Photo: HTFrom the agitation in Gujarat after gau-rakshaks (literally, cow protectors) attacked Dalits to countrywide protests after the suicide of Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad Central University, Dalit politics is on the boil. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which primarily relies on Dalit votes, is a major force in the state. Sanjay Paswan, a former minister and senior Dalit leader from the BJP, wrote in The Indian Express last week of the “need is to depoliticise the Dalit discourse and strive towards an independent, objective, dispassionate and solution-centric Dalit narrative”. Efforts to promote Dalit capitalism through bodies such as Dalit Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry could be one solution. Maybe that explains the crimes against Dalits and also the Dalit anger spilling onto the streets.

Source: Mint September 11, 2016 18:11 UTC