Hyderabad: Beef Festival and Ravana Mela

After Telangana, call for beef fest ignites campus






G.S. RADHAKRISHNA

Hyderabad, March 18: A
demand by Dalit students to hold a “beef festival” on the Osmania
University campus has raised the political temperature at the
institution after eight months of calm following the ebbing of the
Telangana agitation.




With BJP student
wing ABVP opposing the demand, university authorities have denied
permission for the event on the ground that it may spark violence. The
Dalit students have accused the authorities of “food fascism” and
cultural imposition and said their plan stands.




During the
“festival”, billed as a protest against upper-caste students’ contempt
of their traditions, Dalit students plan to cook beef in the open and
serve it as an expression of their cultural identity and constitutional
rights.




The event has been
planned to coincide with the birth anniversary celebrations of Dalit
icons Jagjivan Ram (April 5), Jyotiba Phule (April 11) and B.R. Ambedkar
(April 14). The Dalit students also want beef served at the campus
canteens, where the non-vegetarian fare now includes only chicken,
mutton and eggs.




Last year, too,
the Dalit students had planned a beef festival on the campus but were
dissuaded. With their number growing from 1,200 last year to 2,000 this
year, they are more determined this time.




Dalit writers and
activists have rallied behind the students. “Beef is a basic Dalit food,
and we want this upper caste hostility towards it to end,” said Kancha
Ilaiah, a Dalit ideologue who teaches at the university.




Another Dalit activist, Bojja Tarakam, too has criticised the university for denying permission for the event.




But
vice-chancellor S. Satyanarayana says the event cannot be allowed given
the history of caste tensions on the campus, and has asked senior
faculty members to talk to the students’ representatives.




The Osmania
campus, the nerve centre of the Telangana movement and a nursery for
radicalism, has for years been witnessing confrontation and scuffles
between Dalit students and ABVP members.




“In their petition
to the vice-chancellor, the Dalit students have accused ABVP members of
ridiculing and insulting their food habits and traditions,” a
university spokesperson said.




Of the 8,000
students on the campus, about 4,000 are from the Other Backward Classes
and 1,000 are tribals. The upper caste Hindus, minorities and foreign
students make up about 1,000.




The ABVP and Dalit
students have been at loggerheads on various issues, such as
Valentine’s Day, Ram Navami celebrations, even the ragging of Dalits by
upper caste students.




Last year, Dalit
students had needled the ABVP by organising a Ravan Mela during Dussehra
and a Bheem Mela (Bheem is a mascot of the Dalit movement) during
Ramlila and Deepavali celebrations.





















http://telegraphindia.com/1120319/jsp/frontpage/story_15267319.jsp

Challenging the 'casteist food culture', the students will also hold
a beef festival in front of Osmania University (OU) Arts College in
April. During the festival, cooked beef will be served and is being
conducted as part of the birth anniversary celebrations of national
leaders like B R Ambedakar (April 14), Jyotiba Phule (April 11) and Babu
Jagjivan Ram (April 5), who were anti-caste ideologues. The university
administration, though aware of the petition has not given permission to
conduct such a festival.
The Dalit students form the second
largest caste group with 2,000 members on OU campus. The campus which
has a total student strength of 8,000 has about 4,000 OBC and 1,000
tribal students. "We decided to conduct such a public meeting as there
have been several instances in the past where we were humiliated because
of our food habits. Dalit PG students were rebuked and even roughed up
by others when they cooked any non-vegetarian food in hostels during
certain festival days," said Sudarshan, a research scholar enrolled in
Arts College. Observers said that this is the second time that the Dalit
students of OU have come together to assert their identity. In 2011,
students had organised a unique Dasara celebration on campus, where
Ravana, the mythical character symbolising Dalit identity, was
glorified.
When asked whether the OU administration will give
permission for beef festival, OU vice chancellor said that the matter is
sensitive and hence a decision cannot be taken in haste. "We have asked
some faculty members to talk to the students. We are trying to get
things under control," said S Satyanarayana, vice chancellor, OU. He
said that the issue came to his notice when some sections of the student
community on campus complained about the same. "On March 11, I
requested some senior teachers to get in touch with them and asked them
to stop the exercise as this would create tension on campus," said
Satyanarayana. Experts said the beef festival will face serious
opposition on campus.


http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-14/hyderabad/31164800_1_dalit-students-ou-hostel-mess

In 2011,
students had organised a unique Dasara celebration on campus, where
Ravana, the mythical character symbolising Dalit identity, was
glorified.

Someone needs to tell these dalit students that Ravana was a brahmin. There is no need to consider him a dalit icon.