Recurring Shame of Maharashtra

Maharashtra is at it again. There has been a spate of caste atrocities in recent months that once again exposes its grisly inner being and fake claim to the legacy of Phule and Ambedkar. Atrocities on dalits as such are not a new phenomenon in this great country. The statistical chant that every day two dalits are murdered and three dalit women are raped has fallen short of depicting the increasing incidence of atrocities. For instance, the incidence of rape has almost doubled since it was composed way back in 2000. The latest statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) pertaining to 2013 indicate the recorded crime rate against dalits to be 1.85 murders and 5.68 rapes per day. The total number of atrocities has reached 39,408, which means 108 caste crimes every day or 4.5 caste crimes every hour. And these are the police figures; the actual crime rate could be anybody’s guess.

Maharashtra, representing quintessential India in its characteristic brags and denials, has not been a mean contributor to this trend. Contrary to its image as a progressive state, it has almost been in the forefront in matters related to casteism, communalism, religious obscurantism and bigotry of every conceivable kind. Its ruling elite hid its misdeeds from the masses, masking these illegal acts under the veil of the progressive legacy of Jotiba Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar. But the time has come to tear this veil down and shame this elite as the destroyer of that glorious legacy.