Barely 15 months before that fateful Sunday when India and the world watched, in anger and helplessness, as the 400-year-old, Babri Masjid was brought down in cold daylight even as 3,000 members of India’s paramilitary mutely looked on, the Narasimha Rao government had done little to protect shrines other than the one that Hindutva groups had then trained their guns on. Ram Vilas Paswan, a member of parliament (MP) from Rosera, Bihar, as Opposition member on behalf of the National Front at the time, had made one of the most forceful speeches in support of the proposed law.

The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act was passed by the Parliament and enacted into law in 1991 during the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.  LK Advani’s blood-filled rath yatra had wound its way through the country, leaving violence and isolation in its wake. Then, the media, made of different orientations and characted, had warned of the dangerous build-up that was being cynically allowed to unfold.

The Places of Worship Act was brought by the Congress government of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao at a time when the Babri Masjid was still standing. While introducing the Bill in Parliament, then Home Minister S B Chavan said, “It is considered necessary to adopt these measures in view of the controversies arising from time to time with regard to conversion of places of worship which tend to vitiate the communal atmosphere… Adoption of this Bill will effectively prevent any new controversies from arising in respect of conversion of any place of worship…”

Last president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) before he expired in 2020, Ram Vilas Paswan, a five-time Member of Parliament from Bihar during the term of the Narasimha Rao government (that assumed office in June 1991) made a powerful speech supporting the need for such a law on September 9, 1991. Then finance minister, Manmohan Singh had introduced the bill in the Rajya Sabha and Uma Bharati (BJP), Ram Naik (BJP) and Madanlal Khurana (BJP) had, predictably opposed its passage. Paswan has had the unique distinction of holding a central ministry throughout his political career under different government except between 1991-1996.

Elected then from the Rosera parliamentary constituency in Bihar, Ram Vilas Paswan said that such a law was long overdue and chastised the Indian National Congress for not bringing in such a legislation earlier he said, “The Ram Janam Bhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute would not have been arisen here at all. There cannot be two opinions in this regard. I have been pointing towards this matter earlier also and you might have felt offended then. This Bill indeed has a very laudable objective.”

Paswan had also made some prescient points in his speech about the strange and sudden emergence of the politics of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He had stated in his September 9, 1991 address in Parliament that, in 1969, there was a Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD) Government in UP, and in 1977, there was Janata Party Government at the Centre. He asked, “Both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri Lal Krishna Advani were Ministers in that Government, but why didn’t they raise that issue at that time? Why it has been raised only during the last two years?” He then criticised the erstwhile Congress government under prime minister Rajiv Gandhi for allowing such forces to raise their heads for “allowing them to conduct the ‘Shilanyar’ ceremony, and today the country is suffering on account of that.”

Ram Vilas Paswan also pointed how that, secularism, social justice and power to the poor constitute the very backbone of the country and it has been made amply clear in the 1989 manifesto of the National Front (when he was in were in the Janata Party) he had raised a demand that August 15, 1947 should be treated as a cut-off date to determine the ownership of religions places, so that all disputes relating to places to worship are settled permanently.

“… such a legislation had to be brought forward because India is the home of people belonging to many religious denominations. Our country is like a garden and here not one, but all the flowers will be given the opportunity to blossom. People belonging to many communities have made India their home. When Babar invaded India, which Hindu king was ruling the country? It was Ibrahim Lodhi, who was ruling the country at that time. Who came to India before Babur? The Aryans. There was no Hiudu-Muslim clash at that time. According to the religious people, there was war between the Gods and demons when churning of the ocean took place. Now, who were these Gods and who were these demons? Why was there a fight between Vishnu and Shiva? If we go deep into the history of all this, we won’t be able to safeguard the unity and integrity of this country. Therefore, this chapter has to be closed somewhere. We have far more important problems before us – the problem of poverty that of unemployment that of illiteracy, that of rural water supply. This country cannot affort to squabble over trifling issues like Mandir or Masjid,” said Paswan.

