Thursday, May 19, 2011

[ZESTCaste] New Measures - from human development & unfettered rights/choices to justice

 


are new measures required for economic and social well being progress in 21st century? my inputs into economist.. please join this debate

http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/698/showCommentModule:1

_________________________________________ 

Dear Madam/Sir

I am in total agreement. I think we need to develop indices using the approach of pedagogy of the oppressed

Rise in inequalities with human development is a reality globally. Strategies adopted by communities and households for dealing with inequalities vary from rise in drug trafficking in Central America, spread of dowry to communities where it did not exist (e.g. dalits and fisherfolks in India) and spread of Maoists attacks in India and rise in crimes in South Africa.

Climate change and environment degradation is also a reality. The burdens of both inequalities and climate change/environment degradation are disproportionately borne by those who are already marginalised like dalits, adivasis, blacks, landless households, migrants, marginal and small farmers, slum dwellers and women and girls amongst them (the oppressed).

It is in this context that the Human Development Index needs to be revisited from the vantage point of oppressed to what they see as human justice not only for this generation but next.

Do the oppressed believe in unfettered individual human rights or that individual human rights cannot curtail collective rights and well being? I believe the latter. They are against unfettered conversion of agriculture land, coasts, forests etc for tourism, industries, huge infrastructure development projects. However, conscious voices of oppressed (when a Paulo frierian model has been adopted) state that individual human rights cannot be violated in the name of culture (e.g. honour killing of those who marry outside their religion) or curtailment of freedom of speech in the name of national interests.

Do majority of oppressed believe in Reproductive and sexual rights or reproductive and sexual justice?
They place importance on Justice. Slum dwellers and poor rural women in Tamil Nadu were shocked when I asked them should women have a right to sex selection of males, so called sex work and surrogate motherhood. They were clear there would be more trafficking and polyandry, sexual violence and exploitation. They want underpinning causes which lie in neo liberal paradigm, patriarchy, casteism, class and unethical institutions should be addressed

A third point that the oppressed tell me is let us look at beyond capitalism and communism; beyond public and private-curtail choice in health and education. They have asked me why do your children have access to good education and we do not, why do we go to public health care and you go to private (though not all ethical), why do we live in slums and hamlets with poor water and sanitation when upper caste/whites do not?. They make a strong argument for putting back slum dwellers into main towns and dalit/black/Muslim hamlets into main villages and allocating the same water, health and education facility for all-publicly financed and publicly or privately provided (accredited institution).

As of now donors and government focus on sectoral projects when the need of the hour is changing social institutions to be accountable to needs of marginalized of present generation and future ones. The oppressed do not think of their lives sectorially but as individuals, members of families, communities, state (to some extent) etc. Some are aware of supra state organisations like World Bank, IMF and WTO, but a majority are not. But they want institutions they know to function with a justice perspective

They also want the upper middle class and elite to act in trusteeship, for if we keep on accumulating where is there anything left for them? The pie is after all limited. They want income/asset ceiling.

.

If human justice (present generation and future ones) are to become a reality we need to revisit development paradigms urgently, and revisit measures to capture these from the vantage point of the oppressed.

Ranjani.K.Murthy

posted on 19/05/2011 01:46:55 amRecommended (0)Report abuse



Ranjani K.Murthy wrote:

Dear madam/Sir

In continuation of my previous posting let oppressed rule the family, dominant community, markets state, supra state institutions- world bank, WTO, IMF, UN et al. For what all what progress have the elite/elite countries made after 50-60 years of creation of these supra state organisations? Mother earth and the world is on a pathway to disaster.

The oppressed groups, sufis, bhakti movements, liberation theologists etc have a different connection with life force and just spirituality.

posted on 19/05/2011 02:42:39 amRecommended (0)Report abuse

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[ZESTCaste] Rahul misquoted on Noida deaths, rapes, claims Cong

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-misquoted-on-Noida-deaths-rapes-claims-Cong/articleshow/8428905.cms

Rahul misquoted on Noida deaths, rapes, claims Cong
TNN | May 19, 2011, 03.27am IST

NEW DELHI: With other political parties joining the Mayawati
government to question Rahul Gandhi's claim of mass murder and rape in
Bhatta Parsaul, Congress on Wednesday claimed that the party general
secretary had been misquoted.

AICC media head Janardan Dwivedi said, "Whatever has come in media is
unfortunate. Nowhere did he (Rahul) mention the number of 74 or 74
bodies. Rahul Gandhi had only said that at one place an ash-heap of 70
feet area was there in which bones were found," he told reporters.
About the authenticity of the claim made, Dwivedi said Rahul spoke
what he was told by villagers during his visit.

Dwivedi's defence came after both Samajwadi Party and BJP raised
doubts about Rahul's sensational version of what happened last week at
Bhatta Parsaul and after the inhabitants refused to support the
claims. Mayawati government, which has accused Congress of
politicizing the issue, has sent the ashes, allegedly containing human
remains according to Rahul, for forensic investigation.

