"CONGRATULATIONS TO VICTORIOUS MS. MAYAWATI JI" 
CHANAN CHAHAL
( President, Federation of Ambedkarites and Buddhist Organisation U.K.)
I offer my belated but heart felt
congratulations to BSP, its leadership, grass roots activists and above all to
its supreme leader Ms. Mayawati Ji, who worked tremendously hard, against heavy
odds to achieve the impossible. Ms.Mayawati Ji have broke the mould by not only
winning, but by establishing a Government with overall majority and breaking
the chain of Coalition after Coalition for last fifteen years. She has not only
struck a blow for the liberation of Women, but she also broke the age old taboo
of acceptance of leadership of ‘untouchable’ lady by the masses. This appeared
to be unthinkable only few years ago. This can only be attributed to Ms.
Mayawati Ji’s single mindedness to achieve the highest position in the largest
State of India. She had to cross many hurdles, such as Gender and Caste
discriminations and relentless efforts by the high and mighty to criminalise
her character. Despite of all these created complications, she stood fast her
ground and showed the world that what can be achieved by having noble
objectives.
It can not be denied that personal crusade
of Ms.Mayawati Ji and her associates have paid off, but the time has come when
the BSP leadership must consider their future as a national party with
influence at the Centre. It means that they must analyse their status from the
prospective of their strength and weaknesses. According to Dr.Ambedkar the
requirements of any successful movement are “Numerical strength, Economical
strength and Intellectual strength’.
It has been demonstrated that if they
mobilise the Dalits and other marginalised communities, then they do have
Numerical Strength. If they promote education amongst these backward
communities and ensure their employment in private and government sector then
they will have Economic Strength. Like other parties they must create many
tiers of leadership hopefuls in the party, so succession proceeds smoothly.
They must have academic base to write, create, compare and debate policies with
other rival parties, forecast their likely outcome and that would be the
Intellectual strength. Having all the ingredient of successful conclusion, then
I do not see any reason why this party should not succeed.
A word of caution, having won the decisive
mandate to govern Utter Pradesh, the BSP leadership must not ignore the
contributions made by the grass root workers and Ambedkarite Missionaries who
relentlessly continued to promote the Ambedkarite ideals amongst the masses.
Despite the media bias they got the true opinions of the leadership to the
people and they reacted and responded positively to their call. The experience
of the past tells us that what happens in party like BSP, who has minority
based stronghold, their leadership tends to lean heavily towards stronger well
organised majority of the party, at the expense of the poor, unorganised and
illiterate minority. I hope it does not happen in UP, because these are the
very people who stood by the leadership of the BSP, through the thick and thin.
It is too much to hope that Brahmans,
Muslims and the people belonging to the OBCs, who have supported the BSP this
time around, had overnight transformation of heart by abandoning age old
rivalry in favour of everlasting friendship. It is nothing more than
safeguarding their own self-interests. I agree with Mr. Bahal’s analysis that
Brahmanic ideologists have used our own people, from time immemorial to
manipulate us, but did not allow them to get in any position of power, from
where they can take decisions to remove the shackles of slavery. So the BSP must remain forever vigilant and
never abandon their true callings and the Dalit expectations must be fulfilled,
from where the BSP originally hailed.
They must continue to work tirelessly to strengthen the Dalit base even
stronger then before.
The other states of India
must learn from the experience of the BSP in Utter Pradesh and make unified
efforts to unite the Ambedkarite movement under the banner of BSP, to achieve
the same. The State of Maharashtra the birth place of Dr.Ambedkar should have
known better, instead of creating unified movement and become a shinning beacon
for the rest of the Country, they have created fragmented groups too numerous
to mention. The leaders of these factions have comfortable existence but the
sufferers are the poor masses, once awake they will not forgive these leaders
who have betrayed them and enjoyed the fruits of their betrayal for years.
