) are people who are not treated as people,” he said.