Pathetic PLIGHT!

Pathetic PLIGHT!


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 151

Palash Biswas

Last night I could not sleep!

As usual I arrived home at 2.30 AM. Sabita was asleep. My son STEVE was also asleep. I awoke Sabita as she had to open the door for me.

`Just listen..’ she tried to say something very important and changed her mind immediately adding,` I would tell you in the morning!’

I was Worried awesome.

But Sabita was asleep once again and Steve was also sleeping and I could not know exactly what happened during my absence.

Since my friend`s death in Basantipur, I have become VULNERABLE as Basantipur happens to be an EXTENDED FAMILY. I was afraid of some bad news. later in the morning, SABITA told me that a poor family in the locality has to be bailed out as they have to get their daughter married! What a relief!

Tomorrow, on 23rd January, Basantipur celebrates Netaji jayanti, which happens to be the MAIN Function in Uttarakhand and they would be mourning! We May not join them even in SORROW!

I was unable to contact back home in Basantipur as every phone call was answered with INVALID CODE information.

Today what I did for the first thing, I called my Youngest Brother Panchoo on mobile.

I got all the latest informations. Panchoo informed that all the persons belonging to my father`s generation have EXPIRED.

Gyanendra mandal as well as Ganesh mandal who I assumed surviving, are already dead.

Now Kartik Sana and Bidhu Adhikari remain the senior most people aging above SEVENTY in Basantipur. Panchoo`s son Pavel is reading in class one and the daughter NINNY in nursery. Nephew TUTUL is a school teacher and has left the SIDCUL job.

I asked Panchoo why I could not contact our people on phone. He answered that it is simply because they have disconnected the Land connection and opted for MOBILE.

I got the numbers.

Then I stumbled with Golok, whose father LALIT GUSAI had made my CHHOTOKAKA the GOD FATHER.

My uncle was a DOCTOR and the GUSAI had been a MATUA. In Basantipur, we had to wait all the year for the MATUA MAHOTSAV as Gusai residence. Golok is the RATION DEALER in Dineshpur bazar and is associated with BSP. He has been very close to KRISHNA. He informed me that after the marriage of the daughter, KRISHNA was very lonely and had been ill for months. He was DIABETIC, we knew. His parents as well as Uncles succumbed to GASTRIC ULCER and many of our people suffer from gastric Ulcer, I know.

Golok reminded me that ATUL KAKA also survives and is aged above seventy. He has become SADHU.

Atul kaka and ABONY Kaka were orphans and had been included in our family.

My father got their rehabilitation card including a fake name for Atul kaka`s wife, TULSI. Atul kaka was unmarried. Later he was married and the new AUNT was renamed as TULSI in accordance with the card.

Abony Kaka was a school teacher and an excellent JATRA Actor. Once upon a time, Abony kaka and kartik kaka, tried their best to get a chance in BOLLYWOOD and they had been admirers of Vaijayantimal and Padmini during our childhood. Abony kaka was dead while I was based in DHANBAD. He succumbed to TB.

Kartik Kaka, also an excellent Jatra player had to witness so many of his generation to succumb to Gastric ULCER.

Now, Basantipur has only FIVE people above 65 including Atul Kaka. Krishna aging about 56 was the senior most among the rest.

Kartik kaka was also an orphan who landed in BASATIPUR hanging with the KARAVAN of Basantipur people from Ranaghat, Kashipur(Kolkata), Ultodanga, Charbetia (Orissa). His uncle NIBARAN SANA had no one else than Kartik Kaka. Rasik SANA was also in Basantipur,a relative of the family who shifted elsewhere and we never knew his whereabouts now.

kartik Kaka was also married earlier to complete the family. His wife turned out to be a MENTAL Patient. the couple had a son GHUGHU and three daughters. Meanwhile the lady was lost while kartik Kaka was out. SHE left home and never did return.

Kartik kaka did raise the children alone.

I had always been with the family. Whenever I would return from nainital, I would spend most of the time with the children.

kartik kaka remarried in 1977. All of his children are settled now. The youngest Neelima got married to a boy who is ENGLISH Lecturere in a college.

Our people, the Black Untouchables of East Bengal, the Partition victims had been DUMPED into an aliegn ENVIRONMENT, in a DENSE FOREST around Lalkuan and Pantangar in Terai Nainital in 1952 in Dinseshpur and later, in 1960, in SHAKTIFARM. They had to cultivate the Land inflicted with PLAGUE, MALRIA and Gastric ULCER living with WILD ANIMALS, the Man eaters of KUMUN , deep into the JUNGLE even avoided by a person no less than GIM CORBETT. But the SIKHS and RISIKHS from West Punjab and Untouchable Bengalies from East Bengal succeeded to create an UNPRECEDENTED Brother HOOD which ultimately succeeded to cultivate the TERAI Forest at last deleting all the ADVERSE conditions.

The people from the HILLs coorporated. The Local people worked like a MINI INDIA United in Terai.Hence, the RESETTLED Bengali refugees in UTTARAKHAND are so different from the degenrated masses of refugees scattered alll over the country! In 2001, while the then BJP Goverenment in Dehradoon declared all Bengali refugess as Foreign nationals, all Political Parties barring BJP, all communities and all newspapers stood rock solid with our people and the GOVT had to withdraw the ANTI Bengali satnce in face of TOUGH Resistance in TERAI. back in 1958, the Peasants belonging to all communities in Terai captured the Jungle in between Lalkuan and Goolarbhoj in DHEEMRI BLOCK Insurrection justv after the TELENGANA experience. The Insurrection was killed with the BETRAYAL of COMMUNIST PARTY led by a BRAHMIN SECRETARY PC JOSHI. But they never could KILL our BROTHERHOOD in Terai and HILLS! They would NEVER!


BUT a SIDCULE is launched to introduce GLOBALISATION and Genocide CULTURE in Terai. HONDA episode is heralding the change in the geopolitics different!

We shared PATHOS as well as HUMOUR! We shared Adversity as well as courage. And it has always been the INDIGENOUS Aboriginal Legacy and CHARCTER to live associated with NATURE!

How may we support the therories related to the destruction of Nature and Natural Resources?How may we support LPG Mafia invoking the GODDESSes of mass DESTRUCTION!

Before coming to the main story, I had to subvert the story delibrately so that you may have some estimate of our PLIGHT due to Partition HOLOCAUST and being deprived of Citizenship, reservation and Mother language. How should I feel while someone defends most cruelly the BRAHAMINICAL HEGEMONY which partitioned INDIA! How should I feel while someone supports the genocide CULTURE of LPG MAFIA.

I am reduced in such a status that I often remain disconnected with my home as I often have not the money to buy tickets to go HOME. My wife Savita has undergone OPEN HEART Surgery and she is under medical supervison. i have to arrange extra FIVE to SEVEN thousand rupees per month for her treatment.
I myself am DIABETIC but may not afford even REGULAR CHECK UP for which SABITA reluctantly insists. If I get treatment, I may not se her surviving. I am an EMPOWERED , well connected person! What happens to our people in this age of OPEN Market and PURCHASING Status, Corporate Imperialism!

It is rather more PATHETIC while a MARXIST dalit Intellectual speaks the language of BUDDHA, PRANAB, Manmohan, Chidambara, Amartya sen and Ahluwalia!

Eminent ECONOMIST Vivek DEBROY wrote an article on the DALIT Columnist Chandrabhan Prasad as he happens to be the only DALIT Intellectual who opposes RESERVATION AND QUOTA. He sees EMPOWERMENT, not DELETION OF OPPORTUNITY in Neo Liberalism and GLOBALISATION.

Chandrabhan Prasad writes in the line approprite for Marxist capitalist way of DEVELOPMENT followed by the RULING BRAHAMINICAL HEGEMONY. Moreover, Chandrabhan Prasad worships, the GODDESS ENGLISH.The article is published in the EDIT page of ANADA BAZAR PATRIKA for which DEBROY happens to be a regular COLUMNIST supporting the LPG Mafia and GENOCIDE CULTURE quoting DEVELOPMENT and EMPOWERMENT.

Chandra Bhan Prasad is a Dalit writer and is the first Dalit to have a regular column in an Indian English newspaper.Prasad started writing a weekly column titled Dalit Diary in 1999 for The Pioneer, an English daily with a limited circulation in Delhi and Lucknow. A compilation of all of the articles in this column from 1999 - 2003 has been published as a book of the same name.

Prasad was born in September 1958 in a village in Azamgarh district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Both his parents were illiterate, but the family had sufficient agricultural land. Prasad went to JNU, for his MA in International Politics, and enrolled for a Ph.D, which he did not complete. Chandra got involved in student politics during his BA studies, and joined the CPI[ML] party.

Chandrabhan Prasad unhesitantly admits:

`But here I have one problem, which is different in nature, and which neither Left and nor the Sangh would agree, for, both have an amazingly high degree of contempt for the Indian State. My problem is this: globalization/liberalization is inseparably linked to privatization. As I have stated earlier, any Dalit who has some smile on his face, is better-dressed, better-housed, is so because he is serving or has served under institutions of the State — be it a Class-IV employee, an Engineer/Doctor/ Civil Servant or a legislator. The few Dalits who are abroad, in the US or UK in particular, must have some indirect connection with the Indian State — their parents, relatives or friends. Thus, if the institutions run by the State get privatized, where will Dalits go? This question has always haunted me. Look at the condition of Muslims! Within fifty years, where have they gone, those who once ruled for over six hundred years?’

How Chandrabhan Prasad enjoys the status of a COLUMNIST in a RSS Mouthpiece named PIONEER and how he fits in the IDEOLOGY of CPIML opposing FASCISM as well as Imperialism, is the CHEMISTRY, our people , the Black untouchables would never understand.

English, no doubt happens to be the TOOL of EMPOWERMENT. My GURUJI Tara Chandra tripathi also used to say that ENGLISH may EMPOWER the Indigenous, Aboriginal and Minority communities without any discrimination. But Chandrabhan sees Dalit liberation and ANNIHILITION OF CASTE and CLASS in Development and Urbanisation. Eventually which have become the TOOLS of MASS DESTRUCTION IN INDIA!

Our people like Jyotiba PHULE, Harichand Thakur and DR AMBEDKAR knew well that the British did not enslave us.

We had been enslaved by Brahaminical Hegemony with MANUSMRITI for thousands and thousands years. Rather, the BRITISH Rulers provided our people the OPPORTUNITY to learn and cultivate KNOWLEDGE, hither too declared TABOOS, in ENGLISH MEDIUM. Our people were banned to study in either ARBIC or Sanskrit by the HEGEMONY long before the arrival of the BRITISH.

The British rulers also accepted SEPARATE ELECTION System for Indigenous aboriginal communities which had been aborted by no one else than MK GANDHI forcing Dr Ambedkar to sign PUNA PACT.

We all acknowledge that ENGLISH happens to be the BEST TOOL of EMPOWERMENT. But supporting Globalisation and OPEN market, an INTELLECTUAL friend like Chandrabhan Prasad forgets the importance of PURCHASING power in Open Market and Globalisation.

Ruling Brahaminincal hegemony has PRIVATISED Education as well as HEALTH, the most essential services.

Lack of COMMON SCHOOLING creates the problem which may not solved with RETAIL Market Networking programme of Globalisation sponsored by World Bank,RIGHT to EDUCATION.

We simply may not afford ENGLISH education as Chandrabhan Prasad could afford before the NEO Liberal LPG stage!

Then, without reservation who will provide equal opportunities to the Indigenous and Aboriginal people in India? The British Rulers had not to save the Brahaminical and Caste Hindu interests as they happened to be a different RACE. Rather they had to break Brahaminical Hegemony to create COLONIAL bases in Grass Root level.

Then, our ANCESTORS also had a DREAM and they got all the opportunities and rights fighting the Brahaminical system. We lost the FIGHT in PUNA PACT!

All the ECONOMISTS and POLICY makers. since the Brahamins captured the Power, belong to the RULING Class. How would our people have any space there? Chandrabhan prasad is being used as a TOOL himself to deny our people their legitimate rights as the Ruling Hegemony uses the the CREAMY Layer SC, ST, OBC representatives chosen as AGENTS of the Hegemony by the Hegemony itself in majoritarian Electoral system!

In West Bengal, the MARXIST Hegemony deprived the COMMON Indigenous CHILDREN of the EMPOWERMENT called learning ENGLISH for a long period. Generations were deprived and our people lagged in competition as the RULING CLASS could afford well to send their children to private English Medium schools! Higher Centres of EDUCATION are not REACHABLE for our people simply because of Privatisation and globalisation!

Then, advocating ENGLISH, how one could oppose RESERVATION and support Globalisation? It signifies the MIND CONTROL and Brain Washing of our learned people like Chandra Bhan prasad with SURGICAL Precision!

It is RATHER more PATHETIC than our day to day PLIGHT in LIFE and LIVELIHOOD!

Who may advocate Indiscriminate Industrialisation and Urbanisation with displacement and destruction, persecution and Annihilation of Indigenous, Aboriginal and Minority communities?

It is language of Dr Mohammad Yunus or DR Amartya Sen, in which Chandrabhan do write! it wont help our people in any case! Let him be included in an ELITE Class by Ananada Bazar, Vivek Debroy or the lot, wholesale agents of LPG MAFIA!

I never did focus on this topic. But, since ANANDA BAZAR has picked up the DALIT ICON, it became MANDATORY for me to clear our stance! SORRY!

Anandbazar opposes RESERVATION and QUOTA and launches the ETERNAL CAMPAIGN HATRED against the minorities, indigenous and aboriginal communities. It denies any opportunity to the SC, ST, OBC communities in West Bengal. But the Brahaminical MOUTHPIECE uses the SOCIAL ENGINEERING of Mayawati as well as a DALIT Intellectuals like Mayawati to justify Globalisation, Open Market Economy and BRAHAMINICAL ICONIC DOMINANCE!

Chandra Bhan Prasad
Fall 2007 Visiting Scholar
Economic Reforms and Caste in India
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Location:
Center For the Advanced Study of India
3600 Market Street, Suite 560
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Chandra Bhan Prasad is widely regarded as the most important Dalit thinker and political commentator in India today, advocating on behalf of the more than 16 percent of India’s population who have historically been regarded as untouchable by orthodox Hinduism. He was the first Dalit to gain a regular column in a national English-language Indian newspaper, more than 50 years after India’s independence. His weekly Dalit Diary has been a regular feature of The Pioneer since 1999, and is routinely translated into other major Indian languages.

Prasad is also the author of the book Dalit Phobia: Why Do They Hate Us (Vitasta, New Delhi, 2006); his writings are used by South Asia faculty globally to question assumptions about caste and Indian society. Prasad studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, where he completed his M.A. and M.Phil. in international affairs.

It is no exaggeration to say that Chandra Bhan Prasad has single-handedly reshaped the agendas now being advocated by Dalit groups across India. His political commentaries have been among the most astute readings of the new directions in which Indian democratic processes have been moving. Most recently, in the May 2007 Assembly elections in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, he alone predicted and was able to explain the unprecedented alliance between Dalits and upper caste groups that led to the first ever outright victory of a Dalit political party in India, the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Co-sponsored by The Department of South Asia Studies


Happy Birthday Lord Macaulay, thank you for ‘Dalit empowerment’
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Vrinda Gopinath Posted: Oct 26, 2006 at 0000 hrs IST
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He’s the Big Mac for the Dalit intelligentsia — reviled as the ugly face of English imperialism by detractors, exalted by intellectual renegades. Lord Macaulay, denounced for trying to dare promote English among Indians, to make them “intellectual slaves’’ of the British Empire, celebrated his 206th birthday today with merriment, joviality and jesting, in the heart of the city.
It was a birthday party organized by Chandrabhan Prasad, Dalit intellectual and activist, who hails Macaulay as the Father of Indian Modernity, for it was after the introduction of his English system of education in 1854, that Dalits got the right to education, he says.

As sodas popped and the whisky poured (aptly called, Teacher’s Scotch) Prasad led his guests - a motley mix of Dalit poets, singers, academia, a sprinkling of the international media, social scientists Ashish Nandy, Gail Omvedt - to the centrepiece of the party’s action. The unveiling of a portrait, English, the Mother Goddess, painted by Dalit artist Shant Swaroop Baudh.

Said Bhan, “Today, English-speaking Dalits and Adivasis are less disrespected, therefore, empowered by Goddess English, Dalits can take their place in the new globalised world.’’ Bhan has three reasons for revering Macaulay - his insistence to teach the “natives” English broke the stranglehold of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic teaching, a privilege of only the elite castes and, he argued,for the European kind of modern education, with focus on modern sciences. “Imagine, if we had only followed indigenous study,’’ said Bhan, “we would be like Afghanistan or Nepal today.’’ “I certainly do not agree with some of Bhan’s thesis,’’ said an aghast Nandy, “but I certainly support every oppressed community or individual’s right to pick up any weapon, be it political, academic or intellectual incorrectness, to fight the establishment. It’s the sheer audacity of it that makes it so forceful.’’

Dalit poet Parak sang a couplet to the portrait - a refashioned Statue of Liberty, wearing a hippie hat, holding a massive pink pen, standing on a computer, with a blazing map of India in the background - Oh, Devi Ma/ Please Let us Learn English/ Even the dogs understand English, to cheers and laughter, even as Lord Macaulay’s portrait, looking the perfect English buccaneer, gazed below. Bhan then declared his new intention - the painting will be printed on calendars and distributed at all Dalit conclaves and community meetings. “Hereafter, the first sounds all newborn Dalit and Adivasi babies will hear from their parents is - abcd. Immediately after birth, parents or a nearest relative will walk up to the child and whisper in the ear - abcd,’’ he said mirthfully.

“I welcome the fact that English gives access to the world,’’ said Omvedt, “but remember, some of the best English has come from oppressed quarters, like the Blacks in America. Their language, known as rap, their music, poetry, literature, has a dynamism. It’s important to reclaim your regional languages from Brahminism and Sanskritisation,’’ she says. It set the theme for other speakers, and as heaving plates of chicken drumsticks and gobi pakoras were passed around.

