New Delhi- Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD), a collective of Ambedkarites and Buddhists, will conduct an event on the occasion of Babasaheb Ambedkar's birth anniversary on 14th April. The proceedings will begin with a rally scheduled to commence at 9:00 AM, starting from Ambedkar Bhawan located on Rani Jhansi Road in New Delhi.
The Mooknayak spoke to Ashwin Kumar, a member of the collective from Gandhinagar, regarding the upcoming event. SSD hosts an annual commemorative event, with last year's held in Gandhinagar and this year's scheduled for Delhi.
“Just like Kanshiram conducted events at different corners of the nation, this year's event will be held in the national capital,” claimed Kumar.
The organization is building on the honest movements conducted by the leaders and aims to make citizens aware that an umbrella collective exists, accepting everyone.
Kumar continued, “Many young children who are below the age of 10 will dress up as Buddhist monks and conduct conversion into Buddhism.”
Subsequently, a public gathering will be convened, during which members will introduce and discuss their organization. This event will be held at Dr. Babasaheb Khel Parishad in Trilokpuri, New Delhi.
There, the “bais barbaadi (22 evils) will be presented to the gathered crowd, and we will continue the conversation to discuss the 22 agendas developed by us.”
The 22 agendas are as follows, according to which citizens will:
1. Possess the ability to engage in diverse social endeavors.
2. Have the capacity to thwart all forms of antisocial inclinations.
3. Be empowered to disseminate the compassionate and wise teachings of Tathagat Buddha.
4. Be capable of affirming the principles of education, organization, and activism advocated by Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar.
5. Understand and eradicate Manuwadi ideology.
6. Foster a cultured ethos within society.
7. Eliminate superstition from societal norms.
8. Steer society towards a humanistic ethos.
9. Safeguard individual self-respect.
10. Remove buffalo-like anti-Bahujan leadership.
11. Ensure the protection of all rights and interests.
12. Realize Dr. Baba Saheb's mantra of "Where there is union, there is power."
13. Promote a sense of brotherhood transcending caste distinctions.
14. Foster a sense of a unified, extended family.
15. Truthful and humane communication will remove derogatory labels from Bahujans.
16. Strengthen morale through unity and foster a sense of societal resilience.
17. Achieve and implement genuine democracy.
18. Finance the construction of educational, medical, and residential facilities.
19. Establish an orderly and disciplined societal framework.
20. Provide a platform for social thinkers to serve as guides.
21. Uproot injustice, inequality, and oppression.
22. Eradicate “Manuwad” from indigenous communities.
On being asked about the upcoming elections and if the collective will be taking a stand against the “manuwadi” ideals of political parties, Ashwin explained that the organization is non-political and accepts everyone, regardless of their politics.
He observed that their primary fight is against the caste system, which unfortunately infiltrates every political party. When it is tackled, according to Kumar, citizens will understand how to use the power of the vote given by Babasaheb.
Ashwin also mentioned that the event scheduled for 2025 will be held in Kolkata, followed by Bhopal in 2026, Bangalore in 2027, and Mumbai in 2028. The Mumbai event will commemorate the historic conversion at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, where 2 crore people are expected to participate in the conversion to Buddhism.
Event of 2023:
The programme of 2023 was held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. It was first supposed to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
According to the member, almost 50,000 people all over the state claimed Buddhism during the month of April, last year. Lakhs of people from all over the state had travelled to be a part of the event.
Kumar said, “The event was flagged off by a ‘bus rally’ after which Buddhist monks conducted an event for conversion. We then talked about the issues plaguing our society.”
The organization was started in 2006 to tackle the various issues responsible for the degradation of the society.
According to Kumar, there are many people who still do not know Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, Babasaheb and other icons responsible for social justice. He also seemed to believe in the fact that no matter the social standing, people are still unable to give up on their caste.
“Regardless of our actions, we persistently seek to bolster our social status based on caste,” Ashwin said. “There is a need to destroy the caste system on an emotional level as well.”
Ashwin further added that the need to form Swayam Sainik Dal arose from the fact that there is no one singular collective under which anti-caste advocates can belong. There are multiple organizations claiming to fight the system, but most have ulterior motives. Some are running behind money or political power.
Talking about the uniqueness of their collective, Kumar claimed, “Our organization does not ask for funds. People donate if they wish to, which we use for our programmes. We have no hierarchy and our posters do not have pictures of anyone else apart from the anti-caste icons."
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