Scheduled for August 26 and 27, a significant two-day National Summit is on the horizon. This event seeks to shape the National Dalit Agenda prior to the upcoming general elections in 2024. The primary objective of this summit is to address the prevailing challenges of discrimination that the Dalit community experiences.
Hyderabad will host the gathering later this month. It will witness the participation of over 50 Dalit rights organizations alongside labor and agricultural workers’ unions.
Distinguished figures from various groups including the Centre for Dalit Studies, Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, All India Dalit Rights Movement. In addition, All India Agricultural Workers Union, and Bhartiya Khet Mazdoor Union will be present.
Several pivotal topics will take center stage during the discussions. This includes the concerning surge in atrocities against Dalits and the pursuit of land rights for the community. Participants will discuss issue sof caste-based discrimination within education institutions leading to suicides among Dalit and Adivasi students.
The implementation of reservation across all tiers of government and the question of whether Dalit individuals from Christian and Muslim backgrounds should be incorporated into the SC list will also be thoroughly deliberated upon.
Prominent leaders within the Dalit community have also voiced their concerns against the privatization of governmental bodies. They emphasize the importance of recruitment in public sector jobs through reservation mechanisms.
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi to unveil the summit, V.S. Nirmal from the All India Dalit Rights Movement remarked, “This administration has a tendency to label us by our respective castes when it suits their narrative. However, when it comes to countering other groups, we suddenly become a unified Hindu front. The summit’s objective is to facilitate a comprehensive dialogue and establish a unified agenda that prioritizes Dalit issues as we approach the 2024 elections.”
Recent times have seen a concerning trend of students in higher education institutions falling victim to the injustices they face. The matter of reservation, conceived as an affirmative action policy to guarantee proportional representation for historically marginalized communities, is another focal point of the summit’s discussions.
Furthermore, the summit aims to encompass the inclusion of Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi communities not only in worker roles but also in leadership positions within political parties. This broader perspective reflects the aspiration for comprehensive representation within various sectors, as National Dalit Agenda.