SAHIB SHRI KANSHIRAM’S -LIFE & MISSION.
(His 87nd
birthday falls today on 15th March, 2020) Enlarged and up dated
The struggle for equality of status &
opportunity for the Shudra, Ati Shudra, and Untouchables is as old as the
history of Hinduism, claimed to be one of the oldest religions of the world.
The inter religious, inter country and inter society domination struggle &
hate is seen world over. But hate with in a religion for their own religion
people is practiced only in Hindus. The Hindus were divided into four segments
under the Hindu Religious laws each having no meeting point, despite the facts
that they belonged to the same religion. The Hindus laid claims to possess most
ancient knowledge books of the world, but show no mercy towards their religious
downtrodden brethren. The fourth segment of the Hindus named Untouchables were
forbidden to mix with other upper segments called Brahmins (Learned), Khatriyas
(warriors) and Vaishs (Business, farming persons). Each set of segregated peoples belonging to
Hindus were governed by different set of rules having strict proclaimed Devine religious sanctions under
Hindu Religious code “ Manu Smiriti”. In these codes& stories devised from
time to time to suit needs of Upper castes, untouchables were degraded to
standards even below than that of animals. The dogs, the cats, the snakes, the
crows the cows could enter houses of the Upper Caste Hindus but not
Untouchables. Birds and animals cold take water from the village tanks and
bathe there but not the untouchables humans. This continued for centuries and
all Merciful Hindu Gods & Goddesses equipped with all types of dreaded
weapons did not come to the rescue of the helpless and weak Untouchables,
although untouchables too worshiped them with full devotion. The Hindus show
lip service to all humanity but practically work for the welfare of the
dominating upper castes. If any body raised any alarm against this in- human
treatment to their fellow men, he was done away with. The Hindus were divided in over 6700 castes,
sub castes, gotras etc. These low
caste Hindus now called as Scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward
classes together form above 80% if Hindu population.
Revered Kanshi Ram belonged to Hindu
untouchable caste named Chamar. In India
the chamras had nearly 1156 sub castes in 1891AD and were spread all over India.
As per the 1911 Indian censes the population of Brahmins stood at number one
& Chamars at number two, where as Rajputs stood at number three. Even now chamars are substantial in numbers in
all parts of India.
Saints like Guru Ravidas, Guru Maluk Das, Guru Ghasidas Chokhamela,
brave martyrs of Sikh History like Bhai Jiwan Singh Rangreta, Amar Shaheed
Udham Singh, great politicians like 10th
Indian President His Excellency R.K.Narayanan,Babu Jagjivan Lal Behan Mayawati
and many more belong to Chamars. In J&K State Late Babu Milkhi Ram, Late Babu Parmanand, Jagjivan Lal, Late Tilak Raj Atri, Chaman Lal Banal, B.R.Kundal former Chief Secretary J&K, many
eminent doctors, engineers, social, political & administrative peers are from Chamars. In Indian Parliament &
Vidhan Sabha Chamars are present in large number even now. Present day saints
from Chamar communities have large followings. Many Chamars have spread all
over world countries proving their worth of head& heart.
Sahib Shri
Kanshi Ram was born on 15th
March, 1934, to revered Shri Hari Singh father & mother
Shrimati Bishan Kour of village Khawaspur in Ropar District of Punjab State. He
was born in Sikh religion in Chamar caste included in the Scheduled Caste group, which is the largest group in Punjab, He
was one of the seven children of his parents. In his family, he was the only
graduate. He joined service in Poona Defense Lab. Maharashtra. Here he came in
contact with one Dheema Vana, a suspended class IV Dalit employee of his
office, who demanded Holiday on the birth
anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar. Dheema Vana had a stanch faith & love for Dr.
Ambedkar. After getting inspiration from Dheema
, Kanshi Ram studied literature on & by Dr. Ambedkar It is said he
read “Annihilation Of Caste” several times in single night. He then resigned
from service to carry forward, the mission of uniting millions of Dalits, bond
them through brotherhood bonds reminding them of their centuries old slavery & suffering
He shook them to wake from their
deep slumber so as to consolidate them
into a force to be reckon with. He single handedly awakened in Dalits a sense
of empowerment .He declared Dalit Samaj his family, all Dalit women his sisters
& all Dalit men his brothers, he vowed to remain bachelor through out his life & not to
acquire any property in his name. He bade
good bye to his family, family
life, family comforts for the sake of cutting slavery chains of his fellow
brethren. This he kept as a Buddhist Monk’s word. He got converted to Buddhism to
achieve the goal of making Dalit masses a united electoral force to acquire
political power, he traveled through out the length &width of India
on his bi- cycle along with his trusted lieutenants. He had vowed to get
converted 2crors to Buddhism on 14th October 2006, but his sudden
death a week earlier dashed his plans.
