Wednesday, January 20, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Gujjars, Bakerwals allege dilution of ST status, demand implementation of Mandal Commission in J-K

 

http://www.littleabout.com/news/59828,gujjars-bakerwals-allege-dilution-st-status-demand-implementation-mandal-commission-j-k.html

Gujjars, Bakerwals allege dilution of ST status, demand implementation
of Mandal Commission in J-K

Published on : Wednesday 20 Jan 2010 16:29 - by ANI

By Tahir Nadeem Khan

Jammu, Jan.20 : Gujjars and Bakerwals took out a cultural march with
their cattle here on Wednesday to press their demand for
implementation of the Mandal Commission report and to stop the Jammu
and Kashmir Government from giving Schedule Tribe status (ST) to
Pahari-speaking people.

Nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals, who today form 30 per cent of Jammu and
Kashmirs population, are protesting against its move to provide ST
status to the Pahari speaking people of Rajouri, Poonch and Kupwara
districts.

They also blamed the State Government for not implementing the Supreme
Courts ruling to implement the Mandal commission report in the State,
as some vested interests were not in favour of providing relief to the
nomadic population.

By holding a cultural march, we want to show what is our cultural and
old heritage, what kind of people they (Gujjars and Bakerwals) are,
and how they live. They are economically weak, educationally weak, and
financially weak, politically weak and the people (Pahari), who are
demanding that they should be given the Schedule Tribe status by
diluting it are basically sound parties. And they dont want that SC,
ST and OBC (Other backward Classes) should get benefit from it,said
R.K.Kalsotra, President of All India Confederation of SC/ST
organizations.

These schedule tribes (Gujjars and Bakerwals) allege that state
government has obliged the Paharis by recommending ST status for them
to the central government without any basis. Moreover, Pahari as a
language should not be considered basis for granting ST status, as
this has never been considered a basis for granting the status in
anywhere in India. They (Pahari) have come together with an intension
to cause damage to the ST status of the Gujjars and Bakerwals.

We are protesting today against Governments move to give St status to
the princely people, land lords, and money lenders. This move to give
St status is just a conspiracy to deny Gujjars and Bakerwals from its
benefits. And Gujjars are the real Paharis as any one can survey in
India to find that Gujjars live in mountains and follow nomadic life,
said Mohd. Abdullah Chowdhary, a protestor.

Anxiousness started brewing among the nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals of
the state after Jammu and Kashmir governments recommendation to the
Center to provide ST status to the Pahari speaking people.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit: Towards The Search For Alternative Strategies

http://www.countercurrents.org/rajkumar190110.htm

Dalit: Towards The Search For Alternative Strategies

By Rajkumar

19 January, 2010
Countercurrents.org

This paper argues for the need for some strategies that suits the
emerging scenario in the given context of democratic space available
in the Indian and the mass psychology. I try to portrait a frame of
analysis for this argument which needs further debate and refinement
at various circles and level.

1. State repression can be fought legally in a given democratic space
at any levels. However, non-state-repression unleashed upon one
community by another can not be fought so easily, as the former enjoys
a silent and subtle approval and sanction so called majority
community. This trend is explicitly reflected at various instances. To
illustrate few: When Indira Gandhi was assassinated there was a
systematic attack on the Sikh community. This undemocratic violence
was then legitimised by statements such as 'when big trees falls earth
shakes'. The pogroms in Gujarat, anti-Bihari violence in Maharashtra,
fall in the same category. Salwa Judam mode of repression is one of
the indicators of institutionalisation of the non-state-repression.

2. In India, indeed, there is a very thin line between the state
repression and the non-state repression. While the former faces many
limitations and constraints due to international human rights
instruments and the constitutional frame-work, the later constantly
attempts to grab whatever available spaces and factors (such as
cultural unification, nationalistic sentiments, revitalisation of the
symbols/codes of manuvadhi caste system, mass communication medias,
bureaucracy, juries prudence, expanding the support base beyond
borders and seas) to augment and expand it.

3. The above process of augmentation & consolidation of
non-state-repression could be understood through various instances in
this country; let us have a look at a set of two instances. One: The
73rd Amendment and the PRI movement that followed have been a hot
topic of the ruling elite citing it as a greater step forward in
expanding the democracy in India. This faulty propaganda had been
later exposed to the whole world that was one of the world's most
stupid conceptions, when the world came to know that the elected local
Dalits had been prevented by the local dominant caste groups from
ascending to the chair. This '(un)democratic reality' sustained for a
long period, and neither the Honourable juris prudence nor the
governance system of state apparatus could do anything. Neither there
has been any organised country level agitation against this by the
body of civil society. This reality is the clear pointer of the fact
that there is a very close, invisible and organic linkage between the
state repression and the non-state repression systems. Now let us see
the second instance: This took place in Karnataka state in December
2009. Mr. K.H.Muniyappa is a Dalit, and a Member of Parliament and
Central Railway Minister of States. He also enjoys the credit of being
elected as an MP from his constituency for five consecutive terms, as
a Congress party candidate. He holds every right to have a surprise
visit to any of the railway stations to review and monitor various
renovation and expansion projects going on. When he was engaged in
such a visit in one such railway stations in Bangalore, a local MLA
who belongs to a regional dominant community in the state got agitated
on the grounds that the Central Railway Minister had violated the
protocol! The issue allegedly was that the local MLA had not been
informed about the visit as the railway station was located in his
constituency. The poor Dalit Minister of the Centre faced the wrath…
he was chased out from the railway station vicinity by local thugs,
who belong to none other than the same political party. These two
instances expose one single truth that the dictum of the majoritarian
- repressive culture is getting shaped so fast as a de facto framework
for governance system; it can on the one hand block the constitutional
rights entitled for the Dalit by negating/violating all sort of
protocols, norms and democratic principles, and on the other hand
humiliate a high-profiled person if he/she is a Dalit with the
disguise of protecting the official protocol. There is a silent
blessing for this on the part of the mass psychology in this country.
This is the dangerous sign of the growth of the perilous design.

