The Chamcha Age: An Era of the Stooge

by Kanshi Ram

The Chamcha Age: An Era of the Stooge was written by Kanshi Ram, and published by him on 24th Sept. 1982 on the occasion of 50th anniversary of Poona Pact. It is dedicated to Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, "whose initiation of cultural revolt in colonial India, later taken up by Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Periyar E.V.Ramaswamy and many other rebellious spirits brought us to this level where we are thinking, planning and struggling to put an end to the 'Chamcha Age' and usher in 'Bright Age' for the Shudras and the Ati-Shudras."

In preface he says Chamcha Age started from the Poona Pact giving Joint Electorates instead of Separate Electorates. The purpose of book is to make Dalit Soshit Samaj of the existence of Chamchas or stooges, and to awaken masses how to differentiate between genuine and counterfeit leadership.

The book is divided into 4 parts and 17 chapters. The first two parts give information about past struggles, part III depicts present situation and part IV suggests ways and means of future struggle.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, Politics, History

158 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 1982

About the author

Kanshi Ram was an Indian politician. He founded the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a political party with the stated goal of serving the traditionally lower castes of Indian society (that historically also included untouchables). He transferred the BSP's leadership to Mayawati. His leadership brought the party to power in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh in 1995, at that point Mayawati became the state's Chief Minister.

Reviews

[Rakesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Chamcha Age began with the Poona Pact and continues to exist today. The establishment of SC/ST Reserved Seats in government resulted in Chamcha politicians. In order to win election to an SC/ST Reserved Seat, an SC/ST candidate needed the support of a major political party. In exchange for that support, the winning candidate was more than happy to act as a Chamcha—or Stooge—for the party. Instead of representing SC and ST people and fighting for the needs of those communities, the Chamchas are Yes Men who do whatever their political party tells them to do.

Kanshi Ram could have used the assistance of a good editor. He repeats himself a lot. He makes the same points over and over and I found myself thinking "Just get on with it already. What should be done to address the Chamcha situation?" He identifies the problem but does not offer any real solutions. There is just some vague politician-speak about "social action" and "awareness."
That was disappointing.

[Chintu Smiley]

Want to read

[Pradeep Narayanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Chamcha Age, by Kanshi Ram, a renowned political transformative activist and practitioner of anti-caste ideology, is very under-rated book. I found that there is a wonderful glimpse of different categories of intellectual citizenry. He deconstructed them as Chamchas- who all toe the line of the mainstream- but with varying kind of ‘language’ and ‘postures’ that they use. He uses Chamcha analogous to the term, Petty Bourgeoisie, used by Marxist- but with a definition, much more grounded in practical realities. He built his ideological politics and also shaped the political party politics strategised around it. He mainstreamed Ambedkarism across the country and the globe. (Read just two chapters from Page 89-103).  When one organises research of any kind, the concept, Chamcha, is important. Often a research has research team, who appear as progressive, but often are not. They just have politically appropriate language. The same is actually true about your respondents, especially key informants who are interviewed. What they speak becomes important. Often the research assumes that what they speak is their belief; and that their belief would inspire their action. It is often rarely true. Half the research and potentially the human rights due diligence that are done which depend entirely on what people speak. They all need to be micro-scoped. The subsequent chapters of Chamcha actually provide the solution on how to deal with Chamchas. The solution is in thoughts of Ambedkar. Read the book.