Saturday, August 6, 2011

THE CIVIL SOCIETY & THE DALITS



AS IT COMES

I have been writing on the agitation of Anna Hazare and the Civil Society on the issue of corruption and accountability. The bill on the subject which has been termed as the ' Sarkari Lok Pal ' , I don't know whether there could be a ' Non-Sarkari Lok Pal also, has been introduced in the parliament. The debate goes on. But a new aspect of the issue has been introduced to the debate and controversy which I would like to refer. One of spokespersons of the so called Civil Society has slammed the bill as " weak, anti poor and anti dalit. " I myself saw on the TV channels that the said statement of Arvind Kejriwal was high lighted. I was wondering as to what was the import and relevance of inclusion ' dalits ' in the debate at this late stage. It seemed to me, as if, the dalits were neither poor nor civil and were separate element of the society. I think to include dalits in the controversy is a after thought. It would be better if Anna Hazare and the self appointed civil society enlighten the dalits at least, if not the society at large.

The Government constituted a joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill Neither the Government nor the Civil Society thought it appropriate to take a dalit on the Committee. Chief Minister of UP, Mayawati, commenting on the composition of the drafting committee said "“not even one member in the 10-member joint drafting committee... is from the Dalit community. It’s intriguing that the UPA government and civil society could not find even one competent person among the Dalits who is well versed with the Constitution after 63 years of Independence.” The civil society did bot care. What is the compulsion now ? I expect that somebody answers this. Dalits continue at the receiving end. The civil society may like to consider and agitate for the rightful and dignified space for the millions who are condemned to remain underdogs of the society. It would justify the appendix ' civil ' to their group's name. Otherwise, the dalits shall not be used - by firing the shots from someone else's shoulders - दूसरे के कंधे से गोली चलाना .

In my last blog ' The Grammar of Anarchy ', I quoted a couplet of Dr. Iqbal and here I complete the stanza:

इकबाल बड़ा उप्देसक है मन बातों से मोह लेता है;
गुफ्तार का तो यह गाजी बना किरदार का गाजी बन सका.

2 comments:

  1. Yes sir, it is indeed strange that at the later stage of the process, suddenly they get reminded of "dalits". It looks more akin to one of those 'pre-election vote-bank politics' stunts, to inject the sense of moral coercion among the public to gain their support. However, I do hope that finally the Lokpal is created as a self-sustainable and genuine institution; with a character about itself, beyond the scope of human frailties.

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  2. thanks divya. infact, the common man, i think, was never in their mind. they want to be in the news by dragging in the high and mighty as it would address their personal ego better. i am all for the good lokpal under the system.

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