Port Blair, May 11: An expatriate senior Indian lawyer wedded to social activism is undertaking a pioneering all-India expedition next month to spread his message against casteism and root out the deep old malady from the country.
Dubai-based K K Sarachandra Bose, who has served a mandatory notice on the Government of India to eradicate the caste system by this calendar year, is bracing for a 34-day Bharat Yathra starting June 9 from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of his native Kerala state. Along with a team of 30-odd volunteers, the 62-year-old entrepreneur will address people across the states before reaching Delhi on July 12, travelling a distance of almost 14,000 km.
“My Port Blair address today is a prelude to my cross-country journey. I request your support to my noble endeavour,” he told in a public speech at the Kerala Samajam Hall here yesterday.
The function saw free distribution of a book, Caste Away! India, Hinduism & Untouchability, authored by Mr Bose, who has been practising law in the Gulf for three-and-a-half decades and is a member of the International Bar Association.
“This is not just a publication,” he announced about the 208-page work brought out in November 2013. “It is in fact a 13-month mandatory notice I have served on the Government of India for Constitutional Reform to eradicate the caste system from the country — by or before 31 December 2014.”
The June-July tour will see Mr Bose giving away copies of the book. “I will be carrying over 10,000 copies of it — for free distribution. I’m happy that some philanthropists and well-wishers have offered to print several thousand books — also for disbursal without charging anything.”
It is another matter that anyone can access the electronic printable version. Caste Away, which is supported by 40 years of research, has already been handed out to the President of India, the Prime Minister, all Members of Parliament, besides chief ministers, legislators, judges of the Supreme Court as well as several High Courts and lower echelons of the judiciary. It has also gone to the United Nations Secretary-General, Heads of States of different countries, intellectuals and the media among others.
As for its content, Mr Bose said Caste Away attempts at reform through the Bhakti saints besides Raja Rammohun Roy’s Brahmo Samaj, the tumultuous efforts of late Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar, among others.
“The Supreme Court of India has ruled that the caste system conveyed the message ‘Divided we are — come and rule us’ and that ‘the caste system as projected by Manu and accepted by the Hindu society has proved to be the biggest curse for this country’,” he recalled. “In short, ‘the caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better’, the apex court has noted.”
Also, the usage of the term ‘caste’ goes against the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he added.
Mr Bose, who would also be travelling to the Lakshadweep ahead of his Bharat Yathra that would cover all state capitals and hold meetings in another 35-odd cities and towns, clarified that the expenses of the road trip are completely self-sponsored. “I have no backing from any organisation or political party whatsoever. I depend solely on my own conviction, oratory skills and — more importantly — the book,” he said.
In fact, the Bharat Yathra had its prelude of sorts at the Kerala-level two months ago. “I had carried out a ‘Jathi Nirmarjana Bodhavatkarana Sadesha Yathra’ across the length of the state for six days from March 9. It was highly encouraging,” Mr Bose recalled. “I led a 31-member team which made several stops (pre-announced and impromptu) at several stops where people gathered in good numbers and listened to my speech and derived inspiration from its core message.”
Mr Bose, who hails from a village in central Travancore and is a partner of a leading legal consultancy firm in Dubai, is a member of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association and Karnataka Bar Council. He is also associated with the Legal Affairs Department of the Government of Dubai, is a visiting professor in International Business Law and a legal columnist in several publications. He chairs Global Dialogue Foundation and the “Unity in Diversity” under the auspices of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
“Eradication of caste may sound a bit over-ambitious for my compatriots at large, but then my missions have always been driven by absolute faith in realising the goal and a great sense of optimism,” he said. “I request you to strengthen my campaign and realise its overarching and noble aim.”