“Dalits must no longer see themselves as oppressed and repressed,’’ said Nandy, waving his glass of whisky, “they have their own traditions and knowledge systems which must be preserved. There’s a very powerful tradition of history, music, life, which the younger generation must be proud of.’’ Bhan nodded agreeably - he had certainly hosted an evening of Dalit empowerment and pride. There was no hard luck story here.

http://www.screenindia.com/news/happy-birthday-lord-macaulay-thank-you-for-dalit-empowerment/15423/

Education in India
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Education in India Educational oversight
HRD Minister Ministry of HRD
Arjun Singh
National education budget
• Discretionary
• Mandatory Rs.24,115 crore (2006-07)
?
?
Primary language(s) of education Hindi, English and Other regional languages
Literacy (2001)
• Men
• Women 64.8 %
75.3 %
53.7 %
Enrollment1 (2001-02)
• Primary (I-V)
• Mid/Upper Prim. (VI-VIII)
• Higher Secondary (IX-X) 189.2 million
113.9 million
44.8 million
30.5 million
1. doesn't include kindergarten enrollment

India's education has a long history dating back to institutions such as Nalanda.

India, being a developing nation, struggles with challenges in its primary education. Literacy rate has increased from around 3% in 1880 to around 65% in 2001. Net enrollment of 6-10 years old Indians increased from 68 percent to 82 percent between 1992/93 and 1998/99.[1] Yet great challenges remain as The Economist reports that half of 10-year-old rural children can't read at the basic level, over 60% is unable to do simple division, and half drop out by the age 14.[2] Fewer than 40 percent of adolescents in India attend secondary schools.[1]

Around 1 in 10 young persons has access to tertiary education.[1] Mercer Consulting estimates that only a quarter of graduates are "employable".[3] Nevertheless, India has some well-known educational institutions such as the IITs, IISc, IIMs, NITs,AIIMS, ISI, JU, BITS, and ISB India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States.[4]

All levels of education in India, from primary to higher education, are overseen by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School Education and Literacy), and heavily subsidized by the Indian government, though there is a move to make higher education partially self-financing. The Indian Government is considering allowing 100% foreign direct investment in Higher Education.[5]




Contents
[hide]
1 Types of schools
2 Structure
2.1 Pre-primary Education
2.2 Primary education
2.3 Secondary education
2.4 Tertiary education
3 Issues
3.1 Teacher absence
3.2 Other
4 History
5 Developments
6 Outdoor education in India
7 Expenditure on education in India
8 Initiatives
8.1 Non-Formal education
8.2 Bal Bhavans
8.3 Distance education
9 Education for special sections of society
9.1 Women
9.2 SC/STs and OBCs
9.3 Post Graduate classes at Correctional Homes
10 See also
11 Further reading
12 Notes
13 External links



[edit] Types of schools
A study of a Hyderabad slum, by James Tooley of Britain’s Newcastle University, found that of 918 schools, 35% were government-run, 23% were private but officially approved, and 37% were informal. The private schools were better. In a standardised test the informal private schools actually came out best, with an average mark of 59.5% in English, compared with 22.4% in the government schools.[6]


[edit] Structure
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)



Indian Education System comprises stages called Nursery, Primary, Secondary, Higher Secondary, Graduation and Post Graduation. Some students go in a different stream after Secondary for 3 years technical education called Polytechnics
There are broadly four stages of school education in India - Primary, Upper Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary.

Schooling lasts 12 years, following the "10+2 pattern". However, there are considerable differences between the various states in terms of the organizational patterns years of schooling, mainly due to the existence of State Education Boards.

The government is committed to ensuring universal elementary education (primary and upper primary) education for all children aged 6-14 years of age. Primary school includes children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through five. Upper Primary and Secondary school pupils aged eleven through fifteen are organized into classes six through ten, and Higher Secondary school students ages sixteen through seventeen are enrolled in classes eleven through twelve. In some places there is a concept called Middle/Upper Primary schools for classes between six to eight. In such cases classes nine to twelve are classified under high school category.

Higher education in India provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes Technical Schools. Some of them are the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Information Technology.

In India, the main types of schools are those controlled by:

The state government boards, in which the majority of Indian children are enrolled.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) board.
The National Institute of Open Schooling
International schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Programme and/or the Cambridge International Examinations.
Islamic Madrasah schools, whose boards are controlled by local state governments, or autonomous, or affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband.
Autonomous schools like Woodstock School, Auroville, Patha Bhavan and Ananda Marga Gurukula
According to a Government Survey undertaken by NUEPA (DISE, 2005-6), there are 1,124,033 schools in India.


[edit] Pre-primary Education


Nursery school in Gujarat.
Pre-primary education in India is not a fundamental right, with a very low percentage of children receiving preschool educational facilities. The largest source of provision is the so called Integrated Child Development Services and Anganwadis. However, the preschool component in the same remains weak.

In the absence of significant government provisions, the private sector is reaching to the richer sections of society and has opened a large number of schools throughout the country. Provisions in these kindergartens are divided into two stages - lower kindergarten (LKG) and upper kindergarten (UKG). Typically, an LKG class would comprise children 3 to 4 years of age, and the UKG class would comprise children 4 to 5 years of age. After finishing upper kindergarten, a child enters Class 1 of primary school. Often kindergartens are considered an integral part of regular schools.

Though there is a trend towards exclusive prep schools. A special Toddler/Nursery group at the age of 2–2½ is also part of the pre-primary education. It is run as part of the kindergarten. However, creches and other early care facilities for the underprivileged sections of society are extremely limited in number. Overall, the percentage pf enrollment of pre-primary classes to total enrollment (primary) is 11.22% (DISE, 2005-06).


[edit] Primary education


Primary school in the remote Kanji village of the Kargil district.


A classroom in Bangalore.


Some children have access to computers, although many schools across India do not have even electricity.
During the eighth five-year plan, the target of "universalizing" elementary education was divided into three broad parameters: Universal Access, Universal Retention and Universal Achievement, which means making education accessible to children, making sure that they continue education and finally, achieving the set quality goals.


As a result of these education programs, by the end of the year 2000 94% of India's rural population had primary schools within one km and 84% had upper primary schools within 3 km. Special efforts were made to enroll SC/ST and girls. The enrollment in primary and upper-primary schools has gone up considerably since the first five-year plan and so has the number of primary and upper-primary schools. In 1950-51, only 3.1 million students had enrolled for primary education. In 1997-98, this figure was 39.5 million. The number of primary and upper-primary schools was 0.223 million in 1950-51. This figure was 0.775 million in 1996-97.

In 2006-7, an estimated 93% of children in the age group of 6-14 were enrolled in school. The Government of India aims to increase this to 100% by the end of the decade. To achieve this the Government launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The strategies adopted by the Government to check the notorious drop-out rates are:

Creating parental awareness
Community mobilization
Economic incentives
Achieving the set Minimum Levels of Learning.
District Primary Education Programme or the DPEP programme
National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education popularly known as the Mid-day Meals Scheme.
The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act was passed by the parliament to make the Right to Elementary Education a fundamental right and a fundamental duty (see also right to education).
National Elementary Education Mission
A National Committee of State Education Ministers has been set up within the Ministry of Human Resource Development as the Chairperson of the committee.
Media publicity and advocacy plans.

[edit] Secondary education
Fewer than 40 percent of adolescents in India attend secondary schools.[1]

This is a chart of non-graduation market of India as per Census 2001.

Educational level Holders
Total 502,994,684
Unclassified 97,756
Non-technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree 386,146
Technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree 3,666,680
Higher Secondary, Intermediate, Pre-university or Senior Secondary 37,816,215
Matriculation or Secondary 7,922,921

While the availability of primary and upper primary schools has been increased to a considerable extent, access to higher education remains a major issue in rural areas (especially for girls). Government high schools are usually taught in the regional language, however urban and suburban schools usually teach in English. These institutions are heavily subsidised. Study materials (such as textbooks, notebooks and stationary) are sometime but not always subsidised. Government schools follow the state curriculum.

There are also a number of private schools providing secondary education. These schools usually either follow the State or national curriculum. Some top schools provide international qualifications and offer an alternative international qualification, such as the IB program or A Levels.

In the past decades, there has also been an effort to increase attendance in vocational high schools and raise standards at the nation's ITIs - Industrial Training Institutes. In 2008, it is estimated that over a million completed vocational training through the Craft Training and Apprentice Training Schemes. Annual enrolment for high school level vocational programs (at vocational high schools, ITIs and private vocational institutes) is now approaching 3 million.


[edit] Tertiary education
Main article: Tertiary education in India
See also: University Grants Commission (India)
Around 1 in 10 young persons has access to tertiary education.[1] Mercer Consulting estimates that only a quarter of graduates are "employable".[3]

Higher education in India has evolved in divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and funded jointly by the state governments. Most universities are administered by the States, however, there are 18 important universities called Central Universities, which are maintained by the Union Government. The increased funding of the central universities give them an advantage over their state competitors.

Technical education has grown rapidly in recent years. With recent capacity additions, it now appears that the nation has the capability to graduate over 500,000 engineers (with 4-yr undergraduate degrees) annually, and there is also a corresponding increase in the graduation of computer scientists (roughly 50,000 with post-graduate degree). In addition, the nation graduates over 1.2 million scientists. Furthermore, each year, the nation is enrolling at least 350,000 in its engineering diploma programs (with plans to increase this by about 50,000). Thus, India's annual enrollment of scientists, engineers and technicians now exceeds 2 million.

Across the country, tertiary enrollment rates have been increasing at a rate between 5-10% in the last decade, which has led to a doubling of the tertiary enrolment rate to near 20%. (However, outdated government data does not yet capture this trend, which can be seen from analyzing individual state data.) [7]

The Indian Institutes of Technology were placed 50th in the world and 2nd in the field of Engineering (next only to MIT) by Times Higher World University Rankings Earlier, an Asia Week study had ranked them as the best technical universities in Asia.Indian Institute of Science is the premier research institute in the field of science and engineering. There are several thousand colleges (affiliated to different universities) that provide undergraduate science, agriculture, commerce and humanities courses in India. Amongst these, the best also offer post graduate courses while some also offer facilities for research and PhD studies.

International league tables produced in 2006 by the London-based Times Higher Education Supplement(THES) confirmed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)'s place among the world's top 200 universities [8]. Likewise, THES 2006 ranked JNU's School of Social Sciences[9] at the 57th position among the world's top 100 institutes for social sciences.


[edit] Issues

[edit] Teacher absence


Boys seated in school near Baroda, Gujarat.
One study found out that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers could not be found at the workplace. Among teachers who were paid to teach, absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Only 1 in nearly 3000 public school head teachers had ever dismissed a teacher for repeated absence.

Despite poorer absence rates, public sector teachers enjoy salaries at least five times higher than private sector teachers. India's overall absence rate is one of the worst in the world.[10][11][12][13]

Greater private sector role, using education vouchers or other means, has been suggested.[12]


[edit] Other
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning. Emphasis is laid on passing examinations with a high percentage. Very few institutes give importance to developing personality and creativity among students. Recently, the country has seen a rise in instances of student suicides due to low marks and failures, especially in metropolitan cities, even though such cases are very rare. The boards are improving the quality of education by increasing the percentage of practical and project marks.

Many people also criticize the caste, language and religion-based reservations in education system. Many allege that very few of the weaker castes get the benefit of reservations and that forged caste certificates abound. Educational institutions also can seek religious minority (non-Hindu) or linguistic minority status. In such institutions, 50% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to a particular religion or having particular mother-tongue(s). For example, many colleges run by the Jesuits and Salesians have 50% seats reserved for Roman Catholics. In case of languages, an institution can declare itself a linguistic minority only in states in which the language is not official language. For example, an engineering college can declare itself as linguistic-minority (Hindi) institution in the state of Maharashtra (where official state language is Marathi), but not in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh (where the official state language is Hindi). These reservations are said to be a cause of heartbreak among many. Many students with poor marks manage to get admissions, while meritorious students are left out. Critics say that such reservations may eventually create rifts in the society.

Ragging has been a major problem in colleges and students have died due to ragging. However, ragging is now a criminal offense, and all universities and colleges are obliged to publicize the penalties for ragging and monitor hostels to prevent it.

Expenditure on education is also an issue. According to the Kothari commission led by Dr Vijay Kothari in 1966, expenditure on education has to be minimum 6% of the GDP, whereas in 2004 expenditure on education stood at 3.52% of the GDP and in the eleventh plan it is estimated to be around 4%. The "sarva shikshan abhyan" has to receive sufficient funds from the central government to impart quality education.


[edit] History
See History of education in India


[edit] Developments
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

NPE 1986 and revised PoA 1992 envisioned that free and compulsory education should be provided for all children up to 14 years of age before the commencement of 21st century. Government of India made a commitment that by 2000, 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be spent on education, out of which half would be spent on the Primary education.

The 86th Amendment of the Indian constitution makes education a fundamental right for all children aged 6-14 years. The access to preschool education for children under 6 years of age was excluded from the provisions, and the supporting legislation has not yet been passed.

In November 1998, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced setting up of Vidya Vahini Network to link up universities, UGC and CSIR.

The Indian Education System is generally marks-based. However, some experiments have been made to do away with the marks-based system which has led to cases of depression and suicides among students. In 2005, the Kerala government introduced a grades-based system in the hope that it will help students to move away from the cut-throat competition and rote-learning and will be able to focus on creative aspects and personality development as well. iDiscoveri education started by Alumni of Harvard, XLRI is a pioneer in this field. This organization has already developed five model schools.


[edit] Outdoor education in India
Outdoor education is relatively new to schools in rural areas of India, though it has been established in urban areas. These trips are conducted to enhance personal growth through experiential learning and increase awareness about various subjects like the environment, ecology, wildlife, history, archaeology, geography and adventure sports.

However organization in these departments is often poor and participation very voluntary. Not much importance is given to outdoor education, as a nationwide trend.


[edit] Expenditure on education in India
The Government expenditure on education has greatly increased since the First five-year plan. The Government of India has highly subsidized higher education. Nearly 97% of the Central Government expenditure on elementary education goes towards the payment of teachers' salaries.



Data based on "Educational Planning and Administration in India : Retrospect and Prospect", Journal for Education Planning and Administration, Vol. VII, Number 2, NHIEPA. New Delhi by Dr. R. V. Vaidayantha Ayyar.

Note:

Expenditure is in millions of Rupees
Expenditure for Ninth-year plan excludes Rs. 45267.40 million for Mid-Day Meals

[edit] Initiatives
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)


[edit] Non-Formal education
In 1979-80, the Government of India, Department of Education launched a program of Non-Formal Education (NFE) for children of 6-14 years age group, who cannot join regular schools. These children include school drop-outs, working children, children from areas without easy access to schools etc. The initial focus of the scheme was on ten educationally backward states. Later, it was extended to urban slums as well as hilly, tribal and desert areas in other states. The program is now functional in 25 states/UTs. 100% assistance is given to voluntary organizations for running NFE centers.


[edit] Bal Bhavans
Bal Bhavans centers, which are operational all over India, aim to enhance creative and sports skills of children in the age group 5-16 years. There are State and District Bal Bhavans, which conduct programs in fine-arts, aeromodeling, computer-education, sports, martial arts, performing arts etc. They are also equipped with libraries with books for children. New Delhi alone has 52 Bal Bhavan centers. The National Bal Bhavan is an autonomous institution under the Department of Education. It provides general guidance, training facility and transfer of information to State and District Bal Bhavans.


[edit] Distance education
India has a large number of Distance education programmes in Undergraduate and Post-Graduate levels. The trend was started by private institutions that offered distance education at certificate and diploma level. By 1985 many of the larger universities recognized the need for distance education in a populous country like India and launched degree level programs through distance education. Today many Indian universities offer distance programs. Indira Gandhi National Open University, one of the largest in student enrollment, has only distance programs with numerous local centers that offer supplementary contact classes.


[edit] Education for special sections of society
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)


[edit] Women
Under Non-Formal Education programme, about 40% of the centers in states and 10% of the centers in UTs are exclusively for girls. As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centers were catering to about 7.42 million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for girls.

In engineering, medical and other colleges, 30% of the seats have been reserved for women.


[edit] SC/STs and OBCs
The Government has reserved seats for SC/STs in all areas of education. Special scholarships and other incentives are provided for SC/ST candidates. Many State Governments have completely waived fees for SC/ST students. The IITs have a special coaching program for the SC/ST candidates who fail in the entrance exams marginally. Seats have been reserved for candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes as well in some states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The struggle for reserving seats for students from OBC categories in elite institutions like IITs, IIMs and AIIMS and Central Universities is still going on. The Supreme Court of India is obstructing this reservation for the reason that there has been no caste-wise census since 1931 and the population share of OBCs cannot be based on 1931 census. The Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities introduced the SC/ST tuition-fee reimbursement scheme in 2003-2004. The scheme applies to SC and ST students of Delhi who are enrolled in recognized unaided private schools and who have an annual family income of less than Rs. 1 lakh. It provides a 100% reimbursement of the tuition fees, sports fee, science fee, lab fee, admission fee and the co-curricular fee if the student's family income falls below Rs. 48, 000 per annum and a reimbursement of 75% if the family income is greater than Rs. 48, 000 per annum but less than Rs. 1 lakh. The subsidy provided by the scheme covers between 85% and 90% of the beneficiary's total running expenses in studying in a private school.


[edit] Post Graduate classes at Correctional Homes
The Government of West Bengal has started the Post Graduate teaching facilities for the convicts at the Correctional Homes in West Bengal.


