Chirag casts his net wide across Bihar's Dalit votebank
Chirag seems to be voicing support for important issues of the larger Dalit community and also such matters that will either unite the SC subgroups or bring other Dalit groups into his fold.
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Hindustan Times
44 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
SC refuses to entertain plea challenging Bodh Gaya Temple Act; asks petitioner to move HC
New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea challenging the vires of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, and asked the petitioner to approach the concerned high court. SC refuses to entertain plea challenging Bodh Gaya Temple Act; asks petitioner to move HC The Mahabodhi temple complex in Bihar's Bodh Gaya, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the four holy areas related to the life of Lord Gautam Buddha. Bodh Gaya is a place where Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment. A plea challenging the vires of the 1949 Act came up for hearing before a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and K Vinod Chandran. The bench asked the petitioner's counsel about the prayer sought in the plea. "I have prayed that the Bodh Gaya Temple Act should be annulled as ultra vires," the counsel said. The bench said the petitioner should approach the concerned high court. "Why don't you do it before the high court?" the bench asked. "We are not inclined to entertain the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. However, liberty is given to the petitioner to approach the high court," the bench said. The 1949 Act pertains to the better management of the temple. The Mahabodhi temple complex comprises a 50-metre high grand temple, the Vajrasana, the sacred Bodhi tree and six other sacred sites of Buddha's enlightenment, surrounded by numerous ancient votive stupas, well maintained and protected by inner, middle and outer circular boundaries. A seventh sacred place, the Lotus Pond, is located outside the enclosure to the south. Both the temple area and the Lotus Pond are surrounded by circulating passages at two or three levels, and the area of the ensemble is 5 metres below the level of the surrounding land. In April this year, Rashtriya Lok Morcha supremo and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha demanded an amendment in the provisions of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, so that the management of the Mahabodhi Mahavihara Temple can be handed over to the Buddhists. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Wire
3 hours ago
- The Wire
Witness to the Unheard: Remembering K.M. Salimkumar
It feels as though it happened just yesterday – the long, winding bus ride to Thodupuzha, a serene town in Kerala's Idukki district. We were en route to release Caste and the Politics of the Land (2008), a powerful work by K.M. Salimkumar. Sitting beside me was the man himself – a relentless voice for Dalit and Adivasi rights, an activist, thinker, and writer who had spent decades challenging the status quo. He passed away on June 29, after a lifetime of confronting dominant narratives with a clarity that few dared to match. During that trip, Salimkumar spoke with thoughtful determination about his political path – from early activism with the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation to his eventual estrangement from a Left movement that, in his view, skirted around the issue of caste. His words weren't bitter or sentimental, they were sharp. He argued that caste, as a deeply entrenched system of oppression in Indian society, often vanished beneath class-based rhetoric. For him, the revolutionary struggle had failed to acknowledge the lived experiences of those most marginalised. That journey wasn't just about a book, it offered a glimpse into the principled world he inhabited. Born in 1949, in a tribal family in Velliammattom panchayat in Idukki, Salimkumar rose to become a formidable voice for social justice in Kerala. His early years were shaped by Marxist liberation politics, and he was incarcerated for 17 months during the Emergency. But unlike others who moderated their stance afterward, Salimkumar intensified his critique, especially of the movements he once served. He questioned why caste was so often left out of revolutionary discourse and why land struggles didn't prioritise those without land, Dalits and Adivasis. His involvement in building political and grassroots networks was extensive. As a founder of the Dalit Unity Committee in 1999 and editor of publications like Raktapataka and Dalit Aikyashabdam, he gave platform to marginalised voices. His activism focused not on charity, but on dignity, autonomy, and rightful assertion. Salimkumar was part of a generation of leaders who re-evaluated their ideological roots, transitioning from strict Marxist lines to a framework informed by Ambedkarite thought. While many Left parties in Kerala treated caste as a secondary issue to class, Salimkumar argued it was a primary axis of oppression. He frequently reminded people that caste is not a relic of the past but a system that defines everything – from land rights to social boundaries. He openly criticised symbolic gestures like renaming Dalit colonies with sanitised, Sanskrit-inspired names. For him, such acts were attempts to cover up deeper inequalities. 'Changing names doesn't change realities,' he wrote. 'The trauma, the exclusion, the inherited shame – they all remain.' 