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Log inDalits in Uttar Pradesh haven't forgotten Rohith Vemula (even if the BJP has)
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Dalits in Uttar Pradesh haven't forgotten Rohith Vemula (even if the BJP has)
by Guest Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:22 am
It may be the first concrete sign of the impact the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula will have in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Dalit villagers, who fought aggressively against their Muslim neighbours on the question of mounting a loudspeaker on a village temple in Moradabad two years ago, are fighting again – to ensure that the saffron party is routed in the 2017 Assembly elections.
The villagers hold the Bharatiya Janata Party responsible for Vemula’s death at Hyderabad Central University in January.
“Everyone knows. Everyone stays silent, but the decision has been taken,” said 22-year-old Vikas Bharati, a Dalit resident of Nayagaon Akbarpur Chedri village in Kanth block of Moradabad district. “The BJP would be fooling itself if it thinks that Rohith is dead. He is not. He lives in our hearts and will be resurrected when polling takes place in UP.”
These words of Bharati, an undergraduate student of science from RSM Degree College at Dhampur in nearby Bijnor district, may appear to reflect the anger of only that section of young Dalit voters who are aware of the developments outside the state.
However, that may not be the case. “UP is changing,” said Arvind Bharati, an agricultural labourer and another Dalit resident of this village. “Although most Dalits are still illiterate and poor, they are no longer ignorant. They are constantly receiving information of all kinds – through their children and neighbours or simply by TV channels. Rohith Vemula is one name every Dalit is aware of.”
Arvind Bharati added: “Often Dalits won’t feel encouraged to talk openly about their political preferences, but one thing that has entered into their mind is that Rohith was forced to commit suicide because he was a Dalit. And all of us know which party was responsible for his death.”
http://scroll.in/article/811576/dalits-in-a-village-in-poll-bound-up-havent-forgotten-rohith-vemula-even-if-the-bjp-has
The villagers hold the Bharatiya Janata Party responsible for Vemula’s death at Hyderabad Central University in January.
“Everyone knows. Everyone stays silent, but the decision has been taken,” said 22-year-old Vikas Bharati, a Dalit resident of Nayagaon Akbarpur Chedri village in Kanth block of Moradabad district. “The BJP would be fooling itself if it thinks that Rohith is dead. He is not. He lives in our hearts and will be resurrected when polling takes place in UP.”
These words of Bharati, an undergraduate student of science from RSM Degree College at Dhampur in nearby Bijnor district, may appear to reflect the anger of only that section of young Dalit voters who are aware of the developments outside the state.
However, that may not be the case. “UP is changing,” said Arvind Bharati, an agricultural labourer and another Dalit resident of this village. “Although most Dalits are still illiterate and poor, they are no longer ignorant. They are constantly receiving information of all kinds – through their children and neighbours or simply by TV channels. Rohith Vemula is one name every Dalit is aware of.”
Arvind Bharati added: “Often Dalits won’t feel encouraged to talk openly about their political preferences, but one thing that has entered into their mind is that Rohith was forced to commit suicide because he was a Dalit. And all of us know which party was responsible for his death.”
http://scroll.in/article/811576/dalits-in-a-village-in-poll-bound-up-havent-forgotten-rohith-vemula-even-if-the-bjp-has
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