Kanshiram is known as a ‘Messiah, Manyavar, and Saheb by the popular voice of an assertive identity of oppressed castes – an identity that the dominant public sphere ignored. He helped develop the consciousness in the oppressed masses to engage with brute power in a hierarchical society. Every movement he argues stemmed from a sense of responsibility developed by the individual or group in the society. Kanshiram introduced the idea of the “self-respect movement” to be run based on self-help” to develop the sense of hidden power in the oppressed community. [i] He united people to articulate their ‘mission’ with missionary leadership.
He talked about non-political leadership and distinguished it from the popular idea of leadership. He argued that ‘Tata and Birla are the leaders of their industrial field and not politicians. Similarly, we also require leadership on every front, which helps to accomplish our mission”. [ii] He talked about the importance of leadership for the oppressed community. [iii] A community that has been historically oppressed needed their own public intellectuals to emerge and develop the voice of assertion. Public intellectuals needed to be imbued with the responsibility[iv] to understand hegemonic practices and ways to counter them. In this context, Kanshiram gave the slogan ‘Vote hamara raaj tumhara nahi chalega nahi chalega’ a slogan that captured the unequal and unjust nature of extant politics and power.
Of responsibility and irresponsibility
Kanshiram was for long aware of Ambedkar but not about his ideas in his early life. He recalls an incident when his roommate ‘Shri Gaini’ was weeping; Kanshiram asked what happened. He replied that Baba is gone. After that, Kanshiram asked, who is your Baba? He replied Baba is a real god of this country who has written the constitution of India. [v] Thus began a lifelong journey with Ambedkar and his movement.
Subsequently, Kanshiram got to know about his roommate’s job and his settling abroad with his family. Kanshiram narrated this incident in the cadre camp to emphasise the dangers of ‘irresponsibility’ in society. After getting a job, people tend to forget about society and their struggles. [vi] For this reason, Kanshiram departed in a way from Phule and Dr Ambedkar’s strategies and developed the practices of ‘Mission Payback to Society’ as a Social responsibility for the government employees of the oppressed community. [vii]
Non-Political roots and sense of responsibility
In his path to building a movement, he focused initially on non-political roots. He claimed that ‘politics of a society’ which has ‘no strong non-political roots’ politics of that society will never succeed’.[viii] With his ideas of ‘non-political roots’ Kanshiram was engaged with two major tasks: one socio-cultural and another to develop a sense of responsibility. Responsibility exists in an everyday form, usually accepting of a taken for granted reality. The task was to develop a a responsibility that reflects reciprocity between existence and socio-cultural assertion. He introduced the idea of ‘unification of thought, speech and action’ to inculcate everyday practices in the movement.[ix]
Social consciousness at an ideational level
After 1970, he started to unite people with the idea of 85% or 15%. He uses a pen or stick in cadre camp to develop the conscience against the oppression and dominance of the upper caste in the society. Kanshiram engaged with the masses through cadre camp as well as introduced the different methods of interaction in a society, like two feet on two wheels, Jagriti Dasta (Awakening Squad), Mela on wheels (Ambedkar, Periyar) perform pictorial representation of atrocities on Dalit), Painting Squad, Operation Kaddukas and Rallying point etc. But, it is important to note: why was Kanshiram successful at a particular time? In the hierarchical caste society, the nature of power itself entails engagement with the idea of responsibility. He developed the unknown facts through the known Bahujan icons practices and principles for the emancipation of the oppressed community. The question about the non-political aspects has deep intervention about the structural location in the society. He was carrying on the legacy of pragmatic anti-caste politics rooted in the ground realities of the marginalised communities.
With a severe dearth of resources, Kanshiram Sahab refused to succumb to a politics of victimhood and instead devised a method through The All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) to mobilise resources for assertive politics. BAMCEF had over two lakh members, which included 500 PhD scholars, 3000 doctors, 15000 scientists and 70000 office staff. [x] Therefore, the networking developed by Kanshiram laid grounds for a visible presence of public intellectuals from the oppressed communities.
