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| Shafee Ahmed Ko |
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| captionP.Sivakami I.A.S. |
P.Sivakami an I.A.S officer, of 1980 batch from Tamil Nadu, chose a deliberate exit from significant post mainly to fight atrocities towards Dalits. She joined Bahujan Samaj Party, and contested 2009 parliamentary election and unfortunately she was not able to win the race. Later she has organised party “Samuga Samatuva Padai Party”, and she steers it to a greater success.
Sivakami held responsible posts, including as collector in Thoothukudi district.
As a steadfast bureaucrat, she served as special commissioner and commissioner,
directorate of Stationary and Printing for Tamil Nadu Government and
she opted voluntary retirement on November 23,2008 is now making brilliant history.
As a
politician one could see Sivakami’s
bold step since she travelled wide and long from February (2012) to various
states, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Shillong to promote her
mission also with an idea of electing a Christian successor to former President
Pratibha Patil. This could be one of her
political manifestation that a minority to become the first citizen although
Abdul Kalam had a fitting laurels. She was vociferous in the stand telling news
reporters at the Shillong Press Club, “Our campaign is to look for a suitable
Christian candidate who has integrity, who is apolitical and secular who would
go on to occupy the highest office. He or she should be candidate who can
represent the whole nation,” (The Telegraph: Kolkata Tuesday, April 3, 2012)
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| P.Sivkami's book release in Madurai (Courtesy:The Hindu) |
One could comprehend her attempt Sivakami as champion of oppressed and
depressed group and this is what she envisages that our nation should be.
Although wiping off the tears and woes the Dalits, Sivakami is optimistic
to win the goal, and she has seen in her own experience as an upright officer a
situations where upper class bureaucracy has denied the fitting post to Dalits
, for the simple reason that they are Dalits a wrongly conceived concept.
It is no denial in politics, media, judiciary, and in executives
upper class is dominating entire system of our country.
This, she feels that there should be an end to such socially diseased
class conscious system.
All we know about Dalits ostracized as untouchable no matter
they are living from urban or from rural area.
A kind of discrimination is being menaced everywhere as casteism,
what we hear as two tumbler formula in
Tamil Nadu, a raised wall in cemetery dividing one
for upper caste, the other for untouchable are all
well familiar news.
But Sivakami has more to tell about the atrocities meted to Dalits and she wonders
as we all know how long such tragic situation of unemancipated racism, schaunism,
and nepotism one could be bear with. The greatness of Sivakami is her writing skill that
would expose the Dalit woes, key issues, it’s her greatness that she sacrifices time
in travel and meeting people of different parts of India only to disseminate her mission
of rights of feminism, and to tell all how atrocities against Dalits could be rooted out.
As a literary
insightful writer, we see Ms.Sivakami,attending a most
important Literature Festival held
in Jaipur, on 26
January 2010 to commemorate,the 60th Republic Day which and almost most
renowned writers including Ms.Sivakami who was the first Dalit woman writer
participated.
The writers from
different ends chiefly from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Punjab,
Delhi and Maharashtra converged to spotlight the Dalit woes through skilled
writing.
Madam Sivakami, Om Prakash Valmiki, Kancha Ilaiah, Ajay Navaria,
Desraj Kali,
Iqbal Udasi, and Laxman Gaikwad were among the key speakers.
Amongst these personalities
Christophe Jaffrelot, a regular French columnist of
Indian Express,
had to be a panellist along with Nirupam Dutt, S.S.Nirupam and
S.Anand during the session.
“The Dalit resurgence
which took place in the 1990s in the State one
among the prominent writers was
the former Civil Services Officer P.Sivakami”
recorded “The Hindu” on December 1,2011(Madurai Edition) captioned
“Dalit literature played vital role in resurgence” It was a celebrate event
when
Ms.Sivakami’s poetry compilation “Kadhavadaippu” nearest English could be
“Lockout”. On the occasion at De Nobili centre of Madurai found the celebrities
such as R.Adhiyaman, founder-president, Adi Tamizhar Peravai, and S. Tamil
Selvan,
state president, Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers' Association received
the first copy.
The most important thing that Mr.Adhiyaman extolled Sivakami’s writing
comprised,
” Feminism, Dalitism and Body Politics” In reply Sivakami expressed
her anguish how
the poverty prone Dalits were exploited in every sphere of their
life,
be it economic resources, and society as a whole, the rich is an upper
hand everywhere in anything. Mr. Adhiyaman was with all praise that Sivakami's
writings dealt with,” Feminism, Dalitism and Body Politics.
Sivakami further added, “The ruling classes which form this elite
section have no regard for the poor and the recent increase in prices state
that, even schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme does not result or work towards empowering the poor but enslaving them,
she opined”.
She feels
that entering into political arena; she will gain more power to fight against
the menace of upper caste meted to the Dalits. For a leading news magazine she
said, “For long, I was planning to quit government service. I have worked with
the downtrodden and for women’s empowerment. But in politics we have more power
to bring about change,” She has authored four novels and almost hundred short
stories.
Sivakami with her mission marches as a champion of oppressed, and
her steps are welcome with people’s cooperation and has gained lot of well wishers.
