Class War not Caste War

Streets in Mumbai were deserted on Wednesday as hundreds of Dalit protesters blocked roads and train lines and attacked buses, forcing transport delays and the closure of schools and shops in the financial hub. Similar disruptions have also been reported from other parts of the western state of Maharashtra.  Fleets of protesters on motorbikes were roaming the empty streets of Mumbai shouting “Jai Bhim”, a Dalit protest slogan. Jai Bhim  literally means "Victory to Bhim" referring to Dalit advocate, B. R. Ambedkar but was also the battle cry at the Battle of Koregaon.

Dalits, (formerly called untouchables), were protesting against the disruption of a memorial event by Hindu nationalist groups. 

Two Hindu nationalist groups attacked processions near an obelisk installed by the British to commemorate the battle. 

 300,000 Dalits had gathered in the Maharashtra village of Bhima Koregaon to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the 1818 victory of the British East India Company over the Peshwas, a faction of the Maratha empire that ruled much of the subcontinent before the British. Hundreds of Dalits were involved in the battle on the side of the British, forming part of battalion of 900 soldiers that repelled Peshwa forces numbering 20,000 by some estimates. The Dalits, who occupy the lowest place in the Hindu caste system and have suffered thousands of years of exclusion and extreme poverty, sided with the British in response to mistreatment by high-caste Peshwa rulers. Today the battle is regarded as a historical moment of self-assertion by members of the community.

The Indian establishment avoids taking Dalit concerns seriously. The police failed to provide them with adequate protection. Journalists in the national media, also dominated by upper-caste Hindus, routinely accuse them of “poisoning” the country for demanding change. The media just criticise them for creating chaos and move on. Hindu nationalists talk about making their country great. But theirs is a vision restricted only for the upper-caste Hindu elite. Lower-caste Indians and other religious minorities aren’t just ignored, they are accused of being “anti-national” if they demand equal rights. Hindu nationalist movement has nothing to say about India’s caste elitism. It ignores the daily violence against lower-caste Hindus. It has nothing to say about oppression other than casting themselves as victims against Muslims. Many Dalits had hoped the new BJP government, which talked loudly of development, would help them to progress through better jobs. Those dreams, now shattered, are turning to anger.  Not much changes