Revolutionary stand of the Panthers Today we,
the 'Dalit Panthers', complete one year of our existence. Because of its clear
revolutionary position, the 'Panthers' is' growing in strength despite the
strong resistance faced by it from many sides. It is bound to grow because it
has recognized the revolutionary nature and aspirations of the masses with
whose smiles and tears it has been bound up since its inception. During last
year, motivated attempts have been made, especially in the far comers of
Maharashtra, to create misunderstandings about our members and our activities.
Misconceptions about the objectives of the 'Panthers', about our commitment to
total revolutionary and democratic struggles, and about its policies, are being
spread. It has, therefore, become necessary clearly to put forward our
position. Because, 'Panthers' no longer represent an emotional outburst of the
dalits. Instead, its character has changed into that of a political
organization. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar always taught his followers to base their
calculations about their political strategy on deep study of the political
situation confronting them. It is necessary and indispensable for us to keep this ideal before us. Otherwise we might mistake the back of tortoise for a
rock,' and may be drowned in no time. The present Congress rule is essentially
a continuation of the old Hindu feudalism which kept the Dalits deprived of
power, wealth and status for thousands of years. Therefore, this Congress rule
cannot bring about social change. Under pressure of the masses it passed many
laws but it cannot implement them. Because the entire state machinery is
dominated by the feudal interests, the same hands who, for thousands of years,
under religious sanctions, controlled all the wealth 'and power, today own most
of the agricultural land, industry, economic resources and all other
instruments of power. Therefore, in spite of independence and the democratic
set-ups, the problems of the dalits remain unsolved. Untouchability has
remained intact. It remains intact because the government did not do anything
to eradicate it except passing some laws against it. To eradicate
untouchability, all the land will have to be redistributed. Age-old customs and
scriptures will have to be destroyed and new ideas inculcated. The village
organization, the social organization, peoples' attitude - all these will have
to be restructured to suit true democratic objectives. We must pay attention to
the objective process of the power that imprisons the dalit and which has
succeeded in making him tie his own hands. The Hindu feudal rule can be a
hundred time more ruthless today in oppressing the dalits than it was in the
Muslim period or the British period. IV Because this Hindu feudal rule has in
its hands all the arteries of production, bureaucracy, judiciary, anny and
police forces, in the shape of feudal, landlords, capitalists and religious
leaders who stand behind and enable these instruments to thrive. Hence the
problem of untouchability of the dalits is no more one of mere mental slavery.
Untouchability is the most violent form of exploitation on the surface of the
earth, which survives the ever-changing forms of the power structure. Today it
is necessary to seek its soil, its root causes. If we understand them, we can
definitely strike at the heart of this exploitation. The oppression of dalits
still exists despite the lives and work of our two great leaders - Jotiba Phule
and Babasaheb Ambedkar. It is not only alive, it is stronger. Hence, unless we
understand and give shape to the revolutionary content latent in the downtrodden
lives of the untouchables, not a single individual seeking a social revolution
would be able to remain alive in India. Truly speaking, the problem of dalits,
or scheduled castes and tribes, has become a broad problem, the dalit is no
longer merely an untouchable outside the village walls and the scriptures. He
is untouchable, and he is a dalit, but he is also a worker, a landless
labourer, a proletarian. And unless we strengthen this growing revolutionary
unity of the many with all our efforts, our existence has no future. The dalit
must accordingly accept the sections of masses, the other revolutionary forces
as part of his own movement. Only then will he be able to fight his enemies
effectively. If this does not take place, we shall be condemned to a condition
worse than slavery. We must develop and help this consciousness ripen every
year, every month, day, hour and every moment. Then alone shall we possess the
right to be called human beings at all. It was for this that Dr. Ambedkar made
