Hyderabad: The ‘beef song’ of MIM leader Nalliganti Sarath Chamar has created a cultural congregation called Bheem Drum. It is made up of Dalit-Bahujan singers, who sing about their right to eat beef.
The song on beef, written and sung by Sarath, is a counter to the campaign to ban beef and restrict meat eaters to a vegetarian diet.
Apart from the novel content of the songs, the dress of the singers too is untraditional. “Though we respect our ancestors’ traditions, attire and way of life, we have resolved that we are not going to sing in a dhoti with chest bare. We will wear jeans and T-shirts and sing the songs of Ambedkar and Phule. We will modernise Dalit songs,” Mr Sarath says.
The Bheem Drum has brought Dalit-Bahujan singers from across Telangana under one umbrella through well attended musical concerts.
Mr Sarath is studying for a PhD from the Telugu department of Osmania University. He is the national president of the Dalit Bahujan Students’ Association.
He says beef has a lot of protein “and it has been our cultural and natural food. Brahmanical ideology made beef an untouchable food.”
He says no one has any right to dictate to people what to eat and what not to eat. He was one of the student leaders who had attempted to organise the Beef Festival in Osmania University in March 2012
Mr Sarath is from Warangal. His father works in a stone quarry and Sarath did the same till he moved to Hyderabad to study.
He is an admirer of the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, and never misses a chance to praise him. According to him, Osmania University is the only university in India which conferred a D.Litt on Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The Nizam celebrated the birth and death anniversaries of Ambedkar in Osmania University. Sarath hailed the Nizam as a visionary who established the university and provided monetary aid to various educational institutions without discrimination.
He says if the Nizam was against India why did he donate gold to the country, and if he was communal why did he appoint a Hindu as his Prime Minister? Those who are branding him communal and anti-national are not aware of his achievements and what he did to develop Hyderabad city.
Mr Sarath is a strong advocate for Dalit-Muslim unity and is the founder president of the Dalit Minority Students Association. He participates in and arranges Iftar parties during the month of Ramzan. He wrote and sang a song on iftar also.
Mr Sarath points out that Brahminical forces are dividing citizens on religious and caste lines. The Manuvadis recognise only two languages, Sanskrit and Hindi. They do not promote regional languages and local culture, he says.
Mr Sarath is politically associated with the Majlis and contested from Amberpet constituency in 2014 on an AIMIM ticket and came third, securing 17,536 votes. He says the Congress is the elder son and the BJP is the younger son of a Brahminical mother. Both parties promote the Manuvadi ideology, “therefore we are working to defeat both parties and strengthen the regional parties.”
The Beef Song
We resemble black lotus
We have been singing very beauty
We learn more very easily
Reasons for all these things is beef
Secret of my energy is beef
Secret of our knowledge is beef
It is fantastic, it is tasty
It is favourite it is net beef
It is delicious, it is dearest
It is marvellous, it is precious
It is purest solid international brand
Secret of my energy is beef
....................
So Aristotle take the Buddha
Muhammed, Jesus
Marx, Ambedkar
Newton, Einstein
Stephen Hawking
Martin Luther
Malcolm X
Stalin, Lenin
Lincoln, Che Guevara
Paul Rapson
Michael Jackson
.................
All the legends eat beef
