In a live Facebook video, he asked why was no mainstream media carrying any reports of Bhim Army’s recent rallies. He also asked why was it spreading fake news about the army instead of covering their events.
Going live from the Bhim Army’s official Facebook page, Founder and Human Rights Defender Chandrashekhar Azad expressed his anguish over the media blackout of the group’s rally on Friday.
In the Facebook Live video, he discussed all the rallies that he and the Bhim Army held in different parts of Madhya Pradesh. His first rally was in Gwalior and called the ‘Bahujan Samaj Banao’ rally. He said that the love and trust he received from the OBC people filled him with encouragement.
In Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, he said that many attempts were made to stall the rally but the strength shown by the OBC community made it a reality. He said that even Muslims had attended it in large numbers.
His main issue was with how the mainstream media acted during Bhim Army’s Patna rally which according to him was historic.
“There was a media blackout on our rally in Patna. Not a single line was carried in any newspapers or electronic media in Patna or Bihar. Who is responsible for this erasure? Who is the media afraid of? I understand there is government pressure on the media and they are harassed by raids and more when they write the truth. But Media is the fourth pillar of a democracy. If it doesn’t expose the truth then what will happen to democracy? I just want everyone to be aware of the Archimedes principle. If you keep putting pressure on us and keep forcing us down, we will rise with four times the force. Whatever you do, we will continue spreading awareness. We will continue in our mission to unite all Bahujan people. I will make all the sacrifices needed for our identity,” he said in the video.
He added that he wanted equal representation of Bahujan people in all levels of a democratic setup. He asked who was actually representing these interests in the halls of democracy. “The reserved seats are going to slaves. Who actually represents us? Who will fight for our cause and issues in the parliament? Who will actually put our struggle in the forefront in the house? A person who doesn’t know anything about our struggle, who hasn’t gone days without food and shelter, who hasn’t been humiliated by dominant castes, who hasn’t seen his community massacred, who hasn’t gone to jail on suspicion, how will such a person fight for us? This is why Bhim Army is making everyone aware through these rallies. Because it is important for them to know who speaks on their behalf,” he said in the video.
He asked why did the media want to keep people in the dark when the rallies gained a lot of traction online. He also asked why was it spreading fake news about the army instead of covering their events.
“A state BJP leader said that the party will stay in power for 50 years in this country. How can he say such a thing in a democracy? How is it possible to stay in power for so long when, forget the minorities, Dalits, Muslims and SC/ST people, even Savarnas aren’t voting for them? What is this fight for? When you look at the moves Amit Shah is making, don’t you see a big game is being played? That someone is stealing our rights from under our noses? This is why we are protesting against EVMs because they are rigged. We don’t want our votes stolen. My fight is not against a person or a community, my fight is against a system,” he said.
He added that he is against people who obstruct the path of justice and those who don’t follow the constitution. He was against people who take away their rights. “A woman from our community was paraded naked because her brother-in-law married someone outside their caste. You talk about competing with America and China? Can’t you see what’s happening in your own country? This is good governance? 21 Dalit kids were massacred and the SC buried the case. Who was responsible? Will the local police provide us justice? Will the CBI give me justice?” he said.
He said that their fight was to have reservation in the judiciary. He said he didn’t want an autocrat like Modi who kills with impunity. “The only way to stop them is by being united. We have to protect our constitution,” he said.
“There is a rumour that we are contesting the polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. They are categorically false. We are not a political party. We are social workers. We support BSP wholeheartedly and we are not competing with them,” he said.
He said that people like him are silenced by the Money Mafia Media conspiracy. “If they can’t buy us with money or scare us by Mafia, they use the media to vilify us. The media carries fake news about us to derail our campaign. We will not fall into their traps and will continue to spread awareness. If there are people who can do better work than us, then show us. We will support you. But don’t focus your energies on pulling us down. Do something constructive,” he said.
He added that he just wanted representation for the community, their development and implementation of their rights. “I want to assert our independent identity. Every MLA and MP should have a mission and a list of work which they will complete in five years. The 131 MPs and 111 MLA’s that are stuffing their pockets in the name of reservation and not representing us, we will not allow them to come in power again,” he said.
Urging the youth to join him he said, “We want people who are ready to sacrifice for this vision. Those who can dedicate themselves to social work. We welcome you. Our work is cut out for us. We need to do justice to the leaders who came before us and on whose shoulders, we stand today. We need to fulfil their dreams. My respects to all these great leaders like Babasaheb Ambedkar, Jyothiba Phule, Bhagat Singh and more,” he said.
He also added that he will be visiting Jharkhand and Maharashtra. It was reported that he will be holding a rally in Pune on December 30, ahead of the 201st anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1.
On Wednesday, Bhim Army said that about 30,000 people were expected to attend the “Bhima Koregaon Sangharsh Mahasabha.”