[edit] See also
India portal

Literacy in India
NCERT controversy

[edit] Further reading
Marie Lall, The Challenges for India's Education System, Chatham House: London, 2005 (ASP BP 05/03)
Meenakshi Jain et al. (2003) History in the New NCERT Textbooks Fallacies in the IHC Report, National Council of Educational Research and Training, ISBN 81-7450-227-0
Rosser, Yvette. Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (2003) University of Texas at Austin. PDF link

[edit] Notes
^ a b c d e "Education in India". World Bank.
^ "A special report on India: Creaking, groaning: Infrastructure is India’s biggest handicap". The Economist (2008).
^ a b "Mere 25% graduates in India are employable: Mercer Consulting" (2008).
^ "India Country Summary of Higher Education". World Bank.
^ Foreign Univ Bill ’06 gets GoM okay 30 Nov, 2006
^ "Private Education is Good for the Poor: A Study of Private Schools Serving the Poor in Low-Income Countries".
^ http://india_resource.tripod.com/India-Demographics.html
^ THES, "The World's Top 200 Universities", The Times Higher Education Supplement, 6 October 2006. http://www.thes.co.uk/ (Subscription is necessary to get access to much of THES content)
^ THES, "Top 100 in Social Sciences", The Times Higher Education Supplement, 27 October 2006.
^ Karthik Muralidharan. "Teachers and Medical Worker Incentives in India".
^ "Combating India's truant teachers". BBC.
^ a b "Private Schools in Rural India: Some Facts (a presentation)". / Karthik Muralidharan, Michael Kremer. "Public and Private Schools in Rural India".
^ "Teacher absence in India: A snapshot".

[edit] External links
Wikinews has related news: India subsidizes girls' education to offset gender imbalance

Government official education website
Educational information
a portal on indian education
Education in India - Information and publications by World Bank
India: An integrated approach to child development - A World Bank pilot project
History of education in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Indian subcontinent has a long history of organized education. The Gurukul system of education is one of the oldest on earth but before that the guru shishya system was extant, in which students were taught orally and the data would be passed from one generation to the next. Gurukuls were traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery. Education was free (and often limited to the higher castes), but students from well-to-do families paid Gurudakshina, a voluntary contribution after the completion of their studies. At the Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge of Religion, Scriptures, Philosophy, Literature, Warfare, Statecraft, mathematics, Medicine, Astrology and "History" ("Itihaas"). Only students belonging to Brahmin and Kshatriya communities were taught in these Gurukuls.

However, the advent of Buddhism and Jainism brought fundamental changes in access to education with their democratic character. The first millennium and the few centuries preceding it saw the flourishing of higher education at Nalanda, Takshashila University, Ujjain, & Vikramshila Universities. Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, mathematics, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine were among the subjects taught and each university specialized in a particular field of study. Takshila specialized in the study of medicine, while Ujjain laid emphasis on astronomy. Nalanda, being the biggest centre, handled all branches of knowledge, and housed up to 10,000 students at its peak.

British records show that education was widespread in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The schools were attended by students representative of all classes of society. Traditional structures were not recognized by the British government and have been on the decline since. Gandhi is said to have described the traditional educational system as a beautiful tree that was destroyed during the British rule. [1]

Contents
[hide]
1 Up to the 17th century
2 Education under British Rule
3 After Independence
4 Education Commission
5 After 1976
6 Chronology
7 See also
8 Notes
9 External links



[edit] Up to the 17th century
The first millennium and the few centuries preceding it saw the flourishing of higher education at Nalanda, Takshila, Ujjain, & Vikramshila Universities. Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, mathematics, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine were among the subjects taught and each university specialized in a particular field of study. Takshila specialized in the study of medicine, while Ujjain laid emphasis on astronomy. Nalanda, being the biggest centre, handled all branches of knowledge, and housed up to 10,000 students at its peak. Later during the Mughal Empire, the Madrasah system was introduced for Indian Muslims.


[edit] Education under British Rule
British records show that indigenous education was widespread in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The schools were attended by students representative of all classes of society. Printed books were introduced in India by 1579.[1] Pre-British schools and colleges were maintained by grants of revenue-free land. The East India Company, with its policy of maximizing land revenue, stopped this and thus starved the Indian education system of its financial resources.

In 1857 during the administration of Lord Canning (1856–1862), the Governor General of India, Dr Fredrick John, the education secretary to the then British government in India, first tendered a proposal to the British Government in London for the establishment of a university in Calcutta, along the lines of the University of London, but at that time the plan failed to obtain the necessary approval. However, a proposal to establish three universities, in the Presidency cities of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras was later accepted in 1854 and the necessary authority was given. The Calcutta University Act came into force on 24 January 1857 and a 41-member Senate was formed as the policy making body of the university. Thus the first multidisciplinary modern university in India, the University of Calcutta, came into being. Along with the University of Calcutta, the University of Bombay and the University of Madras were also established in 1857.

The British rulers (and Scottish Presbyterians) established many reputed colleges like Presidency College, Scottish Church College, Wilson College, Madras Christian College and Elphinstone College.

The current system of education, with its western style and content, was introduced & funded by the British in the 19th century, following recommendations by Lord Macaulay. Traditional structures were not recognized by the British government and have been on the decline since. Mohandas Gandhi is said to have described the traditional educational system as a beautiful tree that was destroyed during British rule.


[edit] After Independence
After independence, education became the responsibility of the states. The Central Government's only obligation was to co-ordinate in technical and higher education and specify standards. This continued till 1976, when the education became a joint responsibility of the state and the Centre.


[edit] Education Commission
The Education Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr. D. S. Kothari, the then Chairman, University Grants Commission, began its task on October 2,1964. It consisted of sixteen members, eleven being Indians and five foreign experts. In addition, the Commission had the benefit of discussion with a number of internationally known as consultants in the educational as well as scientific field.


[edit] After 1976
In 1976, education was made a joint responsibility of the states and the Centre, through a constitutional amendment. The center is represented by Ministry of Human Resource Development's Department of Education and together with the states, it is jointly responsible for the formulation of education policy and planning.


[edit] Chronology
1935: Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) set up.
1976: Education made a joint responsibility of the states and the Centre.
1986: National Policy on Education (NPE) and Programme of Action (PoA)
1992: Revised National Policy on Education (NPE) and Programme of Action (PoA)
December 17, 1998: The Assam Government enacts a law making ragging in educational institutions a criminal offence.
November 1998: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announces setting up of Vidya Vahini Network to link up universities, UGC and CSIR.

[edit] See also
Speech on Education in India by Keshub Chunder Sen delivered at London on 24th May 1870.

[edit] Notes
^ Printing India

[edit] External links
Hunter Education Commission Report (1884) - Fascinating report detailing the history of education in India (from the coloniser's perspective of course)
ForTeachers.in - a resource for teachers in India

September 1, 2006...2:48 am
Chandrabhan Prasad and the Other Backward Classes
Anoop Saha
September 1, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Interesting article. However, I see a couple of holes in it. In fact my primary opposition to the reservation move is exactly because of Chandrabhan Prasad’s articles, that he has been writing long before the current debate on OBC. And since Iam myself a non-creamy-layer OBC, although I tore away the certificate long bck, I can write without being called an elitist.

The point is that if you start rewarding the oppressing classes in the name of inclusion or equality, you are actually increasing oppression. Tamilnadu has 69% reservation, 20% of which go to vanniyars. Please visit Tamilnadu once to see the effect. These very so-called backward castes are practising the most brutal kind of casteist exclusion. Since these castes get reservation because of their political strength, they know perfectly well that nothing will happen to them. The same thing is happenning in Bihar. Thus reservation for the underserving actually increases discrimination.

Actually the poverty of ideas among the pro-reservationists makes me sad. It is more out of their need to pass off as an intelllectual, than any solid reason. Some say that OBCs need reservation because of they were discriminated against for a long time. When you think of it, a majority of the 52% OBCs were the ones who never allowed the dalits to fetch water from the wells. If not more, upper OBCs are as bad as the brahmins, thakurs and banias. The creamy layer argument is always brought out. They say that because of creamy layer rule, only the poor gets th benefit. But when the recent legislation made no mention of creamy layer, we don’t see a single voice among them, opposing the move. We don’t see a single cry that the proposed legislation is blatantly partisan.

I have myself written a lot oppossing the current move precisely on these reasons. That the ncbs is a powerless body, and any group if it gets united (like jats, kurmis, vokkaligas and in my case the saha’s) can force the government to recognise them as an OBC. I have interacted a lot with the OBCs . Once I asked a proponent of reservation from JNU if he is a dalit. He got very angry, and pointed out that he is not a dalit. Many of these harbour a deep resentment against dalits, and hate it if they are identified as a part of lower social order. And here we are trying to reward them for this.

http://anoopsaha.blogspot.com/2006/06/tum-hame-vote-do-ham-tumhe-quota-denge.html

Adnan
September 1, 2006 at 7:52 pm
Very well-written. Yes Chandrabhan Prasad has been propounding the theory of Dalit Vs Shudra for so many years. Also, he is quite pro-Brahmin. Sections of OBCs are certainly well off in many parts of the country where they own land but then Prasad seems to have an agenda of his own. Anyway it has all become too complex.

kuffir
September 1, 2006 at 10:52 pm
great article shivam..keep at it!

obc voice
September 2, 2006 at 1:54 am
anoop saha,

‘Actually the poverty of ideas among the pro-reservationists makes me sad. It is more out of their need to pass off as an intelllectual,..’

There’s a wealth of ideas in your comment. But I don’t see..what is your point?

Is it that one should oppose reservations for OBCs because Chandrabhan Prasad, in your view, says so?

Is it that the OBCs consider reservations as a license to oppress Dalits?

Is it that without excluding the creamy layer reservations are bad?

Is it that because a certain pro-reservationist from JNU felt insulted when you mistook him for a dalit..there should be no reservations for OBCs ?

Polite Indian
September 2, 2006 at 9:43 am
Nice Article Shivam!!!

realitycheck
September 8, 2006 at 12:45 am
The central issue here is the letter ‘B’ in OBC. It is an absolute requirement that a caste (we all know it is not a class) must be backward socially AND educationally. Focus on the beneficiaries of quotas and not on the non-beneficiaries, the forward castes.

Let Shivam come to TN or KA or KE. I will take him around the countryside, in Kerala I will take him to the tea estates in Idukki which are largely owned by wealthy OBCs from Cumbum and Pollachi. Visit the Karnataka state government registrars office in Sarjapur and north bangalore to see how OBCs are cashing in big time on their absolute dominance in land ownership. While you are there visit the vast coffee estates in Shimoga with colonial mansions owned by OBCs. Millionaire families are being created in land deals as we speak. You can study all your want in IIT or IIM. YOu will not be able to make a fraction of what a few acres will get you today. The Dalits and others are just standing by the way side scratching their heads and wondering how they can claim to be backward.

The impulse reaction of everyone will be that not everyone is a millionaire - so the community as a whole can be backward. This does not hold water, because India is a poor country not every forward caste member is a millionaire either. Everyone knows that 45-50% of the forward castes fall below the poverty line.

You fail to understand the rationale for OBC quotas is not proportionate representation. If that were the case, each caste must be given proportionate representation. You cant just create an artificial group with dramatic disparity and claim to have achieved proportional representation. What about inter-group representation ?

Andre Betielle was right when he said, “the SC/ST quotas are actually for social justice - the OBC quotas are for a balance of power”.

obc voice
September 8, 2006 at 9:36 pm
reality check,

‘You fail to understand the rationale for OBC quotas is not proportionate representation.’

You fail to understand the upper castes have lost the moral right to talk about over or underrepresentation of any castes amoong the OBCs after having enjoyed criminally high over-representation in jobs and education for the last sixty years..and I am not even talking about the millennia old over-representation before that.. THe upper castes in India, when they raise their ’sincere’ voices in support of underrepresented castes among the OBCs etc., sound as credible as Pakistan speaking for the Kashmiris. You might think it’s a good dilatory stratagem…But then you would only be paving the way for a debate on ‘proportionate representation’..

I suggest you look at ther post-Mandal figures on OBC recruitment in Central Govt/PSU jobs that I had referred to the last time we interacted on Otherindia.org (I had linked to the study) again.. YOu’ll get to understand the intensity of the feelings of betrayal and hurt among the OBCs better.. If you/and other upper caste comrades-in-indignation still wish to stoke it further..it means that you’re inviting several divisive conflicts in the future.

Anoop Saha
September 11, 2006 at 2:06 am
Dear obcvoice,

Iam impressed by your fierce defence of reservations for obc, in whatever manner, by whatever amount. And since being an obc myself, i retain the moral right to oppose reservations let me try to explain myself.

What Chandrabhan Prasad says is more closer to the original purpose of setting up of mandal commission for backward “classes”. He has recognised the class character of the society. I have come across hundreds of instances of obc violence against dalits and tribals, from all parts of the country and mostly from Karnataka and tamil Nadu where I did the research. Most of this was organised violence, organised oppression, and not isolated incidents. Mr. Prasad has recognised the age old assertion that two mutually conflicting classes cannot have the same objectives. If you are an non-creamy-layer obc yourself, you will know that the obc’s of india (in the original form and the latter additions of 1991, 1997 and 1999) are not a monolith character. Pressure lobbies among some groups has ensured that despite them being dominant castes, they are termed as backward. Not just that, they are taking away a lions share of benefits, robbing the MBCs directly and dalits indirectly. Mr. Prasad argues that MBCs are much closer to dalits, and the upper OBCs (yes they EXIST, there are a large number of upper OBCs) are controlling every single government initiative. This in turn actually increases oppression on the most disadvantaged among social groups. I would suggest you to have a look at the figures at ncrb (national crime records beaurau). I find him much in favour of dalit-bahujan alliance than any of the upper obc leaders.

Mandal argued that in India caste is class. Well that would have been true, if ncbc was immune to political pressure. If Mandal had done a more comprehensive survey (300 villages is all he visited). Both of them have failed and any policy that is on the basis of their obsevations is bound to be disastrous especially to the dalits and tribals. While Iam in favour of extending reservations to a wider section, I want it to be a means of empowerment and not a half-hearted botched effort. It must be a pragmatic policy, and not dogmatic. I want it to be preceded by well-meaning debates. People like you and me should speak up, open our minds, see others point of view, so that the state doesn’t end up hurting the people it is sought to protect.

By the way, whats wrong with Pakistan speaking for Kashmiris, or India speaking for Karens or Burma speaking for Kurds, South Africa speaking for chechens, or Russia speaking for blacks? Seeing that you are entirely ignoring the dalit view, it seems that you are not clear what systematic class-based oppression is? Read chaandrabhan Prasad’s work for that, or if that is too hard I can give you a good number of incidents.

obc voice
September 17, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Anoop Saha,

These OBCs are really bad, right? We should put them in a labor camp, perhaps? Is Auschwitz still in a working condition?

Chandrabhan Prasad recognized the ‘class character of the society’? I’m sure Chandrabhan Prasad would be glad to know he has done that. He likes the communists so much that he wants to help build a society that resembles America. And he thinks globalisation would greatly accelerate that process of rebuilding Indian society. Chandrabhan Prasad doesn’t subscribe to the theory of class conflict..(or at least he is not overly interested in the theory) what he talks about is his interpretation of how how varna conflicts have mutated in the last fifty years.. and not even hundred years. Let me cite here an interesting quote (I had cited this interview earlier in one of my posts) from him :

‘I have never argued that ‘Dalit-Shudra unity is not possible’. I have argued that the Dalit-Shudra unity, even if it takes place somewhere, should be stopped. You know, Shudras play with Dalit sentiments — they will point to the social monster called Brahmans, rob Dalits’ support, come to power, and then turn to Dalits to oppress them. Every ruling group looks for subjects. And the Shudras, once in power, treat Dalits as subjects as they cannot treat Brahmans as subjects.’ Interpret it in whatever fashion you wish to - but that forms the core of his idea of Dalit-OBC conflict. But the majority of Dalit intellectuals don’t subscribe to that theory. I wish you would look at the very perceptive opinion of another commenter on this blog ( http://www.shivamvij.com/2006/07/questionnaire-on-the-pluralism-of-caste-discourses-in-india.html) - DR. Jyotirmoy Pradhan writes - ” Dalit/ OBC oposition is not tangilble. Within the paradigm of caste structures the OBCs too are a deprived body as much as the Dalits are….(and)…The dalit movement and the OBC strugles have similar hisorical and ideological awareness. The OBCs as well as the Dalits have to accept the reality that respective emanciation of the group of people cannot be achieved in matters of selective preferences. This is a common call for a common goal from two quarters mutually identical social experiences in varied degrees. Both the Dalits and the OBCs have identical idioms in the formulation of the discourses pertianing to respective social and political naratives.”

Apart from that very incredible discovery you attribute to CBP, I wish there was something new/original in what you had to say..at least one little thing different from what the medicos from AIIMS and the wise men who flocked to their aid had to say. Well, they at least did their home work.

And yes the point about Pakistan - I was pointing out that its insincerity matches the insincerity of the upper castes of India (which means the State of India). and vice versa - different contexts, of course.

The lower castes in India constitute a mass of people greater in number than the combined populations of America and Western Europe put together..and almost equals the population of Africa and is more than South America ..and I wish you and the world learn more about their plight..And recognize the divisions within them. But not with the motive of trying to divide them - so that they can be pitted one against the other…and the status quo is not disturbed.

My worldview is myopic- it is totally lower-caste centred. I do not care about opinions that continue to ignore/obfuscate/deprecate the issue of the lower castes of India, and do not consider it the most important issue in the world. So I don’t think India has the moral authority to talk about the Karens etc., when its record on, forget empowerment, acknowledgement of the very basic right of existence of the lower castes is..pathetic.

