Waman Chindhuji Meshram (born 1957) is an Indian activist. He is National president of

BAMCEF The All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation, abbreviated as BAMCEF, is an organisation for employees of oppressed communities that was established in 1971 by Kanshi Ram, D. K. Khaparde, and Dinabhana. The term got its ...

, an organization of employees and leader of ''Bahujan Kranti Morcha''.

Early life

Meshram was born in Ramgaon village, located in Darwha Tehsil of

Yavatmal district Yavatmal district , əʋət̪maːɭformerly known as Yeotmal, is a district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the region of Vidarbha, in the east-central part of the state. It is Vidarbha's third-largest district by popula ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

in 1957. Waman Meshram took his

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

education in

Darwha Darwha is a town and a municipal council in Yavatmal district in the state of Maharashtra, India. History Locals believe Rango Bapuji Gupte, a freedom fighter had lived incognito in the town. The town is also famous for 'Golibar Chowk', sq ...

. After this he went to

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...

for further education. Waman Meshram started contemplating to join public life when he still was in Baba Saheb Ambedkar college at

in the early 1970s.

Career

In 1975 Meshram joined

. He is president of BAMCEF. BAMCEF was founded by

Kanshi Ram Kanshi Ram (15 March 1934 – 9 October 2006), also known as Bahujan Nayak or Manyavar or Saheb, was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the backward or lower caste ...

. Kanshi Ram organised

Scheduled Caste The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

and

Backward Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

by raising slogans against forward caste. The organisation works for oppressed communities such Scheduled Caste,

Scheduled Tribe The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

, Other Backward Class and Minority (muslim). According to him, the organisation work for Mulnivasi and against

Brahminism The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...

. BAMCEF target

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

in various programmes. In his various speeches, he criticises hindu gods and goddesses.

Movement against EVM

Waman Meshram started people's movement against EVM in 2014 itself. He and his organisation Bharat Mukti Morcha(BMM) launched a five-phased

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

campaign across the country from March 2017 demanding for discontinuing

electronic voting machines An electronic voting machine is a voting machine based on electronics. Two main technologies exist: '' optical scanning'' and '' direct recording'' (DRE). Optical scanning In an optical scan voting system, or marksense, each voter's choices ...

(EVMs) in the electoral process in India. Addressing a press conference in March 2017, Waman Meshram said, "Using EVMs is the worst practice in the electoral process in the world. We will continue to fight against EVMs till their usage is stopped." Meshram stated that he had filed a petition against the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

(EC) asking it to attach Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the EVMs but it is being delayed deliberately. Delaying this is going to only help two organizations, political parties. If we want to keep the democracy of our country alive, ballet papers must be used for election as they cannot be rigged," he added. Talking about the petition filled in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, Meshram said, "I had filed a case of contempt of court against Election Commission of India (EC). The apex court in its verdict of 8 October 2013, had clearly said that EVM machines can be fixed or rigged, so as a hard proof VVPAT machines must be attached to EVMs but the guidelines have not followed." In 2014 and 2019 Election his party contested on many seats but lost deposits on almost all the seats. Meshram also alleged that the Election Commission of India (EC) has been pressured by the Central government to rig elections across the country. "The election commission in a reply to my letter said that the Central government is not providing funds to attach VVPAT machines, but the EC is an autonomous institution. It should have gone to the President or held a press conference as the citizens have the right to know," he said.

Criticism

In June 2022, ''Naveen Jaihind'' an organization burnt effigy of Waman Meshram in

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9(old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the National ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

for giving statement against hindu gods and Brahmin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meshram, Waman Indian activists Living people 1957 births Indian Buddhists Anti-Brahminism