CPI (M-L) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who received the ‘Ambedkar Sudar’ Award, instituted by the the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), on Sunday in the city, said Muslims were emerging as India’s new Dalits due to their ‘outright marginalisation and ghettoisation’.
He said Ambedkar issued clear warnings and asked us not to become complacent with the introduction of universal adult franchise, but to fight hard against economic and social inequality, which, if left unchecked, would render the equality of votes meaningless.
“For Ambedkar, liberty, equality and fraternity represented an integral package, which alone could put an end to the stigma of the caste system. Today, while Dalits experience renewed exclusion at different levels, Muslims, subjected to outright marginalisation and ghettoisation, are emerging as India’s new Dalits, even as Christians, too, face increased prejudices and even violent attacks in many parts of India,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.
Recalling Ambedkar’s warning against the cult of Bhakthi in politics, which could result in the degeneration of democracy and its descent into dictatorship, he expressed the view that today, the Bhakthi cult was overshadowing India‘s system of knowledge and information dissemination.
Mr. Bhattacharya said while Ambedkar favoured reservation as an affirmative action against deeply entrenched social injustice and asked India’s oppressed to move forward in life with the triad of education, agitation and organisation, it had come into attack from the BJP government.
“Today, the right to reservation and education is facing a renewed attack – subversion of reservations, privatisation of education and casualisation of jobs are a trident directed against India’s oppressed and deprived to stop the onward march of social mobility and equality,” he said.
Mr. Bhattacharya said the BJP establishment might claim credit for giving India its first Adivasi President, but when laying the foundation stone for the building or during inauguration of the new Parliament building, the two Presidents (former President Ram Nath Kovind and incumbent President Droupadi Murmu) had been denied their Constitutional due.
“We cannot miss the fact that the new Parliament building and inauguration are loaded with anti-democratic, anti-Republican symbolism,” he said.
“The glorious legacy of the independent Labour Party led by Ambedkar remains a treasure trove of inspiration and insight in our continuing quest for social transformation, as does his contribution to working class rights, achieved through his role as Labour Member of the Executive Council. He wanted equal access to all public resources for all excluded people – more than inter-caste dining, he emphasised inter-caste marriage to stop the production of caste through endogamy and fought tirelessly to secure the rights of women to make free choices in life.”
CPI general secretary D. Raja; Assembly Speaker M. Appavu; Rajendra Pal Gautam, former Minister in the AAP government in New Delhi; CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan; G. Mohan Gopal, former Vice-Chancellor of the National Law University, Bengaluru; and Tamil scholar Thayammal Aravanan received the ‘Periyar Oli’, ‘Kamarajar Kathir’, ‘Ayothidasar Aadhavan’, ‘Marx Mamani’, ‘Quaid-E-Millath Pirai’ and ‘Semmozhi Gnayiru’ Awards respectively.
VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan said the goal and destination of the Left parties, Ambedkarite parties and Dravidian parties – be it the DMK or Dravidar Kazhagam or other Dravidian organisations – is fighting for the working class and social justice.
“Ambedkarite, Left and Dravidian parties may have different identities, but they all put forward the same ideology. Periyarist, Ambedkarite and Marxist movements are not so different from each other, they are same with different identities that travel in the same direction and with the same goals. VCK understands that the point of views, the flags and political ground may be different, but our goals are same,” he added.
