Baladeer Gaddar on Monday called for a people’s movement to achieve the Special Category Status assured to Andhra Pradesh on the floor of Parliament at the time of bifurcation.
The revolutionary singer, who will receive the award instituted in the name of social reformer E.V.R.Periyar by Viduthalai Chirthaigal Katchi on Tuesday, called for a bigger movement to include the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, achieved after long struggles in the wake of atrocities against Dalits, including the Karamchedu massacre, in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
Observing that the most serious forms of discrimination against the Dalits had come down after this piece of legislation was put in place, he feared, at a media conference here, that atrocities on Dalits would go up in future in view of the dilution of the POA Act on the pretext of alleged misuse.
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Atrocities on women, irrespective of their caste, were also on the rise, he lamented.
He said Telanganites were sympathetic to the cause of Andhra people on the SCS issue and faulted Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu for agreeing to the Special Assistance Measure (SAM) which could be obtained from the Centre at the latter’s whims and fancies.
“A big political struggle cutting across party lines is the need of the hour,” he opined, adding that the downtrodden sections in the State should be involved and benefits ensured to them also as and when the SCS was achieved.
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Dubbing as opportunistic the regional front mooted by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, he said it would fizzle out sooner than later as ‘dynastic politics’ ruled the roost in regional parties.
Cultural revolution
Members of GenX should take the lead in promoting a ‘cultural revolution’ to take on imperialism on the one hand and casteism on the other as their future was at stake in the era of globalisation, he said, adding that cultural associations in different regions of the country were being promoted to achieve the goal.