4. Manuvadhi lobby perpetrates this perilous design, corporate sponsor
it, the section of hidden-manuvadhi silently approve it, secular civil
groups murmur over it, and subaltern secular protagonist lack to
understand this intrinsic dynamics, and finally the subalterns bear
it. I prefer to identify this trend as, the 'hidden-representation of
non-state repression'. This hidden representation is a wider level
phenomenon in India, which is organically inherent in Manuvadhi
culture, and is invisible for which the Dalits and Adivasis are the
major victims in India. At least in the case of Adivsi there is some
security mechanisms such as 5th Schedule. Whereas for Dalits even what
is available is accommodative mechanism to get co-opted into the
system which is actively engaged in twining state repression and
non-state repression, and forced to remain as silent spectators.

5. The subtle twining of state-repression and non-state repression is
the underlying socio-political processes in India. This meticulous
twining is carried out by all possible ways by using all potential
factors as pointer out earlier. This trend is further speeded up in
the neo-liberal casino economy which India is subscribed to, as the
global and Indian corporate have found out that this twining-mode pays
them multiple dividends - gaining greater access to and control over
human/natural resources, consolidating their position in policy making
processes and augmenting their control over governance systems.
Consequently this lead into unbridled appropriation of human/natural
resources for capital accumulation. Those who have ample knowledge and
well-versed skills in this twining-business make leap-frog strides. It
is indisputable fact that US is professionally carrying-on this
twining-business at global level for their imperialist expansion. They
succeeded in victimising the Muslim community and other progressive
countries by way of branding them 'the axis of evil'. The world
started believing it and there is a silent consensus for the mass
killing. The UN body being reduced into simple impotent and mere
spectator body of this atrocity is the reflection of this reality. The
same pattern is being efficiently taken forward in India.

6. The expansion and taking this perilous trend forward, clearly
depend on thinning the line between state-repression and non-state
repression. Salwa Judam is nothing but the epitome of this
thinning/twining business. More the thinning greater the expansion.
There is an urgent need for the Human Rights defenders in India to
re-strategize their intervention on this perspective rather then
investing their valuable resources on the western mode of
rights-defending. Already National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights
(NCDHR) has rightly paved way in that direction. That effort needs
greater consolidation at national level integrating and drawing
potential actors and resources.

7. The narrowing down of the gap between state-repression and
non-state repression (or twining them subtly) not only leads towards
expansion of virtual imperialist market economy but also buttressing
some sort of institutional sustainability to the obfuscate design. The
pace in which the amorphous system becoming overt in India is a
dangerous factor. I consider it is right time that groups particularly
the subaltern and pro-subaltern forces take cognizance of this factor
while designing their strategies. The next step forward for such
forces mainly relies on having a critical understanding of this trend.


Rajkumar accompanies peoples' organisations and groups in voluntary
sectors. He recently founded Black Basin - a forum for rights based
intervention in water sector in south India.
rajkumarblackbasin@yahoo.co.in


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[ZESTCaste] BSP leader and daughter found murdered, protests in Barabanki

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/bsp-leader-and-daughter-found-murdered-protests-in-barabanki_100306599.html

BSP leader and daughter found murdered, protests in Barabanki

January 20th, 2010 - 1:06 pm ICT by IANS -
Lucknow, Jan 20 (IANS) A leader of Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) was found murdered along with his teenaged daughter
in his home in Barabanki, triggering violent protests in the town
Wednesday, police said.
Sushil Kumar, 48, president of the party's Bhaichara Banao Samiti
(Brahmin-Dalit Goodwill Committee) in Barabanki district, was found
with his throat slit Tuesday night. His 18-year-old daughter Ranjeeta
appeared to have been strangled with her dupatta at their Awas Vikas
Colony home in Barabanki, about 35 km from here.

Demanding the arrest of those involved in the killings, a large number
of BSP activists Wednesday took to the streets, resorting to vandalism
at public places and targeting several vehicles on the roads.

"Taking into account the series of protests, additional security has
been deployed at a number of places," police inspector Ramesh Dubey
told reporters in Barabanki.

The murders were reported by the BSP leader's son Rahul. "Rahul had
called up his sister's phone a number of times. After all the calls
went unanswered, Rahul reached his home and saw the doors were latched
from outside. Later, he came across the two bodies and approached us,"
Dubey said.

No arrests have been made yet and police are yet to establish a
motive, he added.


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[ZESTCaste] Plan panel considers earmarking 15% budgetary support for SC/ST schemes

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Plan-panel-considers-earmarking-15--budgetary-support-for-SC-ST-schemes/569466


Plan panel considers earmarking 15% budgetary support for SC/ST schemes

Priyadarshi Siddhanta Posted online: Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010 at 0148 hrs
New Delhi : Eager to revive its image among the under-privileged
sections of the society, the United Progessive Alliance (UPA) is keen
to ensure that the funds spent by all the central ministries are
earmarked for the marginalised groups, particularly the Scheduled
Castes (SCs) and Scheduled
Tribes (STs), in proportion to their population.