There is no research about the ‘atrocities’ of the OBCs that you can supply that I myself haven’t acknowledged and talked about.. But I wish your research was more accurate on other basic issues,
like the Mandal Commission for instance. Mandal’s team surveyed 800 villages not 300. I could go on about your conclusions but I won’t because I think it’d be futile. I’d leave you with two vital facts that are pointed out in these articles :

the first article is by Aditya Nikam ( http://www.southasianmedia.net/Magazine/Journal/castepolitics_india.htm ) : ‘It needs to be borne in mind that this large group of OBCs, who constitute close to 60 per cent of the population, had a negligible presence of about 4 per cent in government employment when these recommendations were implemented. Also worth bearing in mind is the fact that even this small representation in employment was restricted to the lower rungs of government jobs. In other words, the overwhelming majority of public services were monopolised by the small crust of upper castes. In one estimation made by sociologist Satish Deshpande, about 20 per cent of the population controlled about 95 per cent of all jobs.’

fact no.1 - the OBCs had a negligible presence in goverment and the organized sector ( public and private) employment.

the second article is by Satish Deshpande ( http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/12/07/stories/2001120700371000.htm ) : ‘Looking at the land ownership data from the 55th Round, we find that the “Others” comprise 50 per cent of all households owning more than 4 hectares of land, while the OBCs are 35 per cent, Scheduled Castes 6 per cent and Scheduled Tribes 8 per cent. Although this does not tell us how much land is owned by each group, it does suggest that popular stereotypes about the OBCs having ousted the upper castes from land ownership may be somewhat exaggerated.’

he also goes on to say: ‘The State-level data and especially the inter-State and inter- regional variations are interesting and would repay careful analysis. Amid the variations, one striking feature that remains constant in all the major States is the pre-eminence of the “Others” category, which by most criteria is clearly ahead of all the other caste groups though the extent of the lead varies. Contrary to the inflated rhetoric of the anti-Mandal backlash, the OBCs are not overtaking the upper castes - not even in the rural areas where they are undoubtedly a force to reckon with, and certainly not in urban India. Tamil Nadu is a good example: in a State numerically dominated by the OBCs and with a long history of reservations, the “Others” are way ahead in terms of the index of over/under- representation in the top two MPCE classes: 2.6 compared to 1.2 for the OBCs in the rural sector, and a whopping 3.1 (possibly the highest index among all major States) compared to 0.6 in the urban sector.’

fact no.2 : the upper castes still remain the dominant/domineering poltical, social class in the countryside, and of course in the cities. And the class that oppresses.

Were the government/s machinery in the centre and the states and the public sector and the organized private sector constituted to provide rewards by way of employment to the Upper castes in India..if we follow your logic?

Sicilian
November 1, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Most of the oppression to Dalits are done by OBC. Remeber that! Why should OBC get rewarded for their oppressions?

http://shivamvij.com/2006/09/01/chandrabhan-prasad-and-the-other-backward-classes/


Myths About Private Sector Reservation

By Chandrabhan Prasad



14 June, 2004
The Pioneer


The Congress' "national level dialogue" slogan, and the Maharashtra government's legislation on job reservations in the private sector have infused new blood and hope among the unemployed Dalit youth. Many senior citizens of the community are are elated. And why not? The Dalits' legitimate right to reservations goes beyond the realm of the government sector. How can the private sector justify its existence without adhering to the objectives of the Indian Republic, which insists on restructuring Indian society on the lines of justice? The day India's bourgeoisie allows itself to be persuaded to comply with the Republic's objectives, half of India's social tensions would wither away.


What is, however, missing in this euphoria over "private sector reservation", is the limitation of the "emancipatory" role these jobs can play. According to the Union Ministry of Labour (1999), the total work force in the organised private sector was 86.98 lakh or close to nine million. At a conservative estimate, low skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers add up to more than three-fourths of the workforce of the Indian private sector.


The Dalits may be having a sizable presence here which is proportionately more than their share of the national population. Thus, in effect, the Dalits' claim can be located in some two million white collar jobs - their share through reservations being about five lakh. These are the jobs (supervisors, clerks, professionals and managers) where the Dalit presence is likely to be too little to write home about. The current position, insofar as these five lakh jobs is concerned, is that they are already taken by non-Dalits. Will the private sector, if it abides by the policy of reservations, calculate the backlog and fill the vacancies?


Well, the government of India has not been able to calculate the backlog vacancies for even primary level teaching positions in central schools. So it would be far fetched to expect the private sector to excel in terms of filling the Dalit quota where even the government has failed. What can be expected from the private sector is that when it comes to making new appointments, the share of the Dalits should not be overlooked. The number of such vacancies would easily run into a few thousand in the best of times. If we explore the business area, as we have been advocating, and which has been dramatically removed by the Congress coalition, we find an altogether a different scenario.


By September 2003, there were 4,200 licensed liquor shops in Maharashtra. If the Sushil Shinde government is really honest in empowering the Dalits, it can allot 22.5 per cent of the licenses to Dalits, which comes to close to a thousand. These 1,000-odd Dalits liquor shop owners can earn more than an equal number of IAS officers. In addition, each Dalit liquor shop owner can give additional employment to at least five other people to run his business.


Andhra Pradesh has 75,000 licensed liquor shops. If the present Reddy governmt is serious on Dalit issues, it can allot about 1,700 liquor shops to Andhra Dalits. Similarly, the PWD, Irrigation and Municipal departments farm out construction projects worth tens of millions in construction to private contractors. Even if the smaller contracts, which run into a few lakh each, are reserved for Dalit contractors, thousands of Dalits in each state can become economically powerful. So is the case with the Department of Health, where hospitals buy medicines worth several crore annually. If a proportion of such purchases is set aside for Dalit chemists, hundreds of Dalits in each state can rake in big money.


The Agra Dalits were the first to enter into manufacturing and made big money. Many turned into millionaires by supplying shoes and belts to the British army during World War II. That continued after Independence as well. Agra became the centre of the Dalit movement in northern India. By the 1970's or so, non-Dalit traders entered the field. They began to bag Army tenders by buying in bulk from Dalit manufacturers. Slowly, they themselves became manufacturers, forcing the Dalits to retreat. Dalits now supply raw material to non-Dalit manufacturers. Why can't the Manmohan Singh government revive the policy and set aside a portion of the Armed Forces' requirements to the Dalits? The million-strong Indian Army and paramilitary and police buy shoes and belts worth several hundred crore every year. All the above measures put neither any extra-financial pressure on the treasury nor require any legislative action.


The public sector oil companies reserve 22.5 per cent of their petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG dealership for the Dalits. All the nine PSUs could stimulate employment for lakhs of Dalits by introducing Supplier-Dealership diversity for Dalits even in the areas of office equipment, electrical gadgets and furniture. Sadly though, during its earlier four-and-a-half decades of rule, the Congress couldn't envision creating a strong business class from within the community. And now, when the opportunity came, it has betrayed the Dalits in a most ruthless manner.


Now the party leadership is selling the "private sector job quota" dream, a repeat of the previous experience when it did not allow Dalits to move beyond government jobs and become partners in the market economy. An economically strong Dalit community can be a headache for the mainstream polity, this they understand better than the Dalits.
http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-prasad140604.htm

Crusader Sees Wealth as Cure for Caste Bias

Brian Sokol/Rapport, for The New York Times
An untouchable, or Dalit, woman in Azamgarh District in Uttar Pradesh, India. The country has 200 million Dalits, many of whom remain uneducated and poor. More Photos >

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By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: August 29, 2008
AZAMGARH DISTRICT, India — When Chandra Bhan Prasad visits his ancestral village in these feudal badlands of northern India, he dispenses the following advice to his fellow untouchables: Get rid of your cattle, because the care of animals demands children’s labor. Invest in your children’s education instead of in jewelry or land. Cities are good for Dalit outcastes like us, and so is India’s new capitalism.

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Brian Sokol/Rapport, for The New York Times
Chandra Bhan Prasad in front of a flooded field in a village in Uttar Pradesh, India. More Photos »

Mr. Prasad was born into the Pasi community, once considered untouchable on the ancient Hindu caste order. Today, a chain-smoking, irrepressible didact, he is the rare outcaste columnist in the English language press and a professional provocateur. His latest crusade is to argue that India’s economic liberalization is about to do the unthinkable: destroy the caste system. The last 17 years of new capitalism have already allowed his people, or Dalits, as they call themselves, to “escape hunger and humiliation,” he says, if not residual prejudice.

At a time of tremendous upheaval in India, Mr. Prasad is a lightning rod for one of the country’s most wrenching debates: Has India’s embrace of economic reforms really uplifted those who were consigned for centuries to the bottom of the social ladder? Mr. Prasad, who guesses himself to be in his late 40s because his birthday was never recorded, is an anomaly, often the lone Dalit in Delhi gatherings of high-born intelligentsia.

He has the zeal of an ideological convert: he used to be a Maoist revolutionary who, by his own admission, dressed badly, carried a pistol and recruited his people to kill their upper-caste landlords. He claims to have failed in that mission.

Mr. Prasad is a contrarian. He calls government welfare programs patronizing. He dismisses the countryside as a cesspool. Affirmative action is fine, in his view, but only to advance a small slice into the middle class, who can then act as role models. He calls English “the Dalit goddess,” able to liberate Dalits.

Along with India’s economic policies, once grounded in socialist ideals, Mr. Prasad has moved to the right. He is openly and mischievously contemptuous of leftists. “They have a hatred for those who are happy,” he said.

There are about 200 million Dalits, or members of the Scheduled Castes, as they are known officially, in India. They remain socially scorned in city and country, and they are over-represented among India’s uneducated, malnourished and poor.

The debate over caste in the New India is more than academic. India’s leaders are under growing pressure to alleviate poverty and inequality. Now, all kinds of groups are clamoring for what Dalits have had for 50 years — quotas in university seats, government jobs and elected office — making caste one of the country’s most divisive political issues. Moreover, there are growing demands for caste quotas in the private sector.

Mr. Prasad’s latest mission is sure to stir the debate. He is conducting a qualitative survey of nearly 20,000 households here in northern state of Uttar Pradesh to measure how everyday life has changed for Dalits since economic liberalization began in 1991. The preliminary findings, though far from generalizable, reveal subtle shifts.

The survey, financed by the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, finds that Dalits are far less likely to be engaged in their traditional caste occupations — for instance, the skinning of animals, considered ritually unclean — than they used to be and more likely to enjoy social perks once denied them. In rural Azamgarh District, for instance, nearly all Dalit households said their bridegrooms now rode in cars to their weddings, compared with 27 percent in 1990. In the past, Dalits would not have been allowed to ride even horses to meet their brides; that was considered an upper-caste privilege.

Mr. Prasad credits the changes to a booming economy. “It has pulled them out of the acute poverty they were in and the day-to-day humiliation of working for a landlord,” he said.

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/world/asia/30caste.html?em
2
The tenable patriot

As we approach the 60th anniversary of our independence, it appears that some Indians can claim to be born citizens by virtue of belonging to the Hindu majority, while others must remain citizens-on-probation all their lives. Despite legal equality, members of minority communities are repeatedly subjected to a cricket-match or a national-song test of loyalty. Is the idea of India to be reduced to such a war of backward-looking symbolisms? What is the true measure of patriotism?






Patriotism for the oppressed





Photo: Vivek Bendre

Politics of language: A predominantly dalit slum in Mumbai.


OUR balding nation-state, a majority of whose persons-in-communities are on the right side of 40, will soon turn 60. The consensual anxieties of inculcating a proper patriotism have begun already to yield sarkari fruit: a mixed bag of apples and oranges, to be sure. As the new year dawns, a long list of accredited past patriots will no doubt be drawn up, with a careful sprinkling of dalits, Muslims, women, Kashmiris, North-easterners and such like, i.e. those less empowered than their `naturally so' mainstream countrymen. Directives will flow down New Delhi's Raisina Hill; like-minded scholars will strive to ensure that a capacious yet stringent view from the Centre holds.

Deifying English


Could 19th-century peasants, whose vision, it is said, was no wider than the backside of their plough-bullocks, have been patriotic? Were Indian patriots the same as Indian nationalists? How are we to recognise patriotism before nationalism began to be talked about by our English-educated forbearers? The first President of the Republic was a Bihari democrat, but could Bahadur Shah, `the king of Delhi', to use the proper Company diminutive, conceivably have been India's first and last Mughal patriot? Or to shift focus: Is Chandrabhan Prasad, who recently launched a campaign for deifying English as a goddess, to be propitiated quite literally by the dalits of Hindustan, being simply gimmicky and provocative? Or is his proposal for a globalised English, personified as the kuladevi of all dalit households, announced on the 206th birth anniversary of Lord Macaulay, at bottom an unpatriotic act; a reneging from our common civilisational past; a deliberate turning away of dalits from things Hindi and Indian?

The tenor of a recent televised debate between Prasad and two Delhi-based bilingual intellectuals, conducted by one of our foremost current affairs anchors, suggests that, when faced with a transgressive idea to move radically beyond the horizon of possibility, most of us reach instinctively for our copybook notion of India. And very often this means throwing aside the opportunity of thinking with and through adversarial positions that emanate as challenges from the margins to our very sense of Indianness. Prasad's utopia is for future dalit babies to arrive into this world to the sound of the English alphabet: mantras or azaan being ruled out, of necessity. This is an idea stunning in its novelty. I am sure that, had it been expressed in a 19th-century document about a tribal revolt in Jharkhand, it would have elicited our attention as illustrative of the hegemonic apotheosis of colonial English. Wasn't one of the leaders of the great Santhal Rebellion of 1855 apprehended with an English book of a technical nature, `an old book on locomotive[s]', as the official record has it!

But as the debate with Chandrabhan Prasad unfolded over half-an-hour of late-night TV, no one engaged this dalit thinker on his own terms: how would poor, uneducated dalit parents in the villages of the north Indian cowbelt ensure that a Sesame Street version of fun alphabet-learning is beamed to the Sagri subdivision of Azamgarh District, where Chandrabhan grew up? Would it make sense for dalits to insist that the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, now fashion audio-visual materials for what he would no doubt wish to be christened the `Universal English Education Mission'? Would there be any place for a less Sanskritic Hindi in dalit households, or would it involve an even more subversive and utopian demand for the valorisation of only particular north Indian dialects as a second language of home, a new diglossia comprising globalised corporate English and, say, Bhojpuri?

Instead, the discussion veered around such pan-Indian and patriotic concerns as: How would dalits then distinguish between maternal and paternal uncles, for English terms are so limited in their kin and affinal reach? What would happen to religions of and in India, if all of us (Prasad was concerned solely with dalits) spouted only English? Would not the resulting deracination harbinger fundamentalisms, as in Silicon Valley? Can English acquisition really put an end to deep-seated and long-enduring structures of caste oppression? But that was not, one felt like screaming though the picture tube, what the subversive proposal was about. For, except for the Pandits and Maulvis, no one lives by language alone. The dalit-English proposal is an unexpected challenge to the mainstream view of patriotism-in-an-Indian language, preferably a north-Indian language. And now that an American accent is de rigeur for luxury-item adverts on our TVs, whither linguistic patriotism?

SHAHID AMIN



* * *
Many nations, many religions

IN 1959, Barbara Ward identified nationalism as one of the `Five Ideas That Changed the World', among the most powerful ideologies used to mobilise people in the modern world, uniting diverse groups and collective interests. However, as Gramsci showed, such an ideology can become a hegemonic imposition by dominant classes on subaltern ones. Dominant religious groups also use nationalism to suppress or assimilate other groups. Such religious nationalisms are inevitably resisted, the confrontation often spinning out of control.

When religion is politicised into an `ideology', religious tradition evolves easily into a transnational political movement, with the attendant ambiguities of extraterritorial loyalties and the dangers of extremist religious fundamentalism. Conversely, an ideology that is sacralised into a `religion' becomes a basis on which to construct an exclusive collective destiny, with all the anomalies of an ethnocentric political chauvinism that divides and even fragments the very society it means to strengthen.

Describing religion

In The Interpretation of Cultures (1973), the anthropologist Clifford Geertz describes religion as a symbolic system that gives meaning and value to our world. In Myth, Faith and Hermeneutics (1983), Raimundo Panikkar spells out an understanding of ideology as a conceptual construct that positions us in, and helps us cope with, our social world. Religion belongs to the metaphoric and multivalent, is intuitive and mythic; ideology concerns ideas and reason, including critique and logic. We need both to interpret our everyday lives and motivate them with value; a mismatch between the two can be acutely disorienting and threatening.

Nationalism is premised on the sense of a people's collective identity and destiny, a `nation' that seeks political expression in a `state'. Benedict Anderson has convincingly argued that nations are "imagined communities". When there are many imagined communities in a single polity, we have a multi-nation state, very different and far more problematic than the original European nation-state. Hence a pluri-religious, multi-cultural society demands a correspondingly adequate ideological construct.

The last century witnessed horrendous clashes of nationalisms in Europe, engulfing the world in two great wars. Now the European Union seeks to transform particular nationalisms into a larger identity and common destiny. However, postcolonial nations still strive to mobilise their masses with a nationalist ideology while rushing to catch up with the West. Nationalism, as the projection of a people's right to self-rule, has become the legitimising creed of the modern state's claims to authority. In consequence, the compulsions to create a national identity and pursue a collective destiny have been murderously homogenising.

Crucial role

Religion has often played a crucial, violent role in these compulsions. Once religion becomes a critical identity marker, the entanglement of religious traditions in other social and political institutions becomes explosive. The long, brutal religious wars after the Protestant Reformation have left an aftermath, which has discredited religion in a secularised post-Christian West. Islam too has its history of violence, with religion and politics getting entangled. Buddhism too has its chauvinist expressions. Hinduism has arrived late, but surely, at these aberrations. No religious tradition has escaped political manipulation.

Ironically, modernisation — which was expected to marginalise religion, secularise society and moderate nationalism — has created discontents that have brought religion back into the mainstream of our disenchanted world, as extremist fundamentalisms. These fundamentalisms align themselves with chauvinist ethnocentrisms to become non-negotiable commitments. Yet there is space for a more open, less fundamentalist religion; for a more inclusive, less fanatical nationalism. We need a faith tempered by reason, not blind belief and uncritical commitment; we need a patriotism dedicated to swadesh and purna swaraj, in Gandhi's sense. We must distinguish devotees from fanatics, religion from ideology, patriots from nationalists, and statesmen from politicians.

