Miss. Mayawati: The Wrong Dalit Icon

If the father of the Indian dalits, Dr. BR Ambedkar, had been alive today, he would be proud to know that the class for whom he bitterly fought social acceptance are starting to make their marks in most sphere of life from the Head of State to Chief Ministership.

But I cannot help wondering what he would think when he sees the omni-present hand-bag clutching statues of Miss. Mayawati in parks and recreation centres that also usually happened to bear his name?

Ms. M. Yes, during the last general assembly she had been touted as a force to reckon with. The result may have disappointed her and the many psephologist but whatever she had achieved so far in term of political havocs and media frenzies, considering her back ground and personality, are something that cannot be underestimated.

But, at the same time one cannot help but be aghast upon hearing her speeches. Her language were usually unpolished, raw, vulgar and most often a baseless character assassination of her political rivals. But the worst thing about here is that she never seemed to be apologetic about her unabashed abuse of power.

Her few press conferences were well-timed and opportunistic, and I am yet to hear her talk about fiscals, social or development policies. If she wanted to be taken seriously, she must freely interact with the press talking about her dreams, her vision and the step she took to further the situation of the dalits and the country as well and allowing us all to know her better. But sadly enough, she dictated the press only for verbally abusing her political rivals.

She is one of the few prominent dalits in India and much was expected from her, but without ever allowing us to let us know here true self, she just looked like an ignorant, opportunistic, corrupt and greedy politician who exploited her social back ground to achieve here selfish ambition.

There is no denying that she want to leave her legacy after she is gone, but the only legacy that she may leave as of now seems to be a badly plundered state, a divided society, and her hand-bag clutching statues. Well, at least the pigeon will be thankful to her for that.

tags: zo, zomi, zogam, lamka

The Horror Of OZ

The recent spate of racial attacks on Indian Student down at Australia has grabbed more than enough media attention in India.  I’m glad it does.  It brings to focus the issue of discrimination and abuses based on racial line.  It is one subject most Indian often overlooked or chose not to acknowledge until and unless they perceived themselves as the victim.

For instances, when Indian actor, Shilpa Shetty, alleged that she was racially abused at a TV show in the UK, the media and people of India cried wolves.  Contrast that with the time when a coloured Australian cricket player, Andrew Symonds, alleged that he was being racially abused by an Indian player, Harbhajan Singh.  Most Indian, instead of condemning the Indian Player, choose to mock the Australian, or ignore the issue altogether.

Indian abroad have become quite sensitive towards the issue of race today, but back home, it doesn’t cut much ice.  Most Indian in India don’t know what constitute racism or discrimination, or for that matter, what racism is all about.  That is not so surprising considering that India is the one country where segregation based on the line of caste/ class has been accepted as a normal social order.

Racism exists all over the world in one form or the other. Even in the developed world where people are more sensitive and awareness are higher, racism and discrimination still existed, but are hidden, unspoken and unexpressed.  In India it’s different.  People still curse their birth because they can never change their social standing no matter what.  For instance, even in the richest family, inter-caste/race marriage is still a big taboo.

If you belong to any of the lower caste, people will judge you from your surname, and your surname will decide if you can enter a certain place/temple, or touch a certain thing. If you happened to be a racial minority, you don’t even get to give your surname, people take one look at you, and you are already judged.  As a minority, each and everyday one has to face some sort of discrimination –it can be mild, coated or blown-out abuses.

What happened at Australia is awful and should be condemned.  But what happened at India is also equally awful, and  should be equally condemned.  But the big difference is that, the Australian Government has acknowledged the incident (though reluctantly), while in India, such incidents will be conveniently swept under the carpet as a normal outcome of the social order.

I really do wish those people who took out to the street for the students down under will also look closer at home and stop being a perpetrator and stand-up for the minorities which they failed to notice all these years. I hope, at least, a lesson is learnt.

-for related post, please click the following;

1. India & Discrimination

2. India & Racism