The Planning Commission is actively considering a proposal of the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment that all union ministries
earmark at least 15 per cent of their respective Gross Budgetary
Support (GBS) for the welfare schemes of SCs and STs in the next
fiscal.

The proposal by the social justice ministry amply exemplifies UPA's
eagerness to woo the SCs/STs , who are believed to have drifted away
from from the Congress party to regional parties championed by
regional leaders like Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. So the UPA
leadership is understood to have unanimously endorsed the thought of
outlaying huge funds for the welfare of the marginalised populace in a
bid to exemplify its thrust on inclusiveness, sources said. Recently,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had directed the Planning Commission
to ensure that the funds allocated for the socially disadvantaged
groups — SCs/STs and OBCs — are spent in a time-bound manner.

The move comes at a time when the Congress, under party general
secretary Rahul Gandhi, is making a vigorous bid to regain its lost
ground in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. With the
finance ministry agreeing to a 15 per cent hike in GBS, the overall
tone of the next Budget is set to be on the social sector, the sources
pointed out. Among the major social sector programmes that are likely
to get major allocations include the food security bill and right to
education for all. Sources said the Food Security Bill, which aims to
provide subsidised grain at Rs 3 per kg to Below Poverty Line (BPL)
households, would mean an expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore

(on the basis of the current BPL population).

But interestingly in pursuit of its aam aadmi agenda, the UPA II has
withdrawn its focus from the rural development schemes, except the
flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, to
the social sector schemes.

The Prime Minister had asked the Plan panel to closely monitor the
implementation of schemes specially focused on this segment of society
and ensure that the benefits reach the masses. The Plan panel has
accordingly mooted a separate independent evaluation office (IEO) to
assess the extent to which the government's flagship schemes are
benefiting the poor. The evaluation of the IEO would be different from
the Mid-Term Appraisal in the sense that the IEO would look at the
performance of specific social welfare schemes, while the MTA would
take a comprehensive stock of the whole plan strategy.


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[ZESTCaste] SC's poser to Mayawati on Dalit statue row

 

http://www.zeenews.com/news597313.html

SC's poser to Mayawati on Dalit statue row

Updated on Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 22:08 IST

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Mayawati government
in Uttar Pradesh why the apex court should not intervene when
"astronomical and inconscionable" amounts of public money is being
spent on construction of the Rs 2,600 memorials and statues of Dalit
icons in Lucknow.

A bench of Justices H S Bedi and A K Patnaik disagreed with the
argument of senior counsel Harish Salve appearing for the state that
courts cannot interfere in such matters as it was purely an executive
function.

The apex court asked the government whether it should remain a silent
spectator if public money for instance meant for construction of
primary schools or hospitals is diverted for erecting such memorials.

"Supposing you spend astronomical and unconscionable amount, should
the court not say anything in this regard? There is no difficulty if
your are constructing memorials. But what matters is the huge amount
spent on it.

"Supposing funds are meant for a purpose but are being diverted,
should we not interfere?" the bench told the UP government.

Salve argued the petition filed by the NGO Gomtinagar Kalyan Sanstha
and certain others were not maintainable as it was within the rights
of the government to spend its budgetary allocation.

He submitted the petition amounted to challenging the appropriation
bill passed by the state legislature and was an attempt to pit one
Constitutional wing against the other.

PTI

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[ZESTCaste] Salve defends Mayawati Govt on expenditure on parks, statues

 

http://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?85072a4d-3074-4a2a-b241-fe1bb027b64e

Salve defends Mayawati Govt on expenditure on parks, statues
1/20/2010

Senior counsel Harish Salve defended Mayawati Government before the
Supreme Court justifying the expenditure of public money on the
construction of Ambedkar park, other memorials and statues of dalit
leaders in Lucknow.

Mr Slave submitted before a bench comprising Justices Harjit Singh
Bedi and A K Patnaik that the Supreme Court should not interfere in
policy matter which had approval of the state Legislature.

He was addressing the court during the hearing of a PIL alleging that
UP Government has earmarked about Rs 2,600 crore for the construction
of parks, memorials and statues of dalit leaders in Lucknow and Noida.

The apex court has already banned all construction in Lucknow and
Noida and on the last date of hearing of the case had refused to lift
the stay.

Arguments will continue.

UNI

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati to raise force to protect statues

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article83113.ece

Mayawati to raise force to protect statues
IANS


Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is set to raise a security force
to protect memorials and statues erected by her government in Uttar
Pradesh even as the Supreme Court has questioned the allocation of
thousands of crores of rupees for these monuments.

"The new force will be named State Special Zone Security Force and
will be headed by an officer of the rank of inspector general, who
will have a superintendent and a few deputy superintendents to assist
him," state home secretary Mahesh Gupta told IANS here.

The new force will be designated to guard the Ambedkar Memorials at
both Lucknow and Noida, besides the Luckow-based Kanshi Ram Memorial,
Kanshi Ram Sanskritik Sthal, Rama Bai Ambedkar Maidan Buddha Vihar and
Kanshi Ram Green Eco Garden that was coming up on a sprawling 120-acre
plot of land vacated by shifting the district jail to the city
outskirts.

These cost Rs.6,000 crore to the state exchequer, and the Supreme
Court had questioned the allocation of such a huge sum for memorials.

