People’s Democracy, February 23, 2014
The first state convention of the Struggle Committee for the Annihilation of Caste (Jaati Anta Sangharsh Samiti) was held at Nagpur on January 25, 2014. The venue was named after Surekha Bhotmange and the hall after Priyanka Bhotmange, the mother and daughter duo who were raped and killed in the horrendous Khairlanji caste atrocity that took place in the adjoining Bhandara district in 2006. The convention was attended by 203 delegates from 25 districts of the state. It was inaugurated by a leading progressive writer and intellectual Dr Yashwant Manohar and was addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury and K Varadha Rajan.
Two other successful state conventions – one of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch and the other of the Alpasankhyank Hakka Sangharsh Samiti (Minority Rights Struggle Committee) had been held at the initiative of the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee on December 22-23, 2013 at Talasari in Thane district and on January 8, 2014 at Solapur respectively.
The banner on the stage of the Nagpur convention had photographs of Karl Marx, Mahatma Jotirao Phule, Savitribai Phule, Shahu Maharaj and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar – all icons in the struggle for radical socio-economic transformation. The banner also had the triple slogan of this new platform – “Jaati Anta, Varga Anta, Stree Daasya Anta” (end of caste, end of class, end of women’s slavery).
After the presentation of revolutionary songs by the Gajar cultural troupe of Nagpur, the condolence resolution was adopted. Reception committee chairman Manohar Muley in his welcome address stressed the historic importance of Nagpur city from the standpoint of the struggle against caste. He said that it was in this city that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, along with lakhs of his followers, embraced Buddhism in October 1956 as a revolt against the oppressive varna and jati system propounded by Hinduism for centuries. But he reminded that Nagpur was also the centre of the thoroughly reactionary force that all egalitarian movements had always been combating, viz the RSS.
Nathu Salve explained the purpose and the importance of this convention. A presidium comprising Dr S K Rege, Bharma Kamble, Mangala Gosavi, Dr Pratibha Ahire and Viplav Meshram was elected.
Renowned artist Rajanand Suradkar of Aurangabad had prepared a symbolic vertical hierarchy of earthen pots that represented the caste system. With a hammer and sickle, Dr Yashwant Manohar and Sitaram Yechury broke all the vertically arranged earthen pots and a new set of pots was horizontally arranged on an equal level to symbolise the end of the caste system. There used to be a stick with small bells that was carried by dalits in olden days to identify themselves. This was broken into pieces by K Varadha Rajan and Dr Ashok Dhawale in a symbolic act destroying the caste system.
The convention was then inaugurated by Dr Yashwant Manohar. In a wide-ranging address, he traced the origins and development of the caste system and of the struggle against it. He pointed out the radical socio-economic content of Dr Ambedkar’s thought which was often deliberately ignored or misrepresented by vested interests. He asserted that the caste system can certainly be eradicated but that requires the maximum unity of the proletariat. In this context, he quoted a 1936 statement made by Dr Ambedkar where he asked “How can there be a revolution if the proletariat cannot present a united front?” Dr Yashwant Manohar finally made several important suggestions for achieving the eradication of the caste system and called for a unity of all democratic, secular and progressive groups to achieve this aim.
The convention was then addressed by Sitaram Yechury, who first dealt with the interconnection between caste and class. He stressed that class struggle and caste struggle are the two inseparable parts of the Indian revolutionary struggle. Taking up only one of them is not enough to achieve our aim. At the same time, merely banking upon a ‘change of heart’ to end the caste system will not help. The material conditions like concentration of land ownership and other socio-economic factors that have propped up the caste system for thousands of years must be radically changed if the annihilation of caste is to be truly achieved. He recounted several shocking facts and figures about the dismal condition of dalits and other backward castes in the spheres of education, employment and health and he linked this directly with the ravages of the caste system. He called upon the convention to wage a determined all-round struggle to achieve the eradication of caste.
After this K Varadha Rajan released a new edition of a pamphlet of letters about the struggle against the caste system, that were written to the Communist Party by the veteran departed Communist leader of Maharashtra, Comrade R B More. More was the main organiser of the historic Chowdar Lake Satyagraha at Mahad in Raigad district that was led by Dr Ambedkar in 1927. R B More was also the founder of the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee’s weekly paper Jeevan Marg.
Shailendra Kamble then placed the 12-page printed draft resolution, copies of which were given to all the delegates. The resolution comprehensively dealt with all aspects of the struggle against caste. The resolution was seconded by Babasaheb Sarwade. 27 delegates spoke on the resolution and enriched it with their experiences and suggestions. The resolution was then unanimously adopted. The convention elected a 45-member state committee, with Shailendra Kamble as its convenor.
K Varadha Rajan in his address dealt with the various forms of caste oppression that still exist in the country and gave examples of the struggles against them that were led by the CPI(M) in states like Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. He quoted EMS Namboodiripad as saying that he was under no illusion that the caste system will end merely by ensuring temple entry to dalits, because the caste system is integrally linked to religion. He then referred to the Manusmriti which gave all rights to the Brahmins, but denied all rights to dalits and to women. He finally called upon the delegates to identify and take up concrete struggles against caste oppression in all its forms.
In the concluding speech of the convention, Dr Ashok Dhawale dealt with the ideological debates about caste and class that had been raging in Maharashtra for the last many decades. He said that Dr Ambedkar’s maxim that “Caste is enclosed class” and his historic speech to railway workers at Manmad with the message that “Brahminism and Capitalism were our two main enemies” had settled the issue long back. There is no doubt that the struggle against class exploitation and caste oppression must be fought together. He placed a five-point programme of future tasks which included the holding of district conventions and election of district committees, conducting village surveys about various aspects of caste oppression, launching local struggles on issues identified in the resolution of this Nagpur convention, immediately visiting and intervening in cases of caste atrocities and intensifying the ideological struggle on issues of caste, class and gender oppression.
After the vote of thanks by Dr S K Rege and Viplav Meshram, the convention ended amidst great enthusiasm. The CPI(M) Nagpur district committee had made excellent preparations for its success.
