Prejudice runs both ways?

In response to the piece
Humour is by no means exempt from prejudice in The Hindu on June 8, 2012, about Controversial Ambedkar cartoon
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3501903.ece

The most convincing piece in the entire article was the statement -‘The whip is inseparable from violence…’ After reading that sentence, the outlook towards the article changed completely. One can not but agree and sympathize with the emotion in that idea. However, one point still remains unsolved, which is, - Why should dalits take the whip in Nehru’s hand to be falling on Ambedkar? The cartoon actually shows the whip aimed at the snail which is used as a symbol of very slow movement. Ambedkar too is helping the whole process by goading the snail to move faster. Why is Ambedkar invariably seen by Dalits as being responsible for the sluggish pace. Dalits need to offload the psychological baggage which almost borders on paranoia, and see things with a bit more balanced judgment. With such a balance, one can realize that Ambedkar and Nehru together worked for faster progress of the Constitution.

The grounds of Dalit identity and pseudo Abedkarites

Ambedkar, or for that matter no one should be above criticism. This prophet-hood being foisted on the great personality is a sign of how divisive the dalit politics is getting.  It shows a very farsighted strategy to acquire unbridled power without responsibility by the so called spokesmen of dalit interests. An attempt to get away with anything (irresponsible statements, violence etc)  under the shield of dalit identity.

Kancha Illiah can only spew venom at anything even remotely connected to Hinduism or upper caste hindus. These are the people who selectively use or abuse Ambedkar’s ideas for their own ends. His ideas are dangerous and only water the seeds of everlasting hatred among dalits and non-dalits.

The ilk of Illiah just do not want the demolition of caste, lest they be effaced to oblivion.  These are the kind of people who would never allow admbedkar’s ideas like inter-caste marriages to succeed.

Illiah supported the beef  fest recently at Hyderabad. He calls it an assertion of dalit identity. The reason is that hindus do not eat it and because Gandhi’s work for upliftment of ‘Harijans’ included urging them to quit eating beef and carrion. By claiming that beef eating was/is a way of life of dalits, they are nurturing a dalit identity; an identity built selectively on those issues which can pinch and  hurt the caste hindus’ conscience. Gandhi also encouraged education, giving up of unclean jobs, hygiene, etc. Why not also give them up to assert dalit identity, if that is how they used to live. Can they not be called their way of life, going by the logic of beef eating? 

May be it's just that they are not divisive enough!