Hype around Patidar demand for reservation: Will India become confederation of castes?

By Martin Macwan*
The current agitation in Gujarat for the inclusion of Patidar, popularly known as Patel – a considered a ‘forward’ caste – in the list of other backward castes (OBCs) category has sanctioned the importance of caste in India once again. What is particularly important to note is that the agitation is supported by other ‘forward’ caste organizations, too.
The myth that the ‘higher caste’ status brings in privileges has shattered. For, it is clear, based on the experiential perception of the agitators, that caste offers an equal status to all its members but not the equal living conditions. Still more important, the agitation is led by the educated youth with prominent number of women participants.

Is the Ambedkarite dream for annihilation of caste a step closer where, after almost seven decades of national independence, recognizing the futility of the ‘higher’ caste status, the ‘forward’ caste has taken resort to the street agitation to be derecognized as ‘forward caste’ and be recognized as a backward caste by the state?

Patidar reservation agitators in North Gujarat projecting Sardar Patel as their hero

There is no doubt that, in the context of the Supreme Court ruling that reservation should not exceed 50% mark, the castes currently in the list of the OBC shall feel threatened for valid apprehensions that, in the event of the Patidar getting the OBC status, most seats in higher education and job opportunities under the concerned quota will be usurped by Patidars, given their social, economic and political clout in the state.
The ruling party in Gujarat with a Patidar chief minister and half a dozen ministers in the state cabinet is worried for a number of reasons: First of all, the agitation is born in their rule of the state of about one and half decades.
Secondly, Gujarat as the ‘model state’ in the country had the Patidar symbol as a dominant representation to showcase growth and development.
Thirdly, Patidars as a consolidated vote bank has been the chief pillar for the BJP’s own growth in the state. The Patidar agitation questions the state claim of growth and development, where even the higher caste status and higher representation in governance do not help the educated youth to fight unemployment.
And finally, given the claim of the Patidars that they constitute 40% of State population, should they be awarded the OBC status, the representation of SC, ST and OBC would rise to 85-90%.
Patidars have justified their agitation on the ground that they are merely following in the footsteps of Jains, the predominantly wealthy forward caste group in Gujarat, who constitute less than 1% of the state population, have been awarded a minority status. Sociologically, the new development signifies that, within the larger Hindu’ family, the Jains are a distinct minority, and to that extent they are not Hindus. The basis for their minority status is religious.

It is the same argument – ‘depressed classes (Dalits) are not Hindu’ – that Dr Ambedkar had used with the British to secure reservation for the scheduled castes (SCs). The chief difference in the case of Jains, besides being non-Hindu, is that they are not ‘untouchables’.
One wonders had Gandhi been alive what stand would he have taken; he went on indefinite fast against the demand of Dr Ambedkar for separate electorate on the ground that he would never allow division of Hindus.
Another important and chief difference to be recognized in comparison of the struggle of the scheduled castes and Patidars for securing reservation lies in its genesis. The rationale for the SC reservation were based on the “injustice meted out to the community in the past”, whereas in the case of Patidars, who rose from Sudra status in Gujarat to the forward caste status, the rationale is presented in the form of consequences for failure of the state-sponsored development.
The logic seems to become the basis of new caste-based consciousness emerging in Gujarat. Already a public rally has been organized by the Kshatriyas demanding reservation, and they are now planning a second rally. News coming in can be seen from other groups, such as the Brahmins, demanding reservation.

Reservation seems in the perception of the people, irrespective of their caste, as the only way to secure representation in higher education and jobs.
There is little doubt that a great deal of caste-based mobilization demanding reservation across country will intensify, once the data of caste census will become public. The hype over reservation is likely to become nail in the coffin of secularism in India, where division and caste consolidation are likely to become a dominant political discourse.
Does national planning deserve a relook?
—
*Founder, Navsarjan Trust, Ahmedabad; director, Dalit Shakti Kendra, Sanand

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog