Rationale for Caste Reservations - notes

 Therefore, the tendency to point out a well-to-do Dalit (or any other marginalised position), while pointing out an economically unfortunate person from a forward caste, stems from the very fact that both are anomalies.

Generational Capital and the Privileged Bahujan

I had expressed similar thoughts previously here.

That makes me wonder whether an odd poor Brahmin invokes more sympathy not just for himself but for his whole caste because he himself was and is an anomaly. A rich Dalit getting benefits of the reservations sets tongues wagging, - even though, the caste altogether always struggle to fill their justified proportion in education or job- because a rich Dalit is an anomaly. Thus those individual cases are generalized for the whole Dalit castes.

Original Father of Dravidian Speakers - VIII

 Original Dravidian : 

mother: aayi 

Now found mostly among central Indian Dravidian tribes and Marathis and Konkanis. Among Marathis and Konkanis it could be Dravidian maternal lineages or Dravidian substrate. Its usage among some of the Kannada castes is due to Maratha influence in northern Karnataka region. Ironically, the term which was lost but reappeared because of non-Dravidian speakers.

So, the equivalent should be 'aaya' for father. Now observed only in Telugu as 'nayana'(my father).

Dravidian mixed with Harappan:

mother: amma, appa

father: appa, amma

Dravidian+Harappan mixed with Prakrits:

father: accha, ayya (equivalent to 'arya')

Others:

avva: most likely derived from 'amma'

akka, anna: result of consanguineous marriages

Ab ke hum bichray he... by Ahmad Faraz / Mehdi Hassan

 

After we say good-bye this time,

we may only meet in dreams...

Quite like dried up flowers

sometimes turn up in books...

 

Go, search for loyalty

among troubled and lost people...

These rare jewels will possibly

be found among these and no where...

 

You are not God,

and neither is my love divine...

When the two are human,

then why the need to hide behind veils....

 

Bring other troubles of this world,

and mix with the pain of your beloved....

Intoxication mounts up, just like

on mixing different drinks together...

 

After we say good-bye this time,

we may only meet in dreams...

Quite like dried up flowers

sometimes turn up in books...

 

Hum Dekhenge... By Faiz Ahmed Faiz (A translation)

 

We shall see, I’m certain that we will see….

We shall see, I’m certain that we will see….

 

What promise tomorrow brings, we will see…

What’s written in the heart of men, we will see…

 

                                  - 1 -

When the mountain of injustice in front of us,

blows away as cotton.

The earth under the feet of us common men,

quivers with deafening sound,

And the sky over the people who rule us,

breaks with blinding lightening....

We shall see, I’m certain that we will see….

 

                                     - 2 - 

When all the symbols of oppression are removed

from this land,

We, the common and righteous men, would be placed

on the pedestal.

All crowns would be thrown away,

All seats of power would be burnt to ashes....

We shall see, I’m certain that we will see….

 

                                      - 3 -  

Only the name of the divine will remain,

Who is invisible but also present,

Who sees everything and is also

a sight to behold…

                                       - 4 -  

And there will a voice of truth rising all over

which will be me, and also you…

And it will be a rule of common men

which will be me, and also you…

 

We shall see, I’m certain that we will see….

We shall see, I’m certain that we will see….

Betrayal of Malayali Muslims

 My first encounter with communalism was after the demolition of the Babri Mosque. The stories I was hearing was how my relatives or Malayali Hindus in general who resided in Kasaragod (northern Kerala) but worked in Mangaluru, Karnataka (adjacent region) would stay back in Mangaluru if it was late. They had to move from a Muslim majority part of Kasaragod and the fear psychosis was too high. I heard the story of my relative, a communist party worker, being hacked to death in a Muslim majority area in Kasaragod. I also heard from my relatives that the Muslims indulging in violence in that region were the ones who had migrated to Mumbai and moved back after facing Hindu communal frenzy in the aftermath of Babri Mosque demolition. Then there were tit-for-tat murders of some of the most vulnerable. Compared to the left dominated Kerala region, the Hindutva dominated Karnataka region where I lived was relatively calm. This I felt was a real irony.

The dominant ethos of Keralan society has always been Leftwing ideology. This ideology has consistently opposed the Hindutva movement in general and the Babri Mosque demolition in particular. There have been multiple clashes between the Left and the RSS (the Hindutva movement) which left scores dead. So, in a nutshell Muslims had no business to create any nuisance in Kerala.

One may argue, it was a minority but that's where the betrayal becomes apparent. The Hindutva party, BJP, could never get any seat( a situation hasn't changed much even today though its vote share has increased considerably). However, the Muslim majority district of Malappuram always elected the candidates from the Muslim League. For a long time, the MP from the district was not even a Malayali Muslim. Basically, Malayali Muslims when they could elect a candidate on their own they chose a communal party. This despite the fact that all other parties would have chosen a Muslim candidate. How is this different from communal Hindus voting for the BJP? To make the matters worse, this had been happening long before the BJP was even a potent political power. 

The Muslim League is supposedly moderate. But one could take the similar line with communal Hindus too. Compared to Muslims, Hindus in general are a more open society with girls having relatively better freedom. There is not much difference between secular Hindus and communal Hindus in this case. What should worry all of us, is the identity based politics of both the Muslim League and the BJP. Majority Malayali Muslims haven't acquitted themselves admirably in this case.

After the Babri Mosque demolition, there was a flurry of Muslim fundamentalist parties in Kerala (the menace of which has spread to Karnataka too). One can argue, that was a direct response to Hindutva communalism as all regions of India are so closely integrated. But it's still a betrayal of Keralan ethos. More than that it's a mockery Kerala mainstream culture. Do those bigots think such blatant communalism in a region known for its hardcore leftist movement will not be observed people in other regions of India, who would then draw their own conclusions? 

This betrayal can't be undone unless every Muslim identity party whether moderate or extreme ceases to operate in Kerala.

Marx on Religion and Caste

Past few months have demonstrated that the people can have delusional happiness by not only consuming narcotics but also consuming news about it[1]. For many of us, it also reminded Karl Marx’s metaphorical use of it. In the present situation, it’s rather intriguing how this narcotic is so closely interlinked with a religious right-wing government and with all its shenanigans literally and figuratively.

When you see some of the Hindu sects/groups consuming opium as part of the religious traditions, one could almost make a comment that it’s a literal demonstration of Marx’s irreligious observation. It’s as if some people have understood all they need is the stimulation of neurotransmitters to experience god. This psychedelic expression is observed in other religions too. 

Sufi Islam’s obsession with wine and women as manifestations of god experience, the trance that is found in many religions, are probably some of the other examples. These are extreme cases of religions but in general every ritualization serves the same purpose. In some parts of India, rituals have been infantilized with activities like keeping the dolls or enacting child’s games with the deity. Some religious people would explain it as the literal expression of the philosophical understanding that the world is a theatre and humans are dolls in a puppet show. Overlooking the fact that gods are part of the puppets(or the only puppets, it’s as if tit for tat puppet show), we may find that (which is true for any explanation of god or ritual) the philosophical understanding itself is limited by the knowledge of man-made institutions. While we can dismiss religious people’s unmethodical explanations, one would wonder whether Marx was thorough in his observation or not.

It probably ambitious of me to criticize Marx without fully understanding his structural-functionality approach to Socialism, but I believe, I can point out the variables he might have overlooked before making the observations on religion.

Before venturing into religion, I should comment on the other area where I feel his observation failed completely, the caste system. According to Marx[2]:

“the caste system of India was based on the hereditary division of labour, which was inseparably linked with the unchanging technological base and subsistence economy of the Indian village community.”

It’s true that many castes are occupation based. However, it’s strictly not division of labour in Adam Smith’s terms. Here the division of labour is intra-caste than inter-caste. Also, the division of the occupation is hierarchical than isolationist. Privileged castes could take up other occupations without the loss of their caste. The unchanging technological base and subsistence economy were the results of the caste system than the foundations. However, the biggest drawback was that, Marx didn’t understand that the foundation was purity and pollution rules as correctly observed by many Indian sociologists. Even Gandhi, with all his casteist biases understood this fact and tried things like cleaning the toilets. I consider Marx’s theory on the caste system is flawed mainly because the dogmatic Marxists of India failed miserably when it comes to the caste system. The class system is part of the caste system, however, in India, the class struggle has no meaning without the caste struggle. I would even say, the class struggle is irrelevant in Indian society. Marx correctly observed how the caste system degenerated the Indian society. However, it should have been up to the Indian Marxists to come out with a proper explanation on the foundation of the caste system based on their direct experience than building upon the Marx’s flawed theory. I believe this lack of direct experience or feeling about the caste system in Marx’s theory can also be observed in his views on religion.

The main variable that Marx missed about religion was ‘identity’. He only talked about ritualization, but failed to notice how religious identity also plays a big part as it is the only basis for pride or self-worth for many people. Marx missed this point as religious identity didn’t play any part in his life. 

Marx’s father converted to Catholicism from Judaism to overcome the oppressive limitations enforced by the Christian government. As an oppressed community, many Jews would have strongly clung to the religious identity as an act of defiance. But for Marx’s family, a religious identity by itself was irrelevant. It should be noted that Marx’s father too was a revolutionary for a liberal society. His pragmatism was based on enlightened view about the religious identity than the opportunist turn. With this background, it’s no wonder that Marx didn’t see religious identity as a matter of pride or shame. Religion not only provides illusory happiness but also illusory pride. This aspect is missed completely in his observation about religions.

[1] https://scroll.in/article/972593/rhea-chakraborty-arrest-shows-how-india-sees-drug-addiction-as-moral-failing-not-the-illness-it-is

[2] https://www.cpim.org/marxist/200203_marxist_caste&class_jbando.htm

OBC Illusion of Caste Liberation

 One of my relatives is against reservations and the term 'OBC' in general. According to him, we should be allowed to get on with our lives without any of these terminologies defining us. 

Some of my other relatives have the same opinion. They are against reservations and feel it didn't help them in anyway and they were further burdened by the negative portrayal and mockery of the OBCs by the privileged castes.

There is a grain of truth in this about the affirmative action if you consider numerically smaller castes like mine[1]. Most of the reservation benefits are cornered by the numerically stronger OBC castes. However, it need not be a deliberate injustice, as the effective qualified population of the numerically stronger castes is far higher as compared to the smaller castes and the jobs and education seats are highly limited. Also, the OBC reservation percentage(27%) is far lower than the OBC proportion (40-80%) in the population. With the new EWS (reservations for privileged castes), the situation has become worse for them. But it doesn't negate the fact that the opportunities are still better with the limited reservations for all OBC castes than the situation with no reservation.

But what these anti-reservation, anti-OBC relatives fail to understand is their lived experience as under-privileged castes is still true. The person I mentioned in the beginning of this post, started his own civil engineering consultancy. However, he had to close it down as he couldn't compete against the Telugu speaking feudal caste contractors in Bengaluru. According to him, they have a vice like grip on the construction scene because of their money and muscle power. While explaining this he made a strange observation.

He felt, the Telugu feudal caste had the monopoly because the Kannada feudal caste was weak and Tulu feudal caste didn't have numbers. He would have had a better chance if the native(Kannada/Tulu) feudal castes were stronger as the Telugu feudal caste was highly parochial as they wouldn't allow anyone else to prosper.

The whole conversation was a surreal experience. I wondered whether he was aware how pitiable situation OBCs like him find themselves in because of caste realities.