Mr. Gupta said: "The state cabinet has already approved the proposal
and a bill to that effect would be tabled before the state assembly
during its forthcoming session with effect from tomorrow."

A special drive would be undertaken to recruit about 1,000 sepoys soon
after the state assembly passes a legislation for creation of the
force.

The idea to pass a legislation was mooted to give the force permanent
status, as a similar force created by the last Mayawati government in
2003 was disbanded by her successor Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"The earlier force would be disbanded because it was not raised by any
Act of the state legislature but only by an administrative order that
could be overruled by a similar subsequent order. But now that an Act
is to be passed by the state legislature, it cannot be reversed
without adopting the same process," said state BSP president Swami
Prasad Maurya.


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[ZESTCaste] Caste in India; Caste Violence in India

 

Caste in India

http://adaniel.tripod.com/religious.htm A History of the Caste System in India

http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/messages/caste.htm CASTE PROBLEM IN
INDIA: an analytical essay

http://gbgm-umc.org/nwo/99ja/india.html Caste Marriage in India

Caste Violence in India

http://webusers.anet-stl.com/~civil/dvindia_untouchables.html News
clip (1977) UNTOUCHABLES & CASTE WARFARE IN INDIA

http://www.indian-express.com/ie/daily/19981005/27850704.html News
clip (1988) about Caste riots in MADURAI, India

http://cgi.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9903/18/india.massacre.01/ News clip
(1999). Gunmen kill dozens in India caste massacre

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_674000/674602.stm
News clip (2000) India deaths blamed on caste violence

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[ZESTCaste] Scenes in Adhurs objectionable: Brahmins

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/20/stories/2010012050600200.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Scenes in Adhurs objectionable: Brahmins

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: Telangana Brahmana Sanghala Samakhya has demanded removal
of a song and few scenes in the Junior NTR-starrer 'Adhurs' film,
citing them as objectionable and hurting the sentiments of Brahmin
community. The body has already moved State Human Rights Commission on
the issue.

Talking to media persons here on Tuesday, president of the samakhya
Chakilam Rajeswar Rao alleged that the film makers had wilfully shown
the community, particularly the `Vaishnava sect' in a poor light. The
objectionable scenes amounted to violation of human rights of the
community.

The samakhya, in its petition with the SHRC on Monday had sought
removal of the objectionable scenes and demanded action against
director and producer of the film, he stated.

The SHRC had issued notices to the Censor Board and adjourned the case
of for January 22, Mr. Rao said. Use of 'niluvu bottu' in 'chari…'
song was not only insulting the sentiments and customs of the
community but it also insulted Sri Venkateshwara Swamy and his
believers, he said.

The film makers had changed only two words in the song on the
objections raised before release of the film.

Scenes like two Brahmins enjoying a cabaret dance and consuming liquor
and, performing the last rites of three persons in a hurry threatened
the existence of the community, Mr. Rajeswar Rao explained.

He demanded that the film makers stop sale of CDs and cassettes of the
song and withdraw 'chari…' even in TV advertisements.


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[ZESTCaste] Nagpur police stages flag march in city on eve of Vidarbha bandh

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_nagpur-police-stages-flag-march-in-city-on-eve-of-vidarbha-bandh_1336759

Nagpur police stages flag march in city on eve of Vidarbha bandh

PTI
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 22:53

City police and platoons of the SRPF today staged flag marches in
various part of city on the eve of Vidarbha bandh, a call given by all
political parties demanding separate Vidarbha.

Flag marches were organised under Sadar and Sitabuldi police station
jurisdiction. This is first time flag march has been taken out on the
occasion of bandh call in city.

Meanwhile the stage is set for Vidarbha bandh tomorrow as most of the
leaders from political parties were on campaign tour in different
parts of Vidarbha to mobilise support.

Former Union minister and Congress MP from Nagpur Vilas Muttemwar was
away in Yavatmal, while former MPCC chief Ranjeet Deshmukh was in
Bhandara for the same.

Republican leaders including Prakash Ambedkar, were also on tour
visiting Dalit dominated areas and district places to garner support
from pro-Vidarbha people.

Local BJP MLA Davendra Phadanvis said that his party members will
actively participate in the bandh call given by all political parties.

Among the prominent leaders on the forefront of agitation here are
Vilas Muttemwar, Datta Meghe both Congress MPs, Ranjeet Deshmukh and
Naresh Pugalia (Congress).

Former MP Banwarilal Purohit, Davendra Phadanvis Sudhakar Deshmukh,
Vikas Kumbhare, Krishna Khopde, Dalit leaders Prakash Ambedkar,
Jogendra Kawade, Sulekha Kumbhare, Congress legislators Dinanth
Padole, Dilip Sananda, Jainuddin Zaveri, SQ Zama and others are also
supporting bandh.

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[ZESTCaste] Indian-Americans looking for love

http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-01-19/indian-americans-looking-love.html/print

Indian-Americans looking for love
19 January, 2010, 00:02

Indian Americans make up less than 1 percent of the population of the
United States, however when it comes to marriage - many choose to find
someone within their own community.

 You'd think you were in a hip Mumbai night club by looking at the
crowd, but these were young Indians in the Washington, D.C. area,
gathered at a local bar hoping to find their future spouses.

"It's always nice to meet more Indian guys, hopefully maybe finding
the guy that you know piques my interest and I pique his," said Rekha
Tiwari, a young Indian single.