us realize our humanity even in our state of beast-like exploitation. We
should, to be successful, accept and understand a thing only after deep study,
with a calm mind. We should not fall prey to slogans and outbursts. We must
uproot the varna system, the caste system that enslaves us in its snares. The
soil in which it survives and grows must be made infertile. We must understand
that the caste nature of the term dalit is breaking down. What has the
government done for the dalits? When India obtained Independence in 1947, the
face of the administrative class changed. In the place of the king's prime
minister came the 'people's representative'. In the place of the Vedas,
Upnishands, Manusmriti and Gita, came the Constitution. On a blank page,
independence, equality, brotherhood proliferated. From 1947 to 1974 is a long
period of time. In these 27 years the Congress government, turning the freedom
struggle into its own capital, has been ruling with a monopoly. Four five-year
plans, five general elections and three wars have gone by in this
post-independence 'coming of age'. But the problems v and needs of the dalits,
of the entire population, have been kept in a sort of deep freeze by the
government. Beyond preserving state power in its hands, the government has done
nothing else. On the contrary, by raising slogans of people's rule, of
socialism, 'garibi hatao' (eliminate poverty), and green revolution, it has
crushed the dalits, the landless, poor peasants and the working class under its
feet. Gambling with their lives, tempting a handful amongst them, the
government tried persistently to endanger their very existence. Using divisive
tactics that split people· along religious, caste and other lines, they
endangered the very integrity of democracy. In a democracy where men cannot
exercise self-respect, well-being and an importance to their lives, where men
cannot develop his individuality and his society, where those who with their
blood wet every grain of the country's soil have to starve, where men have to
forgo the land under their feet, the roof over their heads, where the upright
have to break down and fall, where men have to see their mothers and sisters
raped, in such a democracy, independence cannot be called true independence.
The struggle for independence was a struggle under the leadership of national
capitalists, landlords, feudal, for their own benefit. It was not under the
leadership of the people, or of the Dalits. And Dr. Ambedkar had always said
that it should be of the latter. That man called Gandhi in whose hands the
leadership of the struggle rested, was deceitful, cunning, an orthodox casteist
and one who gave shelter to those who wanted to preserve class rule. Merely to
preserve the unity of the Independence struggle, he flirted with problems of
the Dalits, of untouchability, of the people. And that is why Babasaheb
(Ambedkar) called him, time and again, the enemy of the people, the villain of
the nation. Babasaheb used to say, Gandhism means preservation of religious
authority, Gandhism means traditionalism, Gandhism means casteism, Gandhism
means preservation of traditional divisions of labour, Gandhism means
incarnationism, Gandhism means the holy cow, Gandhism means worship of images,
Gandhism means an unscientific outlook. The British gave up their rule because
of the seamen's mutiny, the emergence of the Azad Hind army, because of the
struggles of the peasants, workers and dalits. Because of these they could no
longer remain in power. Giving independence to Gandhi and Gandhians meant that
the British wanted their own interests in the country to be looked after. This
was the sort of borrowed independence we got. True independence is one that is
snatched forcibly out of the hands of the enemy. One that is like bits thrown
to a helpless beggar is no independence. In every house and every mind the
flame of true independence has to be ignited. This did not happen. That is why
the Dalit, the worker, the landless and the poor peasant did not become free;
the muck at the bottom of the pond remained where it was and, in fact, the
government that retained the status quo kept on telling bigger and bigger lies
to the Dalits. vi What have other parties done for the dalits? The left
parties, having fought five elections, have grown bankrupt. They are now
interested in moving from election to election. In 1967, the Left parties
united against the Congress. There was such opportunism in the united front
that parties like the communists joined hands with communalist parties such as
Jan Sangh and Muslim League. In some states, Left united fronts came to power.
But the absence of a clear cut programme made the anti-Congress stand useless.
