Reworked literature, folksongs help BSP spread Ambedkar’s ideology

KASAULI: Reworked folk songs and bestselling booklets have acted as key tools for BSP in spreading Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar’s ideology since the 1990s and will play a vital role in mobilising voters in the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
“Songs performed by women while grinding foodgrains (jantsar) or during childbirth (sohar) used to have characters from Indian mythology.They were replaced by figures related to Ambedkar’s life. For instance, in one song, Kaushalya Rani (the eldest wife of King Dashrath in Ramayan) is replaced by Ambedkar’s mother. In other songs, words such as doctor are introduced to give it an Ambedkaraite twist,” Badri Narayan, who has written a biography on the architect of the Constitution, tells TOI.
Similarly, Hanuman Chalisa was replaced or supplemented by Bhim Pachasa. ‘Jai Bhim’ is one of the most used slogans among Dalit parties or those sympathetic to their cause. “Such reworking of the past is meant to give confidence to people suppressed for hundreds of years. Indirectly, such initiatives also help in electoral politics,” says Narayan, who teaches social science in JNU. Songs and literature have been integral to BSP’s politics. BSP was founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984. “In its first phase, BSP formed the jagriti dastas, which included painters and folk singer-songwriters. Now Dalit orchestras are being used in a big way for the buildup on the elections next year,” says Narayan.
Unlike the folk songs, which were partly an initiative of the party’s cultural wing, the booklets were a product of individual creativity. Written by community intellectuals, they were devoured by those who had recently attained political consciousness through the BSP’s politics. These low-cost booklets were available and sold in BSP’s public meetings.
“Some such writers are Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu, Guru Prasad Madan, Rajkumar Pasi and AR Akela. Their booklets on Ambedkar as well as Bahujan community and politics have sold in lakhs but few have heard of them,” says Narayan. India is celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar this year. The build-up to UP elections is being keenly followed by political pundits.
BSP, under the leadership of Mayawati, is among the two frontrunners —BJP being the other — to replace the ruling SP. But in a new book, Narayan points out that about 30%-40% of the smaller communities among Dalits in UP remain invisible to state, political parties, even academics. “Dalit communities or sub-castes are marginalised. They haven’t even acquired the capacity to aspire, acquire a decent life and a share in democracy,” he says in the book, ‘Fractured Tales: Invisibles in Democracy’.