“Caste is the most
overwhelming factor in Indian life. Those who deny it in principle accept it in
practice. Life moves within the frontiers of caste, and cultured men speak in
soft tones against the system of caste, while its rejection in action doesn’t
occur to them”. Socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia said this in 1964.The
recently concluded general elections has accentuated the issues of ‘India’s
rightward tilt’ and ‘end of electoral politics in India’. The myth should be
empirically verified and so should be its underlying significance. There is no
doubt that BJP won an overwhelming mandate from the people on the back of the
charismatic leadership of Narendra Modi, but it would be inappropriate to say
that ‘caste consciousness’ was entirely negated in this election. Yes the urban
votes went to BJP, where caste and religion are miniscule factors in
determining the voting pattern, the rural votes are still caste based. For the
urban voters (including the youth and first time voters) with no first hand
experience of religious and communal extremism, terms such as secularism and
communalism have become obsolete and redundant. They saw in Modi a ‘pied piper’
who would take them to the path of growth and development.
But three- fourth of India’s population
reside in villages, where the ‘caste’ factor cannot be condoned during
elections. What explains the persistence of caste consciousness in Indian
politics? Media plays a major role in the sustenance of caste by deliberately
highlighting the non issues. In various debates, the panellists are constantly
asked questions regarding the caste factor (especially in UP and Bihar). Also
the media has been accused of being biased by bestowing differential treatment
to dalit leaders like Mayawati with respect to other political leaders. The BSP
chief’s wealth and her self projection- creating parks and monuments, naming
projects after her and celebrating lavish birthdays have been obsessively
written about while ignoring her extraordinary political achievements. The
political rallies are reported not for their content but for the traffic chaos
they created.
According to eminent sociologist Andre
Beteille, ‘inter caste marriages, inter caste dining, etc. have reduced the
caste inhibitions in our society to a large extent. But in politics, caste
consciousness still persists.’ So what explains this phenomenon? The
consciousness of caste is brought forward to the fore at the time of elections.
The ‘social engineering’ done by the political leaders to woo the voters, makes
the election period, the most appropriate time to play the caste card. The
Constitution created ‘rights’ to eradicate caste from the heart of its
citizens. But for the majority of the citizens, the habits of the heart are
still the habits of a hierarchical society. Other eminent scholars have the
opinion that modernity has eroded caste consciousness among us. Today we
experience urbanization of society where students dine together at the canteens,
dalits enter the temples unopposed, lower and upper caste people travel in the
same compartment of a train. Caste may not be dying out in the next 50-100
years, but the rapid expansion of a new middle class, attendant to demographic,
technological and economic changes will slowly but surely alter the operation
of caste.
When we talk of caste
consciousness in politics, it is prejudiced and perceived in a negative
outlook, which shouldn’t be the case always. India cannot get rid of its caste
identity. Modernization cannot erode the primordial hierarchical structure of
our society. ‘Caste in India is class in the west’. The dalits and the shudras
belonging to the lower stratum of society have bore the stigma of the caste
system in India. Even today people belonging to such lower castes perform the
scornful and repugnant act of manual scavenging. This apathy has given rise to
caste based parties and political leaders. The social engineering is done to
bring forth the issues of exploitation and discrimination. Hence there can be
positive aspect to class consciousness too.
The reason for persistence of caste in
Indian politics is the tacit ‘internal code’ of caste, its positives and its
culture. This ‘internal code’ makes it special; and distinguishes it from other
castes. A few examples will illustrate what it means. Let us look at the caste
of the richest people in India according to Forbes. Lakshmi Mittal (baniya),
Mukesh Ambani (baniya), Kumarmangalam Birla (baniya), Gautam Adani (baniya),
Sunil Mittal (baniya). Most of them belong to the mercantile castes. It is not
easy to find many Indians of non mercantile caste who run businesses of large
scale. The baniya is convinced that his ability to raise and manage capital is
demonstrably superior to that of the rest. He sees that as a result of his
caste culture.
Now let us look at
‘honour killing’. Murdering their daughters for honour is almost exclusively
done by the peasant castes of north India, especially the Jats of Haryana and
Punjab. Such heinous acts have got the legitimacy of khap panchayats there.
Honour killing is successful only when his or her caste accepts that the Jat
has redeemed his honour by murdering his own disobedient daughter.
Similarly people
belonging to the ‘sevayat’ and the ‘daita’ community of Jagannath Puri take
immense pride of their lineage. Any aberration in terms of matrimonial alliance
outside their caste and community won’t be received amicably. That family is
debarred from performing rituals inside the temple.
This explains the fact that why even
today people vote for their own kind. Not for the fear of pollution, but
because of a positive attraction towards people with the same values, which
emanate from caste. Whether or not the media emphasizes this, is irrelevant.
The fact that rural India votes confessionally, for him merit comes from caste
values. This condition may not be forever unaltered, but it is also evident
that modernity by itself has not dented it. The average villager devotes far
more time and thought on home, work and worship and less on political matters.
But for him ‘this’ is where caste is embedded most powerfully. Voting pattern
is thus an extension of this consciousness that has in fact not changed that
much. This fact is clearly evident when BJP had to make alliance with LJP in
Bihar and Modi effectively and repeatedly playing his ‘OBC’ card in UP.
