Former West Bengal finance minister Ashok Mitra in The Telegraph, Calcutta:
“The Dalits were fortunate to be gifted a cult figure in Bhimrao Ambedkar. He worked within the system from the Gandhi-Irwin Pact days to ensure a substantial say for his people in the nation’s affairs. He was the main architect of free India’s Constitution too, and availed himself of that opportunity to guard Dalit interests jealously….
“Descendants of India’s original inhabitants have failed to produce an Ambedkar from within their midst. They have been squeezed and squeezed for aeons on end by the superior classes, uprooted from their land, thrown out of their homestead, denied sources of food and water, whiplashed as bonded labour, their women were free goods to satisfy the sensual urges of the gentry, their poultry and pigs were confiscated to cater to the culinary requirements of the same set. Environmentalists and wildlife buffs have worried over matters concerning the preservation of the flora and the fauna; they had little time for the sufferings of the tribal people….
“Maoists seem to have done their homework. They have built an organizational network, silently and surreptitiously, across eight or nine states with a significant concentration of tribal stock. They think the revolution they have been itching for is well-nigh near. The foot soldiers of that revolution will be the suppressed and oppressed adivasis now ready for a glorious uprising against the tyrannies of State power.”
Read the full article: The phantom enemy
Also read: When Priyanka meets Nalini, she’s a messiah, but…
CHURUMURI POLL: Will State beat Naxals?
Tags: Ashok Mitra, B.R. Ambedkar, Churumuri, Constitution of India, Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Girijans, Harijans, Kanshi Ram, Mahatma Gandhi, Maoists, Mayawati, Naxalism, Naxals, Sans Serif, The Telegraph
23 October 2009 at 8:05 pm
I wonder what this guy was doing as the Finance Minsiter of the Marxist government, that ruled WB for well over 25 years. Considering the fact that Naxalism was born in WB and later spread to other places, it makes one think about what a bunch of hypocrite these leftists are :)
23 October 2009 at 8:26 pm
my my..ashok mitra must be in his 105th year now no? i used to read him when i was very young. his rants haven’t changed at all.fifth columny at its best.
24 October 2009 at 11:09 am
WB is a corruption of Marxism inside democracy.