Paswan eyes Dalit-Muslim combine

It’s not hard to see the political significance of the conference: Uttar Pradesh goes to elections soon, and several Dalit leaders are rallying to forge a solid vote bank.

Paswan reckons that if Dalits and Muslims come together, they will be unbeatable: “Agar 40 pratishat log apne beech dard ka rishta jodenge, to inse loha kaun lega? (Who will dare oppose 40 per cent of the electorate if they share their pain and difficulties?)”

“It is very necessary for Dalits and Muslims to get together politically,” Paswan told The Indian Express. “The data shows that the minorities and SC/STs are nearly together at the bottom when it comes to access to education, land, other assets. If they don’t assist each other during communal and caste riots, who will?”

One of the demands to be raised at the conference, he said, would be allotment of Central and state budget funds for minority and SC/STs in proportion to their population. He said job reservations in the private sector would help, but self-respect was more important: “We want Navodaya-type schools in areas with Dalit and minority concentration. We will also demand that 40 per cent of villages with Dalit population be demarcated as Prime Minister’s model villages, to get focused attention.”

Paswan said the recent violence set off by the desecration of an Ambedkar statue was a “good sign” as it demonstrated Dalit empowerment at the grassroots, for earlier Dalits would do only what their leaders told them to.

Paswan has organised two international conferences before, the last one in 2003, in Kuala Lumpur.