Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan

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Not to be confused with the Indian revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad.

Chandrashekhar Azad
Chandra Shekhar Azad (Ravan).jpg
Born (1986-12-03) 3 December 1986 (age 37)
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation
  • Activist
  • Politician
  • Lawyer
OrganizationBhim Army
Political partyAzad Samaj Party
Parent(s)
  • Govardhan Das
  • Kamlesh Devi

Chandrashekhar Azad (born 3 December 1986) is an Indian lawyer and Dalit-Bahujan rights activist. He is an Ambedkarite[1] who is the co-founder and national president of the Bhim Army.[2] In February 2021, Time magazine featured him in its annual list of 100 Emerging Leaders who are Shaping the Future.[3][4][5]

Early life[edit]

Chandrashekhar Azad was born in December 1986 at Chhutmalpur town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh to Govardhan Das and Kamlesh Devi. His father Govardhan Das was a retired principal of a government school. Azad came to prominence as a Bahujan leader after a hoarding which said "The Great Chamars of Ghadkhauli Welcome You" was installed by him on the outskirts of his village.[6][7][8][9]

Activism[edit]

Azad has established himself as Dalit icon[10] 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."[10]

Hathras rape case[edit]

Azad 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.[11]

He 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.[12]

As he met the family on Sunday evening, he demanded "Y+" 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.[12]

The body of the gang rape 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 Azad was detained by Uttar Pradesh police midway and then been put under house arrest in Saharanpur.[13]

Farm bills[edit]

Azad joined the protesting farmers at the Delhi-Ghazipur border along with hundreds of his supporters and demanded that the new farm laws be withdrawn immediately. Before that, he was detained at his residence in Uttar Pradesh before he joined the nationwide farmers' protest.[14] 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.[15]

Political career[edit]

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.[7] 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.[16]

Azad Samaj Party[edit]

Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) is an Indian political party formally launched on 15 March 2020 by Ravan.[17][18][19][20] It is significant that the announcement was made on the 86th birth anniversary of Kashi Ram, the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party.[21] The sister of the founder of that party, Sarwan Kaur, planned to join the Azad Samaj party.[22] The party planned to contest every seat in Bihar in the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[23] 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.[24] Much of the party's popularity comes from the Dalit and Scheduled tribes.[25]

2020 Bihar Assembly elections[edit]

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.[26][27] The front led by Pappu Yadav and Azad was named as Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA).[28]

Detention[edit]

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan at Jama Masjid, Delhi, during the anti CAA protests.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "Azad probably an Ambedkarite: Delhi court slams police".
  2. ↑ Thirumalai, Nitya, ed. (19 June 2017). "My Son a Dalit Revolutionary, Say Bhim Army Chief's Mother". News18. Retrieved 30 July 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad, 5 Indian-origin persons, feature in Time magazine's list of 100 emerging leaders". The Hindu. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad in Time magazine's list of 100 emerging leaders". The Indian Express. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Shubhangi Misra (18 February 2021). "Bhim Army's Chandra Shekhar Aazad, 5 Indian-origin persons on Time list of emerging leaders". The Print. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Phadnis, Aditi (27 December 2019). "Who is Chandrashekhar Azad?". Business Standard India. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Trivedi, Divya (2 February 2018). "Fighting spirit". Frontline. The Hindu Group. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Kabir, Ananya Jahanara (24 December 2019). "Chandrashekhar's azadi with swag: The fabulous mystique of the Bhim Army chief". Scroll.in.
  11. ↑ "Hathras gangrape victim dies: Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan protests outside Safdarjung Hospital". The Asian Age. PTI. 29 September 2020.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sengar, Mukesh Singh (5 October 2020). Bhasin, Swati (ed.). "Case Against Bhim Army Chief, 400 Others After His Hathras Visit". NDTV.
  13. ↑ Pakrasi, Susmita (1 October 2020). "Stay in your house, notice to Bhim army chief over UP rape protest. Cops deny". The Hindustan Times.
  14. ↑ "Bhim Army chief prevented from joining farmers' protests, placed under house arrest". Scroll.in. 8 October 2020.
  15. ↑ Tiwari, Vaibhav, ed. (2 December 2020). ""Centre Seeing Democracy's Power": Bhim Army Chief Joins Farmers' Protest". NDTV.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launches new political outfit — Azad Samaj Party". ThePrint. 15 March 2020.
  18. ↑ "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launches 'Azad Samaj Party'". The Hindustan Times. PTI. 15 March 2020.
  19. ↑ "Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad Launches 'Azad Samaj Party'". The Wire (India). 16 March 2020.
  20. ↑ Jain, Harshita (15 March 2020). "Challenges raise in Dalit politics, this leader announces new party". News Track.
  21. ↑ Kumar, Anuj (15 March 2020). "Bhim Army chief launches Azad Samaj Party". The Hindu.
  22. ↑ "BSP founder Kanshi Ram's sister to join Bhim Army chief's Azad Samaj Party". National Herald. 16 March 2020.
  23. ↑ "Azad's party to contest all seats in Bihar elections". The Indian Express. 12 August 2020.
  24. ↑ Singh, Rajesh Kumar (29 September 2020). "Bhim Army launches PDA with regional parties to contest Bihar assembly polls". The Hindustan Times.
  25. ↑ Nair, Preetha (27 March 2020). "Willing To Join Hands With Like-Minded Parties To Defeat BJP: Chandrashekhar Azad". Outlook.
  26. ↑ "Pappu Yadav, Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan form Progressive Democratic Alliance to contest Bihar assembly polls". Asian News International. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  27. ↑ Tewary, Amarnath (8 October 2020). "Six parties form a new front with RSLP's Kushwaha as CM candidate". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ "14 दिन की हिरासत में रावण, गिरफ्तारी के पीछे गर्लफ्रेंड का हाथ". Navodaya Times (in हिन्दी). 9 June 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  30. ↑ Bose, Adrija (1 March 2020). "Why Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad Has Decided to Contest UP Elections 2022". News18. Retrieved 6 May 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ↑ 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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ↑ Sengar, Mukesh Singh (21 December 2019). Varma, Shylaja (ed.). "Bhim Army's Chandrashekhar Azad Arrested Day After Protest In Old Delhi". NDTV.
  33. ↑ Moin, Ather (27 January 2020). "Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan arrested in Hyderabad". The Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  34. ↑ "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad detained in Delhi for temple protest". The Hindustan Times. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  35. ↑ "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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