Reminding parliament and the country of the wise words of Smt. Savita Ambedkar, Ram Vilas Paswan had told Parliament that she had stated clearly that the “disputed site” was neither a temple, nor a Mosque, but a Buddhist place of worship and these people were saying that the site belongs to them.

Likening the situation to an episode in the Mahabharata, wherein Karna says that his funeral pyre should be lit at a place, where nobody has been cremated before and Krishna was in a predicament and he had to ultimately use his hand as a cremation site, Paswan stated that the present situation too is quite similar. He said, “Today, it is impossible to say, whether a place of worship, was a temple, a mosque or a Buddha Vihar. India attained Independence on August 15, 1947 and at that time, we had 56 crore Gods.”

Paswan added, “When we didn’t have a population of even ten crores. There are five Gods for one person, yet we have not been able to make arrangement for potable water in 5,76,000 villages in the country, but a country where there is only one God, everyone is prosperous and that country is progressing like anything. This is a religious issue. I have already said that I am not a believer. Let people believe in places of worship, according to their faith.”

“The country gained Independence on August 15, 1947. Before that, who were the masters at this country? We don’t want to go into history, and August 15. 1947 was a momentous day in the country’s history. It is such a date in the nation’s history that many among us… During the course of my speech, I have neither referred to any political party nor any political leader by name and nor do I intend to do so. The very objective of religion is to remove darkness and provide light and knowledge. A lamp can be used to light up a house as well as to burn it down. Unfortunately, today, religion is being used to spread hatred and disharmony. We will have to give a serious thought to it.”

“Mr. Chairman, Sir, ours is a country where we have people belonging to various faiths and walks of life and each of one of them should be given an opportunity to realize his maximum potential. I believe that this Bill is a right step, towards fulfilling this objective.”

“Every day, some or the other issue is raked up here. Arguments are put forward in defence of definitions of natives and foreigners. I believe that this matter is beyond the scope of argument. Today, we hear slogans like ‘Garva se kaho, hum Hindu hain’, ‘Garva se bolo, hum Musalman hain’, ‘Garva se bolo, hum Sikh hain’, but where is that soul-stirring slogan of ‘Garva se kaho hum Bharatiya hain? We are first Indians.”

Facing some interruptions from agitated sections among the BJP, Paswan’s speech is worth a read.

Paswan recalls examples of shared citizenship and sacrifice saying, “…Can anyone say that among our freedom fighters, the sacrifice made by Sardar Bhagat Singh was inferior to anyone. During the 1965 war, many of our jawans were decorated with ‘Vir Chakras’, but Abdul Hameed received the highest honour of ‘Paramvir Chakra’. Was his sacrifice, less than that of anyone? Will his sacrifice be underestimated just because be happened to be a Muslim? We attained independence on August 15, 1947. While some people chose the new State, the rest preferred to stay back. It is a fact that the country does not apprehend as much danger from Pakistan as from those within the country, who indulge in espionage and sell the country for a few silver coins. They are the worst enemies of the country.”

He spoke very presciently of the dangers of labelling sections of the Indian population anti-national and questioning their loyalty.

“Now, if people of my age, like Kumari Uma Bharti or myself start accusing the Indian Muslims of being Pakistani agents or the Indian Christians as British agents, it cannot be justified, on any ground. If one goes to U.S.A. and search for an original American, everyone would proudly say that he or she is an American. The Americans are a very united and patriotic people, irrespective of their enthnic origins. It’s high time, we too realized it and drew a dividing line between the patriots and traitors. That line cannot be drawn on the basis of religion or community, nor in the name of Ram. The issue of Ram is theirs and of those who believe in him. Dr. Ambedkar has also said a lot about Ram. I don’t want to go into that, including the fact that Sham-book was killed during Ram’s regime…”

“I want to say that there should be no objection if anyone wants to build a Ram temple, a mosque, a gurudwara or a church, But one wonders, where do these people want to take the country, by demolishing an existing structure and building a temple at that place. Do we want to take the country towards savagery?”

