THE first national conference of a 'social justice federation' floated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin Monday saw the participation of several Opposition parties, with leaders issuing appeals to "cast aside ego" and "fight together" to defeat the BJP, underlining that the time for "fence-sitting is over". In attendance at the 'All India Federation for Social Justice', mostly virtually, the parties also made a strong pitch for a nationwide caste census, with Stalin questioning reservations based on economic criteria without taking caste into consideration. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien, who was the first speaker, set the tone of the meeting by directly naming the BJD and YSRCP, which were also invited to the conference by the DMK but stayed away, as parties "which do not want to fight the BJP". "There are still two or three political parties which don't want to fight the BJP. This is not the time to sit on the fence. I would humbly appeal to Naveen Patnaik of the BJD, you got to be here sir. Jagan Reddy of the YSRCP, I know we keep saying this is not a political platform. Of course these are political platforms, we should not shy away because this is not the time to be grey. Now is the time to be black and white," O'Brien said. The leaders who attended the conference, titled 'Taking forward the Struggle for Social Justice and a Joint National Programme for Social Justice Movement', included Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (Congress), Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren (JMM), Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, NCP leader Chaggan Bhujbal, and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, among others. Lakhs of OBC & SC/ST posts are lying vacant, the hard-fought rights of Backward Castes are being usurped by EWS quota. As the causes of concern are glaring, I stressed the need for a collective intervention & constant vigil to uphold Social Justice at the @aifsoj conference. pic.twitter.com/CZNHxNhMFc — M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) April 3, 2023 In his address, Stalin appealed to like-minded parties in the Opposition to start study circles to make the new generation aware of social justice and of Periyar, B R Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule and to spread “the message of federalism, state autonomy, secularism, equality, fraternity, and social justice”. "Voices for social justice cannot be lone voices. It has to be a united voice. Such unity is not enough if it is only in a few states. We need it in the whole of India. The Federation for Social Justice like this will serve as the foundation for such a movement. Let's fight together to create an India of social justice, India of equal justice, and India of brotherhood," Stalin said. With the Congress a constituent of the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu, the DMK has consistently said that there can't be an anti-BJP alliance keeping the Congress out of the equation. On reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Stalin said that social justice was “about social and educational development”. “Socially and educationally are significant constitutional terms,” he said, adding that the BJP though had brought "economically" into the list of criteria set for reservation. I express my gratitude to all the leaders, who took part in the first national conference of @aifsoj. All journeys start with a single step and we have started ours today! I also thank @PWilsonDMK who co-ordinated and organised this event successfully! pic.twitter.com/VGEznmt7KV — M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) April 3, 2023 Class cannot be a credible criterion for reservation, Stalin added, as the poor can become rich and the rich can become poor too. "People can also conceal money despite being rich. We are not against helping the poor, but it shouldn't be at the cost of destroying the core ideals of social justice," the DMK chief said, adding that bringing a 10% quota for the economically poor in the upper castes was equal to taking the country 200 years back. “There is discrimination, exclusion, untouchability, and all such problems. The cure for all these is a single medicine: social justice," Stalin said, going on to compare it to anti-venom treatment. "Like how snake toxin is treated with an anti-toxin, prepared from the same snake toxin, people discriminated by caste are uplifted by the same caste. That is the social justice ideal of reservation," the CM said. Stalin also slammed the BJP government in Karnataka for doing away with a separate quota for Muslims, saying it was done with an eye on the May 10 Assembly polls in the state. Tejashwi, who joined the meeting virtually, said as long as the BJP and RSS remain in power, the backward castes and Dalits will not get their rights. "For that (to defeat the BJP) we need to keep our egos aside and fight together. We have seen in the past as well that the BJP’s politics of communalism can be fought only through the politics of social justice," Akhilesh said. RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, who joined the meeting from Delhi's Maharashtra Sadan, where many other leaders including the CPI's Raja, the AAP's Singh and DMK MPs T R Baalu, A Raja and Kanimozhi were present, demanded that parties "boycott" the next population census if caste was not a unit in it. "We should give the call 'No Census if no caste census'," Jha said. Former Union minister and Congress leader from Karnataka M Veerappa Moily, who addressed the meeting from the Maharashtra Sadan, said the Congress fully endorses the initiative taken up by Stalin. "We need to liberate OBCs, SCs and STs to help them experience the fruits of democracy. The Congress will be totally with you in your efforts," Moily said. The AAP's Sanjay Singh said his party endorses the demand for a caste census. “Only after a caste census will the government be able to ensure justice for communities which continue to remain backward. Else, sabka saath, sabka vikas will continue to ring hollow.” Soren, who joined the meeting from Ranchi, said the BJP had brought the country to a crossroads, casting a shadow over the politics of social justice. "The country’s economy is in the doldrums, people are unemployed and a large number of companies which generated jobs are shutting down. The current situation of the country is deeply worrying. We need to mount a political and legal struggle for social justice," Soren said.
