By Yogesh Maitreya, TwoCircles.net
J.V. Pawar is 74 years old and recently underwent a cataract operation. But age and medical issues do not prevent him from travelling almost daily from Borivali, where he stays, to Churchgate, where he works as the general secretary of BaRiP (Bhartiya Republican Party, a political party leads by Prakash alias Balasaheb Ambedkar). Pawar has been the part of Ambedkarite Movement for 52 years now. Known among people and friends as JaVi, he was one of the founding members of Dalit Panthers in Maharashtra.
Dalit Panthers were fiery, agitated, and found ever ready to stand for the social justice and the dignity of Dalits and whoever else were being oppressed. Originally from a village called Pilwali in district of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, JaVi humorously recalls, “I was so shy and timid that when I came to Bombay first and saw police, I became so scared.”. He also has an interesting tale to tell in which the keen praxis of resistance can be understood. He says, “Deu, my grandfather, belonged to the then Mahar community in the village Pilwali. At the same time, he was devotee of Rama as well as Vitthala. He had two sons, Sakrya and Itthal. Sakrya was my uncle and Itthal my father. Sakrya had two sons and Ithhal had three sons, all them had ‘Ram’ in their names. Even during my childhood, I started understanding things quickly and I removed ‘Ram’ from my name. Since then I am J.V. Pawar or what people call me, JaVi.”
This keenness of opposing anything that does not stand for equality and liberty has grown in him as he was turning young after coming to Mumbai. And he as soon he came to Bombay, he started participating in the activities of Ambedkarite Movement. He was the youngest Samata Sainik Dal (Founded by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar) cadre from Dhobi Talaw branch when he was just 12 years old in 1957. It was not only a period of rapid changes in the political scene in the country, but transition within Ambedkarite Movement especially in its literary and political domain were very interesting. JaVi was observing all of this, but only to witness Ambedkarite Movement victimised by the political praxis of fractions and splintering. Perhaps this frustration shaped the rage of Panther within him. When Dalit Panthers was established/announced in 1972 by Namdeo Dhasal, Raje Dhale and J.V. Pawar and others, they got instant support from Dalit masses as they had seen criticising the opportunistic politics of leaders from RPI (Republican Party of India) and their negligence to the social and economic issues of Dalits. Dalit Panthers were not only harsh critics of Brahminical forces but that of Dalit leaders too who were being opportunistic.
For JaVi, like other panthers too, this period was tumultuous but full of vigour, and not to mention struggle and agonies. During this period, working in a Bank, he had to live in two different worlds. For the survival and feeding his family, he had to work, but his heart and mind was always thinking about protest march, attending the court hearing, thinking about drawing strategies to deal with an atrocity etc.
Nevertheless, he managed to walk into both the worlds. He says, “I used to go to the Bank. It was a white collar job. I used to do whatever work I was assigned. But I was always thinking about the society and cruel atrocities that were taking place on our people then. Sometimes, if I had to participate in a morcha, and I was in my office, then I used to hang my bag on my chair so that people would think that I am in the office. But I was somewhere else, participating in morcha, shouting slogans, writing pamphlets.”
During this time, the peak period of Dalit Panthers, he went to jail a number of times. Almost all of prominent members of Dalit Panthers, including him, were accused in hundreds of false cases. The agonies that come with being named as an accused in hundreds of cases is itself a terrible experience, yet, for him and rest of the Panthers, it didn’t mean much beyond an act of resistance. After the split in Dalit Panthers, JaVi started Mass Movement with Raja Dhale. Later on, he started working with BaRiP.
Once, while speaking at a book launch event in Mumbai where this correspondent was also one of the speakers, he said, “I am not an intellectual, writer person. I am an activist, who is ever ready to stand for people and can fight for them on the road.” But despite not claiming to be a writer, he has written more than 24 books. Among these, his biggest literary contribution in Ambedkarite Movement is a five-volume set on the subject of ‘Ambedkarite Movement after Ambedkar’ out of which the first volume has been translated in English and Hindi.
His first poetry anthology ‘Nakebandi’ was immediately translated into English as Blockade. However, his writings on the history of Republican Party, especially since from its beginning is a very significant contribution to the literary world. Once Sambhaji Bhagat Shahir, playwright, songwriter and an Ambedkarite activist said, “we created so many things, but J.V. Pawar documented the movement. Imagine if someone has documented it other than us or him, he would have certainly distorted the history of the movement.” In a program held in 2015 to felicitate JaVi for his contribution to the movement, Bhau Tursekar, who has also been the part of the movement for many years, said, “J.V. Pawar is a movement in itself. The activist in him will never be tired. He is the Google of Ambedkarite movement today.”