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 strengthdespite the strong resistance faced by it from many sides. It is bound to growbecause it has recognized the revolutionary nature and aspirations of the masseswith whose smiles and tears it has been bound up since its inception. During lastyear, motivated attempts have been made, especially in the far comers ofMaharashtra, to create misunderstandings about our members and our activities.Misconceptions about the objectives of the ‘Panthers’, about our commitment tototal revolutionary and democratic struggles, and about its policies, are beingspread. It has, therefore, become necessary clearly to put forward our position.Because, ‘Panthers’ no longer represent an emotional outburst of the dalits.Instead, its character has changed into that of a political organization.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 abouttheir political strategy on deep study of the political situation confronting them. Itis necessary and indispensible for us to keep this ideal before us. Otherwise wemight 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 Hindufeudalism which kept the Dalits deprived of power, wealth and status forthousands of years. Therefore, this Congress rule cannot bring about socialchange. Under pressure of the masses it passed many laws but it cannotimplement them. Because the entire state machinery is dominated by the feudalinterests, 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, theproblems of the dalits remain unsolved. Untouchability has remained intact. Itremains intact because the government did not do anything to eradicate it exceptpassing some laws against it. To eradicate untouchability, all the land will have tobe redistributed. Age-old customs and scriptures will have to be destroyed andnew 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 thedalit and which has succeeded in making him tie his own hands.
The Hindu feudal rule can be a hundred time more ruthless today inoppressing the dalits than it was in the Muslim period or the British period.Because this Hindu feudal rule has in its hands all the arteries of production, bureaucracy, judiciary, army and police forces, in the shape of feudal, landlords,capitalists and religious leaders who stand behind and enable these instruments tothrive. Hence the problem of untouchability of the dalits is no more one of meremental 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 itis necessary to seek its soil, its root causes. If we understand them, we candefinitely strike at the heart of this exploitation. The oppression of dalits stillexists despite the lives and work of our two great leaders – Jotiba Phule andBabasaheb Ambedkar. It is not only alive, it is stronger. Hence, unless weunderstand and give shape to the revolutionary content latent in the downtroddenlives of the untouchables, not a single individual seeking a social revolutionwould be able to remain alive in India.
Truly speaking, the problem of dalits, or scheduled castes and tribes, hasbecome a broad problem, the dalit is no longer merely an untouchable outside thevillage walls and the scriptures. He is untouchable, and he is a dalit, but he is alsoa worker, a landless labourer, a proletarian. And unless we strengthen thisgrowing revolutionary unity of the many with all our efforts, our existence has nofuture. The dalit must accordingly accept the sections of masses, the otherrevolutionary forces as part of his own movement. Only then will he be able tofight his enemies effectively. If this does not take place, we shall be condemned toa condition worse than slavery. We must develop and help this consciousnessripen every year, every month, day, hour and every moment. Then alone shall wepossess the right to be called human beings at all.
It was for this that Dr. Ambedkar made us realize our humanity even inour state of beast-like exploitation. We should, to be successful, accept andunderstand a thing only after deep study, with a calm mind. We should not fallprey to slogans and outbursts. We must uproot the varna system, the caste systemthat enslaves us in its snares. The soil in which it survives and grows must bemade infertile. We must understand that the caste nature of the term dalit isbreaking down.
What has the government done for the dalits?
When India obtained Independence in 1947, the face of the administrativeclass changed. In the place of the king’s prime minister came the ‘people’srepresentative’. In the place of the Vedas, Upnishands, Manusmriti and Gita, came the Constitution. On a blank page, independence, equality, brotherhoodproliferated. From 1947 to 1974 is a long period of time. In these 27 years theCongress government, turning the freedom struggle into its own capital, has beenruling with a monopoly. Four five-year plans, five general elections and threewars have gone by in this post-independence ‘coming of age’. But the problemsand needs of the dalits, of the entire population, have been kept in a sort of deepfreeze by the government.
Beyond preserving state power in its hands, the government has donenothing 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 withtheir lives, tempting a handful amongst them, the government tried persistently toendanger their very existence. Using divisive tactics that split people alongreligious, caste and other lines, they endangered the very integrity of democracy.