Ultimately, reconciling the magisterial claims of religion and state in a multi-cultural society is viable, not within a western secularism, but with a civil religion and a civil state. A civil religion demands a religious humanism, not as the least common denominator of various religious beliefs, but as premised on the core ethic found in all faith traditions -- something that is certainly more compatible with a Gandhian sarva-dharma-samabhava than with a Nehruvian dharma-nirapekshata. A civil state demands a nationalism premised, not on a nation-state, but on a patriotism restrained by the ideal of a larger, inclusive Indic civilisational order.

RUDOLF C. HEREDIA



* * *
The Hindu Rashtra and its exclusions







Rejecting secularism: Celebrating Golwalkar's birth centenary in Bhopal. Photo: A.M. Faruqui


MADHAV SADASHIV GOLWALKAR, the chief mentor and ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for 33 years, believed that freedom in 1947 had left two significant issues unresolved. The first was the question of the relations between various communities. The resolution of this problem, Golwalkar felt, was closely linked to a second question, namely, that of defining the idea of `pure' nationalism. For him, the idea of nationalism and nationhood had not even been born in this country.

Title of `ownership'


In sharp contrast to what Golwalkar and the RSS regarded as the prevailing misguided notions of the nation, the Sangh's founder, Dr. K.B. Hedgewar, had come to the conclusion that an ancient country like India with a unified past ought to be a nation. He realised, says Golwalkar, that from the very beginning this land was a Hindu nation, not the `patchwork quilt' that the Congress had envisioned. The nation had to be founded on the basis of reviving Hindu culture and forging unity on the basis of culture.

Having rejected the secular foundations of free India and ridiculed the substance of the freedom won in 1947, Golwalkar proceeds to establishing a clear title of `ownership' of the nation for the Hindus. He exhorted the Hindus to emphatically claim that they represented the very roots of this land, that they constituted its primary and only component. The very existence of this nation, he adds, is the responsibility of Hindu society.

Establishing the primacy of the Hindus was relatively simple. Golwalkar's story begins a thousand years ago, when, according to him, there was no one in this country other than Hindus. Of course, there were many sects, denominations, languages, castes and kingdoms, but all of these were Hindu. The Shakas, the Huns and the Greeks came, but they had to become Hindus. They failed to contaminate and corrupt Hindu society. Rather, Hindu society managed to absorb them completely. The situation was very different now. Hindus have had to share their land with other religions and communities.

Defining a `Hindu' was a far more complex task. A Hindu is one, Golwalkar explains, who believes in `our' historical tradition, who reveres `our' great men, and who has faith in `our' principles of life. Here, the possessive adjective `our' stands for Golwalkar's idea of a historically eternal, though momentarily fractured, Hindu society.

Acutely aware that confining the Hindu Rashtra to Hindus alone would invite charges of narrowness and communalism, Golwalkar rejects such charges as a sign of lack of clarity and residual slavishness. For him, there was one truth and this truth had to be announced to the world loudly and clearly: Hindus represent the idea of the national in this country. Whether other communities remained in the country or not was neither his concern nor that of the Sangh.

Clear exposition


In recent years, the Sangh and its affiliates have argued that the term `Hindu' indicates a civilisational sense rather than a religious one. This contradicts Golwalkar's clear exposition of Hindu Rashtra and its composition. He was emphatic that the word `Hindu' was not a generic term.

Savarkar had defined Hindutva in terms of fidelity to Pitrabhu (Fatherland), Matribhu (Motherland) and Punyabhu (Holy Land). Golwalkar incorporates the classification offered by Savarkar, and adds three more elements to it. For him, the Hindu Rashtra was punyabhoomi, matribhoomi, pitrubhoomi, dharmabhoomi or the land of one's pieties, karmabhoomi or the land of one's actions, and mokshabhoomi or the land of one's salvation. The Motherland was Bharatmata, and she was the mother of the Hindus. Anyone who forcibly enters her `house' cannot be a `son' of the Motherland. As such, Golwalkar insisted, it was important for Hindu society to understand that Muslims and Christians were enemies.

No friendship


Golwalkar's ire was usually directed towards the Muslims, but he often included Christians in his construction of a rogues' gallery. The question of treating them as friends did not arise. Only the Hindus, who were the progeny of this land, could be masters of this nation. Muslims and Christians could never be either children or masters of the nation because they were attackers. Those who have converted to Islam and Christianity, he asserts, have not merely altered their form of worship. They had also forsaken their religion, society and national life. The Muslims had even encroached on the territories of Hindustan and had cut the Motherland into pieces. For this reason alone, they could not even be considered `national'.

What if the Muslims and Christians were to reject Golwalkar's vision of the Hindu Rashtra and not call themselves Hindu? Golwalkar was categorical that all those Muslims and Christians, whose ancestors were Hindu, must abandon their newly acquired faiths and return to the Hindu fold. If they failed to comply, Hindus ought to follow the example of Vikramaditya. He avenged his father's murder by organising a formidable strength and drove the aliens out of this land. There were other inspirations to follow in the matter of dealing with desecration of the Motherland. Parashuram avenged his father's humiliation by offering him libations of blood of those who had insulted him. Likewise, the only way to worship the Motherland after she had been defiled, warns Golwalkar, would be to wash it with the blood of those who dared commit such an act.

JYOTIRMAYA SHARMA



* * *
Spectres of nationalism







Conception of the nation : One symbol is the national flag.


THE frequency and enthusiasm with which we change our place-names is an index of our love of empty symbolism, and our corresponding reluctance to redress situations that cry out for resolution. Bengaluru's traffic congestion is as chronic as Bangalore's. Mumbai's housing crisis is much worse than Bombay's. Kolkata's differentials of wealth are as glaring as Calcutta's. And the same deplorable displays that greeted you in the foremost museum in Madras will greet you in Chennai's most important museum.

No tough questions


And yet, a class of professional symbolism-mongers imagines that it can change reality by abolishing the traces of the colonial past. The cost-benefit ratio favours these champions of the local: among them, cynical politicians hoping to benefit from populist sops that demand no major effort, and frequent-flying litterateurs who balance their international outlook with a healthy dose of nativist rhetoric. It is far easier to destroy the harmless relics of a vanished empire, than to wrestle with the spectres of one's own nationalism, one's own fantasy of the local. Changing place-names allows us the comfort of demolishing a straw man. It also saves us the torment of asking ourselves some tough questions about how postcolonial India has named the local and shaped the national.

The most widely shared conception of the nation is a symbolic one, made available through such manifestations as the national flag, the national anthem, the national song and the iconography of the Nation as Goddess (typically Bharat Mata, pictured with trident held high, astride the tiger of destiny). This symbolic conception of the nation floats, as it were mystically, in a panoramic sky of the nationalist imagination; and any affront to it, real or perceived, is met with widespread outrage by political activists and self-appointed custodians of national pride. Much judicial time is expended, for instance, on the issue of permitting private citizens to fly the national flag. Articulate India is seized by pandemic hysteria when members of a minority decline to sing the national song, diagnosed by them as tainted by association with an aggressive Hindu nationalism. And M.F. Husain — who, it appears, must confine himself to abstraction if he is ever to paint on Indian soil again — is brutally vilified for daring to represent the Motherland in a manner repugnant to the arbiters of cultural correctness on the Right.

A view of the nation that is based on symbols, rather than on values, is entirely in consonance with the landlord theory of nationalism that currently prevails in India. On this account, some Indians are landlords by birth (Hindus, in M S Golwalkar's constipated and ahistorical definition of that category); other Indians are guests, tenants or squatters, transients on permanent probation, to be tolerated, made to pay exorbitant rents, or evicted by force if necessary, depending on how well they behave (the minorities).

Coercive citizenship


A model of coercive citizenship follows from this, in which the landlords can periodically test the guests, tenants and squatters to see whether they subscribe to the right symbolism. The test can be applied via India-Pakistan cricket match, proficiency in Sanskritised Hindi, or on the `Vande Mataram' issue. Ironically, the landlords are chronically insecure, afraid of external forces of invasion and contamination, clutching at their symbols as though at talismans.

Consequently, large numbers of people seem willing to die — or, more accurately, to kill — in defence of a panoply of symbols, but not in defence of the foundational goals of equality, freedom, justice and dignity, on which postcolonial India was premised. Blatant violations of these values are rarely met with the emotionalism reserved for the violation of national symbols. When working-class housing is systematically destroyed and villages displaced by dams, articulate India glosses these as harsh, but just and necessary sacrifices for progress. When dalit women are raped with impunity, articulate India views this, tacitly or otherwise, as the problem of a particular constituency. And when dalit opinion erupts, after having explored peaceful avenues of protest with little success, articulate India treats it as an unfortunate breakdown of law and order.

Minorities excluded


A religious minority of significant numbers, the Muslims, are excluded from the structure of entitlement and opportunity; but popular opinion, as reflected in the snap polls of television channels, feels that India's Muslims have only themselves to blame for their predicament. Repeated pogroms have afflicted India, but years and sometimes decades later, the victims of these genocidal outrages still wait for justice. Vast regions suffer draconian military rule; but, as far as mainland India cares, most Kashmiris are Pakistani agents and anyone east of Darjeeling is Chinese.

A nationalism based on an imposed subscription to symbols is banal and perfunctory at best, unresponsive and divisive at worst. Gandhi imagined free India as a work-in-progress, a ceaseless attempt at actualising the values of equality, freedom, justice and dignity for every individual. We can achieve a constructive and inclusive nationalism only if we shift the emphasis from the protection of the nation-state's symbols to the actualisation of the Republic's values.



RANJIT HOSKOTE

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2006120300040100.htm&date=2006/12/03/&prd=mag&
Difference as Advantage
Maximize the Benefits of Your Cultural Identity on the Job
By Chandra Prasad, IMDiversity Career Center Special Contributor



Corporate America is perhaps the last stronghold of the "melting pot," a myth suggesting that all Americans undergo a common form of cultural assimilation. But behind the myth, the American workforce is more diverse than ever. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), minorities and women now comprise two-thirds of all new labor force entrants.

Despite this staggering statistical fact, however, businesses – particularly at the executive level – haven’t changed with the times. In fact, for all the diversity programs and initiatives that companies claim to embrace, the working world’s upper echelons still look very much like they did in the 1950s. A whopping "97 percent of the senior managers of Fortune 1000 Industrial and Fortune 500 companies are white," reports the DOL’s Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that promotes women in business, reports that almost half of minority female professionals lack influential mentors and informal networking opportunities with their colleagues. Evidently, Corporate America continues to cling to an employee model that favors "Anglo" and "Angle-looking" employees.

Does this mean that minority professionals must abandon their unique cultures, values, languages, and ideas in order to get ahead? Not at all. Skin color may influence one’s career development, but it need not hinder it, especially in this climate of increasing corporate diversity. Historically, companies advocated diversity because it was "the right thing to do." Now a stronger motivation has entered into the picture: money. Quite simply, diversity is beginning to make good business sense.

As the U.S. becomes more of a global marketplace, businesses must adapt in order to succeed. According to "Current Status and Future Trends of Diversity Initiatives in the Workplace," a study by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, the top reasons why companies are embracing diversity are financially-motivated: "to improve productivity and [to] remain competitive." If money is a such a strong factor, it comes as no surprise that the Union Bank of California tops Fortune’s list of the "Best Companies for Minorities". The company actively recruits minority candidates and is especially receptive to those with foreign language skills. Fannie Mae is another company that supports the corporate development of culturally diverse employees. In January 1999, it elected Franklin Raines to become the first African American Chairman and CEO of a Fortune 500 company.



DESIRABLE DIFFERENCES
Twenty years ago, many minority employees had to downplay their cultural backgrounds on the job. But now, for perhaps the first time in American history, employers are classifying difference as advantage. For employees, this is the time to maximize the benefits of cultural identity. The following are personal attributes that may also qualify as business assets:

Language Skills

Of Interest from the Career Center
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Jobs that prefer or require bilingual skills

...or do your own advanced search


No matter what the industry, chances are that a company’s client base is diverse, maybe even international in scope. Fluency, or even proficiency, in different languages is a highly desirable asset. If you have strong foreign language skills, put that information at the top of your resume, not at the bottom. When employers are choosing between two job applicants, fluency in a foreign language can be a deciding factor. If you are already at a job, or interviewing for a new one, mention how speaking another language is a true asset. Perhaps it enables you to attract new clients, simplify business travel, or communicate more easily with international offices or customer bases.

While foreign language skills are in demand, fluency in English is still a business priority. If English is not your first language, consider building stronger literacy skills. Check with local schools about the availability of daytime, evening, or weekend classes in English. LINCS, a service of the National Institute for Literacy, provides a great list of updated literacy resources (see citation below). Perhaps you are already competent in English, but want to shine. You can bolster your skills by enrolling in an English or public speaking course. In the business world, strong communication skills and persuasiveness are universally valuable.

Cultural Sensitivity
You might not know it, but familiarity with different cultures and peoples is an employment skill. What is proper behavior in one culture may be tactless or even rude in another. If companies expect to broaden their global reach, they must understand and account for these differences. And what better way to do so than to employ workers who have an "inside perspective?" As with language skills, it is critical to educate your employer on the benefits of your heritage or background –benefits that might not be immediately apparent. Perhaps you are an immigrant who has already made major cultural adjustments. This ability to adapt shows resilience and strength, two very favorable business qualities. Maybe you are familiar with Chinese culture and comfortable dealing with clients in this sector. If you are biracial or of mixed background, you may be more flexible, diplomatic, and open-minded around a wide range of people. While you don’t need to spell out these assets in an interview, a brief but pointed reference to them can certainly work in your favor.

Unique Talents or Perspectives
At a job interview, you may be asked personally explorative questions: What do you consider your best/worst qualities? Describe an experience that has taught you a valuable life lesson. Who do you consider your role models? While these questions might not seem work-related, they are meant to give the interviewer a sense of who you are, how you work, and whether or not you would fit into the company’s atmosphere. In this sense, they are work-related and should be answered carefully.

Traditionally, job seekers have tried to suppress their differences, especially if they were not born in the U.S., spoke different languages, or engaged in culturally specific pursuits. But these differences are exactly what make any workplace more dynamic. If you have unique attributes that you owe to your upbringing or heritage, tell your interviewer about them. Perhaps your culture has instilled in you an especially strong work ethic. Maybe your family raised you to be highly self-motivated and driven. This information may not be appropriate in a cover letter, but it is at an interview—especially if your interviewer is trying to get a sense of what you would contribute as an employee.



A WORD OF CAUTION
One’s ethnic identity can be advantageous in the workplace, yet it can also be a burden. Too often employees are stereotyped or otherwise typecast into specific roles that are limiting and debilitating. No one wants to be a company’s "token" African American or East Asian employee. But how can one maximize the benefits of a minority status while circumnavigating stereotypes?

The trick is to maintain balance. An employee should never magnify or overplay any one aspect of his or her identity, as this encourages labeling. You may want to belong to a minority networking organization at your company, but this should not be your primary concern. Remember that career success relies upon an array of factors, performance being the most important. While your cultural identity can be an asset, dedication and career development don’t necessarily rely upon it.

National Institute for Literacy-LINCS: www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/lincs/search/resource/student.cgi



Other Readings by Chandra Prasad


Exploring Culturally Specific Styles in the Workplace
The shift to "business casual" begs the question: what about ethnic styles? Outwitting Discrimination: New Job Market Tactics for Women and Minorities
Q&A with Prasad on the release of her successful new book, Outwitting the Job Market



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chandra Prasad, a writer specializing in career and workplace diversity issues, is author of the book, Outwitting the Job Market: Everything You Need to Locate and Land a Great Position (Lyons Press 2004).

Her feature articles have been published in the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal and College Journal, True Careers, the IMDiversity.com Career Center, and others.

The former Editor-at-Large of Vault.com, she has been quoted as a workplace expert by Black Entertainment Television, The Christian Science Monitor, the Gay Financial Network, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Finding Your Dream Job Online.

IMDiversity.com is committed to presenting diverse points of view. However, the viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at IMD.



http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/careers_workplace_employment/prasad_difference_in_workplace.asp

India: reservations and rent-seeking
The latest Economist has a feature article on business and caste in India. With reservations explores why India's government is threatening to make companies hire more low-caste workers. Here is an excerpt:

India's Congress-led government has told companies to hire more dalits and members of tribal communities. Together these groups represent around a quarter of India's population and half of its poor. Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, has given warning that “strong measures” will be taken if companies do not comply. Many interpret that to mean the government will impose caste-based hiring quotas.

Quotas already apply in education and government, where since 1950 22.5% of university places and government jobs have been “reserved” for dalits and tribal people. In addition, since 1993, 27% of government jobs have been reserved for members of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs)—castes only slightly higher up the Hindu hierarchy.

This is not enough for supporters of reservations. Since the introduction of liberal reforms in the early 1990s, public-sector hiring has slowed and businesses have boomed. Extending reservations to companies, they argue, would therefore safeguard an existing policy of promoting the Hindu wretched. It would almost certainly require changes to the constitution. But low-caste politicians are delighted by the prospect, so it could happen.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, a dalit leader called Mayawati, has said 30% of company jobs should be reserved for dalits, members of the OBCs and high-caste and Muslim poor. Chandra Bhan Prasad, a dalit journalist, applauds this and argues that it would be in the interest of companies. “It is in the culture of dalits that they are least likely to change their employment because they are so loyal to their masters,” he says. It would also help them become a “new caste [sic] of consumers”.

But is there a problem?



The Rs 300-Billion Club


By Chandrabhan Prasad

06 December, 2004
The Pioneer

The Dalits - Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - are the first beneficiaries of job reservations in Government. This is something we all know. Bizarre as it may seem, India's private sector is the second largest beneficiary of reservations to Dalits. Let's examine how.



The reservations have helped about 3.5 million (35 lakh) Dalits to get Government jobs (Central/State Governments/PSUs etc). This is my estimate, based on the Fourth Report of the National Commission for SC/STs (1997-98). Unfortunately, no central agency, including Planning Commission, Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Census Commissioner of India or National Sample Survey, have any published report showing the number/percentages/position of Dalits employees/officers at the all India level, including State Governments.