Responsibility of the self
As Kanshiram told, change results from need, desire, and strength (N*D*S=C). The political journey with the bicycle formula like, ‘miracle of two feet and two wheels’ nickname of the March was used by Kanshiram to consolidate the oppressed communities in the Indian society. He covered seven states, over 4200 km distance in 40 days which started from 15 March 1983.[xi]At different places, he had scheduled the meeting to create the public sphere with an assertive voice. An unheard voice absent in the academia and outside the academia, Kanshiram broke that boundary and electrified the voice with the democratic upsurge in politics. However, what is the most important element for any movement? It could be its leaders and their knowledge construction for political mobilisation. But, what kind of knowledge can be effective for ‘unity’ is a crucial question to identify. And, most importantly, what efforts should be made for the perpetuation of that knowledge. Most fundamentally, does the perpetuation of knowledge within the public sphere help political mobilisation? Political mobilisation is not merely an instrument for votes or strength, but it introduces a critical discourse in the public sphere.
To make sense about structural location and convert this to strength
In Bahujan Sangathak headlines, he said, “Kharidaro ko bata de ki aap bikau maal nahi” (tell to the brokers that you are not a saleable good). These words hit against the mentality of the oppressor and ripened the seeds of assertion of the oppressed with the realisation of the “power” of the vote. Devising a new political grammar of oppressed politics, Kanshiram Sahab operationalised the ideas of Babasaheb Ambedkar in the formation of a political alternative that could wrestle for political power despite being disadvantaged in the post-Independent Indian democracy. Knowing the importance of political power for marginalised masses extensively, Kanshiram Sahab sought to unite the oppressed masses as a challenge to the political hegemony of the Savarna castes. In addition to it, John Dewey (1946) contended the intervention, which creates an understanding of the public’s political aspects of social life.[xii] Here, John Dewey argues about the intervening incident, which can understand the oppression in the society. As a public intellectual, he understood his audiences, evident in his rallies.
As an organiser and organic leader, Kanshiram developed the public sphere for the oppressed section to question the past and its legitimation. He wanted to develop a political understanding of the non-political aspects of the oppressed communities. In BAMCEF meetings, the cultural presentation was an integral part, and it included displaying posters, musical performances, and poetry recitation. One of the earliest BAMCEF meetings in Delhi’s Shahdara on 17 May 1980 was themed as Chalta Firta Ambedkar Mela, which involved an art gallery displaying the life and philosophy of Dr Ambedkar. Kanshi Ram’s weaved together a collective consciousness of Bahujan masses at both individual and collective levels. The early BAMCEF participants still recall the collective memory of participating in different BAMCEF meetings.
Even though India became a democracy in 1947, they, the minority, have ruled over the majority. They were able to do so because the majority was willing to be fooled and manipulated. This is what needed to be questioned and stopped. His ideas of self-responsibility and cultural assertion were of great significance in this regard.
[i]https://velivada.com/2020/05/22/a-few-key-points-from-prof-vivek-kumars-talk-on-bamcef-to-bsp-vision-of-manyavar-kanshiram/, accessed on 30th April 2020.
[ii] Kanshiram, (1982), D-S4, Youth and Ladies fronts launched at New Delhi. The Oppressed Indian: Spokesman of the Oppressed and the Exploited, IV(1).
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Baert, P., (2015), The Existentialist Moment: The Rise of Sartre as a Public Intellectual, Polity Press: Cambridge.
[v] Raut, Mahendra, (1999), Kanshiram Itihas ke Panno Per. in Kanshiram (ed). Bahujan Nayak : Samta, Swatantrata, Bandhutva evam nyaya ke manviya moolyo ka sajag prahari, Geetanjali Press: Nagpur.
[vi] Interview with T.R. Khunte. He was the one who had worked with Kanshiram in Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and other regions of India.
[vii] Jaffrelot, Christophe, (2003), India’s silent revolution: The rise of the low castes in North Indian politics, Permanent Black.
[viii] Kanshiram mentioned it in his cadre camp.
[ix] Kanshiram mentioned it in the cadre camp, as told by T R Khunte.
[x] Christophe Jaffrelot, (1998), The Bahujan Samaj Party in North India: No Longer just a Dalit Party? Comparative Studies Of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 18 (1): 35-52.
[xi] Sambaiah Gundimeda, (2016), Dalit Politics in Contemporary India, Routledge: New Delhi.
[xii] John Dewey, (1946), The Public and its Problems: An Essay in Political Inquiry, Gateway Books: Chicago.
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Narendra Kumar is a PhD research scholar in the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, School of social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.