Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan: When the oppressed unite, history bends towards justice, says K'taka CM Siddaramaiah
Addressing the gathering in Delhi at the Talkatora Stadium, CM Siddaramaiah said, "I call upon every OBC leader, every grassroots worker, every believer in the Constitution to, as stated by Baba Saheb Ambedkar, to educate, agitate, organise and rise. The time for waiting is over. We should build a republic where justice is not delayed, representation is not denied, and dignity is not conditional."
That is the India we owe to our children, CM Siddaramaiah underlined.
"Let this be the beginning of a new chapter. When the oppressed unite, history bends towards justice. When we organise, we do not just fight for our rights, we fight for the soul of India. Our dreams must be different. We must build an India where birth does not define destiny, where 'Utpadak Varg' are not forgotten, but honoured, and where justice is not delayed by design, but delivered by Constitutional Democracy," he said.
"To understand the urgency of Nyay, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: India's social order was not built on justice, but was built on exclusion," he noted.
The very people who built this nation through their labour, the 'Utpadak Varg', most of them from backward classes, were denied learning, land, and leadership. The hands that domesticated the animals crafted the goods, cultivated the lands, and sustained the society were chained by birth. The minds that could have imagined, governed, and led were locked out of schools, scriptures, and seats of power, he stated.
This was no accident. It was a design carefully maintained by the 'Sangrahak Varg', who preserved their hold over knowledge, wealth, and privilege by declaring entire communities as unworthy, by following the inhuman principles of Manusmriti, CM Siddaramaiah stated.
This caste-driven inequality is not just economic but also a socially structured violence. For centuries, millions of children never saw a classroom, not because they lacked talent, but because the system deemed them invisible, the CM said.
Even today, we hear of 'merit' as if it were born in a vacuum. What chance does the child of a laundry worker have against the son of an upper-caste landlord or a crony capitalist? The game was rigged before it began, CM Siddaramaiah questioned.
The BJP-RSS ideology doesn't seek to dismantle this system, instead it seeks to sanctify it. Their dream is a hierarchy where silence is loyalty and injustice is tradition, he said.
The RSS-BJP's Manuvadi worldview is 'Social Darwinism' in disguise, where only the dominant deserve dignity. But our Constitution promises not survival of the fittest, but justice for the weakest. "Hence, I call for the protection of our Constitution. Only through the protection of the Constitution can we realise true social justice and equity. In independent India, our Constitution is our Dharma, it alone shields us from the cruel clutches of Manu Dharma," CM Siddaramaiah stated.
He recalled that after the Supreme Court struck down caste-based reservations in State of Madras vs. Champakam Dorairajan (1951), Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, despite opposition, responded with India's First Constitutional Amendment enshrining Article 15(4) to safeguard reservations for OBCs, SCs, and STs.
The Mandal Commission, formed in 1979, revealed that over 52 per cent of India were OBCs. When its recommendations were implemented in 1990, the RSS and BJP opposed it with venom, abetting riots and over 200 suicides. But the Congress government under P.V. Narasimha Rao stood firm and implemented 27 per cent reservation, showing courage in the face of cruelty, the CM said.
'Rajiv Gandhi, through the 73rd and 74th Amendments, brought backward class representation into rural and urban local bodies. Under Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji and Dr Manmohan Singh ji, the 93rd Amendment ensured 27 per cent reservation in higher education. Congress created the National Commission for Backward Classes in 1993, giving institutional voice to millions,' he stated.
"I support a nationwide caste census, political reservation, proportionate which is 75 per cent representation, educational empowerment, economic opportunities, and social awareness as essential pillars for the upliftment of our backward classes," he added.
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