Former Speaker Meira Kumar recalls discrimination her father faced: ‘He was called chamar’

In light of an incident in Rajasthan, where a Dalit boy was killed for allegedly drinking water from a pot meant for his upper caste teacher, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has recalled how her father, a former deputy prime minister, faced discrimination.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar spoke about the caste discrimination face by her and her father, Babu Jagjivan Ram. (Express archive)

Meira Kumar, the former Lok Sabha speaker and Union minister, has said her father Jagjivan Ram faced casteist slurs and was humiliated when he was the deputy prime minister of the country.

Kumar, who has spoken up against the killing of a Dalit boy in Rajasthan allegedly over drinking water from a pot meant for his upper caste teacher, said her father also had to face the same situation.
“100 years ago, my father Babu Jagjivan Ram was prohibited from drinking water in school from the pitcher meant for Savarna Hindus. It was a miracle his life was saved,” tweeted Kumar Monday. “Today, a nine-year-old Dalit boy has been killed for the same reason. 75 long years after Independence, the caste system remains our greatest enemy,” she added.

In an interview with NDTV Tuesday, Kumar said when her father had gone to unveil the statue of Sampurnanand, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, in Varanasi in 1978, he was told, “Jagjivan, chamar, go away.” “They washed the statue with Ganga Jal because it was ‘polluted’… The caste system embraces everybody,” she added.

Express View | Violence against Dalit student in Rajasthan is stark reminder of nation’s unfinished tasks. Gehlot government must act swiftly

Kumar said even she was asked about her caste while looking for a place to rent in London. “It wasn’t even a Hindu. It was a Christian (who was going to give the house for rent) … he asked me, ‘Are you a Brahmin?’ I said, ‘No, I’m not a Brahmin. I’m a Scheduled Caste. Do you have a problem?’ He said, ‘No’. But he never gave me the house.”

“I asked my father, ‘Why did you fight for freedom? This country did nothing for you. It has given nothing to you or your ancestors…’ He said, ‘Free India is going to change. We will have a caste-less society’,” she added.

“I am glad that he is not here now, 75 years after Independence, to see that India has not changed.”

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has drawn fire from the Opposition as well as a section of the Congress over the death of the nine-year-old Dalit boy from Jalore. Congress MLA from Baran-Atru, Pana Chand Meghwal, even submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker C P Joshi and the CM on Monday.

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