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THE CIVIL SOCIETY & THE DALITS
AS IT COMES
 I
have been writing on the agitation of Anna Hazare
and the Civil Society on the issue of corruption and
accountability. The bill on the subject which has
been termed as the ' Sarkari Lok Pal ' , I don't
know whether there could be a ' Non-Sarkari Lok Pal
also, has been introduced in the parliament. The
debate goes on. But a new aspect of the issue has
been introduced to the debate and controversy which
I would like to refer. One of spokespersons of the
so called Civil Society has slammed the bill as "
weak, anti poor and anti dalit. " I myself saw on
the TV channels that the said statement of Arvind
Kejriwal was high lighted. I was wondering as to
what was the import and relevance of inclusion '
dalits ' in the debate at this late stage. It seemed
to me, as if, the dalits were neither poor nor civil
and were separate element of the society. I think to
include dalits in the controversy is a after
thought. It would be better if Anna Hazare and the
self appointed civil society enlighten the dalits at
least, if not the society at large.
The Government constituted a joint drafting
committee for the Lokpal Bill।
Neither the Government nor the Civil Society thought
it appropriate to take a dalit on the Committee.
Chief Minister of UP, Mayawati, commenting on the
composition of the drafting committee said "“not
even one member in the 10-member joint drafting
committee... is from the Dalit community. It’s
intriguing that the UPA government and civil society
could not find even one competent person among the
Dalits who is well versed with the Constitution
after 63 years of Independence.” The civil society
did bot care.
What is the compulsion now ? I expect that somebody
answers this. Dalits continue at the receiving end.
The civil society may like to consider and agitate
for the rightful and dignified space for the
millions who are condemned to remain underdogs of
the society. It would justify the appendix ' civil '
to their group's name. Otherwise, the dalits shall
not be used - by firing the shots from someone
else's shoulders -
दूसरे
के
कंधे
से
गोली
चलाना
.
In my last blog ' The Grammar of Anarchy ', I quoted
a couplet of Dr. Iqbal and here I complete the
stanza:
इकबाल
बड़ा
उप्देसक
है
मन
बातों
से
मोह
लेता
है;
गुफ्तार
का
तो
यह
गाजी
बना
किरदार
का
गाजी
बन
न
सका.
By. Mr. Ramesh Chander, Retired Indian Diplomat
07-08-2011
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