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BJP is making inroads among Dalits but at the same time, Dalits come together when they are attacked [People from the Dalit community hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday] Saharanpur, a district known for its woodcraft products in western UP, is in the news for two caste and communal incidents, involving clashes with Dalits. The ongoing   Dalit Protest   in the district, which has now reached the capital New Delhi, suggests a new phase in Dalit politics in UP, closely related to the declining fortunes of the BSP, and efforts by the BJP to bring the Dalits into the ambit of its more socially inclusive Hindutva strategy. Dalit politics has been through a number of phases in UP related to the strategies pursued by the BSP and rapid social change in the state in recent decades. In the 1990s the construction of Dalit identity by BSP leaders Kanshiram and Mayawati, promoted a radical, anti-upper caste politics, demanding self-respect and dignity. The BSP wa...

Rohith Vemula’s suicide has sent our politics into convulsion and has once again brought to fore the deep social fault-lines that criss-cross our society. Often masked, these divisions have always existed deep under. Through constitutionally mandated means – aided by political participation – the Indian Republic has sought to paper over the rumbling of these tectonic plates. Whether it has succeeded or failed depends on how you look at it.  The government’s response has been to brush aside the casteist underpinnings of this issue. HRD minister, Smriti Irani, was at pains to deflect attention by suggesting that it was not a Dalits versus non-Dalits issue. A report in the Indian Express today highlights, how her deputies in the ministry – one of whom is a Dalit– have gone silent on the matter. This has only highlighted how important conversations around Dalit issues are ignored in attempts to tide over a crisis.  Read Articles