Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, (born 3 December 1986) is an Indian Ambedkarite lawyer turned activist. He is the co-founder and national president of Bhim Army.[1]

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan
Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan
Born (1986-12-03) 3 December 1986
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity of Lucknow
OccupationPolitician
OrganizationBhim Army
Political partyAzad Samaj Party
Parents
  • Govardhan Das (father)
  • Kamlesh Devi (mother)

Early life

Azad was born in Ghadkauli at Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. He belongs to Dalit (jatav) community and his father Govardhan Das was a retired principal of a government school. He came to prominence as a Dalit leader after a hoarding titled "The Great Chamars of Ghadkhauli Welcome You" was installed by him and members of Bhim Army on the outskirts of his village.[2][3][4][5]

Activism

Aazad has established himself as Dalit icon[6] and he is known for his style. "Azad does something more: his style is ostentatious. It rejects docility, mimimalism and discretion. It is not quietly elegant, but emphatically flamboyant. It flaunts Raybans alongside homespun, replaces hipster beards with the twirled ’tache. It is azadi with swag."[6]

CAA/NRC

Aazad’s spectacular presence at Delhi’s hugely symbolic Jama Masjid on 20 December 2019 for the CCA protests has been described as pure Bollywood. It has been reported as such, both through television commentary unfolding in real time and in retrospective narrative reportage. Having used a skull cap and shawl to disguise himself till that moment, he now brandished a portrait of Dr Ambedkar and a copy of the Constitution. As always, he chose his accessories wisely, with a view to their maximum visibility in photographs of the seething mass as well as resonance with the spirit of the times.

Hathras Rape case

Aazad and his supporters held a protest at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, where a 19-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras died days after being gang-raped, demanding the culprits be sentenced to death. The Dalit woman from the marginalised Valmiki community succumbed to her injuries. He had earlier gone to see the woman, when she was still alive and demanded she be shifted to AIIMS. But she was admitted to Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital later where she succumbed.[7]

"Raavan", held a massive protest on Sunday after he was stopped twice by the UP Police when he was on his way to meet the victim's family. Visuals showed him standing on a truck, addressing a huge crowd. When he was stopped for the first time, about 20 km from Hathras, he marched for around 5 km, along with his supporters, to cover the distance to reach the victim's home. A video showed them carrying flags and raising slogans against the government.[8]

As he met the family on Sunday evening, he demanded Y-Plus category security for them. He also urged the administration to let him take the victim's family along with him; the request, however, was turned down. He joined a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar where hundreds of people came with placards and shouted slogans against the incident, which has sparked massive outrage.[8]

The body of the gangrape victim was burnt with petrol in Hathras in the middle of the night by the police, with her family members alleging that the local police did not give them a chance to do the last rites. This happened when Aazad was detained by Uttar Pradesh police midway and then been put under house arrest in Saharanpur.[9]

Farm Bills Aazad joined the protesting farmers at the Delhi-Ghazipur border along with hundreds of his supporters and demanded that the new farms laws be withdrawn immediately. Before that, he was detained at his residence in Uttar Pradesh before he joined the nationwide farmers’ protest.[10] He also criticised the Centre for using water cannons and tear gas against the demonstrators. He alleged the government wants to grab the farmers' land and give it to industrialists.[11]

Political career

Azad, Satish Kumar, and Vinay Ratan Singh founded Bhim Army in 2014, an organization that works for the emancipation of Dalits through education in India. It runs free schools for Dalits in the Western Uttar Pradesh.[2] In 2019, he originally planned to contest from Varanasi against Modi, but later withdrew his offer to support the SP/BSP combine and prevent the splitting of the Dalit vote in the constituency.[12]

2020 Bihar Assembly Elections

Azad started his career as leader of Bhim Army which is an organisation based in Uttar Pradesh but he later formed Azad Samaj Party to participate in electoral politics. The party allied with Pappu Yadav led Jan Adhikar Party in 2020 Bihar Assembly Elections to form a separate front apart from National Democratic Alliance and United Progressive Alliance.

In the elections it contested against these two grand alliances besides another front called Grand Democratic Secular Front, which was spearheaded by Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and contained other regional parties like All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Suhaldev Samaj Party among others.[13][14] The front led by Pappu Yadav and Azad was named as Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA).[15]

Azad Samaj Party
Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram)
AbbreviationASP
PresidentChandrashekhar Azad Ravan
FounderChandrashekhar Azad Ravan[16]
Founded15 March 2020 (2020 -03-15)
IdeologyAmbedkarism
Coloursblue and white
ECI Statusunrecognised
AllianceProgressive Democratic Alliance(2020–present)[17]
Seats in Lok Sabha
0 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha
0 / 245
Seats in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
0 / 403
Seats in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council
0 / 100

Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) is an Indian political party formally launched on 15 March 2020 by Ravan.[18][19][20][21] It is significant that the announcement was made on the 86th birth anniversary of Kashi Ram, the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party.[22] The sister of the founder of that party, Sarwan Kaur, planned to join the Azad Samaj party.[23] The party planned to contest every seat in Bihar in the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[24] Bhim Army founder Chandrashekar Azad Ravan announced to join the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) led by Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) of Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav with other regional political parties to contest the Bihar assembly election 2020.[25] Much of the party's popularity comes from the Dalit and Scheduled tribes.[26]

