Class action

What was the reason for the violence that surged and spread across Maharashtra for two consecutive days? Apparently, it was provoked by the desecration of Ambedkar8217;s statue in faraway Kanpur. The death of three persons, the shutdown of schools and disturbance of transport systems in Mumbai, the burning of the trains in Ulhasnagar, the clamping of curfew in Nanded and Pimpri, it is said, all go back to the incident in UP and its TV replays. Others contend it is resentment and anguish at the Maharashtra government8217;s delayed and then inadequate response to the gruesome crime recently in Khairlanji town, where four members of a dalit family were butchered. Still others call for a deeper probe: the cause lies in the continuing degradation suffered by these historically marginalised groups. The rage of dalits in Maharashtra is caused by all of the above. And that8217;s not the whole story.

The vandalism and arson over Wednesday and Thursday also speak of a political vacuum. The fact is that dalit leaders are bitterly divided within Maharashtra and also at odds with each other across other states. There is very little coordination of agendas. There is too much one-upmanship and competitive jostling for political space. This predicament, of an absence of coherence and self-confidence at the core, makes the situation ripe for a short-term and entrepreneurial politics that preys on insecurities, old and new. One that does not even shirk the language of violence.

The violence in Maharashtra must be deplored. It must be seen as unacceptable that dalit leaders should only call out for bandhs and not stand up to urge calm. The unseemly politics triggered so inevitably by the ugly desecration of statues must be brought to a stop in dalit pockets 8212; in UP and elsewhere. But that will not really happen until dalit politics recovers its moral core. It will take a grounded leadership with an affirmative political agenda of its own to make the distinction between mob violence and legitimate protest.