Isn’t Humiliation Of Dalits A Reality, Chandrababu?   

Kekuru Cross, Guntur District: One of the great sons of India, Babu Jagjivan Ram, proved that through commitment, credibility and dedication to serve the poor and the weakest sections of society, one could surmount all social barriers and attain extraordinary heights. He could earn worldwide recognition and serve as a role-model for succeeding generations purely because of the strength of his character. I considered it my good fortune to pay floral tributes to this great leader on the occasion of his birth anniversary, during the course of my Padayatra today. I recalled his sterling contribution to the nation, and at the same time I could not help but think of how such great leaders have now been replaced by politicians with petty, selfish objectives. What a contrast!

Along every step of my Padayatra over these months, I came across many instances of atrocities being inflicted on Dalits. Can Chandrababu, who uses Babu Ji’s anniversary for his selfish politics, really claim that he has the interests of the Dalits at heart? It is truly painful to listen to Chandrababu brag about his contribution to Dalits on the occasion of Babu Ji’s anniversary every year. Barring jugglery of words, does Chandrababu have any genuine concern for Dalits and the deprived segments of society? For someone who says, “Who would like to be born into Dalit family?” Didn’t Chandrababu look the other way when his cabinet colleague spoke derogatorily of Dalits? Is this his concern for the most under-privileged sections of our social fabric?

Read: YS Jagan Pays Tributes To Babu Jagjivan Ram

Can Chandrababu deny that land belonging to poor Dalits has been grabbed, rendering them homeless? When questioned, Chandrababu’s men commit atrocities on these poor, hapless Dalits. Is this not true? Can Chandrababu deny the humiliation and disrobing of a Dalit woman and dragging her by her hair by his partymen? These are questions which spring from the wounded hearts of angry Dalits across Andhra Pradesh.

Contract lecturers who met me today expressed their fear about losing their jobs which seem to hang by a thread. After listening to the anguished stories of the troubles being faced by Giridhar, Srinivasa Rao and Ravi Shanker of Nagarjuna University, I once again learnt about the extent of injustice being committed by the Chandrababu Naidu government. All of them had post- graduate and doctoral qualifications. They were appointed as per UGC guidelines during the tenure of my father, the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. They had completed 10 years of service and yet the Chandrababu government acted towards them with vindictiveness. “Anna, this government is out to terminate the services of those who have been working for all these years and appoint others affiliated to their party ideology, after taking bribes from them.” They were apprehensive about their future. “We have already crossed the age of eligibility to apply for jobs elsewhere. The Chandrababu government now wants us to write a screening test, something which has no parallel in the entire country,” they said. They are furious with the government because although they had a stay order from the court in their favour, the intransigent Chandrababu government has gone ahead and has decided to hold a screening test on April 9.

Chandrababu had claimed that he would generate jobs—(Babu vaste, job vastundi). That was before the elections. To betray this promise so blatantly is causing widespread anger among the youth of the state who have resolved to teach him a lesson at the hustings this time. I assured all of them that times would soon change and that a rosy tomorrow awaited us. Rajanna Rajyam would soon be ushered in, I told them.

Soumya, now settled in the United states sent a touching message to me. She said thanks to your father’s pioneering initiative in education, fee reimbursement, his encouragement and his vision, I could come to the US. She said that this was true of many others like her. All of them felt indebted to him. Her father conveyed this message to me on her behalf. He handed me a small toy lion saying that “Soumya feels that you are fighting for Andhra Pradesh and against this decadent political system like a lion. She asked me to give you this souvenir. This lion symbolises you.” Soumya could complete her B. Tech with the help of the fee reimbursement scheme instituted by my father. She then went to the US to pursue her MS and has now found a good job for herself there. She always expressed her support to my father’s initiatives from her childhood, so much that she contributed the savings in her kiddie bank to his free power supply scheme! She follows my mass contact programme, Praja Sankalpa Yatra online. It gave me great joy to listen to her father convey her message that I should strive for the poor and the downtrodden in the same determined manner.

I have a question for the chief minister—you had boasted in your election manifesto that the welfare of scheduled castes was uppermost in your list of priorities. When it comes to practice the worst kind of atrocities are being committed upon them in your tenure. Their lands are being grabbed brazenly by your partymen. Isn’t this a crime? Isn’t it the height of arrogance on your part, as also your cabinet colleagues, to speak of hapless Dalits in a derogatory tone?