Three day seminar and convention on ANTI-CASTE MOVEMENT
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
20, 21, 22 April, 2012
Venue: Ambedkar Bhawan, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi-110055
Day 1 (Seminar)
9.00 am – 1.00pm Inaugural Session
1.00 pm – 2.00pm L U N C H
2.00pm – 6.00 pm Session I
•Caste, Class and Patriarchy
•Caste, State and Imperialism
Day 2 (Seminar)
9.00am – 1.00 pm Session II
•Caste nature of Caste based Parties, other Political parties/Orgnisations and NGOs
1.00pm – 2.00pm L U N C H
2.00pm – 6.00pm Session III
"Caste in Base and Superstructure and Path of Annihilation .'
6.00pm-7.00pm Vote of Thanks
Day 3 (Convention)
9.00am-1.00pm Session I
Discussion among different Progressive Political Parties and organisations on their positions on Caste
1.00pm – 2.00pm L U N C H
2.00pm – 6.00pm Session II
•Formation of Committee and Future Planning
On Building All India Platform for Abolition of Caste System
The caste system is an inhuman feature of Indian society. The Congress and later all other ruling class parties including the caste based parties, going against the growing necessity for launching a powerful movement against the caste system raised during the renaissance movement followed by the anti colonial movement, went on promoting the caste system, utilizing it for the caste based vote bank politics. Instead of implementing the reservation policies, the ruling class parties, inspired by the neo-liberal policies, are going for perpetuation of the caste system. The Mandal Commission Report provided new enthusiasm for the backward sections to demand their rights. But to divert attention from its central recommendations like land reforms and ensuring social justice, the dominant casteist forces came with different vicious mechanisms such as 'creamy layer', 'reservation based on economic backwardness' etc. Under privatization-liberalization policies existing democratic rights like reservation are also diluted and are being snatched away.
The caste system which is the main feature of the Hindu religion intensified its hold on the whole society in new forms, with many specific characteristics in different areas. It has increased its hold on different religions also to varying extent. Every day atrocities against dalits and other oppressed castes are taking place. Since caste and patriarchy has an endemic relationship, women of the oppressed castes are specially targeted. Though caste based parties like BSP, Republican Party etc are/were leading state ministries or sharing power in the states or at centre, the atrocities against dalits and other oppressed castes have not diminished. In the present neo-liberal phase, the caste divide is further exploited by the imperialist camp in the form of "Ambedkarism". Most of them have lost sight of even the basic questions raised by Dr. Ambedkar, namely his question of annihilation of the caste system, the nationalization of land and industries. They are willing consorts of imperialism in "globalization", are raising merely the demand of reservation and using caste as a vote bank. The "subaltern" theories of caste, where caste is counter posed to class, are giving rise to many pseudo-intellectual theories, which are naught but a part of the post-modern ideological onslaught on Marxism. Such subaltern theories, including those based on "neo-tribalism", "identity politics" or "post-Marxism" are also the basis of numerous caste based NGOs which idealize caste and make caste in to a private fiefdom.
It is the need of the hour to launch a revolutionary anti caste people's movement for the annihilation of caste. Land relations are at the base of caste violence. So there is a serious need for the revolutionary land reforms based on equal distribution of the land. It can be done by launching a revolutionary platform for caste abolition. With this basic approach, the following organizations appeal all the progressive sections to join and launch a revolutionary platform to achieve the goal of annihilation of the caste system from the soil of this country.
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