Know Your Leader | Chandrashekhar Azad: A revolutionary standing up for Dalit rights and taking on Modi in Varanasi

File image: Twitter/@BhimArmyChief

For any Indian, the name Chandrashekhar Azad resonates with the 'Master of Disguise' revolutionary who fought for the freedom of the nation in the 1920s. He had shot himself with the last bullet in his gun during an encounter with the British on February 27, 1931, at Alfred Park in Allahabad.

Nearly five decades and 900 km away in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a boy with the same name was born, who grew up to an activist – a revolutionary – set out to empower Dalits and other backward sections of society.

This year, he has decided to lock horns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his turf – Varanasi, a move which is certainly bold even if the odds are stacked against him.

Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’, along with Vinay Ratan Singh, started an organisation called the Bhim Army or the Bhim Army Bharat Ekta Mission. Even though Singh is the national president of the organisation, Azad is its most popular face.

The Bhim Army

The Bhim Army, based out of Saharanpur, held a meeting for the first time on July 21, 2015, when Azad and Singh decided to start free-of-cost paathshalas (school) for children belonging to marginalised communities.

They set up their first paathshala in Fatehpur Bhado village in Saharanpur. As of today, the Bhim Army runs more than 350 such schools across Meerut, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur.

Azad was triggered to form the ‘army’ due to an unisolated incident of a Dalit student being beaten up by upper caste Thakurs in Saharanpur’s Chhutmalpur area for drinking water from a well. The administration’s apathy in response to such incidents was another factor that led to the formation of the Bhim Army.

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In aiming at educating and empowering Dalits, propagating Ambedkarite values, quick redressal of atrocities against Dalits; the organisation considers itself social counter-movement to Brahmanical ideology.

Any Dalit between the ages of 18 and 25 can join the outfit. Most of the members belong to the Chamar community or its sub-caste Jatav. It is also open to Muslims.

What made Azad an icon amongst Dalits?

In 2015, Azad put up a board in his native village extolling his caste identity: “The Great Chamar of Dhadkauli Welcome You.”

Irked by this symbolic assertion, the dominant Thakurs smeared the board with black ink. This led to bouts of caste tension in the area.

In May 2017, Dalits had objected over the loud music played by Thakurs during a procession being carried out to honour Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap. This led to protests and riots during which one Thakur lost his life while 45 Dalit homes were set on fire.

Accused of fanning the flames during the protest, Azad was named in at least 24 FIRs by the state police. He evaded arrest for more than a month, during which time he gave interviews to the media from various hideouts. In early June 2017, he was arrested by the UP Police from Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh. He had a bounty of Rs 12,000 on his head. He was booked under the National Security Act (NSA).

What is his political relevance?   

The emergence of Azad’s Bhim Army has piqued the other significant party which stands for Ambedkarite principles – Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Most Dalit thinkers believe that the party appeared because of the BSP’s diversion from Dalit-centric issues despite being in political power. This sentiment also keeps the BSP on its toes.

For instance, recently Azad’s supporters thronged a joint rally of the BSP-SP-RLD in Deoband, wearing blue scarves, carrying Azad's posters, perpetuating the message of their leader – to join him in his fight against the BJP.

So jolted was Mayawati that BSP was asked to introduce her nephew Akash to the crowd to counter the message of the Bhim Army.

In addition, the Bhim Army surfaced when the Dalit voter was being pocketed by the BJP on account of BSP’s failure in addressing their issues. It came as a resistance from within the Dalit community.

However, what remains to be seen is whether the Bhim Army will transform into a larger social movement, a political party, or will remain a symbol of localised Dalit aggression.

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