These people were arrested on August 28, 2019 on the allegation that they funded the Elgar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, where inflammatory speeches were made, according to police, leading to the violence. In fact the Bhima Koregaon case dates back to January 1, 2018, the day of the bicentenary celebrations of the Bhima Koregaon battle. The celebration was marred by violence leading to death of one person and injuries to several others. Police investigation into the incident led to the arrest of several activists who they alleged had "Maoist links".

A small village in Pune district of Maharashtra, Bhima-Koregaon is associated with an important phase of Maratha history. On January 1, 1818, a Dalit-dominated British Army had defeated a Peshwa army, led by Peshwa Bajirao II, in Koregaon. The battle attained a legendary stature for Dalits. It is seen as a victory of the Mahars against the injustices perpetuated by the Peshwas.

A pillar, Vijay Sthamb (victory pillar), was installed by the East India Company in memory of those who fought for them in the battle. It is at this pillar that thousands of Dalits come to pay respect every year on January 1. On January 1, 2018 a larger gathering at Bhima Koregaon as compared to previous years had assembled there. During the celebrations there were violent clashes between Dalit and Maratha groups.

True enough tensions had started simmering on December 29, 2017, the day Govind Gopal Mahar's memorial was found desecrated. The incident found mention in the Elgar Parishad, a big public conference organised by Dalit and Bahujan groups on December 31, 2017. Police has alleged that inflammatory speeches were made in the event and that led to the violence next day.

Later police arrested these scholars and intellectuals on the plea that they had engineered the violence. However Scholars at Risk Network (SRN), an international group of institutions and individuals formed in 1999 at the University of Chicago, with headquarter in the New York University to protect scholars and promote academic freedom blamed the BJP activists for engineering the violence.

The arrest of the intellectuals and activists violated the “international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party”. All the arrested persons are at a heightened risk of infection and suffering from potentially deadly complications from coronavirus.

All the activists and intellectuals arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, have been vocal supporters of anti-caste and pro-democracy movements in India, and the case against them appears to be based on fabricated evidence.

In all fairness the dalit should have stood by these arrested academics. But this has not happened. It is quite intriguing why the dalit leadership did not extend support to these people. At a time when the dalit politics is said to be witnessing a new shift, with old ways of doing Dalit politics still in vogue, asserting their individuality is being added to the new form of the politics, it was expected that they would at least moral support to these people. But it is not happening.

Though the dalits have been reacting to denial of their rights, to atrocities on them, and have been asserting their identity in the light of the teachings of Baba Saheb, their silence in this case has been giving rise to scepticism about the future of the dalit politics, mode of their struggle and movement. This simply underlines that they are yet not clear about the mode and character of the future dalit politics. No doubt dalits are increasingly striving to take charge of affairs in their own hands but they are yet not clear of the mechanism to accomplish the task.

In recent times a hot debate is going on about the real nature and character of the dalit politics but the fact remains no serious thought is being given to it. Dalit organizations feel that they should adopt a broader political spectrum but they are not clear about the path and ideological line they should pursue.

The situation has got complicated by the approach of some dalit leaders towards the BJP. These leaders are to be blamed for confusing the Dalits. From the time of the lynching of four Dalits in Una, Gujarat, by gau rakshaks to the hounding to death of the bright Dalit student, Rohith Vemula, in Hyderabad to the prolonged incarceration of the Dalit firebrand, Chandrashekhar Azad “Ravan” in the wake of the clashes between the Rajputs and Dalits in Saharanpur, UP, the Dalits have been at the receiving end of saffron ire. It is an open secret that BJP’s parent organisation RSS does not like Dalits. They treat these people as the serfs of the upper caste Hindus. The Dalits have only electoral value for them and nothing beyond that.

Mayawati is the classic symbol of dalit confusion towards their exploiters, the upper castes. Her malleability towards the BJP has been really confusing. Her utter failure to motivate and enthuse the dalit has been primarily responsible for emergence of a new generation of Dalit leaders who are known for their bold assertiveness vis-à-vis the upper castes. But their style of working simply strengthens the belief they do not have a clear ideological understanding of the political economy of the prevailing situation and how it affects the Dalits.

It is an open secret that during Modi’s rule, the fundamentals of dalit assertion have undergone changes. Dalits who have benefitted from reservation have ceased to nurse the dalit aspiration and their mental stance and thinking process has acquired the character of a feudal Hindu. They now look down upon the dalit culture and moral values.

No doubt the dalit leaders claim to assert their individuality and have been trying to place the dalit question in relation and contradiction between the capitalist economy and market forces that have been defining the Indian economy, they are scared of the RSS and BJP trap and intentions. Though dalit abhor the concept of Hindunisation, it is also a bare fact that those who have attained affluence and turned rich are too willing to embrace the Hindu culture and social traditions. These are the people who endorse BJP’s attempt to hindunise Ambedkar.

The dalit leadership should realise that they cannot survive in isolation or by working on caste and community line. They ought to adopt a broader class line. The coronavirus must be complemented for exposing the deep divide in the Indian community frame work. The country has the capitalist rule and around 70 per cent of the country’s people belong to the proletariat class. The dalit leaders must take a call about their political and ideological allegiance. (IPA Service)