Following his release from jail on Tuesday, Ambedkar Jan Morcha convener and Dalit rights activist Shravan Kumar Nirala announced that a march will be taken out in January to demand land for landless families from Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, and other marginalised groups in Uttar Pradesh.
A Gorakhpur court on Saturday had granted bail to Mr. Nirala, retired IPS officer S.R. Darapuri, and seven others arrested in connection with a case of alleged vandalism during a stir over the same demand outside the Gorakhpur Divisional Commissioner’s office on October 10.
“We were jailed to silence the people’s movement. Dalits and other marginalised groups face atrocities in villages as they don’t own land. In order to live with dignity, land is a must,” Mr. Nirala said.
The Dalit activist vowed to continue to press for the demand and launch an ‘Aakrosh’ march in January from Chauri Chaura to Ambedkar Sthal in Gorakhpur town. “The focus is on expanding the movement to push for the demand across U.P. by coordinating with other organisations,” said Mr. Nirala, who had a long stint in the Bahujan Samaj Party as its coordinator in various districts.
‘Political tool’
Accusing the BJP government of using the police as a “political tool”, Mr. Darapuri, a 1972-batch IPS officer, said the crackdown on dissent and high-handedness under the current dispensation is “unprecedented”. “Every government tries to suppress the voice of the marginalised and issues concerning them through repressive action. But in the present regime, it is reaching the zenith.”
The retired IPS officer said all accusations against them were “fake and motivated”, and aimed at “silencing and intimidating” Dalit activists and subaltern voices. “I will try to build solidarity among rights groups over the demands of the marginalised. We have been raising the demand for land as 70% of Dalits in the State do not have land,” he said.
On why the focus is on land when the State government has started welfare schemes, Mr. Darapuri said, “Land is a permanent solution, all government schemes are temporary solutions. If given land, people can grow crops and fulfil their basic need of food.”