The AICC media head emphasized that Rahul had merely quoted the
villagers who clashed with police over their demand for enhanced
compensation for farmland acquired by UP government. "Naturally,
whenever you go after some incidents, whatever people tell you, you
repeat those things," he said.

Speaking at a party meet in Varanasi, Rahul talked about his dramatic
visit to Bhatta Parsaul but stopped short of repeating the charge of
killings and rape. He said villagers were living in fear and he did
not get to meet men in Bhatta Parsaul.

Rahul demanded a judicial probe into the violence, and said, "If the
government says that there is no problem, why is there no inquiry to
find out the truth."

In a hard-hitting speech, he also said that his agitation in Bhatta
Parsaul was only the beginning of a larger campaign against the
Mayawati government.

Significantly, in Delhi, Dwivedi seemed to concede the possibility of
villagers making exaggerated claims. "That matter should be
investigated. If it is not correct, it is alright. But if it is
correct, it is a very serious matter. Whatever may be the fact, it
should come out."

A day-long independent investigation by TOI at Bhatta Parsaul pointed
to high-handedness by police who were fired upon by the protesters,
but the villagers did not support the charge of largescale killings
and rape.

Congress, however, repeated its demand for judicial probe into the
police action. "This is a matter of investigation. It should be
investigated. If bones have been found, whose bones are these should
be determined. And if atrocities have taken place against women and
they were even beaten up, why has it happened," Dwivedi said.

The political clash over Bhatta Parsaul is being seen against the
backdrop of the looming UP polls. Scheduled next year, the state
elections are being seen as test for the Congress general secretary
who was widely credited with the party's unexpectedly strong
performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul was instrumental in Congress's decision to go it alone in a
state where it had been reduced to the margins since the early 90s.
While the risky gambit paid off, Congress has failed to build upon the
surprise win two years ago. The sub-par performance of the party in
the just-held assembly elections and, early on in Bihar, has enhanced
the need for Congress to emerge as the main political formation in
opposition to Mayawati.

Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, asked if the party had
evidence to back Rahul's claims, said, "This is not a court to talk
about evidence...It was a political delegation. We called for a
thorough probe to establish that there was no rape or murder. Why is
the UP government hesitating in ordering an inquiry," she said.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit gram pradhan was killed

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/dalit-gram-pradhan-was-killed/692824.html

Dalit gram pradhan was killed
PTI | 03:05 PM,May 19,2011

Mainpuri May 19 (PTI) A dalit gram pradhan was killed and another
person seriously injured in a shoot out here this morning, police
said. Dara Singh Jatav, gram pradhan of Gadiya Chinkaura in Bewar
police station was going with Sadhukar Yadav when he was shot at near
Khuja. While Jatav died on the spot, Yadav was referred to Agra
hospital in a serious condition. Later, the locals staged a protest
placing the body on the road demanding immediate arrest of the
culprits. Superintendent of Police Happy Gupta said the incident
appeared to be a fallout of some rivalry in the village. PTI CORR SAB
PG

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[ZESTCaste] After Rahul Gandhi offensive, Mayawati seeks counter strategy

http://www.livemint.com/2011/05/18230216/After-Rahul-Gandhi-offensive.html?atype=tp

Posted: Thu, May 19 2011. 1:00 AM IST
Published on page 4

After Rahul Gandhi offensive, Mayawati seeks counter strategy
Liz Mathew &

The face-off between Congress party general secretary Rahul Gandhi and
Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister Mayawati took a fresh turn on
Wednesday after Gandhi stepped up his political attacks.

Seemingly on the defensive, Mayawati responded by convening a series
of meetings with top bureaucrats and key Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
leaders to evolve a counter-strategy.

Meanwhile, three people familiar with the developments said the chief
minister has also, for now, put off plans to advance the elections due
to the UP state assembly in 2012.

Gandhi, who was arrested by UP police last week after he joined a
section of farmers protesting against acquisition of their land for
the construction of the 165 km Yamuna Expressway linking New Delhi and
Agra, has now decided to broaden his political campaign.

"What is the state government doing? Bundelkhand is seeking help but
the state government is not doing anything. I went to the Prime
Minister and did whatever I can. But the money sent from the Centre is
not utilized here," PTI cited Gandhi as saying at a two-day convention
of the state unit of the Congress party in Varanasi. "I recently went
there (Bundelkhand) where the condition of roads was not good, farmers
were not getting their due in the mandi (market)."

Gandhi also demanded a judicial inquiry into the use of force by the
police in quelling a violent agitation by the farmers.

On Monday, Gandhi took a farmers' delegation to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and accused the state government of atrocities against
the agitators. Gandhi was quoted as saying that there were 74 mounds
with bodies inside. However, a day after the BSP denied this
allegation, the Congress on Wednesday said Gandhi had been misquoted.

"Rahul Gandhi had only said that at one place an ash heap of 70ft area
was there in which bones were found," Janardhan Dwivedi, party general
secretary, told reporters.

