A hagiographic account of Kanshi Ram, that does provide some insights into the thinking behind the creation of the BSP. A more critical examination of Kanshi Ram's thought and political philosophy would have been good but this is one of the rare English sources on the topic. History, Religion, Nonfiction A very good book, in fact one of the a very few sources in English about the greatest leader Manya Sri Kanshiram jee. History, Religion, Nonfiction
Venerated as a dalit icon, Kanshiram (1934 2006) is regarded as being next only to Ambedkar today. This book illuminates his journey, from the early years in rural Punjab and with Ambedkarites in Pune, to his launching BAMCEF, an umbrella organization uniting backward castes, scheduled tribes, dalits and minorities, and eventually the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984.
Drawing on myriad oral and written sources, Badri Narayan shows how Kanshiram mobilized dalits with his homespun idiom, cycle rallies and, uniquely, the use of local folk heroes and myths, rousing their self-respect, and how he struck opportunistic alliances with higher-caste parties to seize power for dalits. Evocatively described is his extraordinary relationship with Mayawati, right until his death, and the role she has played in fulfilling his vision, during and after his lifetime.
Contrasting the approach of the two men, Narayan highlights the turn Kanshiram gave to Ambedkar s ideas. Unlike Ambedkar, who sought its annihilation, he saw caste as a basis for forging a dalit identity and a source of political empowerment.
Authoritative and insightful, this is a rare portrait of the man who changed the face of dalit society and, indeed, of Indian politics. Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits
Empowering the powerless through the realisation of their worth in complex sociology like ours in India and Uttar Pradesh to be specific is miraculous, that requires a great vision and lifelong aimed dedication to the cause which he genuinely and honestly carried through his life and changed the equation of the politics of the country forever. That is what great politicians do. Inspiring.
जिसकी जितनी संख्या भारी उसकी उतनी हिस्सेदारी - Kanshi Ram
History, Religion, Nonfiction In comparison to the impact that a leader has left on Indian politics, Kanshiram is perhaps the one least read or written about. This is especially the case in the upper caste dominated mainstream media and publishing world. Kanshiram understood this bias quite well and deliberately avoided the mainstream publications during initial years of his political activism.
Just like a huge chunk of dalit history, Kanshiram strongly relied on the spoken word in his political life and has left little written records for scholars to rely upon.
Considering these limitations, the author of this book has done a decent job of plotting the life of a person who completely disrupted and recast the poltics of UP.
Kanshiram had the selflessness and devotion of a social worker and built a huge political movement from scratch. He gave up his job and moved away from his family to completely focus on organizing the backward castes, which he called bahujans.
Without having any support at all, he built an organization of dalit goverment workers, BAMCEF, and then launched Bahujan Samaj Party and planted it firmly on electoral landscape. The enormity of this task is difficult to comprehend for a non political person, and those who do, can only be amazed by Kanshiram's grit and determination. This is the reason why many current senior Indian politicians take his name with utmost respect.
He believed that political power was the master key to dalit emancipation and the majority numbers of backward castes could help them achieve that master key.
His political life was dedicated to organize the disparate factions of dalits into a strong votebank and exert a strong influence on national and state politics.
The book gives well rounded description into this journey and also tries to unravel Kanshiram's political strategy.
Considering his grounded diction and straightforward statements, not much is needed to grasp it. If one wants to get a better understanding of Indian politics, Kanshiram can't be given a miss.
While the mainstream politics will conveniently forget him, this book is your chance to know him. History, Religion, Nonfiction If this book gets a good rating , first and foremost is because of writing about a personality like Kanshi Ram , who received very little attention from English speaking scholars. So, if the book is not rich with many details, one can forgive the author , for Kanshi Ram had little that had left for further research and exploration. The Chapter on 'Early Years' is a touching tale. One has to see it to believe it, the kind of dedication Kanshi Ram had for his cause. What i find problematic is the chapter with 'An agenda beyond Ambedkar ' , to deal with such a subject is another book in itself. It needs larger understanding of caste - anti caste struggles before one can conclude that Kanshi Ram differs with Ambedkar on the subject of annihilation of caste. Even if it so , it needs a better argument. In the end, its entirely worth reading and remembering the life and times of arguably India's original politician of 21st century.
History, Religion, Nonfiction Manyavar Kanshiram : The Founder of the Bahujan samaj party (BSP)
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That the caste system must be abolished if the Hindu society is to be reconstructed on the basis of equality, goes without saying. Untouchability has its roots in the caste system. They cannot expect the Brahmins to rise in revolt against the caste system. Also we cannot rely upon the non-Brahmins and ask them to fight our battle.
- B. R. Ambedkar
Kanshiram, leader of the Dalits is a concise and a well written biography of Manyavar Kanshiram.
For the detailed review you can also visit -
https://dontbignorant.in/manyavar-kan... History, Religion, Nonfiction A quote from the book:
In 1962–63, when I (Kanshiram) got the opportunity to read Ambedkar’s book Annihilation of Caste I also felt that it was perhaps possible to eradicate casteism from society. But later, when I studied the caste system and its behaviour in depth, there was a gradual modification in my thoughts. I have not only gained knowledge about caste from the books but from my personal life as well. Those people who migrate in large numbers from their villages to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata take no possessions with them but their caste. They leave behind their small huts, land and cattle, etc. in the village and settle in slums, near sewers and railway tracks, with nothing else but their one and only possession—their caste. If people have so much affection for their caste then how can we think of annihilating it? That is why I have stopped thinking about the annihilation of caste.
Read the full review at:
http://readerswords.wordpress.com/201...
History, Religion, Nonfiction
