08/02/10

no place for cannon fodder

what happened yesterday at a public meeting organized by students of the kakatiya university gave us a brief glimpse of the inherent strong contradictions, conflicting interests, in the separatist movement:
Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi leader Manda Krishna Madiga has blamed it on Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao for the attack on him at the Kakatiya University students meeting in Warangal on Sunday.

Manda Krishna alleged that KCR had masterminded the attack, as he did not want the growth of weaker sections and dalits in the Telangana movement. “Right from the beginning, only two upper castes – Reddys and Velamas, have been hijacking the Telangana movement. They are dominating the Joint Action Committee and are not allowing the voice of Dalits being heard. Since I have been raising my voice, definitely KCR has engineering the attack on me,” he alleged.

what does krishna madiga, and other traditionally landless dalits have in common with kcr and other erstwhile velama and reddy feudal landlords who still own more half the agricultural land, and most of the holdings in the canal irrigated parts, in the region? what do the telangana ngos and officers (sarkari babus) who, in close partnership with their andhra counterparts, were negotiating a hefty pay hike from the state government just a week ago, have in common with landless agricultural workers in mahbubnagar who migrate in lakhs to mumbai and other big cities every year in search of work? what do telangani weavers in bhiwandi and goldsmiths in surat have in common with the software engineers working in new jersey and san jose? what do congressis like former home minister and naxal hunter jana reddy have in common with maoist sympathizers like gaddar and vara vara rao? what do lohiate socialists in the movement like keshav rao jadhav have in common with big businessmen-politicians from the congress and the tdp?

those and several other such contradictions can't be resolved. just as ram janmabhoomi wasn't meant to resolve mandal, only kill it, telangana will only push back krishna madiga's mission. and the aspirations of several others like him. the exhilaration of the moment might delude them into thinking that they're winning because they're being included, for the moment. but, as the last paragraph in the new story tells you, they're losing, and badly:

The fact, however, is that right from the beginning, Manda Krishna has been a nuisance in the movement. There is not a single occasion when he contributed to the movement and all that he has been trying to do is exploit the Telangana movement for his personal growth. KCR, no doubt, is an unscrupulous politician, but it is because of him that the movement has come to this stage. Where was Manda Krishna in the Telangana movement all these years? Let the Telangana activists understand.
the mouthpieces of the brahminized classes regard krishna madiga as a 'nuisance', despite the fact that it is the dalits and obc youth in hundreds and thousands who are fasting, holding dharnas and padayatras, braving lathis and jail, committing suicide in dozens every week. reminds me of what i had said earlier, a few weeks ago:
can't imagine how so many dalitbahujan activists and thinkers ever came to the view that in the current telangana movement, the obcs and dalits of telangana could play a bigger role than being mere cannon fodder.
now that the movement's upper caste leaders seem to have caught new delhi's attention a little, why do they need the cannon fodder any more? aren't they such a nuisance, kcr and other brahminized leaders and 'activists' of the movement seem to think.

5 comments:

Kiran said...

Neither congress nor BJP like it when people speak for their vocations, their social situations , the way their access to opportunities are sought to be denied. The people are best controlled for these parties when they are pumped with identities by birth and behave like crazed fascists.

Reality said...

This was bound to happen. Dalits and OBCs in Telangana should realize that if Telangana materializes they will go back to the DORA regime. The 'DORA' regime conducted by the upper castes in the name of Patel-Patwari system is the main reason behind backwardness in Telangana.Once NTR abolished this Patel-Patwari regime ,'DORA' system disintegrated and backward sections gained immensely.

Do the backward sections really want to give up their freedom and go back under the 'DORAs' ?

kuffir said...

kiran/reality,

i've been reading, rereading most of your and other readers' comments on all posts on the telangana issue..i'd like to thank everyone once again for their comments. and also for helping me think on new lines, issues. because i've been writing a lot (apart from the published posts, there are many drafts), i haven't been able to respond promptly to some comments..but most views/thoughts expressed here, on various posts, are on my mind. thanks.

sree said...

A question to all separatist's belonging to the backward sections.

If the telangana movement is a people's movement?

How come Devender Goud's NTPP could not survive??

kuffir said...

sree,

that's a very good question.

 
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