In a democracy where men cannot exercise self-respect, well-being and animportance to their lives, where men cannot develop his individuality and hissociety, where those who with their blood wet every grain of the country’s soilhave to starve, where men have to forgo the land under their feet, the roof overtheir heads, where the upright have to break down and fall, where men have to seetheir mothers and sisters raped, in such a democracy, independence cannot becalled true independence.
The struggle for independence was a struggle under the leadership ofnational capitalists, landlords, feudal, for their own benefit. It was not under theleadership of the people, or of the Dalits. And Dr. Ambedkar had always said thatit should be of the latter. That man called Gandhi in whose hands the leadership ofthe struggle rested, was deceitful, cunning, an orthodox casteist and one who gaveshelter to those who wanted to preserve class rule. Merely to preserve the unity ofthe Independence struggle, he flirted with problems of the Dalits, ofuntouchability, 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 usedto say, Gandhism means preservation of religious authority, Gandhism meanstraditionalism, Gandhism means casteism, Gandhism means preservation oftraditional divisions of labour, Gandhism means incarnationism, Gandhism meansthe holy cow, Gandhism means worship of images, Gandhism means anunscientific outlook.
The British gave up their rule because of the seamen’s mutiny, theemergence 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 wantedtheir own interests in the country to be looked after. This was the sort of borrowedindependence we got. True independence is one that is snatched forcibly out ofthe hands of the enemy. One that is like bits thrown to a helpless beggar is noindependence. In every house and every mind the flame of true independence hasto be ignited. This did not happen. That is why the DaIit, the worker, the landlessand the poor peasant did not become free; the muck at the bottom of the pondremained where it was and, in fact, the government that retained the status quokept on telling bigger and bigger lies to the Dalits.
What have other parties done for the dalits?
The left parties, having fought five elections, have grown bankrupt. Theyare now interested in moving from election to election. In 1967, the Left partiesunited against the Congress. There was such opportunism in the united front thatparties like the communists joined hands with communalist parties such as JanSangh and Muslim League. In some states, Left united fronts came to power. Butthe absence of a clear cut programme made the anti-Congress stand useless. In thetask of putting some alternative before the people, of solving the problems of thedalits, of establishing the rule of the poor in the country, all the Left partiesproved powerless. As a result, revolutionary people’s groups lost faith in electoraldemocracy. Uprisings like Naxalbari took place and the spark spread around thecountry.
With the 1972 elections, things came back to square one. The Congress satlike a beast on the heads of the dalits, of the people; famine struck, the verylivelihoods of crores of people were uprooted, animals perished. Factories wereshut down, workers faced unemployment, everyone was harassed by the mountingprice rise.
The full eclipse that Congress rule represents for the life of the country hasnot yet terminated. But our Left parties, playing the politics of parliamentaryseats, are still wasting time trying to get recognition from the Congress. Not onedares to turn revolutionary to take up the problems of the people. All those Leftparties who do not possess political power have ignored questions of a socialrevolution. They have not combine he class struggle with the struggle againstuntouchability, have not raised a voice against cultural and social dominationalong 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 itsbenefit. The framework of untouchability is simply widening with the help of thearmy, the prisons, the legal system and the bureaucracy. Under the name of highflownphilosophy and liberation of the soul (moksha, nirvana), dalits have beendeprived of earthly happiness, and have been looted of all they possess.
With the industrial revolution, machines came into being. Dalits wereharnessed to the machines. But in the minds of the upper castes, feudalismsurvived. Because the owners of the machines could make a profit only bykeeping the social structure intact. Only if a social revolution grips the minds ofthe 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 Leftparties prevents the spread of revolutionary ideology amongst the people. Becausestruggles really and truly meaningful to the dalits were not conducted, dalits havegrown poorer. They have had to face innumerable atrocities.
The Republican Party and Dalit Panthers
The problems ofthe dalits today, be they social, political or ethical, cannotbe solved within the framework of religion and caste. This is what Dr. Babasahebrealized after his defeat in the 1952 general elections. A scientific outlook, classconsciousness and a completely atheistic approach and fighting for humanismalone 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 hisdeath, his ‘followers’ simply renamed SCF as the Republican Party started topursue casteist politics. They never united all the dalits and all the oppressed.Above all, they conducted the politics of a revolutionary community like thedalits 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 dalitpopulation scattered over the country, in many villages, remained politicallywhere they were. The leadership of the party went into the hands of the middleclass in the community. Intrigue, selfishness and division became rife.
