Liberating Ambedkar’s Ideology from Religious Nationalism: Towards Annihilating Caste

India is passing through a serious structural crisis and the manifestation of this crisis is manifold. The failure of the economy is obvious with the total surrendering of policies to World Bank and WTO guidelines. The chanting of nationalist tunes by BJP is both the frustration of the failing state capacities in the wake of aggressive neoliberal policies and also increasing material crisis across the country i.e. rising inflation, downfall of permanent employment, cut down of subsidies for farmers and students. Hence, we get the excessive doses of saffronisation in education, and on streets with saffron goons asking everyone to chant “bharat mata ki jai” as if it will resolve all the economic and social crises magically, instead these are attempts to hide the systemic oppression of students, working masses and dalits under Modi rule. What is the need of them in colouring Ambedkar with saffron? Is that merely for vote bank politics? Nope, its all to convert all naïve dalits as a ideologically strong infantry/footmen in the battalion of their war field. That’s what happened in, Gujarat riot of 2002, were naive dalits were ideologically strengthened to work against their own interests. So the move by Hindutva forces in bringing dalits under their own umbrella is for the long run of their ideology but not for a while alone.

The recent activities of the current BJP regime are doing multi-coloured project for these causes. They acquired and converted the memorial hall of ‘Number 10, King Henry road, London’ where Ambedkar stayed during 1921 – 22, laid foundation stone to ‘Dr Ambedkar international centre’ in New Delhi, they cried for Rohit Vemula’s death as a ‘mother of India has lost its child’, umpteen numbers of projects are expected as soon as possible. At the same time, they are more conscious on their real and intact agenda of building hindu rashtra. They banned Study circle named with Ambedkar and Periyar (APSC IITM), orchestrated the death of Rohit Vemula, FTII, JNU thus converting all educational institutes into the hierarchical ‘gurukul’, killing more tribals of central India in the name of ‘Operation no name’, breaking dissent of any form, are some of their steps towards the goal. Even some times they speak about the ‘social justice (pseudo)’ but many of times they are unmasked and their real faces are exposed. Recently, Mohan Baghwat seeked to review on quota policy, Amit shah justified the sacred varna system, the spewed poisonous statement of MLA’s and MP’s of BJP are move towards their ‘Ram raj’ or ‘Hindu rashtra’ agenda. The latest fee hike in IITs exposes the neoliberal face of Modi regime. But at the same time the complete fee waiving for students from the SC/ST category is foul play of the BJP to regain the Dalit support which they lost the ground after the complete expose in APSC-IITM and HCU issues. The same govt. stopped the fellowship to Rohit Vemula and forced him to die for his stand on anti-hindutva policy, is now announcing fee waiver to SC/ST category is nothing but an absolute mockery. With such a divide and conquer approach, BJP intentionally attempts to intensify anti-reservation attitude among students and easily diverted the main issue of hand-over of IITs to global capital. The step towards two lakh fee hike, intake of 10000 foreign students into IITs and financial autonomy is a larger push for privatizing the Indian higher education sector. During the 10th ministerial conference of WTO held in Nairobi last December, Modi government has agreed for a complete privatization in higher education, according to GATS. Based on this, the New Education Policy – 2015 is prepared and is yet to be presented in the parliament for approval.

RSS has been working systematically since the BJP came power, to resurrect this country as Hindu Rashtra, to counter all measures of justice, with one stroke i.e. the stroke of Brahminism! We should recall B. R. Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary, who has said in 1935 – “I had the misfortune of being born with the stigma of an Untouchable; but I will not die a Hindu”. Hindu Fundamentalists appropriate, with utter lack of shame, Ambedkar who embraced Buddhism in 1956. As Ambedlkar rightly asserted in Annihilation of Caste, “you must not forget that if you wish to bring about & breach in the system then you have got to apply the dynamite to the Vedas and the Shastras, which deny any part to reason, to Vedas and Shastras, which deny any part to morality. You must destroy the Religion of the Shrutis and the Smritis. Nothing else will avail. This is my considered view of the matter”! The ruling class political parties like BJP and Congress are celebrating Ambedkar's birth anniversary as 'Samrasta Diwas' (Social Harmony Day) to keep the status quo intact in this country, but the real Ambedkar is - as Anand Teltumde says “Ambedkar’s samata is not samrasata” - the rebel against the braminical caste hierarchy.

