Census 2010: A Vote Bank Clout !

Will you reveal your caste when the census-taker comes calling? Those who advocate the caste-census do so on the principle that it is better to know than not to know, and that knowledge helps us to empower ourselves and others. According to this argument, the more information we can gather on regional concentrations and percentages of caste, the better equipped we'll be to take focused affirmative action to counter discrimination and social and economic backwardness.

This seems to be a reasonable enough argument. The problem is that, ever since the adoption of the Mandal commission's recommendations by the V P Singh-led government in 1990, caste conflict has escalated, not declined. The system of quotas and reservations in jobs and educational institutions originally meant only for Dalits and tribal people, and that too for a limited period has with the inclusion of OBCs turned the traditional caste system upside down: often it's more advantageous to belong to a so-called 'lower' caste rather than to a so-called 'upper' caste.

This reverse caste-discrimination, championed by its votaries as being just retribution for millennia of upper-caste repression, has in fact engendered antagonisms within the ranks of the OBCs themselves, of which there are 1,963 categories in the country. Competitive casteism (i belong to a more backward caste than you, so i need more quotas and reservations than you) and the vote-bank politics that it creates can result only in dividing our society even more, socially and politically.

Supposedly 'OBC' parties like Mulayam Singh's SP and Lalu Prasad's RJD could well find themselves splitting to represent smaller and smaller caste groupings, each vying with the other for a larger allotment of seats on the gravy train of caste. Will India end up having over 1,900 political groupings, each claiming to promote the legitimate interests of a particular disadvantaged caste?

In fact, the final count of such caste-based proliferation could be much higher. The so-called Muslim vote which earlier was seen to encompass the entire community is also said to be showing signs of internal divisiveness, with 'backward' Muslims, like the Mews of Rajasthan, demanding SC status. Will 'backward' Muslims who converted to Islam to escape the lower-caste identity thrust upon them by the Hindu community demand and get special and separate political representation? And if they do and what political neta can resist a new captive vote bank? what about 'backward' Christians, 'backward' Sikhs, and even 'backward' Buddhists, who will turn Ambedkar's dreams of Dalit liberation upside-down?

Even as Nandan Nilekani's team is trying to create a cohesive and equitable Indian identity by giving every Indian a Unique Identification Number, the caste census will inevitably create further cracks and fissures in our already fragmented polity. A typical case of the right hand of the sarkar not knowing or even caring what the left hand is doing.

Instead of trying to identify people by their caste, it would make more sense for the census to identify peoples' economic status. Surely BPLs people who exist below the poverty line are more deserving of affirmative action and positive discrimination than OBCs, or even SC/STs? Or are they? Unfortunately for BPLs, unlike OBCs and SC/STs, they don't represent a captive vote bank. With the result, they literally don't count with our netas, during a census or at any other time.

So what's your best option? Choose which caste you want to belong to for the census. Opt for the caste that will get you maximum mileage in terms of quotas. Caste is not your destiny; it is your vote bank clout. Choose it wisely.

Source:TOI (Jug Suraiya)

Related Posts by Categories

Widget by Blogger Templates