International Women’s Day: Meet Dr Ambedkar’s ‘Lioness’ Who — Defying All Odds — is Making a Difference

New Delhi: The debate on caste is witnessing a significant shift: it’s moving to streets and social media from TV studios and political meetings. Some common girls are flaunting their ethnic identity, their political understanding and pride on it on Instagram. Their objective is the same but the outline of their dream nation is different.

On the occasion of the International Women's Day, let's meet one such influencer, Simi Milind Jadhav, who — defying all stereotypes — is making reels to proudly assert her ethnic identity on Instagram, challenging alleged domination of ‘upper castes’ in all social spaces.

Her caste identity is in some ways deeper than her religious belief. It is so deep that the girl, who is generally considered beyond politics, is coming forward to promote it through social media.

Dressed in white-blue check shirt and blue slim fit jeans with a blue turban on her, the Mumbai-based young girl in one of her Instagram reels can be seen shaking her legs on a song of resistance — ‘woh din phir se aa gaya hai, jab hum neela kafan baandh kar nikle hain…(the day has come again when we set out, wearing a blue shroud…).

Blue has emerged as the colour of Dalit resistance. The idea behind it is that blue is the colour of sky — under which there is non-discrimination and everyone is believed to be equal.

The video is marking the bicentenary celebration of the Bhima-Koregaon war in a remote village in Maharashtra in 2018.

“I make videos to make my fellow community members aware of the teachings of our icon, Baba Saheb Ambedkar,” she told The Mooknayak.

With 67,000 followers, her profile name is bhimachi_sherni (lioness of Dr Ambedkar).

“I consider Baba Saheb like a father and that is why I am my father’s lioness. I tell people that they may be strong and belong to ‘upper castes’, but they cannot compete with us,” said the confident Jadhav with strong conviction.

She claims herself to be a “protector” of the Constitution — which negates discrimination based on caste, creed and religion and gives all citizens of the country equal rights. 

“I tell people through my videos that the Constitution gives equal rights to all. That is why we have to protect and follow it,” she said.

As a girl belonging to a conservative family with a humble background, her journey to emerge as a social media influencer was not easy.

“My family didn’t know that I made videos. Initially, I did this quietly. When my following increased and they came to know about it, I was scolded and faced resistance. But gradually, I overcame the obstacle — politely explaining to them what I do and what my intentions are,” she narrated.

Jadhav said the contents of social media on Dr Ambedkar inspired her to read books and literature about him. The challenges he faced and his personal struggles drove her to do her bit.  

“Now, we discuss him on various online platforms to remove people’s misconceptions about Dalit identity and the challenges it faces,” she said.

Applying eyeliner and then wearing a blue turban and sterling nose pin with pearls embellished delicate floral shape, she got ready for her next shoot.

“I want to give this message to our society that we should tell our children about the Constitution so that they become aware of their reality and rights from childhood. They will learn to question. As long as children do not ask questions, they will continue to remain slaves,” she said.

Asked about the 2023’s ‘India’ versus ‘Bharat’ flutter, the topic of her next video — which she was preparing to record, she said, “India should be known as India only. This diverse and beautiful nation should not be re-named based on any race, belief and ideology.”

Asked about the clamour for ‘Hindu Rashtra’ (a Hindu nation), she said it’s a “conspiracy” against Dalits more than anyone else.

“It’s aimed at promoting majoritarianism and pulling the community — which is progressing and reaching to level 1-2 — back to the age when there was extreme poverty and discrimination was at its peak,” she said.

It's a concerted effort — according to her — to abolish reservation to deny the marginalised access to education and government jobs.

Asked if she must be facing online trolling; and if so, how does she respond to the abusers, she said it does not upset her anymore and she was well-aware of it even before coming up with the idea to make reels, asserting her caste identity.

“I never respond to the abusers as they don’t deserve my precious time. But I reply to people who argue with me with decency even though they accuse me of promoting my caste thereby polluting the society with the evil of casteism. I reason with them that promoting my caste is not a crime, and caste is a reality of the society that cannot be avoided,” she said.

“I tell them”, she continued, that “yes, I am doing it. I am talking about my caste. I want to create and not become one. And I am unapologetic about it”.

She said caste is so ingrained in the society that even those who negate it get hurt when a woman speaks against some wrong about their icons and leave no stone unturned to outrage her modesty online or offline. Truth is always suppressed.

“Sometimes, I feel scared but not always. One should keep it in mind that if we are saying something, we should also develop the habit of tolerating criticism and abuse even though the latter is unacceptable in a civilised society,” she added.

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