Political Diary
New Delhi, 25 April 2023
Caste Cauldron
YOURS VS MINE?
By Poonam I Kaushish
The caste genie unleashed by our
polity nearly three decades ago has bared its poisonous fangs once again in
Karnataka in the run-up to polls, whereby casteism is the cause célèbre. No matter it gives further impetus and widens the
caste divide. Who cares?
With 2024 polls round the corner the
cacophony for a caste census among Opposition Parties Congress, JD(U), RJD,
DMK, NCP and SP is rising as there is no documented data on OBC population. Making
it, the most luscious mistress to be measured through the prism of power glass
politics. With each Party defining it according to its own warped and selfish
needs.
Rahul avers it’s a necessity to
ensure social equality, as the caste arithmetic is 90 years old with the last caste census released in 1931. He
demands 2011 caste census made public (done by UPA) and wants Karnataka to
breach 50% reservation cap terming it “need of the hour”. The present census is
not acceptable amid fears that caste, a crucial base for formulation of
multiple welfare schemes, which form a large section of beneficiaries were left
out of Government handouts. They need economic and social power.
Fueled by Mandalistation, politics,
is now polarised on caste basis with elections being fought on caste
considerations. Voters are regressively but decisively voting along caste
lines. After all, why should Brahmins and Thakurs, a mere 15% of the vote bank,
rule the roost? Plainly, today political consciousness terminates at the caste
and community level.
Besides, a caste census would help
address historical injustices and discrimination. It would be useful in
formulating appropriate policies to target Government welfare schemes and policies
ensuring they reach intended beneficiaries. Thereby, giving the rootless
down-trodden a new identity and attitudinal changes.
The Government is opposed to this
stating that a caste census (except for SC and ST which is done traditionally),
is unfeasible, “administratively difficult and cumbersome” and it discourages
community distinction based on caste which is against the spirit of the
Constitution. Any such exercise would
inflame caste-based social and political sentiments and harm Hindutva
nationalist project.
Moreover, it would pose significant
logistical challenges including accurately identifying and counting individuals
from different castes and communities, requiring expertise and could result in data
errors. Alongside, give rise to increased reservations for backwards which
could be seen as threat by other communities and backlash from upper castes.
It cited Nehru, Indira Gandhi and
Rajiv who were opposed to dividing India on caste lines which would be no
different from what Britishers did.
Also, several castes are named differently in different States.
The BJP has so far not taken an
official position as it could pose a big challenge to its Hindutva campaign which
would cause its votes to fragment prior to polls, even as it tries to
consolidate different castes in the name of Hindutva. Notwithstanding it had passed
a unanimous resolution supporting a caste census in Bihar Assembly when it was
partner in Nitish JD(U) Sarkar. The first phase was conducted January and
second one begins next month.
Further, conducting a caste-based
census could lead to political risks. An enumeration of OBCs in a caste census
would provide not only hard data about their numerical strength in different
States but also help examine OBC share in State institutions specially
judiciary, educational institutions which are controlled and monopolized by
social elites giving Dalits and Bahujan groups miniscule presence.
It could lead to demands for
increased representation and reservation for these groups potentially
disrupting the existing power dynamics and political representation. Resulting,
in new political consciousness among the socially marginalized groups,
consequently initiating a new movement for social justice which could
marginalize BJP.
For example if the Bihar census
comes out prior to 2024 polls the biggest beneficiaries would be caste-based
JD(U) and RJD, Kurmi and powerful Yadav blocks. Conversely, it might ignite a
fresh round of 1990’s Mandal-Kamandal politics, rekindle their OBC politics and
catapult them to national centre-stage. The Mandal brigade is banking on a new
cycle of social justice politics to churn and push BJP back.
In fact, disdain for “untouchables”
inherited over generations, coupled with entrenched misogyny in a patriarchal
society and social justification flowing from patriarchy make upper castes
extremely intolerant to lower castes trying to rectify their mis-fortune by
birth.
Shockingly, 75 years after caste
untouchability was abolished by the Constitution, India has failed to
democratize the powers and privileges associated with ‘upper’ caste identity
with the socially marginalized community remaining distanced from the corridors
of power and merely surviving as passive recipients of State’s welfare
policies.
Over 27% people say they continue to
practise it in some form in their homes. A startling finding of a survey done
by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and the University of
Maryland sometime back. Those who admit to practising untouchability belong to
virtually every religious and caste group Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes
and Muslims.
More. Untouchability is the most
widespread among Brahmins (52%), followed by 35% Jains, 33% OBCs, 24% forward castes, 15% SC and 22%
ST. Among religious communities, it is most widespread among Hindus (30%),
Sikhs (23%), Muslims (18%) and Christians (5%). Besides, high incomes do not
dent the practice, but education, especially among Brahmins and OBCs, makes a
difference.
Further, it is most widespread in
the Hindu heartland. Madhya Pradesh is on top (53%), followed by Himachal
(50%), Chhattisgarh (48%), Rajasthan and Bihar (47%), UP (43%), and Uttarakhand
(40%). West Bengal appears to be the most ‘progressive’, with only 1%, Kerala
comes next with 2%, Maharashtra 4%, Northeast 7% and Andhra Pradesh 10%.
Indicating conversion has not led to a change in mindsets.
Clearly, in the Kafkaesque world
where caste identity is sticky baggage, difficult to dislodge in social
settings and where caste vs caste
fight and decide one’s fate no Party wants to jeopordise its caste vote banks.
Wherein, the fight for getting the upper hand and votes has been reduced to
politics of optics and perception, underscoring present reality and exposes the
socio-political undercurrents at play.
Leading to rising tensions between
castes over perceived injustices and demand for quotas stem from unfulfilled
aspirations of employment and upward mobility. Simultaneously, quotas have
failed to either solve the job problem or promote inclusion.
Woefully, our leaders refuse to see
the Frankenstein they have unleashed and are unwilling to learn from history.
The past tells us that all clashes in India have been based on caste. From Bihar’s
Thakur-Dalit violence in Belchi 1976, Punjab’s Jat-Sikh insurgency
1980-1990’s and Kashmir’s two-decades of continuing Hindus-Pandits ethnic
cleansing by pro-Pak militants.
With all merrily playing the caste
zero-sum game it is now difficult to recognize India as the same country which
Emerson described as the “summit of human thought”.Bluntly, if political
consciousness terminates at the caste level, the day is not far when divisive
caste combinations will dominate Indian politics.
As it stands, vote-banks on caste
lines are easier to build. At the same time, it is equally dangerous to indulge
in ongoing caste census power games, which, if not arrested, could well
boomerang on them and spell danger to our democracy. What gives? ---- INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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