About 3.3 million (33 lakh) Dalits have got into trade/commerce/manufacturing (often small in terms of size and turnover), of which, about half of this (1.65 million or 16.5 lakh) may have been caused by reservations (Dalit employees/officers often finance their unemployed children to set up businesses).



That means, about five million (50 lakh) Dalits have used reservations to join India's middle/lower middle class rank. In other words, reservations have produced five million Dalits, or 25 million Dalit persons (assuming that a household in India comprises five persons) as consumers, who otherwise, through the natural process of development, may never have been able to enter the market places. But, how does it help the private sector?



Reservation has given Dalits jobs in cities and towns. Understandably, they now follow the lifestyle as well as the cultural behaviour of urban India. Assuming that most urban inhabitants with a secured monthly income use toothbrushes, it follows that the Dalit employees /officers/ small business persons too are following the trend. Also assuming that most users buy at least two toothbrushes each year, then the 25 million (2.5 crore) Dalits must be buying 50 million (5 crore) toothbrushes contributing Rs 500 million (Rs 50 crore) annually to the Rs 3,000 million toothbrush industry. Assuming that a Dalit household spends Rs 10 on tooth paste/powder (Rs 120 a year), then the five million Dalit households are contributing Rs 600 million annually to the Rs 9,500 million tooth paste/powder industry annually.



According to an estimate, about 61 million households in India use pressure cookers. One can then assume that Dalit households have an estimated 5 million pressure cookers. And if the price of each pressure cooker averages Rs 300, then the five million Dalit households would have contributed about Rs 1,500 million to the pressure cooker industry. If India's middle/lower middle class households buy at least two pencils a month, then the 5 million Dalit household are buying about 120 million (12 crore) pencils a year. If a pencil costs Re 1, then Dalits are contributing about Rs. 120 million annually to the pencil industry.



India's FMCG Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry soap/hair oil/shampoos/other cosmetics is estimated to be worth Rs 6,000 million. If the urban middle/lower middle classes are the main consumer base, then the 5 million Dalit households too must be buying these items. If Dalit households buy an average of two soaps (a bath, and a wash soap each month, then, the 5 million Dalit households must be buying 120 million soaps every year. If a soap costs an average of Rs 5, then Dalits are contributing about Rs 600 million annually to the soap industry.



If one assumes Government employees/ officers earn an average Rs 10,000 a month and spend half of that in the market, then the reservation produced Dalits contribute about Rs 25 billion a month, or Rs 300 billion annually to India's private sector. An amount that is more than the combined annual net income of Reliance, the TATAs, the Birlas and the Dalmias.



The Dalits have used reservations, a doctrine scripted by Dr Ambedkar, to their advantage. Thanks to reservation, there is a Dalit middle class which is a discerning customer of goods and services. Whatever they earn from the State, they spend on India's private sector. So, purely from a business angle, shouldn't the private sector come forward to confront the Rs 300 billion question an embrace reservations for Dalits!


Businessmen are unconvinced. Government, in both its intrusiveness and its incompetence, is a hindrance to them. Caste-based hiring quotas would be just another burden. People given a right to a job tend not to work very hard. So, in an effort to avert Mr Singh's threat, many companies and organisations that represent them are launching their own affirmative-action schemes.

The Confederation of Indian Industry has introduced a package of dalit-friendly measures, including scholarships for bright low-caste students. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry plans to support entrepreneurs in India's poorest districts. Naukri.com, India's biggest online recruitment service, with over 10m subscribers, anticipates that companies will soon actively seek low-caste recruits. It has therefore started asking job-seekers to register their caste.

...There is no strong evidence that companies discriminate against low-caste job applicants. Upper-class Indians, who tend also to be high-caste Hindus, can be disparaging about their low-caste compatriots. “Once a thicky, always a thicky,” is how a rich businessman describes Ms Mayawati. Yet this at least partly reflects the fact that low-caste Hindus tend also to be low class; and in India, as in many countries, class prejudice is profound.

There is, on the other hand, plenty of evidence that few able low-caste graduates are emerging from India's universities. Since it began registering the caste of its subscribers—almost by definition computer-literate and English-speaking—Naukri.com has added 38,000 young dalit and tribal job-seekers to its books. That represents 1% of the total who have registered in that time.

For reservationists, this confirms the need for quotas. Others interpret the facts differently: reservations don't seem to work. And statistics support this view. Reservations notwithstanding, low-caste Indians are getting less poor at almost the same rate as the general population. Between 1983 and 2004, their spending power increased by 26.7%, compared with 27.7% for the average Indian, according to the National Sample Survey Organisation, a government body.

And of course, there is rent-seeking:

Since reservations for the OBCs were introduced in the early 1990s the rise of political parties dedicated to these groups has been inexorable. So has the proliferation of the OBCs, to around 3,000 castes. They include millions who are not poor at all.

“A massive deliberate confusion” is how Surjit Bhalla, an economist at Oxus Investments, a hedge fund, characterises reservations for the OBCs. When they were awarded reservations, the OBCs were estimated to make up 53% of India's total population. More recent counting suggests they are only about one-third of the population, although their 27% reservation remains unchanged. Moreover, by most measures, the average OBC member is no poorer than the average Indian. “How can you discriminate against the average?” asks Mr Bhalla, despairingly.

And despair he may. Practically no politician dares speak out against this caste-based racket for fear of being labelled an apologist for the caste system. Rather like guests at the Hotel California, those that join the list never leave—even one or two castes that were allegedly included by mistake.

http://neweconomist.blogs.com/new_economist/2007/10/castes.html

Eyes on jobs, Dalits bristle at seat gift
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, April 8: Unlike the anti-Mandal agitation, the strongest opposition to an OBC quota in educational institutions could come not from general category candidates but the Dalits.

Like the anti-Mandal agitators, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes fear that the new quota could hit their job prospects.

Dalit activists are campaigning for job reservations in the private sector. They believe that the OBC educational quota, which has drawn severe condemnation from industry captains, will set off a backlash in the corporate world against all forms of reservation, ruining their chances of clinching the job quota.

“We fear this move would hamper our struggle for reservation in the private sector,” said Dalit activist Chandrabhan Prasad. He rued that just when a national consensus was building up on the subject, the “upheaval” against the OBC quota looked likely to “turn everything upside down”.

Given the vehemence of the industry’s opposition to the new quota ? everybody from N.R. Narayana Murthy and Ratan Tata to Rahul Bajaj has made strong statements ? the fears seem well-founded.

“This measure will take the country backwards. Nobody will get jobs if merit is ignored,” the Bajaj group chairman said today. Tata advised the government to create “opportunities” rather than reservations “for the deprived classes”.

To Dabur vice-president Sharad Goel, the government’s move is a “totally retrogressive” step. “When we talk about competing in the global market, how can we undermine merit in all our institutions of higher learning?”

Although Dalit leaders have called for the new quota to be scrapped ? the Centre today clarified it hadn’t taken a final decision to implement it ? Udit Raj of the Justice Party said it could work both ways.

The issue could end up galvanising the Dalits into a more vigorous struggle, or the movement for job reservation in the private sector could fizzle out, Raj said.

Many students already admitted to premier institutes, too, are dismayed by the quota. They fear it might undermine the value of their degrees, harming their job prospects.

National Knowledge Commission member Pratap Bhanu Mehta today kept silent after his correspondence, with clear views against the quota notification, was leaked. Some of his fellow members, such as Kiran Karnik, are known to share his stand.

“Of course we need (to) make access to institutions of higher education equal to everyone. But such policies should be compatible with autonomy of institutions and their vision,” a commission member said. “There is a distinction between SC/ST reservation and OBC quotas.”

Political parties that don’t support the move ? though the bill that paved the way for it was backed by all ? have evaded such direct criticism.

The BJP tried to discredit the notification by saying it was the result of “one-upmanship” between human resource development minister Arjun Singh and the Prime Minister. It said it would reserve a “comprehensive reaction” till it had studied the proposal thoroughly.

BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, however, wrote to the Prime Minister condemning the move outright as “appeasement”.


http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060409/asp/nation/story_6076652.asp
An interview with CHANDRA BHAN PRASAD

"Shudras in power treat Dalits as subjects as they cannot treat Brahmans as subjects. They point to the social monster called Brahmans, rob Dalits' support, then oppress Dalits."

Chandra Bhan Prasad is perhaps India's only dalit who gets to write a weekly column in a mainstream English newspaper, Pioneer. He also runs the Dalit Siksha Andolan and has emerged as one of the key spokespersons of the dalit movement in India. Chandra Bhan lives with his wife, Meera, in Delhi. Here, in this exhaustive interview, the intellectual shares his views with Siriyavan Anand, journalist-activist, on a wide range of issues that concern the dalit movement in India today. Anand is currently anthropologically examining brahmans and brahmanism having been born one. He is associated with Dalit Media Network, Chennai. The interview was conducted in the last week of February 2001; 30-plus questions were emailed and Chandra Bhan Prasad said he took four days to reply. (Please mail feedback to ands@ambedkar.org and meera5@vsnl.com)


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SIRIYAVAN ANAND: How does it feel to be (perhaps) the sole English language dalit journalist in the country?
CHANDRA BHAN PRASAD: No. I am not a journalist in the classic sense of the term. I am at best a researcher, and an activist. But I write in the mainstream media. The column [Dalit Diary] in the English Daily, 'Pioneer', a paper now 137 years old which originated from Lucknow, is translated and used by the Telugu daily, 'Vaartha', and is the first Dalit column... so people tend to think that I am a journalist.

Yes, since I am the first and the only Dalit columnist in the English language press, I feel self-conscious and burdened with responsibilities — from a population of over 20.5 crore Dalits, which is more than the combined population of France, the UK and Germany, only one regular commentator in the Indian mainstream media. There is more to be researched, more to be commented upon, but a single-man army?

How did you come to be what you are now? Tell us about your childhood formation, your education, your politicisation... some definitive private and public moments that shaped your consciousness.
I was born in a sleepy village of district Azamgarh, east Uttar Pradesh, in September 1958. Both my parents were illiterate, but had sufficient agricultural land. From the history we know, the family was, by Dalit standards, economically well-to-do. My grandfather was a Police-Station Chaukidar who had six other brothers... most of them, you may describe as Social Rebels or Social Bandits. My father was a wrestler, an acrobat, and an expert at the game of Lathi. He had three brothers. Two of them, after beating up landlords, had fled to Rangoon in early 1930s. They got some government job there, and had the first experience with currency. My father too had joined them, but that was the beginning of the World War II. Barring the eldest uncle at home, my father and two of his senior brothers joined Indian National Army. But they had to flee Burma after the Hiroshima bombing.

With the money they had earned in Rangoon, they built a huge house in 1935, and later bought land. Ours was the first brick-house [in the village], and when it was being built the local Zamindar had come requesting us to keep the height of the walls/roof below that of his own house. Since my father and uncles were musclemen, and going by family tradition — where each social snub was responded to violently — they raised the foundation even higher. They all ensured education for their children, and the son of my eldest uncle became a postal clerk as early as in 1952. In my childhood, when I was probably in lower primary, say Class-II, I met with a serious accident, but survived. When I was in Class VI, my elder brother, who was the first child of my parents [I was the last, after three sisters], became a Sub-Inspector. He is now a Deputy SP posted in Lucknow, due to retire next month. Thus, I was extremely fortunate in the sense that my entire childhood, and youth, did not see poverty. Because of a sound economic background, I had the opportunity to study in JNU, where I did my MA in International Politics, MPhil on 'China's Technology Acquisition in the Post-Mao Era', and had enrolled for a Ph.D. project to study the 'Development of Science in Communist China'.

I have a CPI[ML] past in politics. I did my graduation in a college situated one km from our village... say, in my village college. In 1977, when I was in first year BA, Students Union elections were to take place. The upper castes and OBCs were against any Dalit standing for any of the posts. They had even thrown a challenge. I was very upset upon hearing this, and narrated the matter back home. My Dalit friends asked me to take up the challenge.

One of my cousins, who had secretly joined the CPI[ML], encouraged me to contest. And I decided to contest. The news spread like a wild fire. The CPI[ML] brother gathered his own armed squad, supported by the Dalits of the area, and I filed the nomination. I won, and my opponents lost deposits. I received great support from the girl students, most of them belonging to the upper castes, for two reasons. First, my niece was a BA final year student, so she could muster great support. Second, most my opponents were lumpen elements, who were disliked by the girl students. So they decided to back me. Some upper caste friends, afraid of an OBC onslaught, too supported me. Meanwhile, another cousin brother of mine, who was an Engineering student, too had joined CPI[ML]. There were lots of confrontations, and the CPI[ML] movement was gaining ground. I too joined the party. Thus, before coming to JNU, I was deeply involved with the CPI[ML] movement.

In JNU too, I continued with radical politics, but I was always fascinated by Dr Ambedkar. In JNU, I had the opportunity to read Ambedkar, and thus began arguing with my Comrades. There was already an SC/ST Students Welfare Association, in which I became active, and later became its Vice-President. My CPI[ML] comrades were supportive of the issues we were taking up, but never agreed with Dr Ambedkar's philosophy.

In the May 1983 JNU movement, I was at the forefront. In the movement, we were arrested. Some 600 JNU students, including some 200 women students, were put in Delhi's Tihar Jail. JNU was closed sine die, and no admissions took place for the 1983-84 academic session. An inquiry commission, headed by a retired High Court Judge, was instituted to probe the incidents of the May 1983 movement. Along with about 40 students, I too was rusticated for two years, in two cases. Like about a dozen students, I too didn't submit an apology. After rustication, we were given an option: either apologize and give an undertaking that we would not involve ourselves in any movement on the campus, or face action and vacate the university premises. Most [students] had apologized.

For three yeas, 1983-1987, I worked as a full-timer for CPI[ML] in UP. During that period, I thought that I was wasting my energy — I argued with my leaders why they were all the time against the Indian State, which is the only place where Dalits get some relief, and, in what way is Dr. Ambedkar less radical than Karl Marx? It was indeed amazing to hear them dismissing the Varna/Caste nature of society as a NON-FACTOR in Indian society. They didn't agree with me, and I got disillusioned, left the movement, came back to JNU, completed my MPhil, and enrolled for PhD.

But, during my three full-time CPI[ML] years, I had firsthand experience of revisiting the countryside. The pathetic condition of the average Dalit always haunted my mind. While I was back in JNU, I had no peace inside me. And then came Mandal. I was very skeptical about strengthening OBCs, upper segment in particular. I had seen them occupying the aggressive space being vacated by Dwijas from rural India. But, the anti-Mandal agitation had begun questioning Dalits' reservation as well. Then we jumped into, rather initiated, the pro-Mandal agitation in JNU, and Delhi. Dalits all over India supported the pro-Mandal agitation; in most cases, the Dalits were at the forefront.

I was restless within, and thus launched Dalit Shiksha Andolan in 1991. It spread in UP. Almost in each district. But then I thought by merely restricting the movement to scholarship and literacy-related issues, issues are not going to be resolved. The bigger question was about the model of development pursued so far, about changes taking place since 1950, and about history itself. And about Ideology. I sat down in Delhi, and began exploring all these...

Could you identify the central issues facing dalits today? Is it possible to see the dalit movement in a national/ pan-Indian sort of way at all, say like the hindutva movement?
Central question? We all know: land, quality education for all Dalits, democratisation of KNOWLEDGE, and public institutions including media, democratization of the capital, redefining democracy, etc. Unless English-speaking Dalits take up the Dalit movement as their profession, a pan-Indian Dalit movement will remain a dream.

Is it a strength or weakness of the dalit movement that there does not seem to be a pan-indian dalit consciousness, a national dalit political leadership? Do you think this is necessary or will it emerge/happen in the future? Other than Ambedkar the dalits do not seem to agree upon anyone as a leader/icon...
There is a pan-India Dalit consciousness — Dalits everywhere, illiterate or educated, hate the Chatur-Varna order; they want a change, want a democratic and egalitarian social order. But, it has to take an organized form, and that has not happened. That is a big weakness. Since there is no pan-India Dalit movement, there is no all India Dalit leadership. Kanshi Ram is there [BSP, UP], Dr Krishnaswamy [Puthiya Tamilagam, Tamilnadu] is there, but they need to transcend their boundaries.

How do you view the BAMCEF-BSP growth and subsequent developments in UP, Punjab and other neighbouring areas? Why does the Kanshi Ram-Mayawati duo seem to have not lived up to its promise? What next in UP, and what bearing/ lessons would that have for young dalit political parties that have come up in other states?
The creation of BAMCEF was a great, wonderful thing to happen. The BSP sprung from BAMCEF. Though BAMCEF elaborated the theory of BAHUJANWAD [the idea of the oppressed majority of 85% coming together], when BSP started practising politics, it attracted Dalits alone. Then and there BSP should have dropped Bahujanwad, and must have spoken of a Dalit movement. After Mayawati was attacked by the Shudras, the BSP should have realised that Shudras are the Dalits' prime opponents in rural India. No new Dalit party can now grow unless it talks of the Dalit movement and raises central questions haunting the community.

Ambedkar did say that capturing political power was important; but there does not seem to be any cultural-social agenda that dalit leaders/ parties seem to have evolved...
Political power is the master key which can open all the locks. That is what Ambedkar said, and this remains true even today. But without capturing political power, he did wonders. This, the Dalit leadership must realise — they must bring immediate benefits to the community, and create an articulate middle class and elite within the community which can handle political power. There is already a socio-cultural agenda, but that is yet to be theorized.

When the blacks in the US started asserting themselves (Black Power) and fought discrimination, it was accompanied by a renaissance in the cultural realm — art, literature, music... What similarities and differences do you see between the various black consciousness movements and the dalit movement here?
There are lots of similarities between Dalits' and Blacks' positioning in their respective societies. But there is marked difference between the conscience of the oppressors — here in India, the most radical NON-DALIT will be less progressive than the most conservative White in America. As you can see in my recent series on Affirmative Actions in America in the 'Pioneer' on Sundays, there in America, White society is talking of Democratizing Capital, and Affirmative Actions in ART, LITERATURE, TV, FILM etc. Is any Varna-Indian [caste hindu] talking of such things?

