Mama Teltumbde and her children

The meaning of mercy often shines in its absence as this story of 92yearold Anusaya Teltumbde bears out Born in and then married into an agriculture labour family Anusaya gave birth to eight children The youngest of them Praveen a professor died in 2009 her sixth child Milind a Maoist commander was gunned down last month At his cremation were present Mama Teltumbde and her surviving children barring the eldest of them AnandMama Teltumbde did not expect Anand to be there not because she was sure it was impossible to bail him on short notice out of Mumbairsquos Taloja Jail where he was locked up in 2020 for allegedly conspiring with the Maoists to foment the 2018 KoregaonBhima violence Mama Teltumbde in fact has been made to believe Anand is abroad unable to return because of the pandemicinduced travel restrictions Her family does not switch on the TV on days Anand might be in newsHer maternal instinct gnaws her Would he not have called from abroad Her suspicion is allayed at the assurances of her children who are acutely aware that there is only so much a 92yearold heart can bear Mama Teltumbde has endured the fate predestined for her class Her beacon in the days of poverty was Dr BR Ambedkarrsquos exhortation to Dalits that for every R2 they earn they must spend R1 on their childrenrsquos educationMama Teltumbdersquos trophies are her childrenrsquos accomplishments Of her three daughters Sushila retired as a professor Vishakha and Nandini are schoolteachers Two sons Vilas and Kishore superannuated as technicians at the Western Coalfield Ltd Chandrapur where Milind too had worked before he entered the bushes to awaken the state to the injustices it perpetrates on the downtroddenMama Teltumbde should have been celebrated for being an example in flesh and blood of India rising from the mire of British colonial rule Her story of crafting astonishing social mobility began with Anand going to school in the 1950s He was brilliant at studies and outspoken Some of the Brahmin students would wear the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghrsquos black topi to school instead of the prescribed white From the money Anand made by painting cinema hoardings he bought blue caps for 100 students to wear The point against exceptions based on classcaste privileges was tellingly made and the wearing of the black topi was discontinuedAfter graduating as engineer in 1973 he joined Bharat Petroleum Much of his salary went to educate his siblings This is why he is a father figure to themndashand Mama Teltumbdersquos heartbeat No wonder Anand applied for 14day bail to provide solace to the family mourning Milind whom they had last seen 25 years ago when they tried to dissuade him from joining the MaoistsBut Anandrsquos bail plea was rejected Perhaps the High Court might decide to shine the light of mercy Fourteen days My Lords Just 14 daysAsk Can Anand spark a Maoist revolution in 14 days Were his Maoist credentials not checked when he became the managing director of Petronet LNG Limitedmdasha government undertaking Or appointed a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur after he retired from Petronet in 2010Anand might have foreseen his arrest evident from his remarkable collection of essays Republic of Caste in which he lists dissenters who were labelled Maoists incarcerated for years and exonerated by courts Among them were Sudhir Dhawale Arun Ferreira Ramesh Gaichor and Satyam Gorkhe who are lo and behold back in jail for allegedly scripting the KoregaonBhima violenceJust how many times must a person be declared innocent before he or she is no longer accused of being a MaoistNo less incredible is the silence of the Ambedkarites at the plight of the spondylitisstricken asthmatic 71yearold Anand who is married to Rama the granddaughter of Ambedkar in whose name even Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks votes The Ambedkarites look askance at Anand for arguing that ldquowhile class potentially brings people together the very nature of caste is to divide them by seeking hierarchyrdquo Pithily his argument is Without stitching class and caste together a truly democratic revolution is not possible in India Any talk of class however has the Ambedkarites smell a MarxistBrahmin conspiracy to thwart caste struggleThe Ambedkarites have not even demanded action against Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote who have been accused of triggering KoregaonBhima It requires daring to move against Bhide whose feet Modi touched and declared at a 2014 election rally at Sangli ldquoI was given orders by Bhideji Guruji to visit your city and here I amrdquoBut Ambedkarrsquos granddaughter cannot order anyone to give relief to Anand whose only recourse is to file a plea in court Rama told me ldquoAnandrsquos IIM degree secured from Ahmedabad in 1982 could have earned him crores But he preferred working for lsquodesh ki companyrsquo How can they call him antinationalrdquo She said Anandrsquos connection to Ambedkar should be taken into account to give him 14day bail Sighing Rama added ldquoHow our family has been made to sufferrdquoMy Lords the flame of justice always shines the light of mercyThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper