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| Photo on IITM webpage: Ramakrishna and Goddess Kali |
Radical Socialist, calling itself “an internationalist Marxist organisation based in India”, has “dug out” what it believes is an objectionable post on the website of a web-page of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IITM) site, enough for the government authorities to act against a right-wing organization which authored it.
The “objectionable” post is that of the Vivekananda Study Circle, and can be seen on the webpage on IITM website. It asks the loaded question ‘Is Kali Black?’ Quoting from the webpage, Radical Socialist sarcastically said the “gem is claimed to be from The Gospel of Ramakrishna”, pointing out it suggests how the right-wing organization" has continued with “the egregious politics of skin colour”, which favours “violence towards the downtrodden caste.”
Ramakrishna is quoted as saying: “Is Kali, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She appears black because She is viewed from a distance; but when intimately known She is no longer so. The sky appears blue at a distance; but look at it close by and you will find that it has no colour. The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless.”
The post is dated March March 9, 2015, and has been created by vsc@smail.iitm.ac.in.
The Radical Socialist, in its statement, has asked, why government authorities did not act against the “right-wing” Vivekananda Study Circle, which has sought to “explain” the reason behind Goddess Kali not being black, even as it decognized the Dalit group, Ambedkar-Periyar Study Centre (APSC) on the charge of carrying out "anti-Narendra Modi" activities.
Radical Socialist, whose statement was distributed by Dalit Media Watch, said, “The APSC was created in April 2014 to foster conversation and raise awareness about Ambedkar-Periyar and rampant caste violence in the country”, wondering whether it was a crime in India to do so.
It added, the very fact that ban order was issued after the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi received an anonymous complaint signifying that the effort here was to “silence all critical voices, especially voices from outside the spectrum of parliamentary parties”.
Radical Socialist said, “India is a society replete with caste violence. Some estimates claim that each week: 13 Dalits are murdered; five Dalit homes are burned down; six Dalit people are kidnapped or abducted; 21 Dalit women are raped”, wondering why this and other issues such as manual scavenging shouldn’t be discussed.
“It is important that such issues are talked about more, and we stand in solidarity with every initiative that raises awareness about caste violence, Ambedkar and Periyar”, Radical Socialist said, adding, “We cannot eradicate caste distinction by not talking about it, by avoiding to name organizations after Ambedkar-Periyar—it is exactly the opposite—we need to confront caste politics head on as a nation, admit the historical injustices meted out to dalits, adivasis and other lower castes.”
Radical Socialist, whose statement was distributed by Dalit Media Watch, said, “The APSC was created in April 2014 to foster conversation and raise awareness about Ambedkar-Periyar and rampant caste violence in the country”, wondering whether it was a crime in India to do so.
It added, the very fact that ban order was issued after the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi received an anonymous complaint signifying that the effort here was to “silence all critical voices, especially voices from outside the spectrum of parliamentary parties”.
Radical Socialist said, “India is a society replete with caste violence. Some estimates claim that each week: 13 Dalits are murdered; five Dalit homes are burned down; six Dalit people are kidnapped or abducted; 21 Dalit women are raped”, wondering why this and other issues such as manual scavenging shouldn’t be discussed.
“It is important that such issues are talked about more, and we stand in solidarity with every initiative that raises awareness about caste violence, Ambedkar and Periyar”, Radical Socialist said, adding, “We cannot eradicate caste distinction by not talking about it, by avoiding to name organizations after Ambedkar-Periyar—it is exactly the opposite—we need to confront caste politics head on as a nation, admit the historical injustices meted out to dalits, adivasis and other lower castes.”
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