Other States in India have their problems,
but the Ambedkarite missionaries are working in all of them, so the politicians
must take advantage and cater for people’s needs via the Ambedkarian
prospective. The Punjab is another State which is ripe for the picking. It is financially
well of and it has solid BSP base, so it require a determined leadership to
bring about similar victory to Utter Pradesh. They must not fall into the same
trap which RPI fill in. The RPI, despite having a solid base its leadership
kept looking towards Maharashtra for leadership directives. Due to Ambedkarite missionary’s
activities people of Punjab are aware of the Ambedkar’s contributions and are ready to take the
next step. The BSP leadership must take a leaf from Ms.Mayawati Ji’s book and
persistently present a credible programme worthy of support. I have for past
few years travelled extensively in Punjab Villages and spoke to the people, who
expressed their disappointments with the leadership who do not keep in touch
with them. They only see them on Election times. I am sure if the leadership steadfastly
keep in touch with the people, the revival of their political fortunes, are
possible in Punjab.
We must not forget for a moment that the
history wear witness to the fact that our forefathers have been the true
nationalists of this country, they have sacrificed themselves for many
nationalist and religious movements without expecting or receiving any rewards.
The time has come when we must think of ourselves and our down trodden brethren
who have tolerated untold atrocities for thousands of years. So let us be
selfish for once and concentrate on our own welfare for a change. We must be
inspired by the dedication shown by Ms.Mayawati Ji’s and shed the feeling of
helplessness and strive for power. Remember the words of our Babasahib who said
“Write on the walls of our houses, that we were the dassas of yesterday and
want to be the rulers of tomorrow”.
The leadership of other ruling parties of Punjab are always playing the
same card of communalism over and over again, as did Mulayam Singh Yadav in Utter
Pradesh, but this time the people of U.P. rejected it, in favour of Bhujan
Smaj. If the communalist policies are properly exposed by the BSP in Punjab and present a positive,
credible alternative, then I am sure the people of Punjab will also reject the
ruling party agenda and create a similar atmosphere as in Utter Pradesh. I do
not think that people of Punjab are so gullible or naïve to be fooled all the time.
Once again Congratulation to BSP and the
Dalit people of Utter Pradesh.
POSTED ON MAY 24TH, 2007
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"116TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF
DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR"
Chanan Chahal
(Lecture delivered by Chanan Chahal, President
of Federation of
Ambedkarites and Buddhist Organisation U.K. on 14th.April 2007.)
The Speaker of Lok Sabha India, Honourable Mr.
Somnath Chatterji, Mrs. Chatterji, Minister for co-ordination Mr. Rajat Bagchi
and Ladies and Gentlemen.
We have gathered here to celebrate and analyse
the life long contributions of Dr.Ambedkar to Indian way of life. We Indians
are historically known for honouring our heroes, blindly following their
teachings without having tested their impact on society. However, it would not
measure up to the teachings of Babasahib, if we gather annually on his birth
anniversary and shower empty praises, which, lacks commitment. If we continue
to do so then it would fall in the category of ‘Hero Worship’. Dr.Ambedkar not
only apposed the ‘Hero Worship’, he holds it responsible for the decline of
Indian society in comparison to other progressive societies of the world.
Dr.Ambedkar’s teachings and mission is
transparent from his speeches, writings, and his way of life. While presenting
the constitution to the President of India he said “Social and economic
democracy is the tissue and fibre of the political democracy, tougher the
tissue and the fibre, greater the strength of the body. The democracy is just
another name for the Equality”.
“On 26th January 1950 we will inter
into a life of contradiction, we would have equality in politics and inequality
in social and economic fields, if we ‘the elected’ fail to remove this
contradiction then those who suffer will destroy the structure of political
democracy”.
India is in the 60th year of home rule but, the social and economic
inequalities are still with us. Due to, which, if we take the events of last
six months and we see that last December violence erupted in Maharashtra and
some other states of India. The reason was that a Caste prejudices atrocities
against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and gender discrimination is on
the rise. Another reason was decapitation of Dr.Ambedkar statue in Kanpur. It was deliberate
act to provoke the oppressed of the society. This was the first time the
oppressed reacted violently to public humiliation and desecration of Dr.Ambedkar’s
Statue. It seems that victims of Caste prejudices have had enough of empty
promises. If the authorities still do not take the hint and implement the
constitutional provisions being committed against Dalits, then it will pave the
way for the Caste Warfare, which will be in nobody’s interest.
We do not condone such violence because we
believe that Dr.Ambedkar was right when he said “We must hold fast to
constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It
means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must
abandon the methods of civil disobedience, non co-operation, and Satyagraha”.
