Shri Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M) said that in villages most of the people having land are in the upper caste and more than 80% of Dalit’s are agriculture workers for these landlords. There has been lot of struggle in implementation of land reforms and house sites for the Dalit’s in the villages and in Communist Ruled ruled states like West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, said Shri Karat while speaking at the two-day National Seminar titled “Caste & Dalit: A Way Forward” organized by the Centre for Dalit & Adivasi Studies and Translation (CDAST), University of Hyderabad (UoH) and supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi.
Speaking to a packed audience of students and staff of UoH at the School of Humanities Auditorium, Shri Karat said that Dalit’s land are being occupied / acquired for the development of the society by allotting the same to Multinational Companies. He also said that in India, most of the jobs are being privatized and the offers are on contract basis which does not guarantee social security, salary and job for the Dalit’s.
Later Shri D. Raja, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) & National Secretary, Communist Party of India (CPI) said that many problems can be solved by the Communist ideology. That was the main reason for his joining this ideology when he was in college. Shri Raja said that there is lot of competition today to acquire economic and political power. He said that Dr. Ambedkar was the primary architect of the Indian Constitution. India will develop when there is an end to the caste / social discrimination he further added. Prof. G Haragopal, former Dean of Social Sciences, UoH chaired the session.
Prof. E. Haribabu, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad (UoH) inaugurated the seminar and hoped that the discussions in the next two-day’s will help the students in their academic activities.
Prof. Surender Singh Jodhka, Professor in the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi gave the keynote address after the inaugural session. Prof. Singh said that the caste system in India is very old and it is followed till date very effectively. Prof. Singh said that many years ago the upper caste people were having lot of property in the villages and the lower caste people would have to work under them for their livelihood. Prof. Singh said that Dalit people have started casting their votes in the election only after 1980’s and from that time they were actively participating in politics. He said that in India caste plays a major role in politics where, the contestant will be having support of same caste. Prof. Singh referred to the 3D’s – Discrimination, Domination and Denial towards the Dalit people. Now in India there are number of Dalit persons who were elected as MLA’s and MP’s who are playing a vital role in the development of the people and the country, he added.
Prof. V. Krishna, Coordinator, CDAST and Programme Director welcomed the gathering and gave a brief introduction about the Centre and the Seminar.
Prof. Amithabha Dasgupta, Dean, School of Humanities said that giving reservations is not the solution for the discrimination; they should be given equal opportunities as well. Prof. Sarraju, faculty in the Department of Hindi proposed a vote of thanks.