Early on, the US blacks put in place an institution like the NAACP (National Association for Advancement for Coloured People), had black churches, opened black schools and colleges and saw the need to rally around as a community... they even went on to have black-centred media, publishing, created distinct musical genres... even in terms of religion, there was/is the Nation of Islam. Do you think we need such efforts here? Are similar things possible, desirable in the dalit context? What about a National Association for Advancement of Dalit People to start with?
See, the NAACP had Whites too. If it happens in India, very good. It should happen. Unless there is Dalit bourgeoisie in India, there cannot be any effective alternative Dalit media, etc. You know, there are Black billionaires, several hundred Black millionaires in US, several hundred Black companies are publicly trading in America. In India, if things happen at the present rate, it may take another century for a Dalit to emerge as a billionaire!

Do you think we can compare race and caste-based disabilities? Is not what happens to dalits, especially in villages, a form of apartheid?
Yes, you are right.

Of late, efforts to get world bodies such as the United Nations to recognise caste as a source of discrimination (like race, gender) have had some success... How important are such moves for dalits in the country? Would such pressure finally matter? Can we get foreign nations to slap sanctions on India over the issue of casteism, especially as it relates to dalits?
This is a wonderful effort. Some NGOs are doing fantastic work in this direction. But, I think, unless Dalits themselves become organized enough to boycott the products of some companies, it will a very difficult task to get foreign nations slapping sanction on India. But this does not mean that we must not work in this direction.

A major drawback of the dalit movement has been the lack of visibility of dalit women's voices. In mainstream politics we have of course Mayawati, but in terms of intellectuals, academics, opinion-makers we hardly hear them...
This of course is related to the larger problem of the invisibilising of dalitist ideas by savarnas; yet, don't you think the dalit movement should be simultaneously alive to the problem of dalit patriarchy? Should we not make conscious efforts to evolve a dalit-feminist praxis instead of postponing the issue of dalit women's liberation? It is true that the Dalit movements have not given importance to the gender question. This has created roadblocks in the Dalit movements. But, I believe, it is not a conscious decision on the part of Dalit leadership to suppers the gender question. You see, unless there evolves an articulate middle class within Dalits, the gender question will remain a minor issue.

What is your opinion on 'hinduism', not just the hindutva variety, but... all types?
The overemphasis on 'Hinduism' or 'Hindutva' is dangerous. The moment you debate on the plank of 'Hindu' religiosity, the focus of the Dalit movement gets shifted, and in that case, instead of a Dalit raising a Dalit agenda, he is led to raise agenda of secularism, a ploy drafted by erstwhile Dvijas, who have converted to Christianity or Islam. To my mind, every so-called Hindu is 'Hindu' later; by his/her Varna/Caste a Brahman is a first a Brahman, loyalty to his community comes first. The same holds good for Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Kammas, Reddies, Thevars, Chettiyars etc. No classical Hindu text knows the term 'HINDUTVA'. Thus, the issue is the annihilation of the Chatur-Varna Order, its system of privileges and discriminations. The upper-caste converted Minorities are trying to bluff Dalits by raising the bogey of 'Hinduism'.

Do we need to distinguish between 'good hindus' who dissociate themselves from the BJP-RSS-VHP brand of hinduism? Or are these 'good hindus' (who practise caste discreetly) more dangerous than the hindutva type?
A so-called Hindu is only bad. 'Hindus' cannot be good. When did the RSS/BJP/VHP etc. come into being? In the 20th century. Isn't it? But, what was society before that? Was it less cruel? Were not Dalits made to hang an earthen pot to their neck if they had to spit? Life then was worse than it was for animals. But, the so-called non-hindutva 'Hindus' glorify that period.

What do you think about the brahmanism/ hinduism of the communists?
Christianity didn't have the Varna Order, and nor did Islam. Both the religious system came to India with many good virtues, but the Chatur-Varna Order corrupted them. Similarly, Communism came with wonderful notions of equality, but the Chatur-Varna Order corrupted Communism as well. As recent history shows, the two organised groups — RSS and Communists — are more hostile to Ambedkarism than anybody else. In fact, between RSS and CPI-CPI[M], the latter are more dangerous as they don't believe in debate. You can abuse the RSS and still get away. But, the so-called Left will not leave you.

Your comments on the Kumbh Mela... Did you go there, or think of going there, out of mere curiosity? Women of course cannot splash in the nude at the Kumbh, but do north indian dalits figure in some way here? And what does one make of a buddhist like the Dalai Lama visiting the mela?
My parental place is less than 200 miles from Allahabad. I know, most of the Kumbh visitors are Shudras, poor Brahmans, and Sadhus etc. Few Dalits go there, a majority of them out of curiosity. I have never been there. The Dalai Lama is a Brahmanized Buddhist.

What kind of music do you listen to, what books do you read, what films do you like watching? Leading an urbanised life with modern amenities one is faced with a barrage of cultural-artistic representations which are hardly alive or attuned to subaltern concerns of the aesthetic. We are forced to consume what is around us but these tend to alienate us from our own moorings, however region-specific these moorings be. These male-savarna-created cultural practices even inferiorise dalits, poor muslims, women and other subaltern communities. Yet, we seem to partake in the process as choiceless consumers... How do you, as an insurgent dalit intellectual, come to terms with it?
I have very little time to spare for music or cinema. I generally watch news on TV. I sometimes like watching Discovery and National Geographic. Frankly speaking, I can't relate to mainstream art, music, cinema etc. as they all relate the lives of the Chatur-Varna Order. I find mainstream art as lifeless, rotten and static as life in the Chatur-Varna Order itself.

What have you registered yourself as in the Census? A buddhist? What should be the strategy of dalits vis-à-vis the Census? What is your position on caste count in the Census?
I was in Indore when they came to my house. Had I been there, I would have argued to be registered as a non-believer. But that is my personal choice. Now, the Census is over, so let us not waste time on that. I think we should not waste time on religious issues. What happened in Maharashtra? The entire energy went towards spreading Buddhism, and the Dalit movement suffered. We must focus on the present-day challenges. The question of the betterment of the community. Look which section of Dalit is talking of Buddhism — the educated, employed, and those financially better off through other means. So, whenever the community at large becomes economically better off, with very little effort they will choose Buddhism.

Do you believe in god? I mean, does the larger question of faith as a socio-political space interest you personally and/or in terms what it means to dalits?
I am a perfect non-believer; if at all I believe in any thing, these are Ambedkarism, Dalits' intelligence, democracy, science, and the Indian State. Call them my gods and goddesses.

Could this (question of faith) have been a problem that Periyar, because of his credo of atheism, failed to understand, especially as it concerned dalit spiritual-cultural practices? What do you think is the major faultline in Periyar's philosophy (if we can see it separately from the political legacy that the mainstream political parties in Tamilnadu claim to represent)?
As facts show, Periyar had launched an Anti-Brahman movement, and a movement against Brahmanism. He could probably not foresee that the Shudra once in power will become Ultra-Bramanical. That is why he targeted Brahmans alone, and not the Chatur-Varna Order. That one blunder eliminated the Dalit movement from the Tamil soil in the 20th Century. Unconsciously though, Periyar's movement has created a Social Monster in the form of Shudras. Tamil Nadu under the Dravida parties has the worst record in land reforms. While at the all-India level, out of every hundred SCs, 49 are landless agricultural labourers, in Tamil Nadu, it is 64. Since Shudras are in power, the Dalit movement in Tamil land has a tough task ahead.

You have been arguing that dalit-OBC unity is not possible, given that wherever an OBC movement has flourished (as in Tamilnadu, the Dravidian movement, or in Bihar now) the dalits have not been able to stand their ground. But culturally and in day-to-day habits don't you think there is more in common between the sudra-OBCs and the dalits?
I have never argued that 'Dalit-Shudra unity is not possible'. I have argued that the Dalit-Shudra unity, even if it takes place somewhere, should be stopped. You know, Shudras play with Dalit sentiments — they will point to the social monster called Brahmans, rob Dalits' support, come to power, and then turn to Dalits to oppress them. Every ruling group looks for subjects. And the Shudras, once in power, treat Dalits as subjects as they cannot treat Brahmans as subjects. Not only in Tamil Nadu, the entire South is a classic example. Land-labour relations in South are more undemocratic in the South than elsewhere in India. For instance, out of every hundred SCs in UP, 43 are cultivators, whereas in Tamil Nadu it is 15, Kerala 3, Karnataka 23, and Andhra Pradesh 13. Had OBCs captured power in UP, say 30 years ago, UP may have met the same fate.

I think there are more Brahmans who eat Beef and Pork than Shudras. I also think Shudras tend to have an increased intensity of religiosity than Brahmans. I think Shudras practice untouchability more vigorously than Brahmans today. Further, Shudras tend to use violent methods against Dalits more often than Brahmans do. To me, a violent form of aggression is the ultimate form of oppression. But I still believe an attempt should be made to unite with artisan Shudras.

Dalit-OBC unity may not be happening out there in the field... but do you think it is at least theoretically desirable? Can it be a long-term goal/ possibility?
Dalit-OBC unity is theoretically most undesirable, as the fruits of unity will go to Upper OBCs or Upper Shudras, who tend to practice Brahmanism of the medieval era. The Shudras' aim is to dislodge the Brahmans, and continue with the Chatur-Varna Order, while Dalits want to destroy the Order itself. So, when both the categories have different aims, where is the theoretical basis for unity?

You have even been suggesting that a brahman-dalit (political) alliance seems to be emerging (the BSP fielding brahman candidates). You even seem to think intellectually they can come together... But do you think a brahman and a dalit can ever come together physically, philosophically and spiritually; in marriage, living together, food habits...? Aren't they the opposite poles of the caste system?
See, Dalits will always differ with, or rather fight with Brahmans in the area of philosophy, ideology, culture, art, notions of life... in other words, on worldviews. This will go on for several thousand years. But since Dalits and Brahmans are both social minorities, both have a common enemy in Shudras. Thus, for their own different reasons, (Brahmans trying to retain their hold on urban assets and institutions, and Dalits trying to fulfil the basic needs of life) Dalits and Brahmans have no option but to come together politically in the near future, say by the second decade of this century. Suppose, there is an attempt by the State to redistribute land on the principle of LAND TO THE TILLER, who will be affected most: Shudras or Brahmans? And who will lose most — Shudras or Brahmans? Who will benefit most — Shudras or Dalits? To me, unless radical land reforms take place in India, Dalits can never, and should never, think of achieving freedom. And on the land question — the most crucial Dalit question today — the Dalits will be violently resisted by the Shudras.

Do you subscribe to the term 'bahujan' or the idea of 'oppressed majority' formulated by Phule and which has found contemporary rearticulation in Kancha Ilaiah's writings? Elaborate...
It is not the majority which is oppressed, it the minority, it is the Dalits. Do you think Shudra communities such as Thevars, Vanniyars, Chettiyars, Gaudas, Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Kammas, Reddies, Jats, Yadavs, Gujjars, Kurmis, Patels, Marathas are oppressed communities? When Phule talked of uniting with Shudras, the Shudras then were only the social police of the Brahmans; they were tenants. Today, they own land, most of the rural assets and institutions. They have a fair share in the media, cinema, and urban assets as well. All the four chief ministers in the South are of Shudra origin, including the CMs of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar. Thus, ten major States are ruled by Shudra Chief Ministers. What is the condition of Dalits in these States?

Kanch Ilaiah is a Shudra scholar. He targets Dalits sentiments. Tells them that Brahmans are the creators of the Chatur-Varna Order, that they developed the notion of untouchability. And therefore, they must be destroyed. Dalits tend to get emotionally moved. But, he never says that it is not the Brahman, it is the Brahmanical Order which has to be destroyed. He never says that upper Shudras are turning more Brahmanical than Brahmans themselves. He never tells what is the performance of Shudra governments in the South and elsewhere. He never tells us what the Thevars do to Dalits in Tamil Nadu, or Kammas and Reddies do in Andhra Pradesh.

Ilaiah, foregrounding his position as an OBC, has talked about the need to dalitise the nation as a challenge to savarna cultural hegemony. Do you think it is possible/ okay to identify something like 'dalit' culture as a distinct category? Or does that amount to essentialising...
In fact, Kancha is drafting an intellectual trap to Shudraise the nation's culture. Dalits and Shudras differ culturally as much as Dalits and Brahmans do. Shudras and Brahmans are culturally more close to each other than Shudras and Dalits. Dalits are a distinct social category, and so is there culture.

If you reject Ilaiah's diagnosis of brahmanic hinduism and his positing the need for dalitisation of the savarnas, including the OBCs, what cultural alternative must we pose to the 'brahmanic' model, especially in the context of the pressure on dalits and other subaltern communities who, while coming to enjoy the benefits of urban modernity, are forced to 'brahmanise'. What can be done to prevent the proliferation of what some dalit intellectuals have identified as the 'dalit brahman'? How do we get dalits to be proud of being dalit?
Dalits have a distinct culture. But we should not glorify it. Neither do we want Brahman/Shudra culture. We want European culture, which is the best. When West's economic model is turning out to be the standard model for most nations, why not their culture? Every Dalit who is happy today, it is because he is westernised. With which culture was Dr. Ambedkar more close to? Was it not western? In fact, if you examine minutely, Dalits are culturally more close to western culture than cultures anywhere.

Is there a need to distinguish between the 'harijan' and the dalit, in the sense of the latter being a politicised/ intellectually aware, responsible person. But what do we do with 'harijans' like Bangaru Laxman, Ajit Jogi, Paswan, Meira Kumar, or similar figures who occupy the academia, media and opinion-making sections of society? In other words, how should we view dalits who want to efface/ disavow their dalitness? I feel savarna intolerance is to be blamed to a large extent for this situation... Don't you think this problem, of what the brahman sociologist M N Srinivas conveniently termed 'sanskritisation', will remain as long as we do not provide a meaningful alternative? Can such an alternative be built by fusing the positive elements of dalit cultures and those of western modernity (meaning concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity)?
Let us not condemn Dalit leaders. It will serve no purpose. In that case, we will land up calling [President K R] Narayanan also a 'harijan'. When Dr. Ambedkar had joined Pandit Nehru's Cabinet, he too was criticised by many Dalits.

The alternative is there, in the last sentence of your question. Fusion. Yes, fusion of the positive elements of Dalit culture — which is yet to be theorized — and the modernity of the western culture. M N Srinivas suffered from the same inferiority complex which Arun Shourie suffers from today. Shourie is under great civilisational pressure: why was no Brahman suitable / good enough to write the Constitution of the Indian Republic, which regulates the affairs of the State, and also of society. He, therefore, went on to artificially prove that Dr Ambedkar had only a minor role in drafting the Law Book. Srinivas sensed that the new Brahmans' modern [westernized] culture is more closer to Dalits — man-woman relationships, sex patterns, non-vegetarianism etc. — and therefore instead of admitting that Brahmans are picking things from Dalit culture, he went on to artificially prove that Dalits are aping Brahmans!

What is your position on the participation of nondalits in dalit struggles? Till now, the savarnas have been interested in dalit issues only in a patronising gandhian way, without attacking the varna system. Should not nondalits underplay themselves in terms of visibility/ outspokenness, and try to be mere facilitators...?
Dalits have always welcomed non-Dalits in their struggles. But, as you seem to suggest, they should be more as facilitators than claiming leadership roles.

Don't you think the intellectual responsibility of nondalits who (in whatever way) approach dalit identity issues should be to address those nondalits who are wilfully unalive to the problems posed by caste and their own implicatedness in the caste system?
You are right. They should educate their own people, they should critique their past, their vision, their culture, and their intellect.

How should dalit intellectuals, especially historians, look at history? Recently Gopal Guru has argued that the dalits have no nostalgia; what they remember is 'only the history of humiliation and exploitation'. Your comments.
Gopal is right. I largely agree with him. But I would like to add one thing: Dalits must look at history, rather write history of non-Dalits from a Dalit perspective. That will help Dalits as there is continuity of the doctrine of exclusion. Untouchability was nothing but a doctrine of exclusion where Dalits were denied all rights, access to wealth and institutions. Dalits can conclusively prove that Romila Thapar practices that doctrine. So did Bipan Chandra. The Department of History in JNU grew under the shadow of Bipan and Romila. But, they did not allow a single Dalit to become a teacher. They threw constitutional provisions into the dustbin. Today, the same Romila Thapar talks of defending the Constitution. So is the performance of Sumit Sarkar. These historians have distorted history; and in terms of vision, they are closer to the Sangh Parivar. They have the same view of British Imperialism that the Sangh Parivar propagates. To the Dalits, the coming of British gave great relief...

Isn't the intellectual liberation of nondalits, starting with the brahmans, important for dalit liberation? Can a dalit struggle take place independent of the emancipation of all castes? Isn't it necessary to dialogue with the oppressors, though the possibilities of such a dialogue — a scenario where a brahman listens to dalits and is willing to change — seem remote right now. Where and how do we start, given that dalit consciousness and brahman revivalism seem to be happening simultaneously?
We must be clear in what we mean by DALIT LIBERATION. Dalits have to first and foremost cross the transition phase: that no Dalit remains as landless agricultural labourer, no Dalit remains uneducated, Dalits have a fair representation in English medium schools, higher education, a fair representation in public institutions, several hundred of Dalits as millionaires, their housing issues are resolved, they have access to good healthcare etc. Only after these basic questions are resolved, Dalits can think of the battle for complete emancipation. It is wrong to sell a dream which is not likely to be achieved. This abstraction of Dalit struggles is dangerous as it dilutes the immediate agenda of the community.

Yes, Dalits must convincingly tell nondalits that they too are in the bondage of the Chatur-Varna Order. Nondalits' intellectual emancipation is very important, for unless they undergo emancipation, Social Democracy can be accomplished. It is extremely necessary to tell Brahmans that once Shudras capture political power at the all-India level, the first thing they would do is destroy democratic institutions. Then, the Shudras will unleash SOCIAL FASCISM in India, which will not harm Dalits alone; Brahmans too will face humiliation.