Meanwhile, the BSP chief is taking note of the political challenge
posed by Gandhi. So far the assumption was that the opposition against
Mayawati was divided and unable to galvanize itself around a cause.

A BSP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not
authorized to talk to the media, said the chief minister was "more
concerned" that the present agitation, which has so far been confined
to Bhatta-Parsaul villages, could spread to other areas where similar
land acquisition issues are simmering. Former legislator and activist
V.M. Singh, in a letter to Mayawati, had warned that farmers in Kharua
in Pilibhit, Bareilly bypass, Joya and Joyee in Amroha and Madhya
Ganga Nahar in Bijnor were planning similar agitations.

The Congress is now keen to tap this discontent to bolster its
political base in the state.

According to Badri Narayan, an Uttar Pradesh-based political analyst,
there is a disconnect between Mayawati, who won by a landslide in the
2007 assembly polls, and the electorate. "She is completely under the
influence of bureaucrats and they guide her in governance matters," he
said. "She has lost that political touch with the people at the ground
level."

Some BSP leaders concur.

"There is a visible disconnect between Mayawati and the party
leadership at all levels. I am not talking about district
coordinators; senior cabinet ministers are not getting a chance to
meet her," said a BSP legislator.

Similarly, another party leader pointed out that the chief minister
had discontinued routine interaction with party leaders at lower
levels. Mayawati would meet the zonal leaders, who would brief her
about the situation on the ground. "This discontinued after she became
chief minister but restarted after the low performance in the 2009 Lok
Sabha elections. However, since March this year, she has not met any
zonal coordinators," the same leader said.

liz.m@livemint.com

PTI contributed to this story.


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[ZESTCaste] Inter-caste couples’ kids seek SC/ST tag

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/inter-caste-couples%E2%80%99-kids-seek-scst-tag-544

Inter-caste couples' kids seek SC/ST tag

May 19, 2011
DC
Hyderabad

May 18: The intricacies of the caste system are baffling enough but
when it comes to inter-caste marriages and the children of those
marriages claiming scheduled caste or scheduled tribe status, the
situation is so convoluted that it takes years to untangle.

SC and ST certificates are highly coveted to get entry into
educational institutions and jobs in the reserved category. But cases
are piling up in every district because it is sometimes difficult to
provide the documentary proof required for such certificates. Take the
case of Mr P. Subbarayudu, whose SC (Mala) caste certificate was
cancelled by the collector of Kadapa. He had obtained an SC
certificate and a job in the postal department on the strength of it.

The father of Mr Subbarayudu originally belonged to the Vysya caste
but married one Ms Tirupalamma alias Subbamma in the year 1948, who
was from the Mala caste. He was declared an outcaste by the Vysya
community, forcing him to settle down with his SC in-laws. Mr
Subbarayadu therefore claimed that the family was recognised as SC.

But this did not cut any ice with the authorities. Inquiries revealed
that Mr Subbarayudu did not assimilate himself into the SC community
but married a Vysya woman, married his sister into the Vysya caste,
did not admit his children in school as SCs but instead declared them
to be of the Vysya caste in all their records, and had relationships
with Vysyas. "Hence the contention of the appellant is not tenable,"
the collector said. "It is confirmed fact that the appellant played
fraud," the collector observed.

According to the Government Order Ms No 371, of the Employment and
Social Welfare (B2) department, dated April 13, 1976, the child of an
inter-caste marriage can inherit the lower caste of either parent
provided he/she has been accepted by the members.


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[ZESTCaste] Dalits thrashed

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110519/jsp/nation/story_14001667.jsp

Dalits thrashed

Chhatarpur, May 18 (PTI): A group of upper-caste men allegedly beat up
Dalit people at a wedding in Raura in Madhya Pradesh yesterday for not
showing respect to them, police said.

Three upper-caste men took offence when the Dalit people did not stand
up as they arrived at the wedding. The victims lodged a police
complaint and the wedding took place this morning under police
security. No one has been arrested yet.

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[ZESTCaste] Rahul flip flops on Bhatta-Parsaul facts

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-misquoted-on-Noida-deaths-rapes-claims-Cong/articleshow/8428905.cms

Rahul flip flops on Bhatta-Parsaul facts
Pallavi GhoshPallavi Ghosh , CNN-IBN
Updated May 19, 2011 at 07:52am IST

New Delhi/Varanasi: The BSP has slammed Congress General Secretary
Rahul Gandhi for making serious allegations of rape and murder,
without substantiative evidence.

The Congress on Wednesday backtracked on the Bhatta-Parsaul
controversy, claiming Rahul Gandhi was misquoted.

Defending Rahul Gandhi against allegations that he misled the prime
minister by claiming that women had been raped in Bhatta-Parsaul,
Congress leader Salman Khursheed said Rahul went by what the villagers
told him.

"He is not saying that he has evidence. He is just saying what was
reported to him, the photographs that suggested something terribly
wrong and therefore he said this is what the allegation is and please
inquire into it," said Khursheed.

