By Raju Solanki || 10 December 2017 at 18:23
A few days back, Balubhai Sarvaiya, a victim of Una-flogging visited my home to meet me. Dr Jayanti Makadia, president Gujarat Dalit Sangathan and Govind Parmar, human rights activist and lawyer accompanied him. Balubhai told me that BJP had organised his press conference at Kamalam, but he didn’t go there. I appreciated his courage and thanked him on behalf of 47 lakh Dalits of Gujarat.
During our discussion advocate Govind Parmar said, “All accused in Una-flogging case are getting bail, because the court is not taking up hearing in time.” This is very serious question and it reveals the failure of Dalit movement. After Una atrocity, there should have been an attempt to form a panel of dedicated, sensible advocates who can provide legal assistance to all victims of caste atrocities across Gujarat. A corpus of 15 lakh could have been collected and a committee of prominent Dalit activists could have been formed. Instead, the dalit movement has been reduced to political bickering and manipulation.
I asked Balubhai about his favourite political party. He said, “Bahenji Mayavati is our goddess. She raised our issue in parliament and everybody including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejarival rushed to Mota Samadhiyala. Many journalists who visited Balubhai’s home expressed surprise when they saw photo of Mayavati hanging on the wall.
Actually, Gujarati media has consciously neglected BSP after Una episode. BSP gave Gujarat bandh call and its workers stopped train in Surendranagar, but media didn’t highlight that historical act of Dalit masses. They all knew that after one year a very crucial election is coming and BSP must not be given political space. And now we can see that Congress is shamelessly taking benefit of Una-flogging.
- Raju Solanki
A few days back, Balubhai Sarvaiya, a victim of Una-flogging visited my home to meet me. Dr Jayanti Makadia, president Gujarat Dalit Sangathan and Govind Parmar, human rights activist and lawyer accompanied him. Balubhai told me that BJP had organised his press conference at Kamalam, but he didn’t go there. I appreciated his courage and thanked him on behalf of 47 lakh Dalits of Gujarat.
During our discussion advocate Govind Parmar said, “All accused in Una-flogging case are getting bail, because the court is not taking up hearing in time.” This is very serious question and it reveals the failure of Dalit movement. After Una atrocity, there should have been an attempt to form a panel of dedicated, sensible advocates who can provide legal assistance to all victims of caste atrocities across Gujarat. A corpus of 15 lakh could have been collected and a committee of prominent Dalit activists could have been formed. Instead, the dalit movement has been reduced to political bickering and manipulation.
I asked Balubhai about his favourite political party. He said, “Bahenji Mayavati is our goddess. She raised our issue in parliament and everybody including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejarival rushed to Mota Samadhiyala. Many journalists who visited Balubhai’s home expressed surprise when they saw photo of Mayavati hanging on the wall.
Actually, Gujarati media has consciously neglected BSP after Una episode. BSP gave Gujarat bandh call and its workers stopped train in Surendranagar, but media didn’t highlight that historical act of Dalit masses. They all knew that after one year a very crucial election is coming and BSP must not be given political space. And now we can see that Congress is shamelessly taking benefit of Una-flogging.
- Raju Solanki