The current regime has spreaded the disease of nationalism into all the institutions i.e. judiciary, parliament, universities etc. The Indian state has failed in protecting the lives and rights of dalits and other working masses, whether it is case of Delta Meghwal, burning of dalit huts, changes in labour laws or the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. It is the same state which tries to get legitimacy by appropriating Ambedkar's advocacy of constitutional politics, leave alone such attempts by political parties. During the state celebration Ambedkar's birth anniversary, the extravagant show by RSS and BJP and Sangh parivar would be like celebrating his birthday along with the portraits of Hedgewar and Golwaker. They also authenticated with their twisted statement like ‘Ambedkar believed on Sangh ideologies’ (Feb 15, 2015, by RSS Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat.). They are none other than, the yet another step of hindutva forces, gonna appropriate Ambedkar under Hindutva fold. Let them to celebrate his birthday, but the trap behind all these entire moves should be analysed profoundly.

Nowadays the celebration of Ambedkar’s birthday anniversary is merely turned out as a ceremonial function. This is the greatest betrayal to Ambedkar, who is being worshipped as a sheer idol rather than following the ways he put forth for caste annihilation. This has to be viewed in a self critic way by many identity political organizations. Many identity political parties and organization are constricted themselves and put Ambedkar into the ‘cage of exclusive dalit identity’. They even criticize that dalit problems can be handled only by another dalit or dalit organization. That is the reason why, Arundathi Roy was sternly criticized by some dalit intellectuals when she gave an introduction to Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste” (AoC) by writing ‘The doctor and the saint’, that is the reason why the protest for Rohit Vemula’s cause has become the sole property of many identity based organisations. These activities of intellectuals of identity politics and identity political groups may simply open the gate for the closure of ‘caste annihilation’ struggle among the larger masses. To distinguish between the friends and enemies in the political arena is more important for the success of AoC. Otherwise the enemies may engulf Ambedkar by appropriating for their political benefits.

Thus, it is in fight against Brahminical fascism that WE NEED AMBEDKAR MORE THAN EVER! It was Ambedkar, who gave the foundational idea that a nation which did not cater to justice is no nation at all! The ruling classes have strangled the space in education and media to allow any voices of dissent to surface. As has been known to people, more than 80 percent of Dalits are located in rural areas as landless labourers and marginal number of them living in urban areas mostly in slums and working in informal sectors. Therefore, it is the historic need to build a class unity across castes to fight against saffron neoliberalism. Ambedkar has many times argued against capitalism and way back in 1938 while addressing railway workers in Manmad, announced that untouchables have two enemies: 'Brahmanism and Capitalism’. Hence, it calls for dalit mobilization as part of class wide movement for issues beyond reservations, for instance, of wage labour, affordable medical facilities, affordable education and economic justice. Annihilation of caste has to be done along with the class struggle towards new democracy. When we criticize pseudo-Left for maintaining a criminal silence on the oppression of religion and caste, we also need to expose the pseudo-Ambedkarites for dividing the movement through their sectarian tendencies and criminal silence on the onslaught of neoliberal capitalism. While the pseudo-Left in India views caste as only a superstructure problem that caste will wither away once the class struggle is over, it shows the failure of them in applying dialectical materialism towards the concrete analysis of concrete conditions in resolving them. They follow Gandhian attitude of reformism within the Hindu religion and cautiously avoiding the fight against Brahminical Fascism and has no problem in the so called India's glorious past of Vedas, Manusmriti, Ramayanas and Mahabarathas.

The dire need of the hour for the student community is to know Ambedkar’s ideology towards the ‘establishment of caste free system’. Those who simply praise or celebrate Ambedkar by name sake can never succeed in fulfilling his wish. Working towards annihilation of caste only isolate the trickery moves of perpetrators. For that Ambadkar has to be reinstated from identical politics into radical politics. We need to extricate the real and radical Ambedkar as our guide in our struggle against the Brahminical Fascism of our times.

As a student community let us unite and annihilate the caste system, which is dictating both in the base and as well as in the superstructure of our society.