'Negritude', K.M. Salimkumar. His collection of columns under the title Negritude reflected this radical clarity. In them, he explored themes such as Ambedkar's democratic philosophy, the erasure of tribal identity, and the contradictions in Kerala's progressive self-image. By drawing connections between caste-based and racial oppression, he built a body of work that was more than literature – it was a political statement. Salimkumar also centred B.R. Ambedkar in his vision of India's democratic future. He didn't see Ambedkar merely as a constitutional architect, but as a radical critic of social inequality and a prophet of structural reform. He cited Ambedkar's assertion that while Hindu privilege maintained Brahminical rule, true democracy meant Dalits must have full participation. He was especially vocal about the contradictions in Kerala's development model. Though the state is praised for its human development indicators, he pointed out how Dalits and Adivasis continued to face displacement and marginalisation in the name of progress. During protests like the Muthanga agitation, albeit his reservations about the struggle itself, he challenged the hypocrisy of governments that claimed to be for the people while undermining the very communities they displaced. His published works – including Dalit Ideology and Communalisation (2008), Dalit Democratic Thought (2018), Reservation in a Dalit Perspective (2018), and The Subtleties of Casteism (2021) – offer critical insights into how casteism adapts to survive even in secular and progressive settings. His critique extended beyond the obvious culprits. He held the liberal elite and even self-proclaimed progressives accountable for sustaining caste structures. In his later years, Salimkumar emphasised the importance of cultural memory and literature in political struggle. He believed that writing was an act of reclaiming identity, that memory could resist erasure, and that telling one's story was itself revolutionary. He didn't aspire to lead in the conventional sense. He wanted to bear witness—to name what others avoided, to stay rooted in difficult truths, and to never allow silence to replace justice. In an age when even dissent is being curated and softened, KM Salimkumar's legacy stands as a reminder that the fight for equality requires more than slogans—it demands unflinching truth. K.M. Seethi is Director, Inter University Centre for Social Science Research and Extension (IUCSSRE), Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kerala, India. Seethi also served as Senior Professor of International Relations, Dean of Social Sciences at MGU and ICSSR Senior Fellow.
Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Bihar will throw Act in dustbin': Tejashwi, Pappu Yadav join thousands at protest against Waqf Amendment
Thousands of people from different parts of the country gathered at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on Sunday to take part in a protest to oppose the Waqf Amendment Act. Several politicians, including MPs and MLAs, also attended the protest organised under the banner of Imarat-e-Shariah, a Muslim organisation active mainly in Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand. The Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, Dipankar Bhattacharya of the CPI(ML), Rajya Sabha member Imran Pratapgarhi, and Lok Sabha member Pappu Yadav were also at the gathering, along with other MPs and MLAs from the INDIA bloc. The Congress state president also read out messages of support from Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party national president Mallikarjun Kharge. Addressing the gathering, Tejashwi Yadav said the RJD has been opposing the Act both in Parliament and on the streets. '…When the Amendment Bill regarding Waqf came to Parliament in 2025, we strongly opposed it in both Houses. And not just that, when the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) was formed and after the Bill was passed, our party also went to the Supreme Court against it… Whether in the House, on the streets, or in the courts, we will fight this battle everywhere…,' he said. 'Those who are in power now are on their way out… When the government of the poor comes to power, Bihar will throw this Act into the dustbin…,' he said. Assembly elections are set to be held in Bihar later this year. Tejashwi also alleged that attempts were being made to disenfranchise the poor and those in minority communities by making changes to the electoral rolls. 'Your land is being taken away and now they are going to take away the voting rights of the poor, backward, Dalit, extremely backward, and poor from the minority communities… The Election Commission has issued a notification that they are going to make a new list of 8 crore voters, and this new list has to be made in just 30 days… You all should stay alert, be careful that no one's name is removed from the voter list, this is a big conspiracy. After the voter list, they will remove names from the pension list as well,' he claimed. Pappu Yadav made similar allegations, saying, 'By taking away the voting rights of 4.7 crore poor people through the Election Commission, they (NDA) want to contest elections in Bihar… This is a proxy war… Within one month, they want to make those 4.7 crore people (of Bihar) who are outside, homeless.' Maulana Faisal Rahmani, the head of Imarat-e-Shariah, described the protest as a milestone and not a conclusion. 'This movement will continue until the Waqf Act is withdrawn,' he said. He criticised the Act as unconstitutional and anti-minority, citing alleged violations of Articles 13, 14, 25, 26, and 300A of the Constitution as well as Supreme Court judgments. 'We accept the 1995 Waqf law. But these amendments are nothing but a bid to take away our places of worship and heritage buildings. This law undermines the spirit of brotherhood in the country,' Rahmani had told The Indian Express. The voices from the crowd echoed the voices on the stage. Under the scorching sun, thousands of people, both old and young, packed the Gandhi Maidan. A man from Madhubani, holding both the Tricolour and a black-and-white Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind flag, said on the condition of anonymity, 'There has been a consistent pattern of anti-Muslim actions, starting with NRC and continuing with Triple Talaq and now with Waqf. This law is an attack on Shariat, but we want to proceed peacefully. We are here for that reason.' 'Our mosques, schools, and lands are all under Waqf for our protection… All religions are treated equally under the Constitution. So why are we being divided by the government?' an elderly attendee asked.