Rahul himself speaking at the Varanasi Conclave of the Congress was
careful not to make any reference to rape or mass killings, but vowed
to take his fight against Mayawati to 'every village'.

Taking the battle right into Mayawati's camp, Rahul Gandhi on Monday
said, "People have been raped, farmers have been killed," while
accusing UP administration of covering up instances of brutality.

After two days of denials and criticism from Mayawati's men, Rahul
remains defiant, though a little more cautious.

"I will continue to fight for the cause of farmers," Rahul Gandhi said
on Wednesday.

So was the deadly political duo of Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh
simply plotting a political masterstroke?

At the Congress Convention in upper caste dominated Varanasi, Rahul's
followers have already started the process to coronate him.

The Congress may have been caught on a backfoot, but it's trying to
overlook it. Rahul was careful not to mention rape in his speech but
Bhatta-Parsaul will be the issue to attack Mayawati till 2012.

"The real issue here is what's happened to the farmers. Footage should
be watched and heard carefully. The media reports are wrong. How the
ashes became corpse we don't know how. We don't know how it became 74
bodies. It's wrong reporting. The matter should be investigated and
his statement is based of feedback he got from the people," said
Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi.

But the BSP is looking at this as its own victory. They allege that
Rahul was simply trying to use the farmers' agitation to position
himself ahead of UP polls in 2012.

"There were atrocities in Bhatta-Parsaul, but Rahul Gandhi had no
rights to defame the women of the village by saying they were raped.
He should have thoroughly checked facts before making statements,"
said BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.

So the questions remain - on what basis did Rahul Gandhi allege that
women had been raped in Bhatta Parsaul?

Why is the congress asking for CBI probe into Bhatta killings if the
party is not sure of allegations that it's levelling itself?

Why is Mayawati averse to launching a judicial probe if she is sure of
her administration?

For now though, the Congress would simply take heart from the fact
that at least it managed to create an issue, which must have energised
its own cadre in the state.

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[ZESTCaste] Centre mulls special Mahadalit category

http://www.dailypioneer.com/339665/Centre-mulls-special-Mahadalit-category.html

Centre mulls special Mahadalit category
May 19, 2011 6:27:41 PM

Usha Srivastava | New Delhi

Set to include them in BPL segment

In a step which can have a major bearing on Dalit politics in the
country and challenge Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's
undisputed hold over her caste people, the Centre is likely to carve
out a special Mahadalit category and include them in the Below Poverty
Line (BPL) segment.

The proposal is expected to come up for discussion before the Union
Cabinet on Thursday. Sources said the Mahadalit category will consist
of those sub-castes from Scheduled Castes which are economically,
socially and educationally most backward in comparison to others and
are landless, homeless and have symbolic representation in Government
jobs.

The Congress feels that creation of this Mahadalit category will deal
a body blow to UP Chief Minister Mayawati and other Dalit leaders.

This proposal mooted by the Rural Development Ministry could become
part of the BPL census exercise once the Cabinet gave its seal of
approval. An official of the Rural Development Ministry said there was
need to reach out to the most backward and poorest section of Dalits
and this move will ensure their empowerment.

For the first time in 2007, NC Saxena committee report on Below
Poverty Line methodology talked about the need for giving especial
attention to Mahadalits and stressed that they be automatically
included in the BPL list.

Expressing happiness over the Centre's move, Saxena told The Pioneer
that "this will come as a big relief for hundreds of thousands of
Dalits."

On who will be identified as Mahadalits, Saxena said, "those who are
poorest among the poor and most backward among the backwards."

Saxena said Mahadalits are present in large numbers in States like
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

Bihar is the first State to treat Mahadalits as separate category.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's revolutionary step helped him
isolate his political rival Ram Vilas Paswan in a big way.

Saxena said that while the States will have flexibility to include
certain Scheduled Castes in Mahadalit category, but they will have to
ensure that the BPL sealing fixed by the Planning Commission is not
breached. He said his committee had also recommended exclusion of
'well-off' castes from the list of BPL.

Sources said the exercise to identify people below poverty line will
go hand in hand with caste census and be part of it.

The Cabinet on Thursday is likely to decide on the methodology and
agency to carry out this exercise. The Government will like to
complete it before September to take political advantage in the next
year's elections in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Goa and
Uttarakhand.

Incidentally, hundreds of villages have been identified under Prime
Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojna, of which 25 are in UP. In such villages,
half of the population consists of the Mahadalits.

In October last year, the NAC had suggested inclusion of particularly
vulnerable tribal groups (PTGs), the Mahadalit groups, households
headed by single women or disabled persons or a minor, destitute
households which are dependent predominantly on alms for survival,
homeless and bonded labourers in the priority group for coverage under
the Food Security Act.