India Stinking: Democratise the Social Division of Labour

"The Hindu Social Order is based upon a division of labour which reserves for the Hindus clean and respectable jobs and assigns to the untouchables dirty and mean jobs and thereby clothes the Hindus with dignity and heaps ignominy upon the untouchables.”

- Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Untouchables or The Children of India’s Ghetto

Keeping aside the violence against dalits as captured by the NCRB data; there also exists a systemic violence against a section of dalits by forcing occupations related to waste management on them. The jati-based social division of labour is the hallmark of Brahminical Indian society. There is inter-mobility between occupations for the people in different jatis except for the occupations related to waste management like manual scavenging from dry latrines, cleaning of sewers, and other waste disposal, i.e., which externalises the responsibility of maintaining cleanliness to a particular caste. Even during periodical religious extravaganzas like Kumbha Melas, it is the jatis associated with scavenging jobs from various parts of the country are called in for removing the waste. During the Maha Pushkaram festival in Telengana last year, in which 27 pilgrims were killed in stampede, sanitary workers were called in from the adjoining states to clean the tonnes waste generated in the pursuit of religious stupidity. Another case in point is that during the Chennai floods last year, it is the sanitary workers from faraway districts cleaned the city and brought it back to its normal condition at the risk to their life, health, and livelihoods. Even in Delhi during the 2010 Common Wealth Games lakhs of rag-pickers were employed by the state to keep the city clean.

 

Whether it is the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (during the last NDA regime) or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan- clean India campaigns- there is a conscious attempt not to address the key issues like manual scavenging from dry latrines, cleaning of sewers and sepitc tanks without protective gear. The Clean India Campaign being launched on Oct 2014, during the last 2 years manual scavenging of dry latrines, sewers and septic tanks has caused 1,268 deaths. The reason for this will be clear if we read what Narendra Modi has said some years back about manual scavengers:

“I do not believe that they [valmikis] have been doing this job just to sustain their livelihood. ... At some point of time, somebody must have got the enlightenment that it is their duty to work for the happiness of the entire society and the Gods; that they have to do this job bestowed upon them by Gods; and that this job of cleaning up should continue as an internal spiritual activity for centuries” (Karmyog, 2007, collection of speeches by Modi, pp 48-49).

It is this casteist mindset of the Indian state which blocks it to address the practising of this social evil. Modi's comment on manual scavengers is no different from Gandhi's assigning of the title Harijan to dalits to include them within the Hindu fold. Modi's this comment was protested and his effigies were burnt in various parts of the country which led him to withdrew 5,000 copies of his book. It is not only Modi, but also all those who are promoting Swachh Bharat campaign who are not aware of the real problem. So, it is the ploy of Brahmanical fascists to only address cleanliness without mentioning anything about caste.

India is the uniquely unclean country in the world because the waste generated by the entire society is being forced to be cleaned by only a section of people under the sanction of caste system, resulting in stockpiling of waste (mainly generated by the rich) and stigmatisation for those who disposes the waste. As with the Brahmin monopoly over knowledge had left the country ignorant and stagnant for centuries, India remains unclean because the large majority of the society has been criminally using the labour of few to clean their wastes. While non-dalits too take up in Municipal jobs related to waste disposal due to precarious nature of livelihood options in the economy which is increasingly becoming a colony of imperialist countries, the informal waste management jobs are still mostly done by dalits. While various shades of dominant caste “social justice” based parties demand reservation in jobs related to higher echelons of bureaucracy, no one from them demands reservation in municipal sanitary jobs. So, without addressing the caste system in its entirety the evil of manual scavenging cannot be eradicated.

The Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) is on a 125 day 30,000 km country-wide Bhim Yatra, which will arrive in Delhi on 12th April Tuesday 4 pm near Ambedkar Bhawan, demanding an end to manual scavenging in which 1.8 lakh households are engaged. While the legislations like Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 enacted in Parliament are not ending the practice, the Brahmanical fascist Indian state itself has become a waste to be removed. Eliminate manual scavenging immediately! Demolish dry latrines! Stop the deaths in sewer lines and septic tanks! Mechanise the sewerage system! Pay Rs 10 lakh to dependants of persons who died in sewer lines! Liberate and compensate all manual scavengers with Rs 5 lakh each! Internalise the responsibility towards cleanliness! Annihilate Caste!

In Revolutionary Solidarity with SKA's Bhim Yatra - 13th April - 11 am, Jantar Mantar

‘EN’COUNTER THE HIGH SWAY OF CASTEIST MURDERERS!

While the tale of violence and oppression against Dalits is historical, and as students across the country are fighting to provide justice to Rohit Vemula and against the violence perpetrated by burning their huts in Nawada in Bihar, another incident of violence against Dalit boy is in front of us. We strongly condemn the public hacking of V.Sankar and the gruesome attack on his wife S.Kausalya, on 13th March 2016, by the Thevar (a Shudra caste) gang at Udumalpet near Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, as it happened in broad daylight and in front of the criminally “silent public”. It is the marriage between Sankar and Kausalya few months back that led to this heinous attack by the self-proclaimed protectors of the caste system. Here, the boy happened to be a dalit and the girl is from a Shudra caste group. It is not an isolated incident in Tamilnadu, but in line with the murders of Illavarasan, Gokulraj, institutional murder of a dalit engineering student Ajit and many other cases which were not reported. Slaughtering of dalits who choose their partners outside their caste, mainly from the Shudra and upper caste groups, had become the important agenda of the brahminical fascists throughout the country. Intermarriage remains the socially forbidden in this environment of caste oppression and these murders are again indication of “honour killing‟ nothing but caste arrogant killing, to maintain the status quo of the caste system.

Whether it is the concept of 'bahujan' or the 'non-brahmin', it has very limited validity for their extended applicability in the historical time and that too with many constraints and restrictions. For example, the term 'non-brahmin' in itself does not go into the inner contradictions that existed within the social grouping. Situations have changed since Periyar’s time and the inner contradictions were not like today. Now, with the lopsided capitalist development few in the Shudra caste groups differentiated themselves from the rest of their caste-group and the entire society, and became the employers of their own caste group labourers and dalits. For the former any unity within the later working class groups will be a real danger. So, they use every possible means from the old social order, i.e., the caste system, to stop the workers from the Shudra caste groups from realising their chains. To achieve the later and thereby to keep the power relations intact the people from working class in the dominant castes were also forced to perpetuate acts like murders on their fellow dalit proletariats in the veiled names like 'honour', 'valour'. Instead of fighting against the brahminical caste system with a class unity and the caste system as a whole, the Tamil nationalists and the others who make their career out of identity politics are only shedding crocodile tears. While the state machinery acts with impunity when it suppresses the dissent, it chooses to remain silent and thereby complicit in the crime when it comes to the ruling castes who take the 'law' into their hands. The Indian state, time and again, has showed in the past that its 'laws' are not equally applicable to Dalits and lower castes. The perpetrators of this crime should not be spared and punished soon.

Tiruppur city was also in news for another reason which is for having the highest proportion of workers belonging to main worker category (44%) according to Census India in the country. Tiruppur, a global knitwear nod, is a highly industrialised district in the country in terms of its demography and economic output. But it is not without it being part of the imperialist global production networks which exploit the workers in the developing countries through their cheap sweat-shop based production process and thereby earn huge profits to the multinational corporations located in the developed part of the world. It also benefits the local shop owners who mostly belong to the Shudra caste groups of the region, who on the one hand act as a prop to the recolonisation process and on the other exploit all possible means from the pre-capitalist old society for blocking any real social change to happen towards new democracy. It is in this context the murders and various other atrocities against dalits have to be looked at.

As we know, the majority of Dalits in this country are landless labourers and workers in rural and urban areas, working and living in informal sectors and slums. Therefore, it is the historical necessity to build class unity of workers who can fight against the onslaught of hindutva comprador capitalism in the Modi regime. The government is crushing every movement, be it students movement emerged from University of Hyderabad against the institutional murder of Rohit or targeting the students of FTII, or the movement of Honda workers in Gurgaon or JNU movement by students and faculties. This government is hell-bent on slaughtering democracy from all these places. Without understanding the brahmanical communal rage and dominant caste rage - politically and organizing ground level movement - there is no use of crying about the land of Periyar! When begging for reservation the dominant caste claims that they are oppressed but while doing these murders they claim Kshatriyas! Shame! Cancel reservation for the caste which propagates and encourages such murders! Ban all the dominant caste based Political parties and organisations! Punish the culprits in lynching of Sankar ! Annihilate Caste!                                                                 

Sanghi Nexus RSS-Zee News- ABVP Down Down ! Revolutionary Politics Long Live!