Kanshi Ram was a great political, social mobilizer, he
understood values of self-respect &
collective wisdom of Dalit communities to gain political power to use it
to their advantage. During record breaking Bahujan Rally in Brigade ground
Kolkata, the Bahujan participants were beaten mercilessly by the West Bengal
Police under the command of Jyoti Basu then Chief Minister. Sahib instructed on
telephone at 2 in
the morning to his workers of different state to stop all trains marching
towards Kolkata. Soon trains were reported stopped at different stations in
different States by Bahujan volunteers, many trains reached Kolkata late by
hours. Mr. Jyoti Basu telephoned Sahib in the evening at Delhi, where Sahib had returned after the
rally, begged pardon for the brutal incident, in which several Karyakartas were
injured, some seriously . There after Mr Jyoti Basu arranged special trains for the Bahujan Rally
participants for their return journey.
He coined
value based slogans from time to time to give directions to Dalit masses; one
such was “Jiski Jitni Sankhaya Bhari, uski utni Bhagidari”. Once he was asked
to explain ,why he devised the slogan of “Tilak ( Mark on fore head used by
Brahmins), Traju ( weighing scale used by business community) aur Talwar (
sword, used by Rajputs ,warriors), enko maro jutey char ( Give then four shoe
beating)|” He explained that elite class which spreads hatred, ignorance for
their personnel ends, business persons ,who indulge in undue profiting,
adulteration, less weighting and warrior who
use against weak and helpless need be treated with shoe beating not the
one who work for the welfare of the society. He explained to his fellow men to be strong and
courageous as “Only lambs are made sacrificial animals not lions”
He was perhaps one leader, who kept his
promise, proved true to his words. He lived & died as a leader, with out
any immoveable or moveable property, any bank account, house, land plot or flat
in his name. To achieve his set goals, he lived as an ordinary Dalit, took
meals in small hutments, wayside tabhas, slept on floor. On the night of 3rd & 4th April 1984,
he was found sleeping on the bare broken stone metal at Nagpur, where he had gone to inaugurate the Marathi
daily newspaper “Bahujan Times” his dream project. Sh. Kanshi Ram was convinced
that to capture the Delhi’s political crown the seat of power,
much has to done to strengthen the 85% Bahujan Samaj . To achieve this they should own a strong
media of their own, as present vested interest median can only suppress and
confuse his downtrodden masses. He used to keep awake for days & nights to
equip him with literary knowledge, assimilate it into practical thoughts &
to devise ways to use it for the advantage of his peoples, many of whom were
ill fed, ill dressed, naked, illiterate, exploited and miss guided.
Those close to
him tell how hard he worked to built up his first social & educative
organization of employees of all SC’s,
ST’s, OBC’s & minorities named BAMSEF
on 6th Dec. 1978 &
then prepared them to launch their
Youth’s sangarash Simiti “ DS-4”
on 6th Dec. 1981. To prepare
solid ground to get rightful share in
political power, he launched his Bahujan Samaj Party on14th April,
1984.Kashi Ram shook the conscious of those who are under represented in our
Parliamentary system and were craving for a change. There by he consolidated
masses to work for their own political organization BSP, many volunteered to work for BSP as “Mission Ka Kaam” His message was so
inspiring to his peoples, that once a BSP volunteer was always so. Due to Kanshi Ram’s political vision soon BSP
became a National Party & attained third position, leaving far behind many
political parties, who were formed decades earlier. The election winning spree flourished &
in UP assembly it won 66 seats out of 162 it contested in 1993. Kanshi Ram’s
political maneuverability made Behan Mayawati Chief Minister of UP thrice in
coalition with other parties, but he did not yield to undue pressure from other
coalition partners even at the cost of loosing CM’s. Gadi The graph of winning seats in Lok Sabha
elections also rose dramatically from zero in ( 8th ) to 04 ( in 9th); 03 (in 10th );
11( in 11th ); 05 ( in 12th) 14nos ( in 13th )
19 (in 14th ) 21 ( 15th)
Lok Sabha. His continuous efforts in
this direction bore fruits of winning clear majority in 2007 in UP Assembly elections with 208,in remaining 10
seats, standing Second and out of lost 111 seats 60 seats with a margin of less
than 5000 votes. Behan Mayawati, now National President BSP was sworn in as
Chief Minister of UP State with clear majority, but alas after the sad demise
of Sahib.
