Educating Dalit kids about history, achievement and struggles of Dalit icons like Dr BR Ambedkar and Sant Valmiki, Bhim Army initiative of Bhim Pathshalas are quickly gaining momentum in western Uttar Pradesh. Initially started as a two-hour, post-school coaching class for Dalit children in Saharanpur, they have now spread to other districts like Meerut, Agra and Muzaffarnagar bolstering the Dalit movement in the state. Owing to lack of facilities in government schools in rural areas, Bhim Pathshalas were started by the founder of Bhim Army, Chandrasekhar Azad alias Ravan. The objective was to ensure that Dalit children did not miss out on education in their formative years. Chandrasekhar has been in jail for the last one year following a clash of Dalits with Rajputs in Saharanpur over taking out of a shobha yatra on the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar in April, 2017. Saharanpur district president of Bhim Army, Kamal Walia said on Tuesday that 1000 more such pathshalas would be opened across the state.

“The poor Dalit families could not pay hefty fees to good schools while the standard of government schools are bad. We have decided to open such pathshalas way back on July 21, 2015,” he told reporters in Lucknow. Now children come to these pathshalas every day for two hours which is organised under a tree in the village, or at Ravidas temple or in the house of any Bhim Army worker. These pathshalas also give a clear political message of Dalit empowerment in the society and ‘Jai Bhim’ is their slogan which is chanted before the start of a class. However, leaders of Bhim Army are the icons of the students in the pathshalas.

Educating Dalit kids about history of Dalit icons