‘Dalit movement has loststeam due to factionalism’

Activist B. Krishnappa remembered on his 76th birth anniversary

July 22, 2014 11:47 am | Updated 11:47 am IST - Mangalore:

Karnataka Mangalore :M.Devadass Dalit activists of Karnataka Sangharsha Samiti, B.Krishnappa Unit, lighting the candle after garlanding the portrait of B.Krishnappa on his birth anniversary in Mangalore on Sunday 20th July 2014. .Photo: R.Eswarraj

Karnataka Mangalore :M.Devadass Dalit activists of Karnataka Sangharsha Samiti, B.Krishnappa Unit, lighting the candle after garlanding the portrait of B.Krishnappa on his birth anniversary in Mangalore on Sunday 20th July 2014. .Photo: R.Eswarraj

Internal caste-politics, power struggles, and issues of leadership have affected the once-influential Dalit movement in the State to just a multitude of disjointed fractions, said M. Devdas, senior activist of the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Prof. B. Krishnappa unit) here on Sunday.

He was addressing a programme to celebrate the 76 birth anniversary of activist B. Krishnappa, who founded the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti nearly four decades ago to strengthen the Dalit empowerment movement in the State.

The programme discussed the dismantling of the Dalit moment, leading to the birth of 12 factions.

Influential

“Till Krishnappa was the State convenor of the samiti, the organisation was very influential. Its protests in the 1970s and 1980s saw the government taking action against those propagating ‘bettala seva’ (nude workship); or ordering for a CoD (Corps of Detectives) after the rape and murder of a lower-caste girl,” said Mr. Devdas.

However, he said, the organisation soon fell apart in the mid-1990s when health reasons forced Krishnappa to relinquish the post to writer Devanoor Mahadeva, who, according to Mr. Devdas, couldn’t control the dissidence. “Cracks started to appear in the mid-1980s when KDSS — against the wishes of Krishnappa — decided to support the Janata Party in the 1984 polls. When the Janata Party won, many members of the KDSS started seeking positions of power,” he said.

Small differences led to leaders breaking away and the KDSS started to split based on sub-castes.

“There are numerous sub-castes among Dalits and the factions started to represent that. With more than 10 factions, even the government is confused and none of these factions are now taken seriously. It is nearly impossible to reunite them,” said Mr. Devdas.

Dalit as CM

Mr. Devdas recalled that Krishnappa wanted to see a Dalit as a Chief Minister. “In his speeches, he would say that Chief Ministers have come from the Brahmin community, which represents 3.5 per cent of the population, Lingayat community (14 per cent), Devadiga community (0.84 per cent), whereas, the Dalit community that represents 23 per cent of the population has had not one leader,” said Mr. Devdas.

The unsuccessful foray of Krishnappa into politics showed that regional parties tried to sideline Dalits, he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.