It's 21st century arranged marriage, with an American twist. Tradition
meets technology as young Indian singles log on to matrimonial
websites like Shaadi.com to find a mate who might meet their parents'
expectations.


"I feel that in the Indian culture there is this concept of marriage
beng the joining of two different families so not just two
individuals, but the entire families: their parents, their extended
family and so I think that families are more involved," said Johny
Vengal, a young Indian single.

Rekha Tiwari, 27, came to this Shaadi.com mixer to find a nice Indian
boy her parents might like. By Indian standards, the clock is ticking
for her to settle down.

"I've gotten a 2011 deadline, but I also had a 2010 deadline and that
hasn't been met," she said.

And beyond the standard charm and wit – Rekha expects her dream man to
be Brahmin, the highest caste in the Hindu religion. So why do so many
modern Americanized South Asians still care about these ancient social
classes?

"In other cultures, when you're born the parents are sort of grateful
that you're born and they give you the most possible, but in our
culture we're grateful to our parents for giving us our life…so I
actually need to find a Hindu Brahmin guy to please my parents," Rekha
said.

Even though many young Indians choose to come to events like this to
find a future spouse who would be acceptable to their parents, others
say the background of their eventual partners isn't a big deal. Even
though Smriti Popenoe's parents had an arranged marriage, she chose a
different path. She's been married to her husband, Charles, for almost
17 years.

"What was important to me was about finding someone who really
understood me as a person and appreciated me as a person," she said.

 But she realizes that marrying someone outside her culture is
considered scandalous by some Indians.

"There's also negativity to western culture in general. People in
India have the perception that western culture is looser, it's more
permissive and they don't want that. It's kind of hanging on to some
conservatism that I think they want for their kids," Smriti said.

Indians make up less than 1 percent of the population of the United
States. For some, like Smriti, such numbers make it easier to fall in
love with someone outside the community. But for those like Rekha, the
statistic means finding that perfect Indian American Hindu Brahmin is
just that much harder.

 "I think ideally dating someone of your own race is actually a
benefit because there are cultural ideals that you share, but
logistically I've grown up in a white majority," Rekha said.


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[ZESTCaste] An intellectual interview with Kancha Ilaiah

http://mylifeandmylines.blogspot.com/2010/01/intellectual-interview-with-kancha.html

Jan 19, 2010
An intellectual interview with Kancha Ilaiah
[Here is the interview of Kancha Ilaiah, a prominent political thinker
of our times, published in tehelka.com]


Kancha Ilaiah teaches politics at the Government Women's College,
Koti, Hyderabad. Active in the Dalit-Bahujan [Scheduled and Backward
Caste] movement, he is a prolific writer in both Telugu and English.
His latest book, Why I Am Not A Hindu, a critique of Hindutva from a
Dalit-Bahujan perspective, turned out to be a best seller. Here he
talks to Yoginder Sikand about how 'Dalitisation' alone can
effectively challenge the threat of Brahminical fascism parading in
the garb of Hindutva.


Q: Tell us something about your background. How did you come to be
involved in the Dalit-Bahujan struggle?
A: I was born in a village in a forest area in the Warangal district
of Andhra Pradesh. The entire area had been given by the Nizam of
Hyderabad to Mahbub Reddy, a local landlord, as his fief. My family
belongs to the sheep-grazing Kuruma Golla caste. They had earlier
migrated from Warangal proper to the forest belt. My grandmother had
settled the village. After her death my mother took over the
leadership of the caste. I was born three years after the Police
Action in 1948. The communists were then very active in our area. In
the course of the Telengana armed struggle they killed two people in
our village—both were village Patels. Because of the struggle, Mahbub
Reddy began selling his lands off, and our caste people, who, till
then owned no land at all, began buying small plots. So this was a
time when the feudal system had begun disintegrating. Later, at school
I came into contact with Marxists, with Marxist literature, and became
involved in the students' movement, and that is how I got involved in
the struggle for justice.

Q: What or who has been the major influence on your thinking and your politics?
A: The most important influence on my life was the village in which I
was born. As a child in the village I learnt how to breed sheep, till
the land and make ropes, but what was particularly instructive was the
interactions and contradictions between the different castes within
the village—Kurumas, Kapus, Gowdas and Madigas. And it is this
personal knowledge of the dynamics of caste that is central to my
thinking and all my writings.
My mother exercised a seminal influence on my thinking, too. She was a
strong woman and the leader of our caste. You see, among the
Dalit-Bahujans, women have an important role within the family and the
caste. They set the moral norms themselves, through interaction with
the productive process and in the process of struggle with nature,
unlike among the Hindus [Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Banias], where women
do not work in the fields, and whose norms are dictated by an external
agency—the Brahminical texts. My mother was in the forefront of the
struggle against the forest guards who would constantly harrass the
Kurumas and not allow them to graze their animals in the forest. In
fact, she died in one of these confrontations, being fatally beaten up
by a policeman while protesting against their brutality. She was then
only 46 years old.
I've written a Telugu piece about my mother. It's called The Mother's
Efforts And Her Struggle. There I have tried to show that it is not
simply the big 'political' struggles against the state which alone are
important. Rather, one should look at everyday struggles as well—in
this case, a mother's constant struggle to educate her children,
challenging patriarchy, struggling with nature in the productive
process, sustaining the culture of the caste. Most Marxist texts look
only at grand 'political' struggles, party mode of struggles,
struggles led by men. In my writings I have sought to also focus on
micro struggles, the stories of ordinary people, including women.