We condemn in the strongest possible words the decisions of 14^th March of the high-level enquiry committee set up by the university with respect to the incident on 9^th February. As we have all seen, the revocation of academic suspension on 11^th March was just a sham, the sanghi administration has shown its real colors with recommended rustication of 5 students including JNUSU president Kanhaiya along with Com. Umar & Com. Anirban and 18 show-cause notices that is issued to others. We view this in a pattern of events that include administration’s attack on students organizing events that are sabotaged by the ABVP and its godfathers. This time the ABVP was a part of a much larger plan that included the sanghi media as well. This is nothing but a systematic plan that targets individuals in order to demoralise them and in turn destroys the JNU culture of having posters, parchas, public meetings and events.

The parcha issued by Democratic Students Federation (DSF, dated 10^th March) is utterly shameful to a campus engaged in a strong political movement against the saffronization of education. We don’t understand why a ‘political’ organization would operate by the logic of the sangh and classify certain arguments as ‘irresponsible pamphleteering’. It is high time we remind ourselves that JNU has several student organizations that function as organizations, any pamphlet or poster issued by them is the organization’s position and every member is accountable for it. Not only is it unnecessary to include names of signatories but this practice can in fact will foster individualist tendencies, furthering taking us away from organized politics.

Recent events show that this rightwing assault on our freedom to debate and dissent hasn’t spared our teachers as well. We strongly condemn the attack and slandering against Prof. Nivedita Menon through ABVP’s police complaint and the media trial by Zee News. Prof. Menon who has been a vocal feminist has always stood in defense of progressive; the attack on her is literally ‘witch-hunting’, a lame attempt to scuttle voices of dissent by such defamatory campaigns. Academic discussions are not devoid of politics, theory and politics have had a two-way relationship, both contribute to each other. Prof. Menon along with others that contributed to series of lectures on nationalism have repeatedly pointed out that a discussion of Kashmir issue and the topic of oppressed nationalities in India is not new, that there are several academic positions on the same. Universities are such spaces to discuss and debate these issues. We appeal JNUTA and JNUSU that the history of Kashmir and the related issues should be discussed in the series of nationalism classes.

The immense support from academics and intellectuals all over the world has been key in the StandWithJNU movement. The arrest of Prof. SAR Geelani on sedition, attack on Prof. Vivek Kumar, ABVP’s attack and campaign against Prof. Rajesh Misra of Lucknow University, witch-hunting of Prof. Nivedita Menon and poet and scientist Gauhar Raza proves that the sangh brigade is terrified of this movement, as it is being thoroughly exposed. We also condemn the remarks of CSLG Prof. Amita Singh that allege Dalit & Muslim teachers to be anti-national. Whole of this conspired mobilization (by rightwing organizations, media groups, lawyers as well as academicians) has demonstrated that RSS brand of nationalism is in fact anti-Dalit, anti-minority, anti-women and anti-working class, therefore all those who expose it are voices of dissent. It is crucial that the student body stands in support of all students facing enquiry. We should in under no circumstances accept any punitive measures that will be imposed by this high level enquiry committee. At the same time it is important to work towards keeping the parcha-poster-public meeting culture alive in JNU, any attack from rightwing in near future on the same should be met with a radical student’s movement that rejects any attempt of scuttling campus democracy by these fascists. We urge all progressive, democratic forces of the campus to unite against this saffron terror to save our spaces for political discussions.

