☭ avin⚓ ☭

Many of my Dalit friends reject the Left, and interestingly, they also reject Abhijit. Some even say that Dalits can never become like Neha or Neha Bora. I disagree with all these arguments — not only on facts, but also as a follower of Baba Saheb. I cannot reject someone with whom engagement is still possible. At the outset, one point must be made clear: for Baba Saheb, it was always about engagement, never about rejecting anyone. He even went to the extent of giving a lecture to hardcore Hindus. So, even on an ideological level, outright rejection is not right. On the argument for rejecting Abhijit: when the entire nation was scared to utter a word against the Chief Justice’s remark, it was a Dalit, Abhijit, who came out openly against it and started a party. When he landed in Delhi, he came with the Constitution and Baba Saheb, and people accepted him. He formed a team, protested, and his first demand was achieved. There is no reason for Dalits to reject him.On Neha and the Left: Dalits may have reasons to be critical of the Left, but when Bojja Tharakam was asked the same question, he said that if there had been no Left, Adivasis would have been wiped out long ago. Dalits have hardly addressed Adivasi questions. The Left is a problem, but we can still engage with them by criticising them. There is no point in rejecting them. For example, if Dalits say the Left has done harm, don’t we know that among Dalit castes, castes have done worse harm to each other? Yet we continue to engage. At the end of the day, we can only engage with those with whom engagement is possible. Therefore, I do not find any reason to reject Neha or the Left. And we need to embrace Abhijeet, What is needed is critical engagement with them.