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[ZESTCaste] Body of youth found in box, honour killing suspected

 

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5166629

19/05/2011
Body of youth found in box, honour killing suspected

Ghaziabad, May 18 (PTI) In a suspected case of honour killing, a
27-year-old youth was allegedly killed in Sahibabad area of the
district, police said.
Body of Amit, bearing stab wounds, was found in a box this morning
near his house in Sahibabad, the police said.
Three persons, including the girl with whome the deceased was
allegedly involved, have been arrested in this connection, said the
police.
Mother and uncle of the girl were also arrested, police said.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits beaten up for not standing up to show respect

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/mp-dalits-beaten-up-for-not-standing-up-to-show-respect/690994.html

MP: dalits beaten up for not standing up to show respect
PTI | 07:05 PM,May 18,2011

Chhatarpur (MP), May 18 (PTI) A few dalits were today allegedly beaten
up by people belonging to an upper caste for not standing up to show
respect at the wedding of a dalit couple in Raura village near here,
police said. The wedding could not proceed because of this incident
last night. It took place later, this morning. Case had been filed
against three persons, police said, but no one has been yet arrested.
According to police, Bal Kisan, Rajju Raja, Vikram Singh and others,
all upper caste men, took offence when the dalits at an entertainment
programme preceding the wedding did not stand up upon their arrival.
Police Inspector Purshottam said that Kisan and others assaulted the
members of dalit community. One Dilip Basor, from Mahoba district,
Uttar Pradesh, was to tie the knot with Batti Devi, hailing from the
village. After the incident, the victims went to the police station,
and the marriage was solemnised next morning, with police security.

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[ZESTCaste] Inside The Hindu Part 2: The thing that must not be named

 

http://writingcaste.wordpress.com/how-it-all-began/

How it began

The idea for this blog grew out of an outburst of rage. Titled "Inside
The Hindu Part 2: The thing that must not be named" – the piece that
follows was written as a Facebook note, sequel to an earlier note
about the ways in which internal censorship functions at The Hindu,
Chennai. The first article was received with great rejoicing and
carried lovingly on The Hoot and Kafila and Humanities Underground.
None of them wanted to touch this one:) Caste, quite literally, should
not be named, it seems…

Inside The Hindu Part 2: The thing that must not be named

aka. The bitch is back and she is so fucking angry

Dear internal censor, you shot down my proposal for an article on
state expenditure for dalits. Then how dare you write this story?
"While the UPA has focused on bettering the lot of the Dalit
community, it is dominated by upper caste Hindus, very few of whom are
genuinely concerned about the plight of dalits," the American Embassy
said in a cable sent under the name of Ambassador David Mulford" How
dare you? I hereby declare war. Do you remember? I told you that
successive Tamil Nadu state budgets showed a decline in expenditure of
money intended for dalit welfare. In other words, the government that
was empowering the poor with television sets was using for other
purposes the funds intended for the Scheduled Caste population – funds
which should not be diverted to other schemes or returned. I spent an
afternoon poring over budget documents, I visited non-governmental
organisations that were doing research in this area, I went to the
office of an IAS officer who was being shuttled around departments
because he questioned the diversion of these funds. "Do you really
think The Hindu will carry this story?" he asked. I came to you and
asked if I could give an article for the State pages about this. You
said, "No. The budget was presented last week. How is this news?" And
now you write about how a white man is concerned about the welfare of
dalits? What is wrong with you? Why is it not news if your lowly
brown-skinned reporter wants to write about this with more data to
substantiate the claim? Here's a quote for you: "While The Hindu has
claimed to care about bettering the lot of the Dalit community, it is
dominated by upper caste Hindus, very few of whom are genuinely
concerned about the plight of dalits." Take it and fuck off.

Oh, before that, the preface: First, yay! Contrary to what I told some
of you, I do have more stories from The Hindu to tell. Second, to all
the former and current journalists who have expressed sympathy, write
your own stories also please. And leave us a link. Thank you. Third, I
was spooked by the massive wave of love that engulfed my post on
internal censorship at The Hindu. I mean this is the Internet, right?
Have I been moved to a parallel universe? Where were the disagreeable
trolls, the flaming comment wars? From across the political spectrum,
I have received warm praise of my writing skills. So. Let's raise the
stakes. Let's do something more difficult than growling about internal
censorship in the media – something which both left and right seem to
enjoy. Let's talk about caste.

I estimate that 80 per cent of The Hindu's workforce is Brahmin (of
the Tamil Nadu population, they form less than 3 per cent). I might be
exaggerating. This is based on a visual estimate. You work long enough
in The Hindu, Chennai, you will be able to tell apart the Tamil
Brahmins – the TamBrahms – with their distinctive features. Then it
started making sense to me. So many people in this city reminded me of
one of my favourite professors, I did not know why. They are all
Brahmin. They have been marrying each other for so many generations
that they have distinctive facial features – this fact horrifies me.

