The schools enmasse declared holiday . The demonstrators have blocked the city , high ways and arterial roads . Thousands of shops and eateries were shut down . Autos , taxis , Metro lines and other vehicular operations have stopped . The BEST services were halted by the demonstrators . Several cities in Maharashtra like Pune , Thane , Kolhapur , and Nagpur too have joined the bandh .
The atrocities and attacks on Dalits have intensified in the last three and half years . With BJP in power at the Centre and most of the states the upper castiest and Hindutva forces felt more emboldened to go in for more aggressive , crude and murderous attacks on dalits and minorities . They are using every conceivable pretexts or masks like the protectors of cows , Indian culture , good food habits and dress code , Hindu religion , etc to justify these attacks . We have seen countless such attacks in Gujarat , UP , MP , Karnataka , Rajasthan , Haryana , etc . The Govts have remained as silent spectators and acted more against the victims than attackers .
We can also see the protests and resistance of the Dalits increasing against the atrocities and attacks in the Country . It is a welcome trend that the youth are refusing to accept to live in the wretched , degraded and oppressive economic , social and political conditions which had weighed down their forefathers for generations . They are dreaming and searching for a new and better life . Particularly , the general mass of Dalit youth in the schools , colleges , universities , the places of various professions and walks of life are debating about the causes and ways of ending the
18 economic , social inequalities , discrimination and oppression . They are coming out against the upper casteist and Hindu Communal forces backed by the exploiting ruling classes . They are realising the need to developing the mutual support and solidarity among them . They are taking inspiration from each other ’ s struggle and victory . They are seeing what miracles the unity and united struggles of various sections of oppressed people can achieve . All this is a welcome development .
The Indian ruling classes are using brutal as well as soft methods of suppression against the exploited and oppressed masses of people . For them , the caste system and upper casteism are not only convenient tools to perpetuate the economic and social inequality in society , but also a means to divide the oppressed people into two mutually hostile groups and set one section against the other . The attempts of Hindutva forces in Bhima – Koregaon area of Maharashtra to engineer and lead attacks against the Dalits and flaring up of tensions and clashes between the general mass of Dalits and Marathas was only an enactment of this nasty game . The oppressed people in our country must be clear and conscious that the Parties of exploiting ruling classes in our Country – notwithstanding their nomenclatures and the caps they wear like the ‘ hard ’ or ‘ soft ’ Hindu communalism or ‘ secularism ’, ‘ democracy ’ or ‘ progressivism ’ or any other-all of them , principally , act in their own class interests – the interests of landlordism , comprador bourgeoisie and imperialism . The caps they wear are only the means to realise , protect and serve these class interests . How to fight the interests , policies and tactics of the Indian ruling classes effectively , thoroughly and victoriously is and must be the overriding concern of every section of the oppressed masses , including the masses of Dalit people .
Different classes of in the society are seeking solutions or some immediate reliefs for their problems separately or , sometimes , through united struggles . The attempts of Marathas in Maharashtra and Patidars in Gujarat are only a part of this . It is quite right and essential for the Dalits in Maharashtra to wage struggle against the atrocities , social inequality , discrimination , oppression and for an end of caste system as a whole with all its ugly features . This is , in reality , a struggle of all those who are opposed to oppression . Here it is necessary for all to understand the basic truth that it is the present economic , social and political system dominated by feudalism and imperialism is the main impediment in the way of struggle to put an end to all forms of oppression . So the Dalits , while carrying on the struggle on the specific forms of oppression , must , at the same time , relate themselves and become a part of the common cause and struggle to end the present the exploitative and oppressive social system and win and establish a New Democratic Society in our Country . This alone can make the struggle against the social inequality , discrimination and oppression really meaningful and effective . It is a welcome sign that this trend is a growing phenomena . �
Class Struggle