| | The importance of Khairlanji lies in providing a clear illustration
of the genesis, development and culmination of a caste atrocity.
Khairlanji brings to the fore the irrelevance of dalit politics
and politicians and rejection of them by ordinary dalits. But above
all, Khairlanji helps dispel a number of myths – the myth that
economic development does away with casteism, the myth of
Maharashtra being a progressive state, the myth that there exists
a significant progressive section of non-dalits that is against
the caste system, the myth that dalits placed in the bureaucracy
can orient the administration to do justice to dalits, and finally the
mythology of ‘bahujanwad’ developed by the late Kanshiram
and followed by other dalit leaders.
|
