By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
On Tuesday, a few activists and lawyers from Delhi joined hands to protest against ‘Modi-Yogi governments’ in light of the oppression of Women and Bahujan in Uttar Pradesh. The event, which was held on the lawns of the Press Club of India, New Delhi, was organised under the banner of Bhim Army Defence Committee, a relatively new organisation which few people are aware of.
But while the event was under the name of the Bhim Army, what caught this correspondent’s eye was that the event was full of people who did not take any part in the whole ground movement of Bhim Army in Saharanpur and western Uttar Pradesh. Rather, they came in solidarity after the Bhim Army movement passed and Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ was arrested.
‘Bhim Army Defence Committee’ was formed in late days of August 2017 by around 45 lawyers, filmmakers, activists and scholars which included names such as Kancha Ilaiah, Jignesh Mewani, Harsh Mander, Anand Teltumbde, Sambhaji Bhagat, Sheetal Sathe, Anand Patwardhan and Aditya Nigam.
But as the development of the events implies, the defence committee has not stepped out of Delhi yet, and yesterday’s protest at the Press Club of India was a chapter in the same series of events. From yesterday’s events, one could gauge that the Left-centric committee failed to gain any support from the other Delhi-based Bahujan and Dalit groups.
An activist present at the protest meeting yesterday told us, “Can you spot any Dalit group of Delhi? There is none.”
The first speaker of the event was politician Subhasini Ali, a member of Communist Party of India (Marxist). During the opening part of her speech, she talked about the ground achievements of Bhim Army and said, “We can give support to Bhim Army.” A journalist interpreted this remark as ‘derogatory’ to Bhim Army as if someone is yet to chose whether to support them or not.
Subhasini Ali, who allegedly stayed at the accommodation of accused BJP MLA during her visit to Muzaffarnagar in 2013, did not mention the ground realities of Shabbirpur/ Saharanpur in recent times and talked about mostly the BHU incident and several others happening in the state.
It was Sambhaji Bhagat, a cultural activist from Maharashtra, who talked about the procedures which should be brought into practice to fight the communalism and intolerance. He talked about cultural activism without any banner and organisation, just to bring more reality to the people without any political and ideological interference.
Many embrace the setup of the defence committee in support of Bhim Army, but for journalists and activists who have been present at the ground during the whole movement, such protest meet in Lutyen’s Delhi club does not come on the ground. Aas Mohammad Kaif, a fellow journalist who covered Bhim Army from the ground at the Shabbirpur, said, “Such solidarity is important. But we must understand that the Bhim Army is a grassroots organisation and formed of Chamars (a common word for Jatavs used in Uttar Pradesh, which now Supreme Court banned). Most of the Army members are not educated. But when these elite Delhi activists show support without even being present on the ground to cover or suffer the events, it disturbs the Army members.”
“The army members think that this is practice to hijack the movement to counter a similar opponent,” he added.
Even in yesterday’s event, there were roughly ten members of Bhim Army in the gathering of less than a hundred. One Army member present at the meet said, “Is this how the defence committee is going to protest against Yogi and Modi? By addressing hundred people in Press Club lawn? The furthest they can reach is Lucknow…” as Subhasini Ali called for a protest outside CM residence in Lucknow after Diwali.
There is no denying that few people of the defence committee had come to Saharanpur or Muzaffarnagar and documented the ground development in the case. But many did not bother to visit the ground, rather chose to address the issue from Delhi or Lucknow. Kaif said, “I know few who have come here. But those who show solidarity against Modi or Yogi must mention the times they visited Chandrashekhar Azad in jail? Or how many times they met her mother? Or did they try to know under what conditions Chandrashekhar’s family is living?”
Several left-leaning activists have raised questions about the participation of Dalit or Ambedkarite groups in the Defence Committee, most importantly BAPSA, which has risen to fame after substantial gains in JNU Students Union election. Replying to this, Shabana Ali, the candidate for recent elections said, “We are with the Bhim Army and that is for sure. But we do not know the motive of such defence committee which is mostly filled with left-leaning people. People suspect them for hijacking any sort of movement and adding their own narrative to that.”
“They often narrate without the ground reality. The event was held in press club, so media houses will report. But why media houses and such activists do not visit the Shabbirpur or the Jail where Chandrashekhar is kept,” asked Shabana.
One may be surprised about why Left people support outfits such as Bhim Army, especially since they are in a constant tussle with student groups such as BAPSA or SIO. But as one CPI-ML member said, “We don’t have to contest against Bhim Army in University elections. Also, we like their militant approach to things.”
The event at press club yesterday was scheduled to last until 6 pm but was wrapped up around 4.30pm as most of the speakers listed did not come. As one activist summed up: “With all the differences, most people do not want to give unconditional support to these people. See the misery of this event: not only the listeners, but even the speakers did not come.”
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