Linguist G.N. Devy has condemned the attack on Dalits in Gujarat terming it “an incident that has brought disgrace to the modern society”.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, he said that the beating up of Dalits for allegedly transporting beef was a blot on society. Prof. Devy said that the incident indicated that despite the country making major strides in every field, casteism was still prevalent in society and it was also hindering inclusive growth.
He said that the focus was not on exclusive growth as it was confined to the elite. The poor and the downtrodden were neglected, Prof. Devy said.
He said that the attack on Dalits in Gujarat was not a first of its kind in that State and statistics showed that 230 such incidents had taken place in the last two years. Dalits, who question the upper class, were being targeted and hounded by the members of that class, Prof. Devy said.
Prof. Devy said propagation of ‘Manu Smruti’, which classified the society into four classes under which Dalits were treated as slaves with no rights to question the ruling class, was the reason for the social turbulence.
He said of the 14 per cent Dalits in India, only 3.5 per cent had access to higher education. What was disturbing was that the educated class had fallen prey to tall claims which had made the Dalit community remain in deficit, while the upper class always had surplus. Prof. Devy was also critical of the political parties in the country saying that they were trying to use the incident for their convenience.
He said that initiating social reforms and working for humanity was the need of the hour.
Shankar Halagatti, Sanjiv Kulkarni, Laxman Bakkai, and Basavaraj Sulibhavi said that a protest by likeminded people would be held outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dharwad on Monday.
Dalits, who question the upper class, are being targeted and hounded by the members of that class
G.N. Devy,linguist
