http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-rice-bowl/can-indian-capitalism-really-beat-caste
Can Indian capitalism really beat caste?
Celebrate the exceptions, but don't forget the majority.
Jason Overdorf
December 22, 2011 04:18
Hindu dalits pray during a mass conversion to Buddhism ceremony in
Mumbai, 27 May 2007. Thousands of low-caste and tribal Hindus, seeking
freedom from oppression in India's heirarchy-ridden caste system,
embraced Buddhism in a mass conversion. It is estimated that close to
five thousand dalits - who are on the bottom rung of India's anicent
caste hierarchy - would have converted to Buddhism during the simple
ceremony during which the people recite hymns read out by the monks,
following which they are accepted as Buddhists. (AFP/Getty Images)
The New York Times' Lydia Polgreen's feature
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/world/asia/indias-boom-creates-openings-for-untouchables.html?_r=1
) on successful Dalit entrepreneurs is thoughtful and evocative, and
her effective character sketch of a millionaire named Ashok Khade will
go some way to help readers identify with the thorny and complex
problem of caste discrimination in India.
But I'm a little concerned that her piece (and one I wrote like it
some time ago) may be looking too resolutely at the bright side.
Polgreen quotes Dalit commentator Chandrabhan Prasad as saying that
the beauty of contemporary India is that class trumps caste, so as
long as Dalits can afford the "goodies" and boast of a healthy bank
balance they can win acceptance from the rest of the society.
Would that were true.
I recall when I met Chandrabhan a couple years ago that he told me
that upper caste society would "never accept" him because of his
background. Among other things, he explained that he didn't wear the
right clothes or speak with the right accent. I'm relatively sure
that he'd still agree with those points. Perhaps he'd add a note of
explanation to the quote he gave the Times: If you're a millionaire,
maybe you can get a free pass.
It's also interesting that Khade's visit to the rural village where he
was once ostracized is the primary (though by no means only) example
of the way his wealth has helped him to overcome his caste. If you
think about it, what are we saying here? If you pull yourself up by
your bootstraps from abject poverty to become a millionaire, when you
go back to your hometown, people who earn a few hundred dollars a year
will give you respect? What about the socialites in Mumbai?
More troubling, still, is the way that the self-empowerment achieved
by these Dalit entrepreneurs is implicitly being used by some people
in India to argue that the Dalits and other underprivileged castes /
groups do not need quotas in government jobs and higher education. In
every single caste story I have written, I have never met a single
successful Dalit who did not name reservations in education -- and
usually in employment -- as the main or only reason that he or she had
escaped poverty.
At the same time, for every one of these success stories there are
literally millions of people whom caste discrimination -- and not just
problems related to economic conditions (i.e. class) -- has prevented
from escaping dire poverty and horrible social humiliation.
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