- He failed in a venture because a privileged caste has monopolized the industry

- He was hoping other privileged castes to counter them as he felt his own caste stood no chance

That's exactly the caste reality he has faced but doesn't even realizes it. The problem is failures make people put the blame completely on themselves. This probably is heightened by the "lower caste" birth. The failure to recognize injustice of the caste  system stops them from identifying with the OBC identity.

Reference:

1. Less than 1% of OBC castes corner 50% reservation benefits, 20% get none, govt panel finds

OBCs and Affirmative Action - v

I always felt the lack of a collective identity of OBCs was the biggest reason why they, as a group, were regularly fooled by Hindutva. Playing up their insecurities with Muslims and Dalits, the Hindutva has managed to channel the strong anti-Muslim and anti-Dalit feeling to their political and social advantage.

For a time after the Mandal commission report, the OBC representation in politics was reaching their proportion in the general population. However, the privileged castes seem to be getting back to their disproportionate representation owing to the support of communalized OBCs. However, nothing compares to the way they have been regularly fooled in affirmative action.

Previously, in some cases, they weren't allowed to compete in general category thus ensuring the disproportionate reservation for the privileged castes, whereas, the actual reservation for the OBCs was lower than their representation in the general population. Now, we have a new situation where OBCs are completely deprived of their reservation and to rub it on the privileged caste reservation have it intact when it comes to all India Medical seats.

"Since 2017, the OBCs have been denied reservations both in PG/UG medical seats under All India Quota. Thus, they are denied 3000 seats every year which are transferred to General Category. This year also, the same injustice continues," the association's General Secretary, G Karunanidhy said.

 It's difficult to sympathise with the OBCs when you see their bigotry and casteism in the present situation. Their baggage of insecurity and inferiority complex is both frustrating and pitiful.

Creating Diversionary Gods

In one place, Hindutva is trying to create a god out of Ambedkar by continuously shouting that the Congress committed blasphemy against him and on the other hand, it’s jailing Dalit scholars who embody Ambedkar’s intellectual outlook in the public life. This zeal to make Ambedkar a hallowed figure who should have been respected more is a diversionary tactic. Most of our gods serve the same purpose.

Ambedkar was a scholar who once observed drily that both Gandhi and Jinnah had been made demigods by Hindus and Muslims respectively. For him, that kind of personality cult was detrimental to society in general. Now, of course, the question is, can there be any good in this? Gandhi as a representative of a pacifist god who fought against colonial slavery or, Jinnah as a secular god (since that was what he wished for Pakistan after dividing the country in the name of religion), could have made any difference?

We do know that neither of them turned into such gods. Basically, the personality cult is created by the followers and it’s their idea how a person needs to be worshipped that creates the legacy (unlike the godmen/women who create their own personality cults). Many rationalists and social scientists have opined that creating gods has been beneficial for the dominant classes as they could control the common people with a system called religion. However, in many cases, the gods or spirits come from the lower strata of society. How does that fit here?

In my region, we propitiate many spirits whose origins were from lower castes or women who suffered. According to Marxist historians (or at least a Marxist historian from Kerala), it’s a way for the underprivileged castes to create a safe space for themselves from the oppressing privileged castes. We have Kordabbu, a Dalit who suffered because of the casteism becoming a ‘daiva’(spirit) or Siri, a woman who suffered because of the patriarchal (even though the region was matrilineal) oppression becoming a ‘daiva’. Did Dalits and women get their safe space in old times because they had these spirits guarding them? A laughable conjecture. In fact, the privileged caste males had easily assimilated those worship within their religious sphere and actually oversaw them. The worship is not about the suffering but about the miracles or materialist betterment or about the basic fears of infertility and diseases. None of these has anything to do with societal drawbacks that led to the sufferings of those people and which continued to oppress the majority of the population.