#FIGHTFORJNU #FIGHTWITHJNU

DEATH TO FASCISM, POWER TO PEOPLE

A disease is spreading across India, a disease called nationalism! The Brahminical Fascist idea of Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan is the ‘sacred thread’ within which the Indian nationalism is trying to get constructed. This is in continuation of their nefarious design of Akand bharat where there is no place for religious and ethnic minorities, OBCs, dalits and the indigenous people. For the past 15 days the disease of nationalism is spreading across India and whoever questions this Parpania Fascist idea of India is called Anti National. The brahminical Fascists put forth Hindutva as their ideology and indulge in a deceptive patriotic sloganeering, projecting themselves as the only alternative. The parliamentary left as well as the revolutionary and democratic forces who are steadfast in their struggle against Hindu Communalism, do not clearly demarcate their ideology and organization – v z. Parpaniam (Brahminism) combined with, Fascism. With the result, the offensive loses its sharpness gets scatters and misses the target. Hinduism is not a religion but it is an ideology of Brahminism that upholds the institution of socio economic oppression called caste system. If RSS says that we are imposing Brahmanism, people will reject it. That’s why they are using the mask of ‘hindutuva’ which is a synonym for Brahminism. That’s why they are imposing a single Brahministic culture of Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan, the base for the Indian Nationalism. Whoever opposes this model is called anti national. That’s how Comrade Rohith Vemula and Comrade Kanhaiya Kumar are called Anti nationals.

On the evening of 9^th Feb, some individuals organised a programme named ‘A country without a post office’ on two major issues. One is about the judicial murder of Afzal Guru and the other one about the self determination of Kashmir. As usual the right wing forces (ABVP) came to disrupt the event, however one must note that unlike many previous incidents where ABVP would get permissions withdrawn and create a ruckus, this event was disrupted and attacked in a meticulously planned manner, in front of the media. ABVP’s roadblock should also be seen as a part of that. We stand with the democratic right to debate, discuss and organize programs. As universities are such democratic spaces to question which affects the country such as AFSPA, land acquisition bills, militarised zones of this country, oppressed nationalities fight for right to self-determination, budgets, cutting down of subsidies for farmers, students, and of course colonial outdated laws like sedition etc.

We see this witch hunt and state terror on JNU and persecution of student activists under the baseless sedition charges is just a small step in the RSS agenda of saffronization of education. Still, since a major controversy has stirred up due to certain slogans raised in the cultural programme, we will clarify our position on the same. ‘Pakistan zindabad’- It was never raised by anyone. This shows how the rightwing backed news channels are party in concoction of evidence that lead to the media trial. ‘Bharat tere tukde honge, insha allah, insha allah’ and ‘Bharat ki barbadi tak jung rahegi’- These are unnecessary and unwanted slogans not backed by any ideology. The organisers should have been more careful and not let their platform be hijacked by such sloganeering which diverts the whole issue of ‘judicial murder of Afzal Guru’ and ‘the right to self-determination.’ However we maintain that such slogans, that can be perceived as divisive, come from a particular material, historical and social context and there is a history of oppression that stirs up this anger. Also such sloganeering, which is an expression of dissent can never be criminalized. ‘Tum kitne Afzal Maroge, Har Ghar se Afzal Nikalega’, ‘Kashmir maange Azadi’- this expresses anger over the state violence and long struggle of Kashmiri people. The violence and militaristic presence has led this anger to exist and survive. The ‘right to self-determination’ of nationalities is nothing new, and has been there against this monolithic idea of ‘nation’ and sloganeering by students who come from various parts of this country represents contending views, and expression of dissent can never be criminalized in a real democratic country.  

On Self-Determination & the Kashmir Issue: India is not a nation but can be called as a country or sub-continent. It is a prison house of nationalities like Kashmiris, Tamils, Nagas, and Assamese etc. The Indian nationalities are forcefully united not by any mutual understanding or agreement. These borders that mark the territory of India are a consequence of a transfer of power from the British to Indian elites that actively engage in imposing its hegemonic Parpania agenda and destroying the various cultures that are unique to different nationalities within India. One has to acknowledge the situation specific to Kashmir- the Indian and Pakistani occupation of the valley has been violent. The Indian state through its army has terrorised the people of Kashmir. From a situation like that a demand for self-determination should occur systematically through referendum as the name itself suggests. As long as the aspirations of the common people of Kashmir are reflected in the verdict, it will be a fight for self-determination and not another separatist movement. In this light we should note that just like the Indian occupation, Pakistan has also occupied a part of Kashmir. Religious fundamentalists instigating separation from Pakistan/India should not be mistaken for common people who want self-determination. One can take the example of Amannullah Khan, who like Maqbool Bhat, was fighting for self-determination in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to illustrate this point further.