In the task of putting some alternative before the people, of solving the
problems of the dalits, of establishing the rule of the poor in the country,
all the Left parties proved powerless. As a result, revolutionary people's
groups lost faith in electoral democracy. Uprisings like Naxalbari took place
and the spark spread around the country. With the 1972 elections, things came
back to square one. The Congress sat like a beast on the heads of the dalits,
of the people; famine struck, the very livelihoods of crores of people were
uprooted, animals perished. Factories were shut down, workers faced
unemployment, everyone was harassed by the mounting price rise. The full
eclipse that Congress rule represents for the life of the country has not yet
terminated. But our Left parties, playing the politics of parliamentary seats,
are still wasting time trying to get recognition from the Congress. Not one
dares to turn revolutionary to take up the problems of the people. All those
Left parties who do not possess political power have ignored questions of a
social revolution. They have not combine he class struggle with the struggle
against untouchability, have not raised a voice against cultural and social
domination along with economic exploitation. Untouchability is nothing but an
extremely poisonous sort of exploitation. This exploitative system was given
birth to by Hindu feudalism and thrives for its benefit. The framework of
untouchability is simply widening with the help of the army, the prisons, the
legal system and the bureaucracy. Under the name of high flown philosophy and
liberation of the soul (moksha, nirvana), dalits have been deprived of earthly
happiness, and have been looted of all they possess. With the industrial
revolution, machines came into being. Dalits were harnessed to the machines.
But in the minds of the upper castes, feudalism survived. Because the owners of
the machines could make a profit only by keeping the social structure intact.
Only if a social revolution grips the minds of the dalits, will there be a
political revolution. If this takes place, the upper caste, the upper class,
will lose the power it possesses. The stand that is take by the Left parties
prevents the spread of revolutionary ideology amongst the people. Because
struggles really and truly meaningful to the dalits were not conducted, dalits
have grown poorer. They have had to face innumerable atrocities. VII The
Republican Party and Dalit Panthers The problems of the dalits today, be they
social, political or ethical, cannot be solved within the framework of religion
and caste. This is what Dr. Babasaheb realized after his defeat in the 1952
general elections. A scientific outlook, class consciousness and a completely
atheistic approach and fighting for humanism alone could add an edge to the
struggles of the dalits. For this purpose, Dr. Ambedkar wanted to transfer the
then-existing Scheduled Caste Federation (SCF) into a broad-based party. This
could not happen during his life time. After his death, his 'followers' simply
renamed SCF as the Republican Party started to pursue casteist politics. They
never united all the dalits and all the oppressed. Above all, they conducted
the politics of a revolutionary community like the dalits in a legalistic
manner. The party got enmeshed in the web of votes, demands, select places for
a handful of the dalits and concessions. So the dalit population scattered over
the country, in many villages, remained politically where they were. The
leadership of the party went into the hands of the middle class in the
community. Intrigue, selfishness and division became rife. Destroying the
revolutionary voice of Dr. Ambedkar, these contemptible leaders made capital
out of his name and set up their beggars' bowls. This is Dr. Ambedkar's party,
they said. This is Dr. Ambedkar's flag, they said, and filled their coffers.
And thus, except the satyagraha of the landless conducted under the Dadasaheb
Gaekwad's leadership, the party did not take up any programme worth its name.
the atrocities against dalits grew endemic. In a period of one and a half
years, I, I 17 dalits were murdered. The land grew barren, not a drop of water
was available. Honour was violated, houses gutted, people killed. Along with
the very question of living, physical indignities grew sharper. What did the
Republican Party do? The party got caught in the net cast by a cunning
ruling-class leader like Yashwantrao Chavan. Its life perished. Unity vanished,
impotents filled the party. If we put our future in the hands of such impotent
leaders, we will forgo our very lives, and that is why today we have to
announce with deep pain that we are no blood relatives of the Republican Party.
The Dalits of the world and Panthers Due to the hideous plot of American
imperialism, the Third Dalit World, that is, oppressed nations, and dalit
people are suffering. Even in America, a handful of reactionary whites are
exploiting blacks. To meet the force of reaction and remove this exploitation,
the Black Panther movement grew. From the Black Panthers, Black Power emerged.