Once, I was called to office by the internal censor (of
engineering-college fame) on an 'urgent assignment'. I got there
post-haste to be told that his blue-shirted highness who rules The
Hindu roost himself wanted to show a white friend the Egmore museum.
As a reporter who had written a couple of stories about the museum's
galleries and its environs, I obviously was the only person who could
guide them around the place. The internal censor had to explain to me
twice what was expected of me. I couldn't wrap my fiercely-independent
head around the fact that I was expected to play tourist guide to my
employer and a visitor. At the museum, I had to confess my utter
ignorance about the bronzes or Indo-Saracenic architecture or anything
that the white lady wanted to know about really. "Would you be able to
find someone who knows?" his highness inquired regally. I knew my way
about the admin block there and found a curator who was simultaneously
flustered and thrilled that the blue-shirted god himself was there to
grant him darshan. He went pounding down the stairs ahead of me to the
bronzes gallery in less than half the time it took me to move my
portly form there. The white lady admired the stunning
Ardhanareeswarar near the entrance of the bronzes gallery.
"Exquisite," she breathed. 'Well, of course, it is,' I grumbled inside
my head. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the thread that is
depicted along the bust of Ardhanareeswarar's male half. I had never
noticed it till that moment. "The thread that the so-called twice-born
wear," said his highness. Ardhanareeswarar is FC, apparently. "This,
this", said our eager curator, pulling out and displaying his sacred
thread.

I am not twice-born. In my earlier birth, I was a water buffalo – I
have retained the generously rounded form for one, not to mention a
love for the placid lifestyle. Also, I like to plod and gaze at the
world through large, limpid eyes, wondering at the indecent haste of
human life. Ok, ok, I might be deliberately misunderstanding what
twice-born means. Apparently the twice-born or the dvija is a Brahmin,
Kshatriya or Vaishya who undergoes a physical birth and a spiritual
one. Also, "A dvija does what he ought to do rather than what he wants
to do. He does not avoid what he dislikes rather he avoids what ought
to be avoided." That settles any lingering doubts I might have had – I
am definitely not a dvija, I am not even a 'he' to begin with. Are
Brahmin women twice-born or not? Expert replies would be welcome. For
this post, I am going to presume they are.

So, there was the time when I plodded into the editorial section at
The Hindu to find people at their various desks standing upright and
facing the same direction with cow-like expressions. (Us buffaloes
find cows to be plain silly) I wondered, uneasily, if I had walked
into some barbaric ritual that editorial performed while no-one was
looking – they did like to massacre the occasional innocent story and
play with torturous headlines, I'd noticed. Then I realised that a
puja was on and standing up, wearing suitably devout expressions, was
apparently the right way to acknowledge it. The gods presided over the
reporting and editing sections at The Hindu, Chennai, in size A3
Technicolor. Some were quite the Ravi Varma-esque beauties, others
were just in bad taste. Presumably, the deities must have been driven
distraught by all those treats of cake and murukku and what-have-you
that we kept giving each other inside reporting. So, the ordained
members of the twice-born would try to propitiate them by
half-heartedly waving plates with flaming camphor and other
paraphernalia and ringing beautiful hand-held bells at them. In
counterpoint, the Muslim woman who briefly was my colleague was
directed, after much delay, to a cramped place with barely any space
to kneel when she requested a room to use for her daily prayers during
Ramzan. There were fringe benefits to this communal celebration of
being Hindu – gorgeous saris for Pongal and Deepavali for the ladies,
and for another of them festivals – I forget which – generous-sized
bags of puffed rice for everyone. Yummy.

Less palatable was seeing how caste marks this predominantly-Brahmin
workforce. The meetings of their favourite caste association would get
coverage and column-inches, of course, but that didn't annoy me quite
so much. The normal-food eaters can't eat their food in the canteen,
because the smell of their non-Brahmin food is offensive to the
nostrils of their twice-born colleagues. They can't eat inside the
reporting section's room, without remarks along the lines of "Which
walking, swimming, flying thing are you eating today?" Some twice-born
colleagues would ask this same question practically every time one
unfortunate normal-food eater opened her tiffin box in office. I would
have given anything to hear our normal person to say, "What the fuck
do you care, you eater of grass?" Instead, she would meekly submit the
menu for the day and receive some more 'good-natured' (read caste-ist)
ribbing.

Also, like most newsrooms in the city, The Hindu too had its mandatory
sprinkles of Nairs and Menons. I write this letter for them:

Dear Malayalee people,

Get a grip. This is Tamil Nadu. You must know by now that caste names
have been painted over, whitewashed and legislated out of existence in
this state. Caste cannot be named any longer, except in matrimonial
columns and rental ads (Don't ask me why. Parents arranging marriages
and landlords are the torchbearers of caste apparently). It has been
driven underground in the public sphere – you might be allowed to say
the 'Gounder-votebank' but that is about it. You cannot stand up in a
public meeting here and say 'this person is of the Nair community'. I
have seen this happen in Kerala. No kidding. People were introduced
caste-wise with a noble intention (to show that the group was
inclusive and diverse) but it still left me gobsmacked. You might find
the co-existence of caste hierarchies and the left ideology charming,
but the rest of us think it beyond weird. We do not use caste names if
we can help it. Yes, there are some Thevars and Nadars and Gounders
and Chettiars out there who hold on to their caste names like they are
badges of pride. There are also some of them Iyers (not to forget the
Aiyars) and them Iyengars, all of whom we will glare at with polite
loathing. However. Walking around with your caste affiliation clinging
to the backside of your name, like some smelly rem(a)inder of
centuries of discrimination is so last century. Get with it.

