‘Few struggles have been so progressive, so radical’

The recent violence against Dalits by gau rakshaks in Gujarat’s Una triggered a groundswell of sentiment and protests across the country. The Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti, which spearheaded the week-long Gujarat Asmita Yatra from Ahmedabad to Una, where a mammoth crowd of Dalits and Muslims congregated, has demanded that members of the community be provided 5 acres of land by the State government. Their leader, 35-year-old Jignesh Mevani, spoke to BusinessLine on Dalit mobilisation, why it is different from earlier struggles, his broader ‘democratic, liberal’ agenda, and on going national with his agitation.

What are your plans, now that the Asmita Yatra has ended?

We plan to organise an unparalleled protest at the Rajasthan High Court premises, which houses a statue of Manu. We plan to burn the Manu Smriti [the Hindu code of laws]. For this, we intend to mobilise millions of people from across the country, from Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and also Gujarat.

We’re planning rallies, and also intend to take our slogan of Gai ki punch tum rakho, hame hamari zameen do to all the States. We plan to expose [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s anti-farmer, anti-people policies. We also intend to call his bluff on the ‘Gujarat Model’ of development and his promise of achche din .

We have started a postcard campaign on Modi’s silence on the Una issue, from Lucknow’s Ambedkar University. We will follow this up in Ahmedabad, in JNU and in the University of Hyderabad. Shortly, we will also announce the dates and points of the rail roko agitation we have planned.

What have you achieved from the Yatra?

It has generated tremendous support for our cause from across the country. Our slogan of Gai ki punch tum rakho, hame hamari zameen do has brought to the fore the class perspective that has been missing from Dalit movements. Land reforms have now become the central agenda in the Dalit discourse. We might now be able to create a State-wide, maybe nation-wide organisation out of it. Many muslims, trade unions and farmer groups have come forward to support us. We have also put pressure on the government. While Anandiben Patel was anyway on her way out, our movement hastened her resignation. Modi, who conveniently remains silent on most occasions, was forced to speak. The BJP has been forced to undertake counter padayatras to undo the [political] damage that has been caused to them by the Asmita Yatra. We have also been able to mobilise a lot of youth support.

Are we witnessing the rise of a pan-India Dalit movement? Or is it just the coming together of anti-BJP forces?

This is a genuine Dalit struggle and our primary agenda is to unite all democratic, liberal forces to protect and further the constitutional rights of all lower caste, lower class people.

Do you see yourself evolving into a political outfit?

No, no. Our demands are political. Our perspective is political, we require political intervention. We believe land reforms should be carried out in India. Our demands are socio-economic. [But] we don’t intend to get into electoral politics. Lok andolan khada ho (that a people’s movement should rise)...that is our agenda.

The Prime Minister has responded to the incident in Una. What do you make of it?

Modi, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are desperate to contain the damage arising out of the incident. But they have not responded to any of our demands. The Dalits have realised that they had unnecessarily become saffronised. Kitne bhi attempt karle, jab tak hum logon ki demand sarkar accept nahi karti, andolan jari rahega (no matter how many attempts the government makes to reach out, unless our demands are met, we will carry on our demands). The strike by Ahmedabad’s sanitation workers, and the manner in which our struggle is spreading across the country, it won’t be possible for the government to control us. When the rail roko is announced, and usse jo urja Dalit andolan aur sare pragatisheel shaktiyon ko milega, woh kuch aur hi hoga (the announcement of the rail roko will infuse Dalit and progressive forces with considerable energy).

When are you planning the rail roko agitation?

Very shortly. Maybe from Delhi. We have given a call for the rail roko to be undertaken across the country. We will invite Dalit, like-minded non-Dalit people to Gujarat. We will also do a post-mortem of the ‘Gujarat Model’ here.

You have demanded 5 acres of land for each Dalit family.

We have demanded that complete land reforms be carried out, and 5 acres of land be allotted to each Dalit family. There are other demands too: all sanitation workers be made permanent and provided benefits; fill the nearly 50,000 vacancies in government jobs that Dalits are eligible to’; the legislation of a Reservation Act in Gujarat; doing away with the contract system of employment across the country.

The five acres that we have demanded is not only for Dalit families, but also for Adivasis, OBCs and ex-Services personnel.

How much support are you receiving from political parties?

No, no, no support at all.

You are not accepting support from any political party?

No, we are not.

You are a member of the Aam Aadmi Party.

I have resigned. They [AAP] have never tried to give a political colour to the movement. But because the BJP and some jealous members in the movement made unnecessary remarks and tried to malign me and the movement, I resigned. Ab kya bolenge woh? (What can they say now?)

You’ve seen the Patidar movement come up over the past year. How do you see your own struggle in comparison?

Ours is a progressive and radical movement. It is a struggle for land. We are demanding that the land be registered in the name of the women of the household. There have been few movements that have been so progressive, so radical. We’ve called for sanitation workers, mostly womenfolk from the Valmiki community, to be paid [Class IV] salaries as recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission.

Moreover, we are also agitating for Narmada waters to be distributed across Gujarat, and against the anti-farmer legislation that the Gujarat government has passed. This involved removing the consent clause and as also those relating to social and environment impact assessments. So this is the most progressive movement to emerge from Gujarat, led by Dalit youth.

You are scheduled to lead a march in support of farmers from Bundelkhand to Lucknow. Are you anti- big capital?

None of the ‘isms’ concern us now. We are talking of a common minimum programme. We are against crony capitalism, and against anti-farmer policies. For instance, even if Dalits get 5 acres of land, the kind of political economy that is imposed on us...[will be debilitating]. The fight will continue: farmers will need irrigation, electricity, subsidy, minimum support prices.

Why do you think this Dalit assertiveness has come about now, and not after, say the Khairlanji killings of 2006, or the Dharmapuri violence of 2012?

It is because of the manner in which Dalits in Gujarat have been subjected to exploitation in an environment where there this constant rhetoric of development. Besides, the rate of conviction for anti-Dalit atrocities being just 3 per cent...it was only a matter of time before the anger found expression.

The difference today is that we’re not only seeking justice for the victims in Una; we’re also fighting for those who lost their lives in the [2012] Thangadh police firing case. We have a broad agenda. There is vibrancy today: thousands have said they will no more take up the task of disposing dead cows.

Also the manner in which the video [of Dalits being flogged in Una] went viral on social media, as opposed to the traditional ‘casteist’ media, it was only natural that this movement caught on.