By Prarthana Mitra
With the sole mission to uplift the marginalised and backward classes of India, 50 IIT alumni quit their jobs and have come together to form a new political party and give voice to the country’s scheduled castes and tribes (SC/ST) and other backward classes.
Led by 2015 IIT Delhi graduate, Naveen Kumar, the new political outfit called Bahujan Azad Party is now awaiting a nod from the Election Commission and plans to contest in the Bihar Assembly 2020 elections and the following Lok Sabha polls.
Here’s what happened
Bahujan Azad Party is comprised mainly of members of SC, ST, and OBC, all former IIT graduates who quit their jobs to steer the nation’s governance in a more inclusive direction. Kumar,who leads the group, added, “SCs dont want soap and oil, give them their rights and quota. The young scholars-turned-politicians aim to educate and mobilise the masses to fight for causes which include equal distribution of resources and Dalit women’s financial empowerment.
“Once we have the registration, we will form small units of the party which will start working on the ground for our target groups. We also do not wish to pitch ourselves as a rival of any political party or ideology,” Kumar told the press.
Why you should care
Hoping to represent the SC/ST and other backward classes and raise the problems faced by minorities in the country’s political forum, the convenors of the new party will address the larger question of Dalit rights in India in a manner no party has done before.
Kumar brought up the dilution of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in an interview with News18, calling it a Manuwadi move, based on injustice and passed by the Brahamanical judiciary. The lack of representation of minorities in such apex bodies must be fixed but the existing politicians who belong to SC/ST communities are nothing but parasites, laments Kumar, “They are slaves of mainstream parties like BJP and Congress.”
Vikrant Vatsal, another graduate from IIT Delhi who has joined Kumar recalls being subject to class-based and casteist discrimination throughout his life and plans to use this political form to demand 60% quota for OBCs.
The discrimination is most acute in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, where the effects of Hindutva propaganda by the RSS/BJP is significant. The only way to ensure redress and reparation is by allowing appropriate and adequate representation to these communities, in all the pillars of democracy- politics, judiciary, administration and the media.