Anirban Bhattacharya // Bhanubhai's Charred Body Is Proof That Casteism Remains a Burning Issue - The Wire

22.2.18

Bhanubhai's Charred Body Is Proof That Casteism Remains a Burning Issue - The Wire: He fought against the borders that casteism draws in the heart of our society – in every village and every neighbourhood. Borders that segregate, that humiliate, that discriminate, that deny or determine access to land or resources. After committing an entire life to the struggle against such borders, he also dedicated his death to the same.

Bhanubhai, a retired revenue clerk and a member of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, was fighting for the rights of a landless Dalit farm labourer – an old woman named Hemaben Vankar, living in Dudkha village in Sami tehsil in Patan district. For years he had been helping the Dalit villagers of Dudhka with the documentation process. He even visited the state capital regularly to press their legitimate demands.