With a Delhi-based lawyer attacking CJI BR Gavai citing “insult to sanatan dharma,” the opposition Mahagathbandhan in Bihar has latched on to the issue and is planning to sharpen their attack on the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine ahead of the high-staked state assembly polls and send a message to the Dalit community who were the swing voters in the last assembly elections held in 2020.
While the MGB is already attempting to woo the extremely backward castes (EBCs) with initiatives like release of the atipichhda nyay sankalp – a 10-pointer plan that promises a series of measures aimed at empowering the EBC communities, the RJD has also released a Dalit-adivasi nyaya sankalp, a similar list of 17 promises aimed at the “social, educational and economic development” of the Dalit community in the state.
The Dalits or the Scheduled Castes (SC) form 19.65 per cent of population of Bihar and include Paswans or Dusadhs, Ravidasis, Musahars, etc. While 22 per cent of the Paswans/Dusadhs voted for the MGB in the 2020 assembly elections, 17 per cent of them voted for the NDA combine of JD(U)-BJP, according to data of the Lokniti-CSDS post-poll analysis.
The analysis further stated that 34 per cent of the Ravidasis voted for the MGB while 27 per cent of them voted for the NDA. 65 per cent of the Musahars voted for the NDA while 24 per cent of these voters went with the MGB.
Despite being a sizeable votebank in Bihar, Dalits continue to face economic backwardness and social inequalities as their political representation has witnessed sub-caste divisions and several leaders have emerged who are competing with each other to claim leadership of such caste groups unlike in UP where Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party once commanded the undisputed loyalty of the entire community.
Posting on X, RJD’s face in Bihar and ex-deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav termed the attack on the CJI as a result of the normalisation of hatred and violence under state patronage via different methods after 2014.
“Are people belonging to Dalit community and those following the spirit of the Constitution not safe even while sitting on Constitutional posts?,” he asked comparing the shoe attack on the CJI as an attack on “the maker of the Constitution Dr BR Ambedkar.” He also alleged that “some people were emitting their poison under the garb of religion.”
“The RJD has been continuously fighting for the dignity and self-respect of the bahujan samaj (an umbrella term for the SC/ST/OBCs/Dalits/minorities) and will continue to fight against the atrocities meted out with the members of the community. Look at the kind of communal atmosphere that is being created by the BJP in the country where a man chanting “sanatan dharma” has attacked a Dalit chief justice of India – something that has happened for the first time in the history of the country,” RJD national spokesperson Nawal Kishore told TDG.
Kishor said that the Bahujan community is taking note of the attack on the CJI BR Gavai.
The Congress too on Tuesday attacked the BJP-RSS on the issue with its Bihar chief Rajesh Ram stating in Patna that a hateful action has taken place against the Chief Justice of India and the saviour of Constitution with “an agenda of the RSS (the BJP’s ideological parent).”
Stating that he too belonged to the community, he was seeing breaking down before cameras during a press conference in Patna which was conducted on the issue by the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee as he said that “the pain belonged to all the Dalits who associate themselves with the CJI.”
‘Message has gone among the Dalits’
Speaking to TDG, Shahnawaz Alam, the Congress Bihar co—incharge said that the incident shows that if the person seated on the topmost seat of the Indian judiciary can be attacked, then what would be happening to the common men.
“Even before this, we have had a Dalit CJI and a Dalit president in India but this has never happened. Why is this happening now? The Dalit community looks at the CJI as their symbol. The attacker has chanted “sanatan dharma” during the attack, he wanted to emphasise that just like the varna system does not allow a Dalit to do justice, in the same manner, the Dalits have no place in the higher social order. The Dalits and the Ravidasis are aware and they are not with NDA. A big message has gone among them,” he said.
A senior Congress leader however stressed that while the lawyer Rakesh Kishor who attempted to hurl a shoe at the CJI has been suspended by the Bar Council of India, there were not enough faces from the judiciary that have come out openly to condemn the attack.
Need to capitalise on the issue, infighting may hurt prospects
MGB insiders however say that the MGB led by the RJD-Congress combined with other outfits like the CPI-ML, CPI-M, CPI, VIP and JMM need to capitalize on the issue and curb infighting which may harm their prospects.
A senior Congress leader told TDG that the infighting within the Bihar unit of the party which has become public and the disagreements over the seat-sharing need to be take care of and the party leaders instead need to capitalize on the issue that can resonate among the Dalits and also the issues of the extremely backward castes (EBCs) and the backwards.
Also Read: Suspended Lawyer Defends Throwing Shoe At CJI BR Gavai, Says ‘Almighty Made Him Do That’
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