Uma Bharati, also a member of parliament had spoken uninterrupted before Paswan made his speech.

Paswan then said, “Madam Chairperson, I want to point out here that the proponents of Hindutva tend to forget the fact that Hindus are there not only in India but also all over the world. When on 30^th October, a rumour spread that the Babri Masjid had been demolished, some people in Bangladesh went to attack temples there. But when it came to be known that the Babri Masjid has escaped damage, the police opened fire on the rioters and about 20 people killed in the incident. But no temple was allowed to be damaged. Have the advocates of Hindutva ever thought of the repercussions on the Hindus in foreign countries, if a church or mosque is demolished in this country? Therefore, please don’t intermix politics with religion to the extent that it would prove disastrous for our own brethren…”

“Therefore, Madam Chairperson, through you, I would like to say that today the question is not of Hindu-Muslim, nor or temple, mosque or gurudwara. Today, the issue at stake is our Constitution. The issue is to save that India, for whose freedom, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians had fought together and it is the duty of every citizen to safeguard our Constitution. The issue involves not only Hindus and Christians, but each and every citizen of this country. This is a matter concerning the Constitution and I believe that whichever Government comes to power, will have to go by the Constitution. No decision can be taken by putting the Constitution at stake. On behalf of the National Front and the Left front, I would like to warn the Union Government of disastrous consequences, if it allows the Constitution, to be subverted, constitutional provisions to be violated or if it surrenders before those forces which are aiming at subverting the Constitution. We at the National Front and Left Front would from a human chain around the Babri Masjid to protect it from those intending to demolish it. They will have to walk over our dead bodies to reach the mosque. Therefore, I would like to appeal to my countryman that those who have complete faith in our Constitution and the cardinal principals of secularism should come forward, for today our very Constitution is at stake. Yunus Saheb, Shri Syed Sahabuddin and others will tell the House about the loopholes and drawbacks of this legislation, but we support this Bill, as it is in consonance with our demand in this regard, although we, too, believe that this Bill does not carry within itself, a complete solution to this problem.”

“However, it would prove effective in checking the growing communal feeling within the country and attempts by certain forces to incite violence by declaring certain structures belonging to one community has their own. I would like to repeat that so far neither the Government’s policies not its intentions were sincere and it has had its far-reaching consequences. At least now, the Government should rise above petty politics and formulate such policies that would act as a check on those forces, which till the other day, had abused Bhindranwale for mixing politics with religion and for using the Golden Temple for political purposes. But today they are themselves indulging in politics from temple and also justifying it. Therefore, no loopholes should be left in this law.”

“Hindus are in majority in this country and the secular forces within that community have very well seen through the games of the communalists and have understood the linkage between Ram and Politics.”

“The National Front is committed to protect secularism and I urge you to follow suit. I am thankful to you for bringing forward a legislation in this regard and I extend my support to this Bill.”

Re-visiting legislative history at a time when Indian Parliament has been held complete hostage to an autocratic majoritarianism is not just crucial; it could well help temper the winds that threaten to fan uncontrollable fires.
 

*Teesta Setalvad is a Human Rights defender, journalist and educationist. She is the co-founder of SabrangIndia and Secretary, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP).

Related:

Activists denounce Babri Masjid demolition judgment

Babri Masjid demolition judgment shocks India!

The Verdict: Is there closure?

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BHILWARA

Bhanwar Megwanshi

Twenty–six years old Bhanwar Megwanshi is the editor of a monthly Hindi magazine, Diamond India, published from Bhilwara in Central Rajasthan. A Meghwal, one of the scheduled castes, he was born of humble parents in village Sidiyas near Bhilwara. Though his parents were not literate, they educated Bhanwar and his elder brother in the local village school and sent him to a boys’ hostel run by the social welfare department to complete his 12th standard, after which he did his BA privately. 

