Pa. Ranjith’s demand that elected Dalit leaders speak up stirs debate
Filmmaker Pa. Ranjith, known for movies discussing Dalit politics, had raised issues related to representation and share of political power of Dalits, and expressed frustration at the lack of efforts to resolve the issues faced by the community in society, both during the DMK and the AIADMK rule.
At a rally organised here on Saturday, demanding justice for murdered BSP leader K. Armstrong, he had flagged the failure of Dalit representatives elected from reserved constituencies over the years to “speak up in one voice” to put an end to atrocities against the community.
While the rally, organised by his Neelam Cultural Centre, brought together various Dalit and human rights groups, it faced a setback as VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan had asked his party cadre not to take part in it despite having agreed to participate initially. He had said that “paid political coolies” could be raising slogans against the DMK and the State government at the event.
The VCK’s decision raised questions on whether Dalit leaders and political organisations could overcome their instinct to protect their political turf. In the rally, Mr. Ranjith had asked why elected representatives from Dalit communities (belonging to Dravidian parties) neither paid their respects to Armstrong in person nor released a statement demanding justice.
“Is your party preventing you from speaking up?” he asked, criticising Chennai Mayor R. Priya and Minister for Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Kayalvizhi Selvaraj. “You are Chennai’s Mayor not because of the DMK, but because of there being reserved seats, which came into existence due to the efforts of Babasaheb Ambedkar…. Ms. Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, please understand why you are the Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare. Why are you all scared? Can you not speak in support of Dalits?….”
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee’s (TNCC) SC wing leader, M.P. Ranjan Kumar, who had participated in the rally, said the Congress would not be anyone’s slave and that he had sought the approval of K. Selvaperunthagai, TNCC president, to attend the event. “I am here as one of Babasaheb’s [Ambedkar] student seeking justice,” he had said at the rally.
Sources close to Mr. Ranjith said he believed in the need to create an organisation for Dalits, cutting across party lines, to address structural inequalities and violence faced by the community across the country, and was concerned that his rally was being labelled as an “event orchestrated by forces antithetical to social justice”.
Dalit activists argue that Mr. Ranjith’s demand that Dalit representatives be assertive beyond party affiliation cannot be ignored. The State government and other mainstream parties should address the issue of representation of Dalits in the Cabinet, and instances of atrocities and discrimination faced by them in the State, they added.
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