साई बालाजी को अध्यक्ष बनने से रोकने के लिए “अशुद्ध रक्त” बताया ‘चितपावन अस्मितावादियों’ ने!

Before the dust of elections set in, before winners and losers are declared. I want to share a story of disappointment and anguish!

Like Rohith Vemula who was born to parents in an intercaste marriage, I too had a similar experience – I too was born to parents who had an intercaste marriage. My parents defied the societal norms in 1990s and followed their heart at a time when society was burning with communal and brahmanical forces – the Mandir and anti Mandal violence. My parents believed in love and challenged the hate through hope.

My father is from a backward caste, he lost his father when very young, and struggled and studied as a scholarship student all his life, facing a lot of discrimination. He always wanted to spare me those experiences.

However when I was in Class 9th I was asked to fill out a form which asked for my caste. When I asked my parents, they initially said don’t fill anything. Upon insisting I was told my identity of being born out of intercaste marriage. They were worried about how society would react to this truth. The traumatic consequences my father feared immediately kicked in and continued ever since. From remarks by teachers expressing ‘surprise’, to being rejected in love to being seen as someone impure deserving looks of disgust – I went through all. I suffered in silence and humiliated at large publicly.

It was these very experiences and society’s reaction towards my identity that brought me closer to left politics. The questions surrounding my identity made me realise how self-respect is important. It was not until JNU I realised that I can be proud of what I am. JNU gave me the liberty to express and celebrate my identity without fear of discrimination.

But today in JNU there are questions being raised about the authenticity of my identity and accusations being hurled on my organisation of practising a kind of politics which doesn’t fit into the philosophy and principles of our politics. The accusation and the politics of certificates of ‘purity’ have made me realise how vulnerable people like me are in this world.

BJP/RSS/ABVP collectively went all out to prove that Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit after his institutional murder. They tried to erase and tarnish his story and his mother’s story. Today, I am disappointed to find that the so called champions of social justice who are distributing certificates of “purity” are jeering at and trying to tarnish my parents’ story.

Today after facing numerous challenges, after nearly three attempts to make it to JNU, I have reached where I am. But the questions about my purity and identity remain and continue to haunt me even in JNU! It’s such Brahmanical notions of ‘purity’ masquerading as progressiveness that fails people like me and my parents.

What even more disappoints me and the reason for my anguish is that this humiliation of casting me as impure through ‘certificates’ is coming none other that so called self proclaimed champions of Social Justice. This is the very reason I can relate to Rohith Vemula and his anguish that a person has been “reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing.”

Not only that I was also told that I am South Indian and have no idea about politics of North India. But I would like to state one thing. The politics that happened surrounding my identity is nothing but Brahmanism masquerading as social justice. This can’t be limited to any region as caste system and the privilege it gives to oppress people comes from the Brahmanical roots.

This attack and certification of impurity from champions of social justice has only reinforced my faith and trust in left. Because if there is any identity I carry it’s of an oppressed. Those who thrive on Laal-Bhagwa ek hai will never reconcile with this truth as they are more anti left than anti right!