Bhim Army leader on involving Dalit youth to boost education

The rise of a little-known group, the Bhim Army, that is spearheading ongoing protests against attacks on Dalits in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur has sent alarm bells ringing in mainstream political parties.Vinay Ratan Singh, the fledgling group's national president agrees to meet this reporter at his home located in a narrow lane of a nondescript village in a mofussil town of Saharanpur district. 

"Don't look there. I am an atheist. My idols are only Sant Ravidas and Babasaheb. It is my mother who is a little touchy about it," he said pointing at facade of his house that has tiles of Gods and Godesses.  

After clearing initial doubts, Vinay opens up about the underground leadership of Dalit assertion.

"Bhim Army was born by chance less than two years ago. Our organisation's full name is Bhim Army - Bharat Ekta Mission. Chandrashekhar bhai came to me for some work at my shop on August 21, 2015. Our minds met as we both thought along the same lines. As education is the bulwark of any positive change, we decided to involve the youth to strengthen primary education through positive intervention," said Singh.

Soon, an altercation took place at Anglo Hindustan Public Inter College, considered a fiefdom of Rajputs, as they had given land to it and treated lower caste badly.

"A Kashyap boy was kicked when he was drinking water and he fractured his arm. We escalated the matter to higher authorities, out of which was born the struggle as Rajputs were alarmed by our growing numbers," said Singh.

"We were also informed about boys from backward classes being forced to clean the human excreta of Rajputs boys. They were beaten and their school bags thrown if they refused. We raised our pitch against this inhumane act," added Singh.

"We were soon christened Bhim Army. Chandrashekhar named it Bhim Army — Bharat Ekta Mission, as our aim is to foster unity among like-minded people against exploitation and fight but through constitutional means,"said Vinay.

He attributes the May 5 Shabbirpur incident for being the catalyst for a sudden spurt in the group's supporters.

"Before the incident, we had 50,000 activists in Saharanpur district. We have lost count of our number. It could be in lakhs across 13-14 states. We have been getting people to enroll from as far as Bihar, Manipur and Madhya Pradesh," said Singh.

He vehemently denies getting any financial support from political parties, including the BSP. A few minutes later a youth Naved comes and hands over a few hundred rupees in change to as donation from a couple of villages.  

“This is how we run Bhim Army. Sometimes, we don’t have money to fill up petrol in our bike,” he said.
 
Singh is clear about the Bhim Army never joining politics, as it would erode their mission and corrupt them.

"We will not allow our members to contest elections. We recently expelled one member who wanted to contest polls from Behat assembly on our behalf,"he said.

On being asked if Mayawati is afraid of the Bhim Army, Vinay laughed, "You better ask her. Why is it that when we protested at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, Behanji chose to visit Shabbirpur. Is it a conspiracy to finish our group? Is BJP doing it or somebody is in cahoots with it?"

Struggling to provide for his family, Singh is preparing for the Bank PO exam, but the same time is passionate for his Mission that he would never want to leave.