Under the rule of Modi ji and the RSS, the nation has witnessed a spate of attacks on Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalized communities. These attacks are designed to humiliate, intimidate, and suppress those who are seeking their just place in society.

These attacks follow a familiar pattern. The RSS and its many mouth-piece organizations spew casteist, hate-inspired rhetoric in their preachings and programs. This poisons the minds of society. It reverses decades of anti-caste work and perpetuates casteist ideas of hierarchy and the place of people in society. This poisonous thought inspires some people to violent acts against those who are most vulnerable. Following this, there are some sympathetic statements from the BJP but most leaders including the Prime Minister are deafening in their silence. No action is ever taken by the BJP Government against these people. The silent message they send to their cadre and their supporters is that such behaviour is accepted and expected. This inspires more people to indulge in casteist violence.

This cycle reaches alarming proportions this month with events that have shaken the Nation. The first was the attack on the Chief Justice of India. A shoe was thrown at the senior-most defender of justice in India. The thrower of the shoe said he did this to defend Sanatan Dharma and had no regret whatsoever for what he had done. The RSS-BJP ideology has convinced him and lacs like him that such behaviour is patriotic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing is more anti-national than caste-inspired attacks on Indian citizens. The second event was the tragic suicide of an IPS Officer because of casteist treatment. Even those in the law enforcement system are not safe from the worst form of caste-based torture. What will happen to the ordinary citizens?

This is the new India that the RSS-BJP has built. It is an attempt to undo the work of leaders such as Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad. It is an effort to reverse the revolution that is the Constitution. And it is a betrayal of the dreams of crores of Indians who want a future of equality, justice and fraternity. We must collectively resist this onslaught.

Jai Congress. Jai Hind. Jai Jagat.