J.V. Pawar: A life dedicated
to Ambedkarite movement
August 25, 2017
JaVi (left) at
his right, Kuffir Nalgundwar, the editor of RoundTable India. Photograph_ Daisy
Katta.
By Yogesh
Maitreya, TwoCircles.net
J.V. Pawar is 74 years old and
recently underwent a cataract operation. But age and medical issues do not
prevent him from travelling almost daily from Borivali, where he stays, to
Churchgate, where he works as the general secretary of BaRiP (Bhartiya Republican
Party, a political party leads by Prakash alias Balasaheb Ambedkar). Pawar has
been the part of Ambedkarite Movement for 52 years now. Known among people and
friends as JaVi, he was one of the founding members of Dalit Panthers in
Maharashtra.
Dalit Panthers were fiery,
agitated, and found ever ready to stand for the social justice and the dignity
of Dalits and whoever else were being oppressed. Originally from a village
called Pilwali in district of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, JaVi humorously recalls,
“I was so shy and timid that when I came to Bombay first and saw police,
I became so scared.”. He also has an interesting tale to tell in which the keen
praxis of resistance can be understood. He says, “Deu, my grandfather, belonged
to the then Mahar community in the village Pilwali. At the same time, he was
devotee of Rama as well as Vitthala. He had two sons, Sakrya and Itthal. Sakrya
was my uncle and Itthal my father. Sakrya had two sons and Ithhal had three
sons, all them had ‘Ram’ in their names. Even during my childhood, I started
understanding things quickly and I removed ‘Ram’ from my name. Since then I am
J.V. Pawar or what people call me, JaVi.”
This keenness of opposing
anything that does not stand for equality and liberty has grown in him as he
was turning young after coming to Mumbai. And he as soon he came to Bombay, he
started participating in the activities of Ambedkarite Movement. He was the
youngest Samata Sainik Dal (Founded by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar) cadre from Dhobi
Talaw branch when he was just 12 years old in 1957. It was not only a period of
rapid changes in the political scene in the country, but transition within
Ambedkarite Movement especially in its literary and political domain were very
interesting. JaVi was observing all of this, but only to witness Ambedkarite
Movement victimised by the political praxis of fractions and splintering.
Perhaps this frustration shaped the rage of Panther within him. When Dalit
Panthers was established/announced in 1972 by Namdeo Dhasal, Raje Dhale and
J.V. Pawar and others, they got instant support from Dalit masses as they had
seen criticising the opportunistic politics of leaders from RPI (Republican
Party of India) and their negligence to the social and economic issues of
Dalits. Dalit Panthers were not only harsh critics of Brahminical forces but
that of Dalit leaders too who were being opportunistic.
For JaVi, like other panthers
too, this period was tumultuous but full of vigour, and not to mention struggle
and agonies. During this period, working in a Bank, he had to live in two
different worlds. For the survival and feeding his family, he had to work, but
his heart and mind was always thinking about protest march, attending the court
hearing, thinking about drawing strategies to deal with an atrocity etc.
Nevertheless, he managed to
walk into both the worlds. He says, “I used to go to the Bank. It was a white
collar job. I used to do whatever work I was assigned. But I was always
thinking about the society and cruel atrocities that were taking place on our
people then. Sometimes, if I had to participate in a morcha, and I was in my
office, then I used to hang my bag on my chair so that people would think that
I am in the office. But I was somewhere else, participating in morcha, shouting
slogans, writing pamphlets.”
During this time, the peak
period of Dalit Panthers, he went to jail a number of times. Almost all of
prominent members of Dalit Panthers, including him, were accused in hundreds of
false cases. The agonies that come with being named as an accused in hundreds
of cases is itself a terrible experience, yet, for him and rest of the
Panthers, it didn’t mean much beyond an act of resistance. After the split in
Dalit Panthers, JaVi started Mass Movement with Raja Dhale. Later on, he started
working with BaRiP.
Once, while speaking at a book
launch event in Mumbai where this correspondent was also one of the speakers,
he said, “I am not an intellectual, writer person. I am an activist, who is
ever ready to stand for people and can fight for them on the road.” But despite
not claiming to be a writer, he has written more than 24 books. Among these,
his biggest literary contribution in Ambedkarite Movement is a five-volume set
on the subject of ‘Ambedkarite Movement after Ambedkar’ out of which the first
volume has been translated in English and Hindi.
His first poetry anthology
‘Nakebandi’ was immediately translated into English as Blockade. However, his
writings on the history of Republican Party, especially since from its
beginning is a very significant contribution to the literary world. Once
Sambhaji Bhagat Shahir, playwright, songwriter and an Ambedkarite activist
said, “we created so many things, but J.V. Pawar documented the movement.
Imagine if someone has documented it other than us or him, he would have
certainly distorted the history of the movement.” In a program held in 2015 to
felicitate JaVi for his contribution to the movement, Bhau Tursekar, who has
also been the part of the movement for many years, said, “J.V. Pawar is a
movement in itself. The activist in him will never be tired. He is the Google
of Ambedkarite movement today.”
----- Yogesh Maitreya
Student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
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