Yours condescendingly, Malar.

P.S. Dear Reddys, Consider yourself implicated in this shit as well. Snarl, M.

Once upon a time, a Brahmin Tamil teacher asked us, her class six
students, "All the upper caste students, please stand up." This was in
an elite school, the most progressive one in Madurai. The Brahmin
daughter of the head-mistress stood up. Then another guy. After some
thought, I stood up. I had no clue what caste was – I only vaguely
knew that my father owned a car, unlike those of some of my
classmates. Another girl, who actually knew that she belonged to the
same caste as my family, stood up. I told my parents, they went up in
flames and called up the principal and our teacher never so much as
mentioned the word 'caste' again. But I never had any trouble
afterward if I told her that I had not finished my homework. "Never
mind, child," she would say indulgently, when before the standing-up
census, I would have been summarily dismissed from class.

Now, in Chennai and after my stint at The Hindu, I understand anew the
impetus of the non-Brahmin movement. This city has the highest
concentration of English-speaking Brahmins in the state. I have had my
share of them in Madurai – the ones that served coffee to my family
and to their family in different tumblers at a golu, the one that
walked into my house and said "Oh! I have never seen a Christian house
that was kept so clean!" (I fought down my impulse to bash her on the
head with the ugly brass vase stuffed with the artificial flowers that
my mother so favoured). In Chennai, their concentration is
mind-blowing. Astounding numbers of rental ads for Mylapore, Adyar,
Thiruvanmiyur, Triplicane, Nungambakkam and other expensively Brahmin
ghettoes will state that they want 'vegetarian' tenants only. I have
been asked my caste by several landlords while house-hunting in the
city. I have been told off for contacting landlords who wanted only
Brahmin tenants. The TamBrahms also have their own communal theatre
groups and performances inside their private little Sabhas in their
own private dialect that they claim is Tamil infused with Sanskrit
(though the rest of suspect it is just another ruse to be able to tell
the twice and the once-born apart. Do they say 'say' or 'shay'?).

Staying with the dialect theme, some of my colleagues at The Hindu
could talk to everyone in one standardised Tamil. There were other
specially-anointed twice-born who could switch effortlessly between
TamBrahm and standardised Tamil, depending on who they were talking
to. On the phone to a government official, this side to another
twice-born, on the other side to the former water buffalo. It's quite
something to watch. How do they do it? Is there a filter in their
heads that is going Brahmin/non-Brahmin all the time? There would be
these conversations that I would not be able to make head or tail of,
let alone participate in – about special poojas and maamis and rituals
and all the insider jokes about the music season. For some days, the
blog of an anonymous Brahmin woman poking fun at her caste's many
rituals became all the rage inside The Hindu office. Everyone was
talking about it. I could not understand the damn blog. It was talking
in an alien language about a culture I did not know. Oh, the ways in
which exclusion functions.

Also, the arts that were stolen from the Devadasis and re-furbished
for respectability and are celebrated every December? The arts that
have been shrouded with impenetrable layers of holiness and technical
detail? Yeah, those arts now function as another ruse to separate out
the normal-food eaters. The twice-born and the occasional once-born
would gather in warm little groups to discuss the ins-and-outs of the
season each time it came around. The rest of the once-borns were left
out in the Margazhi cold, typing forlornly at stories about the
increased chill factor and what two-wheeler riders should do to take
care of themselves. The music reviews that would appear in The Hindu
did nothing to dispel the impenetrable air of mystery that surrounds
these forms. When Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty lost to The Hindu's own
Murali for a post in the Music Academy, some of the staff came around
distributing sweets. What were they celebrating? That the sacred
domains continue to stand in the face of attacks from the once-born?
My only brush with the Music Academy happens when I have to cross the
signal at that junction – I always curse the place for taking up so
much space for parking while the pavement on the RK Salai side is less
than 30 cm wide. It used to be 20 cm. Then they generously demolished
and rebuilt the wall to donate a little less than 10 cm for the
welfare of pedestrians.

