Marxists mourn. Glories past receding fast, the denied or disbelieved facts or hitherto unavailable perspectives about them repeatedly posing the question of whether they are glorious at all, surrender and silence seem to have become the self-chosen paths of survival with no hope or attempt to achieve hegemony and centre stage for us, Marxists.
So, we are left with incessant mourning. But Marxists themselves aren't mourned for much these days. Even the most heroic deaths of revolutionaries are not much noticed, let alone appropriately honoured. The police version of their brutal murders becomes news and the recognition of their contributions and martyrdom is limited to some political circles. However, this gloomy narrative does not exhaust either realities or possibilities. Whenever the Dalit and Left come together and fused into one issue, person, demand, the results are explosive, fascist India seems to suddenly wake up to become what it still can be.
The most mourned Marxist's death in recent times in this country in public is undoubtedly the Dalit Marxist Rohith Vemula's. Having physically robbed Rohith Vemula from the world, I am told, Hindu fascists are now claiming that he is not a Dalit. I am also told that their paid-trolls are now denying that Rohith is a Marxist at all.
Hello enemies, fear him. You must. You couldn't take his presence and now you are scared of even his absence. You feared his mortal remains, you are afraid of his political leanings. Denial is the first, often unavoidable, phase of your recovery, if it ever comes. You should be afraid of the man who made his political opponents shake in grief and fight for justice for him ferociously, because you can't understand what a deadly mixture the Left and Dalit is. Deadly for you, that is!
We are opponents of each other and we all the time fight with one another. We are liberals, progressives, modernists, seculars, liberals, post-colonialsts, conservatives, status-quo-ists, Naxals, Marxists, Anarchists and the apolitical, we are athiests, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. We are Adivasis, Lower castes, Sudras, Dalits, Uppercaste and intercaste. But we are all one.
You are different. You are the Hindu fascist or its mercenary hack, a collaborator. You are THE enemy. Against you, with comrade Rohith, we all are one.
Jai Bhim, comrade Rohith Vemula!
No comments:
Post a Comment