Zanzarka rally: Gujarat BJP MP "admits" he is under tremendous pressure not to speak out against atrocities on Dalits

Shumbhunath Tundiya

By A Representative
A Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament (MP) from Rajya Sabha is learnt to have admitted that he has been under “tremendous pressure” from his political bosses in Delhi not to speak out the way he did against the gruesome Una incident, in which four Dalit youths were tied with a chain attached to an SUV, and thrashed by cow vigilantes in a procession in the town.
Shambhunath Tundiya, a Dalit MP, considered dharmaguru in the community, had told a local TV channel that the BJP had failed to act against atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat, and the Una incident was the “last straw.” In a video which went viral, he said, Dalits would not tolerate “oppression any more”, and that the authorities should realize, the Dalits have been “forced to eat dead cow’s beef for centuries because they were forced by circumstances…”
“I was made to retract. You don’t know the type of problems I faced in the party after I made that statement. I will not speak out any more”, Tundiya is learnt to have told a Dalit delegation which went to meet him to persuade him to speak out against “attacks” on Dalits across India in the recent past, especially in Saharanpur, where 56 Dalit houses were blazed by an upper caste crowd.

Martin Macwan reading out the demands at Zanzarka rally

The delegation, which belonged to the Dr Ambedkar Vechan Pratibandh Samiti, or Stop Selling Dr Ambedkar Committee, went to Tundiya as part of its two-week long programme across Gujarat to ask Gujarat’s Dalit MPs and MLAs as to what they have done to protect the community, in whose name they were elected from the reserved constituency.
Revealing this, a member of the Committee, Kirit Rathod – one of the organizers of a well-attended June 3 Dalit rally in Zanzarka, the “religious seat” of Tundiya about 100 km south-west of Ahmedabad – told Counterview, “We had gone to meet him on May 27 to inform him about our mass agitation programme, which ends on June 13. Tundiya was quite apologetic. He said he knew the ground realities UP, where he had gone to campaign during the recent elections.”
Following the June 3 rally, the Committee members, led by Dalit rights NGO Navsarjan Trust founder Martin Macwan met Tundiya to seek his answers on why he was not speaking out for the Dalit cause in Parliament and outside. "I will raise the issue", is all he told the delegation.

Banner on display at Zanzarka rally

The list of 10 questions on which Tundiya was sought answer at the Zanzarka rally included what he had done to press upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban cow vigilantes. While reading out the list of questions, a member a Samiti recalled, Modi had personally insisted that there was no place of cow vigilantes who attacked Dalits, and action should be taken against them. The four Dalit youths were attacked on suspicion of cow slaughter.
Following a month of uproar across India against cow vigilantes, indirectly referring to the Una incident, which took place in July second week last year, Modi had said, “It makes me angry that people are running shops in the name of cow protection… Some people indulge in anti-social activities at night, and in the day masquerade as cow protectors.”
Other questions asked to Tundiya included whether he had accused the slogans such as “Ambedkar murdabad” and “Ravidas Murdabad”, ransacking of the Ravidas temple, blazing of 56 Dalit houses, murder of a Dalit youth, all of which happened in Saharanpur, UP, on May 5, 2017; what had he done to stop forced migration of Dalits from their villages in Gujarat and elsewhere in India; what had he done to press upon the government to act against manual scavenging, and so on.
Addressing the Zanzarka rally, Macwan announced that Dalit Valmiki community women were preparing a 16-feet soap to be delivered to UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, whose men had handed over over shampoos and soaps to 100-odd Musahar Dalit families, asking them to “come clean” before they met him in Kushinagar district.

Comments

NYT: RSS 'infiltrates' institutions, 'drives' religious divide under Modi's leadership

By Jag Jivan A comprehensive New York Times investigation published on December 26, 2025, chronicles the rise of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — characterized as a far-right Hindu nationalist organization — from a shadowy group founded in 1925 to the world's largest right-wing force, marking its centenary in 2025 with unprecedented influence and mainstream acceptance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who joined the RSS as a young boy and later became a full-time campaigner before being deputized to its political wing in the 1980s, delivered his strongest public tribute to the group in his August 2025 Independence Day address. Speaking from the Red Fort , he called the RSS a "giant river" with dozens of streams touching every aspect of Indian life, praising its "service, dedication, organization, and unmatched discipline." The report describes how the RSS has deeply infiltrated India's institutions — government, courts, police, media, and academia — ...

Why experts say replacing MGNREGA could undo two decades of rural empowerment

By A Representative A group of scientists, academics, civil society organisations and field practitioners from India and abroad has issued an open letter urging the Union government to reconsider the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and to withdraw the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. The letter, dated December 27, 2025, comes days after the VB–G RAM G Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16 and subsequently approved by both Houses of Parliament, formally replacing the two-decade-old employment guarantee law.

Domestic vote-bank politics 'behind official solidarity' with Bangladeshi Hindus

By Sandeep Pandey, Faisal Khan The Indian government has registered a protest with Bangladesh over the mob lynching of two Hindus—Deepu Chandra Das in Mymensingh and Amrit Mandal in Rajbari. In its communication, the government cited a report by the Association of Hindus, Buddhists and Christian Unity Council, which claims that more than 2,900 incidents of killings, arson, and land encroachments targeting minorities have taken place since the interim government assumed power in Bangladesh.

Investment in rule of law a corporate imperative, not charity: Business, civil society leaders

By A Representative In a compelling town hall discussion hosted at L.J School of Law , prominent voices from industry and civil society underscored that corporate investment in strengthening the rule of law is not an act of charity but a critical business strategy for building a safer, stronger, and developed India by 2047. The dialogue, part of the Unmute podcast series, examined the intrinsic link between ethical business conduct , robust legal frameworks, and sustainable national development, against the sobering backdrop of India ranking 79th out of 142 countries on the global Rule of Law Index .

ArcelorMittal faces global scrutiny for retreat from green steel, job cuts, and environmental violations

By Jag Jivan ArcelorMittal is facing mounting criticism after cancelling or delaying nearly all of its major green steel projects across Europe, citing an “unsupportive policy environment” from the European Union . The company has shelved projects in Germany , Belgium , and France , while leaving the future of its Spanish decarbonisation plan uncertain. The decision comes as global unions warn that more than 5,500 jobs are at risk across its operations, including 4,000 in South Africa , 1,400 in Europe, and 160 in Canada .

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

2025 was not just a bad year—it was a moral failure, it normalised crisis

By Atanu Roy* The clock has struck midnight. 2025 has passed, and 2026 has arrived. Firecrackers were already bursting in celebration. If this is merely a ritual, like Deepavali, there is little to comment on. Otherwise, I find 2025 to have been a dismal year, weighed down by relentless odds—perhaps the worst year I have personally witnessed.

Gig workers’ strike halts platforms, union submits demands to Labour Ministry

By A Representative India’s gig economy witnessed an partial disruption on December 31, 2025, as a large number of delivery workers, app-based service providers, and freelancers across the country participated in a nationwide strike called by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU). The strike, which followed days of coordinated protests, shut down major platforms including Zomato , Swiggy , Blinkit , Zepto , Flipkart , and BigBasket in several areas.

Can global labour demand absorb India’s growing workforce?

By N.S. Venkataraman* Over the past eleven years, India has claimed significant economic growth , emerging as the world’s fourth-largest economy. With the Government of India continuing to pursue economic and industrial development initiatives, this growth momentum is expected to continue in the medium term.

Search This Blog