Why This Attack on JNU? We argue that the current attack on JNU was not just a result of a programme on Afzal Guru or because of pro-azadi slogans; this crackdown can be explained by the RSS plan to saffronize higher educational institutions in the country. When FTII protested against the appointment of a sanghi as their director, they faced the same consequences; when APSC from IIT-M conducted study circles that were critical of the Modi govt, they were banned too and the exact same end was met by ASA of HCU as they screened Muzzafarnagar Baqi Hai and protested against Yakub Memon’s judicial murder. Every time this saffron government sees dissent breeding in university campuses, they take it as a threat that can expose the real anti-people nature of the state and it tries to crush the movement with full force. Universities are such democratic spaces to interrogate the issues of society and debate the contending world views. The nation does not mean a piece of “land” or a “map”, it consists of PEOPLE. These heavy-duty attacks are making things seem more controversial than they should be and act as perfect diversions from upcoming RSS agendas that will be reflected in neoliberal state’s policies. Since the discussion on JNU has occupied center-stage most people didn’t notice the ‘Make in India’ week that was happening in Bombay or about the 5000 workers protesting at Honda plant, one can only wait what the upcoming budget has to offer.

Even after the so called independence in 1947 August 15, India is run by the Colonial laws. Section 124 A is a regressive colonial remnant (Bhagat Singh was hanged using sedition) that is put to use by the state as and when required to crush dissent. We have seen how sedition cases were slapped on 3000 protestors against Kudankulam nuclear plant, earlier on Dr. Binayak Sen, and then Com. Kovan for his songs criticising the state run TASMAC liquor outlets by the fascist Jayalalitha government. This happens in ‘independent’ India. Fascist regimes ban not just freedom of expression, but also freedom to THINK, and criminalises right to DISSENT. It is clear in the current case on JNUSU president and two of the organisers of the programme and others on 9^th have absolutely no grounds for forming a sedition case either. We see how the sanghi project of branding JNU to be a hub of anti-nationals is hinged upon a campaign propagating Islamophobia and demonising voices of dissent that expose the same concept of Hindu rashtra. Just like the RSS has made use of ‘Hindutva’ as an ideology that justifies violence, it is playing the ‘nationalism’ card in this case. The judiciary is granting bail to culprits like BJP’s O P Sharma and the lawyers Vikram singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh who were seen attacking journalists, while the bail for JNUSU president is getting delayed over & over again. The state apparatus is also turning a blind eye to the massive destruction of state property and disruption to public service delivery, in the Jat agitation for reservations.

Two Grave Threats to India: On the one side, Modi government is accelerating with the anti-people policies like shut downing welfare schemes; handing over the higher education to Global capital (WTO-GATS), fund cuts (17%) to the higher education (college’s fees are increased by more than 200 times, fellowships and research scholarships are scrapped, research funding reduced drastically) and selling out the public sector unit shares. The reforms in the labour bills seem to install slavery legally for the interest of global and Indian ruling classes (refusing to implement five ILO conventions). Buzzwords like “Smartcities”, “Make in India”, “Digital India”, “Teach in India” and “Start-up India” pave the way to make the country’s interests subservient to imperialism. Overall, our country has been pushed towards the final closure of the recolonization process. On the other side, saffronization of education, pushing the Sanskrit and Hindi language, Garwapsi program, Holy cow agenda, Dadri incident (beef), attacks on Dalits, legitimizing mythology as science and so on are fuelling the communalization in India . These are all the strategy of sangh parivar to push the Hindu-Hindi-Hindusthan agenda. The Hindutva and recolonization are the parallel process and one is essential for the other. In other words, Hindutva is nothing but the agency to the Global capital today. The students are criticizing the brahminical caste system (Hindutva) and pro-corporate (anti-people) economic policies of Modi government. These two are primary source of intolerable burden on the working masses. The real anti national are the ones who are communalizing the people using caste and religion and selling out our country through anti-people policy and suppressing student community who are fighting for the rights and betterment of working masses.