Detention
Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan at Jama Masjid, Delhi, during the anti CAA protests.
  • He was arrested in relation to the Saharanpur violence incident.[27] Azad was arrested under the National Security Act by the U.P govt. Afterwards he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court noting that the arrests were politically motivated, but was continuously imprisoned by the state government.[28][29]
  • Delhi Police had denied permission to Azad's protest march against the CAA from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar at Delhi. He entered into protest at Jama Masjid and was arrested by police and was detained for several days.[30]
  • Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan was arrested in Hyderabad for his participation in two anti-CAA protests.[31]
  • He was arrested for protests against demolition of Shri Guru Ravidas Gurughar at Tughalqabad.[32]
  • Azad was arrested along with 500 Bhim Army members for his protest against Hathras gangrape case. All of them were arrested under multiple sections of the IPC and Epidemic Diseases Act, for violation of Section 144 Code of Criminal Procedure in Hathras.[33]

See also

References
  1. Thirumalai, Nitya, ed. (19 June 2017). "My Son a Dalit Revolutionary, Say Bhim Army Chief's Mother". News18. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  2. Trivedi, Divya (2 February 2018). "Fighting spirit". Frontline. The Hindu Group. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  3. Doval, Nikita (9 June 2017). "Chandrashekhar Azad—The man in the blue scarf". Mint. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  4. Tiwary, Deeptiman (26 June 2018). "Walking the faultlines: The Bhim Army has been slowly gaining ground among Dalits locally". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  5. Phadnis, Aditi (27 December 2019). "Who is Chandrashekhar Azad?". Business Standard India. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  6. Kabir, Ananya Jahanara (24 December 2019). "Chandrashekhar's azadi with swag: The fabulous mystique of the Bhim Army chief". Scroll.in.
  7. "Hathras gangrape victim dies: Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan protests outside Safdarjung Hospital". The Asian Age. PTI. 29 September 2020.
  8. Sengar, Mukesh Singh (5 October 2020). Bhasin, Swati (ed.). "Case Against Bhim Army Chief, 400 Others After His Hathras Visit". NDTV.
  9. Pakrasi, Susmita (1 October 2020). "Stay in your house, notice to Bhim army chief over UP rape protest. Cops deny". The Hindustan Times.
  10. "Bhim Army chief prevented from joining farmers' protests, placed under house arrest". Scroll.in. 8 October 2020.
  11. Tiwari, Vaibhav, ed. (2 December 2020). ""Centre Seeing Democracy's Power": Bhim Army Chief Joins Farmers' Protest". NDTV.
  12. "Who is Chandra Shekhar Azad? All you need to know about Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad". The Times of India. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  13. "Pappu Yadav, Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan form Progressive Democratic Alliance to contest Bihar assembly polls". Asian News International. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  14. Tewary, Amarnath (8 October 2020). "Six parties form a new front with RSLP's Kushwaha as CM candidate". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  15. Thakur, Rajesh Kumar (28 September 2020). "Bihar polls: Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party floats new alliance". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  16. Abhishek (15 March 2020). "भीम आर्मी प्रमुख चंद्रशेखर ने बनाई नई पार्टी, बसपा के कई नेता हुए शामिल". Hindustan.
  17. Chaubey, Arun Kumar, ed. (28 September 2020). "Bihar Assembly election 2020: Pappu Yadav forms poll alliance with Chandrasekhar Azad to take on ruling NDA". Zee News.
  18. "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launches new political outfit — Azad Samaj Party". ThePrint. 15 March 2020.
  19. "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launches 'Azad Samaj Party'". The Hindustan Times. PTI. 15 March 2020.
  20. "Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad Launches 'Azad Samaj Party'". The Wire (India). 16 March 2020.
  21. Jain, Harshita (15 March 2020). "Challenges raise in Dalit politics, this leader announces new party". News Track.
  22. Kumar, Anuj (15 March 2020). "Bhim Army chief launches Azad Samaj Party". The Hindu.
  23. "BSP founder Kanshi Ram's sister to join Bhim Army chief's Azad Samaj Party". National Herald. 16 March 2020.
  24. "Azad's party to contest all seats in Bihar elections". The Indian Express. 12 August 2020.
  25. Singh, Rajesh Kumar (29 September 2020). "Bhim Army launches PDA with regional parties to contest Bihar assembly polls". The Hindustan Times.
  26. Nair, Preetha (27 March 2020). "Willing To Join Hands With Like-Minded Parties To Defeat BJP: Chandrashekhar Azad". Outlook.
  27. "14 दिन की हिरासत में रावण, गिरफ्तारी के पीछे गर्लफ्रेंड का हाथ". Navodaya Times (in Hindi). 9 June 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  28. Bose, Adrija (1 March 2020). "Why Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad Has Decided to Contest UP Elections 2022". News18. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  29. Venkataramakrishnan, Rohan (8 June 2018). "The Daily Fix: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar's year-long detention is a blot on the Indian system". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  30. Sengar, Mukesh Singh (21 December 2019). Varma, Shylaja (ed.). "Bhim Army's Chandrashekhar Azad Arrested Day After Protest In Old Delhi". NDTV.
  31. Moin, Ather (27 January 2020). "Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan arrested in Hyderabad". The Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  32. "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad detained in Delhi for temple protest". The Hindustan Times. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  33. "UP police book Bhim Army chief, 500 others after Hathras visit". The New Indian Express. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
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