Q:How would you characterise contemporary Hindutva? What is the
relationship between Hindutva and the Dalit-Bahujans?
A: As Dr.Ambedkar says, Hindutva is nothing but Brahminism. And
whether you call it Hindutva or Arya Dharma or Sanatana Dharma or
Hindusim, Brahminism has no organic link with Dalit-Bahujan life,
world-views, rituals and even politics. To give you just one example,
in my childhood many of us had not even heard of the Hindu gods, and
it was only when we went to school that we learnt about Ram and Vishnu
for the very first time. We had our own goddesses, such as Pochamma
and Elamma, and our own caste god, Virappa. They and their festivals
played a central role in our lives, not the Hindu gods. At the
festivals of our deities, we would sing and dance--men, women and
all-- and would sacrifice animals and drink liquor, all of which the
Hindus consider 'polluting'.
Our relations with our deities were transactional and they were rooted
in the production process. For instance, our goddess Kattamma Maisa.
Her responsibility is to fill the tanks with water. If she does it
well, a large number of animals are sacrificed to her. If in one year
the tanks dry up, she gets no animals. You see, between her and her
Dalit-Bahujan devotees there is this production relation which is
central. Likewise, in the case of Virappa, the caste deity of the
Kuruma shepherds. His task is to ensure the well-being of the animals.
If the flock increases he is offered many sheep as a sacrifice, but if
a disease strikes the flock, he gets nothing. Our gods, like us, are
productive beings. This is not the case with the Brahminical deities,
who have nothing to do with the productive process, but are frozen in
the scriptural texts as an external agency. So you can see how the
Dalit-Bahujan religion and Brahminism are two distinct and mutually
opposed religio-cultural formations, two completely different
religions.
In fact, many Dalit communities preserve traditions of the Hindu gods
being their enemies. In Andhra, the Madigas enact a drama which
sometimes goes on for five days. This drama revolves around
Jambavanta, the Madiga hero, and Brahma, the representative of the
Brahmins. The two meet and have a long dialogue. The central argument
in this dialogue is about the creation of humankind. Brahma claims
superiority for the Brahmins over everybody else, but Jambavanta says,
'No, you are our enemy'. Brahma then says that he created the Brahmins
from his mouth, the Kshatriyas from his hands, the Vaishyas from his
thighs, the Shudras from his feet to be slaves for the Brahmins, and
of course the Dalits, who fall out of the caste system, have no place
here. This is the Vedic story. But Jambavanta says that this is
nonsense. He says that prakriti [nature] created him and Shakti [the
female power principle], and through his union with Shakti, the
trimurti [Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva] were born. And then he goes on to
say that although Brahma was born as his own offspring, he has not
been faithful to his way of life, and that is why the Madigas have
kept the Brahmins away from them. Here he talks about the superiority
of the Madiga way of life over the Brahminical--of beef-eating over
vegetarianism, of manual labour, working with leather and making
shoes, as opposed to a parasitic life of living off the labour of
others. And then Brahma is defeated, because he has no answer to give
Jambavanta.

Q: And then what happens to Brahma?
A: That is most interesting. You see, Jambavanta defeats him by
argument, not by killing him. In the Dalit-Bahujan tradition there is
no defeat by killing your enemy, which is so central to Brahminism, be
it the Gita or the Puranas. This Dalit-Bahujan tradition of overcoming
your enemy through logical persuasion runs right from the Buddha to
Ambedkar. The understanding is that you must establish your
philosophical superiority and defeat the enemy on the moral ground.

Q: What you are perhaps suggesting is that Dalit-Bahujan religion can
be used to effectively counter the politics of Brahminism or Hindutva.
But Brahminism has this knack of co-opting all revolt against it, by
absorbing it within the system.
A: It is true that although Dalit-Bahujan religious formations
historically operated autonomously from Hindu forms, they have never
been centralised or codified. Their local gods and goddesses have not
been projected into universality, nor has their religion been given an
all-India name. This is because these local deities and religious
forms were organically linked to local communities, and were linked to
local productive processes, such as the case of Virappa and Katamma
Maisa whom I talked about earlier. But Brahminism has consistently
sought to subvert these religious forms by injecting notions of
'purity' and 'pollution', hierarchy and untouchability even among the
Dalit-Bahujans themselves, while at the same time discounting our
religious traditions by condemning them as 'polluting' or by
Brahminising them.

Q: Then would you say that religious conversion to a major codified
religion could be the way out of the dilemma, as Ambedkar thought?
A: Historically, it was in the struggle of the Dalit-Bahujans against
the Hindu order, the Brahminical system which had captured the state
and used it as an instrument to impose the caste ideology, that
Dalit-Bahujans converted in large numbers to Buddhism, Sikhism,Islam
and Christianity. These were social protest movements to gain social
rights and self-respect. The whole Buddhist phenomenon in our early
history was a story of Dalit-Bahujan protest. The Buddha says, 'Just
as various different streams flow into a river and become one, so,
too, the different castes, when they come into the sangha [ the
community of the Buddhist faithful], they join the sea of colourless
water'. This stress on social equality is, of course, in marked
contrast with Hinduism, which cannot be defined in terms of a
universal religion with a universal social rights' concept. It is
simply another name for oppression. I have serious problems with
Brahmin writers who say Hinduism is 'a way of life'. As I understand
it, it is nothing but a means for exploitation of the Dalit-Bahujans.
To get back to the point I was making, conversion to Islam and
Christianity was for many Dalit-Bahujans a means for social
liberation. In the medieval period, conversion to Islam afforded some
Dalit-Bahujans a means to enter political structures for the first
time. In fact, the whole Shudra emergence dates back to this period.
Akbar instituted what could be called a 'reservation policy' for
Shudras in landlholdings—groups such as Jats in north India or Reddys
in Andhra. You do not see Shudras as major landowners in the
pre-Akbarian period. In the entire period of Hindu rule, you have the
agraharam sort of landholding system, with Hindu kings donating vast
tracts of lands to the Brahmins.
In the colonial period, of course there was massive economic plunder,
but the Christian missionaries did a lot for the
Dalit-Bahujans—education, some amount of economic and social mobility.
Many Backward Castes which did not convert to Islam or, later,
Christianity, are suffering today, the reason being that there is no
educated elite among them.