Destroying the revolutionary voice of Dr. Ambedkar, these contemptibleleaders 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 filledtheir coffers. And thus, except the satyagraha of the landless conducted under theDadasaheb Gaekwad’s leadership, the party did not take up any programme worthits name. the atrocities against dalits grew endemic. In a period of one and a half years, 1,117 dalits were murdered. The land grew barren, not a drop of water wasavailable. Honour was violated, houses gutted, people killed. Along with the veryquestion of living, physical indignities grew sharper. What did the RepublicanParty do? The party got caught in the net cast by a cunning ruling-class leader likeYashwantrao 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 verylives, and that is why today we have to announce with deep pain that we are noblood 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, ahandful of reactionary whites are exploiting blacks. To meet the force of reactionand remove this exploitation, the Black Panther movement grew. From the BlackPanthers, Black Power emerged. The fire of the struggles has thrown out sparksinto the country. We claim a close relationship with this struggle. We have beforeour eyes the examples of Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa and the like.
Who is a dalit?
Members of scheduled castes and tribes, Neo-Buddhists, the workingpeople, the landless and poor peasants, women and all those who are beingexploited 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 andpolitical 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 thegovernment which depends on them.
Burning questions before dalits today
1) Food, clothing, shelter
2) Employment, land, untouchability
3) Social and physical injustice
The struggle for the emancipation of the dalits needs a completerevolution. Partial change is impossible. We do not want it either. We want acomplete and total revolutionary change. Even if we want to move out of thepresent state of social degradation alone, we will have to exercise our power ineconomic, 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 wholecountry. We are not looking at persons but at a system. Change of heart, liberaleducation, etc. will not end our state of exploitation. When we gather arevolutionary mass, rouse the people, out of the struggle of this giant mass willcome the tidal wave of revolutions. Legalistic appeals, requests, demands forconcessions, elections, satyagraha – out of these, society will never change. Ourideas of social revolution and rebellion will be too strong for such paper-madevehicles of protest. They will sprout in the soil flower in the mind and then willcome forward with full force with the help of steel-strong means.
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 economicexploitation. This social system and state have taken maya cruel path to convertus into slaves. Turned us long back into ‘shudras’. In the present modem forms ofslavery there are mental chains of slavishness. We will try to break them. In ourstruggle 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 agriculturallabourers belong to scheduled castes. (Those Dalit poor peasants who do ownpieces ofland, own a negligible amount). The question oflandlessness of the dalitpeasants must be resolved.
2) Landless peasants must immediately get excess land through theapplication of the Land Ceiling Act. Waste and jungle land must likewise bedistributed.
3) Feudal survivals are still to be found in the villages. Due to this, dalits arecruelly oppressed and exploited. Landlords and rich peasants get social prestigealong with wealth. Due to this, the atrocities on dalits have grown endemic. Thissystem has clamped itself on the dalit’s chest, affecting every part of his life, fromday to day living to the deeper economic questions. This system must bedestroyed.
4) The wages oflandless 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 thevillage 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 socialismmust be built in India. Misleading nationalization must give away to a trueintroduction of socialism.
10) All dalits must be assured of daily wages.
11) Unemployed dalits must be given unemployment benefits.
12) All dalits must be given free education, medical facilities, housing andgood quality cheap grains.
13) When giving employment in educational institutions, the requirements todeclare one’s caste and religion must be immediately removed.
14) The government must stop giving grants to religious institutionsimmediately and the wealth of religious places must be used for the benefit ofdalits.
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 thepeople economically must be destroyed.
18) The prices of essential commodities must be refunded.
We will build the organization of workers, dalits, landless, poor peasantsthrough all city factories, in all villages. We will hit back against all injusticeperpetrated on Dalits. We will well and truly destroy the caste and varna systemthat thrives on the people’s misery, which exploits the people, and liberate thedalits. The present legal system and state have turned all our dreams to dust. Toeradicate all the injustice against the dalits, they must themselves become rulers.This is the people’s democracy. Sympathizers and members of the Dalit Panthersbe ready for the fmal struggle of the dalits.
