9th September will be first death anniversary of the leader of the Bahujans Kanshi Ram. It is satisfying to see his ideology
'Social transformation and economic emancipation' is growing day by day. Popularly known as "Saheb" or "Mannyavar" he was
the founder of BAMCEF, DS-4 and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Born on 15th March 1934 in a Ramdasia Sikh family his father's
name was Hari singh and Bishan Kaur was his mother. He did his early education in his village Khawaspur and B.Sc. from Roper
in 1956. He joined 'Geological survey of India' in 1957 but resigned the job because of 'Service Bond' and took a job in Explosive
Research Defense Laboratory of Kirkee (Near Pune) as a Chemist.
After resigning in 1964 he worked with RPI in Maharashtra. During this period he read Babasaheb Ambedkar's 'Annihilation
of Caste' and 'What Gandhi and Congress have done to the Untouchables'. In fact he formulated his idea of 'Chamcha Age' from
the second book and wrote a book 'Chamcha Age'. Soon he launched Backward and Minorities Communities Employees' Federation
(BAMCEF) on 6th December 1978 in New Delhi. It was non-political, non religious and non-agitational organization. He launched
'Dalit Shosit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti' D-S4 on 6th December, 1981and gave the popular slogan:
Thakur, Brahmin, Baniya chhod (except)
Baki sab Hai DS-4
Three important programmes organized by D-s4 were 'Ambedkar Mela on wheels', 'Miracle of two feet
and two wheels'- a cycle rally by Kanshi Ram covering more than 3000 Kilometer and the third programme was 'People's Parliament'.
Establishment of Print Media
Kanshi Ram established his own media. 'The Oppressed Indian' a monthly Magazine and 'Bahujan Times' the English newspaper
were started. Both died out because of resource crunch. Bahujan Nayak (Bengali and Marathi), Bahujan Sangatak (Hindi) BahujanSandesh
(Kannad, Punjabi), BahujanEkta (Gujrati), were weekly newspapers. Funding of Bahujan Movement
Kanshi Ram confronted the problem of funding in the movement. He used to ask BAMCEF cadres,"Who will fund the Dalit Movement?"
He did not take financial help from out side because he believed that "Sahare Ke Sath Ishara Bhi Aa Jata Hai". On 14th April,
1999 at a public meeting at the Constitutional Club ground, he revealed how he generated funds.
When BSP started contesting elections Kanshi Ram's slogan 'One Vote and One Note' helped in generating funds. By this time
Kanshi Ram's popularity had risen and his followers started weighing him with one rupee coins amounting approximately 12 thousand
rupees. Then Kanshi Ram celebrated his 52nd birthday his followers presented him a bag of Rs. 52 thousand for attending a
rally. From then onwards Kanshi Ram started charging Rs. 52 thousand per meeting as his fee. He addressed 40 meetings at the
rate of Rs. 52 thousand. In between these meetings his followers wanted his time. Kanshi Ram demanded Rupees One Lakh. They
agreed and since then he addressed seven rallies at the rate of one Lakh. In this manner he generated money for the movement.
Ardent Believer of OBC and Dalit Unity
Kansi Ram was an ardent believer of OBC and Dalit unity. For achieving the same
he had three pronged strategy. One, he formulated the concept of the 'Bahujan' (the majority), which included Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Castes and Converted Minorities. Secondly, Kansi Ram constructed 'An OTHER' i.e. 'MANUWAD'
against whom battle could be pitched. Thirdly, Kanshi Ram meticulously constructed a pantheon of leaders belonging to OBC
and Dalit communities hailing from different parts of the country. Jotiba Phule, Chattapati Sahuji Maharaj and Babsaheb Ambedkar
from Maharashtra, Naryan Guru Swamy from Kerela, and E.V. Ramaswamy Nicker (Periyra) from Tamilnadu were brought to the center
stage by him to mobilize these communities. Not only that to concretize this notion of Bahujan Samaj he promulgated a slogan-
Jiski Jitni Sankhya Bhari; Uski Utni Bhagedari.
A Democrat to the Core
A democrat to the core, Kanshi Ram believed in constitutional and democratic values. His slogans "Vote Humara Raj Tumhara
Nahi Chelega – Nahi chalega"; Vote Se Lenge PM CM- Arakshan Se Lenge SP –DM' show his faith in the Indian democracy.
He made Bahujans conscious about the value and number of their votes by explaining them the equation 'One man one vote and
one vote one value' and that they are majority with 85% of votes with majority who can change the face of democracy.
He was misunderstood for his strategy of capturing the political power. But Kanshi Ram always believed that 'Political
Power' is only a means to an end and not end in itself. That is why he kept his agenda of "Social Transformation" ahead of
political power. Other wise he would have never brought down different government in UP, which has challenged the political
hegemony of the so-called upper castes in the Hindi heartland. This has brought the democracy closer to marginalized sections
of the society
Secularism Kanhsi Ram's Way
Kanshi Ram's secular credentials in the political mobilizations came to fore with the fact that he never posed himself
as the protector of the Muslims.He professed the idea that 'no one can save Muslims till they develop a strong and independent
leadership of their own'. With this aim he groomed number of leaders from this community. Kanshi Ram was fully aware of the
presence of social stratification and caste discrimination in Indian Islam. Therefore he made a point to mobilize the lowest
strata of the Muslims like- The Ghosis, Gaddis, Chikwas, Kasais, Nais, Lalbegs etc to name just a few. Above all not even
a single communal riot took place in Uttar Pradesh during three BSP led governments of which
.
Buddhism and Manyavar
Kanshi Ram
Mannyavar was committed to Buddhism. That is why he started the organization the Association of Buddhist Council.But left
it because he was if the opinion that religion should not be mixed with politics. But he was convinced that, "if we want to
remove Manuvadi system and establish humanitarian society then we (Dalits) have to embrace Buddhism". He opined on 30th March
2002 that " we want to fulfill second mission of Babasaheb Ambedkar by spreading Buddhism in India and for that on 50th anniversary
of Babsaheb's conversion in 2006 I will convert to Buddhism with two crores of Chamars of Uttar Pradesh" (Bahujan Sangathak
30 March 2002). But before that he fell ill. His dream is still unfulfuilled.
Kanshi Ram the Individual &The real heir of Babasaheb Ambedkar
A simple man Kansi Ram developed a direct cord with the masses. He was not imposed from above and rose from a humble background
went on to become a national leader accepted by majority of Dalits. The unique feature of Kanshi Ram's personality is his
personal integrity and sacrifice. He took certain pledges like- he will not marry, have no property, and not attend any birth,
death and marriage ceremonies. He left his parental house and did not even attend his father's funeral. Kanshi Ram left his
mother who passed away at the age of 90. Without lust of power for himself Knashi Ram remained a missionary leader. We should
not compare Mannayavar with Babsaheb because he himself argued that he is only giving "practical shape to Baba Sahebs theoretical
formulation". That is why people on their own have given the following slogans:
.Baba Tera Mission Adhura; Kanshi Ram Karenga Pura
Kanshi Teri Nek Kamai; Tune Soti Kaum Jagai
(The author teaches Sociology at JNU, New Delhi)