Q: But, then, does conversion have any relevance today?
A: My own feeling is that if the Dalit-Bahujan movement proves unable
to propel the Dalit-Bahujans to state power and to place them in
politically hegemonic spaces, educated Dalit-Bahujans will
increasingly look to religious conversion as a major alternative as a
means of mobilisation and protest.

Q: How do you see the demonisation of Muslims and Christians in
Hindutva propaganda?
A: It is obvious that the real threat that Brahminism faces is not
from the Muslims or Christians but from the growing awakening of the
Dalit-Bahujans, who now refuse to accept Brahminical supremacy. And
that is why Dalit-Bahujan wrath is being craftily sought to be
displaced from their real oppressors onto imaginary enemies in the
form of Muslims and Christians.

Q: There's been much talk about Dalit-Bahujan-Muslim unity. What are
your own views about this?
A: It is important to remember that Dalit-Bahujans and Muslims,
particularly indigenous converts who form the vast majority of the
Muslim population, share much in common in terms of culture. Both
belong, in contrast to the Hindus, to a meat-eating culture, and in a
society where what you eat determines, in a very major way, your
social status, this is crucial. Then, Islam champions social equality,
and there is a total absence of the feeling of untouchability. Take a
very simple thing—the Hindu namaste, folding your hands to greet
someone—is a very powerful symbolic statement. It suggests that I
recognise you but you should not touch me. In contrast, the custom
that the Christians introduced of shaking of hands is a touching
relationship, while the Muslims go even further and physically embrace
you. Even today in the villages the Muslims are the only people who
actually physically embrace the Dalit-Bahujans. Of course, the
Brahmins and Banias don't let them do that to them, but that's a
different matter. You must remember that the human embrace is itself a
very liberating symbolic act for the Dalit-Bahujan victims of
Brahminism.
There's a lot else that Dalit-Bahujans share with Muslims. Scores of
Dalit-Bahujans continue to participate in the Muharram rituals and
visit Sufi dargahs. Further, in the productive process the bulk of the
Muslims find themselves in the same position as most Dalit-Bahujans,
as peasants, agricultural labourers, as cobblers, weavers and so on,
and in that capacity they share a common culture.

Q: But can mere cultural similarity or commonality serve as a platform
for a wider political unity between Dalit-Bahujans and Muslims?
A: My point is that we urgently need to explore and expand these
spaces of cultural unity, and only on that basis can political unity
come about. Brahminism or Hindutva or call it what you like, seeks to
deny this unity, and plays up only on the differences. We, on the
other hand, must focus on the elements of unity, and try to expand
these sites of unified life into the political domain. Because of our
faulty western Marxist methodological training, we start from
political unity, straight away trying to unite Dalit-Bahujans and
Muslims on the political plane, without an appropriate cultural
back-up. And then when attempts at political unity fail, you give up.
I feel that this is not the way of doing the job. You must start by
exploring existing sites of cultural unity as well as what could be
called productive unity, unity that follows from Muslims and
Dalit-Bahujans being placed in similar or common niches in the broader
productive process. Build up this consciousness of social and cultural
unity and then a lasting political unity will easily come about.

Q: What role do you see Dalit-Bahujan spiritualities as playing in all of this?
A: Let me begin by saying that Brahminism is more afraid of the
Dalit-Bahujan thought process than of political challenge. It can
manipulate or even kill off any number of Eklavyas or Shabukas, but it
cannot face the challenge of Ambedkarite thought. They may conspire to
kill me off, but they can't do a thing with my book [Why I Am Not A
Hindu]. And it is in this realm of the cultural that Dalit-Bahujan
organic intellectuals have a lot to do. We need to retrieve and revive
our own histories, traditions, cultures, religions and knowledge
systems, all of which are organically connected, in contrast to the
Brahminical, with the productive economic process, with the dignity of
labour.

Q: But here you seem to be assuming that Dalit-Bahujan traditions have
remained static. Is it not the case that they, too, have fallen victim
to the process of Brahminical co-optation?
A: I think the process operates both ways, and there is a major way in
which Hindu structures themselves are getting Dalitised, which has not
been written about. Take, for instance, the Ganapati festival. Earlier
the festival was centred around the Brahmin priest, but now most of
those who participate in the festival are probably Dalit-Bahujans. And
no longer is the festival Brahminical in the classical sense. With the
Dalitisation of the festival has come dancing, drinking and singing
and loud filmi music! To take another example, some Dalit-Bahujans are
demanding that prayers be said in the temples not in Sanskrit but in
the languages of the people themselves and that they, too, should be
allowed to become priests. Whatever one might otherwise say about
this, this is a means to challenge Brahnminism from within its own
structures, a process of Dalitisation whose ultimate culmination can
only be the destruction of Brahminism.

