Avantika-Week 13


Poetry
The poem by Meena Kandasamy that deals with the sham created by the “father of the nation” particularly struck a chord with me as it instantly reminded me of two things. Firstly, I was reminded of the Kancha Illaiah piece where he specifically talks about how the Marwadi community helped him financially after which he started telling “harijans” not to eat beef and the Marwadi community promoted the Gau-rakshak ideology. This clearly shows the Mahatma wasn’t as righteous as he claimed or was believed to be, therefore all what he said wasn’t for the benefit for the Dalits as he didn’t particularly have their best interests in mind. Secondly, no matter how revered a person is, this poem gives one the courage to speak up. Find one’s voice and speak the truth, to speak against injustices and cruelties done by people who are believed to be true and honest by the masses. The second point resonates with todays era as the BJP, hides under the garb of religion, sways the upper caste Hindus, and creates violence against minorities under the pretence of protecting culture. It motivates people to steer away from the herd mentality and to really see people for who they are.
The Second stanza that says his tax-free salt stimulated their wounds and he ought to go through a thorough review and be sued, the word review reminds me of the judiciary and the role the state plays in perpetuating caste violence. The judiciary is supposed to protect these rights, it is supposed to be an “independent” body, despite having acts like the caste atrocities act, the system falls short of protecting the community’s rights. We still have judgments like the Vishakha rape case where judges acquit rapists on the pretext that a upper caste male wouldn’t ever touch a lower caste woman, the case serves as a guidelines for sexual harassment post the committee that was set up during the Nirbhaya rape case. The court missed its opportunity to fulfill its objective and mete out justice in a clear case of violation, the impact such case law has on the community is irreparable and deters women from speaking up against rape, done by upper caste men.  When a tribal woman is raped in custody, the court covers up for the state instead of exposing it. In the Mathura rape case, she was said to have not been raped because she was “habituated to sex” and thus the girl was not only a victim of rape but a victim of the judiciary and the state. She was raped once by the policemen and the second time while the “two finger test” was conducted on her by the state, while the judiciary watched. The judiciary ought to review these atrocities and protect Dalits, however as time progresses there is no real change. The judiciary like Gandhi is not infallible, the poem seeks to tell the people to speak out against injustices and pressurise those in power and who rule the state to mend their ways.

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