Skip to main content

Intelligence officials seek details of Dalit padyatra, as organizers object to being termed "red revolutionaries"

Dalit rally in Botad town
By Our Representative
Intelligence officials, attached with the Gujarat government's home department as also the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, have begun a frantic attempt to find out the “antecedents” of those leading the Ahmedabad-Una padyatra (foot march), seeking oath from Dalit community leaders to take a pledge not to ever lift dead cattle, a caste-based occupation.
The protest padyatra is in response to cow vigilantes violently bashing up four Dalit boys on July 11 in Una, a small town in Saurashtra region of Gujarat. The boys were “punished” skinning dead cattle. Begun on August 5, the padyatra will have covered 350 kilometres on reaching Una on August 15.
These officials, it is learned, are seeking find out “sources” of support to the leaders of the padyatra, especially if they are “red revolutionaries”. A few of the officials have frequentes some NGO offices, too, to make queries. Sources say, it is highly unlikely that these inquiries are being made without instructions from the top.
Amidst intelligence queries, one of the top organizers of the padyatra has accused what he terms a “group of keyboard warriors” for running “a campaign against the Una movement” in a desperate attempts to paint it as “one that has been 'corrupted' by the presence of certain people who have been branded as 'red revolutionaries' and the claim is that these 'red revolutionaries' are here to grab credit for the movement.”
Without naming “keyboard warriors”, Pratik Sinha, a young human rights campaigner from Ahmedabad, has said a social media post has said, “This bunch of keyboard warriors specifically have an issue about me clicking pictures”, wondering, why don't they take the next flight, get their camera, and document the struggle instead of “whining away” at the keyboards.
Referring the to the padyatris “2000-3000 strong meeting in Botad”, a town about 150 kilometres from Ahmedabad, Sinha says those who spoke there included a local leader who is part of the Botad Dalit Samaj, but just because references to Mayawati, he “seemed to be associated” her Bahujan Samaj Party.
The second speaker was Martin Macwan, founder of Dalit rights NGO Navsarjan Trust with “a long history as a Dalit leader.”
Then there was Jignesh Mevani, “the face of the movement”, a “young Dalit leader and lawyer, fighting land cases for Dalits”. Sinha adds, “He is the main convener of Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti. Every single main stream media organization has recognized him as the face and profiled him.”
Others who spoke included Subodh Parmar, co-convener of Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti; Bhavna Chawda, a women's dalit leader whose influence is from Barwala to Botad region, the area that the padyatris had already traveled; and Manisha Mashaal, women's Dalit leader from Haryana.
Among prominent participants was Rahul Sharma, former IPS officer, “who saved 400 kids in a madrasa in Bhavnagar in 2002 riots, and was the one who collected the phone numbers in a CD, an evidence which was largely responsible for the conviction of Maya Kodnani.”
Also present was Nirjhari Sinha, Pratik Sinha's mother with him. According to Sinha, both are “members of Jan Sangharsh Manch, are accompanying the entire 10 day rally”, adding, “My mother has a lot of organizational experience having been part of various struggles since 1979. She lends her experience to this movement since a lot of the leaders are rather young and are part of such a movement for the first time in their life.”

Comments

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

As double engine takes backseat in Odisha, BJP is pitted against 'firmly rooted' BJD

By Sudhansu R Das  BJP has got 25 years to build its party base in Odisha. After 25 years, it felt helpless and insecure to fight elections on its own strength. The party was almost crazy to have an alliance with the ruling BJD in Odisha.  Looking for alliance at the time of election shows that the party has not groomed its grassroots level workers into potential leaders.  The state BJP leaders woke up and convinced the Central leaders that they are capable of going solo; the alliance was stillborn. The question is can BJP defeat BJD which is firmly rooted in Odisha after launching piles of populist programs in the state.