Defeat Of Brahmanical System or Rise Of Dalit/Scheduled Caste Assertion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 5, 2010 -- Education and assertion

The assertion of Dalits for the dignity and equality was a challenge for most of the Reddys. In fact, a majority of Dalits/Scheduled Caste had joined the Indian Railways in different categories and thus started sending their children to schools. Their houses had electricity and other essential items which so far have not been a part of Dalit families.

Educated Dalits and particularly those who live in cities do not easily bow to the fancies of the upper castes. Tsundur witness same fight of Dalits where they, for all reasons were better off in education while the upper caste despite their land were lagging behind in education. It is also reported that the upper caste boys involved in eve teasing of their own girls were reported angry with several Dalit youths who came for the rescue of upper caste girls in a cinema hall of the village. In the cinema hall, Dalits were not supposed to sit but education changed everything. The boys would wear jeans, the girls would go to degree college with their head high and the women and men would ask for the minimum wages and that was unacceptable to Dalits. Things were boiling for many years, naturally, because the Dalits were embracing modernity and the Reddy’s wanted them to stick to their age-old tradition of subjugation.

The government of Andhra Pradesh was under the Reddy rule during the Tsundur massacre though Janardhan Reddy happened to be Christian. But that does not make a difference. Indians take their caste along with them when they shift their loyalty to other holy books and seers. Janardhan Reddy’s government tried to calm down the entire process when political leaders made a pilgrimage to Tsundur. India, that time saw many more such massacre like Kumher in Bharatpur Rajasthan, Shankarbigha, Lakshamanpur Bathe, Fetehpur. The incidents were growing as the Dalit assertion and their solidarity with the backward communities and minorities was increasing. There were attempts to break this unity in many places and the backward communities were made instrumental in targeting the dalits and upholding the flag of the Hindutva.
Reddy’s raj has virtually been outshadowed by the Dalit assertion and particularly the way their women have come up. Ambedkarnagar’s Dalitwada now is a pride place where Dalits live like a close nit family. Many women have opened grocery shops and tea stalls and they earn handsome amount. They are independent women proud of their work. A crucial witness in the ghastly carnage, Shankuntala own a shop on the main road. Her husband is a retired railway employee. She is enjoying her independent and earn over Rs 150 per day which is fairly good in the village.

Dalit movement need to come up against patriarchy strongly. Despite these powerful women symbols who now consider themselves equal to men, there are several painful stories of reminder of our feudal system. I tried to find out about the wives of those who died. Jairaj’s wife is 32 at the moment and has got a job in a municipality of Guntur. She did not marry, tells the sister. I asked her why and the answer because she got everything due to Jairaj hence marrying would mean betrayal to the memory of Jairaj. This is similar to what we expected from Kargil widows. We did not want them to marry and we doled out fund so that they do not question the state. In Tsundur the state went out of way to compensate so that the victims do not question the gangsters who killed and destroyed families. Yet, the resilience of the Dalit women have paid and the Reddy’s who are now trying everything to thwart the judicial system must be feeling now that Dalits have awaken and it is not the same story now. The more fascist you become in your practice, the more the oppressed will come up and challenge. Dalits of Tsundur have outshined the powerful feudal lords in everything be it democratic practice, be it the women’s emancipation or be it education and employment. They have proved that a community cannot be pushed to the wall through pressure tactics and prejudices. The retaliation would be powerful. The story of the Dalits and their rise in Tsundur is a story for all of us to learn, that adversity provides best opportunity to success.

BRAHMIN     Reddy     scheduled caste