I was born into a formerly untouchable caste that has clawed its way
up the caste hierarchy to backward caste status, possibly with the
help of commerce and strong intra-communal networks. My mother pointed
to the ubiquitous palmyra trees that line highways across Tamil Nadu,
sometime after the standing-up census, and said that our ancestors
used to climb those trees and make arrack for a living. Some of them
converted to Christianity and, so, we found respectability, she
claimed. I didn't believe her. I knew Hindu friends of the same caste
had similar socio-economic standing. But, because I was not born
Hindu, the changes and the homogenising in the majority religion are
starkly visible to me – Vinayaka Chathurthi beginning to be celebrated
in Madurai in the 90s, the stripes of saffron with tinsel edging that
I see commuters tie to their vehicles in increasing numbers, the
appearance of a BJP flag at a street corner in Chennai – all cause my
feeble minority heart to tremble for its very existence. The
twice-born, on the other hand, will always find it easy to ally with
the right. When another internal censor at The Hindu casually
announced that he had voted for the BJP because he did not want to
vote for the Dravidian parties, I could only gape at him.

Just to make that loud and clear: The Hindutva brigade threatens my
existence and questions my right to life – I am unable to understand
or engage with them – I only think of them as propagators of hatred –
I do not understand how anybody can vote for the BJP.

The many articles I have read about representation in the media, about
the absence of Dalits in the media, all make much more sense after
working in an overwhelmingly Brahmin newsroom and studying in a
overwhelmingly Brahmin institution.

Kancha Ilaiah faced incomprehension and hostility when he presented
his opinions about Brahmins and their gods at the Asian College of
Journalism (ACJ) when I was there. Which is not surprising at all. The
entrance exam to this esteemed institution is an excellent example of
the utter meaninglessness of entrance exams. I got in exclusively on
the strength of my English. I doubt if I got full marks on even one
question in the general knowledge paper. I know, dear Media
Development Foundation (of which the blue-shirted god is a trustee),
that you chose me for the money my father had and his ability to send
me to a posh school, in short, for my skill with English. So, it
logically follows that a substantial portion of your intake will be
twice-born. I slipped in somehow – damn this 69 per cent affirmative
action in Tamil Nadu, huh? Lets in all the wrong sorts. The ACJ is
entirely progressive in its teaching and practice. But how much can
you teach a preponderantly twice-born group?

Inside the computer lab once, a male classmate started off a giggly
discussion, "What is your gothra?" These barbaric Hindi-speakers are
beyond the pale, I thought to myself, while struggling with the
intricacies of page layout. Then the TamBrahm girls also joined in. I
fought down the impulse to stand up and say, "How nice! I'm so happy
for all of you. Shall I arrange your marriages right away or do you
want to keep it for later?" I might have also chosen to keep my peace
because I was among the two once-borns in a group of around ten. I
continued struggling with my page layout. Then the twice-born bimbo
next to me leaned over and switched off MY computer, instead of hers.
Ok, her's was next to mine, but it was still a bloody stupid mistake.
My layout was lost. She gaped at me out of cow-like twice-born eyes
and said, "Oh."

One of those girls later made a presentation on utilitarianism and
vegetarianism – apparently vegetarianism made sense because it was a
utilitarian thing to do. Right. During the discussion, I wanted to
know why she had not discussed caste at all, when the concepts of
normal and vegetarian food were so closely tied to caste in India. A
professor told us at the end of that class that the aim of asking
questions was to get information, not show off how much we know. It
might have been directed at the class in general, but seeing that he
was (also) a Menon, I decided to take it personally. Sir, I want to
put it on record that I was deeply hurt by that statement. Thank you
for understanding. Ah, ACJ, ACJ. The place where a Brahmin girl burst
into tears when she realised she had eaten beef (I did not understand
the concept of retroactive grief, she had not even realised she was
eating meat while she was actually eating it). Where a stylish Mumbai
girl said, "I don't eat beef, I am Hindu", where other Hindus would
head for the beef biriyani down the street with much gusto. And have
you considered the complications of eating out when certain elements
of your cuisine are anathema to your friend? The faces they can make
are quite frightful and can put you right off your crispy fried beef.

Please don't write 'awesome piece' in the comments section. Write your
personal narratives of your experience of caste, if you can. That
would be so much more useful than sniping about 'merit' and that one
rich dalit student you knew who was living off the largesse of the
state while the poor FCs have to slog it out for the few remaining
seats – I cannot begin to count the number of times I have heard this
ridiculous claim – if there were really so many rich Dalit students,
The Hindu will not be the den of the twice-born that it is today. What
are the implications of running a media organisation for over a
century with an overwhelming number of twice-born? What are the
implications of creating a feeder organisation (read ACJ) to 'train'
more twice-borns for this work? What sort of training can an
organisation run and taught almost exclusively by the twice-born
offer? How can you maintain this obscene proportion of twice-born
employees in a state that is a trend-setter in affirmative action? And
how many of you who loved and shared my last piece will share this
one?

P.S. The internal censor I have ripped into in the first paragraph is
the man who made me cry by belittling the work I had done for three
years, when I asked to be paid more than freshers. So, yes, you could
read this as personal vendetta. He might be a nice guy otherwise. To
quote the last lines of an article that I read as an adolescent in The
Hindu's Sunday Magazine and was profoundly marked by: "Question
everything. Even this."

- Malarvizhi Jayanth aka. The Water Buffalo aka. எருமை மாடு

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