Former Delhi Minister and Dalit leader Rajendra Pal Gautam on Tuesday waded into the ongoing controversy over allegedly uncharitable references to women in the Ramcharitmanas, an epic poem based on the Ramayana, saying “any such religious book should be boycotted”.
“A religious book, which is worshipped by some people in India, says ‘dhol, gawar, sudra, pashu, naari... sakal tadana ke adikari (drums, illiterates, lower castes, animals and women… they all deserve to be beaten)’. I think we all should boycott such religious books, irrespective of whichever religion they belong to,” Mr. Gautam said on the floor of the Assembly during a discussion on violence against women in Delhi.
AAP, which claims to be establishing a “Ram Rajya” in Delhi, didn’t offer any comment on its leader’s statement, or respond to the BJP’s jibes. The BJP slammed the ruling party saying Mr. Gautam’s remark has exposed the “anti-Hindu face” of AAP and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Mr. Gautam, who has been maintaining a low profile in the party since his resignation last year, is mostly active in Dalit politics. Despite enjoying a considerable clout in the party earlier, he has distanced himself from most of the controversies surrounding AAP in the recent past, including the arrest of AAP stalwart and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
In wake of the latest developments, the BJP has been clamouring for Mr. Kejriwal’s resignation as Chief Minister. Amid the strong counter-offensive mounted by AAP, the only face that has been conspicuous by its absence is its two-time Minister and Dalit face of the party — Mr. Gautam. Those observing the party’s activities closely didn’t fail to notice Mr. Gautam’s absence from the show of strength put forth by AAP leaders and workers before and after Mr. Sisodia’s arrest. So much so that Mr. Gautam, who is reasonably active on social media, has not even posted a single message in support of Mr. Sisodia. He, however, attacked the Centre for arresting “Opposition leaders”.
The former Minister had to resign on October 9 last year, barely four days after he attended an event in which about 10,000 people were reportedly converted to Buddhism, following a pushback by the BJP.
Not the first time
But his October ouster was not the first time when AAP chose to leave Mr. Gautam out in the cold. He was removed as Women and Child Minister last March amid a protest by anganwadi workers. In 2017, he had to forgo his Water Department portfolio in the backdrop of several deaths of workers while cleaning septic tanks in the city.
Also, the fact that the party has not given him any new post since his resignation in October last year, has not gone down well with many sympathetic to Mr. Gautam within AAP.
Beyond AAP
Mr. Gautam seems to have been suitably occupied in the past five months — mostly attending events related to Dalits and Buddhism across States, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and others.
Mr. Gautam told The Hindu that he has taken part in several conversion events after the October 5 programme and would continue to do so. “I attend them very regularly in my individual capacity. But I personally don’t take the 22 vows [Buddhist vows administered by B.R. Ambedkar which the BJP alleges is anti-Hindu] at these events, as I have taken them and have converted,” Mr. Gautam said.
Dismissing rumours of him leaving AAP, the Dalit leader said he had never thought about it, and added, “But if tomorrow, my own party does something against my community or the Constitution, I will speak against it. However, I know that my party won’t do anything like that.”
The past five months has also seen Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, VCK founder and Tamil Nadu MP Thol. Thirumavalavan, and many other like-minded leaders throwing their weight behind Mr. Gautam. He has also shared a platform with Samajwadi Party leader from Uttar Pradesh, Swami Prasad Maurya. The fact that Mr. Maurya, along with Bihar Minister Chandra Shekhar, too stirred a controversy with similar remarks about Ramcharitmanas in the recent past seems more than a coincidence.
All these developments are being seen as a move to assert his identity as a Bahujan leader more than an AAP leader. While he didn’t brush aside such observations, Mr. Gautam said he has been trying to convince leaders from different parties to fight unitedly to save the Constitution. “If we save the Constitution, we will be able to save India.”
