– Vidya Bhushan Rawat
(Asian Independent)- The story of the brutal torture of #adivasi girl by the Jharkhand chief of BJP’s #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao Seema Patra, wife of a retired IAS officer look unprecedented but definitely reflective of how we treat the #domesticworkers at our homes. The fact is that most of the elite class officers and India’s elite civil servants keep them on lowly paid jobs as domestics who are actually compelled to do everything in hope they will one day become ‘permanent’.
#Jharkhand, #Odisha and #Chhattisgarh contribute to #domestic sector in our major cities apart from poor immigrants from Bengal, actually, most of them for the fear of any reaction, claim to be from West Bengal in India. Anyway, the #adivasi girls become part of the network who supply domestic workers to the homes of the middle classes, who work in big corporations or live abroad. The stories of these scoundrels keeping their domestic workers in their toilets or with dogs are not new. The maltreatment of the #adivasis clearly shows the bully and exploitative nature of India’s ‘growing’ middle class which do not want to pay minimum wages to their domestics and exploit their vulnerabilities. Most of these #bhakts will be in the forefront of all the ‘nationalistic’ campaigns. That is why, I say, Indians have become experts in symbolism. They don’t want their children to join the army but would like to look more #Deshbhakts than the fauzis who are fighting at the border because on TV the Bhakti comes with a great premium. Similarly, #swchchbharat campaign became a hogwash as most of this corrupted middle class or purely Sarvarna castes never bothered about the ‘kooda wallah’ or sanitation workers who come and clean their streets or take their dirt daily. The campaign became an event to get photographs and send it to Modi ji so that they look more obedient than others. It is the same castes who came forward with #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao campaign and never treat their daughters or others as equal.
Now after much effort Seema Patra is arrested but will this case become an example for others to treat their domestic workers better. Was the violence on #adivasi girl merely a violence on #domestic workers or was it a violence on #adivasi girl that needed to be seriously probed.
As reports are suggesting that Seema Patra’s son Ayushman actually contacted a friend against his mothers misdeeds. Is it because Ayushman would ask her to be treated in a better way? How can a mother be so brutal to forcibly send her son to the hospital in the name of psychological disorder ? It is now reported that the son has now been withdrawn from the hospital by his sister Vatsalya who took the Adivasi girl to Delhi along with her and when transferred back to Ranchi , brought her along. It means that both Seema Patra and her daughter have been brutally exploiting the adivasi girl for long.
We have seen the video which is unbearable. It reflects how our caste mind works. I have seen no campaign by the Hindutva managers against this. They only look for the stories where a Muslim is involved otherwise they are least bothered. Hindutva is an echo system of ignoring things when issues of caste violence or attitude of the savarnas towards Dalits and Adivasis comes but they wait for the issue of any involvement of Muslims and you would find their noise at the rooftop level. Right now they are silent which is definitely criminal and mischievous. . Not a single netas have spoken but why will they speak? Smriti Irani’s histrionics on the issue of #rashtrapati by Congress leader’s slip of tongue was so ‘powerful’ that it looked like drama but she has not spoken a single sentence about garlanding the criminals, rapists and murders of the family of #BilkisBano. Smriti ji spoke passionately about #adivasis when spoke about the president of India but now an Adivasi girl has been brutalised by a BJP leader, the Jharkhand chief of their Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, they are silent. It also reflects how leaders are appointed in the party. Why should a brahmin from Odisha be appointed leader of #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao campaign in Jharkhand. Are there no eligible #adivasis from Jharkhand for this.
Will our Pradhan mantri ji speak about the incident ? He has been speaking about his #ManKiBaat but in his 8 years so far he has not spoken a word about any one who suffers from such brutalities and caste or communal violence.
#Jharkhand government must take this issue to a logical conclusion. Question is not whether she will get the compensation or not but the punishment to the culprit is extremely important. All these elites intoxicated of their power must be made accountable for their misdeeds. #SeemaPatra is the face of the terror of a caste mind, who are too arrogant about their caste identities and they will resort to inhuman brutalities if any one, particularly Dalits or Adivasis try to look equal to them. #AnnihilationOfCaste is not possible with those who believe in #brahmanical supremacy. Every day, we are being told about ‘great’ culture, values and civilisation but all this #adivasi girl faced in Jharkhand is reflection of those values that have treated Dalits and Adivasis in utter disdain and with great humiliation.
Can India’s parliament take up the issue of Dalits and Adivasis and offer an apology for the historical wrongs. Will our prime minister speak on the issue in his #mankebat and tell the people about no tolerance towards those who humiliate fellow citizens of the country merely on the basis of their birth ? Will the PM speak about untouchability and the caste system ? I hope he speaks and tells fellow countrymen about the dangers of such inhuman behaviour as #AdivasiLivesMatter and as a citizen of the country it is unexpectable from any one to treat the fellow citizens in such a cruel and brutal way. Shame on Seema Patra. She must face the law and any effort to protect her must be exposed.
September 1st, 2022
