Lucknow: The infamous Bhim Army, which reportedly provoked dalits to defend themselves in a violent manner in Saharanpur and triggered off casteist clashes, is apparently a growing organisation with a “militant streak”.
The face of the Bhim Army may be a young lawyer Chandra Shekhar, but sources said the brain behind the outfit is Satish Kumar, a dalit thinker from Chutmulpur village who has been underground since the violence.
Mr Shekhar’s name came to light when he clashed with some Thakur community youth in the AHP College in Saharanpur over the issue of a separate hand pump for dalit students.
Sources said Satish wants to build up Bhim Army on the lines of the Shiv Sena and instil an element of fear in non-dalits, especially, politicians and the administration. Mr Kumar has reportedly formed a WhatsApp group of dalit youth in several districts of western Uttar Pradesh and his one message percolates down to the rural interiors of the region within minutes.
Dalits are now being encouraged to send a message regarding any incident of caste discrimination and hundreds of dalit youth reach the site of the incident. He has also been asking dalits to learn how to defend themselves and that too, “in a language that the upper castes understand”.
“Lathi ka jawab lathi, goli ka jawab goli”, is the tag line of his speeches and messages. The aggression of dalits was more than visible in the recent clashes and this is a dangerous trend in the present social set-up”, said a local senior journalist S.K. Dubey.