He comes from a family that believed in Baba Ram Dev, the medieval saint worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims. The latter call him Rama Pir. He grew up worshipping the pagliya, feet of Baba Ram Dev. And Bhanwar has grown up a long way to this day when he is busy combating communal forces and fighting caste oppression in his home district. But it has been an arduous and amazing journey for him, a battle 13–years–long, beginning since he was only a boy of 13. A chequered way to dignity and fulfilment through a fight for justice in society.

As early as standard 6th, the reality of being born an “untouchable” was driven home to him. Bhanwar had gone to meet one of his school friends — a Jat by caste. Till then his friend’s mother had never objected to his sitting anywhere in their house. But that day she asked him to sit on the floor and not the bed on which he was sitting, as the family had guests who knew that he belonged to one of the ‘lowliest castes’. The family tried apologising to him, but Bhanwar was broken. It hit him for the first time that he was a low caste and an “untouchable”, and had a fate radically different from his “upper” caste friends. 

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh came to the village with its shakha in 1988 when Bhanwar was in the 8th standard. Bhanwar went to the secondary school in the neighbouring village. His Geography teacher in that school started the shakha with help from the peon. As the RSS shakha provided the only opportunity for games and physical exercises, Bhanwar joined it along with several other boys. In the shakha, he was introduced to Panchjanya (the central organ of the RSS) and Patheya Kan (the Rajasthan RSS mouth piece). 

In the first year itself, he was promoted to the mukhya shikshak of the shakha. When only 15, in the year 1990, he was selected for the Officers’ Training Camp by the RSS. He completed the first camp of 20 days. In the same year, he was promoted as the RSS Zila Karyalaya Pramukh or office in-charge of Bhilwara district, quite a prestigious post. 

He wanted to rise further in the organisation and become a pracharak.  He told the seniors of his ambition. He was told that he could not become a pracharak, “…Kyunki tum ek vicharak ho, tum apne dhang se hamare vichar rakhoge na ki hamare hisab se…” He was further told that since he belonged to a lower caste he would not be acceptable. 

His having a mind of his own and his lower caste status disqualified him for the post of a RSS pracharak. Nevertheless he was selected to become a worker in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad office which had only then started in the heart of the Muslim area of Bhilwara as compensation. 

Thus he became a vistarak, a post as important as that of a pracharak – vistarak of the ideology by moving to an allied organisation like the VHP. As a vistarak, he could also have moved to other allied organisations like the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, Sanskar Bharti, the Bhartiya Janata Party or the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. 

In December 1990, Bhanwar was selected for the first “kar sewa” at Ayodhya. The 400-strong contingent from Rajasthan was stopped at Tundla near Agra where they were arrested. They stayed in a temporary jail in Agra for ten days. On his return to Bhilwara he went back to his village as the VHP and the RSS were taking out the asthi kalash yatra of the so-called kar sewak martyrs who had lost their lives by the Saryu in Ayodhya. This event was the turning point of his life. 

The asthi kalash carried by the VHP sadhu-sants and leaders was given a glorious welcome by the villagers under Bhanwar’s leadership. He got his family to prepare the meal for the yatris, consisting of kheer and puris. When they were asked to eat the food, a senior RSS leader took Bhanwar aside and told him that they did not have problems eating in his house but the sadhus would. So they suggested that the food be packed to be eaten in the next village. The food prepared for twenty-five people was packed and given. The next day Bhanwar discovered that the food his mother had prepared with such pain had been thrown by the yatris on the roadside. They had instead eaten in the house of one Brahmin. 

This was a shocking, second encounter with untouchability. Bhanwar felt angry and cheated. He took the decision to leave the RSS. He decided that he would not work with those who would not eat or sit with him. It was a painful moment of introspection for him. His every day experiences of being an untouchable hit him with a force. He realised that his RSS and VHP colleagues had never let him get into the Charbhuja temple close by. Being “untouchables” he and his folks were made to take water from a separate hand pump. As a Dalit he could not ride a cycle past the Thakur’s Rawala, or the village manor. The rule for the Dalit was that he had to get off the cycle. His anger against Hindu dharma made him want to leave it. 