The real danger of revivalism of Brahmanism rests with Shudras, and the Brahmans will be the immediate victims of Brahmanism.

Brahmans cannot revive their medieval oppressive system, nor the medieval-type dominance. Yes, the real danger of revivalism of Brahmanism rests with Shudras, and the Brahmans will be the immediate victims of Brahmanism. Dalits can still withstand that revivalism, as they already undergone that experience. But Brahmans will collapse, will be totally shattered. Therefore, they should join the Dalits' battle for land reforms. The only way Brahmans can escape the Shudras menace is to democratise land-labour relationships, followed by achieving social democracy. If the land-labour relationship is democratised, Shudras will lose their clout. But, unless Brahmans decide to share urban assets and institutions, Dalits can't save Brahmans from their sure downfall. If Brahmans do not take the initiative, they will be finished in the coming fifty years.

During a talk in Hyderabad in January you talked about how a 'progressive-leftist' journal like the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) refused to publish your article. But they allowed a nondalit, Aditya Nigam, to theorise on the epistemology of the dalit critique. Would you like to throw more light on this? Is this related to the larger problem of the hypocrisy of savarnas of all hues — marxists, feminists, secular-liberals, antimodernists (like Nandy, Kakar, Kishwar), postmodernists, and the hindutva-wadis?
A Savarna is always a Savarna. He is not a Marxist, he is not a secularist. He is not a liberal. Ideological divisions such as Marxist, Socialist, Liberal or Rightist are all artificial divisions. Is The Hindu/Frontline group of papers owned by an official Rightist? How many Dalits have a regular column in Hindu/Frontline? I can give hundreds of instances where Left/Secularists are University VCs, but have they implemented the Constitution in appointing Dalits in teaching positions? There used to be a good lobby of Left artists in Hindi cinema — but did they ever launch a movement to include Dalit art and Dalit artists in Hindi Cinema? There is still a big secular lobby in Bollywood; but has it ever made an attempt to democratize the film world? There are a host of Left/Secular columnists in mainstream media. But have they ever sought to improve Dalit presence in field of journalism? EPW is just the other face of Organiser (RSS journal).

Right or Left, both the arms belong to the same body, serve the same body, are guided by the same brain. We must be able to understand this situation.

Yes, when Brahmans are cornered, then they look for allies. That is what happened in UP, when in order to escape subjugation at the hands of Shudras, they approached BSP, and made Mayawati the chief minister twice. Likewise, when we strip the Brahman intelligentsia naked, and parade them on the intellectual streets of India, they will need some patch of cloth for cover — then they will look towards Dalits to turn saviors!

There's been great confusion over how the dalits should understand and react to the formulations of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and its spokespersons, Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy. How should we critique their gandhian-environmentalism without undermining the larger issues that concern the dam-affected?
NBA is known as Patidar's [an equivalent of Thevars in Tamil Nadu, or Kammas of Andhra Pradesh] Land Bachao Andolan [PLBA] in the Valley, Rehabilitation Andolan in Delhi, and Save Environment Movement in London and elsewhere in Europe. NBA talks of Gandhism, it opposes modernity. It glorifies the past, in the same manner as the RSS does. For the Dalits, the past was more cruel, local institutions are more oppressive. Modernity has given Dalits some relief. NBA is supported by bored house-husbands/ bored housewives of Savarnas, and its cadres are the spoilt brats of the urban elite. Arundhati Roy and Medha Patkar represent the most ugly face of the Brahman world.

Some dalit and OBC spokespersons have been talking about the liberatory potential of globalisation/ liberalisation for dalits/ subaltern groups, arguing that it would be easier to deal with a professional capitalist like Jack Welch (GE chairperson) than with an unprofessional baniya-capitalist like Rahul Bajaj. Do you agree? There is also a demand for reservation in the private sector? Will this be possible? How should dalits handle globalisation?
Globalization/liberalization must be seen in a particular social/political context. In the Indian context, most ideas, institutions, which come from the West, howsoever ill-intended they may be, in the end, benefit those who are outside the Chatur-Varna Order, namely Dalits and Adivasis. I totally agree with the view that it is easier to deal with Jacks but difficult to deal with Bajajs.

The anti-globalization drive has been launched by the Sangh Parivar and the mainstream Left, whom I call the Domesticated Left. For, both are ultra-nationalists.

But here I have one problem, which is different in nature, and which neither Left and nor the Sangh would agree, for, both have an amazingly high degree of contempt for the Indian State. My problem is this: globalization/liberalization is inseparably linked to privatization. As I have stated earlier, any Dalit who has some smile on his face, is better-dressed, better-housed, is so because he is serving or has served under institutions of the State — be it a Class-IV employee, an Engineer/Doctor/ Civil Servant or a legislator. The few Dalits who are abroad, in the US or UK in particular, must have some indirect connection with the Indian State — their parents, relatives or friends. Thus, if the institutions run by the State get privatized, where will Dalits go? This question has always haunted me. Look at the condition of Muslims! Within fifty years, where have they gone, those who once ruled for over six hundred years?

Today, nine major Indian states are being headed by Shudra Chief Ministers. The Shudra parties like DMK, TDP, RJD, SP, JD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, Chautala's Lok Dal, etc. seems to have entered into agreements with Dwija parties like Congress and BJP. The agreement is — 'Don't raise the question of Land Reform, we will not oppose privatization'. Likewise, Dalit parties should tell Dwijas, 'Your game will be over within 50 years. Shudras will finish you politically. Then your hold over urban assets and institutions will be over. So, align with us, as Shudras want to treat us as their subjects. And, therefore, support us in a new phase of Land Reforms, give us our share in private sector — in both capital and jobs, and in public institutions. Then, we can support you in redefining Mandal reservation, which must go to artisan Shudras.' Something like this can be done. Only then can the larger Dalit mass benefit.

What about computers and the hype over information technology? Where do dalits stand in the context of such virtual, air-conditioned, anti-sweat labour? What must be their strategy?
Few Dalit individuals apart, Dalit masses stand nowhere. Out of every 100 SC (1991 Census), 63, and in case of STs 70, are illiterate. By 2001 Census, it may at the most come down to 50 for SC/STs put together. How many of them are educated above matric? To me, not more than 5 per cent. How many of them are English-literate? Maybe 0.001 per cent. Those who are English literate, and have education above 12th standard? Maybe 0.0001 per cent. And how many of them own PCs? May be 0.00001 per cent or much less than that! Thus, there is a very clear danger of IT becoming another Sanskrit. While we should welcome the IT revolution, we must demand our due share in it.



What is your position on conversions? Since reservation in the public sector hardly matters given that government jobs are shrinking, and being counted as a 'hindu dalit' has no social benefits whatsoever, do you see the possibility of dalits embracing new religions — islam, christianity or buddhism — if these faiths offer them not just dignity and respect but also tangible material benefits like education, jobs... What threat does this pose to localised dalit spiritual traditions, faith-spaces?
If there is any Dalit who 'feels' that he/she is a 'Hindu', then he/she must immediately switch over to any other religion, preferably Buddhism. This could be an ideal position. But will this kind of conversion lead to emancipation as well, spiritual or material? What is our experience? Those who switched over to Christianity, turned into 'Dalit-Christian', those who embraced Sikhism, became 'Dalit-Sikh', those who sought Islam became 'Dalit Muslims' and those who converted to Buddhism, are called Neo-Buddhists, equivalent of 'Dalit-Buddhist'. The Dalit intelligentsia must rely more on its intelligence, genius, than on emotion, and try to find out why even after changing one's religion, a Dalit continues to be identified with his/her earlier identity.

Those who have a clearer idea of the Chatur-Varna Order, or the Caste System, must keep this basic fact in mind — that, there is no Varna or Caste, in the traditional Chatur-Varna Order, without an OCCUPATIONAL identity, and vice-versa. Thus, unless a Dalit changes his/her occupation, which is historically imposed on him/her, and chooses an occupation, or is caused to choose one, no real emancipation can occur. Since conversions are not necessarily accompanied by a change in occupation, he/she continues to be identified with his/her traditional occupation and Dalit identity, and thus turns into DALIT-CHRISTIAN, DALIT-SIKH, DALIT MUSLIM, NEO-BUDDHIST etc.

Today, all those Dalits who have some respect [respect in the relative sense of the term, for instance, the status of a Dalit who is an Engineer, and status of a Dalit who remains a cobbler] in society, are so because of change of occupation. Thus, if a Dalit (who remains a so-called Hindu) becomes a clerk in Railways or Postal Department, or a schoolteacher, or even a peon in Collectorate, he/she is more respected than a Dalit who remains a landless agricultural labourer but becomes Christian or a Buddhist . Thus, keeping this experience in mind, the Dalit energy, or the Dalit movement should address the basic material/ educational question of the community, and try to dismantle the relationship between traditional OCCUPATON and Caste.

But, then one can easily tell Mr Prasad, "A Dalit who has become a clerk, and converts to Christianity or Buddhism, is still called Dalit-Christian or a Neo-Buddhist. That means, his/her occupational transformation has not helped him/her."
My answer to this kind of question simple: There are two individuals — one a Bangladeshi billionaire, and the other an American pauper. At first instance, one would tend to weigh the American pauper more than the Bangladeshi billionaire; for, the Bangladeshi billionaire is identified with the average condition of Bangladeshis and the American pauper with the average condition of Americans, who are better-off. Thus, those Dalits, who are in Civil Services, or those who have migrated to America or UK, will always be identified with their social roots. Therefore such sections of Dalits, instead of raising emotive issues, or issues abstract in nature, must concern themselves with ground realities and raise fundamental issues of their less fortunate brothers and sisters — land, quality education, employment, business and trade, participation in public institutions, question of atrocities etc.


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SOUND-BYTES FROM THE INTERVIEW THAT COULD BE USED AS BLURBS
"A so-called Hindu is only bad. 'Hindus' cannot be good."

"RSS and Communists are more hostile to Ambedkarism than anybody else... EPW is the other face of Organiser."

"The Dalai Lama is a Brahmanized Buddhist"

"I have never argued that 'Dalit-Shudra unity is not possible'. I have argued that the Dalit-Shudra unity, even if it takes place somewhere, should be stopped..."

"Shudras play with Dalit sentiments — they will point to the social monster called Brahmans, rob Dalits' support, come to power, and then turn to Dalits to oppress them."

"The Shudras, once in power, treat Dalits as subjects as they cannot treat Brahmans as subjects. Not only in Tamil Nadu, the entire South is a classic example. Out of every 100 SCs in UP, 43 are cultivators, whereas in TN it is 15, Kerala 3, Karnataka 23, and AP 13."

"Ours was the first brick-house [in the village]... the local Zamindar requested us to keep the height of the walls/roof below that of his own house... [We] raised the foundation even higher."

"I have a CPI[ML] past in politics... In JNU, I had the opportunity to read Ambedkar, and thus began arguing with my Comrades."

"I argued with my [CPI-ML] leaders why they were always against the Indian State, which is the only place where Dalits get some relief, and, in what way was Dr Ambedkar less radical than Karl Marx? ... It was indeed amazing to hear them dismissing the Varna/Caste nature of society as a NON-FACTOR."

"Here in India, the most radical NON-DALIT will be less progressive than the most conservative White in America."

"I believe in Ambedkarism, Dalits' intelligence, democracy, science, and the Indian State. Call these my gods and goddesses."

"I think we should not waste time on religious issues. What happened in Maharashtra? The entire energy went towards spreading Buddhism, and the Dalit movement suffered."

"Periyar could probably not foresee that the Shudra once in power will become Ultra-Brahmanical. That is why he targeted Brahmans alone, and the Chatur-Varna Order. That one blunder eliminated the Dalit movement from the Tamil soil in the 20th century. Unconsciously though, Periyar's movement has created a Social Monster in the form of Shudras."

"Shudras tend to have an increased intensity of religiosity than Brahmans... andpractice untouchability more vigorously than Brahmans today. Further, Shudras tend to use violent methods against Dalits more often than Brahmans do. To me, a violent form of aggression is the ultimate form of oppression. But I still believe an attempt should be made to unite with artisan Shudras."




"It is not the majority [bahujan] which is oppressed, it the minority, it is the Dalits. Do you think Shudra communities such as Thevars, Vanniyars, Chettiyars, Gaudas, Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Kammas, Reddies, Jats, Yadavs, Gujjars, Kurmis, Patels, Marathas are oppressed communities?

"Dalits and Shudras differ culturally as much as Dalits and Brahmans do. Shudras and Brahmans are culturally closer to each other than Shudras and Dalits. Dalits are a distinct social category, and so is there culture."

"When we strip the Brahman intelligentsia naked, and parade them on the intellectual streets of India, they will need some patch of cloth for cover — then they will look towards Dalits to turn saviors!"

"NBA is supported by bored house-husbands/ bored housewives of Savarnas, and its cadres are the spoilt brats of the urban elite. Arundhati Roy and Medha Patkar represent the most ugly face of the Brahman world."

"Shourie was under great civilisational pressure: why was no Brahman suitable / good enough to write the Constitution of the Indian Republic, which regulates the affairs of the State, and also of society."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
Referred by:Sashi Kanth
Published on: March 6, 2001
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India's lower castes can now go to private schools
A new law reserves more than a fourth of private school seats for the underprivileged.

By Anupreeta Das | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

NEW DELHI – Private education in India has always been the preserve of the country's middle and upper classes, but not for much longer.
Under a new constitutional amendment, private schools, colleges, and professional training institutes that operate without government funding will be obliged to set aside more than one-quarter of their seats for students from India's "untouchable" lower castes or Dalits, as well as other socially and economically disadvantaged groups.



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The amendment, which will apply to admissions for the 2006 academic year, could directly affect the lives and futures of at least 70 percent of India's more than 1.2 billion people.

In addition to Dalits, who make up one-quarter of the population, there are millions of Indians from poor tribes and disadvantaged groups collectively known as other backward castes (OBCs). According to one estimate, approximately 113 million children between the ages of 6 and 14 are now eligible for reserved seats in private schools.

For the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which is led by India's ruling Congress Party and passed this amendment, reserving seats in private schools is only a first step on the way to reservation of jobs in the private sector. Already, the social welfare ministry is pushing for voluntary affirmative action by business leaders.

The new amendment cuts to the heart of a critical debate about how best to bring about social mobility within India's rising economy: should the government legislate in favor of social justice, or should it limit its role to facilitating private enterprise?

Supporters of reservation policies claim such legislation is a necessary precondition for changing social attitudes. Dalits are at the bottom rung of India's hierarchical caste system, prevented from scaling the social ladder by centuries-old discriminatory practices that continue in both explicit and subtle forms.

For supporters, it's a matter of justice

Supporters argue that because the public sector has reserved quotas since independence - which has helped many Dalits and other disadvantaged groups gain upward mobility through education and regular income - the private sector should participate too.

"It is compensation for Dalits, who were historically denied access to education," says Sukhdeo Thorat, a professor of economics at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

He says in addition to the social discrimination that keeps Dalit children out of private schools, the high tuition charged by many of these institutions have made them especially "restrictive." Dalits, he argues, have suffered from the double burden of untouchability and poverty, which acts in a vicious cycle to keep them out of "desirable private institutions."

Calls for private sector quotas, too

Mr. Thorat calls for widespread private sector reservation, including employment, capital markets, agricultural land, education and housing.

These demands are echoed not only by other Dalit intellectuals, who draw support for their cause from the right to equality granted by the Indian Constitution, but also by the UPA government, whose social manifesto states a commitment to creating reservation in the private sector.

Meanwhile, critics, including education and business leaders, decry the move as a political measure that will do little to improve the condition of disadvantaged groups. Many also look at it as a result of the failure of government institutions, which have reserved seats, to provide quality education.

Government schools are in a sorry state, often with woefully inadequate infrastructure, rampant teacher absenteeism, and high dropout rates. Private schools, in both rural and urban areas, are often in much better shape because they have more resources and pay better salaries to teachers.

P. V. Indiresan, a former director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in the southern city of Madras and a member of the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based think tank, says the government wastes the funds budgeted for education. "But they have never used that discretionary resource to help Dalit and tribal children get good education. On the contrary, they have systematically dismantled government schools."

Given the consistently poor quality of government schools, and the swing in India's economic fortunes following widespread economic reforms introduced after the country's financial crisis of 1991, the demand for private sector reservation has become more strident.

"Unable to stop globalization, reforms, privatizations, Dalit intellectuals thought it prudent to demand rights for the community in the private sector, be it in jobs, education, or the economy," says Dalit journalist Chandrabhan Prasad, who writes India's only English-language column on Dalit issues.

Reservation has always been a contentious issue in India. In 1990, a law that widened the ambit of reservation to include OBCs in the public sector triggered strong upper-caste protests, and helped bolster the rise of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Reservations create a 'creamy layer'

Moreover, reservations have created a what critics call a "creamy layer" of Dalits and OBCs, or those whose families initially benefited from reservation, gained upward mobility, and continue to capture these reserved quotas for their kith and kin. "Reservations have created a middle class among backward castes," says Gurcharan Das, a former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, who frequently writes a pro-liberalization column in a leading national newspaper.

"It is also an infringement on liberty," says Mr. Das, arguing that private institutions must be compensated if they are to reserve seats for Dalits.

"We all believe in providing equality of opportunity, but the principle of reservation is wrong, because you don't want to divide people on the basis of anything other than merit."

In recent months, industry stalwarts have written repeatedly to the government, saying they prefer to promote educational opportunities by providing scholarships to deserving candidates rather than through a blanket reservation policy.

As former IIT director Indiresan says, the private sector wants to follow the American system of affirmative action, and not reservation.

"In affirmative action, the deprived are raised to required levels of competence; in the reservation system, the level of competence is reduced to accommodate what the beneficiary is capable of."

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0213/p04s01-wosc.html


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