Dalit Voice
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Dalit Voice is an Indian political magazine published in Bangalore that claims to express the views of the Dalit movement. The current full title is Dalit Voice: the voice of the persecuted nationalities denied human rights and it appears fortnightly in both internet and print formats. It was founded in 1981[citation needed] by V.T. Rajshekar, a former journalist for the Indian Express, who is still its editor.
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[edit] Positions
The magazine has been described as characterized by a strong anti-Brahminist, anti-caste and anti-racist and allegedly anti-Zionist stance, advocacy of liberation from Brahminism, and a polemical tone. It proclaims itself as "the sole spokesman for the entire deprived, dehumanised lot of India...", Dalits, Backward Castes, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, women, whom it describes as "all victims of the Aryan Brahminical racism."[1].
The publication attacks Hinduism, Jews, Zionism and American neoconservatism. Authors in this publication have also claimed that the religion of Hinduism and the Hindutva ideology are the same, conflating the religion with a political and cultural view:
"One cannot save Hinduism and destroy only Hindutva. The idea of difference, though it may be perceptible theoretically for the highly intellectual, is useless for the masses and needs to be abandoned. Let all Bahujans consider that Hindutva and Hinduism is one and the same thing and the Bahujans need to oppose and fight against both." (from Dalit Voice, vol.25, No.1)
[edit] Praise for Nazi Germany
Dalit Voice has published several articles praising Hitler as a "patriot" and praising Nazi Germany, claiming that "Zionist Jews" have "deliberately mis-portrayed" him as a villain. They have also praised Hitler's Mein Kampf on their website[2][3][4][5].
[edit] Afrocentrism and Pseudohistory
The Dalit Voice claims that the majority of the population is "oppressed" by the minority, whom are regarded as "Aryan" and historically alien to the native inhabitents of the sub-continent. They also allege that discrimination in India as the original source of racism in the world, a claim that is not borne out by scholarly or historical sources. This extremist wing of the broader Dalit movement has formulated an "Indian variant" of Afrocentric pseudohistory[6], based on the Nation of Islam in the USA, with whom it co-operates closely.[7] Dalit Voice has published articles praising the NOI.[8] Their publications are a favorite within the Afrocentric movement and are often quoted by "scholars" outside the mainstream to help propagate their views on "African racial superiority over Whites and Jews"[9]
[edit] anti-Hindu and anti-Semitic attacks
Dalit voice has also made various anti-Semitic accusations and touted "Jewish conspiracy theories"[10][11]. In various broadcasts, VT Rajasekhar has claimed that the famous hoax book Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as a legitimate text [12] and has verbally attacked Indian Jews with allegations of a conspiracy to "join hands (with Hindus) to crush Muslims, Blacks and India's Dalits"[13]
The writer Koenraad Elst has criticised the publication for having anti-Hindu views. [14], counter-claiming that claims of racism in Hinduism are a "crank ideology".
Their anti-Brahmin rhetoric, frequently follows to further anti-Semitism with claims of Brahmins in India being descended from Jews and deriving their "fanaticism" and "arrogance" from "Jewish Zionist Racism"[15] [16]. Dalit Voice has also been criticized for "buying into anti-Jewish conspiracy theories" by far left-wing organizations such as the "Maoist International Movement". The MIM, while praising the organization of having "some good information on caste and other problems in India", they suggest that[17]:
"We hope to see Dalit Voice drop its conspiracy theories about Jews that underestimate the oppressiveness of oppressor nation people in the United States and Western Europe and take up Marxism-Leninism-Maoism[17]."
In addition, scholars and Islamic intellectuals such as Yoginder Sikand have criticized the publication, referring to it as "radical" and asserting that their rhetoric does not help alleviate the Dalit situation[18]:
"Far from alleviating the prevailing situation the militant rhetoric of the writers of Dalit Voice offers nothing substantial and instead create even more disunity. One writer calls the [Islamic] Ulema as the ‘progeny of iblis’ and appeals to the Muslims to stop reading their literature at once[18]."
[edit] Holocaust Denial
Dalit Voice, in addition to publishing articles about "Zionist conspiracies" regarding Hitler and the Third Reich[19][20], have also supported the Iranian regime and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the holocaust[21].
[edit] References
- ^ Columbia University Library entry for Dalit Voice
- ^ dalitvoice.org
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Brighter side of Hitler : DV to reveal facts suppressed by history
- ^ African Studies Review, Vol. 43, No. 1, Special Issue on the Diaspora (Apr., 2000), pp. 189-201online
- ^ Vijay Prashad (April 2000). Afro-Dalits of the Earth, Unite! (in English). African 43 (1): 189-201.
- ^ Dalit Voice Website
- ^ See, for instance, the works of fringe scholar (listed as such here)Ivan van Sertima, such as "African presence in early Asia", Transaction Publishers, 1998, ISBN:0887387179
- ^ etext.org
- ^ Google Cache of etext.org
- ^ Dalit Voice, 1-12-1991##
- ^ Dalit Voice, 16-1-1993##
- ^ [3] Ayodhya and After, Koenraad Elst (Chpt 14)
- ^ Heuzé, Gérard (1993). Où va l’Inde moderne? (p 87). L’Harmattan.
- ^ Rajshekhar, V.T.. Brahminism (p 28). Dalit Sahitya Akademy.
- ^ a b Dalit Voice, Google Cache of the Maoist International Movement article
- ^ a b Sikand, Yoginder (2004). Islam, Caste and Dalit-Muslim Relations in India. Global Media Publications, New Delhi Pg. 98.
- ^ dalitvoice.org
- ^ Google Cache of Dalitvoice article See "Abuse of History" Hitler not worst villain of 20th century as painted by "Zionists"
- ^ Defeat in Iraq & fall of Bush: India warned to quickly adjust to big changes in West Dalit Voice Article