Finally one day, he left his village and went to a nearby town in the district to a Roman Catholic Priest and told him that he wanted too become a Christian. His past brushes with Christians made him believe that theirs was a religion that practised equality. He felt that he would find his answers there. 

He was honest with the Roman Catholic priest. He told him that his desire to join Christianity was not out of any love for the religion but an act of vengeance against Hinduism that had treated him with indignity. The priest advised him not to be hasty, asked him to go back to his village and read the Bible. Only after he felt convinced, would he be baptised. 

Bhanwar tried to explain to the priest that his fight was against caste and untouchability. It was in that context that he wanted to convert. The priest did not respond to this. Bhanwar took the Bible away and went to the priests of other Christian denominations. He felt that none of them could understand his anger against Hinduism and the indignity he had gone through. And none of them were willing to fight against caste. They all talked of things spiritual: that “Christ is the Saviour “ and that he should “surrender to Christ”. 

One of the priests even sent word to his family that their son was going astray and planning conversion and that they should stop him. Bhanwar’s father told him firmly that they would be ex-communicated from the caste if he took a wrong step. He felt a betrayal by the Christian Church. When the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 and many of his erstwhile companions had gone to do ‘kar sewa’, Bhanwar was trying to seek his answers in Christianity. 

His struggle to attain a new identity and do away with his original lower caste Hindu identity, which he hated, made him so lonely and engrossed with himself that he was even indifferent (he can not believe it now) to the demolition of Babri Masjid and its bloody aftermath.

His desire to fight caste and the RSS was so great that he felt that he would get a platform for this by joining party politics. In 1993, at age 18, he joined the Janata Dal. He was promptly made the Bhilwara district president of the Chattra Janata Dal. In no time he got disillusioned, as the party had no programme. He came in contact with Ram Vilas Paswan and was made the district Dalit Sena president. He found the Dalit Sena full of sloganeering and no programme dealing with the Dalit reality on the ground. He was also disillusioned by the local Dalit Sena leaders who talked of scientific temper but spent a great deal of time with astrologers. 

When Ram Vilas Paswan was railway minister in 1996, Bhanwar was dutifully paid for his services and made an advisor on the Divisional Railway Users Consumer Committee of Western Railways (Ratlam Division). At the young age of 21, Bhanwar was in a powerful position. But corruption in high places put him off. He found that many of Paswan’s close supporters were keen that he become a broker for the minister. Not willing to the do this dirty work, he resigned from the committee in early 1998. 

He once again felt cheated and realised that the famous words of Ram Vilas Paswan: “Mein us ghar mein diya jalane chala hoon jis ghar mein sadiyon se andhera hai” were only propaganda. Paswan was just like any other Raja, a Dalit Raja. He maintained a separate court for the ordinary workers, like the Diwan-e- Aam of the Rajas, and a Diwan-e-Khaas for the office bearers. Bhanwar called him not Ram Vilas, but Bhog Vilas. He left the Dalit Sena. 

Still keen on getting answers some where on party political platforms, Bhanwar joined the newly floated Rashtriya Janata Dal. Although the district president of the RJD, he felt that at the state and district level it was a Yadav party, of the Yadavs, by the Yadavs for the Yadavs, the rest of them were just showpieces. He moved on from RJD and took membership of the Samata Party in 1999. When the Rajasthan Samata party merged with the Samajwadi Party, he decided to leave party politics altogether. 
He realised that none of the political parties were serious as far as the Dalit question was concerned. He had had truck with all the socialist groups. Why did he keep away from the BSP? He recalls that he met Kanshi Ram of the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1999. He did not like Kanshi Ram calling all Dalits chamaars. Bhanwar felt that chamaar was pejorative in Rajasthan. He felt that the BSP was also not addressing the core issues of indignity and untouchability. It was moving with the compulsions of electoral politics. 

