In this video, prominent Ambedkarites, Dalit & Adivasi activists and participants of various land struggles talk about the land issue and the need for a bigger,united land struggle during the Convention on Land, Shelter, Power, Equal Justice that took place in Thrissur in Oct 2016.
Rohith Vemula is not a name. Now he’s a flame that is engulfing not only this country, but also the entire world. To my knowledge there has been no such event that reached the whole world, an event not only concerning Dalits, but any issue – no incident attracted the attention of the whole world before.
They (hindutva forces) are fighting for their principles, it may look wrong to us, but it’s the ultimate truth to them. if someone voices opposing views, be it their son, their own foot soldier, they kill them.
It is 24th September today, it is one of the black days in the history of Dalits, 24-Sep 1932 was when Dalits under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar, were denied of separate electorate, Poona Pact (dual voting system). If Dalits were allotted separate electorate, things would have been different for Dalits.
The motto of our movement is “Food, My Choice; Land, My Right.” We have the right to choose what we eat, nobody can question us. This land belongs to us, because we are the ones working on it, hence we have the right to own it. The intention is not just to own fives acres of land but also to resist oppression and claim our rights to live and rule.
This is the time when demands by the oppressed caste are being made for reservations in the private sector. In order to silence this demand for reservation in the private sector, the upper castes are raising their voice about reservations in the public sector. All over the country, these corporate forces are creating people like Hardik Patel, to unite people all over the country and save their positions of power.
Arrested along with three friends on suspicion of a theft, Prakash was specifically fished out of the group after he told his full name which revealed that he was from the Dalit community and beaten mercilessly resulting in severe deep injuries to his hip.
In such a case where there is abundance of evidence, no judge can do any harm to the case (we thought). Enormous evidence is there, law is on our side, but the judges are not on our side. He’s on the side of the upper caste people.
When we adopted the slogan ‘gai ki doom aap rakho, hamein hamari zameen do’ (keep the cow’s tail for yourself, give us our lands), we are asking land for the poor. Within the poor, for Dalits. Within Dalits, for Dalit women. And within Dalit women for Valmiki women. And within Valmiki women if there are any widows, then for them.
I reiterate, one of the most serious arenas of discrimination is the media and the fight has to be on for democratization of the media. This is a must.
