:: Antara Dev Sen

After electing Madam Speaker, give all dalits a new deal too

Antara Dev Sen

June.2: It is not easy to step into the shoes of elder statesman Somnath Chatterjee, one of the finest Speakers the Indian Parliament has ever had. It may be especially difficult for soft-spoken Meira Kumar, who is to take over as Lok Sabha Speaker later this week. Will the shy former diplomat manage to control with her childlike voice our shamefully rowdy members of Parliament, honourable jumping-jack representatives of the people, forever screaming their heads off, a querulous, agitating VIP mob that even Speaker Chatterjee’s exasperated bellows often failed to restrain? Fine, so the Lok Sabha will have its first woman Speaker, and her dalit identity helps too. But aren’t we taking this woman and dalit stuff a bit too far? Can identity politics be more important than the dignity of the House?

But it takes more than discipline to maintain the dignity of the House. It needs an unwavering dedication to the Constitution, the allegiance that Somnath Chatterjee displayed when he chose House over party. And ignoring this commitment erodes the dignity of our nation. By failing to prevent discrimination and violence against women and dalits, by continuing to deny them basic dignity and justice, by devaluing their humanity simply on grounds of birth, we have been undermining the dignity of the nation. This is despite half a century of sensitisation and, recently, positive discrimination. Dalit women are the worst off. They are abused, raped and killed by upper castes as a matter of course. And the criminals go free; less than one per cent of crimes against dalit women end in conviction. Given this utter disrespect for dalits and women, Meira Kumar’s becoming Speaker — especially in the era of live television — may help restore some dignity to our bruised and battered nation.

Sure, a woman Speaker may remain a mere novelty. We have seen Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, President Pratibha Patil, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several woman governors, we have seen Najma Heptullah preside over the Rajya Sabha as deputy chairperson, and these have not significantly changed attitudes towards women or violence against them. But a dalit woman in a position of such eminence is different. For the fight against caste discrimination is as much a fight for rights — to life, to food and water, to education and employment, to justice — as for dignity.

No social struggle depends as much on symbols as the dalit movement. It floods your mind with grand displays, marking its presence through statues, big buildings, shiny silks, flashy decoration. The most sacred symbol of pride and power is the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar — its slightest desecration could start a riot. Because in the absence of a protective god for dalits, B.R. Ambedkar has become the secular god.

His statue springs up in small towns and villages, built lovingly by residents and not the government. He stands quietly in street corners in his blue suit and red tie and white shirt, black-rimmed glasses firmly in place, holding The Book. The Book written largely by him, that laid down the laws of the land, that determined right and wrong, promised equality for all and freedom from centuries of bigoted oppression. Those unsophisticated, sometimes disproportionate, often luridly coloured statues, built by the poorest and the most downtrodden, represent the dreams that India was founded on. They hold out the Constitution with its promise of equality, justice, fairness — promises unkept as yet, but still alive with hope. And it reminds us of the power of the dalit. Dr Ambedkar’s visible presence is a boost to the dignity of the dalits downtrodden for centuries, a reminder of dalit excellence. Perpetuating Ambedkar iconography is an assertion of dalit consciousness and identity.

Which is why Mayawati’s obsessive erection of statues of herself, Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram is understandable — even if not entirely acceptable. And her grand buildings, the spectacular halls, arches and elephants that she seems to be exhausting state funds on are put in perspective. Mayawati herself is a symbol of dalit assertion. She dazzles with her silks and statues — and the dream of becoming Prime Minister one day. It is a vital dream for the 200 million Indians who have been programmed to think of themselves as less than human, as deserving only leftovers and crumbs, of being destined to do unwanted jobs like scavenging and cleaning toilets.

Elevating Meira Kumar, daughter of iconic dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram, would boost the community’s pride. Besides helping the Congress counter Mayawati as caste queen and rekindle hope in Bihar, Meira Kumar and Jagjivan Ram’s home state. But that is hardly enough.

We have always had robust icons of dalit pride. Like the late President K.R. Narayanan, the magnificent "Citizen President", and the present Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan — both born in poverty-stricken rural dalit families, rising to their positions of incredible eminence on their own steam. It made us very proud. We had a dalit deputy prime minister in Jagjivan Ram decades ago, and later, a dalit Speaker in G.M.C. Balayogi. We have Mayawati, a dalit woman, heading India’s biggest state. But none of these helped end caste discrimination.

We still have one million dalits working as human scavengers, physically carrying shit and cleaning sewers. A crime is committed against a dalit every 18 minutes. Every day, two dalits are murdered, three dalit women raped, 11 dalits beaten, 27 atrocities committed against dalits. Every week, 13 dalits are murdered, five dalit homes or possessions burnt, six dalits are abducted. Dalits are frequently barred from police stations, denied access to village wells and shunned even by health workers. More than half of dalit children are undernourished, they frequently face segregation in school. Untouchability is often obvious during mid-day meals. Naturally, they drop out of school. From access to drinking water to education, healthcare or justice, dalits are routinely denied equal rights and opportunities.

However significant symbols may be, hard action is more important. Laws have to be implemented, justice delivered. The government must not keep hiding behind technicalities, or refusing to put caste discrimination on par with racial discrimination and avoiding international pressure in platforms like the Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva in April.

Besides, by making a committed dalit woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the government will be silencing her for this period, stifling her individual choices as she plays the unbiased, even-handed Chair. Hopefully, the government will make up for it in constructive action against caste discrimination. If not, Meira Kumar may become the grandest statue yet — shaming Mayawati’s cold rockfronts, boosting dalit pride, but achieving nothing else.

Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com