Disillusioned with life, Bhanwar returned to his village and joined as a teacher of the newly started Rajeev Gandhi Pathshalas. He wanted to have no truck with any ideology. He felt that neither religion nor party politics could bring about essential change. So disenchanted was he by the world that he chose not to even read newspapers or hear the radio. 

In August 2000, he met a Sufi saint called Selani Sarkar in Ahmedabad. Bhanwar felt comfortable with him and his followers, as they did not believe in divisions of caste or religion. Bhanwar found that people of all castes and religions seemed to have the same place in the Sufi saint’s order. He experienced a sense of freedom, of being just a human being, free of caste, religion and other identities. Something that he had not experienced till then at all. 

He found that people of different religions had even adopted each other’s practices. It was here that he realised what Manav Dharma was. The Sufi saint inspired him to begin writing and start a magazine. Bhanwar involved his teachers of the area to start a publication of their own under the company nomenclature of Diamond Newspapers Private Limited. 

In the last year he has made this magazine, Diamond India, a platform for voices of the oppressed and for communal harmony. He feels that his resolve to practice and live Manav Dharma is actualising through this endeavour. The first issue of the magazine talked of Hindu–Muslim rishtedari. These youngsters took the bold stand of Hindu–Muslim inter-marriages in a scenario where such marriages cause communal tension. 

Through their magazine they said that if a Hindu has no Muslim or Christian friend and vice versa, he/she has lived an incomplete life. They talked of how friendship between people of different religions must not stop at the tea stalls, but should move to the homestead. 

In the last seven months, Bhilwara district has seen many instances of breaking/ damaging of mosques and mazaars, including the latest ones in Asind and Jahazpur. In this backdrop, Bhanwar’s magazine has fearlessly taken a stand against the sangh parivar and allied communal forces. The Diamond India team is combating communalism and caste through the printed word. 

Even though Bhanwar has been able to take life in his stride and tried living Manav Dharma, he is still often subjected to indignity for being a Dalit. He is saddened by it but feels that through his work he can make the minorities and Dalits see their strength in their togetherness. 

Archived from Communalism Combat, September 2001, Anniversary Issue (8th) Year 8  No. 71, Cover Story 8

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“They say we are untouchables,  let’s be untouchables by be coming live wire,” was the call  given last week by minister  for communications Ram Vilas Paswan to hundreds of Dalit activists who had converged upon Delhi for the release of the ‘Black Paper’ on the status of Dalit Human Rights, a report published by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR).

The next day, on December 9, charged and electrified by the resounding rhythm of Dalit drummers and the rallying slogans of hundreds of Dalit activists who had marched with them from Mandi House to the Parliament, an NCDHR delegation met with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. They were accompanied in solidarity by Paswan, Ramdas Athawale, Member of Parliament, Bandaru Dattathreya, deputy minister for urban development, and Bangaru Lakshman, Member of Parliament.

Collectively, the group called upon the PM to implement the demands listed in the ‘Black Paper’, and to support the tabling of a ‘White Paper’ in Parliament on the actual condition of Dalits today and the performance of the Indian State since Independence in the area of Dalit Human Rights. They also urged him to declare the next decade as ‘Ambedkar Decade’ in order to implement the demands spelt out in the Black Paper’. 

The ‘Black Paper’ is a severe indictment of the State for its denial of Dalit rights to livelihood, education, reservation and employment, land and labour, life and security, and gender equity for Dalit women. It is a well–researched document containing enormous data on the socio–economic situation of Dalits today.

Upon releasing the ‘Black Paper’ the previous day, Athawale, who is also secretary, SC/ST Parliamentarians’ Forum, called the ‘Black Paper’ the “announcement of our fight for human rights and social justice. The rights in the ‘Black Paper’ are very important. If we gain these rights no one in the world can oppress us.”

