Lucknow— In a bid to outreach to the Dalit community, the Awadh unit of the RSS has decided to organize mass feasts for Dalit girls in the region. According to sources, the focus will be on the Valmiki community.

The program is part of a series of attempts made by the RSS to reach out to Dalits.

Instances of Dalit assertions, which seem to have rattled the RSS, include:

• On October 5th, thousands of people, predominantly Dalits, converted to Buddhism after reciting 22 vows of Dr. Ambedkar, with the first four vows exhorting against worshipping Hindu gods and goddesses.

• On October 6th, BAMCEF workers led by Waman Meshram attempted to gherao the RSS headquarters, accusing the organization of being anti-Dalit.

• On October 9th, thousands of people comprising of Dalits recited the 22 vows at Kanshi Ram Cultural Centre.

• In January 2023, controversy erupted after a Bihar minister said that Ramcharitmanas contains content that is derogatory toward lower castes and women.

These events were seen as instances of rising awareness among Dalits and of sensitization towards the inherent anti-lower-caste structure of Hinduism. In an attempt at damage control, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat made remarks that were seen as assuaging the sentiments of the Dalit community. On February 4th, 2023, at a function organized to celebrate Ravi Das Jayanti, he said, “Caste has not been created by the Gods, but by the pandits [intellectuals].” Although he had to issue a clarification that by the word “pandit” he meant intellectual and not the Brahmin community.

Later on March 3rd, speaking at the inauguration event of the Aryabhatta Astronomy Park at Kanholibra in Nagpur, Bhagwat stated that ancient texts needed to be reviewed again, as some selfish people had added wrong facts to the religious scriptures.

Gimmick or sensitivity?

The Navratri feast and Kanya Pujan come close on the heels of an incident in Uttarakhand in which some Dalit girls were denied entry into village temples. Speaking to The Mooknayak, Raj Kishore, who is in charge of the Samrasta wing of the RSS in the Awadh Prant, said, “We are not doing Kanya Pujan only for Dalit girls. We treat all kanyas [girls] as equal. Yes, it is true that most of the girls are Dalits. Today, we also organized a Kanya Pujan at Mohanlalganj in Lucknow. Sometimes, what happens is that people call for the castes of their girls for the Pujan, but in Hindu religion, every girl is a Devi [goddess]."

When asked about why the Sangh did not speak out against the unceremonious burial of the Hathras Dalit victim and her rape, he said that issue pertained to the Meerut region, so they could not speak on that since he was from the Awadh region. He said that during the Hathras case in 2020, another case in Balrampur occurred where a Dalit girl was raped by Muslim men, but no media covered it and no politician like Mayawati or Rahul Gandhi turned up. It was the RSS who raised that issue.

Social media reactions to this bid are mixed. Most are calling it a gimmick when Dalit girls like the Hathras girl have been denied justice.