Comrades and friends, fascism can only be defeated by the political consciousness and unity in our struggle. The current students’ movement in JNU needs to assume a radical nature to face this grand failure of democracy. A real democracy can be built by industrial revolution and scientific revolution. For this the intellectuals, students, labourers, peasants should unite together and uproot the brahminical fascism from this country. We have seen how student activists are being witch-hunted under sedition, how the police have no substantial grounds to build cases on and how all organs of the brahminical fascist state are engaging actively in an aggressive persecution of the dissenters. Not much can be expected from pseudo-leftists who are playing safe games and defining the entire movement by statist argument of nationalism. We therefore give a call to the students to join the revolutionary organisations. We must assume a more radical nature of politics to fight saffronization and all other plans of the RSS in the near future. Let us chase the right wing forces like ABVP from the campuses. Let us unite to ensure the democratic space in academic fraternity and student’s rights for social change.

#FIGHTFORJNU #FIGHTWITHJNU                          

RohithVemula- An Orchestrated murder by Sangh Parivar MHRD

The institutional murder of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar from Hyderabad Central University on 17^th Jan is yet another instance of the Parpania Fascist forces attacking oppressed sections of the society. This incident reflects how the state is repressing those who expose its nature and also how marginalised communities are subject to newer forms of casteism operating in universities. While fighting against Hindutva fascism he was thrown out of the university after the direct intervention of the HRD Ministry. His suicide was a shock to all the democratic forces of this country. His organization Ambedkar Students Association was at the target of the HCU administration from a long time. ASA’s screening of’Muzaffarnagar Baaki Hai’ met with a similar attack from the sanghi goons the way it did in Delhi University and JNU as well. Further their protest meeting about the judicial murder of Yakub Memon was met with ABVP’s attack. What must be noted that the MHRD which is set to take a non-interventionist stand in the matter, was actively participating in furthering ABVP’s attack on ASA. Minister Bandaru Dattatreya’s letters full of vicious lies stand to prove this.

In the same way in Chennai, APSC IITM was attacked by ABVP goons saying that as it was against the Modi government and therefore ‘involved in anti-national activities’, ‘was demonizing hindu religion’. Much in the same way APSC activists underwent psychological torture by the nexus of these authorities. The similar fascist nexus also involved in the shear harassment of Rohit and strangulated him to death. However the progressive democratic forces of the country, the tradition of anti Parpania (Brahmanical) Fascism in Tamil Nadu and the revolutionary forces of the protest made the Modi bhakts take a step back and the ban was lifted.

But Rohith was sacrificed on the altar of Hindutva. The intervention of ‘Manu’smiriti Irani, Bandaru Dattatreya and VC Appa Rao’s cooperation to the games of RSS resulted into the eviction of 5 research scholars and their social boycott eventually compelling Rohith to commit suicide. We should also remember what happened to the Madras University students who were fighting against TASMAC liquor shop. Jayas bootlicker VC Thandavan also did all the tortures to the M U students same as Rohit. The MU students at a particular junction protested that they will commit suicide jumping from the university building if they did not get admitted.

What we understand from the suicide attempts of MU students to the suicide of Rohit form HCU?

In the period of Hindutva fascism ruling the country, the students are waging an uncompromising war against the state terror. The fascists understood that this is a danger than anything else. They realize and find out that if this is not brutally controlled will turn up threatening the ruling class which is already feared to its death. The Parpania fascist forces could not tolerate the dalits fighting for other oppressed sections like muslims other than fighting for their own and doing identity politics. When dalits do the identity politics it is acceptable and allowable by the Parpania fascist forces. When they start fighting for other marginalized sections, they want to send a message that this will happen like Rohit. And also this will break the day dreaming of RSS to make dalits as the enemies of muslims into pieces.

This institutional murder should pave way to a more radical fight against the hold of RSS in educational institutions.The suspension of 4 other scholars have been revoked, yet the fight doesn’t end here. We will go on until Smriti Irani, Bandaru Dattatreya and Appa Rao are removed from their positions and booked under Prevention of Atrocities Act. Reinstating these 4 scholars is only the first step in the long process of freeing universities of Parpania Fascism. The voice of Rohit is a rebel voice against hindutuva fascists which was choked by the Parpania (brahmanical) cross thread. His murder created anger waves across the country. Hitherto the Manus are also sitting as the head of the department in the institution. Worship of Ambedkar and the sympathy of wolf towards dalits by the Modi govt is exposed now. The students protest all over the country not a headache to Modi govt but it started giving a death blow to it. It is a high time to find a graveyard to these fascist nexus otherwise no one can stop the murder of many such Rohith Vemulas who is an icon of our democratic voice!