We have guts, will fight against ‘insult to Dr Ambedkar’: Gujarat Dalits’ unique ‘sava ser sunth’ programme

In an unusual move, Gujarat Dalits from as many as 182 talukas will be handing over as many boxes containing “sava ser sunth” – one and a quarter ‘seer’ (traditional unit of weight) of dry ginger – to district collectors or taluka chiefs (mamlatdars) with a suggestive message to Union home minister Amit Shah: “We won’t tolerate your recent insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar in Parliament because our mothers had fed with sunth during and after the childbirth to make us strong-willed”, to quote a Dalit activist.

Conceptualised by Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the boxes will be handed over by Gujarat Dalits groups to local state officials on January 1, the Bhima-Koregaon day, celebrated by Dalits as their “victory” against the Peshwas’ Brahminical oppression in a battle fought between mainly Mahar (the Dalit sub-caste to which Ambedkar also belonged) soldiers of a regiment under the British East India Company and Peshwa Bajirao II’s forces on January 1, 1818.

Prepared by students and staff of the Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK), the technical-cum-Dalit empowerment school which Macwan heads about 20 kilometres south of Ahmedabad in Nani Devti village, each box with is to contain “sava ser sunth” with a printed message, telling Amit Shah to follow Indian constitution and not insult Dr Ambedkar. The 182 boxes have been sent to Dalit activists as many talukas for the programme.

Talking about the programme, Indu Rohit, a senior DSK instructor, told me, “What has hurt the Dalits most is the casual manner in which the Union home minister referred to Dr Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. During his one-and-a-half hour speech, he seemed to suggest that taking the name of Ambedkar is a fashion today, without once recalling any of his contributions for empowering the Dalits, even as speaking at length about Savarkar, Ramayana and Mahabharata.”

She added, “We have decided to do this programme on January 1 because on the 200th anniversary of the victory in 2018, following the violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon, several well-known civil rights leaders and intellectuals were arrested and implicated. Many of them are still in jail, though they are innocent. On the other hand, the dominant caste persons who instigated violence still roam around freely. We demand justice.”

Insisting that Amit Shah should either resign or apologise for “insulting Dr Ambedkar”, Rohit said, “There is a common saying in Gujarati which attaches guts to fight it out with the mother taking ‘sava ser sunth’ during and after child birth. It’s a symbol of strength that each mother gives to her child. We tell Amit Shah through these boxes filled with sunth that we, Dalits, have guts, like they they had at Bhima Koregaon had more than 200 years ago, and will fight out any insult to Dr Ambedkar…”

An internet search suggests why Bhima Koregaon is so important for the Dalits suggests, the inscription on the pillar set up remembering the 1818 fight features the names of the 49 British East India Company soldiers killed in the battle, 22 of whom belonged to the Mahar sub-caste of Dalits.

While it was built by the British as a symbol of their own power, today it serves as a memorial of the Mahars, considered untouchable in the contemporary social orders, who fought the Peshwas, “who were the ‘high-caste’ Brahmins, were notorious for their mistreatment and persecution of the untouchables”. Seen as a symbol of their victory over the high-caste oppression, Dr Ambedkar visited the site on January 1, 1927 (see photo).

When contacted, even as forwarding the message addressed to Amit Shah, Macwan told me, “It is common practice across various states to serve sunth to women after delivery of a child. Considered symbol of strength. To challenge someone, it is said, ‘come and deal with me if your mother had savasher (one and a quarter of seer) sunth. For women, who delivered first child at parental home, it was a matter of pride for them that her parents had fed them with sunth. It’s a cultural symbol of fearlessness.”

The message contained with the 182 boxes, to be delivered to the government officials in 182 talukas is addressed to the “representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party, including Amit Shah, and to all who support their ideology.” Dated “January 1, 2025, the Bhima-Koregaon Remembrance Day”, it says, “On this day in 1818, a battle was fought between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire. In modern independent India, the battle is symbolic of a conflict between the Constitution of India, drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar, and Manusmriti.”

The message continues, “Lord Gautam Buddha taught us that life is singular, and heaven and hell are created by our actions in this lifetime. However, Manusmriti propagates the notion of multiple lives, past births, and reincarnations. A society where injustice, inequality, intolerance, and discrimination prevail is described as ‘hell’. Conversely, a society where equality, freedom, justice, and dignity are accessible to all citizens is considered ‘heaven’.” In short, if India functions according to the Constitution led by Dr Ambedkar, it will become a ‘heaven’.”

Recounting the failures of the present powers-that be, the message says, these include addressing atrocities on Dalits, caste-based discrimination, and the practice of manual scavenging; preventing violence against women; spreading the poison of religious hatred that undermines the country’s unity; failing to implement reservations for Dalits and Adivasis effectively; denying land rights to Dalits and Adivasis; and neglecting the allocation of budgetary funds proportional to the population of Dalits and Adivasis.”

All this, says the message, has “created a ‘hell’ for the marginalized, poor, Dalits, and Adivasis in India. Dr Ambedkar taught us the true essence of religion. He stated, ‘I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality, and fraternity’. The Manusmriti has left us a legacy of caste discrimination, inequality, oppression, and injustice. Therefore, we perceive your actions today — and Congress’s past protection of Manusmriti — as an insult to Dr Ambedkar and us.”

The message concludes, “The Constitution of India has given us freedom, rights, equality, and dignity. For this reason, we regard Dr BR Ambedkar as the ‘Father of Modern India’. Shouting ‘Jai Bhim’ is not just our ‘fashion’; it is our passion. Our mothers raised us with resilience, teaching us to neither insult others nor tolerate insult. So, not seven times but seventeen hundred times, Jai Bhim!”

Courtesy : Counterview

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