Could Kordabbu have been a more effective spirit? What if the power of the spirit was in protecting people who suffered caste oppression or in punishing people for the caste oppression? Would that have put doubts in the privileged caste men? Would that have brought down the caste system?
In the story of Siri, she was conned and made to fend for herself by the menfolk. She was attacked too. However, while she suffered the material loss, she didn’t get raped. She performed a miracle and escaped from the situation (or punished the men). I suppose a tragedy figure because of physical and material suffering was acceptable to become a spirit but getting raped would have made her impure and she would never have been treated as a spirit. I wonder if we have any spirits who were raped. Could they have been effective spirits against the sexual attacks against women? Could Siri have been more effective as a daiva against abusive men?

Neither Kordabbu nor Siri as spirits could change the system that made them suffer in the first place. As I discussed previously, in the folk story of Mangale, she renounced the privileged life to be with her love. However, Brahmanical narrative has turned her into a materialist goddess(who in the earlier days was worshipped as a spirit) for the aspirational class. Whatever might be the origin of these spirits, the later narratives were created by privileged men. Whatever might be the identity and background of those spirits, now they speak the privileged tongue. The privileged men could never understand or identify with the caste or women oppression as they themselves were oppressors and more importantly hugely benefited from it. And for generations they knew that they got away with it, so it’s inconceivable for them that any spirit would punish them for those atrocities. Their fear and desire were related to wealth, health and security which they had, unlike the underprivileged ones.

The Marxist theory that religion for privileged men is a way to control society and for underprivileged people is a way to create a safe space for them is only half-truth. In reality, religious space has always been controlled by privileged men. They allow a token identity for the underprivileged in their sphere to give them an illusion of dignity.

This is the same game plan being played by Hindutvites. Ambedkar’s natural heirs are the intellectuals and scholars of the Dalits. Ambedkar’s true spirit lives in them. However, Hindutva wants to suppress them but wants to create a god out of Ambedkar for the aspirational class Dalits to give them a token identity. I wonder if they will succeed or not.

Random thoughts - Positivity or Wishing Away?

In my opinion, symbolic solidarity should be community-driven events. The government shouldn’t get involved in it. People should show solidarity with the government by following the rules and regulations enforced by it to mitigate a situation. Any symbolism, they should be sceptical.

In any dire situation, you could be one of the three players. A person in power, who needs to make decisions and come up with plans to mitigate the situation. A person not directly affected by it but also has no say in anything. A person who is directly affected by the situation. I would consider the issue of manual scavenging as an example here. 

Mr Modi in his book(now withdrawn) ‘Karmayog’ wrote that manual scavenging could have been a “spiritual experience” for some of the Dalit castes. It is one of the positivity that the caste apologists routinely dispense of.

Manual scavenging is a problem. Wishing away the problem by viewing it in a positive light as a spiritual experience means different things to all those three players.

For a person in power, it’s just shirking responsibility under the guise of hoodwinking positivity. For an unaffected person, it’s a way to feel good about themself by reinterpreting the guilty feeling and imagining it non-existent. For the person affected, that kind of thought is unthinkable(the statement angered many Dalits) or if they are forced to accept that, it shows the total breakdown of their life or total hopelessness of their situation.

That is an extreme example. Normal people might not think in that way. But there are other situations, where people try to channelize positivity in the name of solidarity. But the difference, between the people who have power and the people who don’t, remains the same as in the above example. Italians showing regular solidarity during the crisis which is organized through social media messages or we holding candlelight vigils for our fallen soldiers within our own communities are like second or third group people with no actual power. But if a government does it, it’s a different matter.

We need to show solidarity with the government by being obedient to the laws it enacts to mitigate the situation but we need to be sceptical if the government itself indulges in symbolic solidarity. It’s basically shielding itself from any kind of criticism by equating its inadequacy even with all the power to the common people’s guilt feeling borne out of the helplessness or lack of power. It’s also very evident from the previous solidarity symbolism that people tend to misunderstand it and make the matters worse. The community-wise spontaneous solidarity gestures are still welcome as it doesn’t give additional work to government organizations to clear up other mess that might arise.

Reference:
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/pm-modis-views-manual-scavenging-have-changed-quite-bit-over-seven-years