Q: Do you see what you call the Dalitisation process operating in
other spheres as well?
A: This is evident everywhere—the fact that a Brahmin doctor is
willing to treat a Dalit patient is a reflection of this process, as
is the willingness of a Brahmin woman to divorce her husband or smoke
and drink in public or a Brahmin widow going in for another marriage.
You must remember that smoking and drinking , divorce and remarriage
have never been problems for Dalit-Bahujan women, in contrast to
Brahmin women, so all this is nothing but Dalitisation in action.
M.N.Srinivas and other Brahmin sociologists wanted to bolster
Brahminical hegemony by claiming that India is getting Sanskritised.
But when we asked them what is all this surge in drinking and smoking
and women's emancipation all about, they said it was Westernisation,
when actually it is nothing but Dalitisation. Of course, they do not
want to admit that because that will mean recognising that it is from
the Dalit-Bahujans that others are learning.
My point is very simple. If you go on saying that India is getting
Dalitised, Brahminism will die a natural death, but if you keep
harping on the theme of India getting Hinduised Brahminism will gain
added strength. So many books were written in the wake of the Babri
Masjid affair selling the argument that India is getting Hinduised.
But where were all these historians and sociologists when ten lakh
Dalits converted to Buddhism in 1956 along with Dr. Ambedkar? Did they
then say that India was getting Dalitised or Buddhistised? Had they
done so we would have had a very different history today. So, I say,
write history from the point of view of the Dalits, showing how while
Sanskrisation and Brahminism are historically unproductive, a burden
on the system and a legitimation for exploitation, Dalitisation, in
contrast, is historically a productive, creative and constructive
process because it is rooted in the dignity of labour.

Q: How would you envisage this project of writing Indian history from
the point of view of Dalit-Bahujans as subjects, as the central
actors?
A: To be honest, I am seriously opposed to the writing of what is
called the 'history of sorrow'—simply narrating all the oppression and
sufferings that the Dalit-Bahujans have had to suffer under
Brahminism, although that, too, cannot be ignored. But I feel that the
more you cry, the more the enemy beats you. If you want to defeat the
enemy, you cannot remain contented with merely critiquing him, because
even in that case he is the one who sets the terms of discourse and
you are playing the game according to the rules that he devises, so
naturally it is he and not you who wins in the end. Thus, rather than
dwell simply on our historical oppression or the dangers of Hindu
fascism, keep the focus on the process of Dalitisation, and thereby
set the terms of discourse and debate yourself. For that you have to
present a Dalit-Bahujan alternative as a workable and better solution.
If you don't do so, and restrict yourself to simply criticisng
Brahminism by quoting slokas from one Brahminical text or the other,
they will put forward yet another sloka to disprove you. But if you
write from the Dalit point of view they have no way to rebut what you
want to say.
Central to that task would be re-writing Dalit-Bahujan history to
show, for instance, their knowledge systems, their role in the
productive process, their great contributions to the development of
technology or in the realm of spirituality or how their societies
afford women a much higher status than the Brahminic. Sati and dowry
have historically been specifically Hindu problems never ours. So
history re-writing will have to be informed with Dalit pride. You have
to show that Dalitisation, and not Hinduisation, is the answer to our
ills, because unlike Brahminism, which is rooted in texts that do not
spring from real-world experience in the productive process,
Dalitisation reflects the interaction of human beings with nature in
the labour process.
Unless you present Dalitisation as a superior alternative, you can't
win the battle. Take the Buddha, for instance. His greatest
contribution was not his critique of Brahminism, important though that
was, but his founding of the egalitarian community of the faithful—the
sangha—as a superior alternative to Brahminical caste society. Or take
Marx for that matter. To my mind, his greatness lies not so much in
his critique of capitalism but in his presenting a superior
alternative in the form of a communist society.

Q: Have you attempted anything of this sort yourself?
A: I think you can see this in most of my writings. To give but one
example, I wrote this piece on the leather-working Madigas titled 'The
Subaltern Scientists' and another piece on the Madiga Dalits called
'The Productive Soldiers'. Presently, I am working on a book dealing
with the discoveries and inventions of certain Dalit-Bahujan tribes
and castes. There's so much to be done to recover Dalit-Bahujan
knowledge systems. I mean, for instance, you would have to trace
industrialisation in India not to Lancashire but to the Madiga wadas
[localities], where the Madigas first perfected the art of turning raw
leather into shoes, or to our barbers who invented the knife.

Q: One last question. What made you give your book the title Why I Am
Not A Hindu? How was the book received?
A: I thought it was important for Dalit-Bahujans to make a powerful
statement against the Hindutva propaganda that we, too, are Hindus. As
for how the book was received, well, Dalit-Bahujans, of course, were
very excited about it. Predictably, orthodox Brahmins were angry, but
so too were some 'socialist' Brahmins. Actually, that did not surprise
me at all, because they read Marx's Capital just as they read the
Vedas—reciting it—not a critical reading. But I did get quite a few
responses from Brahmins in Tamil Nadu They wrote to say that they had
read a lot of Periyar, but he had only criticised them but never told
them where they had gone wrong. They said that it was after reading
Why I Am Not A Hindu that they discovered what was wrong with their
religion and culture and how they must change if they are to survive.


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