Will Chandrashekhar Azad change the Dalit politics landscape?

He was a young lawyer, raring to establish his own practice back home in Saharanpur. However, destiny seemed to have something else in store for him. He had a friend who, too, was fresh from his studies. Once they were back home in summer, they met and exchanged notes on what meaningful work they could do both for themselves and their fellow caste members.

It led to the establishment of the Bhim Army, which is now in the eye of the storm that recently hit Saharanpur Dalits. The duo that set up the army was none other than Chandrashekhar Azad and Vinay Ratna Singh, both childhood friends.

Chandrashekhar Azad is the rising Dalit icon, who was born in a village in Saharanpur district. Born into a Dalit teacher family, Chandrashekhar went to school and experienced caste discrimination very early in life. The experience continued even when he was studying law in college.

“We used to have animated discussions about the ill fate of Dalits and their poor lot in the country,” points out Vinay Ratna Singh. “One day, we realised that if Dalits were educated, they would not be so worse off,” claims Singh.

This idea led to the first paathshala (school) established in Fatehpur Bhado village in Saharanpur district where Chandrashekhar with his band of dedicated teachers began the programme of educating Dalits in 2015. The idea was to run a campaign generating awareness about importance of education among Dalits.

The programme did well. Soon, his band of supporters—gathered under the newly labelled Bhim Army—managed to open 350 paathshalas in Saharanpur and adjoining areas.

But, the recently held UP elections changed the course of the Chandrashekhar-led Dalit Army. “The rise of Yogi Adityanath as UP chief minister changed my working priorities. As attacks on Dalits rose, I realised we need to first fight for our survival and that is how Bhim Army got sucked into Saharanpur struggle,” says Chandrashekar.

And, now there is no looking back, both for Chandrashekhar Azad and his Bhim Army. Azad is now full time into organising Dalits into a lot “out to fight Hindutva”. On Sunday, Dalits heeded to his call and gathered in large numbers at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to protest the rising instances of caste violence in UP. The Bhim Army has also called for a judicial probe into recent clashes in Saharanpur.

He is, however, so far keeping himself away from electoral politics and concentrating largely to Dalit struggles. But, you never know when Azad gets transformed into a new Mayawati, leading UP Dalits with a new Dalit Party.