If the rule of law fails to protect the weak from atrocities, than the people
would go for unconstitutional means. To avoid such eventuality in the future
the authorities must implement the constitutional safe guards and protect the
victims irrespective of their Caste, Faith, or gender.
Over half a century ago our first Prime
Minister Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, referred to Dr.Ambedkar as “Symbol of social
revolt who justly revolted against the oppressive features of Hindu society”.
The protests against these ‘oppressive features’ which Nehru referred cease to
be limited to Indian boundaries, in fact because of them Indian society today
have become subject of international ridicule.
Thankfully, it seems our present Prime
Minister Dr.Monmohan Singh has rightly diagnosed the Indian disease when he
compared the Caste practices to Apartheid in South Africa and said “The
Untouchability is not just a, social discrimination, it is a blot on humanity”.
There never been, in the past, lack of acknowledgement of these oppressive
features what was lacking a willingness to do something about them, instead of
shedding some crocodile tears in sympathy. The only time will tell if our
political masters now have the political will to remove this blot from our
society.
2007 is the 200th anniversary of
abolition of slave trade and slavery. It was celebrated worldwide. There seems
to be a new worldwide consciousness about the Human rights abuses. At one time
one country did not interfere into the internal affairs of the other, but now
due to multiculturalism the Human rights abuse is not tolerated irrespective of
in which country they occur. It seems that the world after having abolished
Apartheid in South
Africa, it
has turned their attentions to Indian Caste based discriminations.
·
The discriminatory Caste practices in India
became under scrutiny and condemnations by the United Nation’s Human rights
division.
·
In February this year, The European Parliament has
passed a resolution condemning Caste based discrimination. They said “The
rights of dalits remains ‘grossly inadequate, and the atrocities, untouchability,
illiteracy, inequality of opportunity, continue to blight the lives of India’s
Dalits”.
·
The Houses of Lords of Britain had a debate on Caste
discrimination issues in India and
abroad.
·
BBC conducted a survey which concluded that 55% of
the Indians in India feel that only possible obstruction between India becoming
Superpower are the hierarchical Caste system ‘The Caste issues would become
barriers to Social harmony’.
We are very proud of the fact that India is
very successfully surging ahead in economic fields and there are all the signs
of India becoming an economic world power in very near future. So it stands to
reason that all possible hurdles should be removed from the path of India
achieving its goals.
The Indian government headed by Dr.Monmohan
Singh have undertaken to change the mindset of the Indian people about Caste
consciousness and its destructive features. He accepts that “It is necessary to
make a distinction between the problems faced by Dalits in India and
the problems faced by minorities in all other societies. Dalits have faced a
unique discrimination in our society that is fundamentally different from the
problems of minority groups in general”.
The Indian Government have launched a year
long celebrations of the 2550th year of Mahaparinirvana of Lord
Buddha. Mr. Singh said that during this year “We have to make the Government
more transparent and humane, more caring and honest. Our commitment to building
a more inclusive society must harmonise with Lord Buddha’s message of a just
society”.
“The intellectual, moral, and spiritual legacy
of Lord Buddha endures and inspires. It encourages us to follow the path of
righteousness, benevolence, and humanism”. The Indians should be vigilant and
monitor the policies and actions of the Government to see if they are sincere
about their proclamations.
The Indian parliament should take notice of
the violent responses against atrocities by the Indians and they also must not
ignore international criticism as they have done in the past, because, now
international investment is on stake. They must move towards fulfilling the
constitutional commitment to Equality, Liberty, Fraternity, and
justice and make it a reality.
The gathering here today and people in general
who have settled abroad should pay true homage to Dr.Ambedkar. The true homage
to Dr.Ambedkar is not only singing his praises at top of our voices from the
rostrum, but it is to get committed and involved in changing the Caste ridden
society into Casteless society by discarding Caste practices in our everyday
lives and become example for the rest of the world.
By doing so we would truly be deserving
respect in words of
Dr.Ambedkar;
“The glory to those who keep up their struggle
in spite of heavy adds, carping humiliations, storms and dangers till down
trodden secure their human rights”.
Thank you
Fwd. by Harmesh Jassal POSTED ON APRIL 24, 2007 | 