He made an urgent and vigorous call to implement ‘Black Paper’ demands, including lowering the ceiling limit in the Land Ceiling Act and implementing the reservation policy and compulsory and universal education. Citing ‘Black Paper’ statistics, which show that 2/3rds of Dalits are illiterate and primary school enrolment among Dalit children is only 16.2 per cent, Athawale called upon the government to provide free and compulsory education to Dalits at all levels and to launch a total literacy program for Dalits to be achieved in ten years.

The link between landlessness and atrocities, noted Athawale, needs to be crucially addressed by taking stringent measures against culprits who perpetrate atrocities and by distributing five acres of cultivable land to each Dalit household.  86 per cent of Dalit households are landless or near landless. That struggle for land is a root cause of atrocities against Dalits is evident in the killing of 277 Dalits in Bihar between August 1994 and February 1999 by the Ranavir Sena, a militia of upper-caste landlords. Almost all those killed were poor and landless agricultural labourers who had dared to demand land and minimum wages.

“We should demand land. If by asking we don’t get it, we should build up our strength to fight and get it,” exhorted Athawale. “What is of urgent importance, therefore, is that Dalits have to be militant. When we start insisting on our rights, there will be resistance, but we should not be afraid,” he added, while minister Paswan appealed to the Dalits to join others on social justice issues.

“Irrespective of the parties to which one belongs, the cause of Dalit rights should be our priority concern and commitment,” said Paswan.

Paswan, Athawale, the NCDHR delegates, along with Dr. Dattathreya and Lakshman took up many of these same demands and issues the next day in their meeting with the Prime Minister.

When the Prime Minister commented that untouchability was on the decline, the group cited numerous surveys from the ‘Black Paper’ which show that a large majority of villages in rural India still practice various and numerous forms of untouchability, including the two glass system in hotels, barring temple entry, and separate water sources. Also, almost 9 lakh Dalits in India today continue to earn their livelihood as manual scavengers, 15,000 of them in the national capital itself.

They went on to urge the PM to bring an amendment to Article 21, Part 3, Fundamental Rights, to ensure livelihood rights and the passage of the Basic Rights Agenda 2000 in the 13th Lok Sabha for the upliftment of Dalits. 

Today, Dalits are denied even basic livelihood rights. Over 20 per cent of the community do not have access to safe drinking water, almost 50 per cent live below the poverty line, 70 per cent lack electricity, and 90 per cent lack sanitation. To ensure the livelihood rights to Dalits, the NCHDR calls for the allocation of 20 per cent of GDP and a 15 per cent annual income tax on the corporate sector.

For the protection of Dalit life and security, the campaign urged the Prime Minister to promote and enforce effective implementation of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Rules, 1995.  This would be further backed up by recruiting a proportional percentage of Dalits to different classes of the police force, providing arms and training for self–defence against the perpetrators of atrocities and violence, and establishing special courts at the Supreme Court and district levels to speedily try cases of atrocities and untouchability covered by the act.

Reiterating the necessity for continuing the reservation policy, Paswan emphasised the need for reservation in the judiciary and in promotion to all the services in the bureaucracy. He underlined the duty of the government to fill in all the Class I & II reserved posts that are currently being occupied by non–SC/STs. The backlog of SC/ST appointments is supposed to be enormous — around 10 lakhs in the Union Government Services, not to mention many more in different states.

The Prime Minister assured the group that he is committed to the empowerment of Dalits as has been forcefully stated in his party’s manifesto. Earlier in the week, Athawale had submitted to the Prime Minister a memorandum reiterating the demands of the NCDHR that had been signed by many other Dalit and pro–Dalit MPs.

Over 300 hundred Dalit women delegates also met on December 8 for a National Dalit Women’s Conference, the outcome of which was ‘The Dalit Women Declaration of Gender Rights and Demands’ to be presented to the Indian public and the government for immediate consideration and action. 

(Press release dated December 14, 1999 of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights).

Archived from Communalism Combat, January 2000. Year 7  No, 55,  Dalit Drishti 1

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