Dalits fear law is the real target

MUMBAI: With the Maratha protests growing by the day, there seems to be growing insecurity among Dalits, who fear the campaign is against them.

MUMBAI: With the Maratha protests growing by the day, there seems to be growing insecurity among Dalits, who fear the campaign is against them.

HT Image

There has been overwhelming unanimity among community members that any tinkering of the SC and ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act, 1989, will only make Dalits vulnerable to attacks. Residents of Ramabai Nagar, an area densely populated by Dalits, see an undercurrent against the community in the agitation.

Jayesh Salve, 25, who is a diploma engineer, said the online and WhatsApp campaign launched by Marathas is turning ugly. “When the agitation started, my Maratha friends said we are getting several concessions in terms of fee waiver and reservations. They are getting vocal over the issue, and believe we [Dalits] are being pampered,” Salve said.

Apart from reservation, the Maratha community wants the atrocities act — framed by the Union government in 1989 to help bring SCs and STs into the mainstream — repealed. The Marathas described the Act as a tool used by Dalits to harass them and settle personal scores.

The Dalits have opposed any changes to the Act saying it provides a cushion for them. “Let them stop oppressing us, then we will ourselves demand a repeal,” said Ramesh Kadam, a retired cop from Naigaum BDD chawl. Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, who heads the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, calls the agitation false propaganda spread by vested interests.

“We are ready to debate on the misuse on any platform,” said Ambedkar.

Ever since the Kopardi incident in July, where a minor Maratha girl was raped and killed allegedly by Dalit boys, there has been a spate of protests by the Maratha community.

“Dalits, especially in rural areas, are feeling the heat . Their existence is at stake,” said political analyst Surendra Jondhale. Another expert Prakash Bal said the problem is weak leadership among Dalit leaders. “The Dalits are plagued by weak leadership, which has been dancing to the tune of Maratha rulers for decades,” said Bal.

While Union minister Ramdas Athawale has been talking of counter morchas, his bête-noire Prakash Ambedkar pleaded for restraint saying this would only lead to strain in ties between the two communities.

Athawale, under the pressure of the BJP, backtracked and announced a Maratha-Dalit convention to bridge the differences. Analysts, however, have described it as a stunt that will hardly make any difference.

Arun Waghmare, a retired government official, who lives in BDD chawl, said, “Why don’t these Maratha elite take care of their poor counterparts instead of demanding reservation.”