During the period
of 25 years since the formation of BSP, the INC Govt. programs of multi-nationalism
& New Economic order under late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, or Rath
Yatra Of Sh. LK Advani culminating in demolishing of Babri Masjid on 6th
Dec 1992, could not sway away Dalits from Kanshi Ram’s Programme of gaining
political power to have share in running the affairs of union of India. Credit goes to Kanshi Ram that Dalits having
over 80 % Indian population forming
SC’s, ST’s, OBC’s and other minorities, have not challenged the Constitutional
arrangements, avoided violence against the
state or other ethnic groups. Kanshi Ram’s formula that numbers, not
violence work in democratic India
is a great Nationilst’s doctrine for which Kanshi Ram shall be long remembered.
His love for the Nation is reflected in his
love for the deprived section of the society which constitute over 85% of
Indian population. He was not against any caste or class but against “ism”
which spreads ill will among persons by their ill conceived techniques. Sahib
was simple but unpredictable personality, he could go to any length to
safeguard the interests of his Bahujan Samaj.
Like every one
else, he had to leave the mortal frame of body,
although it is painful for those who were left behind to bear the unbearable
shock. Destiny player the same with Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji . He was not
keeping good health for quite some time, but the brain stroke he suffered in Hyderabad during a meeting
on 15th March,
2003 proved fetal. He was shifted to New Delhi Batra
Hospital and remained
under expert treatment for over three years. Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram declared
Behan Mayawati as his political heir & National President of BSP on 18-09-2003
The
unfortunate end of Sahib’s worldly journey came on Monday the 9th October, 2006 at 12.
20 at 11, Hanuman Road New Delhi, the
official residence of Behan Mayawati. National Personalities like Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani. Congress president
Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan and other paid their
homage to the Messiah of Dalits. His funeral was attended by lacs and he was
cremated at Nigam Bodh Ghat New Delhi on 9-10-2006. He left behind his wish that his
mortal remains be not immersed in any river but kept in BSP Party HQ’s at Delhi
& Lukhnow.
He qualified his death as per the hymn of
Kabir Sahib “Jab Ham Aye Jagat Main, Jag Hansa Hum Roay, Asi Karni Kar Chaloo,
Hum Hansain, Jag Roay” (On
child’s birth, child cries but locality celebrates birth with joy, One must
work for the good of the society, so that at the time of death the locality
mourns but the person dieing feels joyous so sayeth Kabir.).
Let us see
how far his party & comrades are able to keep the Dalit masses united, to
realize the dreams of sahib who achieved it with life long labour of sufferings.
If his comrades slip from his ideals, it shall be a sad commentary & bad
luck for his now united masses. Sycophancy or Chamchagiri should be kept away
from the Dalit affairs. Politics of Chamchagiri has brought ruins to the Dalit
cause, so said Sahib. But alas in a span
of less than two decades many of ills hated by Sahib Kansh Ram have entered Dali Politics. Chamchagiri ( sycophancy ) and non commitment to Community welfare commitment which Sahib hated most have become order of
the day in his party politics. Dalit leader ask votes in the name of Sahib Kanshi
Ram and Baba Sahib Bharat Ratna Dr.B.R. Ambedkar
during elections but do not adhere to
the principles dear to Dalit
icons. The Party Of Kanshi Ram which won
formed single handed formed government in 2007 with 208 seats stands reduced to
mare 18 seats that too after forming Mahagathbandham
with its one time bitter enemy the Samajvadi Party. Also it again touched zero in 2014 Lok Sabha after 1984( 8th
).. The Party ( BSP) which rose to soon form its own governments Indian Uniou
has only 24 sets in all Indian States(2019
) and UTs(07) out of total 4121. Many people describe the position his party
leadership
BSP Netagiri
Essi Bani Jasey pair Khajoor, Banchiton Ko Saya Nahi Fal Lage Atti Dour.
Sahib Shri
Kanshi Ram shall be long remembered for his visionary saying “ NUMBERS, NOT
VOILANCE SHOULD BE RULE IN DEMOCRATIC INDIA” Dalits should win race to New
Delhi Gadi by democratic means only, leaving no space for violence against any political
or ethnic group. Dalits should live with spine up, so were the dreams of Sahib.
As per the doctrine proclaimed by Guru Ravidas,Guru Kabir Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram qualified as a practical
Darwesh, Sanyasi Gyanashwer, Tyagi,
Yogi, Pundit , Fighter for cause of deprived society a crusader for peaceful
political ,social change and above all a human.
Words 2512
Dated 15-03-2020
Jammu
Er. H.R.Phonsa
Retd. Executive Engineer
Mob:-09419134060 Email:-
hrphonsa@gmail.com
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