The fire of the struggles has thrown out sparks into the country. We claim a
close relationship with this struggle. We have before our eyes the examples of
Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa and the like. viii Who is a dalit? Members of
scheduled castes and tribes, Neo-Buddhists, the working people, the landless
and poor peasants, women and all those who are being exploited politically, economically
and in the name of religion. Who are our friends? I) Revolutionary parties set
to break down the caste system and class rule. Left parties that are left in a
true sense. 2) All other sections of society that are suffering due to the
economic and political oppression. Who are our enemies? I) Power, wealth,
price. 2) Landlords, capitalists, money-lenders and their lackeys. 3) Those
parties who indulge in religious or casteist politics, and the government which
depends on them. Burning questions before dalits today I) Food, clothing,
shelter 2) Employment, land, untouchability 3) Social and physical injustice
The struggle for the emancipation of the dalits needs a complete revolution.
Partial change is impossible. We do not want it either. We want a complete and
total revolutionary change. Even if we want to move out of the present state of
social degradation alone, we will have to exercise our power in economic,
political, cultural fields as well. We will not be satisfied easily now. We do
not want a little place in the brahmin alley. We want to rule the whole
country. We are not looking at persons but at a system. Change of heart,
liberal education, etc. will not end our state of exploitation. When we gather
a revolutionary mass, rouse the people, out of the struggle of this giant mass
will come the tidal wave of revolutions. Legalistic appeals, requests, demands
for concessions, elections, satyagraha - out of these, society will never
change. Our ideas of social revolution and rebellion will be too strong for
such paper-made vehicles of protest. They will sprout in the soil flower in the
mind and then will come forward with full force with the help of steel-strong
means. ix Dalit Panther is not a mere slogan The way we look at our questions
is the first step to solving them. Panthers will paralyzingly attack
untouchability, casteism and economic exploitation. This social system and
state have taken maya cruel path to convert us into slaves. Turned us long back
into 'shudras'. In the present modem forms of slavery there are mental chains
of slavishness. We will try to break them. In our struggle we will become free.
Our Programmes: 1) More than 80 per cent of India's population lives in the
villages. Of those, landless peasants are 35 per cent, and 33 per cent of all
landless agricultural labourers belong to scheduled castes. (Those Dalit poor
peasants who do own pieces ofland, own a negligible amount). The question
of landlessness ofthedalit peasants must be resolved. 2) Landless peasants must
immediately get excess land through the application of the Land Ceiling Act.
Waste and jungle land must likewise be distributed. 3) Feudal survivals are
still to be found in the villages. Due to this, dalits are cruelly oppressed
and exploited. Landlords and rich peasants get social prestige along with
wealth. Due to this, the atrocities on dalits have grown endemic. This system
has clamped itself on the dalit's chest, affecting every part of his life, from
day to day living to the deeper economic questions. This system must be
destroyed. 4) The wages of landless labourers must be increased. 5) Dalits must
be allowed to draw water from public wells. 6) Dalits must live, not outside
the village in a separate settlement, but in the village itself. 7) All means
of production must belong to the dalits. 8) Exploitation by private capital
must cease. 9) Social, cultural and economic exploitation must be removed and
socialism must be built in India. Misleading nationalization must give away to
a true introduction of socialism. 10) All dalits must be assured of daily
wages. x 11) Unemployed dalits must be given unemployment benefits. 12) All
dalits must be given free education, medical facilities, housing and good
quality cheap grains. 13) When giving employment in educational institutions,
the requirements to declare one's caste and religion must be immediately
removed. 14) The government must stop giving grants to religious institutions
immediately and the wealth of religious places must be used for the benefit of
dalits. 15) Religious and casteist literature must be banned. 16) The division
in the army along caste lines must be ended. 17) Black marketeers; hoarders,
money-lenders and all those exploiting the people economically must be
destroyed. 18) The prices of essential commodities must be refunded. We will
build the organization of workers, dalits, landless, poor peasants through all
city factories, in all villages. We will hit back against all injustice
perpetrated on Dalits. We will well and truly destroy the caste and varna
system that thrives on the people's misery, which exploits the people, and
liberate the dalits. The present legal system and state have turned all our
dreams to dust. To eradicate all the injustice against the dalits, they must
themselves become rulers. This is the people's democracy. Sympathizers and
members of the Dalit Panthers be ready for the female struggle of the Dalits.
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