VCK's Ravikumar: 'DMK govt needs to crack whip on right-wing infiltration of bureaucracy'

CHENNAI: From speculation over the alliance with DMK falling apart, the rise in atrocities against SC/STs to right-wing menace, General Secretary of VCK and Villupuram MP D Ravikumar provides a ring view on issues affecting the state and the Dalit party in an exclusive interview to Shanmugha Sundaram J.

Excerpts from the interview:

1. The VCK is facing the heat from some Dalit organisations over party chief Thol Thirumavalavan’s review petition against the Supreme Court upholding the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes reservation, making it legal to provide quota for Arundhathiyas in Tamil Nadu. What is your view on this?

I am not sure whether all the critics went through the complete apex court verdict. The seven-member constitution bench had delivered a 600-page order. One of the judges placed a dissent notice, which validates our representation in previous cases over the reservation. Unless you read the verdict as a whole, it will be difficult to understand the crux of the problem.

Reservation is based on social factors and not on economic ones. We are consistent on that. Why reservation was accorded to SC/STs alone? It is not because of their economic situation. The fact they were denied access to public resources, opportunities, education and employment for several hundreds of years because of the social construct and caste system prevalent was at the core of it. The situation has not improved to date. Political parties like the BJP, which is supporting the reservation based on the economic factor, are trying to cover up atrocities and injustice meted out to the SC/STs for centuries.

We are against watering down historic reservation policy by bringing in an economic yardstick as we believe in social justice. I remind you that we also opposed the creamy layer concept brought into the OBC category. We were the ones who filed a case against the 10% reservation for EWS that aimed to destroy the reservation altogether. Moreover, the SC order is dangerous as it amounts to opening a pandora’s box. It will turn the SCs from a homogeneous entity under the Constitution into a heterogeneous and weakened section.

2. Is this government, run by an ally of yours, failing to prevent crimes and atrocities against Dalits?

The Vengaivayal incident, where human excreta was mixed with drinking water, isn’t an isolated one. Faeces were found smeared on the lock of the kitchen of an Adi Dravidar school.

Hate crimes and atrocities are on the rise not only against the SC community alone but also against women and children. The NCRB data indicates such crimes are on the rise in the last three years. Apart from the rise in the numbers, the vulgarity of such crime is also going beyond our imagination.

On the one hand, there is a direct link between the rise in hate crimes against SCs/STs and the rise of right-wing forces, which uses hatred as a tool for their political consolidation. We can see this in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. If the TN government fails to take proactive measures, the state will soon turn into another Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh.

On the other hand, the role doesn’t completely rest with the government. Secular forces and like-minded political parties should take counter-measures against hate politics, to bring in a social change. The state government should effectively use the government machinery, particularly the bureaucracy and police force, in enforcing the laws to curb hate crimes and atrocities. However, the increase in the number and intensity of hate crimes is a clear indicator that the government's action is not enough.

3. So, do you mean to say the DMK government's actions and countermeasures on hate crimes and atrocities committed are insufficient?

See, as a common man, I am unhappy over such incidents. Recently, a person used a caste slur, which is a punishable offence. But no legal action has been taken against him until the State SC/ST Commission issued a direction. It will send a wrong message to the people that the government is soft-pedalling on such crimes. It will embolden others to repeat the same.

When the police is taking stern action against history sheeters, why is it not giving equal importance to hate crimes and atrocities against vulnerable sections? Hate crimes are more dangerous than crimes executed by history-sheeters. I would say that police officers are not acting firmly against perpetrators of caste-related hate crimes and failing in their duty to protect the reputation of the government.

4. The government is battling another controversy over self-styled spiritual/motivational speaker Mahavishnu’s discourse on karma, pseudoscience and superstition among government school students in Chennai. What is your take on this issue?

This proves that the right wing has made inroads into governance too. How does a Chief Educational Officer (CEO) issue permission to such a self-proclaimed spiritual speaker? It also raises a question of whether they (officials) follow the principles of the government of the day or they are influenced by external right-wing forces. This shows there are glaring loopholes in the government machinery. But it also shows that we have failed as a society.

Tamil Nadu has turned into a bastion for self-styled gurus and this guy (Mahavishnu) is yet another budding spiritual manipulator, who will be making hundreds of crores exploiting poor souls. It is very scary. Though the DMK government responded well and its student's wing passed a resolution regarding the incident, we appealed to the TN government to enact legislation. But what we need is a proper law akin to the Anti-Superstition Act in Bihar, Assam, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, to put an end to such incidents, once and for all.

5. You had overtly expressed displeasure over the HR&CE-sponsored Palani resolution bringing religion into educational institutions. How do you see rational party DMK’s Ministers P K Sekarbabu and S Regupathy batting for 'Spiritual government' and 'Rama Rajyam'?

I see no deviation from Chief Minister MK Stalin-led government. He sticks to the Dravidian ideology. The CM is the authority and he made it clear on multiple occasions. In the recent controversy over the spiritual discourse in a government school, he stated that there is no space for irrational thoughts or ideas in his government. So, we need not to take others' statements as a reflection of the whole government. Moreover, we have to see the context of the statement and they (ministers) would have made such statements to play it to the gallery.

6. Opposition political parties' leaders say that there is a visible crack in the DMK-led front. There are talks that VCK will soon walk out of the DMK alliance.

No, such speculations are wrong. It is an ideology-based alliance (with the DMK). Secularism is the bedrock of the alliance, which came together against the BJP and its Hindutva politics. None of the leaders of the alliance compromised on their stand against the BJP and its policies. Therefore, I strongly believe that this alliance will stay and there is no doubt about it.

Moreover, in the last four years of the AIADMK regime, which was indirectly run by the BJP, officers with right-wing ideology successfully intruded into the bureaucracy. You can’t expect them to change their colours immediately after the DMK returns to power. They have been causing trouble at different levels of the administration and the ruling party functionaries are well aware of it. As an alliance partner, we have the responsibility to pinpoint when such elements are causing trouble at the administrative and governance levels. We aim to help the alliance party's government to run effectively. It does not mean that we are unhappy nor is the alliance falling apart.